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

(I worked until 1:30 AM, and finally finished!)

Twenty minutes later.

On the southern slope, an abandoned forest farm.

The fallen leaves piled up to a thickness of half a meter, and the smell of decay permeated the forest.

A slender, mutated black panther covered in bluish-black scales was hunched over, staring intently at the uninvited guest who had descended from the sky.

It is also second-order.

Unlike those massive, powerful mutant beasts, this black panther clearly took the agile route.

"The mutation of Red Rain is truly unreasonable."

The white deer hovered in mid-air, staring directly at the ferocious beast below. "Where did this black leopard come from? Did it revert to its ancestral form?"

The words had barely left his mouth!

"roar!"

The mutated black panther let out a low growl and slammed its hind legs into the ground.

boom!

Two craters were blasted open in the ground.

The black panther transformed into a blur, covering a distance of tens of meters in an instant!

The gleaming claws aimed straight for the white deer's throat.

If it were an ordinary person, or even a first-level awakened being, they probably wouldn't even have time to react to this speed.

The white deer was only three inches from her face when the sharp claws came close.

hum!

An invisible wave suddenly erupted.

The black panther's massive body seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall of air, and it was abruptly frozen in mid-air.

No matter how much its muscles bulged and how frantically it struggled, it couldn't move an inch.

Followed by.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Six flying knives hovered around the white deer.

"Bai Lu's talent truly defies common sense..."

Inside the cabin, Su Ran, who was watching the battle on the screen, couldn't help but click his tongue. "Dealing with a second-tier mutated beast is really as easy as killing a chicken."

The battle below ended faster than expected.

Once the superpower of mental energy is controlled, it becomes a devastating blow.

The black panther, which was still thrashing about in mid-air, was suddenly forced to spread its limbs apart, hovering in a "T" shape.

"go."

The white deer tapped lightly with its index finger.

The throwing knife transformed into a silver streak, instantly severing the tendons of the black panther's limbs.

"Pfft!"

Blood blossoms bloom.

The black panther let out a mournful cry and fell heavily to the ground, its limbs twitching, unable to stand up any longer.

"knock off!"

Bai Lu clapped her dust-free hands at the camera, smiling brightly: "Elegance never goes out of style."

Relaxed.

You could even say they're crushing noobs.

……

Kunlun Air Base, helipad.

The massive transport plane roared to a stop, and the moment the hatch opened, a gust of cold wind carrying the smell of engine oil rushed out.

Professor Zhang Qian, who had been waiting for a long time, led a group of researchers in white coats to rush forward.

His gaze was fixed intently on the second-order sample inside the alloy cage.

"Professor Zhang,"

Su Ran descended the suspended stairs, her face slightly pale. "Two second-tier mutated beasts and one second-tier zombie should keep you busy studying them for a while, right?"

"Enough! That's enough!"

Zhang Qian's voice trembled with excitement. He adjusted his glasses. "Advisor Su, as long as we can verify the hypothesis of 'viruses repairing brain tissue,' we can proceed with the next phase of the 'communication' plan!"

Bai Lu leaned over and said with a smile, "Professor Zhang, I'll be at the base for the next week and can assist with testing at any time."

"Okay! Okay!"

Zhang Qian grinned from ear to ear, "Then this old man will have to keep nagging Comrade Bai Lu."

After laughing, Zhang Qian turned to look at Su Ran, his expression becoming more serious.

"Advisor Su, you look very unwell. You are the pillar of our Great Xia, you can't afford to fall down."

"It's okay, I just overspent a bit, I'll be fine in a couple of days."

Su Ran waved her hand, rubbing her throbbing temples, "You guys hurry up, I'll wait for the results."

Bai Lu glanced at Su Ran, a hint of heartache flashing in her eyes, and muttered softly, "Advisor Su, your mental energy is practically dried up and cracking. Do you really think you're made of iron?"

"Someone has to take the lead."

Despite the throbbing pain in his head, Su Ran knew that Great Xia could not stop for a moment, and neither could he.

"You should first go and cooperate with the Academy of Sciences to update the second-order data."

Su Ran forced a smile and said, "I had Jinlong send your combat video to the data center. Once it's edited, it will definitely become a model for all Awakened soldiers."

"My combat footage can certainly serve as a model for all awakened soldiers in the army."

Bai Lu snorted coldly and said arrogantly, "Su Ran, I've remembered someone."

Who is it?

"Zhu, Jing, Ye".

Bai Lu pronounced the name slowly and deliberately, a mysterious and mischievous smile playing on her lips.

After saying that, she ran towards the research area without looking back.

Watching Bai Lu's departing figure, Su Ran's gaze deepened, and she murmured, "Zhu Jingye..."

It seems.

We can only make things harder for our dedicated colleague!

In the lobby of the Kunlun Awakener Center, Zhu Jingye, who was eating a boxed lunch, suddenly shivered and felt a chill down his back.

The head of the Awakeners headquarters once again assigned Comrade Xiao Zhu a challenging task.

"call……"

Su Ran let out a long sigh of relief, stretched her neck, and felt as if the whole world had brightened up.

He stretched his neck, feeling that he hadn't had such a clear head in a long time.

Having recovered, Su Ran walked alone towards the central command hall.

From the time he left to the time he returned, it was only 24 hours.

But what happened in just one day was enough to make the entire military's strategic assessment report rewrite three times.

The atmosphere in the hall remained lively.

On the huge electronic map, the originally dense red areas are receding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Li Guodong was staring at a report with a furrowed brow when he saw Su Ran come in, and he quickly went to greet her.

"Comrade Xiao Su."

His gaze swept over Su Ran, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good job. The capture of the second-tier mutated creature..."

"A successful conclusion."

Su Ran spoke up, "Once Lu Yuan's identification device is modified, the subsequent capture missions can be extended to the elite companies of each military region."

After the frontline troops became familiar with bio-energy level identification devices.

Once the target is identified, fire a single shot at it. Those that don't die on the spot are airlifted to the base to serve as guinea pigs for experiments.

"well!"

He patted Su Ran on the shoulder, but then his eyes dimmed again.

"If it weren't for what happened with Lao Zhang, today would have been a great victory."

The air seemed to freeze slightly when Zhang Guomeng was mentioned.

"I have already asked the General Staff to draft the documents."

Li Guodong took off his glasses and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "No matter what, the main responsibility this time lies with me. I failed to manage my soldiers properly, and I will have to take the punishment and write a self-criticism..."

"Who is this self-criticism for?"

Su Ran pulled out a chair and sat down, interrupting him directly, "Is it for the fallen soldiers to see? Or for the higher-ups to see?"

Li Guodong was speechless, his mouth agape for a long time.

"Old Li, what time is it now?"

Su Ran tapped her fingers lightly on the table. "A letter of self-criticism, a disciplinary order—these pieces of paper can't save people, nor can they kill zombies."

"As for Zhang Guomeng, he needs to be disciplined, but we can't kill him off completely. He's a capable fighter, but he's too arrogant."

He turned around, his gaze sharp, and looked directly at Li Guodong. "But I hope this incident can become a textbook for the entire army. Send the uncut video footage of the scene to the command headquarters of each theater command."

"I want them to know that this is not a drill. Here, arrogance and conceit kill faster than the virus."

"I understand, the rectification campaign will begin tonight."

Li Guodong nodded emphatically, his expression solemn.

Su Ran took a sip of water to moisten her dry throat.

Now that we've finished typing, let's turn the page.

Now is not the time for internal strife. The countdown to the apocalypse is like a sword hanging over our heads, falling every second.

He put down his water glass, his gaze sweeping over the head of the command center, and frowned.

"Where is the commander? Given the commotion this operation caused, he should be concerned about it, so why haven't we seen him these past few days?"

Upon hearing this question, Li Guodong paused in his note-taking.

He put down his pen, lowered his voice, and said, "Actually... I haven't seen the commander for several days either."

Su Ran's pupils contracted slightly. "What do you mean? Something happened?"

No, not at all.

Li Guodong looked at Su Ran with a strange expression. "Right after the chief finished his private conversation with you that day and saw you off, he locked himself in his office."

Aside from the confidential clerk who delivered meals, he wouldn't see anyone. He even approved emergency dispatch orders from the military headquarters from inside.

"I thought it was you who brought the leader some top-secret advice that day, which made him fall into deep thought behind closed doors."

Su Ran's heart skipped a beat.

Last time, I only mentioned that I was planning to resign, but in the end, the leader persuaded me to come back.

We didn't talk about anything else.

"Could it be the report I submitted, 'The Next Decade: A Timeline of Alien Biological Evolution'?"

Su Ran pondered silently, her brows furrowing inexplicably.

"But I didn't include any special suggestions in it. I just outlined the timeline of this crisis."

He brought this to his superior, intending only to hand over the work at the time.

Did that old man learn something from this?

Su Ran pulled herself out of her reverie.

"Stop overthinking it."

Su Ran looked at Li Guodong and said with certainty, "The things that the leader sees are much further ahead than what we see."

Perhaps the leader is making a difficult decision; once he has figured it out, he will naturally tell us.

"I hope so."

Li Guodong gave a wry smile and rubbed his throbbing temples. "By the way, you just got back. What are your plans for this week?"

"I want to shift my focus to the Awakened Headquarters."

Su Ran stated bluntly, "The headquarters is just an empty shell right now. Although it has all the necessary functions, there's no one there."

"There's nothing wrong with this line of thinking."

Li Guodong nodded in agreement, then pulled out several official documents and pushed them in front of Su Ran.

"However, Comrade Xiao Su, before that, you must read these documents first."

Su Ran sat down and quickly flipped through the pages.

"Official Report on Material Loss Rate at Kunlun Base", "Proposal for Restoring Surface Production Order", "Feasibility Report on the Return of Some Non-Combat Personnel to the Surface to Resume Production"...

Each word seemed to carry the scent of swords and shadows.

"Any news from the front lines lately?" Su Ran asked.

"The front lines are doing well, but the rear can't hold on."

Li Guodong pointed to the data on the briefing, his voice somber, "The ammunition, medicine, and high-energy supplies we consume every day are now twelve times the total production of the underground base."

We're burning through all the assets you brought back, but we can't just sit around and do nothing.

Su Ran nodded; he understood.

A complete civilization must have the ability to generate its own resources.

When they emptied half of the Great Xia, the supplies seemed to be piled up like mountains, but when it came to supplying hundreds of millions of survivors and tens of millions of soldiers across the country, that small amount of inventory was indeed insufficient.

"Especially special steels and precision sensors."

Li Guodong rubbed his temples and sighed, "The scale of machine tools in the underground base was limited. Due to time constraints, a lot of heavy industrial equipment was not brought down and was left on the surface."

Now that we need to restart production, we must send our people back.

"So, Wang Jianjun's 'population return' plan has been brought back to the forefront?"

Su Ran narrowed her eyes slightly, her gaze fixed on the proposal submitted by General Wang Jianjun.

Thirty million laborers have returned to the land.

Establish a semi-closed industrial loop.

This move was both incredibly ambitious and extremely risky.

"Although I hate to admit it, Old Wang is right."

Li Guodong said helplessly, "He wants to bring 30 million workers back to the surface factory areas and establish a semi-closed production loop."

There are existing factories, mines, and blast furnaces on the ground. As long as production resumes, we will be able to obtain supplies continuously.

"The risk is quite high."

Su Ran picked up the conversation, her voice slightly cold, "Factory buildings can't possibly be protected by the military. After all, the ground is the home ground of the mutated beasts, and the defense system against the sky is still under development. If the protection is inadequate, a large-scale return will be like being sent to the slaughter."

"But the current situation is that if we don't return, our tanks will run out of parts in six months, and our soldiers will have to fight zombies with sticks."

Li Guodong looked at Su Ran and said, "There's been a huge uproar these past few days. There's a special expanded meeting the day after tomorrow, with bigwigs from the military, government, and the Academy of Sciences all in attendance."

I hope you can go; we need your opinion. After all, no one understands the survival rules of the apocalypse better than you.

Su Ran stroked the rough cover of the document, and images of killing each other over a can of food flashed through her mind in her previous life amidst ruins.

In this life, even with the intervention of the state, the pressure to survive is still like a mountain.

"Rebirth only brings an information gap; it doesn't improve my abilities."

Su Ran felt as if her head had just cleared up, but now it was throbbing again.

He didn't know what to do next.

The disagreement in Daxia has evolved from "whether to fight" to "how to continue fighting".

Although Wang Jianjun's suggestion was risky, the core logic was correct: humanity cannot rot away in its hole.

But he, the reborn one, became a die-hard.

Looking ahead and behind, they are preventing humanity from returning to the surface.

but……

The things from my past life are hard to let go of!

"I'll go."

Su Ran slammed the documents on the table, her eyes resolute. "Hiding in a hole like a rat is definitely not a long-term solution. If humanity wants to stand up again, it will have to take this step sooner or later."

"good!"

Li Guodong was overjoyed. "I feel much more at ease now that you've said that. I'll let you know as soon as the meeting time is set."

"Okay, then I'll go to the Academy of Sciences first."

Su Ran stood up. "I need to talk to Academician Chen Changhe about something."