The last leader of the world starts with an elite infantry squad!

"Commander."

Just as Du Yuming was deep in thought, a slightly hurried voice broke the silence of the command post.

A combat staff officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, holding a few pages of documents that had just been printed and were still warm from the ink, quickly walked to Du Yuming's side, stood at attention, and saluted.

Du Yuming slowly turned around, all the complex emotions on his face instantly disappearing, and he regained the coldness and focus unique to a commander. The red light from the screen flowed across his angular profile.

"Speak," he said, his voice low.

"Reporting to the Commander!" The lieutenant colonel staff officer spoke quickly but clearly:

"As of now, the latest summary of the evacuation work of residents from the Gucheng Lake area is as follows!"

"I. Main evacuation routes and directions: The original west gate direction has been completely closed due to the war and subsequent orders. Currently, the main evacuation flow is concentrated on Highways 3 and 4 on the north line, and the old lakeside road on the east line. Both routes are guarded and directed by the garrison regiment and the military sub-district's directly subordinate units in sections."

"II. Evacuation Progress: According to reports from monitoring and guidance stations at various intersections, approximately two hours and fifteen minutes have passed since the highest alert was issued. The convoys and foot groups that have assembled and left the core area of ​​the gathering point have completed their assembly and left, accounting for approximately 40% to 45% of the estimated total population to be evacuated."

"Of these, about 60 percent have entered or are entering the initial safety zone of the main entrance to the 'Eagle's Nest' and two other backup underground bunkers."

III. Current Major Issues:

The staff officer glanced down at the document:

"1. On Highway 3, about five kilometers from the entrance to the 'Eagle's Nest', there is a serious traffic jam due to a large number of vehicles merging in and some vehicles breaking down. The First Garrison Regiment is working hard to clear the traffic, but progress is slow and has been going on for about twenty minutes."

"2. The old roads along the lake on the eastern route are in poor condition, making it difficult to travel at night. Some old vehicles have broken down, further slowing down the overall speed. The engineering unit is urgently repairing key sections of the road."

"3. Public panic remains severe, with several minor disturbances and road scrambles occurring. The garrison has handled more than ten such incidents, putting immense pressure on maintaining order."

"4. Some civilians are unwilling to give up their personal belongings, which seriously affects the speed of boarding and movement. As per your order, the on-site commander has been authorized to enforce light-load travel, but there is still resistance to its implementation."

"5. The reception and resettlement capacity inside the 'Eagle's Nest' and its backup bunkers is nearing saturation. New temporary resettlement areas are being urgently opened up, but the pressure on space and material support is increasing dramatically."

The staff officer paused, then added:

"In addition, based on the latest valid data from meteorological and biological monitoring stations, although the western spore cloud has stopped moving, its coverage edge is now less than three kilometers away from the western wall of the aggregation site, and the cloud thickness and internal activity readings are still rising."

"The main direction of the ground-based bacterial and animal tide is clear, and there are no signs of it splitting up to make large-scale detours to the north and south, but further changes cannot be ruled out."

Du Yuming listened in silence, his gaze falling on the documents in the staff officer's hand, then looking up at the yellow dots on the screen that represented the slow movement of the evacuation vehicles, and the increasingly deep purple expanse to the west.

Forty-five percent... the speed is still too slow.

Traffic congestion, road conditions, panic, supplies... every problem is consuming precious time.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the city wall, they were fighting for every second with blood and steel.

“Command,” Du Yuming said, his voice exceptionally clear and cold in the underground space.

"First, notify the commander of the garrison regiment. I don't care what method he uses—whether he blows up the wrecked vehicles blocking the road, pushes people into the lake, or drags them away with tanks!"

"Within thirty minutes, we must clear the congestion on Highway 3 in the north! Tell him that every minute of delay could mean many more soldiers dying on the west wall! They're not fighting for time, they're fighting for their comrades' lives!!"

"Second, for the eastern section, deploy additional engineers and all available engineering machinery to carry out emergency repairs at any cost! At the same time, organize all available vehicles in the city to form a shuttle convoy to transport personnel back and forth between the eastern end and the entrance to the 'Eagle's Nest', thereby improving efficiency!"

"Third, all frontline order maintenance troops are authorized to execute anyone who seriously hinders the evacuation process or repeatedly fails to correct their behavior without prior authorization! The primary priority is to ensure the speed of the evacuation!"

When Du Yuming uttered the words "execute," he did not hesitate at all, his tone filled with a strong sense of bloodshed.

"Fourth, inside the 'Eagle's Nest,' Director Hu Renfu will personally take charge and coordinate all management personnel to make the most of the space, prioritize the resettlement of personnel, and temporarily put aside the issue of material storage!"

"At the same time, we will take stock of existing supplies, especially food, drinking water and medicine, and implement a wartime rationing system!"

......

"Yes, sir!" The lieutenant colonel quickly took notes and turned to relay the message.

"besides!"

Du Yuming called him back, his gaze returning to the intense firefight markings on the west wall of the screen.

But this time, his gaze seemed to pierce through the screen, directed towards the far west, towards the heart of Jinling City shrouded in deep purple, towards the source of all the disaster that had befallen him.

"How is the reconnaissance mission assigned by the theater command progressing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the staff officer immediately stood up straight, his expression becoming extremely serious:

"Reporting to the Commander! The initial phase of the reconnaissance mission has been completed!"

"Through a comprehensive analysis of pre-battle reconnaissance data and cross-analysis of the spore cloud release source and the main emergence direction of the ground-based fungal swarm..."

"Our technical team has basically pinpointed the most likely core area where the 'Jinling Ancient Brain' is located—the underground space and building complex within a radius of about 500 meters in the former Jinling urban area, including the Zifeng Tower!"

"The region meets the requirements of a large bio-aggregate for its complex structure, depth, and... anomalous energy radiation characteristics (from some detection records left over from the early Eastern Theater)."

"Preliminary assessment suggests that its main body has likely merged deeply with the underground pipe network, subway tunnels, and building foundation, forming a massive, semi-underground active nest."

"The target coordinate parameters, estimated bunker depth, and structural strength data of the buildings above have been preliminarily compiled and uploaded to the receiving terminal designated by the theater headquarters ten minutes ago via the highest-level security line."

The lieutenant colonel staff officer paused, then added:

"However, due to persistent and intense bioelectromagnetic interference and spore cloud obstruction, we were unable to conduct a final real-time optical or radar confirmation."

"The coordinate accuracy has a certain error range, and it is impossible to determine the target's current exact 'active state' and internal structural changes."

"The theater command has reported that they have received the data and are organizing experts to conduct a final assessment and refine the plan. The strike plan is expected to be released soon."

Du Yuming listened quietly, his face expressionless, only his fingers tapping the edge of the alloy tabletop unconsciously and very lightly.

Coordinates locked!

That thing, that twisted, learning "ancient brain" that turned the entire city into its breeding ground and weapon, is right there.

But why did I not feel the confidence of "holding the ultimate weapon" that I had expected? Instead, I felt even heavier?

Perhaps it was because that thing's learning ability and adaptability were too terrifying.

It may not be able to withstand the instantaneous ultra-high temperature and shock wave of a nuclear explosion, but what about the underground structure it occupies? What about its core, which may have already dispersed or possess some kind of regenerative capability?

What if... one or even several nuclear bombs fail to completely kill it, and instead encourage it to spread and mutate in even more bizarre ways...

And what exactly is that stagnant spore cloud preparing?

If the shock or radiation from a nuclear explosion interacts with those spores in an unknown way...

Uncertain thoughts, like undercurrents beneath icy water, surged beneath Du Yuming's seemingly calm heart.

But he knew that the Jinling Military Sub-district had no way out and no time to hesitate!

"Understood." Du Yuming said only these three words in the end, his voice calm and even.

"Closely monitor feedback from the theater of operations. Report any information regarding the strike plan directly to me immediately. Also..." He looked up at his staff officer:

"Notify our chemical and biological defense units to make the necessary preparations in advance. Not to activate, but to prepare."

"Yes, sir!" The staff officer understood the meaning of the word "prepare"—it meant that once the order was given, it must be executed as quickly as possible, and any chain reactions that might follow must be dealt with.

The staff officer turned and left, his footsteps echoing in the silent command post.

Du Yuming stood alone in front of the huge electronic screen, bathed in red light.