"...The nuclear power plant?" Chen Xuan suddenly felt enlightened, "So that’s how it is!"

"How?" Lin Qing asked while speeding down the road. On a city road with a speed limit of 60, she was racing at over 120, leaving many monsters behind before they could intercept.

"Electricity is nutrition!"

"What?" Lin Qing frowned, "Can the Shadow Demon directly digest electricity?"

"No, I’m referring to a symbol! In Su Xingwan’s perception, electricity is a form of energy, so in her dream, it manifests as something that can nourish the Shadow Demon." Chen Xuan said in one breath, "Summoning monsters consumes its abilities, shown by the unstable voltage throughout the city!"

Lin Qing once again jerked the steering wheel sharply, the tires let out a piercing screech, and with a loud bang, the right side of the car collided with a monster, sending it flying several meters away, shattering the right headlight in the process. Amid the nearly uncontrollable fishtailing and crash, the two in the back seat involuntarily screamed.

"What does that mean?" she asked after steadying the steering wheel.

"Don’t you understand? Cutting the power may significantly weaken it!"

Chen Xuan opened the window, leaned half of his body out, and summoned the Thousand Thoughts Sword to provide cover for Lin Qing. Although the collision was decisive, the car was still a civilian vehicle and couldn’t withstand repeated battering from allies.

By this time, the four were very close to the power station. On the roadside was a barbed wire fence meant for isolation. The already enormous Shadow Demon now appeared even larger, occupying nearly all of their view, so big they had to look up to see the Demon Fiend’s body. It sprawled across the power plant like a mountain, and the dense streetlights only illuminated its lower abdomen and toes.

Beyond, lay the ocean.

"I get what you mean." Lin Qing drove the car directly onto the sidewalk, "Everyone, hold on tight!"

She floored the accelerator, the four-wheel motor let out a piercing screech, and the vehicle crashed into the fence at over 160 km/h, collapsing the wire mesh and poles together, then continued into the nuclear power plant unabated.

The Shadow Demon’s belly flickered with blue electrical light again!

This time, they saw clearly that its lower abdomen actually extended thousands of wires, connecting to nearby high-voltage towers, as if these cables were a web it had woven! A burst of electricity sent showers of sparks raining down above them, like a rain of stars.

This scene was spectacular but clearly not a good omen.

Chen Xuan sensed the monster’s symbolic bright spots around them doubling again, numbering at least a hundred!

He immediately summoned more Thousand Thoughts Swords to clear the path for Lin Qing.

The two’s thoughts had already aligned, which was to rush into the nuclear power plant and shut down the power station from the inside.

The car stopped only when it reached the hall entrance.

"A nuclear power plant would certainly use physical isolation, a distinction between the external and internal networks. I need to find the control center to infiltrate it," Lin Qing assessed, "You don’t need to join me, just protect those two."

Chen Xuan also knew this was the best choice—both he and Lin Qing had the strength to handle things independently, but with two ordinary high school students, it was different.

"Be careful, these monsters are summoned by the Shadow Demon out of thin air, so they could appear suddenly in any corner," he warned.

"Don’t worry, I’m a professional." Lin Qing got out of the car and rushed into the depths of the building without looking back.

Su Xingwan and Gu Zhaoning got out of the car and vomited directly.

Clearly, the wild ride just now had shaken them up.

"Lin, Lin Qing! Why did she suddenly leave?" Gu Zhaoning gasped and asked.

"She has her plans." Chen Xuan glanced outside the power station, dense human shadows were converging towards them, comparable to a zombie scene. But these monsters weren’t zombies; they possessed staggering strength and weren’t slow in their attacks. If it weren’t for the Thousand Thoughts Sword being capable of fighting on its own, it would be tough to handle so many enemies simultaneously.

"Are we...inside the nuclear power plant?" Su Xingwan wiped the acidic liquid from her mouth, "I thought I was dead."

"Not yet." Chen Xuan pushed the number of LV5 Thousand Thoughts Swords to the limit, a total of twelve Qi Swords working with the Celestial Thunder Order, initially slaying the milk-white monsters charging at them one by one. "Su Xingwan, I need you to do something now."

The girl’s spirits lifted, "Dr. Chen, tell me."

"Imagine that there are survivors in the city."

"Eh?" Su Xingwan was taken aback.

"A rescue team, having lost contact, is hiding in the Asia-Pacific Nuclear Power Plant. They are now concealed in this building, and come to check because they heard the crash."

"What... do you mean? I’m not quite sure..."

"Just imagine it this way! Remember, this dream is yours, so essentially, you can control it!" Chen Xuan emphasized, "Don’t be afraid, just think about what the city will be like if there are survivors!"

If his guess was correct, Su Xingwan was undoubtedly the most crucial part of this nightmare. In other words, her will could influence the change of the dream to some extent.

"I... know, I’ll try!" Su Xingwan finally understood Chen Xuan’s request. She sat in the car, closed her eyes, and began to meditate deeply.

But nothing extraordinary happened.

Indeed, this wasn’t easy to achieve.

But Chen Xuan didn’t care and deliberately bluffed, "Great, keep going. I can feel the changes!"

"Yes!"

"Dr. Chen... what is...?" Gu Zhaoning looked puzzled.

"Just watch quietly; I trust your friend will succeed." Chen Xuan gestured for her to stay quiet.

Sizzling...

The outside suddenly brightened, even the ground was bathed in a shade of bluish light. Simultaneously, the lights in the hall intensely flickered, with several lights exploding directly into shards!

"Ah!" Gu Zhaoning was startled, the flying glass shards made her instinctively shield her friend, using her body as a shield.

The Shadow Demon summoned helpers for the third time.

"Has...something happened?" Su Xingwan asked in panic with her eyes closed.

"Ignore these! How far have you envisioned?" Chen Xuan turned, recalled two Flying Swords, and slashed humanoid monsters that suddenly appeared in the hall—now not only were there many enemies outside, but inside the building had become unsafe.

"I’m imagining these people’s appearances! The leader is a military officer about thirty years old, with extremely rich combat experience, having repeatedly participated in evacuation operations..."

Chen Xuan raised his eyebrows in surprise, good heavens...he only asked her to imagine there were people here, but Su Xingwan went on to sketch such detailed features?

At that moment, he caught the sound of small footsteps from another corridor connecting the hall. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"His team escorts over a hundred civilians, retreating into the nuclear plant, only to face giant spiders and become trapped here. Now, these people have discovered us and are heading over..."

The footsteps were getting closer!

Simultaneously, urgent conversations reached their ears.

"Uh...I can’t think up anything more!" Su Xingwan shouted in frustration, "Do you feel any more changes?"

"No need, this is already enough." Chen Xuan confidently said, "Look."

Following his words, a group of fully armed soldiers burst from the corridor, firing at the enemies rushing from the depths of the building!

The fierce sound of gunfire immediately echoed throughout the building!

"Quick, come over here, it’s safe here!" The leader shouted at them, just as Su Xingwan had described, it was a man in camouflage fatigues, roughly thirty years old.

"No way..." Su Xingwan opened her eyes, utterly shocked, "The reinforcement really came?"

Indeed, Chen Xuan confirmed his hypothesis.

"Go! Do as they say!"

He shouted, covering the retreat of the two into the corridor, joining up with the reinforcements. Then they fought while retreating, heading to the underground parking lot of the power station.

True enough, over a hundred refugees were hiding here! Judging by their clothing, some were ordinary citizens, and some were nuclear power station workers.

"Are these people...imagined by me?" Su Xingwan momentarily couldn’t accept the fact.

"Indeed." Chen Xuan nodded, "In fact, Shen City’s transition from inhabited to uninhabited is driven by your subconscious decision. You dread seeing people slaughtered by monsters, to the point of avoiding bloodshed and death, thus turning the city into this current state."

"If they die here...doesn’t that make me a murderer!?" Her face paled instantly.

"Calm down." Chen Xuan held her shoulder, "This is always your dream, and death is merely a fabric of imagination. Aside from you, no one will truly die from the nightmare."

"Dr. Chen, is she having such dreams because of that huge monster above us?" Gu Zhaoning asked softly.

"No, the Shadow Demon can’t achieve that." Chen Xuan confidently responded, "This dream world itself is your friend’s ability."