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

The elevator doors closed, and red numbers flashed.

Chen Changhe leaned against the metal armrest and rubbed his sore neck.

He turned to look at Su Ran and exhaled a long breath.

"Go do your thing, don't worry about me."

With the leader backing us up, resources won't run out, and I can probably hold on for a few more years.

"Take care of yourself, Mr. Chen."

Su Ran nodded solemnly.

After saying goodbye to Chen Changhe, he walked out of the special research laboratory alone.

Su Ran rubbed her temples, trying to clear her mind and keep her head alert.

"I've been running around to the front lines every day lately, and it's really made me forget about many of the core projects we've been working on."

Su Ran muttered to herself.

"I almost forgot, the Great Xia Dynasty holds far more cards than those it has played on the surface!"

Besides the conventional projects that have already been pushed to the front lines, such as crystal core weapons, tactical mechs, and monster legions, all the core projects that are being initiated simultaneously are secretly building up momentum.

Lu Yuan was in charge of the "Luan Bird" space carrier.

Zhang Qian led the "brain-computer interface" project.

Zhou Jian is pushing forward the mass production plan for the "biological defense line".

There is also the research on crystal nucleus nuclear weapons conducted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

None of these projects have yet been finalized, and the final industrial production is still a long way off.

But once all these national treasures are completed, the Great Xia's confidence in resisting the tide of alienation will undergo a qualitative change.

The more cards she could play, the brighter the light shone in Su Ran's eyes.

"Let's go to Professor Zhang Qian's lab first."

Su Ran pondered in her heart.

The Academy of Sciences has long had a dedicated archive documenting the challenges faced by Awakened Ones in advancing from the third to the fourth tier.

There must be no gaps in top-tier combat capabilities.

Research results may have already been achieved at this stage.

In addition, once the "brain-computer interface" project is successfully implemented, ordinary soldiers will be able to control mutated beasts in batches, completely rewriting the battlefield landscape.

With a soft "ding," the identity verification doors slid open one by one.

Su Ran took the private elevator and went straight down to the ninth basement level.

Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis Breakthrough Hall.

Pushing open the heavy soundproof door, the low-frequency hum of electronic instruments filled my ears.

Hundreds of large array servers flashed red and blue indicator lights.

Zhang Qian, wearing anti-static clothing, stood in front of a semi-circular hibernation pod.

He was holding a tablet computer.

Several assistants stood around, heads down, taking notes.

A mutated macaque was fixed inside the hibernation pod.

Part of its skull was cut open, exposing its brain tissue.

Dozens of tiny probes were inserted into it.

Zhang Qian didn't look up, but gave instructions to his assistant.

"Channel 2, input bioelectric signal. Adjust the frequency to 120."

The assistant enters parameters on the console and presses a red button.

The mutated macaque's limbs began to twitch.

The leather straps binding it made a pulling sound.

The macaque opened its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, but fortunately, its vocal cords had been removed, so it did not make a sound.

"Increase output. 150."

Zhang Qian frowned, staring at the data on the tablet.

On the monitor next to the hibernation pod, the lines representing brainwaves began to fluctuate violently.

The peak values ​​are very long, and the green lines jump around on the screen.

"Add another two hundred," Zhang Qian said.

"drop!"

The green line instantly straightened into a straight line, and the alarm sounded.

The mutated macaque's body suddenly stiffened, then went limp like a lump of mud.

"stop."

Zhang Qian sighed and placed the tablet on the control panel with a somewhat dejected air.

The assistant shuts down the input of bioelectrical signals, and the final data is displayed.

"Died again. The brain nerves still couldn't withstand the impact of the conversion of electrical current into mental energy, and the host died instantly."

Zhang Qian rubbed his temples, his voice filled with deep weariness.

"Record the data, go to containment bay number two, and bring over the next test subject."

The assistant skillfully moved the mutated macaque's carcass out and put it into a sterile sealed bag next to it.

Zip it up and push it onto the cart in the corner.

Su Ran stepped forward and stood behind Zhang Qian.

"Professor Zhang, how many is this now?" Su Ran asked.

Zhang Qian turned his head and glanced at Su Ran.

"Consultant Su, what brings you here today?"

"I just came from Mr. Chen's place to check on your progress."

Su Ran's gaze swept over the experimental subject who had just lay down, and she spoke.

"Judging from this, the project isn't going well?"

"It's not going well."

Zhang Qian spoke frankly, then gave a few more instructions to his assistant before turning back to Su Ran.

"This is the 620th test subject."

"Where are you stuck?" Su Ran pressed.

Zhang Qian pulled over a whiteboard, picked up a marker, and drew two circles on it, separating them with a thick horizontal line.

"In the process of converting electrical signals into mental energy!"

He put down his pen and sighed repeatedly.

"The brain waves emitted by human brain-computer interfaces are essentially bioelectrical signals."

The mutated beasts' actions are driven by the spiritual power contained within the crystal core.

To achieve interoperability between the two, we must forcibly break through the physical barriers that exist in between!

The problem is that our research is very limited when it comes to the spiritual realm.

This point was also mentioned when I spoke with Zhang Qian last time.

After all, at this stage, physics has not even truly understood what dimension of energy "spiritual power" actually is.

Some of these inexplicable and incomprehensible changes have even crossed into the realm of metaphysics.

Looking at the old professor's worried face, Su Ran used the same words Chen Changhe had used against her to comfort him.

"Scientific research is not something that can be achieved overnight."

At least we have a direction now. As long as we keep moving towards our goal, we'll eventually break down this wall.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qian was taken aback for a moment, then adjusted his eyes with some suspicion.

"This doesn't sound like something you would say!"

Being scrutinized by Zhang Qian like that, Su Ran now felt awkward and pressed for an answer.

"Huh? Why?"

Zhang Qian said irritably,

"Whether it's you, Li Guodong, or a colleague coming to inquire, isn't the main goal to urge us to catch up on the progress?"

Su Ran's words just now caught Zhang Qian off guard for a moment.

He felt as if Su Ran had just used his own words!

Su Ran was also taken aback.

He had assumed that scientists in the Academy of Sciences were all rigid, humorless old scholars.

Unexpectedly, Professor Zhang Qian has such a down-to-earth side in such a high-pressure environment as the apocalypse.

Su Ran and Zhang Qian exchanged a light laugh, which eased the oppressive atmosphere caused by the failed experiment.

Immediately afterwards, Su Ran coughed lightly as a tactic, thus letting the matter drop.

"Professor Zhang, the brain-computer interface project still needs time to be refined. Let's let things develop a bit more."

I'm here today for another, more important matter to inquire about.

Regarding the breakthrough from the third to the fourth level for Awakened Beings, what research findings does the Academy of Sciences have?