Apocalypse Rebirth: 3000 million won at the beginning

Headquarters Base of Dazhangshu.

Inside the No. 3 experimental greenhouse in the fourth outer city.

This greenhouse is planted with a variety of plants, including not only conventional crops but also other plants.

Furthermore, the area was divided into sections, and the plants in each section were separated by plastic film.

Each section has a different cultivation environment, which can be controlled in terms of light, humidity, and temperature.

At the very back of this greenhouse, there is a small laboratory that has been set up.

Inside the laboratory, Anya was squatting on the ground, picking a leaf from one of the plants, and then placing it on the table to observe it under a microscope.

After a while, she reluctantly threw the leaf into the trash can.

During this period, she tried various methods, from grinding and breaking cells with liquid nitrogen and precipitating total protein by salting out, to using an aerosol culture chamber and even trying synthetic methods, but she was unable to extract the solidified protein.

Drop drop-

Her watch beeped, and she glanced at the time; it was already nine o'clock in the evening.

With a sigh, she tidied up the things in the laboratory.

Stepping out of the lab, Li Peizhen, who was still taking notes around the experimental shed, called out:

"Pei-zhen, let's go, we should go back."

Li Peizhen raised her head and said:

"Wait a moment, I'll leave as soon as I finish recording the data in this experimental shed."

Anya nodded, then walked through the entire greenhouse to the isolation room, where she washed her clothes using a mist spray method.

Then we walked out of the greenhouse and came to an experimental greenhouse next door.

These days, their Ministry of Agriculture has built five experimental greenhouses in the fourth outer city, specifically for cultivating crops with D-fixed protein.

Zhang Qiwu personally took charge of this matter, gathering dozens of high-level agricultural experts from Dazhangshu, who have been busy with it.

Experimental Greenhouse No. 3.

When Anya walked in, she found that Zhang Qiwu was still there. Zhang Qiwu was over seventy years old, but he was still in good health and had a good spirit.

At that moment, he was conducting an experiment with several experts.

"Mr. Zhang, is there any progress on your end?"

Zhang Qiwu saw Anya and shook his head, saying:
"No, we've tested various environments, but none of them seem to have any effect."

"The results of our high-concentration D-element test yesterday are in; no D-fixed protein was found in the plants in those experimental fields."

Anya smiled wryly:
"Now we can only pin our hopes on the outbound team."

Zhang Qiwu also looked somewhat haggard, and sighed:

"Take it slow, we'll eventually find a way to synthesize the Des-Strengthening Protein."

The anxiety of the upper class about the food problem did not affect the lower-class people in the several bases of Dazhangshu.

in contrast.

Since the sea fog had been present for several months, they had grown accustomed to it and realized that they were perfectly safe inside the base. Coupled with the extremely stable food supply, they gradually relaxed.

Many wealthy players who have accumulated a lot of points will even take the train to other bases to experience the unique features of each base.

The movement of people has led to further development of commerce in various bases.

The headquarters base and the oil city commercial district have developed relatively quickly, and some private enterprises in these two places have gradually moved to the northern border, Oriental Paradise, and the four northwestern cities.

The commercial boom led to an increase in tax revenue for Dazhangshu.

The inner city of the Big Camphor Tree.

Looking at the latest financial statements, Li Yu was both amused and exasperated.

"Second Uncle, this month's fiscal revenue has increased by 10% compared to last month. What's going on?"

Second Uncle took a sip of tea and replied:
"The main growth drivers are the Northern Territory, Oriental Paradise, and the Jiuquan base in the Northwest. In the past month, nearly 300 new stores have been added in these three locations."

Rent, taxes, and train fare revenue all contributed to fiscal growth.

Li Yu placed the report on the table and said:

"The three teams we sent out have been out for three or four days now, and none of them have found any mutant crops containing the D-fixed protein. What about the Ministry of Agriculture? Have they made any progress?"

My second uncle shook his head: "Before I came here, I asked Anya, but there was no progress."

"By the way, where are the judges now? Haven't they been found in Sanya either?"

Li Yu replied:
"They arrived in Sanya yesterday, searched there all day without success, and are now heading towards Yunnan and Guizhou."

"Alright, but we still have time. With our current food reserves, we can last at least eight more months," Uncle said optimistically.

Li Yu remained silent. The food problem was like a mountain, weighing them down and making it hard for them to breathe.

Although his second uncle said he could hold on for another eight months, Li Yu knew that eight months was actually not a long time.

If a mutant crop with the fixed protein cannot be found within eight months, no, even within six months,
The giant ship that is the camphor tree may collapse!
In the end times, without food, there is no order.

The reason why the big camphor tree looks relatively stable now is because there are grain reserves here to support it.

The food problem urgently needs to be solved.

Just then, footsteps were heard.

Yu Tong was seen carrying a beautifully sculpted baby girl as she entered the reception room.

When Second Uncle saw Yu Tong holding Li Aoxue, his previously worried face instantly broke into a smile, his face crinkling with laughter:
"Suckling, Aoxue, come here, let your second grandpa give you a hug." Second Uncle got up and walked over with a smile.

Upon seeing her second uncle, Yu Tong greeted him gently, "Second Uncle."

"Did I interrupt your conversation?"

Uncle chuckled and said, "No, no."

He held Li Aoxue in his arms, his smile never fading.

His two sons, Li Haoran and Li Haoxian, do not have children yet, and he desperately wants to be a grandfather.

"Waaah~" Li Aoxue burst into tears, leaving her second uncle somewhat bewildered.

Li Yu smiled and said, "I'll do it."

For some reason, as soon as Li Yu took over, Li Aoxue immediately stopped crying.

A pair of big, round, dark eyes, with fluttering eyelashes, curiously looked at Li Yu.

Li Yu looked at his daughter's rosy cheeks and couldn't help but kiss her.

"MUA~"

A little cotton-padded jacket smells the best.

Looking at his daughter, Li Yu's face showed a doting expression.

My second uncle watched from the side, his heart filled with endless emotions.

Today, the Li family has grown even larger.

Li Yu has given birth to twins, Li Hang is expecting his second child, Li Yuan has given birth to one, even Li Zhengping's two wives are pregnant at the same time, and Li Gang's wife is probably due to give birth in a few months.

so good.

The new life dispelled the gloom in his heart, and he said to Li Yu:

"Xiaoyu, I have something to do, I have to go now."

He then said goodbye to Yutong and left the villa.

The Li family villa is now extremely lively.

Li Yu, Yu Tong, Li Hang, Ding Qingqing, Li Yuan, Qing Yang, Li's parents, and several children, totaling more than a dozen people, all live in this five-story villa.

Every day at mealtimes, the little ones are quite boisterous, but despite the noise, it's a very heartwarming time.

In the blink of an eye, a week has passed.

All three teams that were sent out have now embarked on their return journey.

After searching for three days with his team, Hefeng, who had traveled to the Bohai Bay, failed to find any crops containing di-fixed protein and had to return to the north.

They returned to headquarters by train the following day.

Zuo Ruxue and Xiao Hu's group, who went to the coastal area of ​​Fujian Province, also searched for several days in the Wuyi Mountains and the coastal area of ​​Fujian, but failed to find the Di solidified protein and had to return empty-handed.

As for Judge and his group, since they first went to Sanya and then to Yunnan Province, their return journey will be slower.

Your province.

A massive war chariot drove through the fog, closely followed by two transport vehicles.

The transport vehicle was tied to the land battleship in front of it with a special chain.

inside the car.

Everyone looked disappointed. Over the past ten days, they had traveled to many places, even going to the Ailao Mountains, where they encountered many mutated zombie animals.
I almost didn't make it back.

Even though they were wearing the Vajra suits, several combatants still suffered broken bones and injuries.

Old Qin, with one hand bandaged, said with a speechless expression:

"We've searched everywhere, does this 'Laoshizi Di solidified protein' really exist?"

He injured his hand in the Ailao Mountains.

They encountered a mutated zombie bear, which was five meters tall. In an attempt to save a combatant, he was accidentally slapped away by the zombie bear.

He broke his arm when he landed.

“Yes, Yao expert, we’ve tested at least two thousand kinds of mutated plants on this trip, didn’t we find any of them with the Di-fixing protein?” Sun Erzhang, who was also injured, asked. He had a broken leg.

The Kongo suit is very strong, and its properties are somewhat similar to those of Newtonian bodies; the greater the force applied, the harder the surface becomes.

Although they can withstand the claws and slaps of the mutated animals, the mutated animals are too large, and if they press down on them, it can still cause internal injuries or fractures.

Yao Ji looked embarrassed; Sun Erzhang had been injured because of her.

"According to the spray test results provided by the research institute, none of the mutant crops we have found so far contain the D-fixing protein."

"We can't keep searching like this, can we? Damn it, I almost fell to my death on that mountain in Yunnan Province!" Chen Dingtian complained.

"Enough!" the judge roared, and no one dared to speak again.

Seeing everyone's disheveled state, the judge said in a deep voice:
"I know everyone has grievances in their hearts, these ten days have been very difficult, but..."

"This is not the Yao expert's fault. We knew this mission would be extremely difficult before we took it on."

"We bear the weight of the entire population of Dazhangshu on our shoulders; their food security is our responsibility." "If we can't find the De-solidified protein, our massive base could collapse within months!"

"I want everyone to understand that our mission is difficult, but it is also very meaningful."

No matter how tough or difficult things get, we all have to get through it!

Yao Ji, who knew about the grain situation, bit her lower lip and remained silent.

Sun Erzhang and Chen Dingtian, who were not very familiar with the situation, along with more than a dozen other assault team members, all wore solemn expressions.

They never imagined that the situation in Dazhangshu would reach this point.

The judge looked at the nut and asked:
"Nuts, where are we?"

Nuts looked at the map and the screen and replied:

"We're almost in Bijie, aren't we?"

When they returned, they did not take the same route back, but instead took a detour through Guizhou Province, then through Hunan Province, and finally back to Ganzhou City.

The reason for returning to take a different route is to pass through areas with different terrains and test the mutated crops in those areas.

This can also increase the chances of discovering crops with modified proteins.

"Are we almost at Bijie?" the judge asked Yao Ji, turning to her.

"Expert Yao, should we get out of the car to search later?"

Yao Ji composed herself, opened her notebook, which contained a list of the areas to be searched along this route.

There are dozens of markers in your province, and Bijie is one of them.

"When we pass through the Weining mountain area, we can also get off the bus and search around. The Weining Plateau has a lot of karst landforms and complex alpine grasslands," Yao Ji replied.

According to their speculation from the Ministry of Agriculture and research institutes, areas with higher sea fog concentrations are more likely to produce tartaric proteins.

After all, in areas with high concentrations of sea fog, the higher the content of D-elements, the greater the degree of plant mutation, and the more likely special mutations will occur.

However, this is just their speculation.

None of them had ever actually seen what crops containing Di-fixing protein actually looked like.

Plant variation is influenced by too many factors, and their speculations are not entirely accurate.

Therefore, by going to more complex geographical environments, we can use the process of elimination.

Inside the land battleship vehicle.

The judge encouraged everyone and then told the injured to temporarily refrain from performing their duties and rest to recover.

An hour later.

They arrived at the foot of the Weining Plateau.

climb mountains!

Old Qin and Ant were injured, so they wouldn't be going out this time.

The judge addressed the people inside the carriage, saying:

"Nuts and Jackals, you two take a few people with good physical fitness out with you."

"Yaoji, you shouldn't go. This time you have to climb a mountain that's over 2,000 meters high. Your physical condition is too poor, it will be difficult for you to climb it."

Yao Ji did not refuse upon hearing this.

After all, she was so exhausted from her trip to the Ailao Mountains in Yunnan a few days ago that she could barely stand up. This time, she knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with the physical demands of climbing a mountain over 2,000 meters high through the sea fog.

Through this period of learning, Jian Guo and the others have learned how to use the test spray.

Even if she doesn't go, if the nuts and their team discover the De-fixed protein mutant crop, they can still bring it back.

Fully prepared and ready to go.

Nut and Jackal led ten men away from the land battleship.

These ten men were all among the best physically fit members of the assault team. They were extremely agile and ran straight to the top of the mountain after getting off the vehicle.

Along the way, they used low-light night vision goggles to see the road ahead and occasionally sprayed the mutated plants on the road. After waiting for half a minute, they got a red effect.

However, as they went higher, they discovered that the red color of the spray on the mutant crops became deeper as the altitude increased.

However, when they climbed to 1000-1500 meters, the red effect of the spray on the mutated plants became even deeper.

Nuts immediately used the communicator to contact the judge down the mountain:

"Judge, we have discovered that in the area between 1000 and 1500 meters, the mutated plants here are a darker color than the mutated crops at the foot of the mountain!"

What's going on?

The judge didn't know either, so he looked at Yao Ji.

Yao Ji studied it for a while and replied:
"It's possible that it's due to airflow settling and the belt effect. As the air cools with increasing altitude, water vapor condenses and falls, washing away and settling the micro-dust particles in the area halfway up the mountain."
This resulted in a horizontally ring-shaped area of ​​enriched di elements surrounding the mountain.

As she spoke, she said with some excitement:

"You should search this area for more mutated crops; this place is very likely to contain plants containing D-solidified protein!"

Upon hearing this, Nut looked around at the mutated weeds and trees, his eyes filled with excitement.

Looking up at the mountaintop, there are many wind turbines left over from before the apocalypse.

"Okay, I see."

He had just finished speaking with the land battleship when the jackal beside him pointed to a wind turbine blade that stretched for tens of meters above and said:

"Nuts, this fan blade has been blown all the way here, damn it!"

On Mount Wumeng, a few kilometers away from them.

Hundreds of wind turbines stand on the continuous mountain ridges, but many of them are missing their blades.

Wumeng Mountain Energy Storage Center.

Wei Chuan, a lone survivor and a wind power technician before the apocalypse, looked at his old partner lying on the ground.

It was an old dog that was over ten years old, and it died of old age yesterday.

He just stared at the dog, lost in thought, all day long.

To him, this was not a dog, but his companion, the spiritual pillar that has sustained him to this day.

He's been on the mountain for five or six years, and he hasn't seen a single living person. He has no one to talk to, only a dog for company.

And this dog is now dead.

His face was gaunt, and he hadn't slept all night, looking extremely haggard.

Looking at his dead comrade, his eyes were filled with extreme sorrow.

"What's the point of living?"

He struggled to his feet, grabbed the already dead dog, and planned to climb to the top of the generator and jump off.

Just as he was getting up with the dog in his arms, he heard a crackling sound of electricity coming from somewhere.

After the static faded, the conversation between Nut and the Judge began.

"?"

With a puzzled look, he gently put down Wangcai's body, searched around for a while, and finally found a walkie-talkie in the corner.

He had left this walkie-talkie here for a long time.

It just hasn't made a sound yet.

Could it be?

He was startled; the radio's communication range was limited, only a few kilometers to about ten kilometers.

This means that the person who just spoke was at most ten kilometers away from him.

But then he realized it was unlikely.

After all, so many years have passed since the apocalypse, and now there's sea fog everywhere. How could there possibly be any survivors who would come to a godforsaken place like this?

"Could it be that I'm too eager to see people?"

Is the auditory hallucination caused by excessive grief after losing Wangcai?

He wondered if he had misheard.

But he still picked up the walkie-talkie and fiddled with it for a bit.

Unexpectedly, the next second...

The walkie-talkie crackled to life again as Yao Ji spoke to the jackal.

Halfway up the mountain?
Di element?
He keenly grasped a few key words, and at the same time, he was extremely excited.

It wasn't a hallucination; there really was someone nearby.

There are really people!

It's not a hallucination!

He was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. He had originally wanted to die, but now he had a desire to live.

It's people!

They are real humans!
He was eager to find them, but the next second, he stopped in his tracks.

Are these people good or bad?

The reason he stayed on the mountain was because he witnessed the survivors killing each other down below, which is why he sought refuge on the mountain.

What if he goes there and these people kill him?
but
He endured six years of hardship alone on the mountain, without seeing a living person for six years.

I really can't take it anymore.

I'm so lonely!

After thinking it over.

Since he wanted to die anyway, seeing humans before he died would be a kind of fulfillment.

"Should we listen again? Or go directly to them?"

"Or perhaps, should we try contacting them?"

He looked at the walkie-talkie in his hand and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)