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

Li Guodong took a deep breath and looked at the leader in the main seat.

The leader tapped his pen lightly on the table, his gaze fixed on the wriggling, deep red spots on the sand table.

"allow."

The old man spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet it carried a power that could shake the very foundations of the world.

"We can't walk a tightrope along the edge of a cliff anymore. These malignant tumors must be removed."

"Strategic Command has assigned clearing points. Orders: South Africa and Latin America theaters, expeditionary forces, immediately withdraw your defensive lines."

At the same time, evacuation notices were issued to the target area.

He pressed his palm heavily on the map.

"Notify nuclear missile units. All level 3 or higher threat nests in the area indicated by these coordinates. Execute the targeted elimination plan."

"yes!"

In an instant, the entire Kunlun base accelerated its operation once again.

Latin America, on the outskirts of the Amazon rainforest, Camp 71, the retreat camp.

Amidst torrential rain, a hastily assembled wasteland coalition of former American remnants and local Latin American survivors is desperately crammed onto a heavy transport vehicle.

"Fuck! Don't push me!"

Jack, a former American soldier with a fierce face, shoved the person next to him aside and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Those high-ranking officials in Great Xia have finally come to their senses? I thought they were going to make us use guns to flatten this damn rainforest!"

"We should have done this a long time ago! Why wait until now!"

Beside him, the Latino mercenary Carlos was panting heavily, his left arm still wrapped in a thick, blood-soaked bandage.

"I never want to see that man-eating flower field again in my life. The vines are like living venomous snakes! Even bullets can't penetrate them!"

Once you're held back, in less than twenty seconds, even your bones will be corroded into green liquid!

"Who says otherwise! We should just retreat to North America and nuke this whole place!"

Another Black mercenary glanced back at the deep, dark rainforest, his voice trembling with lingering fear.

"This is a war that humanity cannot win!"

"If it weren't for the Great Xia faction's supervising officer following me around, I would have run away long ago."

Jack gritted his teeth and lowered his voice.

"Who the hell wants to fight these monsters? Let them go!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a cold megaphone emerged from a hovering armed helicopter not far away, and the ruthless voice of the Great Xia officer echoed in the torrential rain.

"Attention all personnel, the evacuation route will close in four hours!"

The target area will undergo physical decontamination in six hours. Those who fail to evacuate by the deadline will bear the consequences themselves!

Upon hearing the words "physical purification," these unruly wasteland mercenaries were not angry at all; instead, they felt as if they had been granted a pardon and desperately scrambled into the carriage.

Faced with that bottomless monster lair, they would rather face the radioactive wasteland after the nuclear explosion than stay in this hell for another second.

Twenty-four hours after the order was issued.

"Target coordinates have been locked. Latin America areas 01 to 45, South Africa areas 01 to 38."

"Authorization confirmed."

"ignition."

Hundreds of meteors, trailing orange-red flames, pierced the sky.

This is not about conquest, but about survival.

Su Ran stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window in the command center, watching the satellite images being transmitted in real time on the screen.

Dozens of points of light spanned half the globe, landing precisely deep within the South African grasslands and Latin American rainforests.

boom!

Even without sound, the rising mushroom cloud and the mutated forest instantly engulfed by flames in the video still evoke a primal sense of dread.

The forest is burning, and the nest is collapsing.

Countless mutated larvae, which had not yet had time to open their eyes, were instantly reduced to dust in temperatures of tens of thousands of degrees.

"How long will this work?"

Li Guodong walked to Su Ran's side and looked at the fading red spots on the screen.

"It won't last long."

Su Ran turned around and looked at the calendar on the wall.

11 month 1 day.

"Is it already November...?"

Su Ran clenched her fist, feeling the pulse of the supernatural space within her body.

"I'm going back to the Awakener Headquarters now. Next, I'll be allocating more resources to all the teams involved in the King Slayer Project."

"All teams?" Li Guodong asked, somewhat surprised.

"That's right! Tell them the real situation we're facing!"

Su Ran looked into the distance, her tone icy.

"For awakened individuals whose current strength is still at the second tier, they either need to break through to the third tier in the next half month, or... die in this wave of advancement."

Outside the base, heavy snow began to fall.

A cold wind howled, and the temperature plummeted.

This winter is destined to be blood red.

Driven by the iron will of the Great Xia Dynasty, mutated creatures worldwide were forcibly suppressed.

But everyone knew that this was just the calm before the storm.

The ultimate battle between humanity and other species has begun.

The door to the strategic command room closed, shutting out the discussions inside.

Su Ran had just returned to the Awakened Headquarters.

The cold November wind blew in through the ventilation ducts, carrying a biting chill.

Before he even sat down, the communicator on the table lit up. It was a red, highest priority indicator.

"Brother Su, something's happened in Jiangcheng."

Mo Yun looked up from a pile of battle damage reports and spoke very quickly.

Explain the situation.

"The Jin Mao Tower's defenses have suffered a massive attack. All the hellhounds hatched from the Mother Nest have gone mad!"

Mo Yun's fingers flew across the floating keyboard, switching the main control screen to the center of the large screen.

In the image, the enormous brooding mass at the very top contracts and expands even more violently.

The outer red line area.

Hundreds of second-tier hellhounds, each as large as a water buffalo, were charging madly at the high-voltage power grid erected by the military.

Twelve thousand volts of blue electric arcs danced wildly across their charred fur, and the pungent smell of roasting meat could be imagined even through the screen.

Those in front fell, while those behind continued to ram upwards, stepping on the charred corpses of their kind.

Completely irrational, it was a suicidal charge.

"The garrison in charge of the blockade reported that the mother hive's food intake has tripled in the past 48 hours."

Mo Yun pulled up several logistics supply lists. "The military airdrops low-level mutated beast corpses every day using transport planes. They used to last a day, but now they're completely destroyed in less than half a day."

At the edge of the screen, a heavy multi-barreled machine gun is spitting fire wildly, tearing the hellhounds that are trying to cross the defense line into pieces.

The hellhounds behind carried the fallen corpses of their kind back to their lair.

"Sir!"

A full-body portrait of a heavily armed garrison major cuts across the screen, accompanied by deafening gunfire in the background.

"Conventional biomass supplies are no longer enough! These animals are actively expanding their hunting range! They are demanding more high-energy food!"

"Can the defense hold?" Su Ran stared at the violently throbbing ball of flesh on the screen, speaking very quickly.

"We can still manage at this stage! The Sharp Sword Special Forces just sent a team to assist with the defense!"

The major wiped the blood off his face and roared.

"Yes, let's stabilize the situation in Jiangcheng first."

Su Ran spoke up, "Clear the hellhounds that are impacting the defensive line, and change the original method of releasing the mutated beast corpses to releasing them in batches."

The major hesitated for a moment, then saluted: "Understood!"

After cutting off communications, Mo Yun turned to Su Ran and said, "This doesn't make sense. The mother nest's previous reproduction has always maintained a basic energy conservation. Today's reckless riot is self-destructive."

"It's not self-harm, it's exploitation."

Su Ran braced her hands on the control panel, her gaze fixed on the dark gold patterns that had appeared on the surface of the fleshy mass.

"The rules of the advancement tide also apply to it. It is accumulating strength for breaking through to the fourth tier; the Jiangcheng Mother Nest is about to advance."

Su Ran straightened up and grabbed her coat from the side.

"Its current energy deficit cannot be filled by that food. It needs more food to provide high-energy biomass."

Once it survives this critical point, that's the moment it successfully advances.

"A fourth-tier mother nest..."

Mo Yun pushed up his glasses; the lenses reflected a cold light.

"At that time, a commander-type mutant with tactical thinking will be born inside."

"By then, Jiangcheng, this cage, will no longer be able to contain it."

"We must not let it get out of control."

Su Ran zipped her coat all the way up.

"I'm going to the underground lab. Old Mo, you stay here and keep a close eye on the data changes in Jiangcheng."

"Understood!" Mo Yun replied sternly.

Su Ran turned and strode out of the command hall, his heavy tactical boots echoing rapidly on the metal corridor.

Three underground floors house a special biological isolation laboratory.

Under the harsh white light of the operating lamp.

A newly arrived Tier 3 Crack Claw monster was tightly restrained by high-strength restraints on an alloy experimental table.

"Miss White Deer, calm your breathing and prepare to receive its consciousness."

Zhang Qian was on edge, observing the reaction of the Clawed Monster's pupils.

Bai Lu stood in front of the lab table, her forehead covered in fine sweat.

An invisible mental fluctuation radiated outward from between her eyebrows, gradually penetrating into the brain cavity of the raging beast.

The Crack Claw Monster let out a low growl, its body twisting violently, and the alloy platform made a teeth-grinding creaking sound.

"Avoid direct confrontation; instead, find the neural connection points and gradually cover them!"

Zhang Qian stared at the EEG monitor, speaking at an extremely fast pace.

Bai Lu bit her lower lip, her face pale.

"I'm controlling it... its resistance is very strong..."

"Hang in there, just a little bit more!"

Just as the two were locked in a tug-of-war, the pneumatic door slid open with a "whoosh".

Su Ran walked in carrying a tablet computer.

He saw the situation inside, but instead of interrupting, he quietly walked behind the explosion-proof glass curtain wall.

He crossed his arms and quietly watched the white deer exerting all its pressure.

Under the crushing power of the white deer's mental strength, the crimson in the eyes of the originally ferocious Crack Claw Monster gradually faded.

The body's struggles gradually diminished, and it actually began to go from being irritable to becoming sluggish and docile.

And it moved according to the white deer's instructions.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Forty seconds.

Forty-three seconds!

"Snap!"

The Cracked Claw Monster's spine snapped backward at an eerie angle, blood gushing from its seven orifices, and its brainwaves instantly flattened into a straight line.

It failed again.

Bai Lu's body went limp, and she slumped into the swivel chair next to her, panting heavily.

The experimental assistant, unfazed, immediately stepped forward to record the experimental data.

"Third-order sample 003, controlled for 43 seconds, cause of death: brainstem neuron overload leading to complete bodily collapse."

"well……"

Zhang Qian reluctantly took off his reading glasses and rubbed his aching temples.

"The brain structure of the third-order samples is indeed more complete, but their self-defense instincts are also multiplied."

"Miss Bai Lu, your mental micro-management is fine. The problem lies in the brain 'hardware' of the alienated creature."

Their brain capacity is still insufficient to support complete mental takeover.

Bai Lu rubbed his temples in frustration, then spun his chair and slid to the side.

Just then, a bottle of chilled electrolyte water was handed to her.

Bai Lu raised her head and met Su Ran's calm and deep eyes.

Without any hesitation, she grabbed the water bottle and gulped down two mouthfuls, suppressing the dryness in her throat.

"It crashed again."

Her tone was full of frustration as she looked up at Su Ran and complained.

"As soon as my mental power entered its consciousness and I controlled the steel seal for less than a minute, its brain nerves short-circuited."

No matter how precisely I control it, it just won't work!

"Consultant Su, you've arrived."

Professor Zhang Qian emerged from behind a pile of complex scanning equipment, holding a recording tablet.

"Old Zhang, how is the situation?" Su Ran asked in a deep voice.

"There has been progress, but we have encountered a bottleneck."

Professor Zhang Qian glanced at the data and gave a meticulous report.

"At present, Comrade Bai Lu's mental control time over third-order creatures has increased from the initial dozen seconds to 43 seconds."

Theoretically speaking, as long as this critical point can be maintained, complete control is only a matter of time.

You've managed to control it for 43 seconds already!

Good news, but not much.

"How long do you expect it will take to achieve a breakthrough?"

Su Ran nodded slightly, his gaze falling on Bai Lu.

"That depends on when it develops a proper brain!"

Bai Lu replied irritably.

"My micromanagement is now almost precise down to the neuron level, but if I apply even a little more obedience command, their brains will break down on their own."

unless……"

"Unless there are samples with higher levels of brain development."

Zhang Qian picked up the conversation and handed Su Ran a complex set of color analysis charts.

"Although the brain tissue of the third-order organism has been further repaired, the strength of the neuronal synapses is still unable to withstand Comrade Bai Lu's high-intensity consciousness invasion."

The old professor paused, a glint of a researcher's fervor flashing in his cloudy eyes.

"We need samples with higher levels of brain development. We need living samples that are at the advanced level of the third order, or even at the peak of the third order!"

Only beings at that level have a brain structure capable of supporting a complete mental imprint.

"I will have the front lines capture any living, third-tier mutated creatures."

Su Ran's gaze fell on the chart, his tone revealing the absolute confidence of the Great Xia military.

"The one that died on the stage now is only the third third-order living sample."

Three aren't enough? Then fill the gaps with thirty, three hundred, or even three thousand!

Now that the Great Xia's war machine is running, the last thing it lacks is supplies delivered to its doorstep.

He looked at the two of them and said with absolute certainty,

"As long as the direction is right, even if we have to pave the way with corpses, Great Xia will always use sheer numbers to achieve the result we want!"

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Qian and Bai Lu, who had been somewhat downcast, instantly perked up.

With enough samples, success is only a matter of time for them.

However, at that moment, Su Ran's tone suddenly changed.

"I don't usually like to set rigid deadlines for researchers."

But today, I must tell you this now!

His gaze sharpened like a knife, and he spoke, enunciating each word clearly.

"Jiangcheng's mother nest is about to advance!"