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

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

Su Ran's deep gaze swept over Zhang Qian and Bai Lu in turn.

"You don't have much time left to prepare for the experiment."

Before he finished speaking, Su Ran's slender fingers swiped rapidly across the tablet screen.

With a soft "hum", a dark blue holographic projection suddenly unfolded in mid-air.

This is a real-time monitoring image of the outer perimeter defense line of the Jinmao Tower in Jiangcheng.

Zhang Qian stopped what he was doing, and Bai Lu also put down the water bottle.

Both of them turned their gazes to the image in mid-air, their pupils suddenly contracting.

In the image, the giant building in Jiangcheng, wrapped in fleshy pipes and dark red fibers, pulsates like a heartbeat.

On the outer defense line, a 12,000-volt high-voltage power grid emitted a blinding blue-white light.

Hundreds and thousands of massive, second-tier hellhounds charged headlong into the electric grid.

The high-voltage electricity burned charred holes in their bodies. Those in front fell, while those behind continued to pounce, stepping over the charred corpses of their kind.

There was no roaring, no retreating.

However, an even more bizarre and chilling scene unfolded.

At the edge of the image, some of the more robust hellhounds open their gaping maws full of fangs, biting the corpses of their companions who had been killed by the electric fence.

They desperately dragged the mutilated corpses toward the mother nest.

"This is the surveillance footage from the past 48 hours."

Su Ran placed her hands on the edge of the lab table, pointing out the core issue.

"The garrison at the front line reports that the mother nest's food intake has increased by 300 percent."

The low-level mutated beast carcasses airdropped by the military are no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the mother nest.

It began to actively expand its hunting range to obtain more high-energy biomass.

"It's feeding on the troops it hatched..."

A look of horror flashed in Zhang Qian's cloudy old eyes, and his voice trembled slightly.

"This kind of internal energy circulation is extremely inefficient, and is even a losing proposition!"

Organisms only resort to this self-destructive energy intake mode when faced with extreme energy demands, or even a life-or-death situation!

"The regular feeding amount is no longer enough to fill its evolutionary gap."

It's like a ravenous madman now, devouring every bit of resources and energy it can grab.

Su Ran straightened up and gave her conclusion.

"As November arrives, the entire world is experiencing this wave of advancements. The monster in Jiangcheng is no exception."

"Advancing already? How can it be so fast!"

Bai Lu's expression became very anxious, and she spoke very quickly.

"But my taming plan hasn't even gotten past the first step. If it reaches the fourth tier, its mental resistance will at least double."

"Advisor Su, how much time do we have left?"

The old professor took a deep breath and asked the crucial question.

"At most, there's still a month left."

Su Ran provided a relatively precise time.

"In short, you need to speed up your testing."

I will have these hellhounds cleaned up to reduce his bioenergy intake from the outside world.

But this can only slow it down; it cannot postpone the emergence of the fourth-order mother body indefinitely.

He suddenly stood up, walked up to Bai Lu, and looked down at her.

"If it can't become a weapon we can use to strike anywhere, I can only throw a tactical bomb at the Jin Mao Tower before it emerges from its cocoon."

"In that case, your Warcraft army will be nothing but ashes."

Bai Lu bit her lower lip, her fingers twisting tightly together.

The idea of ​​becoming the Warcraft Queen had been rooted in Bai Lu's heart for a long time, and now that it had been shattered, she was more heartbroken than anyone else.

Bai Lu reached out and grabbed the tablet, looking at the densely packed physiological monitoring data on it.

"I need high-level samples to practice with. The more, the better."

Bai Lu suddenly stood up and looked directly at Su Ran.

"As long as the mutated creatures' physical structures can withstand it, I can hammer my thoughts into their brains!"

"Miss Bai Lu is right. Consultant Su, we need high-quality samples."

Zhang Qian immediately chimed in, his eyes gleaming with fervor.

"Ideally, it should be a near-fourth-tier living being, just one step away from the fourth tier. Only a brain capacity of that level can withstand a complete mental imprint!"

Without wasting words, Su Ran raised her left wrist and pressed the highest-level encrypted communication button.

"drop!"

The communication connected instantly, with the noisy background noise from the Awakened Headquarters coming through, along with Mo Yun's calm and capable voice:

"Brother Su, I'm in command center. Is there an emergency?"

"Old Mo, immediately issue a top-level mission to all registered elite awakened squads worldwide through the Pangu System."

Su Ran spoke extremely quickly, each word resounding with conviction.

"Target: A Tier 3 mutated beast. Requirements: Must be alive, and its brain must not have suffered fatal damage!"

The mission points will be increased by 20% on top of the previous rewards for capturing the enemy alive!

Mo Yun on the other end of the communication clearly gasped.

"Brother Su, what's the maximum number of arrests for this mission?"

"No upper limit," Su Ran said coldly.

"Understood! I will activate the Level A mobilization order immediately!"

The communication was very straightforward, and Mo Yun didn't ask any more questions, so she decisively carried out the plan.

The task was then assigned.

Su Ran lowered her wrist and looked at Zhang Qian and Bai Lu.

"The Awakened Headquarters is already spinning for you."

Su Ran pointed to the empty experimental chamber, "The new third-order live samples will be delivered in as little as two hours."

Zhang Qian took a deep breath, turned around and walked towards the control panel.

"Attention all units! All equipment at maximum preheating speed! Prepare to receive new samples! Get moving! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Several assistants immediately started running.

The white deer stood still.

She glanced at the corpse of the Cracked Claw Monster on the ground, its seven orifices bleeding, and then looked at Su Ran.

"Su Ran. If..."

Bai Lu bit her lower lip, hesitated for a few seconds, and then finally spoke.

"I mean, what if... what if we captured three hundred of them, and still still couldn't get any results?"

"Then three thousand, thirty thousand."

Su Ran walked up to her and reached out to ruffle her hair.

"What are you afraid of? The Great Xia Dynasty has 1.4 billion people, enough to support our Empress. Just don't break down first."

Bai Lu slapped Su Ran's hand away and gave a haughty snort.

"Don't look down on people."

She turned and walked to her control panel. "My mental strength is world-class, by a significant margin!"

She grabbed a new bottle of electrolyte water, unscrewed the cap, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Clang!" The empty bottle was accurately smashed into the trash can.

Bai Lu closed her eyes and began to regulate her breathing.

Su Ran stared at her quietly for a few seconds, then retreated behind the explosion-proof glass, did not disturb her any further, and strode away from the laboratory.

……

Awakened Headquarters, Dispatch Hall.

Su Ran pushed open the heavy, airtight door and walked straight to the central control console.

"The mission has been issued. What's the feedback?" He pulled out a tactical chair and sat down.

"Extremely fanatical."

Mo Yun didn't even look up, switching the main screen to display mode.

"Base points doubled, plus an additional 20% bonus. A generous reward will surely attract brave souls. Less than half an hour after the task was posted, the backend had already received 231 applications."

The list is filled with densely packed team names that keep scrolling and refreshing.

"The Great Wall Watchers, Weightlifting Champions, Tornado Dragon..."

Su Ran looked at the familiar prefixes above; those were the names of top domestic teams.

What percentage of the teams are from overseas?

"They took the lion's share."

Mo Yun pulled up another set of data charts.

"Several Awakened Guilds from North America and Eastern Europe mobilized almost their entire force this time."

"The 'Winter's Claw' from the Russian Bear Country, the 'God's Armor' from the American Country, and even the 'Knights of the Round Table' who were just rebuilt in the wasteland have all taken orders."

"The reputation of Great Xia stands firm. There are no bad checks; everything is cashed on the spot."

He paused, his tone radiating absolute confidence.

"As long as you have enough points, we'll give you crystal cores, exoskeletons, gene serums, and even the right to live in nuclear bunkers."

These people are now treating third-tier monsters like walking treasure chests.

"Many new teams have applied, so the casualty rate may see a rise."

Su Ran leaned back in her chair, her fingers interlaced.

"But if you don't push them, you'll never know the limits of their potential."

He nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the global heat map on the right side of the screen.

What is the overall growth rate of the third-tier mutated creatures?

"The outlook is not optimistic."

Mo Yun's expression instantly turned serious. He switched the screen, and a set of glaring red data popped up.

According to the latest calculations from the Pangu System, more than 1000 new Tier 3 mutated creatures are being added globally every day. Moreover, this growth curve continues to rise.

"Yesterday, monitoring stations around the world reported 1,042 cases of third-order life form responses. And the rate of increase is alarming."

Mo Yun pushed up the frames of his glasses.

"The territory of Daxia is a high-altitude airspace. Thanks to the Pangu system and the forward-deployed firepower network, the number of new cases has been kept to single digits."

In the main combat zones of Europe, North Africa, and North America, a balance is barely maintained thanks to our weapons aid and the suppression of local awakened individuals.

As for South America, the Indian subcontinent, and some islands…”

On the map, those areas are already a deep, almost purple red.

"The hardest-hit area has been completely turned into an incubator for high-level mutated creatures."

Yesterday alone, hundreds of Tier 3 bio-impact events occurred on the edge of the Amazon rainforest.

Su Ran remained silent.

Cleaning up the world is not something that can be done overnight.

Now that the strategic direction has been set, the only way to overcome the setbacks along the way is to sacrifice lives.

The Great Xia Dynasty could not manage the entire world as if it were its own country.

"Pick the fattest one."

Su Ran stood up and stretched her wrists.

"Send me the coordinates of the third-order target with the highest energy level index that we've detected so far. I'll go and locate it myself."

Mo Yun stopped typing.

His gaze fell on Su Ran, his face full of disapproval.

"No. Others can go, but you can't go alone."

"The ordinary Tier 3 beings captured at the front are of too poor quality; I'm afraid they won't withstand the mental impact of the White Deer. I need living beings that are closest to Tier 4," Su Ran insisted.

"I know what you need."

Mo Yun refused to budge an inch.

"But, Brother Su, you are the core of the Great Xia 'Peach Blossom Spring' project, the commander-in-chief of the Awakened Headquarters."

Your safety must be absolutely guaranteed.

I need to report to Director Li, or have Lao Ye and the others go with me.

Su Ran could only laugh helplessly upon hearing this.

He didn't want to know whether this was Li Guodong's specific instruction or Mo Yun's own idea.

Now everyone regards him, the de facto first awakened person in the world, as a national treasure that needs to be protected at every level.

Mo Yun is increasingly taking on the role of the head of the family; when it comes to matters of principle, not even nine oxen could pull him back.

Seeing Mo Yun's determined gaze, Su Ran stopped arguing.

"Okay, call them over."

Su Ran grabbed her coat,

"Also, contact logistics to prepare the highest-specification containment capsule. Assemble on the top-floor helipad in two minutes and depart."

……

Twenty minutes later.

A jet-black Xuan Nu fighter jet tore through the swirling snow and took off from the Kunlun base, soaring straight into the sky.

The temperature inside the cabin was constant, and Ye Xiao was dozing off on one side.

He's been incredibly busy lately trying to boost his score for "Kunlun Yibadao".

It never stopped.

"Brother Ye, what big guy are we going to catch this time?"

Zhu Jingye leaned closer and said excitedly.

After breaking through to the third tier, he had been looking for a powerful mutated creature to spar with.

In ordinary battles, he always felt that he lacked a certain awareness.

Perhaps this is what they mean when they say that once people have power, they easily become arrogant.

"Catch a big object that can be used as a toy for the white deer."

Ye Xiao stretched his neck, understanding his thoughts.

"Brother Su, where's the target's information?"

Su Ran tossed the tactical board over.

The screen displayed a behemoth comparable in size to a main battle tank.

"Armored Rhinoceros. Its mutation focuses on extreme defense and brute force. It resides in an abandoned mine in the northern desert."

Su Ran unbuckled her seatbelt and walked over.

"The energy level reaction is approaching the peak of the third order. Professor Zhang Qian needs a living sample with a high degree of brain development, and this beast is just right."

Remember the requirements, and don't overthink it.

For mutated creatures to grow to this level at this stage is absolutely extraordinary; we must be extremely careful.

"Understood." Ye Xiao grinned.

Fighter jets hovered over the mines in northern Mobei.

The cabin door opened, and a gust of wind whipped up sand and gravel, pouring into the cabin.

Below, in the ruins, the armored rhinoceros was gnawing on the remains of a second-tier mutated beast.

Hearing the roar of the engine, it raised its head, its huge horn pointing straight to the sky, and let out a roar.

"Dedicated, go down and say hello to it!"

Before the fighter jet had even come to a complete stop, Ye Xiao kicked Zhu Jingye out of the cockpit.

"Holy crap! Brother Ye, you have no sportsmanship!"

Zhu Jingye fell to the ground in free fall, creating a deep crater.

He had just raised his head and before he could even determine his location, the armored rhinoceros charged straight at him.

"grass!"

Zhu Jingye reacted extremely quickly, spreading his arms wide to firmly brace against the beast's thick rhinoceros horn.

Innate Ability: Damage Transfer!

This was his core insight after breaking through to the third tier: he could forcibly transfer the physical and energy impacts he experienced to the mutated creatures he came into direct contact with in a proportional manner.

"Bang!"

Zhu Jingye was pushed backward for more than ten meters, his face turned pale instantly, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Strangely, the armored rhinoceros, which had an absolute size advantage, suddenly staggered, its massive body retreating several steps.

"Haha! I knew it would work!"

Zhu Jingye spat out the blood and foam in his mouth, his fighting spirit soaring.

At the same time, Su Ran and Ye Xiao also jumped out of the fighter jet.

The moment Su Ran landed, the space in her palm rippled violently.

"Well done, leave the rest to me."