Spiritual Energy Revival!

An hour later.

Two off-road vehicles drove into the Southwest Military Region.

Inside the base, guards stood at every turn.

The barrels of their guns gleamed with a dark metallic sheen.

Two guards pushed open the conference room doors.

Lin Yuan strode across the threshold.

In the spacious room, more than a dozen people rose in unison.

Among them were senior officers of the military region, stars on their shoulders.

Five fully armed soldiers also stood in a corner.

Captain Zhang Qiang was one of them.

He stared at the young man who had just entered, his hands trembling slightly.

He had been transferred from the Northwest Military Region.

He knew all too well the terrifying explosive power hidden in Lin Yuan's body.

"Colonel Lin!"

"We've been waiting for you!"

Zhao Dingbang strode over.

The general, now past fifty, gripped Lin Yuan's hand tightly in both of his.

"Sir!"

"Lin Yuan reporting for duty!"

Lin Yuan withdrew his hand and saluted.

Zhao Dingbang laughed and led him to the front of the long table.

A holographic projection was running in the center of the room.

A vast map of the southwest hovered in midair.

"Time is short."

"Let's get straight to it."

"In a few days, at dawn on the ninth day of the lunar new year,"

"the Spiritual Energy Revival will begin across the globe."

Zhao Dingbang's smile vanished, his expression turning grim.

The atmosphere in the conference room turned icy.

Then,

Zhao Dingbang raised a hand and pointed to the red dots on the holographic map.

"Teams sent from above have conducted extensive field surveys."

"A handful of unusually large beasts have already appeared deep in the forests."

"But that isn't the greatest danger."

"The greatest danger lies in our cities."

"Cats, dogs, parrots, hamsters, even cold-blooded reptiles."

"The pets living in countless homes are the real hidden time bombs."

"..."

Lin Yuan looked at the red dots marking pets on the map.

His scalp prickled.

In any major city, the number of pets was astronomical.

"They'll mutate too?"

A colonel couldn't help asking.

His voice sounded painfully strained.

"We don't know."

"So far, no mutations have been found in the cities."

"But when the Spiritual Energy Revival begins on the ninth, nobody knows what will happen!"

Zhao Dingbang shook his head.

In some of the country's remote forests,

signs of mutated animals had already begun to appear.

But there had not yet been a single case among urban pets.

That didn't mean there would never be one.

Without precautions, chaos was inevitable.

"Sir."

"What are our orders from above?"

Lin Yuan went straight to the point.

He didn't care about the process, only the solution.

"They've sent us the newly developed Spiritual Energy Detectors."

"Every military region has received a batch."

"Effective immediately, all forces will deploy to every city."

"On the ninth, the moment a detector sounds an alarm,"

"take immediate action against any pet confirmed to have mutated."

"Those that remain docile will be gathered in underground air-raid shelters and managed there."

"Those that turn vicious will be killed on the spot. Under no circumstances can they be allowed to harm civilians!"

"..."

As Zhao Dingbang finished speaking,

the conference room fell utterly silent.

It was a ruthless order.

Carrying it out would inevitably provoke fierce resistance from the public.

"Comrades."

"We have only three days."

"Within those three days, we must clear every city and restore normal operations."

"One week after the Spiritual Energy Revival, on the sixteenth,"

"the wild beasts in the outskirts and deep forests will form a massive Beast Tide."

"If we haven't secured the cities by then, we'll be attacked from within and without. No one will be able to save us."

"..."

So that was it.

Understanding dawned on Lin Yuan's face.

Threats from within and without.

Dragon Country's leaders had made a decisive move.

First, they would eliminate the threat inside the cities. Then they would mass their forces against the threat outside.

"Sir."

"Which area am I assigned to?"

Lin Yuan rose to his feet.

He was ready to leave at any moment and take up a post in the most densely populated residential district.

"You?"

"You're not going anywhere."

Zhao Dingbang waved a hand at him.

Lin Yuan froze.

The senior officers around him looked puzzled too.

Was Dragon Country's strongest warrior supposed to sit in a conference room as a mascot?

"Colonel Lin."

"Killing cats and dogs is a job for conventional troops."

"Across the entire Southwest Military Region,"

"of those who have sensed spiritual energy and become true warriors before the Spiritual Energy Revival,"

"there are only nine, including you."

"Your task is to stay in the safest part of the military region."

"Condition your bodies and bring yourselves to peak form."

"Then wait."

"Wait for the Spiritual Energy Tide to sweep across Blue Star on the ninth."

"Ride that immense power of heaven and earth, and push upward with everything you have!"

"The stronger you nine become, the better Dragon Country's chances of surviving the Beast Tide!"

Seeing Lin Yuan's confusion,

Zhao Dingbang smiled and explained.

At that,

Lin Yuan fell silent for a moment, then nodded firmly.

The best steel belonged where it mattered most.

His target was the Peak Second-Order Stage Ferocious Beast that would soon appear outside Shu Capital.

The meeting ended.

The vast machinery of the state shifted into high gear.

Military trucks covered with tarpaulins rolled out of bases across the country, one after another.

At the East Gate market in Shu Capital,

Old Wang, the butcher, had just hung half a pig from an iron hook.

When he turned around,

the boning knife nearly slipped from his hand.

At the far end of the street,

two wheeled armored vehicles stood at the intersection.

Fully armed soldiers were stretching a long cordon across the road.

One soldier was even setting up a heavy machine gun on the corner.

"What..."

"Are we going to war?"

Old Wang turned anxiously toward Auntie Li, the woman who sold firewood.

She still clutched a handful of scallions, her eyes wide.

Just then,

several neighborhood committee workers walked down the street with loudspeakers.

"Attention, all residents."

"Starting today, our city will work with the military on a weeklong joint counterterrorism exercise."

"Please carry on with your normal routines."

"Do not panic, believe rumors, or spread them!"

"..."

Meanwhile,

the internet erupted.

News of troops entering cities across the country took over all ten top trending spots on Weibo.

"I'm in Magic City. There are three infantry fighting vehicles parked downstairs!"

"Same in the Imperial Capital. I just saw special police setting up a sniper rifle on a rooftop!"

"What on earth is happening?"

"Is the world ending?"

Conspiracy theories spread like wildfire.

But less than half an hour later,

every post stirring up panic or unrest vanished without a trace.

Internet regulators cut connections and blocked IP addresses with ruthless speed.

In neighborhood group chats across the country,

community workers and local police scrambled to reassure residents.

"Don't worry, everyone."

"The country is carrying out an important operation."

"There's plenty of food, and water and electricity will be supplied as usual."

"Stay home and out of trouble, and everything will go on as normal."

"..."

Less than half a day had passed.

Most people had gradually calmed down.

This was Dragon Country.

These were the people of Dragon Country.

Their trust in their country ran bone-deep.

"Come on, let's go. If it's a drill, there's nothing to worry about."

"Let's give our soldiers a thumbs-up. They're still protecting the country over the New Year holiday."

"If the country says everything's fine, then everything's fine. Time to go home and make dumplings!"

The streets remained as lively as ever.

People still haggled at the market.

Some women doing square dancing even tried to pull the soldiers on guard into their routine.

No one noticed.

The soldiers kept their friendly manner.

But their fingers never left the triggers.

The ninth day of the new year.

At dawn.

A sliver of pale light had just appeared on the horizon.

Inside the Southwest Military Region's main Surveillance Room.

An operator staring at a screen suddenly narrowed his eyes.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep—"

A shrill alarm sounded.

Red lights on the walls flashed so rapidly they were blinding.

"Report!"

The operator's voice cracked as he sprang from his chair.

"Every Spiritual Energy Detector is off the charts!"

"The readings... the readings are climbing exponentially!"

Zhao Dingbang strode up to the screen.

He watched the curves shoot straight upward, the muscles in his face twitching.

It's here!

The Spiritual Energy Revival!