I will burn books and slay gods.

Before dawn had fully pierced the horizon, the iron-gray armored convoy had already roared across the wilderness for three hours, like a giant steel python, winding its way toward the city of a thousand towers that was shrouded in shadow.

The car body bounced violently on the uneven road surface, and the metallic friction and engine roar created a monotonous and suffocating background sound.

At the very end of the convoy, in the rear compartment of the last armored vehicle, Chen Ye was alone.

He leaned against the cold, hard bulkhead, his eyes closed, his face so calm that it seemed out of place amidst the tremors emanating from the surrounding armored vehicles.

He could vaguely hear the hushed conversations of the other Night Watchers in the carriage ahead, the metallic clanging of weapons being checked, and the tense breathing that couldn't be completely concealed, but none of this could disturb him in the slightest.

His consciousness had already sunk into another dimension.

Within Huang's divine consciousness space, there remained an endless silence and a sense of ancient desolation.

Chen Ye's consciousness floated beneath the divine tree that seemed to support the heavens and the earth, while Huang, that ancient god, stood atop the gnarled roots, his robes fluttering without wind, his gaze piercing through the boundaries of the divine consciousness space, directed toward a distant and heavy future.

"Chen Ye," Huang's voice rang out, unlike its usual grandeur or remoteness, now carrying a rare, almost frozen seriousness, "Time is running out. You are heading not just to a mission location, but to the center of a calamity. This time, danger is imminent, almost... unavoidable."

Chen Ye's mind suddenly tensed, and his consciousness fluctuated slightly.

Huang slowly turned around, his eyes, brimming with the brilliance of a galaxy, staring directly at Chen Ye: "Regarding this impending disaster, we—you and I—have something far more urgent to accomplish than simply reacting. What I'm about to tell you may only be a few words to you, a few prophetic fragments, but they..."

Huang paused, each word seeming to carry a thousand pounds of weight, striking Chen Ye's mind:

"It is the 'key' that can save your life and even turn the tide. Remember, it is not a guide, but a 'rule' that you must follow."

"This battle..." Huang's gaze once again turned to the distance, to the future stained with blood and darkness, a future that even the divine sense space could not fully reflect. "The extent of its devastation can perhaps only be described in two words."

Chen Ye's consciousness felt a cold throbbing from the depths of his soul.

"—Shocking."

Three hours ago, downstairs in Morning Star District 36.

Chen Ye resolutely walked down the stairs with the intention of carrying out orders, but unexpectedly saw two familiar figures who should not have been in front of the expedition team—Lin Su and Wang Xiaoming.

In that instant, surprise even lessened the heaviness in his heart.

Did the dean change his mind and allow them to go along as well?

However, as he approached, the subtle, barely concealed trembling and reddened eyes instantly made him understand.

They didn't come to accompany us; they came to say goodbye.

Lin Su's eyes were brimming with tears, as if they would burst at any moment, but she bit her lip tightly, stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

Wang Xiaoming stood ramrod straight, like a javelin, but her clenched fists and slightly white knuckles betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

Her gaze was sharply fixed on Chen Ye, her lips moved a few times, but in the end she only uttered a few stiff words:

"Come back alive."

Every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a command, but also an unspeakable plea.

The atmosphere was so heavy it almost crushed people.

Chen Ye wanted to say something—to comfort, to reassure, or to say a lighthearted goodbye—but his throat felt like it was blocked by something.

Lin Su's trembling became more and more obvious, and she looked like she was about to break down.

"Chen Ye! Prepare to board the train!"

Just then, Old Li's rough shouts came from the convoy ahead, piercing the stagnant air and breaking this heartbreaking moment of farewell.

Perhaps, this cry was a relief for Lin Su and Wang Xiaoming as well.

Chen Ye gave them a deep look, etching their images into his heart, then resolutely turned and walked toward the designated armored vehicle.

He opened the car door and looked back one last time—

Lin Su abruptly turned her face away, her shoulders twitching slightly.

Wang Xiaoming continued to stare intently at him, his jawline taut, as if trying to imprint his image into his soul.

The car door closed, isolating the inside from the outside.

The engine started, and a deep roar filled the air.

Armored vehicles, like awakened steel behemoths, drove out of the front gate of Morning Star District 36 one after another, rolling over the stone-paved road and rushing toward the horizon painted by the rosy dawn and the unknown haze.

Everyone was aware of the significance of this trip.

Before setting off, the last live footage received on the large screen in the strategy room, from the city's watchdogs in Thousand Towers, had already cast a shadow of frost over everyone's hearts.

That was no longer a sporadic incursion of Nightmare Beasts, but... a Nightmare Beast tide that blotted out the sky.

The energy level indicators flashing wildly in the screen mostly point to a despairing number—level seven, or even higher!

That is a terrifying force capable of destroying cities and fortresses, rendering conventional defenses ineffective.

Inside the armored command vehicle leading the convoy, Wang Tiankuo sat upright.

His face was resolute, and his sharp eyes scanned the constantly updated intelligence and convoy status screens.

As the supreme commander of this mission, he must bury all doubts and anxieties deep in his heart and demonstrate absolute composure and authority.

The fleeting glimpse of the Nightmare Beasts gathering like dark clouds above Thousand Towers City on the screen made his heart skip a beat; it was a sight he had never encountered in his military career.

How to deal with it? He had no answer, only responsibility.

Just last night, as he was losing sleep over the mission and repeatedly considering all the possibilities, an unexpected visitor quietly appeared in his room.

Eternal spiritual body, supreme yang divine nature.

The supreme being didn't exchange many pleasantries. Instead, in a calm yet unquestionable tone, he assigned someone to join the mission. The name he gave Wang Tiankuo, while startling him, also made him feel an unfathomable heaviness.

At that moment, Wang Tiankuo's gaze involuntarily drifted to the indicator light of a certain encrypted channel in the vehicle's communication system, which was connected to a car at the end of the convoy.

He withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and refocused his attention on the purgatory journey codenamed "Thousand Towers" that was constantly approaching him.

There's one hour left to reach our destination.

In the last carriage, Chen Ye remained with his eyes closed, deep in thought.

Chen Ye carefully considered Huang's response. He firmly believed that Huang's words were not casual. Since Huang was giving him a serious warning, it meant that this mission would definitely be very difficult!

The armored vehicle continued its bumpy journey towards the city of a thousand towers, which was completely swallowed by shadows.