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

Mo Yun took it, and without saying a word, directly absorbed it in his palm.

A glimmer of light flashed, and his pale face finally regained some color, even his heavy breathing calmed down.

"Phew... I'm alive again."

He opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath, and looked at the wreckage scattered on the ground.

"Brother Su,"

Mo Yun's tone carried a hint of confusion and seriousness.

"You just said that a war of this scale is only the beginning? What do you mean by that?"

His tone carried a hint of confusion.

"That's a zombie horde of five million. There won't be many densely populated cities like Paris in the future."

Bai Lu stood to one side, her cool gaze also falling on Su Ran.

Su Ran casually tossed a dark red third-tier crystal core in his hand, then turned his gaze to the battlefield in the distance, which was still emitting black smoke.

"Do you think today's attack by a horde of five million zombies was an organized tactical operation, or simply their spontaneous feeding instincts?"

Su Ran turned her head and threw out a fatal question.

"Um?"

Mo Yun paused for a moment, clearly not understanding the question, but still replied.

"It must have been a spontaneous action."

After all, the current atlas of alienated creatures published by the Academy of Sciences has never revealed any leading intelligent beings capable of commanding large armies.

"That's right."

Su Ran suddenly clenched his five fingers, grasping the crystal core into his palm.

"These five million zombies were a disorganized mess from beginning to end."

"Paris was already a densely populated area. After the cataclysm broke out, these millions of zombies have been wandering aimlessly around the city."

He looked at the two people in front of him and analyzed the situation clearly and logically.

"The Great Xia Expeditionary Force is stationed here, and the smell of blood from more than a million people is the most deadly temptation to them."

"Plus the high-purity attractant I brought. The combination of these factors is what drew all these brainless beasts in one direction."

Bai Lu frowned slightly and gave her summary.

"So, although they appear to be numerous, they don't actually have a central controller."

No, absolutely not.

Su Ran responded confidently.

"They are currently acting entirely on their feeding instincts. Even those dozens of third-tier mutated creatures are merely clinging to the horde of corpses, taking the opportunity to plunder flesh and blood."

At this point, his tone became heavy.

"But things will be different from now on."

He said, enunciating each word clearly.

"When the mutated creatures break through the third-tier boundary and cross the threshold of the fourth tier... the entire form of warfare in the wasteland will be completely overturned."

Su Ran's gaze turned cold.

"A mutant creature that breaks through to the third tier can become king."

"The Corpse King, the Beast King."

When he uttered those two words, the surrounding air seemed to cool down a bit.

"At that stage, they will develop a strong sense of territory and begin to gather mutated beasts or zombies on their own."

"Although these monsters may not be as sophisticated as the Great Xia commander's tactics, they understand the purest form of violence—quantity over quality."

The idea that a cluster of several zombie kings could control millions of mutated creatures to attack a city would no longer be just empty talk!

After he finished speaking, the surroundings fell into dead silence.

Mo Yun and Bai Lu remained silent.

A few highly intelligent, top-tier mutant creatures, leading millions of mutant creatures, are about to engage in a decisive battle against humanity's ironclad defenses.

The thought of that scene is enough to send chills down your spine.

In short, we never have enough time.

Su Ran withdrew her gaze and patted the tactical backpack in her hand.

"We must improve our strength as much as possible."

By then, only the absolute elite of combat power will be able to turn the tide of the war.

Mo Yun took a deep breath and nodded emphatically. "Understood."

Bai Lu didn't speak, but her eyes grew even more determined.

Su Ran unzipped the tactical backpack again.

Inside lay a dozen or so crystal cores emitting a faint glow.

Looking at these crystal cores, Su Ran's eyes flickered slightly.

"This time, I should be able to overcome that bottleneck," he thought to himself.

Since the outbreak of the cataclysm, Su Ran has maintained the habit of using crystal core energy to enhance himself.

With the absolute support of the Awakened Headquarters and its leaders, he never lacks resources.

It's no exaggeration to say that the total amount of crystal cores absorbed by Bai Lu, Mo Yun, and Ye Xiao combined is less than what he absorbed alone.

But strangely, quantity ultimately failed to produce quality.

His current level is still stuck at a bottleneck.

For him, a first-tier crystal core could at most restore some mental energy.

Even a peak second-tier crystal core only restores a little more mental energy.

Lacking the stimulation of high-level energy, he was unable to take that crucial step.

Now, third-order crystal nuclei have appeared.

Su Ran reached into his backpack, rummaged around for a moment, and picked out a crystal core that was completely transparent and emitted pure spiritual fluctuations.

He handed it to the white deer.

"This third-tier mental crystal core is the perfect match for your special ability."

Bai Lu reached out and took it, the cool touch coming through her fingertips.

"Um."

She spoke softly, a glint of light flashing in her eyes.

Su Ran then pulled out a crystal core that glowed with a deep blue light and put it directly into the pocket of his combat suit.

Then, another crystal core with a fiery red luster was selected and received separately.

"Keep this one for Ye Xiao," Su Ran said.

After distributing the portions to the three people, there were still more than a dozen third-order crystal cores of different colors left in the backpack.

Mo Yun glanced at the backpack. "Brother Su, how do we divide the rest?"

"We're not breaking up."

Su Ran zipped up her backpack again and put it into her personal storage space.

"The number of third-order crystal nuclei is currently limited, so they should be prioritized for the Academy of Sciences."

Bai Lu raised an eyebrow. "For those old men?"

"right."

Su Ran nodded solemnly.

"Let Academician Wei and Lu Yuan thoroughly study the energy structure and fusion array of the third-order crystal nucleus first."

"Currently, Tier 3 crystal cores are extremely scarce. If we keep these, we can at most create a few more Tier 3 individual combatants."

However, compared to the massive battles that would soon involve millions or even tens of millions of dollars, the bravery of a few individuals was simply a drop in the ocean.

He fastened the mechanical lock on the metal box, making a crisp click.

Mo Yun's mind worked extremely fast, and he realized it instantly.

"Brother Su, do you mean to start research and development ahead of schedule?"

"That's right."

Su Ran nodded, "While there are still no large numbers of third-order mutated creatures, let the Academy of Sciences thoroughly study the energy conversion mechanism of third-order crystal nuclei."

"The war machine of Great Xia must keep running."

We must complete the technical preparation for our crystal energy rifle, exoskeleton armor, and highly concentrated crystal energy liquid in advance.

Once the production of third-order crystal cores increases in the future, the Great Xia military will be able to directly upgrade its equipment.

"That makes perfect sense."

Mo Yun nodded in deep agreement.

"If those old men at the Academy of Sciences saw this stuff, they probably wouldn't be able to sleep for days and nights."

The reason why the Great Xia Dynasty was able to withstand the hordes of alienation with its mortal bodies was because of its unconventional logistics and research and development system.

Bai Lu carefully stored the transparent crystal core close to her body, then glanced at Su Ran.

"Su Ran, when are we going back to base camp?"

"You should go back to Xuan Nu to rest first."

Su Ran turned to look at the Xuan Nu fighter jet and said, "I have some more things to take care of. I'll leave as soon as I'm done."