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

"Just give the Awakened Headquarters a list of what kind of live samples you need, and I will arrange for people to go to the front lines to capture them alive."

Zhang Qian patted Su Ran on the shoulder, his tense expression finally easing a bit.

"With your words, even if I have to work myself to the bone, I'll still manage to break through this threshold."

Su Ran didn't linger and turned to leave the eleventh underground floor.

The elevator ascended smoothly.

Su Ran closed her eyes and pressed her temples to clear her mind.

He raised his wrist and glanced at the time.

21:40.

"Genetic advancement is progressing steadily. What remains are Lu Yuan's 'Luan Bird' space carrier and Zhou Jian's 'Biological Defense Line' project."

Su Ran strode down the wide base corridor, quickly reviewing the current defense system of Great Xia in his mind.

"No matter how strong the ground defenses are, what will truly be deadly in the future is the sky."

A chilling glint flashed in his eyes.

The despairing shadow of being dominated by high-ranking birds of prey in my past life is still vivid in my mind.

In the past few months, with the successful deployment of the "Crystal Core Radar" array in major military regions across the country, the airspace of Great Xia has finally had some breathing room.

Those advanced mutated birds that can use biomagnetic fields to shield traditional radar will be immediately locked onto by the crystal core radar if they dare to cross the boundary.

They were met with an indiscriminate saturation attack of surface-to-air missiles.

To this day, there has not been a single incident of swarming flying beasts causing harm.

But the evolution of mutant beasts will not stop.

Once they evolve into absurd defenses capable of withstanding anti-aircraft missiles, or their speed directly exceeds the computational limits of radar, the seemingly indestructible air defense network will become as fragile as a piece of paper that can be easily punctured.

To truly reclaim the skies, Great Xia must possess an aerial fortress capable of suppressing everything.

Su Ran stepped out of the elevator and opened the door of a commuter jeep parked at the entrance of the passageway.

"Go to Arsenal No. 01."

The driver stepped on the gas, and the jeep sped along the wide underground military tunnel.

Twenty minutes later, at Arsenal No. 01.

Inside the enormous underground dome, heavy robotic arms moved back and forth, sparks flying everywhere.

He strode into the depths of the workshop.

Lu Yuan was lying on a holographic projection table, with several technicians around him, quickly recording data on their tablets.

"Lu Yuan," Su Ran said.

"Who? Who called me?"

Lu Yuan shuddered in fright.

He quickly turned around, saw that it was Su Ran, and instinctively shrank his neck, wiping his oil-stained hands on his work pants.

"Commander Su! What brings you here so late at night!"

Su Ran waved her hand, signaling the other technicians to go ahead and get busy.

Soon, only the two of them remained in front of the huge projection table.

"How's the progress?"

Su Ran walked over and her gaze fell on the holographic projection.

The moment the project progress was mentioned, Lu Yuan's eyes lit up. He took two steps forward and spoke very quickly.

"Commander Su! We've upgraded the internal power design and firepower configuration of the 'Luan Bird' based on the original blueprints!"

"Traditional space carriers have limited missile capacity; we're now pushing them entirely in the direction of 'space fortresses'..."

Lu Yuan enlarged a power core that shimmered with a ghostly blue light, resembling a honeycomb.

As if showcasing their achievements, they excitedly gestured with their names on the projection screen.

He spoke very quickly, using a constant stream of technical jargon.

Su Ran could barely keep up with the grand vision he described in the first half, but when the second half involved the underlying logic and energy input, she simply gave up struggling.

Finally, after Lu Yuan finished explaining his series of modification results in detail, he started talking about topics that Su Ran was interested in.

"Four months."

He raised his head, his gaze fixed intently on Su Ran.

"We could conduct our first test flight in as little as four months."

Four months!

Su Ran quickly went through the timeline in her mind.

"This is the same as the time Lu Yuan mentioned last time, which was to conduct the first flight test in six months."

It seems that the improvements and upgrades haven't significantly delayed the progress of the "Luan Bird."

His tense brows slowly relaxed.

"OK."

Su Ran nodded, her tone resolute.

"Four months it is. If you need any materials, equipment, or even high-level crystal cores, just give me a list."

If the supply department is holding you up, just contact me directly.

All I need is your guarantee that in four months, this thing will be able to fly steadily into the sky.

"Don't worry, Commander Su, I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Lu Yuan straightened his back and shouted loudly.

Su Ran patted his shoulder, turned around, and strode out of the laboratory.

When I went outside, the time was already 10:22 PM.

At this hour in peacetime, the nightlife on the streets is just beginning, with people drinking beer and enjoying the evening breeze.

But hundreds of meters underground, the entire state apparatus of Great Xia is operating at breakneck speed, draining its own life force.

All of humanity is racing against time.

Su Ran opened the car door and looked into the deepest part of the passage.

"Let's go, there's only one more place left."