Chapter 108: Departure
And so, three hundred, five hundred, eight hundred... the 's population began growing by at least triple digits every day.
This drove the temporary administrative system headed by completely mad.
"...The new batch of supplies has already been sent over to . The quality of these new arrivals is passable, but a few of the people who came in the afternoon had shifty eyes—they need to be flagged individually...
The material shortfall needs to be recalculated, and the positions can be expanded by another three hundred people...
Oh, and about private trading inside the —there are always people trying to exploit loopholes. We need to add new regulations..."
In the cafeteria, held her tray while murmuring nonstop to herself. The heavy dark circles under her eyes made her look haggard.
[Are you okay?] 's voice came through the she wore, tinged with concern. He was genuinely beginning to fear that such a capable assistant might die from overwork.
"I'm fine!" raised her head, even revealing a somewhat manic smile. "I asked . As long as I down a bottle of , I won't have to worry about my cardiovascular or cerebrovascular systems for a while."
[...That stuff isn't meant to be used that way by you people?!] 's electronic voice was so angry it distorted.
"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures!" said carelessly, then lowered her head and wolfed down two big mouthfuls of rice.
Seeing her like this, was silent for a moment.
[...Fine, I won't argue with you about this.
But I did find something new that might help lighten your workload.]
"Oh? It better not add to my workload." immediately grew wary.
[Don't worry. It's just technology to assist with file registration.]
After the nearly five thousand people from , the nearly three thousand from , and the many scattered survivors who had come from all directions were merged into the in batches, the 's total population had long since broken through the ten-thousand mark.
And the moment the population exceeded ten thousand, the system notification had anticipated indeed rang out.
[Ding! Detected that the number of survivors sheltered has exceeded ten thousand.]
[Calculating rewards...]
[ obtained: 100,000 points.]
[Building unlocked: x1.]
[Technology unlocked: Blueprint x1.]
[Current : 163,529 points.]
[Ding! Detected that the 's development phase has entered the " " stage. 2 triggered: ]
[Mission Description: Lead the survivors in establishing a complete light and heavy industrial production system, achieving a full industry-chain cycle from raw materials to finished products to waste recycling.
Establish a solid rear base to lay the foundation for the revival of civilization.]
[Mission Rewards: 80,000 , unlock " " nuclear-powered aircraft carrier x1, blueprint x1.]
As for the new mission that had been triggered, didn't have much to say about it—after all, he was already doing these things in practice.
This was the necessary path to rebuilding civilization. With a large number of one-time repair tools and the legacy of the old civilization, this wasn't too difficult. For now, the main shortage was simply manpower.
But this newly unlocked " " made his eyes light up.
To be fair, this reward wasn't particularly useful for the immediate crisis. It clearly wasn't technology that could instantly raise the 's military level to deal with imminent threats, and it even seemed to somewhat overlap in function with the .
However, it had one absurdly overpowered feature that made unable to ignore it.
It could automatically interface with the identity cards from the and directly read all records of significant social behavior in the cardholder's past experiences, automatically issuing flag alerts for serious criminal offenses.
Even if a person's crime had never been discovered by anyone—as long as they had done it, it could still be retrieved.
The technological sophistication behind this had reached an utterly absurd level. In peacetime, this kind of technology would absolutely be forbidden technology capable of triggering enormous controversy.
Whether it was privacy rights, or whether machine-generated retrieval alerts qualified as reference evidence—all of it would be massive legal issues.
But at this moment, only felt that this thing had come just in time.
With its help, could quickly complete preliminary screening of everyone entering the , effectively reducing the possibility of bad apples sneaking into the ranks.
The logic was simple: even someone without a bad record wasn't necessarily a good person, let alone someone with one.
Without a doubt, for , those who could still hold onto their bottom line amid disaster were clearly more worthy of trust.
Skills could be learned, experience could be accumulated, but some things could only depend on a person's own choices and perseverance.
Of course, wouldn't demand that everyone be a saint during the disaster, so he set the trigger threshold very high—only a handful of extremely serious and heinous felonies would trigger alarms and red flags.
Moreover, even when alerts appeared, manual review would be preserved, and the final disposition would require confirmation from everyone in the enforcement team.
After the new building appeared, the 's entire existing personnel were re-screened within a single day.
The results were better than had expected. The vast majority had no alerts for serious records.
As for the dozen or so who did have alerts, didn't make a big show of it.
He simply had the enforcement team take them away one by one over the following days for interrogation, verification, and then processing.
***
Relying on this "Records Center," the successfully completed an efficient preliminary screening, mitigating the first wave of impact from the population expansion.
As long as those willing to follow the rules remained the mainstream, chaos would remain relatively controllable.
Of course, filtering out the vicious and evil was only the first step.
After that, some problems that should arise would still arise.
For example, some who were used to being domineering and insatiably greedy treated others' respect as something to trample at will.
Some even felt pretty good about themselves, truly wanting to order around like a slave, throwing tantrums if they didn't get their way;
Some loved playing petty tricks, outwardly obedient but secretly defiant, treating administrative staff like as fools to be fooled.
They kept nitpicking words, pretending to be confused, deliberately twisting mission content for personal gain, and even forming cliques;
And some, before they'd even had a few days of peaceful meals, began trying to win over field personnel to split the , steal military supplies, and even fantasize about seizing power...
's response to these people was also very simple—he simply enforced the contents of the 's interim regulations.
Those who wanted everything and took others' contributions for granted could get the hell out of the on their own. He couldn't be bothered to serve them.
Like playing the fool? No text comprehension or situational understanding? Fine! Then go join the more than a thousand people from in receiving strict supervision and treatment.
As for those who couldn't even wait for life to stabilize before trying to stage power struggles—the hadn't originally had a fixed courtroom and execution ground. Now it did.
With this set of efficient and harsh combined measures, successfully steadied the restless hearts.
***
After several days of busy work and purges, the 's order finally returned to stability.
"Whew... finally at peace!" In the meeting room, collapsed into her chair and let out a long sigh.
These past few days, she felt she had used up a lifetime's worth of anger.
She had long been mentally prepared for the principle that more people meant more problems, but she hadn't expected things to be this hard to manage.
Every day, the moment she opened her eyes, she was already furious. After a few days of this, she felt she had shaved several years off her life.
[ sent word that the survivors gathered in will begin transferring in batches starting tomorrow. The estimated total is between two and three thousand.]
Seeing that she was resting, thoughtfully notified her in advance so she could prepare mentally.
" ! You..." 's expression instantly became utterly frantic. She took a deep breath before looking up and saying, "You're doing this on purpose, right? Completely, on, pur, pose, right?!"
[No, just informing you as a side note.] smoothly changed the subject. [Also, there's another matter— 's convoy members have been selected.]
***
Outside the 's high walls, some people arrived travel-worn, rushing over just to escape this calamity beyond their control.
Others packed their gear, ready to journey far in the opposite direction, to snatch back more compatriots' lives from the clutches of disaster.
When 's " " began recruiting members, 's tentative quota was one hundred twenty people.
But himself felt that even having twenty people sign up would be good.
and the others were a bit more optimistic, believing they could at least muster half a company.
However, when registration finally closed, received a total of 2,137 applications.
This was even though he hadn't made any big public push, encouragement, or promotion, and had set a deadline.
Among these people were the old brothers who had walked all the way to with , as well as newcomers who had been in the for less than a week.
There were members who had just passed their assessments and were about to be promoted, and workers who had always been in the second sequence.
Some people wrote very long application reasons—a full thousand characters—explaining why they felt they should do this.
Others wrote only a single line: "I don't have any grand sense of justice, but you saved me on the road here, Brother Chuan, so wherever you go, I'll follow."
That's right—chaotic times breed beasts. Once constraints were gone, some people couldn't wait to tear off the human skin they wore.
But chaotic times also breed heroes—true heroes.
Perhaps in peacetime, they were just an unremarkable passerby, an ordinary coworker.
But when disaster struck head-on, they were precisely the ones who would never choose to bow their heads.
Even if the road ahead was fraught with countless dangers, it couldn't wear away the heroic spirit burning in their chests.
Even though this world was filled with cold malice, even though they themselves were far from possessing extraordinary abilities, even though this was a warm, stable place they had reached through unimaginable hardship—
As long as someone shouted out, they would dare to grab their weapons and risk their lives for another journey.
When had joked that even twenty people would be good, he had truly been prepared to be called a fool, to be called someone who didn't value his life.
However, what he hadn't expected was that the things he had casually done, the people he had pulled up along the way—
one by one, item by item, there were always people who remembered, even when he himself had forgotten.
Those who harbored the same fervent heart as him, even if they had never met, were willing to walk a stretch of the road with him even if this journey was nine deaths to one life.
Go forth with ease, sir—justice lives in people's hearts.
Of course, it was impossible for all two thousand-plus people to rush to the southwest. That would defeat the purpose of a strike force, and the 's manpower wasn't yet that abundant.
So in the end, only increased the quota to 150, and based on detailed personnel classifications, set up several rounds of specialized strict assessments and competitions.
From over two thousand applicants, this team was carefully selected, plus two special accompanying personnel: and .
At noon, outside the 's high walls.
A convoy consisting of five wheeled assault vehicles, ten infantry fighting vehicles, two self-propelled mortar howitzers, and various logistics support vehicles sat quietly in the sunlight.
One hundred fifty-two fully armed members stood beside the convoy, all equipped with the newest mass-produced " " exoskeletons, holding electromagnetic rifles and carrying electromagnetic machine guns on their backs.
Portable " " shield generators hung on their chests, with high-explosive grenades and spare magazines at their waists.
There were also rocket launchers, mortars, and other heavy firepower equipment, along with fifty Sentinels accompanying the convoy.
In the sky, three Sky Blades provided escort. (The could respond fast enough that it didn't need to travel with the convoy.)
In addition, the convoy carried five hundred laser drones, five hundred replicating drones, and a certain number of basic units.
This was so that later, if they found a suitable location or survivor camp, they could try to rebuild circuits on-site and let the drones replicate on their own.
That would gradually expand 's sphere of influence, and could also strengthen the armed defense of survivor camps that didn't need to be relocated urgently.
All in all, in terms of supplies and equipment, had done his best to achieve a fully loaded configuration.
After all, they were about to set foot on an extremely long and dangerous road.
Departing from City, heading southwest through and other cities to reach City, further investigating the truth behind 's anomalies, then turning eastward;
Heading east all the way until reaching , establishing a fixed observation post in the coastal area, then turning back toward the and beginning the journey home.
The main mission was to search and learn about the situation of survivor gathering places along the way, providing possible assistance to those in critical danger;
At the same time, further investigate and mark the monster ecology of various locations, providing valuable reconnaissance data for the future southward operation.
Without a doubt, this route was extremely crazy and adventurous, but at this moment, there was no fear in the eyes of the convoy members—only the determination and anticipation of those about to embark on an expedition.
"Old Gu, be careful on the road!" , who had come to see them off, stepped forward and heavily patted 's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Chief!" replied with a smile. "When I come back—"
"Stop!" 's noisy voice suddenly came through 's . "Don't set up a flag, get it? It's bad luck!"
He was still in handling the finishing work and couldn't be there in person, so he could only see them off via remote communication.
was a bit speechless: "Come on, you went and got yourself the [ ] title, and you're still superstitious about this?"
"You don't get it. I can handle it, but you might not be able to," said nonsense with a straight face, then his voice sank a little. "...For doing something this big, you guys deserve that title more."
"No need," turned back and looked at the people standing straight in the convoy behind him, with various expressions on their faces, and smiled. "We already have a title."
"We are [ ]."
He paused, then added: "Dark gold color, unique custom patterns, and an exclusive title appearance animation. You should be able to see it in your contacts."
"Holy crap! How can this be! How is this possible!" 's volume suddenly shot up. " , big shot, I want one too! I want a title animation too!"
"Please, I can do anything."
[Sure!] 's voice cut in at the right moment. [Go solo kill that thing in , and I'll get you a spec that's unprecedented and never to be repeated.]
"...Then forget it."
Everyone burst into laughter, and the sadness of parting was considerably diluted.
However, just as the laughter was fading and the convoy was about to depart, a new request suddenly came into the communication channel.
It was .
"The convoy hasn't left yet, has it?"
"I've got something good over here. Do you want to make a trip to first?"
Her voice was filled with barely contained excitement and lightness.
At the same time, deep in 's consciousness, a brand-new system notification suddenly rang out.
[Ding! Detected that among the sheltered survivors, someone has researched and successfully synthesized a ' '.]
[Technology automatically unlocked: (Lv.1)]
[Reward: Standard synthesis route and optimization plan for 'Level 1 Physique ,' 8,000 .]