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

As the eastern sky began to lighten, the greyish-white morning light, like a silent, sharp blade, slowly and resolutely sliced ​​through the lingering night.

In thousands of Rift Battlefields around the world, members of Dawn Breaker have been breaking through to the first tier.

When comparing first-order and second-order products, the difference is no longer significant.

On a few battlefields where the situation was critical, Xiao Cheng also followed Shen Bai's instructions to temporarily boost the cultivation levels of the Dawn members who had not yet broken through. Although it was only temporary, it was enough to turn the tide of the battle.

At this moment, Shen Bai stood in the center of the western suburban mining area, his dragon-patterned halberd stained with black blood, and a large number of demon corpses lying haphazardly around him.

In the distance, Zhou Ming and the members of the Ninth Squad were clearing out the last few monsters.

The dark red light from the crack had shrunk to the size of a washbasin, and its edges were still trembling.

Just then, an insect-shaped monster suddenly burst out of the crack—it was bloated, its abdomen swollen as if it were filled with gunpowder. As soon as its six legs touched the ground, it pounced on Shen Bai, and the light on its abdomen began to flash rapidly.

According to the monster encyclopedia, this is an apprentice-level Exploding Demon Insect.

Shen Bai didn't give it a chance. He raised his hand and waved, a blade of spiritual energy shooting out from his palm, striking its abdomen precisely. The blade pierced through the thin membrane, detonating the energy within its body.

"boom--"

A burst of dark red light exploded before the crevice, the shockwave sending surrounding rocks flying. The demonic insect shattered into pieces, black blood and bits of flesh splattering everywhere.

The crimson light from the fissure flickered a few times during the explosion before fading completely. The sky above the mining area returned to normal, with only the searchlights of the emergency response team still flashing in the distance.

  

Shen Bai stood in the empty mine, his battle halberd hanging at his side.

His dark gray combat uniform was unrecognizable, covered in black blood and cracks. The wound on his left leg had mostly healed after his breakthrough, and he could walk without much difficulty. The broken ribs had also healed thanks to the nourishment of his first-tier physique and spiritual energy.

Zhou Ming led the Ninth Squad from the direction of the mine entrance. The team members were all covered in injuries, but fortunately none of them were serious and they would recover after a period of rest.

"Prophet, the mine has been cleared," Zhou Ming reported.

Shen Bai nodded: "Go to the outer perimeter and notify the emergency response team to take over. You guys go treat the wounds first."

"clear."

Zhou Ming glanced at the bloodstains on Shen Bai's body, then at the large number of monster corpses in the mine, his eyes filled with reverence, before turning and leading his team away.

Xiao Cheng's voice rang in Shen Bai's mind: "Master, all 1,531 rifts worldwide have been closed. All teams have begun the final cleanup."

Shen Bai contacted Li Zhou in his mind: "Li Zhou, the battle is over. Contact Chen Zhengping and work together to handle the aftermath. The Dawn Force will withdraw and reorganize."

Li Zhou responded quickly: "Understood, sir. I'll contact Director Chen immediately. Thank you for your hard work."

Shen Bai severed the connection and turned to walk towards the outer perimeter. His car was parked there, fortunately undamaged by the monsters.

He got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and the headlights illuminated the road ahead.

---

Five o'clock in the morning, Xiaoqingshan Villa.

After returning, Shen Bai went straight to the bathroom. His combat uniform was so torn that he couldn't wear it anymore, so he threw it into the trash can and washed away the remaining filth with hot water.

Ten minutes later, Shen Bai changed into a black long-sleeved T-shirt and walked into the study.

The large screen also displays real-time data on the fissures—now all of them are shown as "closed".

Shen Bai took out his phone, which showed more than a dozen missed calls and several messages from Shen Tian on the chat app.

2:15 AM: "Shen Bai, there's a huge red light outside, do you see it there?"

3:05 AM: "Why can't I get through to your phone?"

3:40 AM: "Are you okay? Reply if you see this."

Shen Bai stared at the three messages for a few seconds in silence. He typed a reply: "It's nothing. Just woke up. Stop reading those monster novels; there's no such thing as a red glow."

A minute later, Shen Tian replied: "It really is. I could hear the helicopter."

Shen Bai sent another message: "Maybe it's just a drill. Don't overthink it. I'll be back tomorrow."

He put his phone on the desk and walked to the window.

The skyline of Shanghai in the distance became clear in the morning light, cruise ships on the Huangpu River began to set sail, and sanitation workers were sweeping the streets. Everything seemed normal, as if nothing had happened last night.

But everything is different now.

The spiritual energy has recovered, the rifts will reappear, and demons will once again invade the mortal world.

With the establishment of the Extraordinary Management Bureau, ordinary people's physical condition gradually improves, and the extraordinary will no longer be a secret.

He pulled up the data on the changes in the realms of all members compiled by Xiao Cheng.

Most of the formal members who were at the peak of the ninth level of the Apprentice Realm successfully stepped into the first tier after the spiritual energy recovered; the members who were originally at the eighth level of the Apprentice Realm directly jumped to the ninth level or even the peak of the ninth level of the Apprentice Realm under the impact of the spiritual energy burst, and some of them were only one step away from the first tier.

Of the nearly 10,000 reserve members, over 30% broke through to the seventh level of the Apprentice realm during the battle. The remaining reserve members generally advanced by one minor realm.

Dawn's overall combat strength underwent a qualitative leap in just a few hours.

"Xiao Cheng, battle statistics."

Xiao Cheng pulled up the data: "Master, the Dawn Force has 9,281 lightly wounded, 372 seriously wounded, and zero deaths."

"The emergency response team suffered 230 minor injuries, 22 serious injuries, and one fatality. There were no reports of civilian casualties."

"Ninety-two percent of monster corpses are recovered. Self-destructing monster corpses are destroyed, and the rest are all recovered."

When Shen Bai heard the report that there were zero deaths among the Dawn members, a hint of relief flashed in his eyes. With almost everyone injured, "zero deaths" was nothing short of a miracle.

But when Xiao Cheng said that one member of the emergency response team had died, that sense of relief vanished instantly.

"Little Orange".

"Master, I'm here."

"Record. The first large-scale invasion after the revival of spiritual energy resulted in zero casualties for the Dawn Force. The combat strength of regular members has been greatly improved, and the reserves have generally advanced by one minor realm. One person from the Extraordinary Management Bureau was killed; he was a member of the emergency response team."

"Furthermore, Li Zhou should be informed that a comprehensive compensation mechanism will be provided for the fallen personnel, which will be borne by Shuguang Group. In future recruitment, priority will be given to the families and children of the fallen personnel."

"Recorded, Master."

Shen Bai composed himself and turned to look at the large screen on the wall.

"Little Orange, what are the global trends in spiritual energy concentration?"

"Master, according to the model's prediction, the global spiritual energy concentration will reach Level 1 within the next few days. This means that various regions will successively reach the threshold for the appearance of Level 1 transcendents and monsters."

Shen Bai was silent for a moment, then asked, "What about the next breakthrough in spiritual energy concentration?"

"It is expected that the spiritual energy concentration will reach the standard for transcendent beings to break through to the second tier in about a month, at which time second-tier demons may appear. Before that, small-scale rifts will continue to appear globally, and the frequency and intensity will gradually increase, requiring each country to deal with them on its own."

Xiao Cheng paused, a rare hint of guilt in her voice: "Master, the accuracy of this overseas rift prediction was only 78%, with the errors mainly concentrated in Japan, the Southern Dynasties, and India. My model wasn't perfect enough to pinpoint all the locations in advance. Fortunately, the mobile team arrived in time, preventing large-scale casualties. I'm sorry, Master."

Shen Bai didn't blame her. "Archive the error data as a basis for model correction, and improve it next time."

"Archived, thank you, Master."

He nodded.

One month.

He needs to allow Dawn to grow further and for each country to establish its own defense system.

And this is the foundation of all of this.

"Xiao Cheng, tally up the evolution point gains."