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

(Word count has been added to the previous chapter)

The appearance of the third-tier mutated beast made Su Ran feel an unprecedented sense of crisis.

The window of opportunity left for humanity is rapidly closing.

When the giant fleshy mother nest in Jiangcheng breaks through the fourth-order barrier, it means that the ultimate mother body nurtured within it is about to emerge from its cocoon and be born.

If the Great Xia cannot achieve absolute mental control over it at the moment of its birth and transform it into its own fighting force...

Therefore, the only backup plan is to use every means possible to completely nip it in the bud before it opens its eyes!

In Su Ran's dictionary, there is absolutely no room for any uncontrollable, fatal variables!

The two turned around.

Su Ran walked very fast.

Australia was physically wiped out, but it bought humanity a sliver of strategic breathing space.

Wasteland evolution never stops.

Fifteen minutes later.

Jiangcheng Mother Nest Special Monitoring Room.

Su Ran pushed open the heavy lead door.

Hundreds of dark blue screens intertwined, casting a cold and eerie light over the hall.

"Advisor Su!" The major in charge of monitoring immediately stood up, saluted, and stood at attention.

Su Ran waved her hand slightly, walked straight to the main control panel, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Her gaze fell on the huge main screen in the center.

Despite being mentally prepared, Su Ran's eye muscles still twitched slightly when she saw the image clearly.

The Jinmao Tower in Jiangcheng is completely gone.

In the scene, the once bustling city center of Jiangcheng has been completely transformed into a den of aliens.

A few months ago, the Jin Mao Tower, a landmark building in Wuhan, stood here.

At this moment, the reinforced concrete outline of the building has completely disappeared.

Instead, there was a massive mountain of flesh, hundreds of meters high.

Dark red fleshy fibers wrap around the building's facade layer by layer.

The entire surface of the mountain of flesh was covered with holes, and it was pulsating slowly at an extremely regular frequency.

With each breath, it exhales large plumes of grayish-green spore mist.

This is not a building; it is a living, disgusting, and monstrous life form with a voracious appetite!

"The Flesh and Blood Building." Su Ran stared at the screen and uttered four words.

The major stood to the side and handed over a latest analysis report.

"Advisor Su, the mother body has expanded by 60 percent compared to half a month ago."

The major placed his hands on the control panel and quickly brought up several sets of comparative data.

"The high-energy infrared reaction is extremely violent, and its energy level is still steadily increasing."

"How is the outer defense network?" Su Ran asked in a deep voice.

The major immediately typed the command on the keyboard.

The main screen zoomed out instantly, revealing a ring-shaped blockade ten kilometers away from the Flesh and Blood Building.

"In response to the rapid evolution of the mother nest, we have upgraded the defenses of the 10-kilometer red line."

The major pointed to the flashing blue dot on the screen.

"The patrol team has been tripled in size. All members have been equipped with the latest Tier 2 crystal core exoskeleton armor developed by the Academy of Sciences. Twenty more heavy firepower points have been added, all equipped with crystal energy rapid-fire cannons."

The camera zooms in. A squad of fully armed Great Xia soldiers is patrolling along the edge of the ruins. Their bright blue exoskeletons stand out starkly against the gray wasteland.

Su Ran nodded slightly. Once the Great Xia war machine is running, its troop production speed and equipment upgrade capabilities will be enough to crush any wasteland faction.

His gaze swept across the screen. Suddenly, it fixed on a certain area inside the blockade line.

"What's there?"

Su Ran raised her hand and pointed to the bottom right corner of the screen.

It was a huge, flat-topped platform temporarily constructed of reinforced concrete.

Several heavy dump trucks were reversing and approaching the edge.

The truck bed rose, and a large number of mutilated mutated beast corpses poured down, piling up into a small mountain.

Su Ran frowned and turned to the major: "Is this... actively feeding it?"

"Yes, this is the 'captive breeding' suggestion put forward by Professor Zhang Qian of the Chinese Academy of Sciences."

The major spoke very quickly, "The stable hatching of second-tier hellhounds in the mother nest requires a massive amount of bioenergy."

If they are not provided with food, they will definitely force their way through the defenses to hunt outside.

We proactively and centrally release the corpses of mutated creatures cleared out from various locations, essentially artificially meeting its energy needs.

The major pointed to the hellhounds on the screen that were obediently guarding the area around the Flesh and Blood Building.

"It turns out that this crazy plan worked."

We used the corpses to restrict their movement.

In a sense, we... are indirectly nurturing this monster army.

Su Ran stared at the screen, her eyes deep.

"What is the current incubation frequency?" Su Ran asked, only asking for the core data.

"The number has stabilized at around fifty per day. Production of Tier 1 hatchlings has completely stopped; all hatchlings are Tier 2 or higher."

The major quickly replied, "The patrol teams will follow the instructions of the Academy of Sciences to periodically eliminate individuals who are on the fringes, maintaining a population balance."

Su Ran's eyes turned slightly cold.

Fifty Tier 2 monsters every day, that's 1,500 a month!

If this force gets out of control and breaks through the blockade line, the defense line of an ordinary field division will be completely torn apart in one fell swoop.

"Keep a close eye on it."

Su Ran abruptly stood up, her tone carrying an undeniable chilling authority.

"Any unusual situation must be reported immediately!"

"Yes, sir!" the major straightened his back.

Su Ran turned around, pushed open the door, and left.

The captive breeding program has been launched. The mother nest is absorbing nutrients faster than expected.

The birth of a fourth-order mother could occur at any moment.

Time is running out for Bai Lu and Zhang Qian.

……

"Advisor Su, this way please." Fully armed guards led the way.

Three underground floors house a special biological isolation laboratory.

"Beep! Identity verification successful."

As the heavy pneumatic door slid open to both sides, the blinding white light of the shadowless lamp instantly poured out.

In the center of the laboratory, a second-order hellhound the size of a buffalo is being kept in the experimental observation chamber.

"Su Ran? What brings you here all of a sudden?"

Hearing the noise, the white deer turned its head.

Fine beads of sweat glistened on his fair forehead, clearly indicating that he had just experienced intense mental exertion.

Upon seeing Su Ran, a hint of undisguised surprise and joy flashed in her cool eyes.

"I just finished dealing with things in Australia, so I came to check on the progress here."

Su Ran walked over to her and handed her an open bottle of electrolyte water.

"Australia?"

Bai Lu took the water and gulped down two mouthfuls, then blinked her eyes in a somewhat adorable manner.

She was unaware of what had just happened.

"Yes, Australia was overrun with mutant beasts, but we wiped them out with nuclear weapons."

Su Ran spoke calmly and directly.

"Pfft! Cough cough!"

Bai Lu almost spat out her water, her little mouth opening into an exaggerated "O" shape.

"Nuclear...nuclearized? Nuke an entire continent?"

"I came here specifically to see the latest research results of our 'Empress'."

Su Ran didn't explain and directly changed the subject.

"Don't let me down, okay?"

"You've come at the perfect time! Just in time to show you what I'm capable of."

Upon hearing this, Bai Lu subconsciously dismissed her confusion and proudly raised her chin.

She turned around and faced the second-tier hellhound that was struggling frantically inside the blast chamber.

She took a deep breath, and invisible ripples of air suddenly erupted from between her eyebrows!

"sit down."

Bai Lu parted her lips slightly, her voice not loud, but carrying an undeniable air of authority.

The hellhound inside the observation cabin suddenly froze, its previously frenzied movements gone.

Its bloodshot, violent pupils instantly became dull.

The ferocious beast, capable of easily tearing apart an armored vehicle, actually retracted its claws and slowly crouched down on its hind legs.

"Raise your left paw," the white deer commanded again.

The hellhound trembled, but its thick front paw still slowly rose.

"Alright, that's enough."

one second.

Five seconds.

ten seconds.

Bai Lu gave several sets of command gestures in succession.

At the fifteenth second, dark red blood suddenly gushed from the corners of the hellhound's eyes.

"Thump!"

There was no struggle; his head tilted to one side, and he fell completely silent.

The radio waves on the monitor were stretched into a straight line.

"Sigh, brain dead again."

Bai Lu sighed heavily and recorded the data on the tablet.

"Second-order sample 109, control duration 15.2 seconds, cause of death: brainstem neuronal overload collapse."

"Fifteen seconds."

Su Ran looked at the corpse, a glint of shrewdness flashing in her eyes. "You can now actually control second-tier mutated creatures?"

"Hmm! Just as you can see!"

Bai Lu rubbed her throbbing temples, her voice tinged with weariness.

"Even the 'hardware' of a second-tier mutated creature is too poor."

Once my mental energy invades, its brain is like a bomb being inserted; it simply can't withstand it for long.

Su Ran nodded slightly. The direction was correct, and complete success was only a matter of time.

He turned to look at the monitoring console.

Professor Zhang Qian was walking briskly over, holding a stack of freshly produced data reports.

"Advisor Su! You've come at the perfect time!"

The old professor had deep-set eyes, and his bloodshot eyes shone with fervor.

The conclusion is very clear!

At present, we can indeed achieve temporary control over second-order mutated creatures.

The duration of control and the complexity of the instructions depend entirely on the completeness of the repair of the test subject's brain tissue!

He pushed up his glasses, his tone urgent.

"Advisor Su, I heard from Miss Bai Lu that third-tier mutated beasts have appeared outside!"

If it's at level three, the brain structure will be more complete, meaning the host's 'performance' will be stronger!

"I have a strong feeling that as long as we have a third-order live sample, we will be able to break through the one-minute safety control barrier!"

It might even take longer! A complete success!

Su Ran nodded.

He knew very well the personality of Zhang Qian, a research fanatic; as long as they saw a glimmer of truth, they would rush towards it regardless of the cost.

"I will find a way to have the frontline personnel capture the third-order live specimen."

Su Ran spoke calmly, making a promise.

"At the very least, we now have real-world success stories that prove that the path of mind control as a form of 'beast taming' is viable."

Upon hearing this, the fervor on Zhang Qian's face subsided somewhat, and his expression turned dejected.

The old professor sighed and threw the report on the table.

"It's a viable route..."

The only pity is that this domineering ability seems to be uniquely exclusive to Comrade Bai Lu.

He rubbed his aching temples and said with a wry smile,

"During this period, in order to find general patterns, we also had several other mental awakeners registered at the Great Xia Awakening Headquarters try it out."

"Let them conduct interference tests on second-order organisms entirely according to Comrade Bai Lu's method."

"All failures?" Su Ran raised an eyebrow.

"It's not just a failure, it's an inability to establish a connection at all."

Zhang Qian shook his head and sighed.

"When their mental energy enters the brain of the mutated beast, it's like water dripping into boiling oil; it has no effect other than causing the mutated beast to go even crazier and rampage."

They couldn't even comply for a second.

Zhang Qian pointed to Bai Lu, who was standing to the side, drinking water with a smug look on her face.

"This ability to forcibly take over the consciousness of a different species, and even suppress the Omega-9 virus at the microscopic level, is something that others simply cannot learn or imitate."

The old professor's tone was full of regret.

Su Ran understood.

In his previous life, only the White Deer ascended to the summit and commanded a massive zombie horde; this was no accident.

Her mental power must possess some special attribute.

"Advisor Su, don't laugh at me."

Zhang Qian leaned against the control panel and shook his head self-deprecatingly.

"My initial vision was far more ambitious than it is now. I wanted to analyze mental power and achieve mass production control directly through brain-computer interfaces."

He pointed to the sophisticated instrument that occupied half of the wall next to him; it was an unfinished signal translation device.

"With just a helmet on, even an ordinary soldier can command a squad of mutated beasts. That's the true war machine of Great Xia."

"But now, with the core code still locked, this idea has made no progress. Only Bai Lu has truly succeeded."

"At least, some of us have already succeeded, haven't we?"

Su Ran patted Zhang Qian on the shoulder, speaking calmly, "A spiritual queen is one in a million. That's enough."

Upon hearing this, Bai Lu slightly raised her chin and snorted. "At least you said something honest."

"First, solidify the existing control model."

Su Ran suppressed her smile and gave the order, "I will have the front lines keep an eye out, and if there's a chance, I'll definitely capture a Tier 3 live creature for you."

"Okay! Just hearing that is enough!"

Zhang Qian rallied his spirits and turned back to data analysis.

Su Ran glanced at Bai Lu, "Bai Lu, continue to cooperate with Professor Zhang, don't slack off."

"Okay."

Bai Lu rolled her eyes, but didn't refuse, and walked towards the glass cabin again.

……

While the Great Xia was conducting its mind control experiments in earnest, thousands of miles away...

The Colorado Plateau, three thousand meters underground.

Inside the "Eden" bunker meeting room, the air was so thick it was suffocating.

President Jopden braced his hands on the table, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Her once well-maintained face was now completely bloodless, and her eyes were filled with extreme fear and disbelief.

He stared intently at the satellite images that were being replayed on the main screen, showing the moment when the Australian continent was engulfed in flames.

"How dare they... how could they..."

Jopden's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper were being rubbed together.

"How dare they actually press the button? That's a continent! Hundreds of billions of creatures!"

He suddenly sat up straight, pointed at the screen, and roared.

"Fuck...fuck!"

"Have the highest levels of the Great Xia Dynasty gone mad?! They just destroyed an entire continent with their own hands! And they didn't even say a word?"