The group officially set out, with Ding Lang and the members of Second Squad leading the way at the front. Evernight and Heinrich followed slightly behind, while the majority of civilians marched in the middle, and the ordinary soldiers who had been stationed at the factory brought up the rear.
The entire procession moved in eerie silence, with scarcely a word spoken. Everyone trudged forward with heads bowed, lost in their thoughts. After the world had been plunged into Eternal Night for so long, the distinction between day and night had long since faded from their minds.
There were no fixed mealtimes or rest periods. The group only stopped to eat when hunger became unbearable, and only paused to rest when exhaustion forced them to.
This grueling march continued for at least four days. Finally, an Energy Factory Cluster far larger than any they had seen before loomed into view. If the previous factory had possessed only a single chimney, this one boasted sixteen, arranged neatly in four rows.
A dense array of massive floodlights ringed the entire factory complex, bathing the surrounding area in a daylight-like brilliance. The glare was even more piercing than Heinrich's magic; most people had to shield their eyes and squint long before they drew near.
Evernight tilted her umbrella forward slightly to block the blinding glare. Once everyone had entered the factory's illuminated zone, Heinrich deactivated his magic and suddenly whispered to her, "You know, even though this world has been ravaged so badly, if we're only dealing with shadow monsters and we know how to fight them, they don't seem as threatening as we thought."
"Take this factory, for example," he continued. "The remaining survivors are all huddled in places like this factory. It looks pretty grim, but those 'Black Panthers' can't get in. If we just keep scraping by like this, it doesn't seem like such a big deal, right?"
Evernight countered, "But the truth is, the Mother of Flesh has only been targeting this world for about a year. The situation seems stable now, but what if the Child of Flesh intervenes directly? Or what if the Mother of Flesh sends more powerful monsters down here?"
As they spoke, soldiers approached and began questioning them. Although the survivor camp occasionally received lucky refugees, they had never seen anything like Heinrich, who arrived with a massive glowing orb and nearly ten thousand people at once.
The situation unfolded much as before. Ding Lang introduced himself, and the soldiers' faces lit up with surprise as they let the group in. After further questioning, they learned that the No. 3 Elemental Energy Factory currently housed 300,000 survivors, far below its maximum capacity.
Conservative estimates suggested the factory could easily sustain 600,000 people, leaving two options. First, they could allow the Matrix Module to self-replicate, draining energy from three "chimneys" to create three more modules without disrupting the current population's survival.
Second, they could transform this place into a larger survivor hub. They could send personnel to transport Matrix Modules No. 1 and No. 2 to other factories, drain their energy, and transfer the survivors to this location.
Without a doubt, the second plan was far more complex than the first. Yet, after careful consideration, Ding Lang chose the second option without hesitation. Previously, No. 3 Factory had been under the command of an army general. Upon Ding Lang's arrival, that authority had transferred directly to him.
If the factory had once been like a stagnant pool, with everyone living in a daze, taking each day as it came, Ding Lang's arrival with a plan that could 'save the world' breathed new life into the entire operation.
Under his leadership, soldiers began devising strategies to actively lure and kill Black Panthers, producing more Hidden Badges. The factory itself expanded outward, preparing to accommodate a larger population in the future.
Ding Lang's students ventured deeper into the darkness with two Matrix Modules, searching for other factories. Heinrich crafted numerous Daylight Spell Scrolls, which the students could use to guide survivors back after draining the other factories' energy. Everything seemed to be progressing in a positive direction.
One day, Evernight found Ding Lang and casually said, "We need to disappear for a while to handle some matters. We'll be back eventually."
Ding Lang asked, "Is there something wrong with your world?"
Evernight replied, "Yes and no."
As she spoke, Evernight crooked her finger, summoning a white jellyfish that floated beside her before drifting toward Ding Lang. She continued, "When you need help or have a groundbreaking research result, poke this jellyfish and call my name. I'll appear."
Ding Lang nodded. "Understood."
Evernight then gently patted Heinrich's shoulder. She wasn't leaving entirely; rather, since there was nothing more for her to do for now, she figured it was better to accelerate her memory recovery instead of staying idle.
She told Heinrich, "Under our influence, the memories of this world have already diverged significantly from true history. No one knows how it will develop from here."
In a normal world, such actions would have consequences—specifically, the memories of everyone in the future would be altered. But this world was destined for annihilation, with no survivors, so there would be no lasting impact.
Hearing this, Heinrich glanced at Ding Lang, who was frantically working before him, and sighed. "Are all our efforts doomed to be meaningless?"
Evernight countered, "Not entirely. At least they've developed targeted methods that can help us now, haven't they?"
As Evernight activated her abilities, time accelerated around them: a day, a week, a month.
In the first month, a colossal, earth-shattering explosion erupted in the north, briefly illuminating the entire world, which had already been plunged into Eternal Night, for several minutes. It was the Elemental Rending Bomb, and the First Squad, which Ding Lang had assigned to the mission, had completed their task.
Following the blast, the global Black Panther population plummeted. Ding Lang seized this opportunity to further accelerate the replication of Matrix Modules.
By the second month, a staggering hundred Matrix Modules had been successfully copied!