Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 69 Safe Journey

The zombie beasts outside the fortresses, blasted to pieces by artillery fire and machine guns, were not given the special treatment of being incinerated separately. Several bulldozers pushed these pieces of flesh and limbs into a large pit that had been dug in advance, mixed with the remains of a few mutated plants. A white phosphorus bomb was then fired, and a raging fire broke out.

Su Xun personally boarded a base vehicle, followed by Xu Huan.

"Are you going too?"

"Please help me."

Su Xun only asked one question and didn't say much more. In his previous life, he survived the early stages of the apocalypse by luck, while Old Man Xu Huan relied entirely on his strength.

Of course, it might be unrealistic to say that there was absolutely no luck involved, but the old man never mentioned what he went through at the beginning, which is a thorn in the side for many first-generation survivors. Therefore, Su Xun and the others have always avoided such questions.

But putting all that aside, based on Su Xun's later understanding of him, this person's superpower was actually a rather unorthodox ability.

The so-called plant catalysis ability is not simply about making plants grow faster; that's just a basic characteristic. It allows seeds to take root and sprout on zombies, extracting and purifying their spiritual energy, and eventually producing fruits that can be eaten by humans.

The zombies infected by it will either become sluggish and decompose rapidly, or die on the spot.

In the distant future, it's not without reason that Xu Huan, with his eighth-tier strength, ranks high on the Zombie King's kill list.

Of course, what is their enemy is my hero. This ability to allow plants to take root and sprout on flesh and blood enabled Xu Huan to lead a group of survivors to gain a foothold in Binhai City.

Those fruits can replenish the spiritual energy of other extraordinary individuals, and they are also good for simply filling one's stomach. If Xu Huan were to eat them himself, they could also enhance his physical attributes and accelerate his breakthrough speed.

The initial survivor camp in Binhai City was established by Xu Huan. With this superpower, he not only cleared out a dangerous area, but also provided the camp with food reserves for a considerable period of time.

In his previous life, Su Xun's own special ability was not very useful in the early stages, but that doesn't mean everyone is like that.

If most elemental spells and abilities can be learned and imitated by Su Xun, an elemental master, then Xu Huan's abilities belong to the minority that cannot be learned.

Moreover, setting aside Xu Huan's extremely rare top-tier superpower, Yu Kai's wind cone superpower, although seemingly conventional, is actually quite suitable for use in the apocalypse.

It's powerful enough to poke a hole in a zombie's forehead, quiet enough not to attract too much danger, and most importantly, it hits exactly where you point it.

Superpowers are an extension of the hand, and are far more reliable than hard-to-aim-at-the-point firearms.

If it weren't for these people, the number of survivors from the previous life would probably be far, far fewer.

Su Xun had no objection to Xu Huan's temporary addition.

There are indeed no conditions for immediately restoring scientific research capabilities at present, and in fact, even normal production work is difficult to carry out.

It is naive to expect a base with a capacity of 10,000 people and a maximum capacity of over 50,000 to be fully operational at the very beginning of the apocalypse; after all, this is the apocalypse.

However, this situation is temporary. Several shelters have been set up around the Xinfu Chemical Industrial Park, and based on the proportions, the number of survivors there is likely to exceed 10,000.

Before leaving, Tao Yue came over with a piece of paper, her eyes red and swollen: "The approximate survivor ratios for each shelter are out, and I..."

She seemed to want to tell Su Xun what she was saying, but when she opened her mouth, only tears streamed down her face, and no sound came out of her throat.

Su Xun took the list and told her to go and rest for the time being.

For others, the data on this page would be unacceptable no matter what it looked like, but in Su Xun's eyes, who had experienced an even more tragic past life, he could at least calmly judge that the fact that the statistics were completed so quickly meant that the situation had been brought under control.

As anticipated, the survivability of the main shelters in each city was no worse than that of the Taimon base. As facilities primarily designed to preserve the population, they performed their mission admirably. The Licheng shelter, which was initially thought to have suffered the most damage, actually had the highest survivor rate at 21.3%. Although this is only a rough estimate, this figure is even higher than that of the Taimon base.

However, the high rate is limited, as this data is derived from tens of thousands of people. This number is now roughly the true mutation rate.

Even in the most optimistic estimates, the mortality rate on the first day of the apocalypse reached 99%. Some pessimistic views even suggested that this number represented the early mutation rate, and that the subsequent bases were entirely supported by high-level superhumans.

After all, when this estimate was first made, it was already long after the apocalypse had arrived. By then, the population of each base had become even sparser. If those who had not undergone extraordinary evolution had not become a long-lived species, the human species would probably have become extinct, and even reproduction would have been a problem.

Judging from the current situation, it can only be said that Licheng is indeed the location of the land command of the two major war zones. According to the current reports, the reason for the delay in responding was that a mutated zombie with considerable strength appeared in the command level that was originally responsible for responding, and directly broke free of the shackles.

But that was all. Apart from wasting a little time, it did not cause any major casualties and was killed on the spot by a heavy machine gun.

They said Licheng hadn't fallen, but that didn't mean the shelters hadn't fallen. Now, the main shelters in Licheng had connected and quickly assembled a total of 20,000 armed forces, ready to take over the city directly—previous propaganda had taken effect, and these people had begun to regard zombies as enemies with a blood feud.

Public opinion is indeed an extremely powerful weapon.

Meanwhile, the city of Haiqu, which had not received much attention before, suffered the highest number of casualties among the various shelters. Its survivor rate was only 20.9%. This was because the premature release of apocalyptic information led to a mob attacking the shelters, during which the apocalypse began, resulting in considerable casualties.

It may not seem like much, but every 0.1 shift before that percentage sign represents the life or death of hundreds or thousands of people.

Su Xun frowned.

The situation in Haiqu has been contained, but he sensed a tendency towards a quick victory during his operations in Licheng. If anything goes wrong, this could cost them their hard-won gains.

"Send a telegram to Licheng, telling them to proceed with caution and postpone the plan. Zheng Yuan! Go to car number two. Don't head towards Xinfu City. Go to Licheng as soon as possible to stabilize the situation. Make sure they proceed steadily and ask them if they are still obeying orders from their superiors."

As the chief commander of the Kuafu Project, the arrival of the apocalypse can be seen as Su Xun's investiture ceremony. At this critical juncture, his command authority is considerable.

"Chen Cheng, you take the sentry and go with him."

"Yu Kai, you follow too."

"Be careful on your journey, not only of zombies, but also of people."

After giving his instructions, Su Xun called Chen Cheng aside again... or rather, he called the sentry aside.

The sentinel had now awakened its mental deterrent ability, and its eyes were much more alert than before. However, it could only reach a level where it could truly communicate normally with people by continuing to learn.

Therefore, its task should still be handed over to Chen Cheng for now.

"A large number of the zombie beasts around the Taimon base have been attracted and eliminated. The mutated beasts in this area should have been moved. You can use the sentries' sense of smell to look for them. If possible, you can establish contact with them, unite with them, and fight against the zombies together."

The pressure that zombies bring to living beings is enormous, especially in the early stages of the apocalypse, where even mutated beasts struggle to survive under their oppression.

For a long period in the past, humanity cooperated with several groups of terrestrial mutated beasts, which ultimately allowed them to gain a foothold despite the constant onslaught of zombies.

Although the two sides eventually became enemies, the initial period of cooperation played a crucial role.

Seeing the men salute, Su Xun raised his hand in response. Although the vehicle was equipped with communication devices and weapons, the dangers they would face along the way were still countless.

"Comrades, have a safe journey, I'll be waiting for you to come back."

(End of this chapter)