Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 124 Meeting
Su Xun specially provided Han Zhong with two portable communication devices, which can be considered as part of his support.

New small communication devices are still under development, and even if they are developed, production capacity will not be high. Therefore, most private organizations do not own them, and many people have never even seen them.

Thanks to this, the detailed situation was relayed back the very night Han Zhong arrived in Langya and settled in.

Qin Chang was also quite concerned about this matter. He came over to take a look and found that there was nothing wrong with it; everything was going according to plan.

But after a long pause, he couldn't help but ask Su Xun, "Do you really want to allow civilian groups to establish mercenary organizations of this scale?"

Yes, what Su Xun asked Han Zhong to establish was an organization similar to a large mercenary group. They could accept missions from the entire society and were allowed to possess a certain degree of armed force.

This is a normal occurrence in the Western world, but it is unheard of on this land. Qin Chang, who has served in the military since the time of civilization, seemed to feel that a sensitive nerve in his heart had been touched.

Su Xun stopped what she was doing, turned to him and explained, "Yes, nowadays, it's very easy for organizations of this nature to appear, but very difficult to make them disappear."

"How did we prevent such organizations from emerging before the Great Cataclysm? The two main methods were grassroots supervision and gun control. Now, there's no such thing as grassroots supervision outside the safe zone, and as for guns..."

"Firearms can be controlled, but how do you control supernatural abilities? You can't just arrest all supernatural beings."

At this point, Su Xun tapped a white printed sheet on the table: "What's the difference between doing this and this? In the future, there will be superhumans who have suffered persecution and will overthrow you, Boss Qin!"

Qin Chang didn't seem to mind Su Xun's sarcastic remark, but he still had some doubts: "Difficulties can be overcome, but we can't just go and support them, can we?"

"Speaking of support, we didn't just start today." Su Xun smiled. "We commission civilian organizations to collect supplies outside the safe zone and pay them with weapons and fuel. Aren't these civilian organizations mercenaries in the real sense? They're just employed by us now."

"In places outside our jurisdiction, are there people who pay these people for weapons and fuel to do their bidding? Of course there are."

"It's better to guide than to block. The flood is inevitable. What we need to do now is to direct the flood to where it should flow."

Seeing Qin Chang's slightly complicated expression, Su Xun said, "There will be many more things like this in the future. The world has changed, and we can't go back. We can only move forward and move towards a new era that has never existed before."

"The economic base determines the superstructure, and the development of productive forces will also change the social structure. For humanity today, spiritual power is the productive force."

"I understand." Qin Chang nodded.

“Let’s elevate the level of this matter.” Su Xun took out the information related to Han Zhong and handed it to Qin Chang: “Separate this from the department that manages non-governmental organizations, and set up an office specifically to liaise with them. Since you’ve decided to get involved, show your strength and don’t be timid.”

"Is Zheng Yuan about to return from Licheng? Let him take charge of this matter; I don't think you can handle it."

Qin Chang smiled helplessly. This kind of work, which required flexibility and adherence to ethical boundaries, was indeed not suitable for him, while Zheng Yuan, who came from the security department, was more capable of handling it.

So he nodded in agreement, took the documents, and prepared to leave. Just then, a staff member came into the room and delivered an unexpected message.

"Chen Cheng is back?"

Su Xun was taken aback, then stood up and looked at Qin Chang: "Shall we go see him together?"

Shortly after the cataclysm, Su Xun entrusted Chen Cheng to lead the sentinel dog squad leader to search for any possible high-level mutated beasts and to try to reach a cooperation agreement. After arriving in Licheng with Zheng Yuan, they saw that the situation had stabilized and then went into the mountains alone, using the sentinel's strong sense of smell and supernatural abilities to search for traces of mutated beasts.

Now that they've returned, they've naturally achieved something. When Su Xun received the news, they had already passed an outpost north of the base and, after obtaining approval, were heading towards the base.

This could be considered a historic meeting, so Su Xun brought more people with him, mainly Qin Chang, Xu Huan, and Xiao Zhenru and other high-level superhumans who were recording a program at the Taimeng base.

This group of people, gathered together, could be considered the top combat force of this era. The meeting place was chosen to be on the surface of the base, in the animal research institute of the research area.

Although the breeding farm was bustling with activity, the Zoological Institute was the quietest department in the entire research area. After all, the director of this institute was actually Sentinel, who wasn't even here, and there wasn't much to research in the vast Zoological Institute.

Since it's called the Zoological Institute, there should be animals here, right? But now, many people who heard the news have gathered around. The preparations for the apocalypse were so thorough that since the Taimon Base was launched, the people here haven't really seen any mutated beasts. The only ones they're familiar with are the dozen or so chicks in the breeding farm that haven't grown up yet.

Now that they hear that a high-level mutated beast is coming, everyone is eager to see it, their expressions almost like they're visiting a zoo.

Su Xun coughed lightly: "Everyone, be serious. Treat this as a diplomatic incident. Hey you over there, stop grinning like that. If you want to watch, form a whole line and stand in an orderly fashion. That's how you welcome them."

This is a start, so Su Xun decided to handle things more seriously. Of course, the mutated beasts that the Sentinels brought back this time are also worthy of respect in terms of strength.

They hadn't even arrived yet, but the data had already been sent back. Without any relevant knowledge, two of these mutated beasts had already reached the third tier. You should know that around the Taimon base, besides Su Xun, only Xu Huan and Xiao Zhenru had reached this level.

This doesn't mean that mutated beasts have better talent on the path to transcendence than humans; Su Xun knew the reason behind this.

Compared to humans who had made many preparations in advance, the situation of the mutated beasts was far from good. With a lack of food and dangers everywhere, only the strong could survive.

Advancement relies on instinct, and constant battles and honing will accelerate this instinct. Since the Great Cataclysm, these mutated beasts have probably faced battles at any time. If humans were in the same environment, the number of Tier 3 superhumans emerging at this time would certainly be far more than this.

Soon, a figure appeared in the distance, approaching this side. The people waiting here craned their necks to see, and the first thing they saw was a huge black shadow, which was a giant bear with a completely black body.

This enormous black bear is indeed quite frightening. Its massive body is nearly three meters tall when it is on all fours, yet it moves silently, like a black cloud floating on the road.

Gasps of astonishment rose from the crowd. Some who had returned from Haiqu were even recalling the giant beasts in those secret realms. This black bear had sharp eyes and bulging muscles, and the oppressive aura it exuded was even stronger than those alien species.

It was so eye-catching that it wasn't until the second glance that people saw a sika deer in front of the black bear that it seemed no different from the one before the Great Cataclysm. Walking ahead of the bear and deer were Chen Cheng and the Sentinels, whom many people here had seen before.

The sentry has also changed quite a bit since then, its size has increased considerably since it set out. It's not noticeable when compared to the giant bear, but it's quite obvious when it's next to Chen Cheng.

Soon, they arrived close by. Chen Cheng, who was in the lead, took a few quick steps and saluted Su Xun.

"Reporting to Commander-in-Chief, mission accomplished. Instructor Chen Cheng requests to return to the unit!"

"Approved, Comrade Chen Cheng. Thank you for your hard work. Why are only these two here? Where are the other mutated beasts?"

"We've discussed it and decided that communicating with second-tier mutated beasts is inherently troublesome, and their opinions aren't that important. So we'll just wait there and follow the instructions after this is over."

"We originally intended to send you a report, but communication is really difficult right now... so we came directly here."

Su Xun understood and, of course, didn't blame them. Instead, he directly invited the mutated beasts to go inside.

Considering the size of the black bear, the meeting place was chosen to be a small square inside the zoology institute. Before they even arrived, staff members from the corps had already taken pictures of the mutated beast walking with humans.

I wonder how future textbooks will record this?
Thinking about it, Su Xun looked at the sentry beside him and said with a smile, "Squad Leader Dog, you've worked hard too. Welcome home."

He was just giving a routine greeting when, unexpectedly, the sentry tilted his head and a voice that was slightly similar to Chen Cheng's but also distinctly different rang in his mind.

"Greetings, sir! It's no trouble at all!"

Those around clearly heard the voice and exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, the sentry can talk?"

“Yes, it will be there after the third level.” Chen Cheng smiled wryly: “The sentinel is indeed not very hard-working. Once it enters the mountain, it’s like it’s running wild. It’s probably because it has too much energy. Plus, it’s very curious about everything now and wants to look at everything it comes across.”

"Fortunately, it is indeed very strong, and we did not encounter any major danger."

The sentry glared resentfully at Chen Cheng, who was complaining. Su Xun grinned at the sight, patted Chen Cheng on the shoulder, and sighed, "Looks like you're the one who's really having a hard time."

(End of this chapter)