First Joint Operation

The alarm blared throughout the City of Origin, sharp and urgent, like an awl piercing everyone's nerves.

Inside the Hall of Civilization, the powerful figures left behind by the various factions were instantly alerted and gathered before the central light screen. When they saw the red warning denoting the highest threat level, along with the anomalous spatial fluctuation data from the edge of the Primordial World, everyone's expressions changed.

So soon?

That nightmare called Gestalt had returned so quickly?

"Why are you panicking?"

Chen Ran's steady voice rang out through amplification arrays in both the research center and the Hall of Civilization. He had already rushed back at once with the elites of the Chan Sect and Jie Sect.

He strode to the main console and rapidly operated the light screen with both hands, pulling up more detailed data.

"The energy level is low, and the range of spatial distortion is very small. This isn't a main fleet—it's not even an Explorers warship."

"This should be... an automated reconnaissance probe."

Chen Ran swiftly made his judgment.

After being enhanced and magnified through multiple arrays, the image on the light screen finally captured a blurry image of the anomaly's source.

It was a pitch-black, diamond-shaped metal object only several feet across. It emerged from a tiny spatial ripple and hovered silently within the chaos. Some kind of crystalline structure on its surface was scanning the Primordial World's crystal wall system.

Upon seeing it, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Luckily, it was just a small thing.

But then a new problem presented itself.

How should they deal with it?

"Hmph, it's nothing but an iron-skinned fly. Let me go over there and cut it down with one strike of my sword!" A hot-tempered sword immortal from the Jie Sect immediately volunteered.

"No!" Taiyi Zhenren of the Chan Sect immediately refuted him. "This object's origins are unknown. Destroying it rashly may alert the enemy and draw the larger force behind it here. In my view, we should use decisive measures to capture it alive and bring it back for careful study!"

"Capture it alive? Easy for you to say! That thing looks slippery. What if it escapes, or sends out some message before we catch it? Wouldn't that be even worse?"

"That would still be better than destroying it outright and getting no intelligence at all!"

The hall once again descended into argument.

They were used to fighting on their own and solving problems in their own ways. Getting them to form a unified opinion in such a short time was nearly impossible.

"Shut up, all of you!"

A cold rebuke rang through the hall.

It was Nuwa.

She had remained seated in the seat of honor from beginning to end without uttering a word. Yet now, with only a soft word from her, an invisible saintly pressure enveloped the entire hall, leaving everyone silent as cicadas in winter.

Everyone turned to Nuwa, awaiting the Saint's decision.

Yet Nuwa's gaze fell upon Chen Ran.

"Chen Ran, what do you think we should do?"

Those words carried immense weight.

She, a Heavenly Dao Saint, had handed command of this operation to Chen Ran, a human, before all the powerful figures of the Primordial World.

It represented her unconditional trust in Chen Ran.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate frowned deeply but said nothing. Grand Supreme Elder watched his nose, his nose watched his heart, as though he had entered meditation. Lord of the Heavens, meanwhile, watched Chen Ran with great interest, wanting to see what this young man was capable of.

Chen Ran took a deep breath. He knew that Nuwa was establishing his authority for him—and that this was the Primordial Alliance's first major test for him.

He did not decline. Instead, he walked to the center of the hall.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Ladyship."

His gaze became sharp and resolute as it swept across everyone present.

"Every proposal you have put forward makes sense, but every one of them also has flaws."

"My order is this: capture it alive, while also ensuring absolute safety and preventing it from leaking any information."

"To accomplish that, I need everyone's cooperation."

His voice was instantly transmitted through the Heavenly Net System to every corner of the City of Origin and every faction's encampment.

"The first and second human fleets, depart immediately! Head to the target area and set up the Four Symbols Locking Heaven Array. Seal off that region of chaos and cut off every possible escape route!"

"Friends of the Jie Sect, please!" Chen Ran looked toward Zhao Gongming and the others. "I need your Ten Ultimate Arrays! Not to kill the enemy, but to confuse it! Set up the Ten Ultimate Arrays around the human fleets, disrupt the heavenly secrets, and block all information from leaking out!"

"Friends of the Chan Sect!" He turned to Guang Chengzi. "The target may very well self-destruct. I need you to forge, at the fastest possible speed, a treasure capable of instantly suppressing space and imprisoning energy. I'll send you the blueprints right now!"

"Four Seas Dragon Clan, heed my command! Immediately mobilize the waters of the Four Seas and set up the Myriad Waters Returning to Origin Array inside the Primordial World's crystal wall system. It will serve as the final safeguard, preventing any energy shockwaves from reaching the Primordial World!"

"Great Immortal Zhen Yuanzi of Wuzhuang Temple! Please use the Book of Earth as a guide to suppress the earth veins and stabilize space!"

One command after another left Chen Ran's mouth, clear and swift.

He showed favoritism to no faction. Instead, he assigned each of them the task best suited to their strengths.

The powerful figures whose names had been called were all stunned.

They had not expected Chen Ran to devise such a meticulous and tightly coordinated battle plan in so short a time.

This plan had twisted everyone's strength into a single rope.

"What are you all standing around for?" Lord of the Heavens was the first to react. He shouted, "Didn't you hear him? Follow the plan!"

"Yes!"

The members of the Jie Sect were the first to turn into streams of light and rush out of the Hall of Civilization.

Guang Chengzi gave Chen Ran a deep look, then nodded to his junior brothers behind him. "Let's go. Fire up the furnace and forge the treasure!"

The Dragon Kings and Zhen Yuanzi also accepted their orders and departed.

An unprecedented joint operation, involving all races of the Primordial World, thus began in a somewhat hurried and clumsy manner.

Only Chen Ran and several Saints remained within the Hall of Civilization.

On the light screen, the points of light representing the various forces departed from the City of Origin and raced at astonishing speed toward the lone probe at the edge of chaos.

For the first time, the Primordial World bared its fangs at the universe.