Celestial Human Diagram

Everything Canglong Company had promised arrived within a single day. The delivery included four armored vehicles, twenty cases of weapons and ammunition, a great deal of protective equipment, and numerous supplementary supplies and spare parts.

After taking inventory, they realized it was enough for their small team to fight a small-scale war.

But they hadn’t requested these items on a whim. Once the Fumu began to split and reproduce, there was no telling in which region its offshoots would appear.

If one appeared nearby, it could very well tear open a Rift between the two worlds right on their doorstep. When that happened, there was no telling what might crawl out.

They had all fought in the Merging Land and knew just how tenacious the creatures from that place were. If the worst came to pass, this mansion could serve as a defensive stronghold.

Chen Chuan understood the complexity of the situation, so he and his team members spent two days fortifying the mansion’s defenses.

The four of them set up several barbed-wire barricades around the mansion’s perimeter and erected an electric fence.

Fortunately, they had also requested several extra generator sets and a large quantity of algae oil. Otherwise, the mansion’s own generator wouldn’t have been nearly enough.

In truth, it wasn’t just the four of them at the mansion. A five-man team of Sword Guards was already responsible for patrolling the grounds. In the last few days, Yan Yi had specifically dispatched another team to assist, so their manpower was now quite sufficient.

At this point, the jamming creature and small-scale Domain Creatures rented from the Processing Bureau had all arrived.

Qin Qingque immediately began to calibrate the equipment. Once she was finished, she sent a contact signal to Chen Chuan.

"Captain, this is our dedicated frequency. Once the jamming creature is active, any unapproved communications outside this frequency will be disrupted."

Once the Fumu begins its reproductive splitting, most Boundary Points will become unusable, making it nearly impossible for a Resonator to observe distant scenes and personnel through them. However, if other portable Domain Creatures get close to our position, they could still accomplish that.

The Domain jamming creature, on the other hand, allows for long-range surveillance and eavesdropping, while preventing the enemy from discovering our status or destroying our Realm Tokens and the links between them.

Chen Chuan logged into the frequency on his Realm Token and tested it by communicating with his other team members.

Qin Qingque added, "This rented Domain Creature has a coverage radius of about three kilometers. Our team will have no problem communicating as long as we stay within that range."

"I also found the internal platform frequencies published by the City Government and the Defense Department. If anyone goes out of contact range, they can try to access those networks, use them to hop frequencies, and contact or locate other team members."

Su Wei’s eyes filled with admiration. He considered himself uneducated and had always looked up to technical experts like Qin Qingque. On his old teams, people like her usually held a very high status.

Just then, Yuan Qiuyuan came over and clapped him on the shoulder. "Team Member Su, what are you spacing out for? Come on, let’s go test the frequency’s range. We can get some practice in while we’re at it."

They had been sparring in their spare time over the past two days to familiarize themselves with each other’s styles, which would make future coordination much easier. Su Wei’s level of skill as a Fighter had truly earned Yuan Qiuyuan’s respect.

The man was older than him and had never received any formal training. All his skills had been honed through actual combat in the Merging Land, and he had fought for every one of his cultivation resources himself. This earned Yuan Qiuyuan’s heartfelt respect.

Su Wei glanced at Chen Chuan. Seeing that the latter had no objection, he went out with Yuan Qiuyuan.

Chen Chuan made one last round. Seeing that there were no further issues, he let Qin Qingque know he was leaving and returned to Wuyi Academy.

After all, the cultivation environment at the academy was unparalleled. Hong Fu could also help temper his spirit daily. In this final stretch of time before the Celestial Gate opened, he could still manage to improve himself further.

Upon returning to the Profound Palace Building, he saw students hurrying to and fro. He occasionally spotted academy instructors in the elevators. A tense, solemn atmosphere permeated the academy.

This was because many faculty members and students who didn’t hold official posts had been drafted into a protection force by the Administrative Affairs Hall. For the past two days, they had been organized into squads for training.

Although the vast majority of students were only at the Second Limit, once they put on protective gear and learned to coordinate, security and army units without heavy weaponry would be absolutely no match for them. They were a force to be reckoned with.

’But how is the Central City Government going to explain the anomalous phenomena when they occur?’

’After all, matters like the Great Impact are strictly classified, kept from the lower strata of the populace and ordinary students.’

He checked the public network, and his expression turned a bit peculiar. ’This explanation... I suppose it’s passable. It’s even somewhat plausible.’

Back in his dorm room, he suddenly heard a faint sound from the window, as if something had hit it and then dropped onto the outer ledge.

’A bird? It doesn’t feel like it.’

Normally, because the Profound Palace Building was under the influence of Hong Fu’s Domain, birds rarely ever flew into it. In all his time at the academy, he could say it had never happened once.

He walked over, opened the adjacent maintenance hatch, and stepped out onto the protective ledge beyond the window, where he saw a twitching object that had fallen there.

It was a flying insect about the size of his fingertip. Its wings were shattered. Though it looked small, it had vicious mouthparts, and judging from the sound of the impact, its body was extremely hard.

’This... is a creature from the Merging Land?’

His eyes narrowed. The appearance of this creature was undeniable proof that even though the Rift hadn’t fully opened, minute tears in reality had already appeared.

He looked up at the forest of skyscrapers outside. The strong wind whipped his hair back. Beneath the sky, the city’s silhouette stretched to the horizon, while a lead-gray, ominous cloud bank lay sprawled across the heavens.

’It seems it’ll be in the next day or two.’

And it wasn’t just happening to him. At that very moment, all across Central City, small insects of unknown origin were appearing one after another in every district. People riding the trams could constantly hear a CRACKLING, POPPING sound from the windows.

When the tram passed, it left a carpet of insect corpses in its wake. Even more of them swarmed the sky. Because Central City was lush with vegetation, some of them latched directly onto the plants and began to chew.

On the streets below, the sounds of pedestrians slapping at themselves and cursing could be heard from time to time. Not only did these insects bite, but they also tried to crawl into people’s eyes, noses, ears, and down their collars, which was incredibly irritating.

Fortunately, most of these insects were quite small. And since it was currently spring, a time when bugs were naturally more numerous, passersby just cursed a few times without the situation escalating into chaos.

Half an Hour later, city patrols began to take to the streets. Above, Airships passed by, spraying large amounts of a pungent chemical onto the roadside greenery and the plants clinging to the high-rises.

At that moment, Old Qi and Wu Han were in a car, heading back to their residence.

After Chen Chuan’s earlier warning, they had stopped taking new commissions. However, they couldn’t just abandon the one they had already accepted. They had only just finished that final job and were now rushing back from out of town.

Watching the small insects constantly splattering against the car windows, Wu Han said, "Weird. Where did all these bugs come from? I didn’t see any a few days ago. Old Qi, is this some kind of local specialty?"

Old Qi turned on the wipers, clearing away the pesticide and insect corpses. "I’ve never seen anything like this," he said. "Didn’t Brother Chen tell me to be careful a few days ago? Could this be what he meant?"

"But now that you mention it... the way things are... I feel like I’ve seen this once before, about twenty years ago..."

"What happened then?"

Old Qi tried to recall. "They said it was an invasive species, I think. Came from the sea. I don’t remember it too clearly."

"Hey, I’ll look it up."

Wu Han used his Realm Token to look it up and found that many people were discussing it on the network. He quickly found an answer.

"Looks like that’s exactly it. It says these insects migrated from the Outer Ocean, and it’s the result of some biological experiment the Lynx Federation conducted a while back."

"This is just the first wave. Supposedly, an even bigger swarm will arrive in a few more days. The Lynx Federation is a real piece of work."

Just then, the giant advertising screens on both sides of the road suddenly flickered, and the half-length image of a well-known news anchor appeared.

"...this is another mass invasion of an alien species, the first in twenty years..."

"Thirty years ago, the Lynx Federation, ignoring all objections, conducted a decade of biological experiments in the ocean, which led to the deterioration of the marine environment and the mutation of its species..."

"The current invasive species is extremely destructive. The Central City Government has prepared strict defensive measures and urges the citizens of Central City to reduce their time outdoors during this period..."

Old Qi grew instinctively wary. "It seems this is no small matter. I have to go pick up Qiqi early today..."

As they drove on, an armored patrol car from the Processing Bureau passed by, heading in the opposite direction. Inside sat Sun Rao and Wei Yujie.

Watching the broadcast on the screen, Wei Yujie suddenly said, "Senior, do you actually believe that story?"

"What do you mean?"

Wei Yujie said, "That the higher-ups are making such a big fuss, dispatching so many people to reinforce security patrols, all just to deal with those creatures?"

"What else could it be?"

Sun Rao felt he was overthinking it. "Don’t underestimate these things," he reminded him. "This is supposedly just the first wave and not much of a threat. More vicious ones are still to come."

Wei Yujie scoffed. "Never mind where these things came from. If it’s just a biological invasion, do you really think Central City’s Domain Creatures are just for show? And all those foreign Fighters who’ve been pouring into the city lately—what are they doing here, joining in on the fun?"

"It’s possible they were simply hired by the government, or they’re looking for an opportunity to take some of these creatures back for research. They’re valuable, after all," Sun Rao offered, finding a reasonable explanation.

"You believe that? I don’t," Wei Yujie said. "The higher-ups are definitely hiding something from us."

"So what if they are? It has nothing to do with us. We just have to follow orders."

"And that’s why I say you’re too rigid, Senior," Wei Yujie said. "You can’t seize an opportunity even when it’s right in front of you. A subordinate like you might be considered very useful by the higher-ups, but that’s all you’ll ever be."

"Senior, you’re always bragging to me about how you were the one to show Captain Chen the ropes when he first joined the Bureau. But look at him now—he’s an Execution Captain. And you? You’re still stuck on patrol."

Sun Rao’s face darkened at his words. ’Bragging? It was the truth!’

He said, "Junior, I don’t care what you’re thinking. Right now, your job is patrol, and you’d better do it well. If you break the rules, I will report it. That will have consequences for you, so think about it."

Wei Yujie scoffed. "That’s where you’re wrong, Senior." He looked at the insects flitting about outside the car window. "Rules are made for the mediocre. Those who truly distinguish themselves are never bound by such things."

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