In a perfect world, you start by relying on your own strength.

Across the desolate land, a fierce wind and sandstorm howled, stirring up clouds of yellow dust.

As far as the eye can see, there is only boundless barren land. The once prosperous and brilliant human civilization has long been buried deep in the yellow sand. Only the mottled broken walls and ruins stand out, telling the story of the destruction and decay of the old era.

One after another, supernatural Devouring Beasts wandered aimlessly across the wilderness. Packs of snake-dogs rubbed and frolicked with each other, and many small, bizarrely shaped, mutated creatures roamed around.

Over the long years, they have completely adapted to this desolate wasteland, and under the catalysis of the mana ecosystem, they have continuously mutated and evolved, giving rise to all sorts of bizarre and terrifying physical characteristics.

The absolute rulers of this wasteland are all kinds of Devouring Beasts. They are mutated creations nurtured by the Mana ecosystem, and are nearly immortal; even if their bodies are destroyed and torn apart, as long as the core spiritual seed is not damaged, they can quickly reshape their bodies and revive again through the Mana ecosystem.

Suddenly, the scattered, wandering Devouring Beasts all stopped moving and looked up at the sky. A violent, eerie light shone in their turbid beast eyes, as if they had smelled the scent of prey in the distance, and their instinctive hunting desires were suddenly awakened.

At the edge of the gray sky, a giant, umbrella-like floating fortress slowly drifted across the clouds, its massive silhouette piercing the desolate sky.

The earth instantly erupted in turmoil. Countless Devouring Beasts roared and howled, their sharp cries echoing across the desolate wasteland.

The swarming Devouring Beasts gathered, their heads raised, stinking saliva dripping from their fangs. Their innate hunting instincts surged wildly as they locked their gaze on the moving steel behemoth in the sky.

The lighthouse's massive hull blocked out a small patch of sunlight, its cold steel exterior reflecting the hazy skylight as layers of warning lights lit up one after another.

The massive propulsion engines slowly started, their deep rumbles echoing across the distance and reaching the ground. Each tremor caused the Devouring Beasts below to become even more ferocious.

On the deck, the entire hunter team was already on high alert.

Several gravity-based mechs were neatly arrayed, their weapons poised for action. The reconnaissance instruments on the observation tower were running at full speed, beams of detection light sweeping across the undulating loess wasteland below, precisely locking onto the clusters of Devouring Beasts.

On the ground, stimulated by the commotion in the sky, the Devouring Beasts began to run wildly, their deformed limbs crushing the dry, cracked yellow earth as they raced toward the lighthouse.

The floating fortresses, suspended high in the sky, are beyond their attack range, leaving them only able to roar and charge in vain, venting their innate ferocity.

The wind and sand intensified, swirling together fragments of construction debris and withered dust that filled the sky.

The ruins of the old civilization lie silently in the yellow sand, like a lurking beast. In the depths of the shadows, no one knows whether an even more powerful Devouring Beast is hidden.

Inside the command center, the cold light from the screens was chilling. Jing Nan's fingertips slid rapidly across the control panel, revealing a dense array of scarlet dots covering the entire wasteland terrain map—a truly alarming sight.

Her gaze was fixed on the ever-increasing stream of red data dots. Her tone was calm but tinged with seriousness as she reported in a deep voice: "City Lord, the full-area scan is complete. The number of surface-growing Devouring Beasts has exceeded ten thousand, and they are still gathering from the surrounding wastelands. We are keeping track of the lighthouse's movements and relentlessly pursuing it along the landing route."

Countless crimson dots followed like a tide, densely covering the loess land, chasing after the floating fortress all the way. The overwhelming sense of oppression rushed through the cold screen.

Jing Nan paused for a moment, then added, "Fortunately, although the lighthouse has lowered its cruising altitude, it still maintains a safe distance of several tens of meters above the ground. Due to their size and ability limitations, ordinary pan-evolving Devouring Beasts cannot reach the lighthouse and therefore cannot pose a threat for the time being."

Morgan stared intently at the ever-growing horde of beasts on the screen, his brows furrowed, his face as cold as iron, and the atmosphere around him extremely oppressive.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze sweeping across the communication channel, and asked in a deep voice, "Victor, Mark, how is the lighthouse's defense deployment going?"

Two completely different responses came through the communication channel very quickly.

First came Victor's calm, hoarse voice, carrying the composure of someone who had been through many battles: "Lord, the outer defenses of the landing platform have been fully erected, the high-voltage power grid and fixed-point machine gun arrays have all been tested and adjusted, ammunition supplies are sufficient, and the gravity body guard detachment is in place. We can withstand the successive attacks of the invasive beast tide for a short time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mark's deep voice rang out, sharp and decisive: "All members of the Hunters are ready and waiting."

Morgan nodded slightly, but his brows remained furrowed as his gaze returned to the screen filled with crimson dots.

Tens of thousands of Devouring Beasts surged forward in a continuous line, following the movement of the lighthouse. The yellow sand was trampled and flew everywhere, and the earth-shaking roars and muffled rumbles could be faintly heard from the ground.

These low-level, mutated individual combat types have limited individual strength and are not a cause for concern. However, their sheer numbers are overwhelming; once they coalesce into a beast tide, they become an unstoppable torrent.

Moreover, the Devouring Beasts rely on the Mana ecological cycle, and as long as the Spirit Seeds remain, they can regenerate indefinitely, making them virtually impossible to eradicate.

Beneath the endless yellow sand, hordes of monsters continue to gather toward the lighthouse, their roars incessant, a despairing oppression capable of crushing all living beings.

"You must maintain a fighting stance at all times, and the defense line must not be relaxed in the slightest."

Morgan gave the order in a deep voice, then turned to Jing Nan beside him, his tone softening slightly as he asked, "How's the progress of the Abyss Walker experiment on Carrie's side?"

Jingnan quickly accessed the monitoring and data panel of the dedicated experimental chamber, and a dense report of experimental parameters popped up on one side of the screen.

With a serious expression, she reported truthfully: "Lord, the Abyss Keeper Project is progressing steadily, and everything is going smoothly."

Upon hearing Jingnan's report, Morgan's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, the seriousness between his brows lessened, and the weight that had been hanging over his heart finally lifted.

He had personally witnessed the terrifying power of the Abyss Walker. If the Abyss Walker experiment succeeds and Shi Geng can perfectly control its power, then the catastrophic crisis weighing on the Lighthouse could be completely resolved.

This current horde of tens of thousands of invasive beasts is nothing more than a minor ailment.

Let alone this densely packed wave of low-level Devouring Beasts, even if their numbers were several times or dozens of times greater, they would still be nothing more than ants waiting to be slaughtered in the face of the Abyss's power, utterly vulnerable and easily defeated.

Thinking of this, a glimmer of expectation flashed in Morgan's eyes.

For countless years, humanity huddled atop the lighthouse, passively eking out a living. The Abyss Project was their only hope for retaliation.

Despite the anticipation, a deep sense of worry lingered in Morgan's mind, refusing to dissipate.

That was Shi Geng's origin; he came from the lowest rungs of the Lighthouse community.

The Lighthouse's harsh hierarchical system severed the resources, dignity, and livelihoods of the upper class and the lower class. The daily unfair treatment had already sown seeds of resentment in the hearts of countless lower class people.

Shi Geng was by no means a submissive person; he must have harbored dissatisfaction and resentment towards the rules of the Lighthouse.

Unless he was driven to desperation and had no other choice, he would never have risked handing over such a terrifying power as the Abyssborne, capable of overturning the Beacon's structure, to a commoner.

Due to the technological gap of the old era, the Lighthouse was already exhausted in the face of endless, immortal, and indestructible Devouring Beasts.

With the Devouring Beasts lurking around them from the outside and resources dwindling and class conflicts intensifying from within, their escape routes were already few and far between.

After weighing the pros and cons, he had no choice but to take this gamble.

"The Future of the Lighthouse..."

Morgan muttered to himself, his gaze deep. The power of the Abyss was too great; once fully mastered, it would be the most powerful force of the Beacon.

He looked up at the surging beast tide below, then glanced in the direction of the experimental pod.

On one side is the beacon's powerful external enemy, and on the other is an unpredictable internal power struggle.

Between making choices, there is a sense of helplessness and heaviness.