Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 121 Radio Program and Emergency Messages (5.4k)

Haiqu.

Three weeks have passed since the start of the cataclysm.

Someone once said that it takes three weeks for a person to form a habit. Sun Qi wasn't sure how others felt about it, but he seemed to have indeed gotten used to his current life.

The pain and suffering at the beginning of the apocalypse seemed to have become a dream. After his marriage, Sun Qi's spirits improved a lot. The instructors said that he might be the first ordinary person in this group to enter the extraordinary path.

Excluding those with exceptional talent, most of his predecessors had advanced only after going through numerous bloody battles, or at least had traversed the secret realms several times.

For militia members like Sun Qi, who stand guard in the safe zone every day and at most help transport supplies or build fortifications, the current progress is already considered relatively fast.

Sometimes Sun Qi couldn't help but wonder if he was, in a way, a genius?
As dawn broke, Sun Qi had just finished a night shift and returned to the house assigned to him by the Corps, where he turned on the radio he had received just two days prior.

This is one of the benefits that the young couple receive as members of the Production and Construction Corps. It can also be considered a wedding perk given to them by the Corps. After the Great Cataclysm, entertainment activities have been drastically reduced, so having this is something that others would envy.

He had been on night duty, and there were hardly any people around during the day. When he was first brought back, many neighbors came to his house to see the novelty and openly said they wanted to come and listen in.

"Zizi..."

After a period of static, the sound in the channel gradually became clearer.

Actually, there weren't many channels. Early in the morning, he listened to a program about the advancement of extraordinary individuals, which mainly invited some high-level extraordinary individuals to share their experiences.

Whenever he had free time, Sun Qi would tune into this channel. Perhaps it wasn't just because he was actively learning; deep down, he also hoped to hear the voice of the commander-in-chief.

But today was clearly different. A young and pleasant female voice came from the radio. Sun Qi recognized it as Xiao Zhenru, a third-level psychic ability user from the Xinfu Safe Zone. She was the one who spoke yesterday, and seemed to be a regular on this program.

Just as one question ended, Sun Qi only heard a few sentences and didn't quite understand what it was about, but fortunately the host quickly raised a new question.

"Professor Xiao, could you give the listeners a brief overview of the main performance and development suggestions for each level? This is a question the program team has received a lot of recently, and everyone is very curious about it."

"……OK."

Xiao Zhenru paused for a moment, and then she heard the sound of pages turning on the radio.

"This part is actually recorded in a relatively brief way in the survival manual. Although the commander-in-chief's description of the first four levels is concise, it is very accurate. You can study the above content repeatedly."

"What I'm sharing with you are some of my personal experiences, which you can use as a reference. However, everyone's progress details are different, so please don't just copy them blindly. If you encounter any problems during the progress process, please consult your local armed forces department for details."

Is this matter now under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces Department?

Sun Qi only realized this now. No wonder, he had not yet truly become a superhuman. He had only seen the gate to another world from afar, and the scene beyond the gate was still completely unfamiliar to him.

After the 'disclaimer' was finished, the voice on the radio continued.

"Now, more people should know the specifics of the first stage. At this stage, the body mainly adapts to spiritual energy, which is manifested in the improvement of basic physical qualities - increased strength, faster reaction, enhanced five senses, etc. Currently, some safe zones with faster progress have already made the first stage the standard for junior high school graduation."

"Body-enhanced ability users will show a significant advantage at the first level, possessing combat power beyond common sense. Other types of ability users and ordinary superhumans can also reach or even surpass the level of athletes, fighting masters, and special forces soldiers before the apocalypse."

"In other words, this stage is the limit that an ordinary person who cannot enter the extraordinary can reach. Of course, self-improvement is also the main way to advance at this stage."

Hearing this, Sun Qi nodded thoughtfully. The instructors often had them do some kind of aerobics to complement their physical training, which was probably for these purposes.

He does indeed feel more alert and clear-headed now. He was nearsighted before the cataclysm, but now he even feels like he has recovered.

It's not very noticeable yet. If there's a clear improvement, that's probably when he'll truly reach the first tier.

While pondering, Xiao Zhenru's voice reached the second stage.

"People born with superpowers can actually enter the second stage very quickly. For ordinary superhumans, it still requires a certain amount of effort. The sign of entering the second stage is when the body is fully adapted to spiritual power and can naturally sense the presence of spiritual power in the environment."

"In the second stage, the main focus is on practicing the ability to control spiritual power. Extraordinary individuals can store spiritual power within their bodies to enhance their special abilities."

"This is a significant advancement. The overall strength of the superhuman will undergo a comprehensive evolution, completely exceeding the scope of ordinary people. As spiritual energy begins to accumulate in their bodies, the superhuman can gradually break away from conventional diet."

"At this stage, elemental affinity superhumans who are born with a strong ability to control spiritual power have a more prominent advantage. At the same time, ordinary superhumans can also begin to learn some spells that evolved from superpowers."

"The power of magic varies depending on the type. For example, those superhumans who specialize in destructive abilities have attack power that is no less than that of large-caliber firearms. At this stage, the main training method is based on these magics."

Spells... Sun Qi was no stranger to this. Second-tier wind-type ability users in the army often used wind-sound spells to issue commands. That ability, which was like transmitting sound, was quite magical in his eyes.

"I wonder when I'll be able to reach the second tier?" A sense of anticipation rose in Sun Qi's eyes; this didn't seem like such a distant goal.

The host's voice rang out again: "So what about the third tier? You yourself are a third-tier transcendent, could you explain the situation of the third tier to us in detail?"

On the radio, Xiao Zhenru responded, "I'm still exploring this stage myself, but I can share some of my experiences with everyone."

Perhaps after gathering her thoughts, she answered after a moment: "The third stage is the stage where spiritual power is greatly developed. At this level, the perception ability based on spiritual power is fully mature. This is a very abstract perception ability. It is not just about seeing things with your eyes closed or hearing things with your ears plugged. We are looking at the world from a different perspective."

"Perhaps, in more colloquial terms, this can be understood as something like spiritual consciousness or divine consciousness, which are often mentioned in old novels?"

"At this stage, mental ability users will have a more prominent advantage. For example, as a mental ability user, I can clearly feel a leap in improvement at the third stage."

"Of course, when other types of ability users reach this stage, their control over their abilities will also improve dramatically. Although they may not be significantly different from the second stage in terms of sheer destructive power, their overall strength is definitely on a different level."

If abilities like telepathy can be considered miraculous, then something like divine sense, which usually only exists in novels, is completely unimaginable. There are many second-tier superhumans now, but Sun Qi, a third-tier ability user, has never seen one.

As for fourth-tier extraordinary beings, what kind of existence are they?

Xiao Zhenru quickly brought up the same question: "...I haven't personally reached the fourth level and above, so I can't give a more detailed discussion."

"However, the commander-in-chief once gave us a brief explanation of some things. In my understanding, a fourth-level superhuman is a combination of the first three stages. It is an existence where physical strength, spiritual power control, and mental strength have all reached a certain peak."

"They have integrated these three elements into one, using their physical bodies to fully bear spiritual power and spirit. Their control over supernatural abilities has become ingrained in their instincts. In the current environment, they can be considered perfect individuals."

"As for the issue of combat strength that everyone may have been curious about..." Xiao Zhenru's voice seemed to reveal a bitter smile: "Apart from the Commander-in-Chief, I have never seen any other fourth-level or higher superhumans. Commander-in-Chief Su rarely reveals his strength. When he occasionally spars with us and gives us pointers, we can only feel the pressure of being completely unable to defeat him."

"Therefore, I'm afraid I can't give you a detailed answer to this question."

"Of course, the fourth-tier mutants we faced in Haiqu can serve as a reference—ordinary firearms can no longer pose a threat to these mutants, and their attacks are comparable to small-caliber artillery. Moreover, the more agile and versatile superhumans are a level above the mutants in terms of combat power."

After Xiao Zhenru finished speaking, the host smiled and said, "Okay, thank you very much, Teacher Xiao, for sharing."

"Everyone should have a relatively simple understanding of the characteristics of the first four stages of extraordinary individuals, but we still have one more question."

"You say."

“We’ve heard some questions. The survival manual doesn’t record what happens after the fourth level, and there’s very little publicly available information. What’s the reason for this? Is it a kind of hoarding and monopoly of extraordinary abilities?”

"Oh!"

Sun Qi suddenly frowned and slammed his hand heavily on the table.

"Where did this host come from? Doesn't he know how to speak?"

Compared to Sun Qi's anger, Xiao Zhenru's tone on the radio was completely calm and unwavering.

"it's not true."

"There are many factors at play. The commander-in-chief once said that some extraordinary knowledge is abstract and difficult to describe in words, such as the so-called divine consciousness. I just found a relatively close term to describe it. Its true form can only be understood by experiencing it personally."

"At higher levels, this situation becomes even more common. To record this knowledge, a unique medium must be used; paper alone is simply not enough."

"Furthermore, the higher the level, the more unique each person's path to advancement becomes. The experience of predecessors can only serve as a reference; more importantly, one needs to explore on their own and develop their own understanding of the world and spiritual energy. Knowing many things in advance can only lead to misunderstandings."

"Finally, the survival manual is just a tool to help survivors live better in the early days of the apocalypse. The descriptions of superhumans in it are more like basic literacy."

"Just as Goldbach's Conjecture isn't discussed in detail in first-grade textbooks, more profound knowledge about extraordinary individuals won't appear here either." "Currently, led by the Taimon Base, various safety zones have begun to gradually integrate extraordinary advancement into their education systems, and Haiqu's extraordinary individual school has also been preserved and developed..."

As he was listening, Sun Qi suddenly turned his head to look at the door. A moment later, he heard the sound of a key being inserted into the door.

The person who pushed open the door was his newlywed wife.

Upon seeing He Xiaoyu, Sun Qi's anger, which had just been stirred up by the program host, vanished instantly. He stopped listening to the rest of the program, smiled, and got up to greet her.

"You're off work too?"

"Okay, I brought you some steamed buns from the cafeteria. Do you want some now?"

He Xiaoyu hung her coat and handbag on the coat rack behind the door and handed over a bag. A thin layer of moisture clung to the inside of the transparent plastic bag. When Sun Qi took it, several hearty meat buns were still soft and steaming hot.

"eat!"

A sense of happiness welled up inside him, and Sun Qi's smile deepened.

Stop grinning like an idiot and sit down to eat.

Both the checkpoint and the hospital are considered important positions, and they are quite busy these days. When the couple got married, both of their workplaces took care of them, arranging for someone to cover their shifts and squeezing out a day off so that the two of them could spend a whole day together.

If they were ordinary employees, they might have more holidays. But since they both have official positions in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, they should also bear the corresponding obligations as they enjoy the benefits of the Corps.

Seeing the radio still on, He Xiaoyu laughed and complained, "It's like we've gone back to the old ways. I never thought I'd be listening to the radio with this thing on my back."

Sun Qi stuffed a steamed bun into his mouth. He was approaching the first level and had been eating quite a lot lately. Hearing this, he agreed and said, "Back then, whenever I had free time at home, I would lie in bed and play on my phone. I had never seen such an old-fashioned machine before. It was Grandpa Sun next door who taught me how to use it."

Speaking of this, He Xiaoyu sighed with emotion: "My God, thinking about it, it's been so long since I've touched my phone. I used to be unable to stand not having my phone with me for even a few minutes, but now... I've gotten used to it."

"Indeed, I never imagined there would be such a catastrophe."

There was a moment of silence. He Xiaoyu shook her head and smiled, then said, "Hey, I just ran into Brother Yang Kun taking Shuyu to school when I got off work. I heard them say that Shuyu and his friends have a show rehearsing recently, so maybe we'll be able to hear it on TV soon."

"That's great! What program is it?"

"They're just kids, so it's probably a children's song or something like that." He Xiaoyu shook her head, indicating that she didn't know either. She poured a glass of water, placed it on the table next to Sun Qi, and then sat down next to him, gently leaning against him.

The girl's young body was soft yet substantial, which made Sun Qi's heart skip a beat. Although he was already married, he still felt a soft, lingering sensation in his chest whenever there was physical contact.

He stopped talking for a moment, silently struggling with the steamed bun in his hand, and the atmosphere in the room gradually changed.

"Eat slowly, don't choke."

Seeing her partner's neck gradually turning red again, He Xiaoyu smiled and watched him finish eating, while she played with her hair with great interest.

After taking a couple of sips of water, Sun Qi was at a loss for what to do. The radio next to him had changed to a different program, but he didn't hear a word they were saying.

"Hey, you tell me..."

He Xiaoyu leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I applied to continue working the night shift today, and the leaders hesitated. But as soon as I mentioned that you were also on the night shift, they immediately agreed. Why do you think that is?"

"..."

"Shouldn't we... respond to the call from the safe zone?"

Feeling the warm breath on his ear and the softness pressing against him, Sun Qi's mind went blank, and one hand had already wrapped around He Xiaoyu's waist.

"Buzz—This is the Taimeng Corps Broadcasting Station. We are now broadcasting an urgent message."

The radio suddenly changed its tone, and the two men froze instantly. At the same time, they heard the same sound coming from the loudspeaker outside.

"The Taimeng Corps Command has ordered that all safety zones and shelters in Haiqu and Langya begin preparing supplies and assembling troops in accordance with mobilization regulations, starting today."

"At the same time, all localities and units organized active-duty troops, militia forces, and people in shelters in batches to conduct screening in accordance with the emergency documents of the General Headquarters."

The contents of the urgent document are as follows:

"First, the reasons for screening and the specific details will be explained by the commanders of each region and unit who have already undergone the first round of screening."

"Second, each unit will use distorted heterogeneous crystals and portable communication devices to conduct screening. The review process must be transparent, fair and open, otherwise the screening will be considered invalid."

"Third, militia members and soldiers of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps who participate in the screening are entitled to carry weapons and bulletproof vests, and no unit may confiscate their weapons."

"Fourth, the screening locations shall be selected by a vote of at least fifty survivor representatives, and no unit may directly designate the locations."

Fifth, it is normal for those being screened to fall into a coma, and all units should take good care of them.

"Sixth, if any person being screened attempts to disrupt the screening process, all units and other persons being screened have the right to take coercive measures against them."

"Seventh, if zombies are encountered during the screening process, please kill them immediately!"

"..."

"If any locality or unit fails to comply with the contents of this document, grassroots soldiers, militia members, and civilians in the safety zone have the right to use force to take action, and members of the Corps' grassroots organizations at all levels should actively play a leading role in the action."

The first broadcast had just ended when the two heard the door alarm ring. Although the broadcast didn't explain exactly what had happened, they knew something serious was about to occur.

Having the right to use force... what does that mean?
Prepare supplies, assemble troops...

The peace had barely been restored for a few days when another major battle was about to begin!

Sun Qi suddenly sat up straight: "I'll go find out what happened!"

"Wait a minute!"

Just as Sun Qi was about to get up, he was suddenly pulled back. He looked down at He Xiaoyu and found that her gaze had completely changed.

"...Xiaoyu, what's wrong?"

He Xiaoyu was silent for a moment, then suddenly flipped over and pinned Sun Qi to the sofa.

"It's just a ringing bell, not an emergency assembly. You're on rest time now."

"The organization is conducting screenings. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the safe zone. What's the use of your anxiety? Right now, I don't want to know what happened, I just want to..."

He Xiaoyu gripped Sun Qi's clothes tightly, but couldn't finish saying those words.

When she said this, the expression on her face was one that Sun Qi had never seen before. She stared into Sun Qi's eyes, and a tear suddenly welled up in the corner of her eye.

...No, Sun Qi had seen this expression before.

Fog, blood, and smoke—scenes that seemed to have faded from his memory resurfaced before his eyes.

Deep within the secret realm, at the moment of life and death, when He Xiaoyu looked at Xu Changwen who calmly faced death, it seemed that was exactly the kind of gaze she was giving him.

The piercing siren seemed to pull him back to reality, shattering the dream that had been nurtured in the cradle of this safe zone.

This is no longer a civilized era; danger can strike at any moment, and war is imminent.

"It'll be alright, it'll be alright..."

Sun Qi pulled He Xiaoyu into his arms.

(End of this chapter)