361: Chapter 362 Twenty Days and the "Last Sunrise"

The sunrise on the twentieth day of the countdown was remembered by everyone.

It wasn't because the sun that day was particularly large or red—though it was indeed a bit redder than usual—but because at sunrise, everyone in the New Homeland stopped what they were doing and looked east in unison.

It was a kind of tacit understanding. No one was notified, no one organized it, but at that moment, everyone was doing the same thing.

Wen Youyi stood on a small hillside at the edge of the town, watching the sun rise from the sea level. Golden light pierced through the silver-blue forest, dyeing the treetops orange-red. In the distant farmland, the leaves of the rainbow potatoes were glistening with dew.

"Does it look like a farewell?" Aila arrived by his side at some unknown time.

Wen Youyi thought for a moment and shook his head: "It doesn't look like a farewell. It looks like a confirmation."

"Confirming what?"

"Confirming that this place is worth protecting."

Aila was silent for a few seconds, then said: "The second piece of intelligence from Cracked Eye has been confirmed."

"What does it say?"

"The main fleet of the Heavenly Court has completed its assembly. At its current speed, it will arrive at the outskirts of the New Homeland in nineteen days. The fleet circling around the back is smaller than expected, with only thirty ships, but they are all elites—the 'Heavenly Thorn' unit specifically responsible for decapitation operations."

"Decapitation?" Wen Youyi raised an eyebrow. "Whose head are they after?"

"Yours," Aila looked at him with a complex gaze, "and Little Girl's."

Wen Youyi was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "They think that highly of us?"

"Your threat assessment in the Heavenly Court database is already 'Grade A,' on par with a Star Lord. Little Girl is listed as a 'Special Threat' and a priority target for elimination because she can communicate with the memory aggregate and the forest."

"Fair enough," Wen Youyi shrugged. "To have the enemy specifically send thirty elite ships to kill us, I guess I haven't lived in vain."

Aila didn't laugh: "Wen Youyi, this is no time for jokes."

"I know," Wen Youyi put away his smile. "But the more it's like this, the more we can't panic. Who are we panicking for? For the enemy? Or for the hundred thousand people down there?"

He looked at the town below the hillside, where cooking smoke was curling up. Someone was preparing breakfast, someone was packing weapons, and someone was dressing a child.

"They are all watching us," he said softly. "If we panic, they'll panic even more. So we cannot panic."

Aila was silent for a long time, finally saying: "Being the Chairman is truly exhausting for you."

Wen Youyi smiled and didn't respond.

Countdown: Eighteen days.

Final debugging of the Law Field.

Senior Brother Zhang led the technical team, fighting continuously for thirty-six hours, finally raising the synchronization rate of the three Law Fields to 99.7%. This number meant that when the enemy attacked from two directions simultaneously, the Law Fields could seamlessly switch their coverage area, avoiding a situation where "one side is held up while the other leaks."

"Why is there still a 0.3% error?" Wen Youyi asked.

Senior Brother Zhang pushed his glasses, the holographic data reflecting on the lenses: "Because fluctuations in the memory aggregate affect the frequency of the Law Field. It's too strong; every 'breath' causes tiny interference. We've added seventeen layers of buffering, but we still can't completely eliminate it."

"Will it affect actual combat?"

"Under normal circumstances, no. A 0.3% error is within the acceptable range. But if the enemy has a targeted 'Frequency Resonance Attack,' this 0.3% might be amplified."

Wen Youyi thought for a moment and said: "Have Silver Thorn keep an eye on it. Once the enemy is found using this trick, immediately notify the memory aggregate to adjust its 'breathing rhythm'."

Senior Brother Zhang was stunned for a moment: "That's even possible?"

"Why wouldn't it be? It's not a machine; it's alive. Anything alive can be reasoned with."

Senior Brother Zhang was silent for a few seconds, then smiled bitterly: "Sometimes I really can't tell if you're a programmer or a philosopher."

"Both," Wen Youyi patted his shoulder. "The programmer is responsible for finding bugs, and the philosopher is responsible for explaining why the bugs exist."

Countdown: Fifteen days.

The first batch of "Blood of the Defectors" was officially deployed.

Three hundred and seventy-two drops of blood were packaged into seventy-two special "Resonance Units," each of which could cover an area. When the enemy entered the coverage range, the Resonance Unit would automatically activate, releasing the "will" left behind by those renegades.

"How long can it last?" Wen Youyi asked.

"One activation lasts for three seconds," Senior Brother Zhang said. "But after three seconds, the blood evaporates and the unit is scrapped. So it can only be used once."

"Three seconds... is it enough?"

"It depends on who it's used on," Silver Thorn's voice rang out. "If it's an ordinary Heavenly Soldier, three seconds is enough to cause 'confusion.' If it's an Advanced unit, three seconds might only make them 'pause for a moment.' But regardless of which, it will interrupt their attack rhythm."

Wen Youyi looked at those seventy-two small Resonance Units, remembering the words Firefly said before she died.

"If they hesitate for even a second, we win."

One second or three seconds.

If it's enough to kill one enemy, it's enough.

Countdown: Thirteen days.

Little Girl's communication hub underwent its first full battlefield test.

That afternoon, all participating units—Human Race, Yao Race, trees, Silver Thorn's Clones, and even several unmanned reconnaissance drones—received the same signal.

It was a children's song.

Little Girl used the simplest way she could think of to test this "communication network" that covered the entire battlefield.

"Little swallow, wearing colorful clothes, comes here every spring..."

The singing was transmitted to every corner through the resonance nodes. Zhao Iron Pillar, who was digging a trench, was stunned for a moment and then started humming along. The Yao Race hunters, who were setting traps, stopped their movements and pricked up their ears to listen. The trees in the forest swayed gently, as if keeping time.

After the test, Luo Chen wrote on the command center's situation board:

Communication System: Passed.

Morale Boost: Unquantifiable, but visible to the naked eye.

Countdown: Nine days.

The last batch of supplies was distributed.

In Wang Wu's ledger, every entry was recorded clearly: The East District Defense Team took three hundred crates of Rumble-7 Model, one hundred and fifty crates of Dizzy-3 Model, and five hundred Itch-Scratcher Type 2 vine Seeds. The West District Defense Team took... The medical team took... The logistics team took...

After finishing the distribution, he closed the ledger and looked at the empty warehouse, suddenly feeling a bit sentimental.

"When we first arrived three years ago, there was nothing in this warehouse. Now, even the warehouse is about to be emptied."

"Empty is good," Wen Youyi said. "Empty means everything has been distributed and used where it should be."

Wang Wu nodded, but his eyes were a bit red.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Wang Wu rubbed his eyes. "I just thought about how many of these things sent out will actually come back."

Wen Youyi was silent for a few seconds, then patted his shoulder: "Everything that can come back will come back. What can't come back will return as something else."

"Return as what?"

"As stories," Wen Youyi looked at the sky outside the warehouse. "As stories Little Girl will tell her children in the future."

Countdown: Six days.

The first batch of injured appeared.

It wasn't from the enemy, but an accident during training. A Yao Race hunter crashed into a tree while demonstrating a "high-speed stealth assault"—the tree was a newcomer and wasn't yet familiar with the fact that "friends are training," so it didn't have time to dodge.

The Yao Race hunter broke three ribs, and the tree broke a branch.

"Do you need help setting it?" Mu Wanqing asked the tree—translated by Little Girl.

The tree shook its remaining branches, indicating it wasn't necessary. It picked up the broken branch, stuck it into the nearby soil, and then gently wrapped it with its roots.

Little Girl translated: "It says the broken branch will become a new tree. When the new tree grows up, the Yao Race kid who hit it must come to water it every day as an apology."

The Yao Race hunter lay on the bed with a look of utter despair.

Mu Wanqing suppressed a laugh and said: "Alright, then it's settled."

Countdown: Three days.

The final full-scale exercise.

This wasn't a local test, but a full-process simulation. From the enemy entering the atmosphere, to the activation of the Law Field, the deployment of Hedgehog Weapons, the engagement of ground troops, the medical team's rescue of the injured, and the logistics team's replenishment of supplies... every step was gone through.

The exercise lasted for eighteen hours.

After it ended, everyone was exhausted, but no one complained. Because everyone knew that the problems exposed in these eighteen hours might be more than the previous three months combined.

"There are three blind spots in the communication System; nodes need to be added."

"The ammunition supply route for the second line of defense in the East District is too long; it needs to be replanned."

"The coordination between the West District and the forest still has a time lag; the trees react too slowly and need early warning."

"The medical team is short-handed, especially the trauma group; more people need to be drawn from the rear."

Each problem was recorded, discussed, and solved. By the time dawn was approaching, only the last item remained on the long list of tasks on the situation board:

Wait for the enemy.

Wen Youyi looked at those four words, suddenly feeling a bit dazed.

After nearly two hundred days of preparation, isn't this the moment they've been waiting for?

He walked out of the command center, and the horizon was already turning pale. In a while, the sun would rise.

Countdown: Three days.

I don't know if the sunrise three days from now will still be visible.

But at least today, it can still be seen.

He stood on the hillside, watching the sun gradually rise from the sea level, dyeing the whole world golden.

Footsteps came from behind. It was Zhao Iron Pillar.

"Boss, you stayed up all night again?"

"You too."

Zhao Iron Pillar walked to his side, looked at the sunrise, and suddenly said: "I had a dream last night."

"What dream?"

"I dreamed that after the war, I opened a blacksmith shop at the edge of town. Specifically to repair those broken weapons and teach apprentices along the way. That kid Little Li came to freeload every day, it was so annoying."

Wen Youyi smiled: "Sounds nice."

"What about you? Boss, what do you want to do after the war?"

Wen Youyi thought for a moment and said: "Maybe write a book."

"Write a book? About what?"

"Write about the things from these years," Wen Youyi looked into the distance. "Starting from the Ranch World and ending at the New Homeland. To show future generations where they came from and how they survived."

Zhao Iron Pillar was silent for a few seconds, then said: "Then I have to be the one to pick the title."

"What do you want to call it?"

"《Us Folks》."

Wen Youyi was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.

The laughter echoed on the hillside, startling a few early-rising birds.

The sun had fully risen, and a new day began.

Countdown: Three days.

(End of Chapter)