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

On the other side, the battlefield on the east side.

Chen Fan was facing two eight-fold demons.

He and two teammates formed a triangular formation, taking turns to contain the enemy.

Although the monster was powerful, it was also tyrannical, and its sharpness was gradually worn down by the cooperation of the three.

"Switch places!" Chen Fan shouted in a low voice.

The three of them changed direction at the same time, and the monster missed its target.

Taking advantage of the moment when the monsters lost their balance, Chen Fan lunged forward, plunging his blade into the side of one of them. With a swift pull, he slashed open a long gash. Black blood and fragments of internal organs gushed out, and the monster collapsed with a mournful howl.

Another eight-layered demon lunged from the side, but Chen Fan didn't retreat; instead, he advanced, feinting to circle around to the demon's side. A single slash pierced its throat, the tip emerging cleanly from the other side. He habitually tapped the hilt of his sword with his finger. "Done."

The remaining three monsters were also dealt with by the other team members one after another.

On the west side, Fang Yan single-handedly withstood a frontal attack from a seven-fold demon.

He was tall and possessed physical strength that was among the best in his class. He grabbed the monster's two front paws with both hands, his veins bulging as he struggled, and forcefully threw the monster to the ground. A teammate seized the opportunity to finish it off, plunging a short knife into the monster's throat.

Fang Yan didn't stop. He turned around and punched the skull of a level six demon. The sound of bones cracking was crisp, and the demon died on the spot.

The remaining monsters were eliminated one by one with the help of teammates.

On the south side, Zhang Heng's sixth squad launched long-range suppressive fire. Five crossbows fired simultaneously, their poisoned arrows accurately striking the monster's eyes and throat.

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Zhang Heng himself held a modified composite bow. As the bowstring twanged, a six-fold demon that was trying to pounce on its teammates was pierced through the head by an arrow and fell to the ground.

Just then, a five-fold demon dodged the other team members' arrows and lashed out with its hooked tail, aiming straight for one of the team members' necks. That team member was focused on the target ahead and was completely unaware.

His tail was less than a meter from his neck.

"Buzz—"

The team member's body jolted violently, and a warm energy surged from his chest, instantly filling his limbs and bones.

His reaction speed increased dramatically. Instinctively, he sidestepped, raised his hand, and severed the monster's tail with a single stroke. Then, he reached out, grabbed the severed tail, and yanked it, pulling the monster flying towards him. With a backhand slash, he pierced the monster's throat; the entire process took less than three seconds.

He froze. In his mind, a deep voice sounded: "Don't get distracted, keep fighting." It was Shen Bai.

The team member gritted his teeth, gripped his short knife tightly, and turned to engage in battle. At that moment, he felt his entire body brimming with power, and could even sense the thin spiritual energy permeating the air.

He swiftly charged towards the nearest level six demon, pressing his left hand against its forehead while his right hand plunged a knife into its neck, spraying black blood all over his face. The demon screamed and collapsed. He didn't stop, leaping over a pile of iron barrels to intercept a level five demon, slashing it repeatedly and killing it within three seconds.

"Well done!" Zhang Heng shouted, firing two arrows with his composite bow to deal with the monster that pounced from the other side.

Sixteen monsters fell one after another, their black blood soaking the ground of the abandoned factory area.

From the start of the battle to the complete annihilation, it took less than 15 minutes.

Liu Feng's gaze swept over the corpses of the monsters scattered on the ground; all sixteen were dead. Including himself, four of their own men sustained minor injuries.

This casualty ratio would be astonishing anywhere. But Liu Feng knew it wasn't enough. After the spiritual energy recovered, the demons would become even stronger, and Dawn would require even greater power.

"Clean up the battlefield," he ordered. "Retrieve all the monster corpses—scales, claws, flesh—take them all. Leave no trace."

The team members immediately sprang into action.

Chen Fan walked up to the corpse of the ninth-level peak demon, squatted down and examined it carefully for a moment, then looked up at Liu Feng: "Brother Liu, I've never seen the bone horns on this thing's head before."

Liu Feng crouched down and tapped the short horn with his dagger. It was hard, and faintly contained residual energy. In his mind, Shen Bai's voice rang out: "Bring it back for the research institute to analyze. It might be a sign of evolutionary characteristics."

Liu Feng stood up: "Load it onto the vehicle and mark it separately." He tore a piece of cloth from his chest and wiped the black blood off the dagger.

Fifteen minutes later, the battlefield was cleared. All sixteen bodies were loaded onto the vehicle, the bloodstains on the ground were neutralized and broken down by chemical agents, and even the odor was eliminated.

On the way back to base.

The sixth squad's black SUV sped along the elevated highway. In the back seat, Zhao Lei leaned back, staring at his hands.

"Lei Zi, what happened to you just now?" His teammate, who was driving, glanced at him in the rearview mirror. "You suddenly became so aggressive."

Zhao Lei slowly clenched his fist. The warm power had faded, but the memory remained in his body—"It was the prophet," he whispered, his voice filled with an incredulous awe. "The prophet gave me the power."

The carriage was silent for a moment.

Zhao Lei spoke calmly, but the veins on his clenched fists bulged. "During the duration of that power, I felt like I could kill anything."

"Just how powerful is the Prophet?" he asked himself, as if asking himself.

Meanwhile, in another car.

Liu Feng sat in the passenger seat, head down, tending to the wound on his chest. The gauze was soaked with blood, and he tightened it forcefully without expression, as if the pain belonged to someone else.

Shen Bai's voice echoed in his mind: "Thank you for your hard work. Send the body to the Dawn Biological Laboratory and have Li Zhou arrange for its disposal. Focus on analyzing the one at the peak of the ninth level. Also, take good care of the chest wound."

"Yes," Liu Feng replied briefly.

Simple and straightforward. Just like him.

After his consciousness was severed, he lowered his hand and his gaze fell on the city lights rushing past the window.

He came from the special forces, retired due to injury, and now lives on a meager pension.

Six years ago, after his mother recovered and was discharged from the hospital, he knelt at the entrance of the Dawn Foundation, insisting on seeing the donor behind it.

That was the first time he met Mr. Shen. Later he learned that Mr. Shen's name was Shen Bai and that he was the true owner of the Shuguang Group.

He followed his master for six years, witnessing the establishment of the Dawn Organization firsthand. He cultivated from the first level of apprenticeship to the peak of the ninth level, transforming from a taciturn veteran into one of Shen Bai's most trusted core members.

---

3 a.m., Qingfengyuan residential area.

Shen Bai leaned back in his chair, and on the Apostle panel in his mind, the vital signs of all sixteen people were normal.

"Xiao Cheng, post-war statistics."

"Slayed sixteen extraterrestrial monsters, extracted 101 evolution points, and consumed 10 points to temporarily upgrade the level of the sixth squad members, for a total of 534 points."

Shen Bai nodded. In addition to the 1 evolution point that naturally accumulates every day, evolution points can also be extracted from extraordinary items and extraordinary creatures. Everyone with an Apostle Panel is a transfer station for the system to extract evolution points.

The team member who received the emergency blessing tonight used up 10 points, but it was worth it to save a life.

Shen Bai looked at his evolution points balance. He had a little more evolution points, but he was still far from enough to evolve the Eye of the Rhinoceros and Little Orange.

Tonight's evolution point gain exceeded one hundred, equivalent to more than three months of natural condensation, which gave him a glimpse of future sources of income.

Shen Bai stood up and walked to the window.

Less than ten days left. The minions of the extraterrestrial demons have arrived, and they are growing stronger with each passing day.

Today's battle exposed Dawn's weaknesses. Their melee weapons lacked armor penetration, failing to deal enough damage against peak-level nine-layered scale armor; the team members still hesitated in their responses under pressure; and the energy arrows shot from the bone horns further revealed their lack of intelligence on the monsters.

He closed his eyes.

Deep within his consciousness, the control interface of the Apostle Template slowly swirled. Two thousand and twenty-six green dots of light were arranged quietly. They were his soldiers, his seeds, the roots he had planted eight years in advance.

The roots have already taken hold. The buds have already pushed through the soil.

But these are far from enough.

Shen Bai opened the light screen.

"Xiao Cheng, search for relevant information on advanced alloy forging processes..."