Everything seemed to be progressing favorably. One hundred Matrix Modules, each possessing combat power equivalent to a Demigod, constituted a formidable force by any world's standards. Yet, given the current circumstances, it was still insufficient.
Moreover, simply replicating the hundred Matrix Modules wasn't enough. They needed to be installed in specific locations, ensuring that one thousand nodes were evenly distributed across every corner of the globe.
One day, within the No. 3 Energy Factory—now housing nearly 800,000 people—even after multiple expansions, the facility had reached its survival limit. After careful consideration, Ding Lang devised a new "Flowing Replication Plan."
The core idea was to dispatch teams of one thousand individuals, each carrying a Matrix Module, along predetermined routes.
For instance, if a team passed through three factories, the Matrix Module would self-replicate three times. The original thousand-person team would then split into four groups, each carrying one of the four modules to four separate installation sites.
This would be a very long journey, as the destination—the installation site—might be thousands, or even tens of thousands, of kilometers away from No. 3 Factory.
No one knew what dangers lay ahead. Even without the threat of monsters, simply maintaining logistics and supplies in this apocalyptic, Eternal Night environment would be a major challenge. They would likely need to scavenge for supplies along the way just to survive.
As for the factories that ran out of power midway, a few leaders would split off from the thousand-person teams, taking their groups back to No. 3 Factory. In the long run, losing a thousand people but gaining survivors from several factories would inevitably strain No. 3 Factory's resources further.
However, for now, Ding Lang had dispatched a hundred thousand-person teams, immediately reducing the pressure on No. 3 Factory by a hundred thousand people. By the time these teams returned with survivors from other factories—which would be a long time coming—No. 3 Factory would have continued to expand and should be able to accommodate everyone.
The plan itself seemed perfect, but... who would execute it?
Walking on foot into the darkness, traveling thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers to install Matrix Modules—even imagining it made it clear this would be an incredibly arduous task. Just reaching the destination would require overcoming countless hardships and perils. From the moment these teams set out, their fate was sealed: they were almost certainly never coming back.
They would either die along the way, perish at their destination, or vanish into some unknown corner of the world.
Moreover, the mission required a hundred thousand people. With only eight hundred thousand people in all of No. 3 Factory, this meant nearly one in eight people would have to volunteer. Ding Lang had initially assumed that selecting the mission personnel would be a major challenge.
Yet, to his astonishment, on the very day he announced his plan, a quarter of the factory's population volunteered—more than double the required number!
Ding Lang's students and the elite guards under his command—the members of Second Squad—needed no prompting. They wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice themselves to save the world, though they couldn't bring themselves to kill others for the same cause.
Beyond them, every soldier stationed at No. 3 Factory volunteered without hesitation. After all, standing up in times of crisis was a soldier's duty.
Ding Lang wasn't surprised by these choices, but he was astonished by the response from the civilian population. Nearly all men aged thirty to fifty volunteered for the mission, willing to embark on the Road of Eternal Night, a journey of thousands upon thousands of kilometers. Their reasoning was remarkably consistent:
"I was just an ordinary person, eking out a living in this rundown factory, constantly fearing my next breath might be my last. But thanks to you, Dr. Ding Lang, we now know the world can still be saved! Our children, our grandchildren—they still have a chance to see the light again. My life is already worthless; I'd rather burn out than rot away here!"
"Exactly! I've got nothing left to lose anyway. Rather than rot here day after day, I'd rather do something meaningful!"
"My wife and children were all killed by those monsters. Now I'm all alone, and life has no meaning. If my wife hadn't made me promise not to kill myself, I would have joined her long ago. But now that I'm embarking on this mission to save the world, even if I die along the way, she won't blame me from beyond, right?"
Ding Lang, Evernight, and Heinrich still remembered when they first arrived at the No. 3 Factory. The civilians there had eyes full of despair and numbness. And it wasn't just that factory; people in every subsequent factory they visited were in the same state.
It was hard to imagine that these ordinary civilians—once so hopeless, numb, and desperate to cling to life—were now clamoring to take on this arduous mission with no chance of return.
Perhaps this was the power of hope.
Their initial despair and numbness stemmed from not knowing whether they had a future or what the next moment might bring. But with a plan and a glimmer of hope, they had found the courage to live.
When they lacked courage, they feared death. But once they found courage, these people dared to face death head-on, knowing that even in death, their lives would have meaning—a tiny, insignificant contribution to the world.
In truth, far more than the 200,000 who volunteered for the mission stepped forward. Many were young, and many were women, but their families and loved ones persuaded them to stay. In the end, only these 200,000 remained.
Ding Lang sighed as he sifted through the applications. Finally, a hundred teams officially departed, embarking on this one-way journey.
Muttering to himself, Ding Lang said, "If all hundred teams complete their missions, 450 Matrix Modules will be installed, bringing the defense plan nearly halfway to completion!"
Amidst the torrent of memories, Evernight watched emotionlessly. She sighed softly, then accelerated time further. The third month, the fourth month—and then, on a day in the fifth month, an unexpected event occurred.
High above, the colossal Eyeball, left half-dead by the Elemental Rending Bomb, had fully regenerated and cast its gaze upon the world once more!