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

At 8:30 a.m., at the Dawn Headquarters Training Base.

Accompanied by Liu Feng, Shen Bai entered the training field. He looked around calmly, like an ordinary visitor.

The training ground was bustling with activity. Thousands of people were spread out in various areas, some practicing stances, others training their power, some doing weighted running, and others doing contact training—each group was led by an official member, and their sweat glistened under the lights.

The entire training ground is like a precisely operating machine, with every gear spinning at high speed.

The veteran members recognized him and would nod slightly when they saw him from afar. The newly joined reservists didn't know him yet, and occasionally a few curious glances would fall on him.

Shen Bai walked to the southeast corner and his gaze settled on a person.

The man, in his early twenties, was practicing combat sports on the training equipment. His hands were wrapped in bandages, blood seeping through. He glanced down at his fists and frowned. He pulled a new roll of bandage from his pocket, bit one end, and skillfully wrapped it around his fist with his other hand. After securing it, he clenched his fist to make sure it wouldn't come loose, then turned and continued training.

Liu Feng followed Shen Bai's gaze and flipped through the panel introduction: "That team member is called Sun Chen, 25 years old, from Suzhou, with blue aptitude. Before his spiritual energy was restored, he worked as a security guard in a logistics park."

Shen Bai didn't stop walking, he just tilted his head slightly.

Liu Feng continued, "Before the spiritual energy recovered, he faced a demon alone, managing to hold out until Fang Yan's team arrived. Before leaving, Fang Yan gave him a business card, and a few days later he called. After the spiritual energy recovered, he passed the selection process and joined Dawn."

Shen Bai nodded, his gaze lingering for a moment on the sweat-covered face, before walking towards the conference room.

Inside the conference room, all the members had arrived. Dozens of people sat on either side of the long table—Li Zhou, Gu Weijun, and members at the level of branch captain and above.

With its official membership exceeding 10,000, the Dawnbreaker Force reorganized its structure. It was divided into six levels, with command at each level—the most basic being the combat team, consisting of five members, led by one official member and four reservists.

Five groups form a squad; four squads form a company; five companies form a battalion; four battalions form a detachment; and five detachments form a corps. The entire army is further divided into several corps, with Chief Instructor Liu Feng in command and Shen Bai as the overall commander.

The raven took flight from Shen Bai's shoulder and landed on the windowsill, perching quietly. Those present, seeing the raven, assumed it was Shen Bai's pet and silently watched him.

Shen Bai walked to the head seat and sat down without exchanging pleasantries. Xiao Cheng synchronized the rift prediction data to everyone's Apostle panel—tens of thousands of red dots densely packed, covering the entire globe.

A few days ago, Shen Bai spent nearly 10,000 evolution points to cover the official members with the apostle panel.

  

One of the functions of this panel is to unlock the transcendental shackles for the user before the spiritual energy recovers. Fang Yan and his companions were able to cultivate from the seventh level of apprenticeship to the peak of the ninth level within a year precisely because of this. After the spiritual energy recovers, the shackles disappear, and the panel's purpose shifts to combat assistance and training data synchronization.

Liu Feng sat down to Shen Bai's left, pulled up the data, and began his report: "Currently, the number of official Dawn team members exceeds ten thousand, and all members have broken through to the first tier. Among them, there are thirty-two members at the eighth level of the first tier, more than five hundred members at the seventh level of the first tier, and more than two thousand members at the fourth to sixth levels of the first tier. The remaining team members are distributed between the first and third levels of the first tier."

"Regarding the reserves, 30,000 people have completed the initial screening and basic training, with their cultivation levels ranging from Apprentice Level 1 to Level 7. Recruitment is still ongoing."

Liu Feng paused, his brows furrowing slightly: "But the training bases are not enough—the capacity of the dozen or so bases around the world is already close to saturation, and personnel rotation training cannot be scheduled."

Shen Bai nodded: "Several backup bases overseas have been activated and are undergoing final site preparations. After the meeting, please contact Lilith and Samael to discuss the details of putting them into operation."

"Understood." After saying that, Liu Feng sent a summary report of the members' qualifications to everyone.

Previously, the quality of the Eye of the Rhinoceros was limited, and blue-level and above qualifications could only be displayed as green during scanning. With the upgrade of the Eye of the Rhinoceros, it can now accurately identify blue qualifications. This report is the first comprehensive survey of the entire army after the upgrade, and the true data of those with blue qualifications has come to light.

Shen Bai looked at the data.

Of the tens of thousands of official members, about 1,200 have blue aptitude, the majority have green aptitude, and very few have white aptitude. Among the newly recruited reservists, the majority have blue aptitude, with only a very small number of peripheral force members who have made outstanding contributions having green aptitude.

Shen Bai's gaze lingered on Liu Feng's name for a moment.

Most of the dozens of people in the conference room had blue qualifications, but Liu Feng was the only one with a green qualification. This man had stood out from the crowd through years of hard work and dedication.

Shen Bai didn't say anything on the spot, but simply put away the panel and looked at Liu Feng: "Training plan."

Liu Feng straightened up: "The next seven days will be a concentrated strengthening phase. All reserve members will undergo 14 hours of high-intensity training every day, with the goal of ensuring that everyone stabilizes at or above the seventh level of Apprentice. The following five days will be a sprint with practical combat simulations, aiming to help the more talented members break through to the first level. Formal members will simultaneously improve their own realm, with each group completing at least three full drills."

Shen Bai looked at Li Zhou: "What is the status of supplies and equipment?"

Li Zhou, sitting to Shen Bai's right, adjusted his glasses and reported, "The training bases across the country have sufficient supplies to support a month's worth of training. Ample vehicles and transport routes have also been arranged in various regions around the world to ensure smooth wartime support."

"Regarding equipment, we have stockpiled tens of thousands of extraordinary potions, and production is currently at full capacity. There should be no problem with each person having one in twelve days. Extraordinary equipment has already covered the official members of Dawn, while the basic equipment for the reserves will take about another week to arrive."

He paused, then added, "The joint defense plan from the Administration Bureau has been finalized. They will cooperate with our deployment, providing fire support and assisting in the evacuation of civilians."

Shen Bai nodded, then looked at Gu Weijun: "How's the research and development going?"

Gu Weijun scratched his head and flipped through the data on the panel: "In terms of equipment, the new generation of combat suits and weapons have completed testing and can effectively penetrate armor and defend against first-tier monsters. Production has already begun. The newly developed rune array has also entered the testing phase. The spirit energy grenades are still being modified. The blast radius and power are sufficient, but the stability is a bit lacking."

"In addition, the effectiveness of the recovery potion has been verified, but mass production will take time. How much can be produced before the second invasion depends on the production progress this week."

Next, Shen Bai and the others finalized the battle plan, emergency response mechanism, and several details regarding post-battle arrangements. Two hours later, everything was settled.

"Starting today, all vacations are cancelled. Meeting adjourned." Shen Bai stood up.

"Yes." Everyone stood up and left the meeting room.

Shen Bai kept Liu Feng behind alone.

Liu Feng looked at Shen Bai, and only after the door closed did he ask, "Sir, is there anything else you need?"

"You've done very well these past years. The tasks ahead will be very demanding. As the head instructor, you can't afford to neglect your training."

Shen Bai opened the system panel and selected Liu Feng's aptitude section. He then clicked "Evolve."

[Evolution Points Required: 10000]

[Green - Excellent → Blue - Rare]

A slight warmth surged from Liu Feng's chest, spreading to his limbs and bones, before quickly dissipating.

Liu Feng paused slightly, looked down at his hands, and then looked up at Shen Bai.

"Go arrange the training," Shen Bai said.

Liu Feng nodded and turned to leave. He knew that saying more would be futile; he could only do his best to fulfill his duties so that his master would have no worries.

Shen Bai walked to the window, and a raven flew back to his shoulder and cawed once, a short and powerful cry.

Shen Bai reached out and touched its back feathers, his brows furrowed.

As spiritual energy recovers, the difference in aptitude becomes increasingly apparent. Those with better aptitude cultivate faster, while those with poorer aptitude are gradually falling behind.

Aptitude and spiritual energy concentration act like two invisible walls, severely limiting the team members' growth. This situation will become increasingly apparent in the future, but the monsters won't give them much time.