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

The underground command center.

Zhao Shanhe threw a punch hard at the air.

The tense battle situation finally reached a turning point, with dawn breaking!

"Counterattack!"

He grabbed the radio microphone, and his hoarse voice instantly pierced through the entire operations room.

"All troops, attack! Crush these beasts!"

"Boom!"

On the animal protection wall, the heavy titanium alloy gate slowly opened amidst a grating mechanical whirring sound.

The tracks crushed coke and flesh.

A torrent of steel roared out, heavy tanks lined up in a row, their cannons spitting fire.

The Awakened Team, which had been suppressed for a long time, took the lead and charged into the scattered beast horde.

Meanwhile, in the heartland of the beast tide's rear.

Within a hundred meters around them, a vacuum zone had been cleared by the aftershocks of Su Ran and the others' battle, with charred remains and blackened blood scattered everywhere.

With the presence of the fourth-tier hellhound mother, no more low-tier mutated beasts approached.

Su Ran took out a bottle of mineral water from her spatial storage, unscrewed the cap, and poured it on her face to wash away the bloodstains.

He casually wiped his face, took out his tactical terminal, and dialed the Academy of Sciences' dedicated line.

The screen lights up.

Wei Jianguo had messy, bird's-nest-like hair, dark circles under his eyes, and his glasses reflected a thieving light.

"Young Su! What good stuff have you gotten your hands on? Have you collected all the data?" The old man's voice was extremely loud.

"We'll talk about the data later. Let's kill a fourth-order one."

Su Ran kicked the corpse of the red lion next to her.

"It possesses true intelligence and is capable of manipulating large herds of beasts."

Wei Jianguo, who was drinking water on the other end of the video, froze instantly.

Clang!

The old man's stainless steel thermos slammed to the ground, spilling goji berries mixed with hot water all over the floor.

"Fourth tier?"

The old man's voice was distorted, and his entire face was pressed against the screen.

"Alive or dead? Where are they?!"

"He's dead, of course he's dead! Otherwise, why would I be standing here video chatting with you?"

"How's the physical body's integrity? What about the brain! The brain is the most crucial!"

Wei Jianguo was so anxious that he slammed his fist on the table, spitting as he spoke.

"A high IQ means that a secondary mutation has occurred in the brain!"

You must protect its brain tissue at all costs! It absolutely cannot be damaged!

This thing is incredibly valuable for our Great Xia's research into the mind control mechanisms of mutated creatures!

Su Ran remained silent.

He silently lowered his head and glanced at his feet.

The head of the red lion.

The left half of his skull was completely dented by the iron fist of the Cheng Ying mecha, while the right half was pierced through the skull by a battle blade from his chin.

Red and white brain matter mixed with mud spilled all over the ground.

This isn't a brain; it's clearly a rotten watermelon.

Su Ran fell silent.

I haven't had a chance to reply yet.

"Click".

The hatch of the nearby Cheng Ying mech popped open.

Ye Xiao jumped down, covered in blood, holding a Tang sword that gleamed coldly upside down in his hand.

He strode up to Red Lion, the tip of his knife pointing at its mangled head, and began excitedly to speak.

"I can't wait! Let me see it for myself today!"

After saying that, he held the knife high with both hands, ready to chop it down.

"Old Ye! Wait a minute!"

Su Ran's eyelids twitched, and she took a step forward, grabbing Ye Xiao's wrist.

Ye Xiao was forced to stop his movements and asked in confusion,

"Brother Su, what's wrong?"

Su Ran pointed expressionlessly at Wei Jianguo, who was panting heavily and whose eyes were filled with murderous intent on the terminal screen.

"The Academy of Sciences wants to study its brain structure. If you make another cut, these old academics will come and fight you to the death."

Ye Xiao glanced at the screen, then looked down at the mosaic on the ground, his expression also embarrassed.

"No...it's like a rotten watermelon, what's there to study about it?"

On the other end of the video, Wei Jianguo finally saw the terrible state of the Red Lion.

The old man clutched his chest, took two steps back, and pointed at the screen, cursing loudly.

"You spendthrifts! You bunch of spendthrifts! What a waste! I'm furious! My fourth-order brain specimen!"

Su Ran decisively cut off the communication.

With a thought, the rules of space descended.

They directly stored the nearly ten-meter-long red lion's corpse into the void.

Even the pool of brain matter mixed with mud on the ground was cleaned up as if the ground had been scraped clean.

"Alright, go back and pour it out for Old Wei as is, let him piece it together himself."

After dealing with this biggest spoils of war, the group of people present finally relaxed and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Mo Yun also got off the Xuan Nu fighter jet and sat down heavily on the wreckage on the ground, panting heavily.

The white deer slid off the broad back of its fourth-order mother, "Little Grey."

As soon as she landed, she swayed, her face as pale as a sheet of paper.

The mental attack she just endured from the Red Lion had taken a heavy toll on her.

Su Ran flipped her wrist and handed each of them a bottle of third-tier crystal core extract.

The roar of tracks came from the rear positions.

A military off-road vehicle drove over the body.

Zhu Jingye fell off the car, his face looking even more pale than Bai Lu's.

To absorb the hidden injuries Ye Xiao sustained in the battle and ensure the continuous output of this top-tier mech, he truly exhausted himself.

Upon seeing this, Ye Xiao quickly ran over, grabbed Zhu Jingye's shoulder, patted him twice, and laughed heartily.

"Good bro! Let's split the credit for this kill today!"

Zhu Jingye's legs trembled, and he spoke with a pained expression.

"Brother Ye, don't shake me. My head is spinning, I feel a little dizzy..."

Ye Xiao laughed and helped him sit down next to the armored vehicle's wheels. Su Ran stepped forward and took out the crystal core extract to help him recover quickly.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood.

The defense line was extended, and the clearing operation at Daxia proceeded in an orderly manner.

The roaring tank force emerged from its cover, followed closely by the infantry company, and began to hunt down the remaining mutated beasts.

As they passed through the area, the veterans looked at the Cheng Ying mech standing in a pool of blood, and Su Ran and the others standing beside it. They unconsciously stopped and gave a salute in unison.

There were no unnecessary formalities.

In the apocalypse, those who can lead the charge and kill high-level monsters are living war gods!

This battle was extremely fierce.

Despite deploying its most elite troops and the latest weaponry, the Great Xia still paid a heavy price in the face of a sudden beast tide of millions.

Su Ran turned to look at the people around her and made arrangements in a deep voice.

"You stay here and help the garrison clean up the mess they left behind."

Although this fourth-tier leader is dead, there are definitely still many third-tier elite monsters lurking on the battlefield. We must prevent them from causing unnecessary casualties to ordinary soldiers.

"I must rush back to the Kunlun base immediately. This fourth-tier body is too special and must be sent to the Academy of Sciences' laboratory right away."

The white deer leaned weakly against the thick legs of the fourth-order hellhound mother, its hands constantly kneading its throbbing temples.

"I can't take it anymore... If this keeps going, my brain is going to explode."

Su Ran walked over quickly and skillfully massaged several acupoints to soothe her mind.

After his symptoms seemed to have subsided, he took out a jar of high-quality third-order crystal core extract and stuffed it into her hand.

"Everyone has worked hard this time."

After calming Bai Lu down, Su Ran turned and walked toward the Xuan Nu fighter jet that was hovering quietly not far away.

Mo Yun propped himself up on his knees and quickly caught up with Su Ran.

"Brother Su, I'll go back to headquarters with you. I've gained a lot from this experience, and it's time to go back and digest it."

"We'll go together." Su Ran nodded.

The two walked side by side toward the fighter jet.

Mo Yun stopped and turned to look at the section of the beast-proof wall in the distance that had been flattened by the beast tide with corpses and even blown into ruins.

Below the wall, medics were carrying stretchers covered with white sheets toward the back.

"This time, although we won, many of our brothers died..."

Mo Yun felt a tightness in her chest, and a deep worry settled between her brows.

"This is only the beginning of the fourth tier."

If fifth- or sixth-tier monsters were to emerge in this apocalyptic world, they could potentially wipe out tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers in a single encounter.

Su Ran stopped in her tracks.

His gaze passed over the scorched earth and land, landing on the young faces of those supporting each other in pools of blood.

"Therefore, the actions of our Great Xia must be faster than the gears of evolution."

Su Ran turned around and patted Mo Yun on the shoulder.

"In the apocalypse, it's never something that a few of us can handle alone."

The battlefield is the cruelest yet most perfect whetstone.

His gaze instantly turned cold and resolute, revealing unparalleled ambition.

"In the future, more and more teams will emerge from piles of corpses and become true 'King Slayer' teams."

"Let's go back to headquarters."

……

Kunlun Base, Ground No. 1 Helipad.

The gale, carrying blizzard, howled like ghosts wailing.

The Xuan Nu fighter jet pierced through the thick clouds and landed smoothly.

The hatch opened.

Su Ran stepped out of the cabin, his black combat suit covered with dark red blood clots.

Mo Yun followed closely behind, his steps slightly unsteady.

In the midst of the wind and snow, a group of people were already on high alert.

More than a dozen heavy-duty refrigerated transport vehicles were lined up in a row.

Hundreds of fully armed researchers, dressed in heavy white biochemical protective suits and holding various testing instruments, were on duty.

Wei Jianguo stood at the very front, his eyes fixed on the fighter jet's gangway.

Su Ran stepped off the gangway.

"Where's the stuff? Quick! Bring it out and hand it over!"

Wei Jianguo strode forward, reached out and grabbed Su Ran's arm, speaking very quickly.

Su Ran stepped aside and pointed to the open central area.

"Everyone back ten meters!" Wei Jianguo shouted as he turned around.

The researchers quickly retreated, and Su Ran raised his right hand, as spatial rules descended.

The void is distorted.

A ten-meter-long red lion carcass appeared out of thin air.

"Bang!"

The stench of burning flesh mixed with a strong smell of blood spread.

Su Ran flipped her wrist again.

A mass of red and white gelatinous substance, mixed with dirt, bone fragments, and brain matter, fell precisely into a specially made constant-temperature containment chamber prepared next to it.

Wei Jianguo rushed to the containment pod, pressing his entire face against the bulletproof glass.

"What a waste! What a spendthrift! What a terrible squandering of resources!"

The old man stared at the mass of brain tissue, which resembled a pile of mud, and pounded his chest in anguish.

"You've smashed up a perfectly good fourth-order brain region like this. How am I supposed to extract the complete neural pathways now?"

Despite his cursing, Wei Jianguo turned to his team and gave them orders.

"Activate Contingency Plan Three! Immediately inject cell viability maintenance solution! Perform layer-by-layer scanning and reconstruction of this brain tissue!"

"Skeletal team, immediately extract bone marrow and cerebrospinal fluid samples!"

"Genome, begin sequencing!"

The entire research team operates at high speed, like precision gears.

Professionals began cleaning the bloodstains from the body's surface, and a laser cutter began to break down the outer layer of charred armor.

Wei Jianguo personally put on sterile gloves and walked to the side of the red lion's torso.

He took the probe, pierced the dark red flesh that had been smashed by the Cheng Ying mech, and placed it on the testing equipment at the scene.

"Incredible..."

Wei Jianguo stared intently at the data transmission on his tablet, his voice trembling with shock.

"The rate of cell division after this beast's death is more than ten times that of a third-tier mutated beast! How interesting!"

He suddenly looked up at Su Ran, his face cold and stern.

"Advisor Su, the genetic map of this lion is extremely valuable."

If we can reverse engineer its energy shield generation mechanism using this, the existing crystal energy protection technology of Great Xia will undergo a qualitative change.

Our mechs and fighter jets will also undergo iterative upgrades.

"The crystal core is still inside its brain; we haven't removed it yet, but we've handed it all over to you."

Su Ran's tone was completely calm, but upon hearing it, Su Ran's heart skipped a beat.

"I see."

He ripped off his blood-stained gloves, his brow furrowed, and turned to look at the containment pod.

They had a very direct feeling when they deconstructed the third-order crystal nucleus last time.

The higher the energy level of a crystal nucleus, the more enormous its internal energy reserves are; on the other hand, its energy utilization is extremely chaotic.

Although the crystal core itself is stable, extracting that devastating power gently is like walking a tightrope.

At present, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has only barely mastered the method of extracting energy from third-order crystal nuclei, and it is not yet 100% stable.

Now, a fourth-order crystal core was slapped directly onto his face, and for a moment, the old man felt immense pressure.

"Take them all! Send all samples to the underground Lab Zero immediately!"

Wei Jianguo gave the order.

The convoy roared and quickly drove away from the tarmac.

Only the sound of wind and snow remained on the tarmac.

Li Guodong, wearing a black military overcoat, walked from the direction of the control tower.

He handed Su Ran and Mo Yun each a cup of hot tea.

Mo Yun took the paper cup, her fingers involuntarily twitching.

The muscle backlash from the intense combat is taking effect.

"How are you feeling?" Li Guodong asked Mo Yun.

"A complete transformation".

Mo Yun took a big gulp of hot tea, his hoarse voice revealing a hint of enlightenment.

"Brother Su's judgment is very accurate. Over time, it really makes me forget the horror of the real battlefield."

Only when you personally smell the overwhelming stench of blood and see the claws of mutated beasts just centimeters from your face will you know what true apocalypse is.

He raised his head and looked directly into Li Guodong's eyes.

"I need time to review the situation now."

"How do you plan to do a post-mortem analysis?" Su Ran asked.

"Let's go back to headquarters first."

Mo Yun put down the paper cup and continued speaking.

"I need to import all the data from this real-world battle into the Academy of Sciences' supercomputer, and the energy transfer system of the 'Bone-Eating' mech also needs to be improved."

Based on my practical experience during this period, I will personally lead the technical staff to make professional adjustments.

The next time it goes to the battlefield, it will undoubtedly be a perfect killing machine.