But this was just the beginning.
"Begin setting up the second defense line!"
Yang Wenqing’s order was swiftly transmitted through the communication network.
The first defense line hugged the coast, primarily serving as an early-warning and initial-interception system. The second line was situated further inland in a zone of varying depth, roughly five hundred meters to a kilometer behind the first. It was built using existing terrain on the outskirts of the Port District—warehouses, barricades, and small hills.
With the order given, the large number of militiamen who had finished their work on the first line, along with some of the Array masters, began moving to their designated positions. A new round of construction began in full swing.
Yang Wenqing didn’t remain in the command room. He had Yan Kuan join him, and the two left the security station compound in one of its light patrol cars.
The car moved slowly along the temporarily cleared inspection route. Yang Wenqing’s gaze was piercing as he scanned every work site along the way.
He examined everything in minute detail, stopping from time to time to point out issues and demand immediate corrections.
As twilight deepened, the lights of the Port District and the glow of the barrier intertwined. The construction of the second defense line was a race against time. It was past seven in the evening by the time the patrol car completed its circuit of most key nodes and Yang Wenqing returned to the vicinity of the security station.
He stood on the steps outside the command room, looking out at the two gradually forming, glowing defense lines, and beyond them, the pitch-black sea that was swallowing the last sliver of daylight.
The defense lines were under construction, but the true test had yet to arrive. Still, at least the area under his command was prepared for any and all contingencies.
「An hour later.」
Night had fallen like thick ink, saturating heaven and earth.
Yang Wenqing returned to the edge of the pier, where only the on-duty guards remained. The sea breeze was now more biting than it had been at dusk, carrying a salty dampness and a bone-chilling cold that made his uniform flap and snap.
Yan Kuan stood beside him, his coat pulled tight. His gaze was also fixed on the bottomless, dark expanse of the sea. The only sounds were the wind, the monotonous slap of waves against the embankment, and the occasional low hum of runic equipment from the distant defense line.
Behind them, Zhao Qin and Qian You stood before a crane, ready and waiting for orders.
They stood in the oppressive silence for about fifteen minutes before Liu Qin’s voice came through the Communication Array on Yang Wenqing’s badge. "Yang Group Leader, Director Gao orders us to power the defensive barrier to maximum."
Yang Wenqing replied with a simple, "Understood," then looked to Yan Kuan. "Carry out the order."
Yan Kuan met Yang Wenqing’s gaze and nodded. He activated the Communication Array on his own badge and issued the order then and there.
A dozen seconds later...
"HMMMM—!"
A low thrum, as if originating from the depths of the earth, rose from beneath their feet, instantly spreading along the entire coastline.
Following that, along the hundred-kilometer coastline, the completed, pale blue ribbon of the barrier suddenly erupted in a brilliant flare of light!
The screen of light, once as faint as a firefly’s glow, seemed to be instantly injected with a violent life force. Innumerable complex and esoteric runes surfaced from its depths as the light shifted from pale blue to incandescent white, which in turn became suffused with a heavy, golden halo.
"RUMBLE..."
The deep rumbling was no longer an illusion but the physical sound of Spiritual Qi being channeled as the barrier’s Gathering Spirit Array operated at full power. The golden light illuminated half the sky, gilding the silhouettes of the Port District’s buildings, the breakwaters, and the distant mountains in a solemn, stately light.
A scorching, sharp aura filled the air. Everyone behind the defense line—whether the Government Soldiers poised for battle, the militiamen holding their posts, or the citizens in the city farther back—felt an inexplicable sense of security, even as they were left awestruck by the magnificent sight.
Yang Wenqing squinted, the intense light making him uncomfortable. He kept his gaze fixed on the sea beyond the barrier, which now seemed even more profoundly dark in contrast. ’Activating the barrier to its maximum means headquarters has decided to act.’
Amid the awe and anticipation, time ticked by, second by second.
「Half an hour later.」
A crackle of static erupted from the badge on Yang Wenqing’s chest—a broadcast from high command. "KSHH... Alert! Level one alert!"
It wasn’t just his badge. The ones on Yan Kuan, and on Qian You and Zhao Qin behind them, all blared with the same piercing alarm. It was a general alert for all security personnel.
Liu Qin’s report followed immediately after, her voice laced with a tremor she was trying to suppress. "Yang Group Leader, we’ve received a transmission from the maritime cordon! The two Entry-level Cultivators from the City Bureau have engaged the target! The deep-sea target is showing an intense energy reaction—energy level is peak Entry! I repeat, the target’s energy level is peak Entry!"
Her slightly shrill voice cut through the piercing alarm from the badge.
The instant Liu Qin finished speaking—
"BOOM—"
An incredibly deep boom, as if something had slammed into the continental shelf from the depths of the ocean, made even the solid pier beneath their feet lurch violently.
’This wasn’t an attack on the city. This was a clash of unimaginable, colossal forces deep beneath the sea!’
Immediately following, against the pitch-black sky, a blazing sphere of light erupted without warning on the far horizon where sea met sky. It was a chaotic conflagration of violet-gold lightning and a foul, dark-red incandescence.
The light was so intense it rendered the roiling black clouds above that stretch of sea translucent. For one breathtaking instant, a blurry shadow of suffocating size was revealed, only to be swallowed again by a deeper darkness and a violent torrent of energy.
The mere aftershock, that fleeting image, contained a level of destructive and overwhelming power that shook all who witnessed it to their core, making them feel as insignificant as dust.