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

The meeting room was deathly silent.

Overnight, the number of Tier 3 monsters surged by 80,000!

This means that the defensive pressure on the front line of Daxia has not lessened, but rather increased exponentially.

Two hundred and fifty thousand.

The heavy weight of that number pressed down on the center of the long table, making it hard for everyone to breathe.

Su Ran tapped her fingertips on the table, her gaze fixed on the mutated wolf with ice spikes on its back projected onto the screen.

Did such a bizarre evolutionary frenzy exist in a past life?

Yes, but he didn't know!

The apocalypse in the previous life came too suddenly, and the human civilization system collapsed instantly.

No one has the ability to study the composition of this volcanic ash anymore.

"Does the commander know about this?" Su Ran turned her head to look at Mo Yun.

"I found out immediately."

Mo Yun closed the folder in his hand and turned his gaze to Su Ran.

"What was the leader's reaction?"

"Very calm."

Mo Yun met Su Ran's gaze.

"The leader immediately activated the highest-level emergency plan, requiring all core departments to conduct internal special discussions first."

The military headquarters, the Academy of Sciences, the State Council, and our Awakened Headquarters.

Each company proposed a solution to the anomaly caused by volcanic ash.

Mo Yun picked up the strong tea in front of him and took a sip to moisten his dry throat.

"This is the meeting of the Awakened Division."

First, we'll get the internal situation sorted out. This afternoon, we'll hold a district-wide meeting of all brigade leaders, and in the evening, the heads of each department will go to the command center to gather information.

Su Ran nodded slightly, picked up the black coffee that Bai Lu handed her, took a sip, and the bitter liquid slid down her throat.

"Let's talk about the Chinese Academy of Sciences' final assessment of this volcanic ash event."

Su Ran leaned back in her chair.

Mo Yun stood up and walked to the main screen.

As you swipe your finger across the tablet, the screen splits into two parts.

On the left is a torrential downpour, the red rain that fell on July 15th, the day of the apocalypse.

On the right are gray-black snowflakes flying everywhere, which is the volcanic ash currently covering the Northern Hemisphere.

"The conclusion has been reached after analysis by the Institute of Biology."

Mo Yun pointed to the screen on the right, his tone grave.

"The massive amount of mantle material brought out by the Yellowstone volcanic eruption has reacted with the existing high-energy particle field on Earth in some unknown way."

This sky filled with volcanic ash contains a highly active inducing factor.

"Just give me the answer." Su Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

To put it bluntly...

Mo Yun placed his hands on the conference table and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"This is no less than a weakened version of a global red rain."

Inside the meeting room, several senior staff officers gasped, their faces turning ashen.

The first red rain caused 70% of the world's countries to fall, and all things began to mutate.

Now we have a weaker version?

"The inducing factor has the most direct effect on low-level mutated beasts."

Mo Yun continued to release data,

"Those monsters that were originally stuck at the peak of the second tier broke through their genetic locks directly under the stimulation of this inducing factor."

That's how the 80,000 Tier 3 mutated beasts that surged last night came about.

Moreover, this figure will peak once all the volcanic ash that has swept the globe has settled.

"And what about humans?"

Bai Lu held the coffee cup in both hands, her eyes fixed on Mo Yun with a cool and aloof gaze.

"It has no impact on ordinary people."

Mo Yun shook his head.

"The arrival of red rain has already altered the trace components in our atmosphere to some extent."

Unlike the red rain, this volcanic ash won't directly tear apart our genetic sequence and create new zombies.

"What about the Awakened?" Su Ran asked the core question.

A hint of sadness flashed in Mo Yun's eyes, and he smiled bitterly.

"It has a very slight promoting effect. However, the conversion rate is too low, far less efficient than directly absorbing crystal nuclei of the same level."

Monsters are evolving in a frenzy, while humanity is shut out by nature.

Su Ran's fingers stopped tapping completely.

Is humanity's future truly going to be this difficult?

For a moment, the atmosphere in the meeting room became extremely oppressive.

"Brother Su." Mo Yun's voice broke the silence.

Do you have any memories of this?

Su Ran composed himself, met the expectant gazes of Mo Yun and the other senior staff officers around him, and shook his head.

"no."

He spoke calmly and slowly.

"When the catastrophe struck, the technological society collapsed instantly."

With all national machinery shut down and human survival itself in question, there are simply no extra resources or equipment to conduct in-depth research on volcanic ash.

In this stage of the previous life, everyone was rolling around in piles of dead bodies, so no one had the time to care about the composition of the volcanic ash floating in the sky.

All we know is that the monsters outside are getting harder to kill, and the people around us are dwindling.

In the corner, Bai Lu held a coffee cup and hummed softly.

"Relying on past life experiences to get by in this lifetime will inevitably lead to disaster sooner or later."

She took a sip of black coffee, and her eyebrows instantly furrowed.

"The monster is getting stronger, just kill it."

Mo Yun nodded, but didn't reply, instead changing the subject.

"We've got the situation figured out; now let's talk about countermeasures."

He turned his head and gestured to a young officer sitting on the left edge.

"This is Zhou Rui."

Director Li was transferred from the General Staff Department, and he has been helping me with the daily operations of the Awakeners Headquarters during this period.

After that intelligence report was delivered, he and his think tank prepared several contingency plans.

A young man wearing glasses stood up in the back row of the conference room.

Short hair, neat appearance, wearing a gray standard combat uniform.

"Advisor Su, I've heard so much about you."

Zhou Rui stepped forward and connected the tablet in his hand to the large screen.

Without any pleasantries, they went straight to the point.

"Upon receiving the report from the Academy of Sciences, the think tank stationed at the Awakened Headquarters had already completed the tactical simulation."

We have developed three initial response plans targeting the Awakened and the Sharp Sword Special Forces.

He precisely distributed the documents to the few people present.

"Time is of the essence, so I'll get straight to the solution."

Zhou Rui pressed the remote control, and the screen switched to a map showing the distribution of the Daxia defense zone.

"First plan: Contract the defense line."

Abandon the current 30% buffer observation zone and withdraw all the Awakened squads scattered on the periphery back to the core defense line.

Relying on the crystal energy heavy artillery positions, we will fight a defensive counter-attack.

"reason."

Su Ran crossed her hands in front of her abdomen and slightly raised her eyelids.

"The outdoor temperature is too low. The advance and combat effectiveness of armored forces are greatly reduced."

Especially on the northern front, even when soldiers were wearing cold-weather gear, the rate of frostbite would rise sharply if they fought continuously for more than two hours in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celsius.

Zhou Rui reported a series of data.

"However, the monsters mutated under the stimulation of volcanic ash. A direct confrontation would result in a very poor casualty ratio, and could even lead to the loss of entire units."

Su Ran didn't say anything, but her gaze fell on Zhou Rui, signaling him to continue.

"The second option: mandatory binding and quota system."

Zhou Rui adjusted his glasses. "Currently, the Awakeners Headquarters issues missions on a voluntary basis."

The think tank recommends immediately activating wartime enforcement mechanisms.

All targets of Tier 3 and above are forcibly assigned to the matched Awakened Squad.

Failure to complete the task will result in the deduction of corresponding resource quotas.

Upon hearing this, Mo Yun frowned and his face turned ugly.

"Staff Officer Zhou, this will provoke an internal backlash."

He tapped his fingers on the table, speaking rapidly with a hint of warning.

"The Awakened Ones are not an army. Many foreign superhumans join us for survival and resources."

If you force them to their deaths, they'll either riot or defect.

"They dare not."

Zhou Rui remained expressionless, his tone radiating absolute rationality.

"Commander Mo, headquarters possesses the world's only clean food, advanced crystal cores, and crystal energy weapons."

In this nuclear winter, deserting the system means certain death.

Su Ran raised her hand, interrupting Zhou Rui.

"The global ranks of awakened individuals are extremely diverse, and they are forcibly bound together by the carrot stick of resources."

If we suppress them now, even if they don't dare to defect, they will keep their hatred and fear inside.

Once faced with a desperate situation on the battlefield, such a force will collapse instantly, and may even turn on its own.

Su Ran opened the document. "This can only be considered as a backup plan. What is the third plan?"

Zhou Rui quickly pulled up another data chart.

"The third option: expanded mixed formation."

On the screen, a 3D combat model of the Sharp Sword Special Forces led by Lin Feng appeared.

Zhou Rui pointed to the impressive hunting points curve on the chart.

"The Sharp Sword Special Forces have performed exceptionally well since being integrated into the points system."

Ordinary elite soldiers, relying on their crystal energy exoskeletons, are perfectly able to keep up with the pace of the awakened ones.

Real combat has also proven that ordinary elite troops who have received professional military training can completely make up for the shortcomings of Awakened in firepower suppression and battlefield reconnaissance by relying on crystal energy weapons and mechs.

We recommend that restrictions on mixed-age groups be completely lifted.

Disperse the existing team, and have one or two Awakened individuals work alongside five fully armed elite special forces soldiers.

Su Ran looked at the actual combat data on the chart.

Explain your reasoning.

"Awakened individuals are strong in individual combat, but their tactical skills vary greatly."

Many squads fight without any strategy or plan.

Zhou Rui's logic was clear and logical.

"The members of the Sharp Sword team have received the most rigorous military training. They understand terrain, fire coordination, and battlefield first aid."

Incorporating them into the Awakened Squad serves two purposes: first, to act as tactical strategists, and second, to act as the "eyes" of headquarters, keeping a close watch on the movements of those foreign Awakened.

Most importantly, standard crystal energy weapons are used to compensate for the Awakened's lack of sustained combat capability.

"By adopting this plan, the size of our existing hunting squads can be expanded by at least one-third instantly!"

The meeting room fell silent.

Bai Lu fiddled with the empty coffee cup, her gaze falling on Su Ran.

Mo Yun looked at Zhou Rui with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

This plan hits the nail on the head, directly combining the military's elite forces with superhumans.

"Mixed formations..."

Su Ran closed the document and gently stroked the cover with her fingertips.

Captain Lin Feng had already told me about this, but in the actual execution, the results were less than satisfactory.

Most of the time, the Sharp Sword Force still prefers to stick together with their comrades, and the Awakened are more willing to team up with their own kind. There is always an invisible barrier between the two sides.

Now, by deeply binding elite soldiers with superhumans, a massive industrialized military can compensate for the absolute numerical disadvantage of superhuman power...

This is indeed a path that can help us get through the nuclear winter.

"This plan is highly feasible."

Su Ran finally spoke up to set the tone, "But we can't take a one-size-fits-all approach."

He stood up and walked to the sand table.

"In the future, to contend with fourth- or even fifth-tier king-level mutated creatures, we will still have to rely on Awakeners. Among these Awakener teams, several must stand out from the crowd."

Forcing the Sharp Sword Force to be tied to them would actually slow down their growth.

Su Ran stared at the global strongholds on the sand table.

"Moreover, there aren't enough people in the Sharp Sword unit to go around. The expansion of mixed-arms units cannot be limited to the Great Xia military."

"Among the survivors from the general population, there are also some ruthless individuals."

Since the Great Xia's armory is already open to all of humanity, why not go even further?

Mo Yun's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Brother Su, you mean...?"

"Brother Su, what do you mean?"

"Previously, the points redemption system was only partially open to civilian armed groups; now, I'm going to lift the ban entirely!"

Su Ran turned her head, her voice firm and resolute.

"The Awakened Squad can issue recruitment orders on the Peach Blossom Spring system."

As long as you're willing to fight to the death, we'll provide you with enough points.

Zhou Rui pondered for two seconds and nodded in agreement.

"This will maximize the motivation of survivors worldwide while reducing management costs at headquarters."

"However, we shouldn't make a decision on these three plans immediately."

Su Ran glanced at the clock on the wall.

"We will hold a meeting of team leaders this afternoon to present the plan."

Let them weigh the options and make their own choices.

As the discussion expands, we need to hear the voices of those on the front lines.

All we need to do is add a final push to guide them onto the right path.

"Understood," Mo Yun replied.

"Zhou Rui." Su Ran looked at the young staff officer.

"exist."

"Classify all the coordinates of the 80,000 Tier 3 mutated beasts that surged last night."

Su Ran issued the order.

"Red zones are designated according to their danger level."

I'm going to show this bombshell to everyone at the meeting this afternoon.

Anyone who dares to back down at this time will be kicked out of the first echelon and cut off from all high-level supplies.

"yes!"

Zhou Rui stood at attention, turned around, and strode out of the conference room.

The white deer stretched, its bones cracking a few times.

"Don't call me for meetings anymore, it gives me a headache."

She stood up and wrapped her windproof coat tighter around herself.

"I've gone to the training ground to test the crystal core-mounted weapon that the Academy of Sciences designed for Little Grey."

"Go ahead, just don't tear down the training ground," Su Ran instructed.

The white deer waved its hand and walked away without looking back.

Only Su Ran and Mo Yun remained in the conference room.

Mo Yun poured herself a cup of hot water and held it in her hands.

"Brother Su, do you really think we can hold out?"

He asked in a low voice, his tone revealing a rare hint of weariness.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand Tier 3 units. And the number is still rising."

Even if we drain everyone dry, how many can we kill with our current crystal energy weapons and Awakened Ones?

Su Ran walked to the window.

Outside the windows of the underground base, there were only thick concrete walls, but he could almost see the snowflakes dancing in the air through those walls.

Those snowflakes hold both destruction and the key to evolution.

"Even if you can't hold on, you have to grit your teeth and keep going."

Su Ran turned around, her eyes resolute.

"There are limits to firearms and to the human population. But there are no limits to human potential."

There will always be a way to break this deadlock.

Su Ran patted Mo Yun on the shoulder.

"Let's go, get ready for the afternoon meeting."