In the apocalypse, I hoarded goods and handed over my storage space to the government.

If the awakened ones don't roll up, how can I, the commander in the rear, sleep soundly?

Su Ran smirked and offered an enticing incentive: "Seven days from now, after this cleanup operation ends, if your total score exceeds 10,000, I'll treat you to another meal at the same restaurant as last time."

"real?"

Bai Lu's eyes lit up instantly.

She still fondly remembers that meal, from the top-quality ingredients to the rare tranquility.

But the next second, she keenly grasped that key word.

"Wait, why is it that I'm the one with over 10,000 points, but you're inviting 'you all'?"

The girl's smile faded slightly. She tilted her head and stared at Su Ran, asking each word carefully, "Instead of just 'you'?"

Su Ran was speechless for a moment.

He looked into the girl's clear, yet slightly scrutinizing and disapproving eyes, and for a moment he didn't know how to explain.

This woman has such a strange focus!

You might miss details when you should, but you become especially alert to details in situations like this!

Su Ran inwardly cursed.

Seeing Su Ran's choked expression, Bai Lu's tense little face burst out laughing.

Her laughter was crisp and clear, like a wind chime.

"Forget it, you're such a cheapskate."

She gave a haughty snort and deliberately turned her head away to look elsewhere.

"After the war, the Soviet Union's advisors will reward the heroes who fought on the front lines. I can't possibly monopolize all of your time; that would make me seem so inconsiderate."

In short, they turned the tables and took control.

He gave Su Ran a perfect way out, while subtly asserting his "priority" in Su Ran's time.

Su Ran touched her nose and gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"Commander Su, you should just stay in the rear."

Bai Lu straightened up, stretched her wrists, and said, "I'm going out to earn some crystal cores for you!"

"Stop joking, be careful in everything."

Bai Lu waved gracefully, turned around, and strode away.

All that remained for Su Ran was an extremely dashing and heroic silhouette.

Su Ran looked in the direction she left, shook her head and chuckled.

Immediately, the smile on his face vanished, and his eyes sharpened like knives once more.

Turn around and take a step.

Target: Central command center.

……

Kunlun Base, three underground levels.

As soon as you push open the heavy soundproof door, a cacophony of noise hits you.

Su Ran stepped inside.

Hundreds of top staff officers and technicians work tirelessly here.

On the huge circular screen wall, tens of thousands of data streams refreshed like a waterfall.

Blue dots represent marching units, while red spots represent detected hordes of zombies, intertwined across the vast map of the Great Xia Dynasty.

The sound of keyboard clicks was like a thunderclap, with various tactical commands rising and falling in rapid succession:

"Coordinates 116.4°E, 39.9°N. Attention all combat units! Mutant beast horde detected! Repeat! Mutant beast horde detected!"

"Order the 'Great Wall-07' armored brigade to complete fire coverage within three minutes!"

The entire command center was busy but orderly; this massive national machine was operating at full power.

"Old Li, where's the commander?"

Su Ran walked to the front of the command platform and looked at Li Guodong, who was staring intently at the situation map.

"The military doctor forcibly took him away to rest."

As Li Guodong spoke, he grabbed a cup of cold, strong tea from the table and gulped it down.

"I thought you were going on a date with Bai Lu."

Li Guodong turned around, his bloodshot eyes flashing with a mocking smile.

"What kind of date are you talking about? The world is about to end, who has the mind to think about that?" Su Ran said irritably.

"Comrade Xiao Su, you can't say that. So what if it's the apocalypse? Humans still need to reproduce and continue their lineage even in the apocalypse," Li Guodong said seriously.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Bai Lu and I are just boss and subordinate."

"Okay, okay, it's a superior-subordinate relationship."

Li Guodong stopped wasting time on the topic and made a few jokes, which eased his tense nerves a little.

He turned and pointed to the holographic sand table in the center, his tone instantly becoming incredibly bold and unrestrained.

"Come and see! Look at the magnificent land we've conquered in these three days!"

On the sand table, the large expanse of scarlet red that originally represented the occupied area has been strongly invaded by blue, which represents "cleared".

The blue arrows originating from the twelve major bases, like twelve invincible swords, forcefully tore open a third of the pure land on the map of Great Xia.

"Three days,"

Li Guodong held up three fingers, his tone brimming with undisguised pride, "The 'Great Cleanup' plan has been underway for 72 hours. Nationwide, we've deployed a total of 11.2 million frontline combat troops and reserves!"

"Logistics, production, and transportation personnel: 36.7 million!"

"We have recovered more than three million square kilometers of land and reopened seven major north-south transportation arteries. The thirty-seven arsenals that hadn't been relocated in time have been restarted, operating 24 hours a day, with bullets and shells being sent to the front lines like a flowing river!"

"Bang!"

Li Guodong slammed his fist heavily onto the command platform.

"Su Ran, did you see that? This is the power of a nation!"

Su Ran watched the ever-expanding blue territory in silence, her heart also filled with turbulent emotions.

In their past lives, humans huddled underground like rats, killing each other over a bag of flour.

Who would have thought that one day we could launch a nationwide counterattack against those monsters with such overwhelming force?

The current results are quite remarkable!

"What about casualties?"

Su Ran was not blinded by this favorable situation and went straight to the core issue.

Li Guodong's smile faded slightly as he pulled up a set of data.

"The casualty rate for frontline combat personnel was 1.3%. Of these, 0.4% were regular troops, with newly recruited reserve soldiers making up the vast majority."

He sighed. "There's nothing we can do. The territory is too vast; regular troops simply can't cover it all. During the cleanup, there will always be blind spots where our firepower can't reach, and some will inevitably slip through the net. These greenhorns are full of enthusiasm, but their combat experience is practically zero."

1.3%.

What may seem like a cold, impersonal decimal point represents 140,000 broken families in the context of large-scale military operations involving millions of troops.

But everyone knew that in a war of national annihilation that mobilized tens of millions of people, they were facing an overwhelming horde of monsters.

To reduce the casualty rate to one percent is already a miracle.

"It's already very good."

Su Ran's voice was unusually firm.

The sacrifice of these 140,000 people gave hope for the survival of the next 1.2 billion.

"I understand the logic, but those are living, breathing people! They are other people's sons, other people's husbands and fathers!"

Li Guodong took a drag of his cigarette, his eyes a little red.

Su Ran remained silent for a few seconds.

He walked over to Li Guodong, patted the veteran on the shoulder, and his voice was calm yet cruel:

"Old Li,"

Su Ran walked to his side, patted the veteran on the shoulder, and said in a calm yet cruel tone, "This is just the beginning."

Li Guodong suddenly looked up and stared intently at Su Ran.

"Our 'newbie protection period' is about to end."

Su Ran's gaze swept across the sand table, his voice icy, "Three days, at most three more days. The first batch of second-tier mutated creatures will begin to appear."

"By then, their keratinous skin and bone density will be sufficient to withstand small-caliber rifles, forcing us to adjust our offensive tactics accordingly. Otherwise, our casualty rate will increase at least fivefold, or even tenfold!"

Time remains the sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head.

In the command center, the previously enthusiastic atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point.

"I see."

Li Guodong took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed his emotions, and regained the composure of a senior national security commander.

"This is the best possible start we could have achieved. At least we have firmly grasped the initiative in our own hands."

As Su Ran gazed at the ever-expanding blue territory, her heart was also filled with turbulent emotions.

But that's far from enough.

"Old Li,"

Su Ran said, "I'll go to the data center to check on the latest situation of the Awakened."

Li Guodong snapped back to reality and nodded emphatically: "Let's go together."

Su Ran had described that apocalyptic future to Li Guodong countless times.

In his words, the future does not belong to conventional troops or firearms, but to the awakened.

Those humanoid nuclear weapons capable of tearing apart tanks with their bare hands and carrying missiles with their bare bodies are the true trump card for the Great Xia civilization to continue in the wasteland.

The two walked through a series of busy corridors and arrived at a special data monitoring area located in a corner of the command center.

"Retrieve the latest data on awakened individuals and potential seeds."

Su Ran stopped and immediately gave the order.

The young staff officer, who was engrossed in his work, was startled. He looked up abruptly, saw the person approaching, and immediately sprang to his feet.

"yes!"

He dared not delay in the slightest and quickly operated on the console to project a triple-encrypted report onto the independent screen in front of Su Ran.

"Advisor Su, this is the latest summary up to thirty minutes ago!"

The technician's voice suppressed a barely concealed excitement.

"Operation 'Cleanup' has been remarkably successful. Amidst the intense life-or-death battles on the front lines, we have monitored and confirmed fifteen new Awakened Ones!"

Su Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

The data on the screen is clearly listed.

Of the 15 new additions, 12 were from the list of 500 "potential seeds," while the other 3 were unexpectedly discovered among ordinary soldiers fighting on the front lines.

"Including the 21 people who awakened during the Red Rain, the total number of awakened individuals we have registered has now reached thirty-six!" the staff officer added.

This number acted like a shot of adrenaline, instantly piercing the veins of everyone present.

"Thirty-six!"

Looking at the number, Li Guodong exclaimed like a farmer seeing a bountiful harvest, "Great! Excellent!"

"Comrade Xiao Su! Your 'breeding the Gu' plan is effective! In just three days, you've forced out 15 Awakened Ones!"

Several staff officers and officers around him, who had been keeping a tense expression, couldn't help but smile.

Thirty-six!

Although this number is negligible compared to the total population of 1.2 billion.

But new additions mean there is hope.

Su Ran felt a slight sense of relief.

Throwing them onto the battlefield to writhe in mountains of corpses and seas of blood was definitely the right thing to do.

You can't grow towering trees in a greenhouse.

But he didn't cheer like the others because that wasn't what he really cared about.

Su Ran raised her hand and lightly tapped the cold screen with her fingertips.

"How are the fifteen people from the first batch of the 'Cradle of God' project, Xu Yang and Pei Miaomiao, doing?"

The staff officer's excitement froze instantly, and he hesitated before switching databases.

The list that popped up on the screen made everyone's faces turn ugly.

The fifteen names that Su Ran had placed high hopes on, names that would have stirred up a storm in their previous lives, all had three large, glaring scarlet characters marked in the "Awakening Status" column:

[Not yet awakened].

not a single one.

"How come there isn't a single one?"

The color drained from Li Guodong's face at a visible speed.

This group of people is the core of Su Ran's entire plan!

The fifteen people who just awakened can only be considered an unexpected bonus.

"this……"

Everyone was speechless!

Logically, Xu Yang and Pei Miaomiao are among the most special groups, considered potential seeds in the Great Xia's potential seed pool.

Under equal life-or-death pressure, the probability of awakening should be the highest!

How could they have been completely wiped out?

Isn't the pressure to survive from life-or-death struggles enough?

Su Ran's pupils shrank to the size of dangerous pinpoints.

His gaze locked onto the man named Wang Meng, whose name was marked with a bright red label: "[In Hospital]".

"What happened to Wang Meng?" Su Ran asked.

"In an encounter four hours ago, Comrade Wang Meng, in pursuit of the ultimate thrill of life and death, repeatedly abandoned fire support and chose to engage in close-quarters combat with the mutants."

The young staff officer's expression became unusually complicated, and he explained in a low voice.

As he spoke, he pulled up a video recording of a battle that a frontline soldier had risked his life to record.

The screen shook violently, filled with the roar of explosions and desperate screams.

On the scorched wasteland, a figure covered in bruises charged forward like a madman.

It's Wang Meng!

He threw away his rifle, covered in blood, and brandished an entrenching tool with a dull blade.

His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was twisted and ferocious.

In the video, you can vaguely hear his inhuman screams.

"I don't believe in fate!!"

"Why can they awaken? I can too!"

Like a wounded beast, he fought the monster relentlessly with his shoulders, fists, and even his teeth.

The next second, a huge mutated wild boar charged out from the dust kicked up by the side.

"Bang!"

Wang Meng streaked through the air like a rag doll, leaving a trail of blood, before crashing heavily into the ruins.

"Seventeen fractures throughout his body, and multiple ruptures of internal organs."

The staff officer whispered, "Although he was saved by the medics at great risk, he has lost his combat capability. According to the assessment, even if he recovers, he will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair."

Li Guodong closed his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.

Su Ran watched the whole thing in silence.

He remembered Wang Meng.

The man who was the first in the training camp to shout, "I'd rather be eaten alive by zombies than go back to the civilian area to clean the sewers."

Unexpectedly, the one who worked the hardest was the first to fall.

The one who wants to win the most often loses the most.

Su Ran slowly reached out and turned off the recording.

He stood in front of the huge data screen, feeling gratified by the addition of the fifteen awakened individuals.

However, those "Thunder Emperors" and "Flame Queens" who should have shone brightly during this period in their previous lives collectively fell silent.

The butterfly's flapping wings once again gripped his throat.

Su Ran stared at the black screen, a sense of dread about the future creeping into his heart.

Will the future really be better than the previous one?