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Chapter 251 The First Wave of Storms Arrives

Before Lu Zhao could finish speaking about the "absolutely stable time anchor network," the atmosphere inside the fortress changed.

The previous oppression caused by Lin Che's injury and the unknown enemy was replaced by an emotion mixed with tension and anticipation.

This may be the first time they have touched the true thread of victory in this endless cycle.

At nine o'clock sharp.

Without anyone notifying them, the emergency lights inside the fortress automatically switched to a soft brightness.

On the main control screen, half of the dozens of surveillance images that were originally displaying the city's night view were instantly filled with static.

Immediately afterwards, blinding purple lightning, like a giant serpent from mythology, silently tore through the city's sky and struck the ground in rapid succession.

The city's lights went out in large swaths, plunging it into widespread darkness and chaos.

"The backup power system has been activated, and the fortress is operating normally." Lu Zhao's voice rang out in the quiet hall. He pushed up his glasses and quickly operated his fingers on the control panel, bringing all available images to the main screen.

"Look at the southwest area." Xiao Ran pointed to a screen.

That was a high-point surveillance camera near the water conservancy project. The image was shaking violently, but it was still clear that the area had been completely blocked off by military roadblocks.

Purple rainwater flowed into the reservoir, and something was glowing beneath the surface.

They were creatures that resembled tadpoles but were ridiculously large, swimming in the murky water, their bodies emitting an eerie glow.

The scene shifts to a park in the city center. The normally neatly trimmed plants now seem to have been injected with a catalyst, with vines growing like wildly rampant giant snakes, wrapping around and tearing at streetlights and benches. Some vines even split open at the tips, revealing structures resembling predatory mouthparts.

The most disturbing scene came from the city's First Hospital. Through a corridor surveillance camera, they could see that the emergency room corridor was packed with people.

Most patients exhibited remarkably similar symptoms: large and small purple spots appeared on their exposed skin; they were delirious and muttered to themselves.

In the corner of the screen, a patient suddenly lunges at a nurse, displaying extreme aggression.

Lu Zhao pulled up a series of data streams, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. "Something's wrong. The mutation speed is at least three times faster than in my previous life, and it's highly directional, as if it's being specifically guided by some kind of signal, prioritizing attacks on the city's water supply system, ecosystem, and densely populated areas."

The purple lightning lasted for about an hour, and the strange phenomena in the sky became even more bizarre.

On the main screen, the image of a commercial building suddenly began to distort, briefly becoming semi-transparent, and the view of the street behind it could even be seen.

On the street, behind a pedestrian running to avoid the rain, three or four overlapping "time afterimages" were left behind, each afterimage moving half a beat slower than the previous one.

“The time field is starting to shatter,” Lu Zhao explained, pointing to a surveillance camera at a bus stop.

Under the platform's canopy, several people waiting for the bus moved as slowly as in a slow-motion movie, while the vehicles and rainwater behind them flowed by at a normal pace.

“The flow of time in different regions is no longer synchronized. What we are seeing now are small ‘time bubbles.’ This is precisely the moment when the weaver will choose to intervene.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiaoling and Xiaoyu, who had been sitting quietly to the side, closed their eyes at the same time.

The red dot on Xiaoling's forehead lit up, while Xiaoyu's eyes shone with a faint silver light.

"The Weaver's flagship has entered geosynchronous orbit." Xiaoling's voice was steady, yet carried an undeniable certainty. "It has shielded its own signals, and no modern technology can detect its existence."

Xiaoyu then added, her voice trembling slightly: "The military has detected abnormal fluctuations in space worldwide."

The Pentagon activated the "Midnight Protocol," placing military bases in major countries around the world under the highest level of security.

The storm was intensifying. Dozens of deciphered emergency broadcast signals suddenly popped up on Su Wanqing's system interface.

The government is using all available channels to urgently evacuate all residents in the southwest region, citing a "toxic gas leak from a large chemical plant."

The broadcast urged citizens to remain calm, but the off-screen sounds were increasingly loud sirens and screams. Meanwhile, Lu Zhao, having hacked into the city's traffic monitoring system, made a new discovery.

A convoy of military trucks was driving into the city, but their destination was not the southwest district where residents were being evacuated; instead, they headed straight for the city government building, national laboratories, and several secret research facilities.

Instead of unloading relief supplies, the vehicles were rapidly loading filing cabinets and precision equipment, evacuating groups of people in white coats or suits.

"I've contacted my people." Xiao Ran hung up an encrypted call, his face extremely grim. "Message confirmed."

The higher-ups know far more than we imagine. The Ministry of National Defense has activated its highest-level contingency plan, codenamed 'Noah's Ark,' and is secretly relocating top scientists and senior officials nationwide to permanent underground fortifications.

An even more astonishing scene unfolded in the back door surveillance footage of a research institute.

In the wind and rain, several people wearing silver-gray special protective suits were systematically collecting mutated plant samples and rainwater with strange instruments. Their movements were professional and efficient, as if they were carrying out a procedure that had been rehearsed countless times.

As Su Wanqing watched all this, she brought up the system analysis module, and a conclusion appeared in her mind: [Comprehensive intelligence comparison: An unknown force has foreseen this "collection" event and is using the crisis to collect specific data.]

This situation is the first to occur in the 188th cycle.

Someone knew about the storm in advance. And instead of preventing it, they were taking advantage of it.

The storm reached its peak intensity around midnight.

A slight but persistent tremor came from the metal walls of the underground fortress, and the lights overhead began to flicker.

That was the time barrier surrounding the fortress resisting the raging temporal turbulence from the outside.

"The barrier's energy output has reached 90%," Lu Zhao reported.

Just then, Lin Che let out a muffled groan, and the complex purple pattern on his left wrist suddenly burst out with a bright light, activating itself uncontrollably.

A gentle yet resilient energy emanated from his body and merged into the fortress's defense system.

Lu Zhao looked at the data in surprise: "The barrier energy has stabilized! Lin Che's energy and the fortress have resonated!"

At the same time, Su Wanqing's system interface also changed.

[Warning: Large-scale spatiotemporal distortion detected.]

[System Function Upgrade: The 'City Anomaly Scan' module has been unlocked.]

A 3D map of the city unfolded before her. Different areas on the map were colored differently.

The southwest water conservancy project area is a shocking deep red, the city center and several major residential areas are yellow representing danger, and only a few remote suburban areas on the edge of the city remain a safe green.

Lu Zhao leaned over and glanced at the simplified map that Su Wanqing had shared, and immediately understood its value.

"This isn't just an early warning system; it's an action guide." He quickly imported the map data into his tablet, performed cross-analysis, and soon arrived at an even more startling conclusion: "Look at this spread pattern; the mutation is spreading along the city's underground water pipe network!"

At this rate, within three days, 80% of the city will be covered in pollution.

We must immediately begin gathering more supplies and identifying the next safe location.

Su Wanqing switched to her resource interface. After the storm, the rebate point acquisition rate increased again.

[Current rebate multiplier: 15x.]

She looked at her few remaining points and then at the rapidly spreading yellow and red areas on the map.

A new plan took shape in her mind. If used properly, these points might be able to build a truly robust defense network for them, unlike anything they had ever had in any previous cycle, before the next, and even more terrible, crisis arrives.