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

(Two chapters combined)

September. Northern border region.

The wind carried the astringent smell of dry grass.

Looking out, the horizon is filled with breathtaking steel behemoths.

Type 99A main battle tanks, Saber-toothed Tiger heavy armored vehicles, and multiple rocket launcher vehicles are densely packed together.

A total of 8,000 heavy main battle tanks, 40,000 infantry fighting vehicles, and an endless line of heavy logistics trucks are firmly anchored within the border.

Tens of thousands of dark cannon barrels pointed uniformly northward.

Seventh Outpost Assault Camp.

Chen Fei sat on top of the armored vehicle, looking down and wiping the crystal core rifle in his hand with a rag.

Veteran Wang Dachui strolled over, a cigarette dangling from his lips, hands in his pockets.

"Are you nervous?"

Wang Dachui kicked the road wheel, and Chen Fei looked up and forced a stiff smile.

"Squad leader, I wasn't worried about being late when delivering food before, so what's there to be afraid of when I go out and hunt a few wild animals?"

"Hahaha, you've got guts, kid."

Wang Dachui jumped up, bracing himself against the track with one hand, and sat down next to him.

"But don't blame me for not warning you. Once you cross that boundary marker, you'll be in the territory of the White Bear Kingdom."

The zombies and mutated beasts in the country were wiped out by our troops as soon as they appeared, and they didn't grow into anything significant.

But outside the border, those monsters had been festering for over a month.

Wang Dachui spat out the tobacco dust from his mouth, his voice deep.

"Nobody knows just how hard those vodka-fueled, mutated bears outside really are now."

"A bear? That's perfect!"

Chen Fei laughed and brandished his crystal core rifle.

"It ran right into my gun barrel, and I sliced ​​off its bear paw with one shot! I've never eaten bear paw before in my life!"

Several new recruits nearby heard this and burst out laughing.

The tense atmosphere eased slightly.

Wang Dachui didn't laugh; his gaze swept over the dozen or so young faces in the carriage.

Half of the new recruits. A month-long domestic crackdown had given them blood.

But when it comes to fighting abroad against those foreign monsters that have been devouring and evolving for over a month, no one is confident.

He frowned and spoke seriously.

"Listen up, everyone. Once you cross this line, there are no rules. It's all about eating and being eaten."

If you see something breathing, and it's not a person, shoot it immediately!

Anyone who dares to hesitate for even a second to save bullets is sending the entire class to their deaths!

Did you understand?

"clear!"

A dozen or so new recruits roared in unison.

Before long, the battalion commander, a major, walked over with a dark face and kicked the tracks.

"Get down here, everyone! The commander is speaking!"

Kunlun Base, Communications Center.

The red signal light remains on. The entire military channel is connected.

Without any lengthy opening remarks, the commander's face appeared directly on all tactical terminals and vehicle screens in the three major theater commands.

He did not bring a prepared speech.

The 1.2 billion citizens and 12 million soldiers on the front lines listened simultaneously.

"Soldiers."

The leader spoke, his voice rough and rusty.

"It is now noon on September 6th according to the Chinese calendar. There are only twelve hours left before the army crosses the border."

The commander rested his hands on the command platform, leaned slightly forward, and looked at the camera.

"These past few days, I've been reading history books... Our Great Xia Dynasty has been building walls for generations."

Build the Great Wall, build bunkers, build underground defense lines.

We're used to keeping the door closed and living our lives alone in the yard.

Our ancestors taught us that we should not fight our way out unless others invade us.

He stretched out his rough fingers and slammed them heavily on the solid wood table, producing a deafening thud.

"But today, those rules need to be changed!"

"Outside the wall, there are only hungry beasts."

If we don't go out and slaughter them, once their bones harden and their claws sharpen, they'll smash down our walls and devour our wives, children, and elderly parents alive.

"Therefore, the command issued a death order! The entire army is to move out of the country! A global cleanup operation!"

The screen is split, displaying three red attack routes.

The leader's voice suddenly rose in pitch over the loudspeaker.

"The Great Xia Blade never waits for others to sharpen it!"

We will bring the flames of war to their lair! We will crush all threats outside our borders!

Chen Fei felt a surge of scalding hot blood rushing to the top of his head.

His hands, gripping the gun, no longer trembled; the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

The commander paused for a moment, his breathing carried throughout the entire army via microphone.

"I need to be clear with you. This isn't a drill. People will die."

"Without a strong rear base, and severely wounded, there wasn't even a chance to be transported back home."

"Are you scared? Of course I am. Watching you young kids risk your lives, I'm scared too."

"But I'm even more afraid that our descendants will be born into a world where they can only hide in dark, sunless burrows and live like rats for the rest of their lives."

"Go. Kill those cannibalistic creatures until they're extinct."

"Wherever you conquer, we'll place our own boundary markers there."

"All troops, listen to my command—load your guns! Draw your swords!"

"For Great Xia! For humanity!"

The commander stood up straight, raised his right hand, and gave a solemn military salute.

"May Great Xia reign supreme!"

The speech ended. The screen went dark.

Only the sound of the wind remained at the northern camp.

"Squad leader, did you hear that? Wherever the fighting goes, we'll put up the boundary marker there."

Chen Fei shoved the rifle magazine up with a "click" and stood up abruptly.

"This time, we'll be soldiers who conquer new territories."

Wang Dachui finally lit the cigarette in his mouth, took a deep drag, and exhaled thick white smoke.

He patted Chen Fei on the shoulder, his voice hoarse.

"You little bastard, keep your life, it'll only make sense to expand your territory."

Western Front.

Yellow sand filled the sky over the Gobi Desert.

The driver of the heavy-duty truck, Lao Li, honked the horn twice.

Two beeping sounds echoed far across the vast Gobi Desert.

"Go to Europe."

Old Li turned to the young soldier in the passenger seat and smiled, gesturing towards the route ahead.

"The furthest I've ever driven before was the provincial capital; this time I've driven all the way out of the country."

"After the war is over, I can brag about it to my grandson for the rest of my life."

……

Over the Atlantic Ocean. Stratosphere.

The Xuan Nu fighter jet tore through the clouds at Mach 3, heading straight for the North American continent.

Inside the cabin.

Su Ran leaned back in the driver's seat, the tactical terminal playing a recording of the commander's mobilization speech.

"The old man's words are truly inspiring."

Ye Xiao leaned against the cabin door. After listening to the recording, he couldn't help but smack his lips.

"The people of Great Xia fall for this kind of thing. They don't play games with you; they just tell you directly why we're fighting and how we're going to fight."

"Fighting a war doesn't rely on passion alone; it relies even more on logistics."

Su Ran looked down at the blue ocean rushing past and spoke.

"The cross-border expedition of 12 million troops, with people and horses eating and feeding themselves every day, is an astronomical figure that could bankrupt a country."

Domestic production capacity has already reached its limit; we absolutely cannot allow them to overdraw their resources any further.

The Great Plains of the Midwestern America.

This area was once the most fertile grain-producing region on Earth.

"Beep! Beep!"

Inside the cockpit of the Xuan Nu fighter jet, the tactical terminal screen lit up with a red light, and a huge red coordinate point was flashing wildly.

Su Ran leaned back in her seat, swiped her finger across the screen, and brought up the high-definition image captured by the front-facing camera.

"arrive."

Su Ran slightly raised her eyelids and said, "The United States, the sixth strategic grain reserve."

Ye Xiao stepped forward, crossed his arms, and stared at the holographic projection.

A massive complex of buildings, covering an extremely vast area, lies sprawling across the wasteland.

The towering concrete silos are connected in one row, surrounded by a steel explosion-proof wall that is five meters high.

The most eye-catching thing is people.

Dense rows of shacks and makeshift houses clung to the high walls, spreading outwards, with crowds of people bustling about.

"It's hard to imagine that someone would get there before you can get your hands on such a great place."

Su Ran looked at the gathering place in the picture.

"In the apocalypse, food and water will always be more precious than gold. With these dozens of strategic grain depots, it would be difficult not to attract a large population."

Ye Xiao stared at the magnified high-definition image on the screen, raising his eyebrows.

"Wow, these foreigners have some money."

The picture shows three twin-mounted anti-aircraft guns prominently arranged inside the steel wall.

The dark cannon barrels pointed straight at the sky.

Inside the camp, fully armed guards patrolled back and forth.

The heavy machine gun sandbag positions blocked every major transportation route.

There were even four Stark armored vehicles parked on the open ground.

The entire shelter was designed like a tightly controlled military fortress.

"These wasteland survivors can even get their hands on anti-aircraft weapons and armored vehicles."

Su Ran looked at the three anti-aircraft guns and gave a fair assessment.

"Judging from their equipment, these people must have looted the National Guard's armory before the apocalypse, and there might even be remnants of the regular army mixed in with them."

Bai Lu stood to the side, a deep blue light swirling in her eyes.

The immense mental perception, like invisible ripples, penetrated the fighter jet's armor and spread towards the camp below.

A moment later, she opened her eyes.

"The survivor camp monitored by the command headquarters has a size of about 40,000 people."

Based on the awakening rate in the wasteland, there are at least thirty awakened individuals.

Bai Lu looked at Su Ran and said, "I just took a deep look and the high-level energy source below is reacting very densely."

There are over forty targets of rank two or higher.

"More than forty second-tier units?"

Ye Xiao grinned, cracking his knuckles as he looked at Su Ran.

"Brother Su, shall we follow the old rules? Just like last time in White Bear Country, sneak in under cover of night, slit the throats of their leaders first, and then recruit them?"

"Need not."

Su Ran looked down at the fortress through the porthole.

"This time, we won't infiltrate. We'll just storm in."

Ye Xiao and Bai Lu were both stunned for a moment.

Three people, directly storming an armed fortress with 40,000 soldiers?

Su Ran observed their reactions calmly and began to explain.

"We initially infiltrated because we weren't sure about the strength of the awakened individuals abroad. But we've already done our research in White Bear Country, Europe, and John Country."

A cold glint flashed in Su Ran's eyes.

"These awakened people abroad are just like that."

He possesses advanced superpowers, but his tactical skills are abysmal. He relies entirely on genetic mutation to withstand attacks and has no concept of system-of-systems warfare.

He turned around, his voice low and menacing.

"Besides, the twelve million-strong expeditionary force of Great Xia will cross the border in twelve hours."

We're short on time; we don't have time to play infiltration or assassination games with these foreigners!

Every minute of delay increases the risk of the soldiers on the front lines running out of food.

He waved his hand and stared sharply at Ye Xiao.

"Old Ye, we'll land directly from mid-air later."

Su Ran gave the order, "You directly pilot the 'Cheng Ying' tactical mech and parachute into the center of their camp."

"No need to hold back, let's issue a direct challenge to all of their awakened members!"

The cabin fell into dead silence.

"Leave me alone."

Ye Xiao first gasped, then his blood seemed to boil, and his fighting spirit soared.

"Take on thirty of them?"

"Not just thirty, but forty at or above the second rank."

Bai Lu kindly corrected him from the side.

"Shall we cover for you?" she interjected from the side, her voice clear and crisp.

"No need! Forget forty, even if there were a hundred, I'd chop them into mincemeat!"

Ye Xiao raised a finger and burst into wild laughter.

"What I meant was, I can manage on my own without a mecha!"

"This battle needs to be resolved quickly; we're pressed for time."

Su Ran stepped forward and patted Ye Xiao on the shoulder.

"With Cheng Ying's help, we can take care of these thirty untrained Awakened in ten minutes. Remember, don't cripple or kill them."

"Alright!"

Ye Xiao strode towards the stern.

"Today I'll show these foreigners what the soldiers of the Great Xia are like! What true 'dimensional reduction attack' really means!"

……

Meanwhile, on the ground...

Strategic Grain Depot Camp No. 6, core control area.

Jimmy, a gaunt white Awakened man known as "The Hound," was pacing anxiously back and forth in the room, clutching his temple.

His face was ashen, and his body was soaked in cold sweat.

"Something's wrong, something's extremely wrong!"

Jimmy muttered to himself nervously.

"I have a feeling that something terrifying is watching us intently!"

Sitting at the head of the table was a muscular, buzz-cut giant.

He is the absolute ruler of this camp—a peak second-tier awakened being, "Berserk Bear" Mike.

"Jimmy, can you stop walking around like a sissy? You're driving me crazy!"

Mike spoke with obvious impatience.

Is there something wrong with your sensory abilities?

"We just cleared out the mutated beasts in this area two days ago, where did this terrifying thing come from?"

Another officer in military uniform frowned and asked a serious question.

"Jimmy, can you use your powers to get a better feel for what it is?"

This also allows our men to be prepared.

"Could it be a horde of tens of thousands of zombies?" someone nearby asked.

"With so many eyes watching the surveillance cameras, if a zombie horde of this size were to approach, the alarm would have been raised long ago."

Someone nearby chuckled.

Infected by the frenzied state of the hunting dog Jimina, the atmosphere in the entire underground control room became restless and uneasy.

"It's not a horde of zombies, it's not mutated beasts! None of those!"

Jimmy's legs suddenly gave way, and he knelt on the ground with a thud, howling in pain.

He frantically used his supernatural abilities, trying to break through that barrier and find the real reason that made him uneasy.

"I felt it, I felt it..."

He clutched his head, his voice turning frantic, and suddenly pointed upwards.

"Up in the sky! The threat comes from the sky!"

"In the sky?"

Everyone in the conference room was stunned and looked up at the solid concrete dome.

Mike's brows furrowed into a tight knot, and he was about to burst out cursing this madman.

Just then, he seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Heaven, heaven..."

Mike's face instantly turned to terror, and he spoke in a trembling voice.

"Could it be... that damned red rain is going to fall again?"