Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Will there really be no worms in Chapter 23?

After discussing the explosives, Shao Xuezhen brought another piece of good news.

"The first batch of third-line bases has completed the initial renovation work, and there are currently eleven sites that can begin the preparation stage - the most important thing is the selection of personnel."

Speaking of this, Su Xun also perked up, emphasizing that no matter how times change, people are always the most important thing.

The shelters they visited yesterday were mainly for housing most of the survivors, but what truly matters for the continuation of civilization, and what can preserve even a tiny fraction of the achievements of civilization in this era, are these underground bases built to cope with devastating wars.

Choosing who should enter these ultimate post-apocalyptic fortresses is a very important issue that must be handled with great care.

Observing Su Xun's expression, Shao Xuezhen said carefully, "Our current plan is to set up a special personnel selection department under the Daily Project Team to be responsible for this work."

Su Xun nodded in agreement subconsciously, saying, "This is necessary; we must coordinate this aspect of the work."

Shao Xuezhen paused for a moment, then said, "Once the expansion and renovation of the Taimon base is completed, all members of the Daily Project team will enter the Taimon base ahead of schedule to complete the next task until the Great Cataclysm begins."

"this is necessary."

"But the organization's current decision is that relatives of members of the Daily Project—especially those in the personnel selection department—will no longer participate in the selection process for entering the base, and the spots need to be reserved for others."

Su Xun paused for a moment, then understood the other party's intention. To be honest, he hadn't actually thought of it that way at all.

"Is it because of me? If so, there's really no need for this. Many of the comrades in the office have very outstanding family members who fully meet the requirements for entering the base. As long as the review is strict, I think these people can participate in the normal selection process."

Shao Xuezhen sighed and patted Su Xun on the shoulder: "Of course it's not because of you, but because of the potential parasites."

Su Xun nodded and said, "I just think that would be a waste of talent."

The Daily Project brings together elites from all walks of life, and each of them is undoubtedly one of the top talents in ASEAN in terms of both their thinking and abilities.

A family that can raise such a talented person is undoubtedly quite outstanding, and their character is absolutely guaranteed.

Shao Xuezhen agreed, but said, "The combined population of the ASEAN member states exceeds two billion. Even if we pick one person out of every ten thousand, that's two hundred thousand people. We don't lack talent, we just lack quotas."

“In this situation, the correction must go to extremes, and the members of the daily project should set an example in this regard, otherwise it will not be convincing to the public.”

Su Xun understood, and once again marveled at the power of the national system and the prosperity of humanity in this civilized era.

As the other party said, the personnel selection department that controls the allocation of quotas, and even the entire Daily Project Team, can be said to be of great power and influence.

Even though these people are still enthusiastically involved in their work, almost everyone could be called an idealist.

But what about the future? As the end times draw ever closer, the project team will grow larger and larger, and it will be impossible to guarantee that everyone will remain steadfast in their beliefs.

Moreover, the pressure on everyone will increase day by day. Who can say that no one will waver in the face of the apocalypse? After all, this choice involves their relatives and friends.

If there's one, there will be countless others; this kind of thing must be prevented before it happens.

Su Xun pondered for a long time before finally speaking: "We must be very careful about the issue of quotas. I agree with this approach, but we also need to be mindful of the emotions of our colleagues in the office. They are under too much pressure."

Shao Xuezhen nodded and said, "This is a question that everyone agreed on through a secret ballot before I came to ask for your opinion."

At this point, there was no longer any question of coercion; a vote was a vote. Su Xun could only sigh that all the people he worked with were good comrades.

But that's precisely why he's even more worried.

"Those who carry firewood for the masses should not be left to freeze to death in the wind and snow; those who pave the way for freedom should not be left to be trapped in thorns."

"The people here are pioneers for the whole of ASEAN and even the whole world. We can't let them down."

“Properly resolving this matter will allow our comrades to focus on their work without any worries. They are under too much pressure, and we cannot let them worry about their personal lives any longer.” Shao Xuezhen understood his meaning and nodded, saying, “We will discuss a solution as soon as possible. Our current idea is to arrange for everyone’s families to be placed in urban shelters in various places as much as possible.”

Hearing that relevant arrangements had been made, Su Xun felt relieved and prepared to get back to work.

Seeing that he didn't speak again, Shao Xuezhen finally said, "Comrade Su Xun, the organization's intention is that if you have any needs, we will try our best to meet your requirements—you are different after all, and everyone can understand that."

Su Xun smiled and said, "Does 'different' mean that my awareness is not as high as my comrades'? There's no need for that. I believe the organization can arrange everything for me."

In fact, in his vision, large shelters in cities, especially underground shelters, may not be less safe than many third-line bases located deep in the mountains and forests.

The third-tier base is not small in scale, but it can't compare to the subway network in various places. A large enough scale also means a large enough space for survival.

Another problem is that the dangers faced in the city are mainly from zombies, which is relatively one-dimensional.

While the third-line bases are well-equipped and have strong defenses, they still have to face many mutated plants, mutated beasts, and zombie beasts that grow in the mountains.

Although these things are few in number, they come in all sorts of ways and are difficult to guard against.

The activation of these third-tier bases today may also be partly due to considerations of curbing these things.

After being slightly retorted by Su Xun, Shao Xuezhen gave a wry smile.

“Alright, we’ll discuss the specific implementation plan. And the work that the personnel selection department will be doing afterward will also need some relevant ideas from you, the chief consultant.”

"No problem, that's what I was just about to say."

Su Xun pulled out a document and handed it to Shao Xuezhen.

"This is……?"

"Most of them are survivors from my memory, whether they have superpowers or not."

“As for this one,” Su Xun turned out one of the pages, “these are some of the superhumans who were active in the early stages of the apocalypse, as I remember them. Most of them survived from the civilized era and should be in various places now. We can recruit these people in advance and assign them to various third-line bases.”

"Doing this can both leverage their strength to defend the base and assimilate them through the organization's atmosphere, preventing them from having a change in mentality and committing malicious acts once they gain power."

Shao Xuezhen's eyes lit up. He took the list, glanced at it carefully, but then frowned slightly.

The sheet that Su Xun flipped open had about a hundred names, representing about a hundred people with superpowers, but most of them only had names.

Su Xun knew the other party's troubles and said helplessly, "This list is indeed a bit simple. In the early days of the apocalypse, everyone was stranded in various places and could only know people nearby. By the time we had the strength to cross greater distances, many of these people were no longer around."

Shao Xuezhen nodded: "I'll do my best to arrange for people to search."

Thank you LUCIFEs, Tanqing, and Ashina Zhabing for the monthly tickets.

Thank you to Mammoth Little Loach for the generous donation from the middle of the month.

And thank you to everyone who recommended, followed, collected, and commented.

Your support is my greatest motivation.

(This is genuinely sincere, and I'm even a little overwhelmed with gratitude.)
Special thanks to the two book lovers who added this to their collection on May 18th.

At that time, I hadn't signed a contract yet and was in a bit of a mess, especially since I had lost a lot of drafts due to review issues. Those two favorites made me feel supported.

After the normal update that day, I got a contract and more favorites. I don't know who you are, or if you are still reading, or if you will remain silent, but I will put more effort into writing to repay your support.

(When will my terrible input method finally be able to type "especially" correctly?)
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(End of this chapter)