I will burn books and slay gods.

The shrill alarm of the night shattered the apparent tranquility of Morningstar Hospital.

Chen Ye was jolted awake from a light sleep, his heart instinctively tightening.

This is neither a fire alarm nor a medical alert; it is: "Erosion Intelligence".

This means that a Nightmare has breached the outer defenses and directly invaded the main area of ​​the hospital.

The sound of hurried but orderly footsteps echoed down the corridor as the "medical personnel—the true Night Watch combat force—in their special uniforms assembled."

A calm female voice came over the loudspeaker: "Sector B, third corridor, signs of the 'Eternal Clock' field spreading have appeared. Level assessment: Level 3 High Risk. Non-combat personnel must immediately evacuate. Trainee Night Watchers in the vicinity, under guidance, participate in isolation operations!"

Eternal Clock?

Chen Ye recalled Old Li's teachings, which were about a terrifying Nightmare that could manipulate the flow of local time, causing time to accelerate or loop.

His hospital room door was pushed open, and Lin Su was already standing in the doorway, her face grave: "It's in the direction of the cafeteria. Some medical staff who came home late are trapped inside."

Wang Xiaoming also appeared silently in the shadows of the corridor and whispered, "I 'saw' it; time is a tangled mess inside."

"You three," a tall, scarred male nurse (combat leader) strode over, speaking rapidly, "your mission is to assist in establishing a 'static barrier,' preventing the area from spreading and buying us time to rescue people. Follow me!"

Without time to hesitate, Chen Ye grabbed the core books he always kept by his pillow and followed them.

The closer you get to the cafeteria, the more obvious the anomaly becomes.

The gray particles in the air are suspended and unstable, sometimes shooting out like bullets, and sometimes completely solidifying.

The lights in the corridor flickered erratically, like broken neon lights.

The most terrifying thing was that they saw a moth that had wandered in go through the entire process of emerging from its pupa to dying and turning into dust in just a few seconds.

At the entrance of the cafeteria, a huge, semi-transparent clock face loomed over the entrance, with a rusty black hand moving slowly and steadily across it.

Wherever the pointer passes, the tables and chairs either decay rapidly or return to their original state as if a video were being played in reverse, repeating the cycle endlessly.

Faint screams of terror could be heard coming from inside.

"This is it! Deploy the barrier!"

The captain gave the order, and he and several other Night Watchmen pressed their hands to the ground, a pale blue energy screen spreading from their hands, attempting to envelop the illusory dial.

But the force of the pointer's movement was beyond imagination, and the light screen was constantly being distorted and torn apart.

"Lin Su, use your fire to burn the timeline and interfere with it! Wang Xiaoming, find the time nodes in the domain and try to interfere with 'causality'! Chen Ye..."

The captain looked at Chen Ye and said quickly, "Use your 'rationality' to give me an 'absolute coordinate' that can be anchored to reality! We must stabilize the barrier!"

Without hesitation, Lin Su used her hands to protect herself with pale white flames. These flames did not burn the material, but directly scorched the chaotic timeline in that area, causing the movement of the pointers to momentarily freeze.

Wang Xiaoming closed his eyes, his figure becoming even more blurred, as if searching for that crucial "cause" across countless timelines.

Chen Ye felt immense pressure.

An "absolute coordinate" anchored to reality?

What kind of concept can counteract the chaos of time?

His brain was racing, scouring his mind for countless philosophical propositions, mathematical formulas, and physical laws.

Relativity? No, that itself discusses spacetime.

The law of entropy increase? It points to the point that it's unnecessary.

Kant? The thing-in-itself is unknowable...

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

Monty opened *Critique of Pure Reason*, not to search for specific sentences, but to place his hand on the book itself, pouring all his mental energy into it, and shouting: "I think, therefore I am!"

This is not Descartes' original quote, but it is the most concise expression of the starting point of Descartes' philosophy. It is the end of doubting everything, the only indisputable and certain basis—the existence of the thinker.

At this moment, he is not focusing on a specific piece of knowledge, but rather on the act of "rational thinking" itself!

It is to affirm the ultimate proposition of "self-existence"!

An invisible yet incredibly solid force emanated from him, like a stabilizing needle thrown into the turbulent currents of time.

The pale blue barrier light screen instantly stabilized and became solid.

The wildly changing scenes of time within the region seemed to have been paused; although they had not yet returned to normal, they were no longer fluctuating violently.

The captain glanced at Chen Ye in surprise, then seized the opportunity: "Alright! Hold the line! Everyone else, follow me in to rescue them!"

Lin Su's flames and Wang Xiaoming's interference were also greatly enhanced by this solid "coordinate".

A few minutes later, the team leader and his teammates, along with several shaken medical staff, rushed out of the cafeteria area.

Almost the instant they left, Chen Ye was exhausted, the barrier shattered, and the phantom of the "Eternal Clock" seemed to lose its target and slowly dissipated. The interior of the cafeteria returned to normal, leaving only some strange traces of decaying and brand-new items.

Chen Ye slumped to the ground, panting heavily, his hospital gown soaked with sweat.

His mind was buzzing like a million bees, a jumble of philosophical concepts—a powerful backlash from his karmic obstacles.

Lin Su walked over and handed him a glass of water. Although she didn't say anything, her eyes showed even more approval.

Wang Xiaoming's figure seemed to fade a little more, and he said softly, "Thank you... just now."

The captain patted Chen Ye on the shoulder, his voice full of approval: "Nice 'coordinates.' You're a natural for this."

Chen Ye raised his head, looking at the tired but determined night watchmen around him, at the ordinary medical staff who had been rescued and were casting grateful glances at them, and then at the deep and perilous night outside the window.

Something within him had quietly changed.

This is not a prison. This is the front line.

And he, Chen Ye, a trainee night watchman burdened with karmic obstacles, had just completed his first night watch.

He adjusted his glasses, and the gaze behind the lenses was no longer lost, but like a newly ignited flame of the soul, faint yet firmly shining in the long night.

The long night has only just begun.