Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

The final stop of the Golden Cudgel Project was Washan District, a town located on the southwestern border of Yunnan Province.

Besides its beautiful scenery, this place is most famous for an old song – “The People of Ava Sing a New Song”.

It was already afternoon when the Huitian Group arrived.

Without delay, everyone immediately got to work. According to Zhou Yunci, this was the last place.

Zhou Yunci promised that after finishing this task, everyone could briefly return home, as a reward for traveling from west to east and from north to south across the borders of the motherland and various important locations over the past month.

Jiang Ning initially thought there would be 300 people, but upon arriving at the Awa Mountain area, he learned that there were 1400 people.

Sun Fumin asked Zhou Yunci, "Old Zhou, why are there 1400 people this time?"

Before Zhou Yunci could explain, Chang Niankong spoke first: "Perhaps it's a tribute..."

The others were puzzled, but when Chang Niankong saw Zhou Yunci nod, he began to explain the place in detail.

Back when the country was in turmoil, people from various ethnic groups, including Han, Dai, Lahu, and Yi, formed the "Southwest Border Defense Volunteer Army" of more than 1400 people in this border region, and they defeated the invaders.

Later, the 17 Wa tribes, led by Ban Hong, issued a "Letter to Fellow Countrymen," solemnly declaring that "since ancient times, our ancestors have been supported by China and have guarded the border... Even if we only have one gun, one crossbow, one silver, one woman, and one child left, our heads may be broken, but our hearts will never waver..."

After Chang Niankong finished speaking, everyone, including Zhou Yunci, was deeply moved by the story of Awa Mountain and didn't know how to express their admiration for a long time.

Especially with 1400 people this time, the five members of the Huitian Group finally understood what Chang Niankong meant by paying tribute.

The "Pillar of Stability" project is just a strategic reserve, but these ethnic minority youths are deeply aware of the greater good.

Zhou Yunci whispered to Jiang Ning, "Team Leader Jiang, the organization didn't expect so many people to sign up. If you find it difficult, you can withdraw some of your applications."

Jiangning's "breakdown capability" has gradually shown a side effect after a month of continuous high-intensity use.

At first, no one noticed, and Jiang Ning didn't pay attention either. However, he started to have nosebleeds after using his ability frequently.

Especially at the National Library in Beijing, after 500 people "broke down" once, Jiang Ning suffered a nosebleed that wouldn't stop and fell into a semi-comatose state.

This state terrified everyone at the time, but after a rollback the next day, Jiangning returned to normal.

A medical team of seven top experts determined that the nosebleed was most likely caused by excessive mental exertion, leading to brain overload and high intracranial pressure.

Since then, in the second half of the mission, the organization has not dared to allow more than 300 people to break down in Jiangning at one time.

Upon hearing Zhou Yunci's reminder, Jiang Ning simply shook his head.

"We will definitely not withdraw some people."

It's not about whether I can bear it or not, it's just that I can't do it emotionally.

If Jiang Ning hadn't heard the story of the people of Awa Mountain, he might have followed Zhou Yunci's advice.

But now, it's not that he can't refuse their kindness, but rather that he has gradually come to understand that once these people have made their choices, his sympathy or persuasion would only hurt them more.

Jiang Ning: "Political Commissar Zhou, let's begin! Anyway, this is the last stop, we can split it into three days..."

After listening, Zhou Yunci pondered for a few seconds, took a deep look at Jiang Ning, and then looked at the large, dark crowd gathered on the playground of a middle school.

How many people are there in 1400? If we follow the usual morning exercise formation of this middle school, with 100 people in each row, there are actually only 14 rows.

However, these 14 columns were not students. Ten of them were soldiers, uniformly dressed in camouflage and carrying various equipment, while the other four were local professionals from various industries.

These soldiers are generally over 35 years old, most of them are retired veterans, and they have long been overweight in middle age. Many of them are already pot-bellied, and some have dark skin and a weathered face.

If you look at a single person, no one would guess that they were once soldiers, or they would think they were cooks, truck drivers, etc. They would just think of them as ordinary people, like ordinary people struggling to make a living, who have long lost their sharpness.

But when these people got together, put on their uniforms again, and stood at attention, they were very disciplined. Everyone tried to straighten their backs, just like when the new recruits were inspected for the first time, and everyone tried to show their best side.

Seeing this, Zhou Yunci knew for certain that he could not dismiss anyone.

These people came here voluntarily, so how can we discourage them?

Zhou Yunci exchanged a few words with a local military officer beside him, who immediately ran to the front of the formation and shouted, "Everyone, attention... right dress... forward!"

With a "whoosh," thousands of soldiers and hundreds of elites from all walks of life began to move in small, quick steps according to the instructions.

"Apart from the first three teams, the evacuation will begin in an orderly manner starting with the fourth team..."

The five members of the Huitian Group watched this scene silently, their faces showing little change in expression, only a heavy feeling.

This was the first time Chang Niankong had witnessed this scene, and he couldn't help but recite the holy name "Boundless Blessings Heavenly Venerable".

When only three rows remained, Jiang Ning stepped down from the platform, followed by Zhou Yunci, while the rest of the group stayed behind.

Upon approaching the first person, that person immediately saluted.

"Reporting to the commander, my name is Liu Qiang..."

Jiang Ning nodded and looked closely. The other person was very thin, with dark skin, prominent facial bones, and a resolute look in his eyes.

The fact that he can maintain such a physique at middle age shows that he must have been an excellent soldier before retiring from the military.

Jiang Ning returned the greeting without saying anything more, then closed his eyes and began searching for the person in the mysterious space.

When she opened her eyes again, about a minute had passed. Jiang Ning handed her a bead. The bead was nothing special; it was grayish-white with a faint white glow, like a yo-yo.

The soldier named Liu Qiang had obviously known the procedure beforehand. Without saying a word, he suppressed his surprise, quickly took the bead, and gave a neat salute.

Jiang Ning nodded and walked to the next person. Behind him, Zhou Yunci saluted the first soldier and shook hands with him.

The second person said, "Reporting to the commander, my name is Zhang Zhiyuan..."

Jiang Ning returned the gesture as if he were the first-place winner, closing his eyes. A minute later, he took out a bead representing Zhang Zhiyuan.

For the past month, Jiangning has been in this state.

Like performing some kind of ritual, blessings were given to each and every volunteer who voluntarily anchored.

He kept this blessing in his heart; he never said it aloud, nor did he know how to offer it.

Perhaps the best communication is without small talk; only in this way can everyone avoid awkwardness.

If you ask me what the hardest part of doing this kind of thing is, what is it?

Undoubtedly, it's every time you concentrate and enter the mysterious space...

Jiang Ning needed to concentrate, but fortunately, after he confessed to the government, relevant personnel learned of this and specially optimized his concentration method, which was no longer yoga meditation.

Speaking of this, Jiang Ning sometimes feels very grateful that he chose to be honest with the country, which is why so many people treat him like a national treasure.

This doesn't mean he's rare or precious. Rather, it means that three cobblers are as good as one Zhuge Liang, not to mention that in a great nation like ours, many of those who assist him from the rear are not just cobblers.

Over the past two months, the government has been able to answer almost any of his questions. Whenever he raises a request or has any concerns, there are always specialists who can respond and resolve them quickly.

This was the first time Chang Niankong had ever seen such a scene. He stood on the school playground, his gaze following Jiang Ning.

This scene gave him a sense of disorientation.