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

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Awakened Headquarters, Conference Room 1.

Mo Yun activated the holographic projection.

A dozen encrypted video windows popped up in mid-air.

The top students from all the major bases of Great Xia, who are currently the strongest fighting force of mankind, have all arrived.

Chen Kewang sat in the operations room of the Taihang Mountain base, while Long Jiang and Jiang Zunyong appeared in the military camp on the battlefield.

Zhao Tian and Pei Miaomiao were taking shelter in an abandoned factory, with a campfire in the background, casting their ever-changing expressions on their faces.

Ye Xiao and Zhu Jingye's camera lens, shot on the Siberian defense line, clearly shows that the area outside the military camp is covered with thick snow that is already half a person high.

Lin Feng sat in the command center of the Sharp Sword Brigade, wearing a full tactical vest, his posture as straight as a gun.

Su Ran sat at the head of the long table, her fingers resting on the armrest. Bai Lu didn't come; she had gone to the training ground.

"Everyone's here."

Su Ran's gaze swept across the surrounding screen, and he spoke in a deep voice.

Mo Yun gave Zhou Rui a look.

Zhou Rui projected the urgent briefing onto everyone's terminals.

"Everyone, time is of the essence, let's get straight to the point."

Zhou Rui pulled up a global distribution map covered with scarlet spots.

"This is the latest data. In the past 24 hours, the number of Tier 3 mutated beasts worldwide has increased by 80,000, and the number of surviving beasts has exceeded 250,000."

Upon hearing this, the entire video channel fell silent, even the sound of breathing stopped.

Zhao Tian stared at the numbers on the holographic screen, his eyes narrowed into slits, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged out.

Two hundred and fifty thousand.

What does this mean?

These people work themselves to the bone every day, and it's difficult for them to kill even ten a day. Yet, 80,000 of them suddenly appeared out of nowhere overnight.

Zhao Tian's Adam's apple bobbed as he turned to look at Su Ran on the main screen.

Su Ran leaned back in her chair, her expression completely unchanged.

Ye Xiao rubbed his gloves on the other side of the screen, exhaling a puff of white breath.

"Brother Su, even if we each take a hundred heads, we still can't kill them all, even if we each take a hundred of these 250,000."

Ye Xiao gave a wry smile, turned around and patted Zhu Jingye on the shoulder, jokingly saying,

"Dedicated, you still have 94 animals left to complete your quota for today, hurry up!"

Zhu Jingye shrank his neck and waved his hands repeatedly.

"A hundred heads? Brother Ye, you might as well just dig a hole and bury me."

His witty remark elicited a smile from the other viewers, slightly easing the tense atmosphere.

Mo Yun tapped the table, bringing the topic back on track.

"That's the situation; we need to come up with a solution now."

He turned to look at Zhou Rui, signaling him to continue.

"In response to the sudden drop in temperature and the surge in high-level monsters, the think tank came up with three plans overnight."

This is now being sent to everyone; a vote is required immediately.

Zhou Rui opened the first document and continued speaking.

"The first step is to tighten the defenses."

Abandon the current 30% buffer observation zone, withdraw all squads to the core defensive line, and rely on the military's crystal energy heavy artillery positions to launch a defensive counterattack.

"no."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xiao's expression immediately darkened, and he spoke.

"If we retreat one step now, they'll dare to advance two! Those buffer zones were forged with lives; we can't retreat even a single step!"

A chorus of agreement echoed from the other side of the screen.

"Old Ye is right."

Chen Kewang slammed his cup on the table.

"If we back down now, they'll dare to take two steps forward."

These defensive lines were built by our brothers with their lives; who dares to say they haven't shed a single drop of blood on the battlefield?

Taking a step back means losing the whole game.

Zhao Tian chimed in from the side,

"In the wasteland, surrendering the initiative to monsters is tantamount to waiting to die. I do not advocate retreating."

"The sword will not retreat."

Raymond Lam also made a statement.

"The purpose of expanding and re-equipping our Sharp Sword Special Forces is to be like a nail planted on the front line, taking the initiative to attack and eliminate high-level mutated beasts."

Soldiers fight to the death; there is no retreat.

Su Ran listened to the statements of the various generals without saying a word, but tapped her fingers lightly twice on the table.

The morale of the troops is high.

"Okay, let's look at the second option: mandatory binding and quota system."

Zhou Rui then turned to the second page, his tone somewhat stiff.

"Initiate wartime KPI assessments and forcibly assign Tier 3 tasks to each squad by headquarters."

If the quota isn't met, the supply allocation will be reduced.

For a moment, the meeting fell silent.

Upon hearing this, the Awakened Ones present all looked rather grim.

Taking on missions to eliminate high-level mutated creatures is inherently a life-or-death situation.

Now they've even included KPL (King Pro League) in their plans, and if they don't meet their quotas, they'll have their quotas reduced?

For a moment, the scene fell silent.

"Who came up with this ridiculous, nonsensical plan? Did they just sit in their office and brainstorm ideas?"

Jiang Zunyong, eager to vent, shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Before the apocalypse, you had to work to meet KPIs; after the apocalypse, you still have to work hard to meet KPIs."

If you don't meet the requirements, you get your salary docked; now, if you don't meet the requirements, you lose your life

Our Great Xia's Awakened Ones are beyond reproach; military orders are absolute, and they will definitely be at the forefront.

But it's hard to say about those troublesome foreigners.

He also spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"They come to headquarters for resources and weapons. If you really push them too far, they'll just collectively give up and run away."

"So, will we spend our days hunting down escaped foreign Awakened Ones, or will we continue hunting Tier 3 monsters?"

Mo Yun glanced at Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui pushed up his glasses, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Nobody wants to be burdened with KPIs. Forcing someone to work incredibly hard will only backfire.

If the morale of the team is low, they will be wiped out on the battlefield.

"Alright."

Su Ran finally spoke, her voice not loud, but instantly silencing all the noise, "The third set."

Zhou Rui quickly retrieved the recent mixed combat data of the Sharp Sword Special Forces.

"Expanding of mixed formations."

Zhou Rui pointed to the data,

"The elite soldiers of the Sharp Sword Unit are equipped with the latest exoskeleton armor, which, when combined with the Awakened, has proven to be very effective in actual combat."

Ordinary soldiers can fill the gaps in the Awakened's tactical skills and sustained firepower.

"We at Lijian are willing to do this."

Lin Feng nodded on the screen.

Lin Feng was the one who initially pushed for the cooperation between the Sharp Sword and the Awakened team.

However, it has remained in a lukewarm state.

"The brothers of the Sharp Sword are not afraid of death. There are so many awakened teams around the world. If all of the Sharp Sword's thousands of men were deployed, they wouldn't even make a ripple."

Su Ran looked at everyone.

"If we don't have enough people, we'll find them from outside," Su Ran said.

The people on the screen remained silent, waiting for the next part to follow.

"Survivors within the Great Xia, veterans in foreign camps, bounty hunters, and civilian militias."

Su Ran looked at the screen.

Previously, points redemption was only available to a small number of people.

Now, I'm going to lift all restrictions.

The armory of Great Xia is open to all mankind.

Zhao Tian was greatly shocked.

Su Ran wanted to bind all those with a strong will to survive onto the war chariot.

"As long as you dare to kill monsters, you can exchange crystal cores for points."

Su Ran continued:

"The Awakened Squad is short-handed, so we'll recruit from the civilian population. We need scouts, so we'll recruit. We need gunners, so we'll recruit. We need someone to take the hit, so we'll negotiate."

"feasible."

Longjiang thought for a moment and then said, "From what I understand, many of the awakened groups abroad nowadays are taking ordinary people with them."

The post-apocalyptic world has remained lukewarm in popularity simply because of issues with the distribution of points after a successful hunt.

Su Ran spoke up, "Headquarters will not intervene forcibly, but will only provide a platform and guarantees. Anyone who dares to violate the established agreement will be making an enemy of the Awakened Headquarters."

"But, Brother Su,"

Chen Kewang asked somewhat uncertainly, "Can the civilian armed forces withstand a Tier 3 monster?"

"The Great Xia Dynasty has produced crystal energy cannons and exoskeleton armor."

Su Ran looked at him: "A pack of wolves who dare to fight to the death is no weaker than veterans on the battlefield."

The points leaderboard is directly linked to resources, including crystal energy weapons, high-grade food, and crystal core extracts—you name it.

"If you want it, you have to give your life."

"This works even better overseas."

Zhou Rui began, "Before the Great Xia Dynasty expanded its influence across the world, the surviving humans were scattered in a few scattered points."

A camp is guarded by a few Awakened Ones, along with dozens of brothers who have risked their lives for it.

Awakened individuals abroad are more likely to support this policy.

"Just go in this direction."

Su Ran finalized: "Zhou Rui, refine the details and report to headquarters tonight. There will be a meeting with foreign awakened individuals later."

"Yes." Zhou Rui closed the tablet.

The meeting ended, and the screen went black.

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

Mo Yun took a sip of water to moisten her throat.

"Brother Su, with the complete lifting of the ban, weapons are now circulating among civilians, making it difficult to manage the team in the future."

Mo Yun voiced her concerns.

"They can't even get enough to eat, why would they be afraid of rebelling after they've eaten their fill?"

Su Ran leaned back in her chair: "Old Mo, make sure we don't get influenced by those old-timers in charge of supplies."

As long as we hold nuclear weapons and cutting-edge crystal energy technology in our hands, they can't cause any trouble.

What we need now are fearless wolves, a vital force capable of charging to the front lines.

Mo Yun nodded.

The door was pushed open. Bai Lu walked in.

Reeking of gunpowder, she walked to the table, poured herself a glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp.

Bai Lu said, "The weapon system the Academy of Sciences developed is outrageous. They say it's specifically designed to deal with encountering Tier 4 mutated beasts again. They're basically treating Little Grey as a tank."

Su Ran stood up and walked to her side.

"Are you alright?" Su Ran asked.

Bai Lu shook her head: "I'm fine. But that weapon is really powerful. They told me that the power of one shot is enough to consume a third-tier crystal core."

Su Ran looked at her tattered clothes.

"Go change your clothes. Come with me to Institute of Physics No. 01 later," Su Ran said.

"What are you going there for?" Bai Lu asked.

"Find Wei Jianguo. It seems like the fourth-order crystal cores we sent over have yielded some results." Su Ran turned and walked out.

The white deer followed behind.

Mo Yun watched their retreating figures and began tidying up the documents on the table.

At the same time. The Siberian defense line.

Ye Xiao hung up the call and tucked the terminal into his pocket.

"Old Zhu, let's go back to camp." Ye Xiao stepped through knee-deep snow.

"Brother Ye, are you really hiring?" Zhu Jingye asked from behind.

"Go ahead and recruit them. Brother Su has already spoken. Our team only has two people, it's too pathetic."

"Go back and issue a notice. At the very least, we need to recruit a pilot. I still want to take a few more naps on the plane." Ye Xiao changed his mind.

Zhu Jingye pursed his lips.

A wolf howl came from afar.

Ye Xiao drew his Tang sword, the blade reflecting the light of the snow.

"Let's deal with this first." Ye Xiao charged out towards the direction of the wolf howls.

Taihang Mountain Base.

Chen Kewang turned off the communications. He walked out of the operations room.

In the corridor, several soldiers were carrying supplies.

"Notify all squad leaders to hold a meeting," Chen Kewang said to his subordinates.

He walked to the window and looked at the snow outside.

Two hundred and fifty thousand. This number weighs heavily on everyone's shoulders.

Su Ran's plan is very radical.

Tie everyone onto the war chariot.

But only in this way can one carve out a way out of a dead end.

(I'll make up for any shortfall tomorrow!)