Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

At 3:25 a.m., on the top of a mountain in Nanshan District.

The air was chilly, and several tourists, bundled up in thick windbreakers, shivered in the darkness as they tried to get the best spot to photograph the sunrise.

Some people were adjusting their tripods, while others were still looking down at their phones, all waiting for the first hint of dawn to appear on the eastern horizon.

"Ugh, how much longer? I'm freezing!" a young girl complained, stamping her feet.

"Almost there, almost there, look over there..." His companion was about to point eastward.

At that very moment.

There was no warning, no transition.

A pale, blazing sun rose without warning from the deep valley in the distance.

The light did not come from the eastern horizon, but from the slumbering earth beneath our feet.

It was a thousand times more dazzling than the midday sun, instantly tearing through the deepest darkness before dawn, illuminating the entire mountain in every detail, even stretching the shadows of the leaf veins to an extremely long length.

A terrified scream erupted from the crowd, and countless people instinctively raised their hands to cover their eyes.

Immediately afterwards, the earth began to tremble.

"Boom!"

After a few seconds of delay, a low, muffled sound finally reached the mountaintop.

"What...is that?" Someone asked, their face pale, their hand holding the phone trembling violently. The screen showed an overexposed, deathly white image followed by a huge column of smoke.

"Call the police! Call the police quickly! It sounds like there's been an explosion over there!"

……

3:55 a.m.

A police car belonging to the Nanshan District Garrison Bureau was speeding along the winding mountain road towards the scene of the incident, its lights flashing.

Police officer Lao Chen, who was driving, gripped the steering wheel tightly, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

The closer you get to your destination, the more unpredictable the road conditions become.

The usually quiet mountain path was now covered with boulders that had rolled down from the mountain.

As the car headlights swept across the road, you could see several panicked wild rabbits scurrying around like headless flies.

An indescribable smell permeated the air.

It seemed to have a smell like ozone, typical of the air after a thunderstorm, mixed with the burnt smell of soil scorched by high temperatures.

"Brother Chen, there's no road ahead... there's no road ahead." The young police officer, Xiao Li, in the passenger seat said in a trembling voice.

Old Chen slammed on the brakes and killed him.

The police car stopped 200 meters away from the original site of the Ci'an Nursing Home.

The two officers pushed open the car door, and when they saw what was in front of them, they almost dropped their flashlights.

That place should have been a brightly lit main building of a sanatorium.

But now, there's nothing left there.

There were no broken walls or ruins, no burning flames, and even construction debris was rarely seen.

Instead, there was a huge, smooth, hemispherical depression.

Under the headlights, the pit walls reflected an eerie glassy luster—the traces of soil and rock crystallizing under instantaneous high temperature and pressure.

Wisps of smoke rose from the bottom of the pit, the only proof that a civilization once existed here.

Old Chen swallowed hard and shakily grabbed the walkie-talkie from his shoulder.

"Command Center... This is vehicle number 03 from the Nanshan Garrison."

"We've arrived at the scene. Ci'an Nursing Home... is gone."

……

At 4:15 a.m., the temporary office of the Special Investigations Office at the Dawn City Police Department.

Zhao Jianguo, his eyes bloodshot, stood in front of a huge map of Chenxi City, his fingers rapidly swiping across dozens of properties under Wei Donghai's name.

"Where did that old fox Wei Donghai go..." Zhao Jianguo's voice was hoarse, and his brows were furrowed in a tight knot.

Just then, a police officer rushed into the adjacent Criminal Investigation Brigade office area, his voice so loud that even Zhao Jianguo could hear him.

"A major accident has occurred at the Cian Nursing Home in Nanshan District, suspected to be a massive explosion. The main building is completely destroyed. The branch office requests immediate assistance from the municipal bureau for investigation!"

"Where is Nanshan?" Zhao Jianguo rushed over and shouted.

The police officer was startled and stammered, "Reporting...reporting to Director Zhao, it's Nanshan Ci'an Nursing Home."

"Ci'an Nursing Home..."

These words were like a bolt of lightning, instantly cleaving through the fog in Zhao Jianguo's mind.

He hurriedly returned to his office, grabbed the Wei family's asset list from the table, and pressed his finger firmly against the inconspicuous small print: "Nanshan Ci'an Nursing Home (Wei Group Holdings)".

All the scattered puzzle pieces were perfectly put together at this moment.

Wei Donghai's mysterious disappearance last night after escaping surveillance, Han Xiao and Xu Suyuan's relentless revenge, Xu Changming's diary, and this terrifying and devastating blow.

Ordinary accidents could never cause such extraordinary damage as "complete destruction of the main building".

That was the release of "abnormal" power.

"Found it..." Zhao Jianguo muttered to himself, then suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with a piercing light.

"Lei Zhen! Zhou Ming! Wang Gang!" he roared, "Stop investigating! Immediately recall all field teams! Assemble! Target locked—Nanshan Ci'an Nursing Home!"

Lei Zhen was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening and grabbed his coat: "Yes!"

"Notify the technical department to bring all investigation equipment! The mobile assault team to be fully armed! Firefighters and forensic experts to follow up!" Zhao Jianguo strode out while quickly issuing orders.

"That old bastard Wei Donghai is right there! Han Xiao and Xu Suyuan are there too!"

Zhao Jianguo pushed open the door, the night wind blowing into his collar, but it couldn't dispel the gloom in his heart.

"No matter what happened there... we must take control of the scene immediately! We must not let even the slightest trace leak out!"

Suddenly, a jumble of hurried footsteps filled the corridor, and police sirens blared in the police station compound, which had been silent all night, piercing the darkness before dawn.

……

At 4:40 a.m., the convoy of the Special Investigation Office of the Chenxi City Police Department finally arrived at the scene.

The sky was overcast, but the giant crater looked even more shocking in the gradually brightening light.

The burnt smell and ozone odor in the air not only did not dissipate, but became even more pungent with the cold morning breeze.

Wang Gang led the mobile assault team to be the first to rush into the core area, attempting to establish a safe working surface.

However, when he stepped onto the land that was once the foundation of the nursing home's main building, the sensation under his feet sent a chill down the spine of this battle-hardened soldier.

It was incredibly hard and slippery.

"Team Leader Wang," a team member said, holding up a laser rangefinder, "the crater's center point is about 100 meters in diameter, and its edges exhibit complete vitrification, extending to over 200 meters. There are no radiation readings."

Not far away, the fire department's on-site commander was staring blankly at the thermal imaging camera in his hand.

He looked at Zhao Jianguo, who was walking towards him, with an incredulous expression: "Director Zhao, this is too strange. There is no continuous heat source, no open flame, not even embers. The heat here is like... like it exploded in an instant, and then was drained away in an instant."