Chapter 532: The World Rift
Chapter 532: The World Rift
At 12:17 a.m. on April 22nd, numerous Resonance Realm technicians from various companies, along with their hired Resonators, began infiltrating government platforms to gather information.
The Central City government, in turn, had a large number of Resonators to counter these actions, leading to an intense Realm Aura offensive and defensive battle.
However, even without the Hive Mother's Realm Aura to borrow, the government, backed by its absolute resources and home-field advantage, managed to maintain control of the situation.
The only issue was that the Realm Aura offense and defense had occupied a significant portion of the Realm communication resources, causing many areas on the light screens to display intermittent gaps, indicating temporary loss of Realm signals and incomplete monitoring during those times.
The female assistant placed her hand on the Interdimensional Connector, as if listening to something. After a while, she raised her head and said, "Commissioner, the Government Hall has requested the Defense Department to deploy more Inactive Consciousnesses."
Commissioner Liang replied, "It's not time yet. Reject their request."
This was only the first split of the Hive Mother, and it was far from the most uncontrollable moment. He intended to use these spare Inactive Consciousnesses at the most critical time.
For now, the various companies were merely testing the waters, and none had sent out personnel to seize the split bodies. So, just an hour later, the Emergency Response Teams in each area located and retrieved the first wave of split bodies.
The Sentinel's voice promptly sounded, "After confirmation, the first wave of split bodies has been captured, with none missing."
Hearing this, the people in the command hall slightly relaxed, as this was a good start.
Commissioner Liang maintained his solemn expression, knowing that it was still too early to relax. Initially, the Hive Mother's split bodies were relatively few, only numbering in the single digits.
The most likely locations of these bodies had been estimated in advance by the Central City, and with no major obstacles, they were able to act swiftly.
However, the situation would change in the upcoming waves. As the waves progressed, the number of split bodies from the Hive Mother would gradually increase, making it impossible to manage all areas simultaneously. Inevitably, the situation would become less controllable, and the chaos would intensify as time went on.
Another issue requiring attention was that even if the split bodies were captured individually, the world rifts that had spread due to the Hive Mother's splitting and breeding would not disappear.
This meant they would need to assign personnel or guards near each rift, which would further stretch their resources.
Once certain companies and power groups had gathered enough data, they would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to capture the split bodies, and that would be when the real battle would begin.
At this moment, an internal administrative staff member approached him, saluted, and handed over a document.
Commissioner Liang took the document, which was a report from the Sentinel, estimating that the third wave of split bodies would exceed twenty, and the number would continue to increase in subsequent waves.
This was inevitable. To reduce the impact of concentrated and intense fluctuations, the large split bodies were modulated, resulting in a larger number of relatively smaller entities. However, the increased number also brought another challenge: the retrieval process became more complicated and difficult.
He hoped that the preparations made beforehand would be sufficient to handle the upcoming situation.
An hour and a half passed quickly, and by 1:39 a.m., the Hive Mother underwent its second split, producing nine split bodies. The Sentinel immediately provided accurate locations and estimated retrieval times.
This wave went smoothly, and the peripheral Realm Aura battle continued, but the frequency of offense and defense had significantly decreased compared to before.
This was not because the other side had given up; instead, the companies and groups had gradually obtained the information they needed. After all, besides information theft, the various forces had informants in each area who could gather intelligence through manual observation.
At 2:20 a.m., the second wave retrieval was complete.
Commissioner Liang rubbed the sides of his nose bridge and saw the female assistant offering him a cup of tea, which he accepted with a word of thanks.
He glanced at the time, and the third wave was scheduled for 3:25 a.m.
He spoke in a deep voice, "In the third wave, the Hive Mother will enter a turbulent phase, and the peripheral Realm Aura will completely fail. Those hidden entities will emerge." He took a sip of tea and asked, "Have you sensed anything on your side?"
The female assistant shook her head.
Commissioner Liang gazed at the steam rising from the teacup, your Honor?
Commissioner Liang looked at the tea cup and spoke slowly, "It seems they are hiding something. We need to be patient."
On the sea surface of Ying Lu District's port, a ship that had been sailing near the coast was now docking.
Gong Ying Changxiu, along with his fellow members of the Wind Forest Pavilion, stood on the ship's deck, their long swords at their waists. Behind them, the clouds glowed like a late sunset, and the sea breeze blew their ancient combat costumes, making them flutter.
Gong Ying Changxiu closed his eyes and felt his spirit become more active. After his visit to the Ghost Gate, he was now about to step into the Heaven Gate.
After a while, he opened his eyes and said, "Guan Shangjing, there's a duel awaiting me. Let's part ways here."
Guan Shangjing bowed deeply to Gong Ying Changxiu and said, "I'm counting on you."
Gong Ying Changxiu turned around and solemnly returned the bow. Then, he led his fellow Wind Forest Pavilion members off the ship and boarded the vehicles that were already waiting at the pier, heading towards the Central City's main district.
At this moment, inside the West Hui Opera House, Astrid donned a set of knight armor and equipped herself with specially prepared special assault tools.
This set of gear was provided by the Poren Corporation, and both the armor and weapons were crafted from unique materials, perfectly matching her abilities.
As she was checking her equipment, a voice came from behind.
"Atis..."
Astrid turned around.
A woman in black armor leaned against a pillar, her black hair and eyes matching the dramatic portrayal of a female knight, Sigrid. Despite her armored attire, she had arrived silently.
Sigrid spoke, "Atis, the company has assigned me to assist you. I'll be your Seeker."
"Sigrid, can I trust you?" Astrid looked into her dark eyes and said, "After all, we've fought so many times, I've lost count."
"Of course, who else can you trust but me?" Sigrid flashed a playful smile.
Astrid smiled, picked up the helmet from the table, and put it on. She joked, "A knight may not trust, but I'm a shepherdess."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and lowered the faceplate.
Then, she took the spear leaning against the table, and with a swift motion, it shrunk into a short spear, which she then attached to her back.
"All set, everything's ready."
She took a few steps forward, extended her hand, and high-fived Sigrid. "Sigrid, let's go." Then, she strode out with the sound of her footsteps echoing behind her.
Sigrid turned and followed silently, watching her for a moment before putting on her own helmet.
An hour passed quickly, and the Hive Mother's third split arrived as expected.
This time, unlike before, the disturbance was immense. First, there were slight earthquakes in various areas of Central City, followed by the sudden expansion of cracks in the sky, creating branch-like fissures extending outward.
At the edges of these cracks, powdery crimson-colored objects fell like sand, as if the entire sky had turned into a mirror about to shatter.
As this state persisted, streaks of lightning-like light emerged from within, accompanied by rumbling sounds that spread to the surroundings. Within the fissures, something seemed to be approaching.
Chen Chuan, who had been meditating, suddenly opened his eyes.
In that instant, he felt his spirit had connected with a world.
He immediately understood.
The Heaven Gate... was open! Without hesitation, he activated the Spirit Illumination Technique, and a cool and refreshing sensation permeated his spirit. However, at the same time, a foreign presence also entered.
He recognized it as the 'Heavenly Impurity' that Teacher Xue had mentioned.
To deal with this, he needed to absorb the essence while simultaneously dispelling and eliminating it.
But doing so would undoubtedly distract his spirit. If he could focus entirely, the efficiency would undoubtedly increase.
He tried to let his second self endure this, and in an instant, a faint dematerialization effect appeared on his second self, and he was no longer affected by the intrusion.
But then, he felt something else. There was still a barrier above, blocking more essence from reaching him.
It was like sand slowly trickling through an hourglass, or a trickling stream. Even if he could ignore the intrusion, it still required more effort to search for the essence.
To change this situation, he had to follow Teacher Xue's advice and elevate his spirit upwards.
He slowly raised the Snow Lady Saber in his hand.
Only through constant combat could he elevate his spirit, allowing it to penetrate deep enough to leave a mark.
But he had more to do. He wanted to use this opportunity to push his second self to the third limit.
By doing so, not only would his combat power increase, but his spiritual power would undoubtedly become more abundant.
Next, he needed to find a sufficiently strong opponent.
Inside the command center, the atmosphere was tenser than before. Multiple emergency forces encountered obstacles and engaged in firefights with unknown forces, making progress difficult.
Despite their communication advantages, the situation remained uncertain.
At that moment, the sentinel issued a warning: "Report, a large rift has been detected in the near-shore area of Riverbank District and is continuing to expand."
"Near-shore area?"
Liang, the commissioner, focused intently and immediately instructed, "Bring up the footage."
The light screen flickered, revealing a beach. In the distance, the ocean waves surged, but now there was a vast rift, its misty interior obscuring the view. However, they could hear rumbling sounds.
Those were... thunderclaps? As the mist gradually retreated, the silhouettes within became clearer, and finally, the crowd saw what was approaching and gasped in surprise.
They were cavalry, fully armored and mounted, with flags fluttering in their midst.
"This is... the Old Imperial Court's Armored Cavalry!"
...
...
(End of Chapter)
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