The memories of all humanity are awakening, except for mine.

After the drone took off, the stone giant's body became clearly visible on the screen. The body, which was indistinguishable from the viewer's perspective, became incredibly realistic from an overhead view. Even lying there motionless, it exuded a tremendous sense of oppression, making one feel breathless.

Even the top four teams, such as Cao Zhigang and Chen Yufei, looked solemn because of this.

Zhu Chengzhu was still muttering something to himself.

"Why did I think of just driving straight there? It's really weird."

"If this thing moves, it'll probably crush us guys..."

As the driver and technician, he bore a great deal of responsibility. Of course, he was also the one operating the drone at this moment.

From above, the stone giant lay on its side on the relatively flat ground in the mountains, its back facing them from the group's perspective. To the survey team, it appeared as if they were looking at a cliff face ranging from one to thirty meters high.

Although the Kunlun Mountains are continuous, there are not many trees, and there is no vegetation on the stone giant's body... It just lies on its side in the mountains, among the footprints of the beast tide.

Amidst Zhu Chengzhu's muttering, Fang Yi suddenly asked with an uncertain tone:
Does this thing need... to rest?

Cao Zhigang raised an eyebrow: "This is a stone. What's there to rest about?"

Fang Yi then said, "So that means... it's not a threat for the time being?"

Zhong Huahua shook her head: "I can still sense the fluctuations in mental energy, so I can't be sure there's no threat."

Fang Yi was one of the participants in the Qingshan Tang Tomb incident a few months ago. He knew very well who Zhong Huahua's awakened memories belonged to, so he naturally trusted her regarding the matter of mental power detection. However, at this moment, he stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

Fang Yi's voice fell, but Tang Songming's voice, filled with surprise and uncertainty, immediately followed:

"Gentlemen, look at the giant's feet!"

"This thing is actually..."

"Legless!?"

Zhu Chengzhu's muttering stopped abruptly. He immediately operated the drone, zoomed in on a section of the camera, and looked at the legs of the reclining giant.

Upon seeing this, everyone's expressions changed.

As Tang, Song, and Ming said, this stone giant... has no feet.

The stone giant's legs were directly connected to the ground, as if they were growing out of the ground.

Chen Yufei nodded silently, somewhat surprised: "No wonder it didn't make a sound..."

"That's how it is?"

Wu Zhen suddenly said, "But why is it lying here motionless?"

Cao Zhiqiang was naturally deep in thought as well, and his furrowed brows spoke volumes.

But this didn't stop him from speaking: "That's exactly why we need to investigate."

He paused slightly, then said, "Alright, the three of us, the fourth-ranked officers, will go and investigate up close. You all wait here."

"Once that thing makes a move, Lao Zhu, you take them and leave first."

Zhu Chengzhu and another fourth-grade student, Chen Yufei, had just nodded when Wu Zhen protested, "I want to go too!"

Boom!
The loud thud came from Cao Zhigang's powerful punch, violently shattering Wu Zhen's demands.

But as soon as the sound faded, Zhong Huahua said, "I'll go with you."

This soft yet firm voice left the Cao Zhigang and Cao Zhiqiang brothers somewhat puzzled and taken aback.

Cao Zhigang frowned: "You're going?"

Zhong Huahua nodded: "None of you three are mentalists, so I can be of some help in this regard."

"If we're going to escape, I won't be slower."

Although Zhong Huahua was ranked as B-level after the training, her mental strength and ability to use it were undoubtedly extremely close to A-level.

However, as former teachers and current team leaders, Cao Zhigang and Cao Zhiqiang were naturally unwilling to let Zhong Huahua take the risk. But before they could say anything, they heard Chen Yufei's voice from beside them:

“That makes sense. Then the four of us will go together.”

……

Just as Zhong Huahua and the others began to investigate the stone giant.

Fighting against the beast tide is underway in various places.

Liu Yi met Zhang Beishan in the Xingan Mountains, but they barely exchanged words before throwing themselves into the battlefield.

It was January, and the temperature in the Xing'an Mountains had already reached minus forty degrees Celsius. In this extreme cold, the awakened beasts were far more ferocious than those in the southern forests. And it wasn't just the beasts; all sorts of strange things were also frequently happening in the Xing'an Mountains…

The awakening of the northern beasts is somewhat different from that in the south. Besides their strength and abilities, they also possess an air of malevolence. This undoubtedly presents a series of severe tests for the various teams heading towards the Xing'an Mountains.

……

The Confucian scholar Qi Shucheng witnessed countless wondrous sights and heard countless divine sounds in Penglai, and these extraordinary phenomena seemed to be spreading ever more widely with the passage of time. Undoubtedly, since January 1st, this place seemed poised to give rise to even more astonishing phenomena…

More and more soldiers from the Third Rank and the Ministry of War have arrived in Penglai to set up camp, and new gadgets from the Ministry of War's Research Institute and its technology team are being introduced one after another. If Jiang Chuan were here, he would recognize many of these prototypes; he had seen them before. For example, the strange firearms he used to rescue him in Qingshan, and the portable instrument used to test mental energy fields in Qingshan back then…

There are countless command vehicles parked in Penglai...

Qi Shucheng was on a mission to exterminate a strange beast. He held a writing brush he'd dug up from the Confucius Temple, having just killed a deer radiating multicolored light. Records indicated this was an auspicious sign, yet it was now attacking humans. The situation was dire, and Qi Shucheng heard that something even worse was about to happen…

It is said that the problems on Mount Tai are more serious than those on Penglai.

He looked at the divine deer lying on the ground, its five colors gradually fading, and silently thought to himself, "It can't be that it's going to destroy the world, can it?"

……

Sichuan, Wawu Mountain.

The young monk Shi Shan was leading his group deeper into Wawu Mountain. The situation in Wawu Mountain was somewhat different from other places; the strange beasts had not formed a beast tide. The main problem here lay within Wawu Mountain itself.

Wawu Mountain is known as the Heavenly Terrace on Earth. During the Qing Dynasty, it was called the Open Plateau. Its summit is incredibly flat, resembling a giant tree stump. It is unknown what force severed that exaggerated giant tree, leaving behind such an exaggerated "tree stump".

Meanwhile, Mount Wawu was emitting a hazy glow. From a great distance, one could see beams of light scattering into the sky from the giant "tree stump," then falling back down after reaching a height of a thousand meters... This light formed the shape of the giant tree.

Because technological means are completely unavailable, Shi Shan's team is cautiously approaching Wawu Mountain on foot.

Fortunately, the Wawushan Scenic Area is developing well, and they are currently moving along the tourist boardwalk.

Shi Shan would occasionally stop and look up at Wawu Mountain in the distance, gazing at the mysterious light. His firm and clear eyes would sometimes reveal a hint of fear and apprehension.

He knew that his team wasn't the only one entering Wawu Mountain at the same time.

There were quite a few teams that set off together at that time.

But they hadn't seen any of their fellow travelers for a long time.

Who will survive and reach the summit?

……

Another area in Sichuan has been designated as a "desperate situation" by the authorities and the Ministry of War.

This place is called Sanxingdui.

A calm figure sat listlessly at the now-deserted archaeological excavation site, a solitary lamp placed beside him as he sat cross-legged.

He stared into the abyss, seemingly merging into the deep darkness.

Jia Shang has returned to the civilized world via the sea route, but once again he remains here, serving as the last gatekeeper against the potential impact of another civilization.

...various coastal areas.

The garrison fortifications are under construction at a rapid pace.

In the organization's documents, this massive construction project, which would completely isolate the coastal areas, was called "Project New Great Wall." It was not simply about isolating the mainland from the ocean, but about establishing mental energy exploration radar stations to do everything possible to keep danger out of the civilized world.

But everyone knows that the dangers of the deep sea will not be truly eliminated as a result.

There's really not much we can do right now.

……

Our gaze returns to the ruins of the Kunlun Command Center.

Li Yi and the others were still searching for survivors in the ruins.

The Kunlun command center houses far more than a thousand people, making the search and rescue mission extremely difficult. Even with dozens of awakened individuals conducting the search, progress could not be accelerated. The work was tedious and monotonous, and the psychological pressure was immense; the gruesome sight of the dead was horrifying.

Although these dozens of people were a lot, they appeared scattered and disorganized amidst the vast ruins of the command center...

But only a dozen or so people were standing very close together.

Wearing a mask, Tian Tian straightened up and said with an unpleasant look in her eyes, "I should have learned from Wu Zhen."

Li Yi heard it but did not respond, continuing to work at her own pace.

Lin Ci said, "Don't complain."

"That was an opportunity that Wu Zhen earned through his own methods."

Tian Tian scoffed, "What method? Are you shameless?"

Liang Cheng suddenly straightened up and looked around in surprise.

Tian Tian was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Liang Cheng, you think I'm right too, right?"

Liang Cheng shook his head, his brows gradually furrowing:
"No."

"..."

He paused, as if searching for something. He quickly found his direction and pointed far to the west of the command center.

"there……"

"what is that?"

The expressions of the group suddenly changed, and Li Yi also stopped what she was doing, straightened up, and looked in the direction Liang Cheng was pointing.

Noticing the sudden stiffening of the bodies of the students in the class not far away, Cheng Shu, Lu Ming, and the others also looked over there.

They were initially confused and didn't know why.

Lu Ming wanted to ask a question, but he immediately froze as soon as he opened his mouth.

Because once you look over there, there's no need to ask any more questions.

A cloud of dust was rolling in from between the mountains.

That is……

Beast tide.

The source is unknown, and the reason is unknown.

Although the sky was clear and blue, the rolling waves of air created an immense pressure, as if the sky were collapsing.

Lin Ci, as the temporary leader of this team, was the first to react.

"The West! A beast tide!"

"All groups, prepare to leave!"

"To reiterate, the western beast tide is approaching our position! All teams, prepare for immediate evacuation!"

The various search and rescue teams at the Kunlun Command Center responded immediately.

The people of Qing City immediately ran towards the evacuation point.

Although we had been warned that we might still encounter a beast tide, it still felt unexpected when it actually happened.

Without any warning or notification, the beast tide had already reached a point where it was visible to the naked eye!
This means they have at most ten minutes to prepare for evacuation!

While rushing towards the evacuation point, Lin Ci slowed down and came to Liang Cheng's side: "How did you sense it just now?"

"Did it...appear suddenly?"

Liang Cheng paused for a moment upon hearing the question, then suddenly frowned.

Lin Ci was also puzzled by Liang Cheng's reaction. Was it a "sudden" appearance? There should be a clear answer to that. But why was Liang Cheng reacting like this?
Just as they were leaving...

At a temporary airfield 100 kilometers away from the command center, several fighter jets and more than a dozen helicopters have already taken off.

The bombardment of the rampaging beast horde will begin in a few minutes!

……

at the same time.

Yanjing.

A figure wrapped in tattered cloth and wearing a hood was walking on the busy sidewalk, completely covering his face.

He seemed to have been walking for a long time; his steps were slow, and he appeared extremely weak.

When he reaches a fork in the road, he will stop for a while, close his eyes and look around, before taking another step forward.

In January, the temperature in Yanjing was below -10 degrees Celsius, yet this man was dressed sparsely. The piece of cloth, resembling a bed sheet and with tears in it, was clearly insufficient for warmth. Such an unusual sight would easily attract attention, but it seemed no one noticed him. On the crowded sidewalks, the man walked like a lost soul, as if an invisible barrier separated him from the world.

At this moment, the young man, who had been steadily walking towards the light in his mind, suddenly stopped.

Why go there?

He asked a question.

A hint of confusion flashed in his eyes. It seemed that after crawling out of the ruins, he was in a daze and only wanted to go in one direction, but he still didn't know why he wanted to go or why he wanted to go.

But the confusion in his eyes quickly disappeared.

Instead……

His gaze hardened once again.

Because he had nowhere to go.

It's not just that there's nowhere to go.

He didn't even know his own name.

As he prepared to take another step forward, he suddenly stopped and reached out to catch a snowflake.

He looked up and watched the scattered snowflakes flutter and fall.

And this face that finally peeked out from under the hood...

Exactly the same as Jiang Chuan. (End of Chapter)