205: At all costs!

Commander Ye Baoguo emerged from the conference room, his face etched with fatigue, and returned to the command center on the 35th floor.

"Connect with Ye Chen, ask for the latest progress."

The director of the Information Assurance Center, receiving the order, immediately instructed a communicator to access a special channel.

Soon, a 'communication waiting' prompt appeared on the large screen.

After a few busy tones, Ye Chen's figure appeared on the screen.

However, his figure, hooked up to an IV drip, and his pale, bloodless face, startled everyone present.

The fatigue on Ye Baoguo's face vanished instantly, and he sat up sharply.

"Son... ahem, Ye Chen, what is this?"

Ye Chen glanced at the nearly empty IV bag, casually pulled the needle from his arm, then calmly scanned the screen and spoke indifferently:

"Commander Ye, there are many things to attend to right now; trivial questions can be omitted."

Listening to Ye Chen's emotionless voice, Ye Baoguo felt a bitter pang, but he knew Ye Chen was right; now was indeed not the time to discuss such matters.

Nevertheless, he still offered a reminder.

"Ye Chen, your health is currently tied to the nation's safety and stability, so I hope you will take good care of yourself."

After saying this, seeing Ye Chen's expression grow even colder, he quickly got to the point.

"Regarding the spatial anomaly detected in the Demon City by the Spatial Stability Research Institute yesterday, are there any new investigative results?"

Ye Chen nodded, operated on his wristband for a moment, and a giant 3D projection immediately appeared behind him.

He then pointed at the projection and said:

"The 3D spatial topological model of the Demon City has been constructed. The data is quite complex, so I'll give a brief overview."

Ye Baoguo and the various department heads looked curiously at the projection, and then one by one, they began to feel a bit dizzy.

On the projection was a slowly rotating, vast, intricate 3D spatial topological structure, emitting a cool, ethereal blue light.

As Ye Chen said, this was the spatial topological model of the entire Demon City.

Upon it, countless finely interwoven geometric grids and flowing, shifting complex vector lines represented the shimmering ripples of the Huangpu River and the diverse architectural styles of the Bund.

Data streams, like glowing blood vessels, pulsed erratically along the grid's veins.

The outlines of skyscrapers were abstracted into twisted vertical stress columns, while the road network transformed into strange fractals of energy transmission.

The entire model resembled a giant, diseased crystal heart, beating and twisting incessantly in the cold air.

Ye Baoguo, enduring the discomfort of dizziness and nausea, averted his gaze and looked at Ye Chen, saying with a wry smile:

"No need to introduce the model; just tell me the conclusion."

Ye Chen adjusted his rimless glasses, a cold glint flashing across the lenses.

He ignored the various expressions of the people in the command center, lightly tapping his fingertip on the projection.

The vast and complex topological model was instantly stripped of its intricate details, leaving only scattered stars across the entire model and the thickest, most twisted core energy Veins.

They pulsed and spasmed violently in the ethereal blue background, like the blood vessels and neural synapses of a dying behemoth.

"Our research institute used a supercomputer to build a 1:1 spatial model of the Demon City. Within the topological structure, we can clearly see that the spatial anchors of the Demon City are extremely unstable."

Ye Chen's voice remained calm, but every word fiercely scraped at the air in the command center, causing Ye Baoguo and the others' expressions to gradually become solemn.

"The spatial structure of the Demon City is undergoing a 'self-eating topological defect'."

"Self-eating... defect?"

Ye Baoguo repeated the awkward term, his brows furrowed.

"It can be understood as the 'cancer' of space."

Ye Chen's analogy was cold and precise.

"The geometric rules of space itself have undergone malignant distortion, and it is devouring and assimilating the surrounding healthy space-time structures. Its core lesion is at the most unstable high-dimensional knot in the center of the topological model."

He waved his hand, and the 'blood vessels' on the model disappeared, countless 'neural synapses' vanished quickly, revealing an indescribable, alien block-like object forcibly glued together from countless broken geometric faces.

"In the past 12 hours, the distortion rate of this knot has escalated exponentially."

Ye Chen pulled up a rapidly flashing stream of crimson data.

"It is collapsing to form a micro-singularity."

"Micro-singularity?!"

The director of the Information Assurance Center exclaimed:

"I remember you, Ye Chen, saying that every 'wind of heaven and earth' 'hatches' from a micro-singularity. Could it be?!"

Ye Chen adjusted his glasses, and with another wave of his hand.

The model's changes began to intensify, then it transformed into a "singularity" that constantly devoured surrounding space-time matter, including energy, information, and even... reality itself.

Then it violently exploded and expanded, turning into a giant rift connecting heaven and earth.

Everyone's hearts sank.

Ye Chen's fingers tapped rapidly on his wristband.

The model's evolution speed accelerated again.

The "wind of heaven and earth" was constantly expanding, rapidly spreading outwards from the core, like a knife coldly slicing through the Huangpu River, the Bund, Lujiazui... Ye Baoguo could no longer sit still and stood up abruptly, his sharp, eagle-like gaze fixed on the model.

"Since it has been foreseen, can this process not be stopped?"

"Due to an unknown reason, the 'self-eating topological defect' has already formed, and the formation of the 'wind of heaven and earth' is a foregone conclusion."

Ye Chen's voice showed no fluctuation.

"Calculating based on the current evolution speed of the model, its initial formation will be in 52 hours and 38 minutes, and it will be completely formed within the next 10 minutes..."

He did not continue the latter part of his sentence, but everyone knew what came next.

52 hours and 38 minutes... no, it should be 52 hours and 48 minutes, the wind of heaven and earth will be completely formed, and countless Strange Beast will emerge from it. At that time, the Demon City will become a carnival for the Strange Beast army!

This super metropolis, home to tens of millions of people, will also be completely lost!

On the giant 3D projection, the deep red representing collapse spread like a plague along those glowing "blood vessels," instantly outlining a doomsday scene.

The command center was silent, save for the low hum of instruments and the heavy breathing of the people.

Ye Baoguo stared intently at the expanding crimson area, a vein throbbing in his temple.

He suddenly looked up, his gaze burning as it fixed on Ye Chen's pale face.

"Containment plan! Ye Chen, I need a plan! At all costs!"

Ye Chen met his gaze, his face devoid of any expression, only the look in his eyes behind the lenses, as deep as the collapsing night sky outside the window.

He slowly opened his mouth, his voice low and clear:

"There is a plan, but the conditions are extremely harsh."

Ye Baoguo immediately spoke.

"Tell me!"

"There is only one way to prevent the catastrophe from happening. That is, as soon as it forms, pass through the rift and kill the 'Beast King' or bring it out of the rift."

Ye Chen paused, then continued:

"However, if we wait until the 'wind of heaven and earth' is completely formed, it means that space has already collapsed and stabilized. At that point, with our current level of technology, we will be powerless to reverse the situation."

Ye Baoguo's brow furrowed into a tight ' Sichuan' character, and he said hesitantly:

"Didn't you just say that the 'wind of heaven and earth' only takes a short ten minutes from formation to full development? Can ten minutes really accomplish..."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly remembered something, and his eyes widened.

"Wait, this kind of sudden situation has happened before, and it seems a special operations team managed it?"

Ye Chen nodded, pulled up the details of that mission, and sent it to the tablet in front of Ye Baoguo.

Ye Baoguo, busy with countless tasks, had only a general understanding before, but the specific details were not clear. At this moment, he quickly started reading.

A few minutes later, he put down the tablet, rubbed his temples, and the fatigue on his face deepened a few shades.

Everyone in the command center, including Ye Chen on the other end of the screen, was waiting for his stance.

Only after rubbing the skin on his brow until it was raw, Ye Baoguo finally made up his mind.

He slowly faced all his colleagues in the command center and spoke in a deep voice.

"In that mission, we lost a brave soldier."

"But he used his young life to defend the safety of the motherland."

"Now the country and its people face a severe challenge again, and we must ultimately make another choice."

Everyone stood up, their expressions very serious.

"I have decided to form a suicide squad..."

Ye Baoguo took a deep breath.

"I also participated in the super-soldier modification before, so I..."

His words were interrupted by Ye Chen.

"Commander Ye."

Ye Chen's voice still sounded calm.

"Your duty is at the command center, coordinating the overall situation. There are better candidates for the suicide squad."

Ye Baoguo looked at him sharply.

"Who?"

Ye Chen did not answer directly, only turned off the topological model projection behind him.

On the screen, only his pale and tired face remained, along with those eyes like a stagnant pool, showing no trace of emotional change.

Ye Baoguo met his gaze through the screen, and after a few seconds of silence, he nodded.

Then, he looked at the others in the command center and said loudly:

"Order!"

"All units, execute according to Ye Chen's final contingency plan! Top priority! At all costs!"