Doomsday police, please show your god/demon ID card.

Six o'clock in the evening.

The twilight of the apocalypse shrouded the southern part of the city in a dim, yellowish mist.

The wind howled as it swept through the empty streets.

In the distance, occasionally a few inhuman roars could be heard, only to be quickly swallowed by silence.

For the survivors living in this post-apocalyptic city, a day of despair is about to end, and an even more terrifying long night is about to descend!

The atmosphere was tense inside the city hall.

Everyone was at their posts, conducting final checks.

Three underground, two huge industrial-grade diesel generators are running at full speed.

"All lines are under normal load."

"The signal link has completed its final self-test; no abnormalities were found."

Chen Ming pressed the last Enter key and exhaled a breath of stale air.

"All systems have completed their final self-test."

Outside the square, behind barricades made of abandoned vehicles.

After checking the ammunition at the last firing point, Wang Hu nodded to Luo Yongchao beside him.

"Everything is settled."

Luo Yongchao lay prone in his sniper position, observing the distant street through the scope, his voice steady.

"It's the same on my end."

Wang Hu patted him on the shoulder and glanced back at the silent mega-building behind him.

......

Rooftop terrace.

The wind howled, making Tang Long's training uniform rustle loudly.

He stood quietly at the edge, gazing at the city silhouette shrouded in fog in the distance.

Behind him, twelve high-powered xenon searchlights were arranged in a fan shape, like twelve steel cannons, coldly pointing to the sky.

"Team Leader Tang."

Su Yan walked up.

Her face was still a little pale, but her eyes were exceptionally clear.

"There are no mental fluctuations from high-level mutants within a five-kilometer radius," she said softly.

Tang Long nodded slightly, turned to look at her, and asked with a hint of surprise, "Your perception range has expanded again?"

"Hmm." Su Yan nodded, then hesitated for a moment. "It seems that every time I wake up from a mental exhaustion, I'm a little stronger than before."

"However! This method cannot be used indiscriminately."

"If it weren't for the life-saving medicine Chen Ming prepared, I might not have woken up." She said this with lingering fear.

Tang Long nodded.

He had actually noticed it long ago: every time Su Yan recovered from being on the verge of her limit, her abilities would leap to a new level.

This reminded him of the Dragon Ball anime he watched before the apocalypse.

The main character is the same; as long as he doesn't die, his strength will increase dramatically after each fight!

After thinking for a moment, Tang Long raised his wrist and looked at his tactical watch.

19:59:06.

There's less than a minute left.

He took a deep breath and picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Chen Ming, you can prepare to light the fire."

"clear."

In the control room, Chen Ming put down the walkie-talkie and watched the second hand on his watch complete its final tick.

Then press the main switch.

hum-

The emergency lights inside the entire city government building suddenly went out for a second.

The world was plunged into absolute darkness.

next moment.

boom!

On the rooftop, twelve high-powered xenon searchlights were lit simultaneously!

Twelve enormous beams of light instantly tore through the thick night sky, piercing the darkness that enveloped the city!

A beam of light shot into the sky, illuminating the city hall like a daytime temple descended to earth.

……

In a basement in Nancheng District.

A family of three was huddled in a corner, sharing the last half of a moldy loaf of bread.

Sudden.

The world outside the window, which was originally pitch black, has been illuminated.

It wasn't the faint light of a candle, nor the flickering of a flashlight.

Instead, it was a domineering, forceful, and unreasonable intense light that instantly tore through the gap in the curtains.

"What's going on?" The man jumped up in alarm, instinctively gripping the steel pipe beside him.

His wife, holding the child, tugged at his clothes with some unease.

"Honey...I...I'm scared..."

The man swallowed hard, trembling as he approached the window and carefully lifted the corner of the curtain.

The next second, his pupils dilated, and he froze on the spot.

Light pierced through the thick fog.

Light pierced the night sky.

The old, dusty radio that had been sitting in the corner suddenly emitted a piercing electrical sound.

Sizzle... sizzle...

After the noise subsided, a deep, steady male voice echoed in the narrow basement.

"To everyone who can hear this, I am Tang Long, the director of the Dongcheng District Police Station."

"No matter where you hide, no matter who you are."

"You are not alone."

"Please believe that order still exists, and hope still exists."

The man's hand trembled, and the iron rod clattered to the ground.

He was completely oblivious, staring intently at the beam of light piercing the darkness outside the window, his lips trembling, uttering incomprehensible syllables from his throat.

Tears welled up without warning.

It wasn't just him.

At that moment, the entire silent city seemed to be awakened by this sound.

......

Abandoned underground parking lot in the west of the city.

A woman is holding her child, hiding in an abandoned car, too afraid to close her eyes all night.

The child had a low-grade fever and kept muttering in his sleep.

The woman kept her eyes open, listening intently to any sound outside.

suddenly.

A ray of light shone through the gap in the car window, illuminating the cramped interior space.

The car radio crackled to life.

"If you've had enough of fear, betrayal, and compromise."

"If you still remember the dignity of being a 'human being'."

"Then, remember the direction of this light."

"This place welcomes all compatriots who want to live."

"Bring your courage, for here there is no slavery, only labor for survival; here there is no despair, only a tomorrow to rebuild together."

The woman was stunned.

She slowly turned her head and looked in the direction from which the light was coming.

The light came from the entrance to the parking lot.

She saw it; at the end of the darkness, there stood that building, like a lighthouse.

The woman covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud.

She lowered her head and kissed the child's burning forehead, tears falling onto the child's face.

......

Inside a convenience store in the north of the city, which had been completely looted.

Several young people sat together, sharing the last bag of biscuits, their faces blank.

"We're out of food. What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"What else can we do but go out and look for them!"

"Aren't you afraid of being discovered by zombies?"

"What can we do? We can't just let them starve to death."

"..." The group discussed tomorrow's matters listlessly.

Just then.

The boy guarding the door suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Big brother, nursery rhyme! Come quick, look outside!"

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Everyone rushed to the door and looked outside.

They saw the building.

That building, radiating endless light in the boundless darkness.

"That's... the city hall?"

.....

In the city center, inside each residential building.

A survivor stumbled and ran to his own balcony.

He stared intently at the beam of light piercing the darkness in the distance, covered his mouth, and shouted out in a voice that was suppressed to the extreme.

"Could it be... that they're still here?"

"They...they...haven't given up on us yet..."

"Waaaaah~~"

Inside an underground casino.

Several thugs with menacing faces were warming themselves around a fire, while a woman was tied up nearby.

The sound from the radio suddenly blared, startling one of the thugs so much that he smashed the bottle in his hand.

"but..."

"To those scum who commit arson, murder, and looting in the apocalypse, I also have something to say to you."

"Your good days are over."

"The end times are not a breeding ground for evil, nor an excuse for your wrongdoings. You will all face judgment."

"I am Tang Long. I am waiting for you where the light begins."

zizi~

The broadcast has ended.

The leader of the thugs had a face so dark it looked like it could drip water. He suddenly pulled out his pistol and fired three shots at the radio.

Bang bang bang!

The radio was smashed to pieces, with fragments flying everywhere.

"Damn it! Where did this lunatic come from!"

"Who do you think you are? GJ is long gone." He cursed angrily, but his hand holding the gun trembled uncontrollably.

……

City Hall.

Tang Long walked to the railing and looked down at the illuminated earth below.

He could feel the Whip of Order within his body heating up slightly, as if it were drawing on some unseen power.

[Ding! Host has completed the historic event "First Speech"]

[Behavioral Determination: Expansion behavior by a higher order!]

[Order points +5000! 】

[Comment: Order endures; no matter what, never give up hope.]

A hint of surprise flashed in Tang Long's eyes.

I never imagined that just one speech would yield results comparable to killing a vine nest.

This was an unexpected delight.

"They heard it."

Su Yan walked to his side, closed her eyes, and smiled slightly: "I can feel the fear fading and hope growing..."

"Team Leader Tang, many scattered consciousnesses are moving towards us."

Tang Long turned to look at her, his expression calm.

"This is all thanks to everyone's hard work."

At this time.

zizi~

Wang Hu's rough voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Team Leader Tang, scattered lights have been spotted on the streets to the east and north! Someone is moving this way!"

Tang Long's eyes narrowed, and he immediately gave the order.

"Keep the lighthouse burning bright."

"All combat personnel are on high alert. Open the outer roadblocks."

"Whether they're human or ghost, if they dare to come, make sure you identify them!"

"yes!"

……

That night, the southern district was destined to be sleepless.

Those twelve beams of light were like a shot of adrenaline, piercing the heart of this dying city.

Some people are watching and waiting, some are cursing, but many more are starting to pack their bags.

They found the last bit of food hidden under the bed, carried their weakened loved ones on their backs, gripped their weapons tightly, and stumbled open the door.

All for that unseen hope.

until...

The sky was beginning to lighten with the first light of dawn.

As dawn broke, the light mingled with the glow of searchlights that had burned all night.

The cordon line at the edge of the square.

A small, raggedly dressed team appeared in everyone's sight.

There were seven or eight emaciated survivors, supporting each other, some with blood-soaked strips of cloth wrapped around their legs.

They looked at the heavily armed guards in front of them with disbelief and cowardice in their eyes.

"Are...you really going to give us food?"

The leader was a middle-aged man with a young boy lying unconscious on his back. His voice was hoarse, but his question carried a hint of unspoken hope: "Are you... people from the government?"

Wang Hu did not answer. His gaze fell on the thin, pale face of the child on the man's back, the muzzle of his gun naturally pointing towards the ground.

"What's wrong with your son?"

"I...I don't know..." The man lowered his head in embarrassment, his voice trembling, "I can't wake him up..."

Wang Hu frowned and called out to those behind him, "Dr. Zhang! Over here!"

Zhang Wennian quickly ran over with Lin Xiaoruan and Zhao Jia.

The middle-aged man instinctively tensed up and took a half step back, but froze the moment he saw the white coat and nurse's cap.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; only his chapped lips trembled.

doctor?

It really is a doctor!

"Let me see." Zhang Wennian squatted down, opened the child's eyelids, and touched the side of the neck.

After a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the man, saying, "I fainted from hunger! It's nothing serious."

He turned to the side and pointed to the steaming porridge bucket not far away: "Go over there to register, take the kids to wash their faces, and have a bowl of porridge."

That sentence was light, yet it was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The middle-aged man stared blankly at Dr. Zhang, then at the rising steam from the pot of porridge. A suppressed sob escaped his throat, and then—

With a "thump," he knelt down on the ground, raising a light cloud of dust.

The child on his back slipped off, but Lin Xiaoruan, who was standing next to him, caught him quickly.

The man, however, remained oblivious, pressing his forehead firmly against the cold ground, his shoulders convulsing violently, his wailing cries hoarse and broken, mixed with indistinct words:

"Thank you... thank you..."

Like a stone, it crashed into the lifeless lake of people's hearts in the square.

The man kneeling on the ground was still crying.

It wasn't wailing; it was a sob that had been suppressed for too long, squeezed out from the deepest part of the chest.

Wang Hu looked at him, his lips moved, but in the end he didn't say anything, he just waved his hand to the side.

Two police officers stepped forward, one on each side, and lifted the man off the ground.

"First...first, register." The man's body was still trembling, but his eyes were fixed on the steaming porridge pot.

Zhao Fan sat behind the makeshift registration table and pushed over a form and a pen.

"Name, age, any special skills?" His voice was calm, carrying a soothing quality.

The man gripped the pen, his hand trembling violently, and drew several messy ink marks on the paper.

"I...I'm Zhou Jian, I'm...thirty-eight years old." He raised his head, his eyes full of pleading. "I used to be a car mechanic, I could fix any kind of car."

"Okay, I've got it." Zhao Fan nodded and wrote "Vehicle Repair" in the skill column.

"Go over there and get some porridge, one bowl each, to tide you over."

Zhou Jian gratefully accepted the registration card and staggered toward the porridge bucket.

As the warm rice porridge slid down his throat and into his empty stomach, he felt as if he had come back to life.

He drank greedily, swallowing the rice porridge with tears that were both salty and scalding hot.

His son was held by Lin Xiaoruan, who fed him small sips of warm water, and his pale face gradually regained some color.

Tang Long put down his binoculars at the second-floor window.

Liu Qiang stood behind him, his expression solemn.

"Captain Tang, this is only the first batch."

"At this rate, more and more people will arrive after dawn."

"Our food reserves won't last more than five days."

Tang Long grunted in agreement, his gaze sweeping across the plaza.

Zhou Jian's arrival was like a signal.

One by one, more and more people emerged from the surrounding streets and alleys.

They gathered in small groups, with their families in tow, each face etched with exhaustion, fear, and a faint glimmer of hope ignited by the light.

Like a stream flowing into a river mouth, it carefully surges toward the city government building.