Chaotic Situation!

White Eagle Country, Office of the President.

The blond president's eyes were bloodshot, like a crazed beast.

He grabbed a priceless antique vase from the desk and hurled it viciously at the world map on the wall, sending shards flying everywhere.

"Damn it!"

"Can anyone tell me what the hell those beasts have gone crazy for?"

His roar echoed through the empty room.

The defense minister's legs went weak as he repeatedly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

"Mr. President."

"We have deployed the National Guard and even mobilized armored divisions."

"But... the targets are all scattered throughout densely populated civilian areas."

"Heavy weapons simply cannot be used on a large scale."

"Otherwise, the civilian casualties would be even greater than those caused by the monsters."

"As for light weapons..."

"They can't even kill ordinary mutated stray dogs."

The defense minister swallowed, his voice trembling.

"Useless!"

The president rushed forward and grabbed the defense minister by the collar.

"What are taxpayers feeding you idiots for?"

"Contact Dragon Country immediately!"

"Why is everything so calm over there?"

"Satellite footage shows that their cities haven't even had a proper riot!"

"They must have received intelligence in advance!"

The intelligence director timidly handed over a document.

"Dragon Country's official response is..."

"They are conducting nationwide drills for pest and disease prevention, as well as stray animal shelters."

"Bullshit!"

The president tore the document to pieces in a furious rage.

"What kind of damn pest control requires deploying a million field troops to catch stray cats and dogs?"

"Investigate immediately!"

"Find out exactly what secret Dragon Country has!"

"Even if we have to activate our deepest undercover agents, steal that intelligence for me!"

They had no idea.

The information gap was the deadliest weapon of all.

Thanks to the arrangements made by Dragon Country's upper echelons half a year in advance.

This initial disaster, one capable of destroying human civilization, had been smothered in its cradle.

The scene returned to Dragon Country.

The morning sun was still warm as it shone over the bustling streets.

Elderly men and women carried reusable shopping bags, arguing their case at the morning market over a few cents in vegetable prices.

Office workers bit into soy milk and fried dough sticks as they hurried into the subway station.

The city operated as usual.

As though the Spiritual Energy Tide at dawn had never descended upon this ancient land.

Yet on the invisible battlefield of the internet, raging waves had long since erupted.

The servers of every major social media platform were pushed to their limits, nearly crushed by the surge in traffic.

The top ten trending topics, without exception, were all dominated by the same kind of subject.

[A half-meter-long giant rat appeared in an upscale residential complex and was precisely eliminated by a military squad]

[The neighbor's golden retriever grew as large as a Tibetan mastiff overnight and was taken away directly by military truck]

[Nationwide synchronized military exercises—what is really happening?]

Netizens hammered frantically at their keyboards.

They continuously exchanged all sorts of unbelievable rumors in the comment sections.

"Holy shit, I swear on my honor, I definitely wasn't seeing things!"

"Last night, a stray orange cat downstairs from my building slapped the security metal gate so hard it caved in!"

"What happened afterward? It didn't hurt anyone, did it?"

"Hurt someone, my ass!"

"The moment that orange cat started going wild, three soldiers jumped straight out of the landscaping nearby."

"Their moves were just like something out of a martial arts novel. They pinned the cat to the ground in just a few moves!"

"This is terrifying. What exactly happened?"

"..."

Panic spread across the internet.

Until a Dragon Country student studying in White Eagle Country posted a voice video that sounded as though he was crying.

The footage shook violently.

Beyond the window were streets blazing with fire, and faintly audible were bloodcurdling sounds of tearing and biting.

"Help!"

"Brothers and sisters back home, stop talking about your little problems!"

"This place is the real hell!"

"The foreigner next door was swallowed whole by the lizard he'd raised for three years!"

"The streets are covered in severed limbs! Police bullets can't kill those monsters at all!"

"I want to go home!"

The moment this video came out, the entire internet was in an uproar.

The netizens who had still been voicing complaints collectively fell silent at once.

Before everyone could recover from their shock.

Dragon Country's official media suddenly released a joint announcement.

Bold, blood-red text dominated every major news portal.

[Emergency Notice]

[Effective immediately, nationwide.]

[No one is permitted, for any reason, to enter deep mountains, dense forests, nature reserves, or undeveloped wilderness areas!]

[Residents of coastal cities are strictly forbidden from entering the sea for private work!]

[The military has established cordons around all dangerous areas. Anyone who defies orders and forces their way through will bear the consequences!]

The announcement had no comment section.

Only cold, impersonal regulations.

This completely ignited the netizens.

"Holy shit, this is for real?"

"Obviously. Haven't you seen how the foreign countries have turned into complete chaos?"

"I get it! No wonder military vehicles have been moving around everywhere these past few months."

"The country is protecting us!"

"Stop making wild guesses. Staying in the city and not causing trouble for the country is the greatest contribution we can make."

Although public speculation remained rampant.

All kinds of apocalypse theories kept emerging.

But because Dragon Country's government had displayed absolute force and swift, decisive measures.

Social order not only did not collapse, but became more united than ever.

A sense of security was the strongest foundation this country gave its people.

Two days later.

Southwest Military Region, Command Center.

The air was thick with the smell of tobacco.

More than a dozen senior military officials with stars on their shoulders stared intently at the enormous holographic projection screen before them.

Satellite surveillance footage.

There was none of the city's bustle here, only the most primitive slaughter.

Deep within Mount Emei and Mount Qingcheng.

The scenes were so gruesome that no one could bear to watch.

An enormous mutated wild boar was madly ramming a towering tree.

A mutated giant python as thick as a water barrel was coiled in the canopy.

The giant python suddenly shot out and tightly wrapped itself around the boar's body.

The crisp crack of shattering bones.

Even without sound through the screen, it made their scalps tingle.

The boar let out a miserable scream.

The giant python opened its bloody maw and began swallowing its prey alive.

Devouring.

Evolution.

In the early stages of the Spiritual Energy Revival.

In order to obtain more energy, the animals followed the most primitive laws of the jungle without restraint.

And this was not the only place.

The entire screen was divided into more than a hundred smaller displays.

Every single one showed bloody scenes of creatures slaughtering their own kind and battling across species.

After devouring their opponents' flesh and blood, those mutated creatures visibly swelled in size, and the aura around them grew even more ferocious.

"They're a bunch of lunatics."

"This rate of evolution completely defies biological common sense."

A major general clenched his teeth, his fists cracking loudly.

Zhao Dingbang stood at the front, his expression dark as water.

He took a hard drag from his cigarette, then viciously crushed the butt into the ashtray.

"Switch to the feed from Satellite Three."

"Lock onto Mount Emei's main peak and zoom in."

The holographic screen switched at once.

The image froze on a steep cliff.

The breathing in the command room suddenly grew heavier.

It was an outrageously huge macaque.

No.

Calling it a macaque was practically an insult to it.

It stood over seven meters tall, its entire body covered in dark golden fur.

Under the sunlight, that fur glimmered with the cold, hard sheen of metal, as though it wore a suit of heavy armor.

Each of its massive arms was thicker than an adult man's waist.

At that moment.

The giant ape was holding an adult mutated tiger in its hand.

The tiger struggled madly in its grip like a helpless cub.

Crack!

The giant ape suddenly tightened its grip and crushed the tiger's spine.

Bathed in the spraying beast blood, it threw back its head and let out a soundless roar.