Extraterrestrial demons invaded; I laid the groundwork eight years in advance.

The countdown has just ended.

Dawn Headquarters Base.

On the training field, thousands of Dawn members were neatly arranged in groups. Each group consisted of five members, with one official member serving as the group leader.

No one whispered; only low breathing could be heard, like an invisible drum being repeatedly struck.

Liu Feng stood on the high command platform, holding a list in his hand. More than five hundred groups were responsible for hundreds of rifts in and around Shanghai.

After reading out the last set of numbers, he closed the list and calmly swept his gaze across the audience.

"I know what you're thinking."

His voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet training ground, every word was clear.

"You're thinking—this time is different from before. This time it's for real."

No one answered, but many people's eyes changed.

"Yes, this time is different from before," Liu Feng said.

"In the past two weeks, we've dealt with nearly a thousand monsters. Some of you have bled, some have broken bones, and some spent three days in the medical area before getting back to the team. You think you've seen the worst."

He paused.

"You haven't seen it."

In the queue, some people clenched their fists, while others unconsciously gripped the weapons at their waists.

"This time, the number of monsters you and the rest of the team around the world will be ten times, a hundred times, more than before."

"You might even encounter a Tier 1 monster—stronger than anything you've ever faced before. Most of you official members are between the seventh and ninth levels, and the reserve members are even lower. If you encounter a Tier 1 monster, a head-on confrontation will mean certain death."

"So you must leverage your strengths and utilize everything you can."

"Kill if you can, fight if you can, and if you can't win, stall for time and wait for reinforcements from other squads."

"but."

Liu Feng's tone was firm and resolute.

"Even if you die, you must hold on. Hold on until the demons are all dead, hold on until the very last moment."

"Only by holding the line can we consider our mission accomplished."

"As for me, I'll be guarding the chemical plant in the suburbs. Last time, a peak ninth-level demon appeared there; this time, there's a high chance it'll be a first-level one."

A slight commotion arose in the queue.

"So I might die too," Liu Feng said, "but I'll die in that spot."

Just then, Shen Bai walked in through the side door.

He was dressed in a plain, dark gray combat uniform, without any markings. Many reservists hadn't seen him before, but when they saw Liu Feng slightly turn and nod, they knew—this was the Prophet.

Shen Bai walked to the front of the line and stood still.

  

His gaze swept over every face, then he spoke, his voice not loud, but every word clearly reached the ears of everyone present:

"My name is Shen Bai, but most people call me the Prophet."

He paused, his gaze calm and serious.

"But a prophet is not a god; a prophet is simply someone who knows what will happen a little earlier than you."

"I'm not here to guarantee you'll all come back alive," he said, his voice devoid of any embellishment, "because I don't have that ability."

His voice echoed across the training field.

The entire room fell silent.

Shen Bai's gaze slowly swept over each young face—some still bearing the innocence of childhood, others etched with scars.

"Some of you are not married yet. Some of you have children who have just learned to call you 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Some of you have parents waiting for you to come home for dinner."

"But you all know why you're standing here. You all have the answer in your hearts. But I'll say it again—because the battle that's about to begin is one where each of you should remember the reason you stood up."

He paused for a moment, his voice deepening, like a boulder pressing down on everyone's heart.

"Your family, your friends. Your dad, your mom. Your lover, your children. Your childhood brothers. What are they doing now? Sleeping, eating, worrying about tomorrow's vegetable prices. They have no idea what will happen tonight. They think tomorrow will be the same as today, the sun will rise as usual."

His voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"But what if we can't hold out tonight? What if the rift explodes behind us? What if monsters rush into the city, into your building's stairwell—what will happen to your mother? What will happen to your children? Where can they run? No one can stop them except us!"

The audience was silent.

Shen Bai's voice deepened again, like a knife, slowly and forcefully carving into everyone's bones:

"So I want you to remember—this is not a job, not a chore. This is a war."

"If we win, humanity can continue to exist; if we lose, the rifts will multiply, the monsters will grow stronger, and ordinary people will never be able to sleep peacefully again."

He stood tall with his back straight and his eyes were piercing.

"We have no way out."

He took a deep breath, his voice becoming more composed:

"Moreover, this time I will personally take action and go to the most dangerous areas. I will face the monsters just like you. You guard yours, and I will guard mine."

A suppressed commotion arose in the queue. Someone looked up, a look of shock and some indescribable emotion flashing in their eyes.

Shen Bai ignored those gazes and continued speaking, his voice calm and firm:

"Tonight—guard every crack and come back alive. But if I could only choose one, I would guard the crack."

There was a three-second silence.

Then, someone shouted it out first:

"breaking Dawn!"

The sound exploded from the crowd, like magma that had been suppressed for too long finally finding a crack.

"Dawn! Dawn! Dawn!"

The roar of more than 2,500 people merged into a torrent, making the glass windows on the side of the training field vibrate.

Shen Bai stood on the stage, neither stopping them nor joining in the shouting. He simply listened quietly, his gaze sweeping across each person's face.

He knew that after tonight, he might never see some of those faces again. But he also knew that if he didn't fight this battle, the losses would be far greater than what he had just seen.

He raised his right hand, palm facing forward.

The roar abruptly stopped.

"Each team should check their equipment and be in position by midnight."

"yes!"

The voices of more than 2,500 people merged into one word, like a heavy hammer slamming into the ground.

An hour later, all the members boarded the vehicles, and the sound of engines rose and fell.

Shen Bai stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the command center, watching the last batch of vehicles drive out and disappear into the deepening night.

The light shone on the glass, and his face was calm and silent.

"Little Orange".

"Yes, Master."

"If anything happens to me tonight—the command of Dawn will be handed over to Liu Feng, and the decision-making power of Dawn Group will be handed over to Li Zhou."

Xiao Cheng paused for a second, then said, "Master, you won't have any accidents."

"I hope so too," Shen Bai said, "but we need to be fully prepared."

"Furthermore, I grant you the authority to allocate evolution points. The battlefield is ever-changing—at critical moments, temporarily boosting the combat power of your team members and determining who needs support are your responsibilities."

"Master..." Xiao Cheng's voice held a hint of solemnity.

"I trust you."

"Understood. I won't let you down."

Shen Bai closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the system panel. The cultivation method was running at its peak, and the barrier of the ninth level of apprenticeship was slightly loosened by the warming of spiritual energy.

He took a deep breath, glanced back at the green lights on the wall, and then pushed open the door and stepped into the night.