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

"The first Tier 2 hunter in Great Xia: Ye Xiao".

This bold, bright red text, coupled with Ye Xiao's blood-soaked, knife-wielding, murderous cover photo, further emphasized the image.

Like a potent hormone, it pierced the heart of every awakened one.

The communication channel of the frontline Awakened team was filled with discussions about Ye Xiao.

For a time, the atmosphere among the Awakened Ones throughout the Great Xia Dynasty was somewhat delicate.

Some were jealous, some were envious, but many more felt a burning desire in their eyes.

Only Ye Xiao was peeking through the screen, secretly laughing.

"Old Ye's showing off was pretty good!"

"Stop being so sour, they risked their lives for that."

"It's a pity there aren't any Tier 2 mutated beasts around me, otherwise I could show off my skills to everyone."

"Are you going to demonstrate how to wipe corpse rice with your left hand?"

"Old Ye can be considered the number one Awakened in our Great Xia."

……

Bai Lu: "This is a second-order crystal core? [JPG]"

In the picture, the white deer is holding a handful of crystal cores, two of which are particularly dazzling.

Both its luster and size are clearly different from other crystal nuclei.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

"Let's call it a day, let's call it a day, there's nothing to see here."

"+1"

"+1"

……

Kunlun Base, Central Command Hall.

As the last instruction was issued, Su Ran rubbed her temples and left the noisy command post.

He needs to personally check on the progress of several key projects.

First stop: Jiangcheng Mother Nest Special Monitoring Room.

The concept of the "Warcraft Legion" is tied to this place, and cannot be lost.

On the huge screen, hundreds of small windows were divided, displaying the situation inside the Jinmao Tower in Jiangcheng from various angles.

Those fleshy tentacles and tissues have completely devoured the entire building and have even begun to spread to the surrounding buildings.

The "mother nest" in the picture has grown even bigger.

"The ovary is growing 7.3% faster than expected."

The researcher in charge of monitoring reported in a low voice, "But it's still within a controllable range; no biological breakthrough has been detected in the sealed-off area."

Su Ran watched all of this with a blank expression.

This thing cannot be touched for the time being.

"Keep an eye on it."

"yes!"

Leaving the monitoring room, Su Ran took the internal elevator directly to "Room 0," which was 500 meters underground.

The heavy lead door slid open, and a wave of scorching heat mixed with the pungent smell of ozone rushed out.

The sight before him stunned him for a moment.

The once spacious assembly workshop is now completely transformed.

Hundreds of enormous mechanical arms hung down from the dome, like lurking steel behemoths.

On the ground, rows of brand-new automated tracks crisscross, and countless small transport robots shuttle along the tracks at high speed, precisely delivering pieces of metal to designated workstations.

The entire workshop was like an industrial Cthulhu that was frantically multiplying itself.

It is filled with a violent aesthetic that is both chaotic and extremely orderly.

"Advisor Su!"

A researcher in charge of project coordination saw Su Ran and immediately ran over, his face beaming with undisguised excitement.

"The automated production line for 'crystalline energy converters' has entered the final debugging stage! If all goes well, the first batch of trial production can begin tomorrow!"

Su Ran nodded, not surprised by this.

Throw Lu Yuan, this mechanical genius, into a national-level industrial hub and give him unlimited resources.

If they still can't make a name for themselves, that would be strange.

He glanced around the workshop and soon spotted a huddled figure in a corner.

He frantically typed on the keyboard, muttering to himself.

His white coat was so worn that its original color was no longer visible, and his face was streaked with black and gray, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, making him look like a raccoon that had just crawled out of a garbage can to eat.

Su Ran's bracelet vibrated.

This is a message from Air Force Commander-in-Chief Chen Changfeng: [Advisor Su, the first meeting of the "Sky Shield" project team is in half an hour. All core members will be present. We need you to discuss the overall construction system.]

Su Ran replied with "Received".

Just as I was about to leave, the figure in the corner seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up.

Upon seeing Su Ran, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up, and he scrambled over to her.

"Commander Su... Commander Su!"

His voice was still timid, with a slight stutter.

"Good progress," Su Ran praised.

Lu Yuan was a little embarrassed by the praise. He subconsciously wiped his oily hands on his clothes, and then, as if he remembered something, his expression became a little awkward.

"Um... Commander Su, I... could I... request something?"

Su Ran raised an eyebrow, finding it somewhat strange.

Lu Yuan's authority over resource allocation is now at the highest level in the entire Kunlun base.

As long as he doesn't ask the state for the truth, almost all supplies are readily available.

Why do I need to apply for any supplies myself?

What do you want?

"Crystal... Crystal nucleus."

Lu Yuan's voice dropped eight octaves instantly.

"How many?"

Lu Yuan took a deep breath, as if he had mustered up tremendous courage.

"The more the better."

Su Ran was amused by him. "Are you counting soldiers here? Give me a number."

Lu Yuan held up one finger, then realized something was wrong. After hesitating for a moment, he still opened his palm and made a "ten" sign.

"One hundred thousand, Tier 1. That's all for now."

"..."

Su Ran's expression froze instantly.

One hundred thousand pieces?

The entire "cleanup" operation lasted for almost a week, involving tens of millions of troops, resulting in the deaths of over 100,000 people, and the total number of crystal cores captured was only a little over two million.

This kid wants to take 100,000 coins as soon as he opens his mouth?

"What do you need so many for? To eat crystal cores?" Su Ran couldn't help but complain.

"It wasn't me who ate it..."

Lu Yuan quickly explained, "It's needed by the 'Luan Bird,' and also by the 'Mysterious Maiden.' Especially the 'Luan Bird,' I redesigned a power transmission system for it."

To power that behemoth and maintain its high combat capability, 100,000 Tier 1 crystal cores are essential.

Su Ran fell silent.

He felt that the "Mysterious Maiden" fighter jet was just an add-on; the majority of the 100,000 crystal cores still had to be fed to the "Luan Bird," that gold-devouring behemoth.

He was still basking in the glory of the nearly two million crystal cores in his hands, feeling that he had a substantial fortune.

In the blink of an eye, a spendthrift appeared.

Seeing that Su Ran didn't speak, Lu Yuan said urgently, "No... it's not all at once, it's the last... the last total requirement is about 100,000."

"Did you apply to the Strategic Reserves Department?" Su Ran asked.

"I've applied."

Lu Yuan lowered his head, his voice even softer, "They...they sent me to find you."

"..."

Su Ran instantly understood, and cursed inwardly, "A bunch of old foxes!"

According to the original allocation plan, 30% of the crystal cores were allocated to scientific research, 20% to awakened individuals, and 50% were reserved for strategic reserves.

The Lu Yuan project should, in principle, be funded jointly from research grants and strategic reserves.

But now, there are upgrades to exoskeleton armor, the development of the tactical mech "Cheng Ying," the production and maintenance of various crystal core weapons...

Which one of them isn't a major consumer of crystal cores?

Those logistics officers in the Strategic Reserves Department, holding nearly a million crystal cores, are probably feeling the pinch and are extremely stingy.

They didn't want to offend Lu Yuan, their precious son, but they also couldn't bear to part with the inventory in their warehouse, so they simply passed the buck to themselves.

They want to make the Awakeners headquarters, this "fat sheep," bleed a little.

The Awakeners headquarters has a total of only 36 official staff members, which is not even enough to fill a high school classroom, yet they have been allocated nearly 20% of the crystal cores.

These 400,000 crystal cores.

Even if you force-feed these thirty-six people like ducks until they explode and die, you still won't run out of them.

Su Ran sighed, somewhat helplessly.

"You really were given supplies, but you couldn't handle them."

Instead of keeping them in storage, let's take them out and turn them into real combat power.

"Alright."

He patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder: "I've approved this batch of crystal cores."

Lu Yuan looked up suddenly, his eyes filled with surprise.

"Submit a report later to transfer your status to the Awakened Headquarters as an unofficial technical advisor. These 100,000 crystal cores will be transferred to you from our headquarters' account."

Su Ran said, "It will save us from making things difficult for those people in the Strategic Reserves Department."

Lu Yuan was so excited that his face turned red, his lips trembled, and he couldn't say a word for a long time. Finally, he bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Commander Su!"

Su Ran waved her hand and was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something and stopped in her tracks.

"Lu Yuan, I have a question for you."

He turned around, his gaze fixed intently on Lu Yuan. "Could you... design a machine that can distinguish the energy levels of these mutated creatures?"

"Distinguishing energy levels?"

Lu Yuan was stunned for a moment, and instinctively shrank his neck.

"right."

Su Ran explained, "Just like the mutated grizzly bear that Ye Xiao killed, awakened beings can use their spiritual perception to know that its life level is far beyond the first tier, thus deducing that it is a second-tier creature, but ordinary warriors cannot make that judgment directly."

I need a device that can provide early warnings, informing the soldiers whether there is a high-energy target among the zombies or mutated beasts ahead.

The battlefield is ever-changing, and it's impossible to know what level of creature you're facing only after the warriors have dug out the crystal core.

If we can get an early warning, we can greatly reduce unnecessary casualties when encountering high-level mutated creatures.

This is like equipping the entire army with a "combat capability detection radar".

Its strategic significance is no less than that of the "crystal energy converter".

Lu Yuan lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously swiping across the tablet, lost in thought.

The researchers around him didn't dare to breathe, afraid of disturbing this genius's thinking.

After a full three minutes, Lu Yuan suddenly looked up, his eyes gleaming.

"Theoretically, it might be feasible."

He said somewhat uncertainly, "A conventional energy detector definitely won't work, as the life level of mutated beings is not directly equivalent to their energy level."

Lu Yuan paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts: "But, but, what if we change our approach? Instead of detecting the 'quantity' of energy, we can identify the 'quality' of energy."

"What do you mean?" Su Ran pressed.

"When I was researching crystal energy converters, I noticed that the crystal nucleus contains a unique information frequency. I guess the hierarchy of life forms is like tuning a radio, with first-order life forms on one channel and second-order life forms on another."

As Lu Yuan spoke, he became more and more fluent, and his original timidity was replaced by a technical fervor.

"Once we can capture this specific frequency and build a database, we can then reverse-engineer the target's class!"

Su Ran's heart skipped a beat.

Information frequency! Database!

This idea is simply a stroke of genius!

Are you confident?

"no."

Lu Yuan immediately backed down and whispered, "It's just a conjecture; it needs to be tested. I need crystal nucleus samples of different grades, as well as a high-precision energy spectrum analyzer."

"I'll figure out a solution; you just need to come up with one as soon as possible."

Su Ran made a quick decision: "This matter will be your focus from now on; prioritize it to the highest level."

"yes!"

……

Half an hour later.

Kunlun Base, Zone C-3, Sky Shield Project Special Conference Room.

The heavy alloy door slid open, and a solemn atmosphere immediately enveloped the room.

The huge conference table was filled with the leading figures in Daxia's aerospace industry.

An academician with white hair, a general in a dark blue air force uniform with a gold star on his shoulder, and a missile expert.

Each of them is a big shot who can shake the entire industry with a stomp of his foot.

Air Force Commander-in-Chief Chen Changfeng sat in the main seat, his weathered face etched with solemnity.

"Everyone is here, let's begin the meeting."

Chen Changfeng spoke in a loud and clear voice, without uttering a single wasted word: "Today, we will mainly discuss the construction of an air defense system, with only one theme: how to reclaim the skies."

After speaking, he glanced around the room and finally nodded slightly to his right.

"Before discussing specific solutions, let's first ask Academician Wei Jianguo to give everyone a briefing on the threats we are currently facing."

Physics luminary Wei Jianguo stood up.

After a few days apart, the old academician looked noticeably haggard, with heavy eye bags and an undeniable weariness on his face.

Without wasting any words, Wei Jianguo simply clicked on the control panel.

The holographic projection lit up instantly, and several grotesque 3D models floated in the center of the conference table, their red light dazzling.

"Based on the future intelligence provided by Advisor Su and the data transmitted back from the front lines, we have initially established two threat models."

Wei Jianguo pointed to the first model, which was the mutated golden eagle that Su Ran had encountered before.

"The first type is the 'flock of birds,' represented by the mutated golden eagle that Advisor Su encountered. Its characteristics include hypersonic dives and extremely strong physical defense."

Wei Jianguo said solemnly, "According to the samples of flying mutated organisms we captured, their feathers have undergone metallic mutation, resulting in a very small radar cross-section, making them difficult for conventional air defense missiles to lock onto."

"The only 'good news' is that although the observed numbers are increasing, they haven't yet reached an overwhelming scale and haven't appeared in clusters for the time being."

Then, the scene changes.

Wei Jianguo adjusted his glasses, his voice deepening, "The second type is the 'insect swarm.' According to Consultant Su's prediction, this type of monster is expected to erupt in the second week after the Red Rain ends."

These endomorphic organisms are small in size but numerous, such as mutated locusts and mutated poisonous wasps. Individually, they pose little threat, but when they form swarms of tens of thousands, they cause immense damage.

However, their activity range is generally not very large and is relatively fixed. Relatively speaking, they pose a far less threat to cities than flocks of birds.

"all in all,"

Wei Jianguo looked around and made a final assessment: "The core hypothetical enemy of the future urban air defense system, namely the 'Sky Shield' plan, must be a highly mobile and highly defensive 'flock of birds'."

A rustling sound of discussion filled the conference room.

"Regarding these two types of threats,"

Chen Changfeng picked up the conversation, tapping his fingers lightly on the table, making a "tap-tap" sound. "What are your thoughts?"