I will burn books and slay gods.

There are three objectives.

The instructor pulled up a map: "Pollution treatment plant, old TV tower, children's hospital. The cult will activate these three nodes simultaneously during the peak of the thunderstorm, forming a triangular conceptual field covering the entire city."

"Once the field is completed, the entire city will fall into 'rule chaos'—the laws of physics will partially fail, Nightmares will roam freely, and ordinary people will suffer a massive cognitive collapse."

She looked at everyone: "Our mission is to destroy at least two nodes before the field is completed. The more nodes we destroy, the more unstable the field will become, and it may even backfire on the cult itself."

"Troop allocation?" Jian Dun asked in a low voice.

"We'll split into three groups," Instructor Guichi said. "Chen Ye, Lin Su, Wang Xiaoming, and I will be in charge of the children's hospital—it's the most complex there, requiring a combination of cognitive abilities and combat skills."

"Shield and Echo, take three people to the pollution treatment plant and solidify the concept to resist the possible spread of pollution."

"Zhiwang and the remaining two went to the TV tower to establish a connection network and interfere with signal transmission."

"Specific tactics?" Echo asked.

"The situation is different for each node." The instructor pulled up the detailed information.

"The cult is likely cultivating 'pollution-type Nightmares' at the pollution treatment plant, using water systems to spread toxins. Shield, your solidification ability is key; you must create a 'purification isolation zone'."

"The TV tower is a signal amplifier. The cult will use it to cover the entire city with its conceptual field. To create a network, you need to build a 'conceptual jamming network' in reverse, preventing their signals from spreading out."

"Children's Hospital..."

The ruler instructor paused for a moment, then said, "This is the most difficult one!"

"The cult established a 'horror breeding chamber' in the hospital's basement, using children's fears as energy to cultivate a special kind of nightmare—'childhood nightmare'."

"This nightmare can absorb and amplify human fear, and because its source is a child, its conceptual structure is pure and powerful, making it difficult to purify using conventional methods."

She looked at Chen Ye: "Your cognitive abilities are the only possible means to directly dismantle the 'Childhood Nightmare.' But the risk is extremely high—you have to delve into the source of fear and confront the purest negative emotions."

Chen Ye nodded: "Understood."

"There's another problem," Wang Xiaoming raised his hand, "What if the cult discovers we've split up and concentrates its forces to attack one of our routes?"

"Good question."

The instructor pulled up another screen, a city concept flow diagram provided by "Venetian Blinds." "The cult also needs manpower to maintain the operation of the three nodes. Based on energy distribution analysis, their manpower is also divided into three groups, each with roughly equal strength. But..."

She magnified the energy readings at the children's hospital: "The energy accumulates fastest here, and there's a special 'high concentration point'—it could be a cult leader, or even the 'short circuit' itself. So the group at the children's hospital will face the strongest resistance."

"Should we still go?" Lin Su frowned.

"We must go," Chen Ye said. "If the 'Child Nightmare' is successfully cultivated, even if the other two nodes are destroyed, it can still cause a huge disaster on its own. And the children... we can't abandon them."

The meeting fell into a brief silence.

"That's settled then." Instructor Gui turned off the projector. "Now everyone get ready, check your equipment, and we'll depart in two hours."

"Remember, we must complete the task before the thunderstorm reaches its peak. The window of opportunity is very narrow; once it's missed..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood.

If we miss this opportunity, this city might be finished.

Preparation time.

Chen Ye was checking his belongings in the equipment room.

Books, notebooks, cognitive anchor cards, monitoring devices... and the pattern of that flame pendant, which Lin Su just drew for him.

"Wear this," she said. "If you encounter overwhelming fear, remember... you are not alone."

Chen Ye carefully put away the pattern, then took out the new thing Lao Li had given him—a pair of specially made glasses.

"A cognitive amplifier," Lao Li explained, "can help you 'see' conceptual structures more clearly and can also provide a certain degree of cognitive protection. But don't rely on it; it's just a tool."

Chen Ye put on the glasses and tried them on.

The world appeared...layered in my field of vision.

Beneath the surface of reality, he could see flowing conceptual colors—the “stability” of buildings was pale gold, the “growth” of things was green, and particles of people’s “emotions” floated in the air, like colorful dust.

"It's very interesting," he said.

"It's tiring too," Old Li warned. "Using it for a long time will deplete your cognitive abilities. Use it sparingly."

On the other hand, Lin Su was adjusting her flame.

The new cognitive blueprint allowed her to control the flames more precisely. Now she can separate flames of different properties—a pale white for purification, a golden white for combat, and... a warm, orange flame, which she calls the "Guardian Flame," which consumes a lot of energy but provides strong protection.

Wang Xiaoming is sorting out his cause-and-effect relationship.

After sorting out his causal load, he can now maintain fifty stable connections or five high-intensity temporary weaves simultaneously.

He decided to bring a small server to store the connection data, thus reducing the burden on his brain.

The instructors are preparing the space beacon.

This mission required rapid movement, so she created multiple one-time beacons that could instantly teleport the squad to a designated location, but each could only be used once.

Two hours passed quickly.

The nine people gathered in front of the gate of Morning Star Hospital.

The sky had darkened, and distant thunder rumbled. The air smelled of rain and ozone.

A heavy rain is coming.

"Final check." Instructor Guidance scanned the group. "Equipment, communications, evacuation routes. Any questions, speak now."

No one spoke.

"Then let's go."

The three groups of people boarded the vehicles separately and drove in three different directions.

Chen Ye sat in the car, watching the city rushing past outside the window.

Pedestrians hurried along the street, all wanting to get home before the rain intensified.

The children, accompanied by their parents, came out of school with relaxed smiles on their faces.

He had no idea what the city would become in 24 hours.

But he knew he had to protect these ordinary scenes.

Lin Su sat beside him, resting with her eyes closed, but Chen Ye could feel the flame burning steadily within her body.

Wang Xiaoming was in the front seat, holding a glowing cube in his hand—his causal anchor.

The instructor drove the car, her expression as calm as ever.

The car was quiet; no one spoke.

It was so quiet that the only sounds you could hear were the honking of horns and the footsteps of pedestrians outside...

The car drove towards the Municipal Children's Hospital.

The thunder grew closer.

The last calm before the storm.

And the battle is about to begin!