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

A battle of wits, beyond the reach of outsiders.

This is a hurdle she must overcome.

In the sea of ​​consciousness.

Bai Lu felt like a lone boat adrift in a raging storm, on the verge of capsizing.

A dark blue storm raged from all directions.

The mental strength of a fourth-tier mutated beast is beyond imagination; even if its body is destroyed, its pure will still crushes any third-tier life form.

It tried to crush the steel stamp that was being fitted together.

"Still trying to struggle?"

Bai Lu gradually regained her footing amidst the storm.

Having experienced the backlash from the massive collective consciousness of the Mother Nest, this counterattack from a single consciousness was not enough to break her.

What's more, Su Ran was standing behind her.

"Is that all you've got?"

The white deer gritted its teeth, blood trickling from the corner of its mouth.

The image of Su Ran standing in front of her flashed through her mind, as did the countless resources that Great Xia had poured into them along the way, and the image of her partner who was protecting her.

"Brand it on me!"

The white deer let out a silent roar from the depths of its consciousness.

The mental spike exerted its strength once more, braving the storm to forcefully squeeze the steel-stamped logic chain into the deepest part of the dark blue light cluster.

The ball of light trembled violently, and the anti-repulsive force reached its peak.

In reality.

"roar!"

The fourth-order mother body suddenly let out an extremely shrill scream.

Its limbs twitched, and its huge head desperately tried to lift itself up, attempting to break free from the mech's suppression.

"You still dare to move!"

Ye Xiao's eyes were bloodshot, and veins bulged on his forehead.

The mech's left arm launched a high-frequency vibrating blade, which directly pressed against the mother body's nape.

"Move again, and I'll cut your head off and use it as a football!"

Within the sea of ​​consciousness, cracks appeared in the defenses of the dark blue light cluster.

Bai Lu seized the opportunity.

The spiritual spikes dispersed, drilling into the interior of the light cluster along the cracks.

Invade, cover, entangle, close loop.

The last logical link is tightly connected.

in reality.

The white deer, its eyes tightly closed, suddenly opened them wide.

Sweat soaked through her combat uniform. She gasped for breath and collapsed to the ground, exhausted, her chest heaving violently.

"Did it work?" Su Ran asked softly.

Its tense body relaxed slightly, and looking into the white deer's pale yet bright eyes, it asked a question.

The white deer took a deep breath, grinned, and nodded gently.

"Old Ye, let go."

Su Ran immediately turned her head and gave the order in a hoarse voice.

"Brother Su, are you sure?"

Ye Xiao controlled the mecha, his battle blade still firmly pressed against the mother's cervical spine, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

"Let go."

Su Ran's tone was firm.

"Alright..."

The mecha raised its right arm and slowly retreated.

The five-meter-tall, fourth-tier behemoth was covered in broken bones and dripping with blood.

It propped itself up with its broken forelimbs and stood up unsteadily.

Mo Yun activated all his supernatural abilities, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

It turned its massive body to face the white deer.

The enormous head pressed against the fungal carpet, emitting a submissive growl from its throat.

Not far away, the pack of hellhounds, which had been isolated by the spatial blockade, stopped moving in unison.

In the next breath, thousands of second-tier hellhounds simultaneously turned around and retreated in unison towards the edge of the hall.

Finally, they lay neatly on the ground, motionless.

The entire incubation chamber fell silent.

Su Ran slightly spread his five fingers and removed the spatial blockade.

That invisible barrier disappeared.

The white deer stood up from the ground and wiped the blood from its face.

She looked at the dark, surging tide of beasts around her, and a thought flickered in her mind.

"Step back." Bai Lu parted her red lips slightly.

The severely injured fourth-tier mother beside her let out another low whimper.

The command was instantly transmitted to the minds of every hellhound through the mother's mental network.

An astonishing scene unfolded.

Like a surging tide, the mutated beast horde retreated swiftly and in an orderly fashion.

Throughout the entire 36 floors of the Jin Mao Tower, apart from the scattered pieces of flesh, there was no other living threat.

"It really worked..."

Ye Xiao also stepped out of the cockpit and was completely dumbfounded.

"You've suddenly become the king of beasts?"

"We... have taken control of an army." Mo Yun also felt his breathing become heavier.

Su Ran didn't join in their exclamations, but instead immediately looked down at her tactical watch.

[31 minutes and 40 seconds remaining until the thermobaric weapon strikes]

He pressed the communication button.

……

Kunlun Base, the highest strategic command center.

The countdown on the holographic projection has jumped to [31:35].

The atmosphere in the meeting room was so oppressive that even breathing could be clearly heard.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on that red number.

"Director Li! We can't wait any longer!"

The conservative veteran slammed his fist on the table again.

"Contact Consultant Su immediately and tell them to withdraw as soon as possible!"

If we really get trapped, the special rescue team is already on board, just waiting for your orders.

"Yes, Lao Li! Every minute we have now increases our chances of evacuation!"

Another general was also sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Once the thermobaric weapon enters the final thirty minutes of the irreversible launch sequence, even a miracle couldn't save them!"

"Shut up, all of you!"

Li Guodong suddenly stood up, his eyes bloodshot.

"I said, wait until the last thirty minutes! Not a second less!"

"You're gambling with the fate of the Great Xia Dynasty!"

The veteran was so angry he was trembling all over.

"I believe in the backbone of the Great Xia!"

Li Guodong roared back without backing down.

"These young people are fighting desperately on the front lines. As long as they don't send out a distress signal, the rear of Great Xia must not be thrown into disarray!"

Just as the two were about to draw their swords.

"Beep beep beep—"

The communication station suddenly lit up with a green light.

"This is Su Ran! Calling command center. This is the Kunlun Special Operations Team."

Su Ran's confident voice echoed clearly throughout the entire strategic hall.

Li Guodong practically lunged at the communications console, his hoarse and tense voice instantly blaring out.

"Xiao Su, how is the situation now?"

"Target under control."

Su Ran said calmly, "The crisis at Jiangcheng's mother nest has been resolved. The countdown to the thermobaric bomb has stopped."

Deathly silence.

Then, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted.

Several old generals pounded the table excitedly, their eyes red-rimmed.

Li Guodong slumped into a chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

He turned his head and looked at the generals who had just been there.

"I've said it before, Advisor Su has never let Great Xia down!"

These veteran generals were also overjoyed by the success of Su Ran's operation, and they felt no shame for their earlier proposed retreat plan.

Faced with the survival of the nation, they were all trying to preserve the flame of the Great Xia Dynasty, only their methods differed.

The group didn't say anything more, but smiled and got up to prepare for the follow-up work.

Li Guodong grabbed the communicator, his emotions running high like never before.

"Immediately cancel the thermobaric bomb countdown! Order the crystal core troops stationed on the perimeter to advance into Jiangcheng for support!"

"Little Su, Great Xia awaits your triumphant return!"

Hang up the communication.

Inside the thirty-six-story ruins of Jiangcheng, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed.

Ye Xiao plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

"Damn, fighting at level four is so exhausting. My bones feel like they're about to fall apart."

Su Ran walked to Bai Lu's side, handed her a vial of high-purity crystal core extract, and smiled.

"You've worked hard. Our Empress of Great Xia has made unparalleled contributions to the country."

The white deer took it, tilted its head back, and drank it down.

His pale face finally regained some color.

Just then, everyone noticed that the fourth-tier mother, which was lying nearby, was dragging its broken body and slowly crawling towards a relatively intact flesh wall of the mother nest.

To everyone's astonishment, it actually merged its most severely injured half of its body directly into that mass of dark red flesh.

With the injection of high-energy biomass, its shattered bones and armor began to heal slowly at a rate visible to the naked eye.

"Does this fleshy wall also have the function of helping it recover?"

Zhu Jingye clutched his chest, staring wide-eyed.

"It told me on its own."

Bai Lu spoke softly, her tone tinged with surprise.

"It knows how to use the remaining energy network of the mother nest to repair itself."

"Did it tell you that?"

Mo Yun was somewhat surprised and turned to look at Bai Lu.

"The intelligence level of fourth-order mutated creatures is no less than that of humans. They know how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and they know how to utilize resources, so it is not surprising."

Su Ran stood with his hands in the pockets of his combat uniform, gazing intently at the giant beast that was healing.

"Yes...this feeling is truly amazing."

Bai Lu raised her hand and looked at her palm.

"I can clearly feel its thoughts, and I can make it an absolute extension of my consciousness."

"With it, I can control the tens of thousands of hellhounds beneath Jiangcheng."

"This is the strategic value of the fourth-order mother nest."

"This is the true strategic value of a fourth-tier king-level creature."

Su Ran picked up the conversation, her gaze passing over the shattered glass curtain wall, overlooking the massive city that was devastated yet reborn.

"From this day forward, Jiangcheng will no longer be a forbidden zone of the Great Xia Dynasty. This place will become part of the Great Xia Dynasty..."

"The first biological weapons factory!"

……

Without the guidance of the high-level pressure, the thousands upon thousands of low-level mutated creatures instantly lost their way.

The beastly instincts ingrained in their bones regained their dominance.

With a few short screechs, it began to blindly charge towards the outer defensive line built by humans.

"Calling command center, core threats in the vicinity have been cleared, requesting on-site takeover."

Su Ran reported the coordinates to the tactical terminal, his voice echoing in the empty ruins.

After a while.

"Boom!"

The first batch of heavy helicopters and transport aircraft of the Daxia Rapid Reaction Force arrived on the battlefield.

Fully armed Crystal Core Infantry parachuted to the ground, their tactical boots crushing the skeletal remains beneath them.

"First Company, Second Company, establish the outer defensive line immediately!"

"Heavy-armored mechs in position, lock all sewer pipe exits!"

"Sapper Company, lay out the crystal nucleus-induced minefield along the underground pipeline network!"

Military orders were issued in an orderly manner.

Around the entire mother hive, layer upon layer of steel defenses quickly took shape.

The interior of the 36th floor of the building.

A special transport aircraft named "Black Bird," painted with the logo of the Academy of Sciences, hovered steadily outside the damaged glass curtain wall.

The hatch opened.

Zhang Qian, dressed in a white lab coat and followed by more than a dozen researchers, strode into the hall, stepping over sticky flesh and blood.

"Where is the fourth-order matrix?"

This usually composed senior figure from the Academy of Sciences, like a fervent believer, looked around anxiously, his breathing rapid.

"The first living Tier 4 creature of the Great Xia Dynasty! Where is it? Let me see it!"

"Professor Zhang, you're a step too late."

Ye Xiao leaned against a load-bearing pillar and pointed to the huge, dark red fleshy wall deep inside the hall.

"That big guy was beaten half to death, and now he's crawled inside to be remade."

Zhang Qian looked in that direction.

The enormous fourth-tier behemoth had already merged half of its body into the fleshy walls of the mother nest, with countless thick fleshy buds connecting its body.

"Ouch! How did it get like this!"

Zhang Qian was so anxious he stamped his feet, heartbroken and distressed.

"His skull is fractured! You guys were way too rough!"

He strode up to the fleshy wall and reached out to touch it, but was stopped by an armored soldier on guard.

"How can we control them if we don't cripple them?"

Ye Xiao rolled his eyes and retorted irritably, "You go first. You try to persuade it to willingly accept the Great Xia's takeover."

Zhang Qian was momentarily speechless, but he wasn't annoyed.

He immediately turned to look at Bai Lu, his gaze burning, and then rushed over.

"Miss White Deer! This time..."

"Whoosh!"

Su Ran stepped forward, standing perfectly in front of Bai Lu.

His gaze was cold and devoid of any warmth.

"Professor Zhang, people are not machines."

Su Ran's voice was low and deep.

"Bai Lu just forcibly controlled the fourth-order mother body, and her mental energy is severely overdrawn."

We'll talk about the research later. She needs to rest now.

Zhang Qian pushed up his glasses, his expression softening from its previous fervor to one of extreme seriousness.

"Advisor Su, it's not that I'm being heartless. I know better than anyone what Comrade Bai Lu has done for Great Xia."

But some things must be clarified beforehand; there's no time to lose!

He turned around, pointed at the mass of flesh, and held up two fingers.

"First, the time limit for the spiritual seal."

Zhang Qian spoke at an extremely fast pace, displaying both the rigor and urgency of a scientist.

"The consciousness of a fourth-order creature is extremely vast. The steel mark left by the white deer will be continuously washed away by its subconscious."

You can think of it as writing on the beach, with the seawater constantly washing away the traces left by the white deer.

We must quickly calculate how long the current ideological imprint will last!

The consequences of missing this opportunity would be unimaginable.

"Second, control the distance."

Zhang Qian pointed to the ruins at his feet.

"Currently, it's still attached to the mother nest. If the white deer returns to the Kunlun base to rest, the two places are hundreds of kilometers apart. If the mental connection is broken, and this thing reawakens and goes out of control, the entire Jiangcheng will instantly spiral out of control!"

Su Ran looked at Zhang Qian, her eyes slightly darkening.

The other party's words hit the nail on the head and were by no means alarmist.

A fourth-order behemoth, which could awaken and retaliate at any moment, hangs in the heart of the Great Xia. No one in the supreme command can sleep soundly until these two figures are accurately calculated.

Su Ran turned around.

Bai Lu leaned against the wall, her face still pale, but her eyes had regained their clarity.

"Has the sterile equipment been set up downstairs?"

Su Ran turned her head back to look at Zhang Qian.

"The armored medical vehicle and the testing module are in place." Zhang Qian nodded repeatedly.

"Let's go."

Su Ran turned to look at Bai Lu, her tone softening slightly, "Can you still hold on?"

Bai Lu looked at Su Ran and nodded slightly, her tone firm.

"Su Ran, I'm fine. I can manage."

Su Ran stared at her for two seconds, making sure she wasn't forcing herself.

"Let's go. Let's go downstairs for the test."