Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 59 At least he's not bald yet.

While Lin Hai was lamenting his fate as an animal, a large convoy from the First Academy of Sciences was arriving at several bases that served as hubs in various regions and possessed certain scientific research capabilities.

The group that arrived at the Taimon base carried a huge amount of supplies.

Su Xun, who was accompanying Xu Huan to greet these people, couldn't help but be surprised by the scene before him.

"Did you move the national germplasm bank here?"

One after another, refrigerated transport trucks drove into the base's transfer station, where workers unloaded the seedlings, which were frozen at low temperatures, and sealed them in the cold storage provided by the Institute of Botany.

This newly built cold storage facility uses some relatively primitive technology and is powered by an underground nuclear reactor, giving it a considerable chance of surviving a major catastrophe.

Upon hearing Su Xun's question, before the escort personnel could even speak, Xu Huan explained with a smile, "This is nothing. The large germplasm bank currently stores over a million germplasm resources long-term. These are just a portion of the crops suitable for our region."

Su Xun had not participated in this project. Although he was in the Sun Chasing Project, he was not directly involved in everything. This germplasm bank relocation and transportation project was planned and arranged by the General Secretariat. His name only appeared briefly in the corner of a list on his desk.

As for his previous life, he had never been in contact with the large germplasm bank. When he arrived at the former site of the First Academy of Sciences, he only found fragments of information about the survivors' fight against the mutated plants.

However, it is clear that, like Lin Hai's story, these things will no longer happen. Many important seeds have been distributed to various base laboratories, and the rest have been properly sealed in place.

Xu Huan, as the director of the Institute of Botany, went to arrange related work. Qin Chang was on the ground directing the engineering troops to repair the base. When he saw Su Xun, he came over and talked with him for a while. They also took a look at the huge convoy. At the same time, the people in the convoy were also observing this huge fortress complex.

The group that arrived this time included not only the escort personnel, but also researchers selected by the Academy of Sciences to bolster scientific research efforts in various regions, as well as some staff members who had just joined the Kuafu Project and were "hitching a ride" to the site.

Xiao Zhenru is one of them.

Although she arrived with the Academy of Sciences' convoy, she wasn't from any particular research institute; rather, she was nominally affiliated with a design institute under a high-level research institute.

As a newly hired design assistant, she was the kind of graduate student who did odd jobs. She didn't need to attend meetings; after the meetings, she just had to obediently follow the solutions discussed by others. Every day, she was either working on CAD or making PPT presentations.

Although she knew this was something every newcomer had to go through, Xiao Zhenru felt that her status was even lower than that of the water dispenser in the office during the two months she worked there.

At least the water dispenser gets someone to take care of it every day, but when I'm making a PPT, sometimes no one pays attention to it all day. After I finish it and submit it for review, well, a whole day's work for nothing, and I have to start all over again.

In this routine, she thought that life would continue like this day after day until almost a month ago when Dongfang announced that it was entering a state of mobilization.

The design institute did not actually participate in high-intensity military training; it only underwent some basic training. In recent days, their regular work has become more demanding. The General Academy of Sciences has issued a number of projects, which have been distributed and broken down by the research institutes and then brought to the institute.

Although it was quite tough, it was all manageable work. After the staggered holidays ended, the entire design institute was working overtime. Xiao Zhenru was already imagining how they would face the astronomical disaster in this state.

What will happen then? It's hard for people to imagine what they haven't experienced, but recently there have been many messages circulating online that the whole country has made full preparations. In particular, the armored vehicle that has been parked in front of the design institute for three days and the soldiers that followed it have given the entire design institute an unprecedented sense of security.

There are even some less-circulated rumors that the country has found something like a reborn person or a prophet—a topic that would have been labeled a marketing ploy and ridiculed in previous years, but this time the situation seems to be slightly different.

Some bloggers known for their hardcore content have voiced their support for this argument, and some of them have even been rumored to have been recruited, though the veracity of these claims is unknown.

Fear stems from the unknown, and it is under these circumstances that people like Xiao Zhenru, though still uneasy, have gradually gained confidence in the face of the impending catastrophe.

What is there to be afraid of? This land where I grew up will never abandon me. Xiao Zhenru was even fantasizing about a resolute and brave soldier rescuing her from the ruins, but what she could never have predicted was that just yesterday, before she had even had a chance to meet her destined soldier brother, Xiao Zhenru saw the leaders of her design institute arrive at her workstation with a group of security personnel.

"It's her, it's Xiao Zhenru."

God knows how stunned Xiao Zhenru was when she heard those words.

No, boss.

I'm just making a PPT, is it really that big of a deal?

Is it illegal to be greedy for soldiers?

Even if I broke the law, it doesn't mean I need to be arrested by the security department, right?
Fortunately, Xiao Zhenru is indeed a law-abiding young woman. The staff members who came to her did not come to arrest her. Instead, they spoke to her in a very polite manner.

"The motherland needs you."

Xiao Zhenru, who was born in the spring breeze and grew up under the red flag, felt her mind explode. After that, she was in a state of unreality for almost the entire day. She was dizzy and felt like she was floating when she walked.

Fortunately, no one assigned her any tasks during this time. However, she had to learn a whole set of confidentiality regulations, and the related agreements were incredibly thick.

Through this learning process, her mindset gradually calmed down.

Upon arriving at the base, Xiao Zhenru knew that she would be working and living here for a long time to come. In the distance, she saw two middle-aged men standing in the distance. Although she was nearsighted, she still saw the older-looking man wave to her.

Su Xun and Qin Chang stood at a distance, watching the girl get out of the car. Qin Chang asked, "Is she also on your list?"

Seeing that the other person was already coming this way, Su Xun put down his hand and replied, "Yes, I heard that she was only found yesterday and came here today. There must be a lot of things she doesn't know yet. I'll have to give her a training later."

Xiao Zhenru died young in her previous life, and Su Xun only saw her name in some remaining records of the base, knowing that she was a talented psychic.

The list that Su Xun submitted initially contained a large number of people, and there were quite a few like those who were only known by name or had only some vague information. This is why the list of people has not been fully compiled yet.

You can't just randomly gather a bunch of people with the same name to make up the numbers; the organization needs specific people, and each one needs to be carefully identified.

When Xiao Zhenru walked up to the two of them, she looked at Su Xun with some surprise. Su Xun didn't take it to heart. Instead, he called out to Jiang Yi, who was busy not far away, and asked her to take Xiao Zhenru to settle down and familiarize her with the base.

"The way she looked at you just now was really strange."

Su Xun touched his hair, feeling rather helpless.

A young man in his early twenties with almost all his hair turned white—who would believe it?

"Never mind, at least I'm not bald yet. Let's go, we still have a lot of work to do."

(End of this chapter)