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

With unparalleled physical kinetic energy, Ye Xiao slammed headfirst into the side abdomen of the fourth-order mother body!

"Bang!"

The two enormous objects rolled and crashed into the ruins of the load-bearing pillars on the other side of the hall.

Reinforced concrete fragments were scattered everywhere.

Before the fourth-order mothership could even stand firmly, Ye Xiao controlled his mecha and rode directly on its back.

The iron fist, cast from a special alloy, was raised high and slammed down on the mother's head.

"Get down on your knees!"

With a single punch, black blood spurted from the head of the fourth-tier mother body, and several spiderweb-like cracks were smashed into the incredibly hard bone plates!

"roar!"

The mutated beast let out a shrill scream, its thick claws frantically scratching at Cheng Ying's breastplate.

"Old Ye, go all out! Don't worry about crippling them!"

Su Ran's icy voice switched in through the tactical channel.

"As long as it doesn't die! Severely injure it! Cut off all its ability to resist and create an opportunity for the white deer!"

"clear!"

Ye Xiao responded loudly.

The mech's right arm pulled back again, and with the recoil from the crystal core's power, it delivered another heavy punch—no fancy moves—to the side of the mutated beast's face.

"Snap!"

A clear cracking sound rang out.

"Again! You think you can give birth all the time?"

Punch after punch.

The pure industrial violence combined with individual might completely overwhelmed the newly born fourth-tier king-level creature, leaving it utterly helpless and screaming in agony.

The external pressure was now entirely on Mo Yun.

Mo Yun pressed his hands firmly to the ground, unleashing the dark green poisonous mist to its fullest extent.

The poisonous mist transformed into a semi-circular, high wall, keeping the hellhounds that were continuously surging in from the outside of the swamp.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle!"

The hellhound that rushed into the poisonous fog struggled for less than two seconds before turning into puddles of pus.

But the beast horde behind them, oblivious to their own mortality, continued to surge forward, stepping over the corpses of their companions, desperately filling the gaps in the poisonous fog with their lives.

"Brother Su, all the hellhounds have gone mad! There are too many of them; my powers can only last for another five minutes at most!"

Mo Yun gritted his teeth and endured it, sweat streaming down his face.

Hang in there.

Su Ran stood in the center of the defensive line, her eyes still as calm as an ancient well.

He not only maintained the spatial barrier sealing the front of the hall, but also meticulously manipulated the surrounding spatial rifts to eliminate any that managed to escape.

As the strongest fighter in the entire arena, he has been extremely strict in controlling the balance of his fourth-tier superpower reserves.

He had to ensure that even if Bai Lu ultimately failed, or even if the mecha was destroyed, he would still have enough trump cards.

One hit instantly kills this fourth-tier hellhound mother!

"Old Mo, tighten the defensive lines and move closer to me!"

Su Ran narrowed her eyes slightly, sensing Mo Yun's limit.

He interlocked his fingers, and his spiritual power poured out like a tsunami.

"Space, sealed off!"

hum!

Within a radius of fifty meters, the rules of space began to be forcibly altered!

The originally straight path became twisted and folded.

The mutated beasts, their eyes bloodshot, charged forward, seemingly aiming for Su Ran and the others. But the moment they landed, they strangely lunged at their companions, even spinning around in place.

With this move, Su Ran completely cut out the core area of ​​the incubation chamber.

Everyone's desperate resistance, Ye Xiao's brutal crushing force as he wielded a torrent of steel, and Su Ran's absolute control of the situation were all paving the way for that final crucial moment.

rear.

Bai Lu took a deep breath and slowly straightened up.

The high-purity crystal core extract has repaired her mental sea, and her originally pale cheeks have regained some color.

Ignoring the scattered pieces of flesh around her, her eyes were cold and resolute as she looked through the chaotic battlefield and locked onto the fourth-tier mother body being rubbed and crushed by the mechs.

At this moment, the mother's skull was shattered, her scales were smashed to pieces by the iron fist, and her aura was extremely weak.

Most importantly, just as Su Ran had predicted.

It completely broke away from the complex collective consciousness of the entire Jiangcheng Mother Nest.

Now, all that remains of it is a pure, independent, and extremely weak individual will.

The white deer's brow shone brightly, and its spiritual energy poured out.

This time, what she perceived was a desolate and closed spiritual space.

In the very center of the space, only a pale blue halo floated.

"Su Ran, I found it."

The white deer opened its eyes, its hands unconsciously clenching into fists, and spoke extremely quickly.

"There is only one consciousness cluster. It is completely independent."

"Go."

Su Ran stood beside her, turned her head, and gave her an encouraging look.

"Go for it. Don't worry, I'll always be there for you."

Zhu Jingye leaned against a broken load-bearing column, his nasal cavity filled with dried black blood.

He was breathing heavily, and raised his heavy right hand to wipe his face.

"Sister Lu, I believe in you."

Mo Yun pushed up his glasses, trying his best to hide his recent embarrassment.

"Bai Lu, don't feel pressured, we all believe in you."

Ye Xiao's carefree voice came through the external speaker.

"White Deer! Go for it! This thing's a dead dog right now!"

The six-meter-tall steel mech exerted force with its right foot once more, slamming its foot down on the neck of the fourth-tier mother body.

The special alloy rubs against the bone, producing a piercing, crisp sound.

"If you still think it's not behaving properly, I'll beat it even harder?"

Ye Xiao maneuvered the mecha and leaned down, the huge iron hand gripping its neck tightly.

The mother frantically pried at the ground with her limbs, tearing up large chunks of flesh, but she couldn't budge it an inch.

"No."

Bai Lu took a deep breath, her eyes turning completely cold.

"Its consciousness is extremely weak now; maintaining the current state of physical suppression is sufficient!"

She took a step forward.

One step, two steps.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the white deer walked directly in front of the mother, the two less than three meters apart.

The fourth-tier mother's only remaining intact eyeball stared intently at her, its pupils filled with bloodthirsty hatred.

It wanted to open its blood-red maw and swallow the little person in front of it whole.

However, the steel giant on its back kept it firmly pinned to the spot.

"You better behave yourself!"

Ye Xiao roared and delivered another heavy punch to its forehead without any hesitation.

The intense pain caused the mother's movements to pause for a moment.

"Now."

The white deer let out a low growl.

She closed her eyes, shutting out all the noise from the outside world.

"This time, you can't escape."

The white deer's invisible spiritual spike condensed between her brows, carrying her own will, and pierced straight into that ball of dark blue light.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness.

The azure orb trembled violently, unleashing its last bit of power in an attempt to repel this foreign will.

……

In November, the temperature in Wuhan plummeted.

Twenty kilometers away from the core area of ​​the mother nest, the crystal core troops originally stationed around the Jin Mao Tower have completed their tactical withdrawal.

The engineering company is using the ruins of the city's overpass to repair the second line of defense.

The armored vehicle's tracks screeched as they rolled over the icy road.

Inside the temporary command vehicle, the heater was whirring.

"Report!"

The radar operator ripped off his headset and strode to the tactical control console.

"explain."

The frontline commander stubbed out his cigarette.

"Underground pipe network! Crystal core radar detection feedback: high-energy reactions everywhere!"

The radar operator pointed to the rapidly flashing red dot on the screen, speaking at breakneck speed.

"What?"

The commander suddenly stood up and strode to the screen.

On the holographic projection of the three-dimensional underground map of Jiangcheng, the sewers, air-raid shelters, and abandoned subway lines that originally represented safe areas were now completely submerged by dense red light spots.

These red spots are rushing wildly along the underground pipe network towards the huge heat source in the city center.

"How many?"

"Preliminary estimate...over ten thousand!"

"Where did all these mutated creatures come from?"

The commander slammed his fist on the car door.

After the complete eradication of the threat within the Great Xia territory, due to the special nature of the Mother Nest area, the military conducted several more in-depth eradication operations around Jiangcheng.

They thought they had wiped out almost all the monsters in the city.

Where did all these mutated creatures come from?

Are they all hibernating underground?

"Sound the highest combat alert!"

The commander grabbed the communicator.

"All heavy firepower units, lock onto the surface exits! We must not allow them to surge out of the ground in large numbers!"

He turned to his adjutant and spoke loudly.

"Immediately transmit the radar data to the command center. Tell them that an extremely serious incident has occurred at the core of the Mother Nest!"

……

Daxia, Kunlun Base, Supreme Strategic Command Center.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was so oppressive it was almost palpable.

On the holographic projection platform, the three-dimensional map of Jiangcheng was completely covered by a glaring red alert.

"Energy threshold has been broken! The latest monitoring data just transmitted back by the Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that just two minutes ago, an extremely large energy pulse erupted at the center of the Jin Mao Tower."

The energy level intensity... exceeds our current detection equipment!

An intelligence officer, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, stood in front of the projector and gave a report.

"Based on the intelligence of the underground mutated creature uprising transmitted back from the outer defense line of Jiangcheng, the Academy of Sciences has made its final judgment."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over the generals present.

"The mother body of Jiangcheng Mother Nest has successfully broken through to the fourth level."

The moment those words were spoken, the entire conference room erupted in chaos.

"Nonsense!"

An old general with two gold stars on his shoulders suddenly stood up, placing his hands on the table.

"The emergence of a fourth-order creature means that it has the ability to control all the low-order mutants in the surrounding area!"

The monsters in the entire underground pipe network of Jiangcheng are all converging on the center!

"The monster has now fully emerged, and the basic requirements for the quest no longer exist!"

Another conservative general followed suit and launched an attack.

"Director Li! Those are the five most elite combatants in Great Xia right now!"

He turned to look at Li Guodong, who was sitting in the main seat, and spoke vehemently.

"Moreover, Advisor Su is still inside. If he dies in Jiangcheng, who will bail out Daxia's 'Peach Blossom Spring' plan?"

Issue the retreat order immediately! We can't wait any longer!

"We must evacuate! Destroy this mother nest immediately!"

A veteran conservative slammed his fist on the table.

"I agree!"

"I second that! We have absolutely no combat data to support our assessment of fourth-tier creatures' combat capabilities. Gambling the future of Great Xia on an uncontrollable monster is too risky!"

The generals were used to life and death and had fought countless fierce battles.

But at this moment, faced with the ever-increasing energy values ​​on the screen and the surging beast tide surrounding Jiangcheng, they truly panicked.

It's not that I'm afraid of death, it's that I'm afraid the Great Xia will lose the people who shouldn't have died.

Arguments erupted.

"A forced recall will cause the mission to fail immediately!"

Some pro-war advocates also gritted their teeth and retorted.

"Jiangcheng will fall completely! All the sacrifices we made will have been in vain!"

"Are we just going to stand by and watch them die without recalling them? This operation has already failed!"

Li Guodong sat in the main seat, his hands crossed and resting on his chin.

His gaze was fixed on the five green dots representing Su Ran's team on the screen.

Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish.

Seeking stability is the instinct of the state apparatus.

Often, for the sake of absolute security, decision-makers must abandon opportunities that come with enormous risks.

Li Guodong's finger hovered over the red forced communication button.

Simply press the button to directly connect to Su Ran's tactical terminal and issue the highest-level retreat order.

The meeting room fell silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Li Guodong's hands.

one second.

two seconds.

Li Guodong took a deep breath and withdrew his fingers.

"I will not issue a retreat order."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, his voice steady and powerful.

"Since Advisor Su did not take the initiative to request a retreat, it means that the situation is still under his control."

I trust his judgment! He has never let Great Xia down!

"Director Li!" The veteran was sweating profusely with anxiety.

"No need to say more!"

Li Guodong raised his hand, forcefully interrupting him.

He glanced down at his watch, his eyes resolute. "Thermobaric weapon locked onto target! Countdown must not stop!"

He paused for half a second, his tone resolute.

"If Advisor Su hasn't given the evacuation signal by the time the countdown reaches thirty minutes, I will personally initiate forced communication!"

"If necessary, I will order the outer defense forces to intervene forcefully. Even if it costs us lives, we must spare no expense to bring them out!"

……

Jiangcheng, Jin Mao Tower.

In the tactical terminal, the red countdown light flashed on and off.

[Countdown: 39 minutes]

Ye Xiao controlled the Cheng Ying mecha and pressed down firmly on the fourth-tier mother body beneath him.

"Grandma, hurry up and get this done!"

Ye Xiao's hoarse voice came from the external speaker.

"My arms are getting sore from holding this position."

Bai Lu ignored him.

At this moment, she was transforming all her consciousness into a sharp spiritual cone, deeply piercing into the sphere of light representing the core will of the fourth-order mother body.

It is very weak.

It was severely damaged by the mecha's physical attack shortly after birth, and its vital signs plummeted to rock bottom.

The moment the white deer's spiritual spike touched the surface of the light sphere.

boom!

The pale blue sphere suddenly expanded.

A surge of mental energy, several times more violent than that of a third-tier creature, rushed towards us like a tsunami.

in reality.

The white deer's body swayed violently, as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Two streams of blood flowed down his nose, his face was deathly pale, and his teeth were clenched so tightly they were grinding together.

"Sister Lu!"

Zhu Jingye clutched his chest, wanting to step forward.

"Don't move."

Su Ran raised her hand to stop him, her gaze fixed on Bai Lu's slightly trembling figure.

Its right hand was slightly bent, and its supernatural power began to gather.

As long as Bai Lu shows even the slightest sign of losing control or her defenses crumbling.

He would cut that fourth-tier mother body into dust in a fraction of a second!