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

Li Guodong reached out and switched the view, revealing a long, intersecting battle line on the sand table.

The visuals are dynamic.

The blue line representing humanity is slowly expanding outwards, but the rate of expansion is visibly slowing down.

"It's still in the expansion phase. But the progress is frustratingly slow."

Li Guodong pointed to several firefight zones that were highlighted.

"Since November, the frequency of third-order mutated creatures has been too high."

As you saw at the Awakeners headquarters, in the current battlefield, low-level zombies are just cannon fodder.

The speed at which the defensive line advances is truly determined by those tough, resilient third-tier mutated beasts.

Li Guodong pulled up a video recording of actual combat from the front lines.

In the scene, a heavy armored combined arms brigade of the Great Xia is advancing through a ruined city.

A mutated giant bear, as large as a heavy tank, suddenly appeared from the flank.

Several armor-piercing shells from main battle tanks bombarded it, but only shattered the outer layer of bony armor, failing to cause any fatal damage.

Ultimately, it was the rear positions that called in tactical missiles, which struck head-on and shattered the behemoth.

The video freezes.

"The advance of mechanized forces has been significantly slowed down."

Li Guodong looked at the screen, his tone tinged with helplessness.

"The current situation is awkward. Conventional weapons are much less effective against Tier 3 monsters."

Aside from the newly developed Tier 3 crystal energy cannons from the Academy of Sciences, which can achieve pinpoint kills, other armored units encountering Tier 3 monsters can only resort to calling in high-yield heavy aerial bombs to deal with them.

"The cost is too high, and it would severely damage already fragile transportation lines."

Su Ran took a deep breath, and the image of Professor Wei Jianguo, with his gray hair, from the Academy of Sciences came to mind.

Professor Wei mentioned this issue to me.

He crossed his fingers in front of him and said in a deep voice.

"The higher the energy level of the crystal nucleus, the more violent the energy structure it contains."

The Chinese Academy of Sciences can reliably extract first- and second-order crystal nuclei. However, at the third-order level, the energy activity within the crystal nucleus increases exponentially.

Su Ran looked at Li Guodong, whose brows were also furrowed.

"If we're not careful, the energy extraction device won't even leave the lab before the third-order crystal core explodes internally due to energy disorder."

"Yes. This is currently the biggest obstacle to the mass production of Tier 3 crystal energy weapons."

Li Guodong gave a wry smile.

"The yield rate is too low. The little stock we produced was all allocated to the top-tier awakened squads."

The regular army could only wait helplessly.

Technological barriers.

This is a hurdle that humanity must overcome in the face of the rapid evolution of species.

Da Xia's actions were fast enough, but the monsters' evolution speed was clearly unreasonable.

"I know about the situation at the Academy of Sciences. Old Wei and Old Wu are even more anxious than we are."

Li Guodong nodded, then pressed his finger heavily on the edge of the main control panel.

The scene on the sand table shifted, and we were transported to the Southern Hemisphere.

Dozens of huge black scorch marks have appeared on the map of South America and Latin America.

Those scorch marks are still radiating outwards a ghostly green halo representing high-risk nuclear contamination.

"Mechanized units can't move things, fighter jets are slow at clearing ground, and the use of nuclear weapons has become increasingly frequent recently."

Li Guodong's voice carried an undeniable air of ruthless decisiveness.

"In the past seven days, the Great Xia Rocket Force has launched eighty strategic nuclear missiles."

A saturation nuclear strike was launched against several areas in South and Latin America where millions of mutated biological communities had been identified.

He looked at the scorch marks that represented destruction, and his eyes twitched slightly.

"Aside from the Great Xia mainland and the current secondary safe zone, there are hardly any other areas that haven't been hit by artillery fire."

The whole world is burning.

This planet is utterly riddled with holes.

Su Ran stared at the sand table, her eyes remaining completely unmoved.

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. What's destroyed can be rebuilt, but if everyone dies out, even the cleanest earth becomes a graveyard for monsters."

"I've pretty much got the situation figured out. It's time for me to get moving."

Su Ran's words made Li Guodong, who was about to pick up his thermos to refill his strong tea, pause in his tracks.

"Back to the Awakened Headquarters?"

Li Guodong asked casually.

"No."

Su Ran shook her head, lightly tapping the edge of the red zone representing North America on the holographic sand table with her fingertip, then sliding it towards the long and slowly advancing blue line of the European war zone.

"Go to the front lines."

Li Guodong stopped twisting the bottle cap.

"To the front lines?"

The thermos he was holding slammed against the edge of the table with a dull thud. "Which line?"

"All lines."

As they spoke, Su Ran had already put on her coat, turned to face Li Guodong, and her eyes held a sharpness that Li Guodong hadn't seen in a long time.

"I'll name each of the third-tier mutated creatures marked in red on the bounty list."

Li Guodong frowned.

Are you alone?

"One person is the most efficient."

Su Ran stretched her neck, and her joints made a slight cracking sound.

"I'm not just a logistics team leader anymore."

"This is not a matter of efficiency."

Li Guodong stood up and walked to the sand table, with a miniature map of the war separating them.

"Third-tier mutated beasts, with thick skin and flesh, are active in groups in densely populated areas."

"You're going deep behind enemy lines alone, what if..."

"There's no 'what if'."

Su Ran interrupted him, her tone very confident.

"Old Li, have you forgotten that I've been stuck at the peak of the third tier for longer than Bai Lu and the others have been awakening their abilities?"

Li Guodong choked.

He immediately realized what was happening and smiled.

"You broke through? When did that happen? Was it before the White Deer subdued the fourth-tier mutated beast from the mother nest?"

Su Ran has never updated her ability profile in the global Awakened Persons Archive.

In everyone's memory, he is still the world's number one third-tier awakened one.

Su Ran nodded and smiled, her face full of confidence.

"Even if a new Tier 4 beast were to emerge from the North African desert or from beneath the Siberian permafrost."

I'm confident I can erase it instantly.

"You little rascal...you've been hiding it well."

Li Guodong finally managed to squeeze out three words through gritted teeth, his tone complex.

There was worry, there was helplessness, but more than anything, there was a certain... and a sense of pride in trust.

This kid has never disappointed.

"If you don't hide it, how can it be your 'trump card'?" Su Ran said.