When all prerequisites had been met, when every participant had entered the field, when Yegor's authority lifted its final restriction, the Regeneration Plan began.
A dreamlike wisp of fluorescent light raced across London's skies, as insubstantial as a bubble, sweeping past countless eyes and illuminating those waiting in the dark.
It encircled the whole of London.
Thin mist churned, drizzle poured, and the entire city seemed to faintly glow.
The will of the Pioneer Society descended, looking down upon all.
It declared the official beginning of the brutal struggle and elimination.
The final glimmer descended into the hands of the contestants.
It also illuminated a pair of eyes waiting in the darkness.
In an empty, dilapidated warehouse, a silent middle-aged man sat beneath a lone lamp on a folding chair, soundlessly spinning a pocket watch between his fingers when he felt a slight warmth on the back of his hand.
The faint emblem of the Astronomical Society surfaced on the back of his hand, then vanished again.
In the silence, he snapped shut the pocket watch.
He heard the monotonous ring of his phone.
A deep voice told him over the phone, "Begin."
"Yes."
The stern middle-aged man stood straight and answered with his head raised before hanging up.
In the silence, he turned back and quietly announced, "The mission begins."
Boom!
A soul-shaking muffled roar suddenly erupted.
It was the sound of who knew how many boots stomping upon the ground at once.
Behind him, hundreds of participants had already risen to their feet, heads held high, assembling into a grim formation like a crystal of steel.
"Briefing begins now—"
The middle-aged man with short, graying hair clasped his hands behind his back and commanded his equally impatient subordinates. "I will serve as commander for this operation. Codename: Colonel.