297: Chapter 297 The Zombie Horde Retreats, the End Begins to Harvest

"Terrestrial zombies decreased by eleven percent overnight!"

"All survivors, the apocalypse is receding!"

In the global channel, the broadcaster of a northern base raised a wine glass. Behind them, the crowd pushed open the iron door of the underground shelter, and colorful ribbons fell onto the streets.

Inside the Tiangong command room, Liu Qing turned off the sound.

Lin Yuan pressed the satellite map onto the desk.

"Raise the combat readiness of the Jiang-Zhe-Hu Region by one level."

"Double the production of Titans."

"All demobilization applications are rejected."

The celebration footage was still rolling, and the ignition bell in the mecha production area had already rung.

...

Three days later.

Su Xiaonuan walked into the command room holding paper archives.

The electronic terminals only retained offline data. Mechanical relays were installed along the walls, gears turned, driving three sets of spring-wound timers. Ledgers, pencils, and steel seals were spread across the desk.

The duty officer stood up.

"Housekeeper Su."

Su Xiaonuan nodded and sat back in the chief steward's seat.

She first restored her permissions and took out the core evacuation form. The old rules were written on the final page.

The steward evacuates after confirming that all personnel have left.

The tip of the pen fell, and the entire line of words was crossed out.

In the new first batch of the evacuation list, Su Xiaonuan wrote down her own name. When writing the character "Nuan", the pen stopped twice. The final stroke was still pressed down clearly.

Lin Yuan took the list and signed it.

"Execute according to this list from now on."

The sound of turning pages stopped for a few seconds.

The duty officer confirmed that Su Xiaonuan's three characters remained on the first batch list, and the steel seal fell once more.

Snap.

The archive was returned to storage.

The review of spatial contamination began immediately.

Strategic supplies were split into three Systems.

Advanced crystal cores, scarce alloys, and samples of the End were left in the dimensional warehouse. Food, medicine, and ordinary ammunition were transferred to the B1 physical warehouse. Twelve Titans were loaded separately with energy, repair parts, and seven-day combat readiness.

The engineering team dismantled the spatial transmission module and replaced it with mechanical locks and physical circuits.

The three hatch doors closed in sequence.

Su Xiaonuan signed the three ledgers.

"The spatial interface is authorized separately."

"The transmission end and storage end are physically isolated."

"Whoever wants to take shortcuts should write their will first."

Tang Qiqi walked over holding her contribution form.

Due to her timely reporting and compliant quarantine, she was awarded three hundred contribution points. Her previous penalty was still hanging in her account.

The two documents were stacked together, the positive and negative canceling each other out.

Tang Qiqi checked it three times and bit down on her candy stick.

"Busy for half a day, and the account performance stays right in place?"

Su Xiaonuan flipped open the new regulations.

[Penalties do not erase combat merits, and combat merits do not offset penalties.]

"Sign."

Tang Qiqi pressed her name down and rolled the two documents into her tool bag.

"Fine. Tiangong Finance, emphasizing absolute clarity in grievances and gratitude."

The Small World also resumed operation according to the new structure.

Wang Xue was responsible for the agricultural cycle, and Jiang Yun retained secondary defense permissions. Lin Yuan held the highest authority and did not interfere with daily farming.

Ma Chao lay inside the nutrient tank and was sent back to the agricultural node.

"Cut the roots once every seven days?"

Su Muxue placed the sampling knife onto the tray.

"Got a problem with that?"

Ma Chao hugged the nutrient tube tightly.

"No. I love physical check-ups."

...

Inside the medical area, Captain Han Xue unbuckled her assigned weapon and handed it to the guard outside the door.

The follow-up examination report was spread out on the examination bed.

The pregnancy was progressing steadily.

The conception time was later than Jiang Xiaowan's.

She opened the drawer, pressed the field operation application to the bottom layer, and signed under the pregnant women protection regulations.

"Law enforcement consultant, training audit."

"I accept the adjustment."

Jiang Xiaowan leaned against another examination bed, her lips moving a few times. The words she had prepared did not come out.

She picked up the two prenatal check-up forms and put them into the same folder.

"One protection zone, to save that damned bastard from sending two shifts of people."

Captain Han Xue pressed her palm against the cover and sat for a moment.

"He will send four shifts."

...

The reduction of Zombie Hordes did not stop.

The Jiang-Zhe-Hu Region cleared roads, rushed repairs on railways, and expanded physical greenhouses above ground. Survivors moved out of underground facilities, and caravans reappeared along the Nanjiang River.

Lin Motong led the controlled Zombie Hordes to track wild zombies.

The migration red line bypassed three settlements, plunging into underground faults, coastal deep trenches, and old subways.

The road repair team had just unloaded their magazines when an alarm came through the vehicle-mounted radio.

The team leader glanced over the map and snapped the magazine back into his rifle.

"All personnel fall back to the cordon line."

Lin Yuan led Shadow, Lin Naer, and the mechanical reconnaissance team into an old subway deep shaft.

The spring-driven tracked vehicle traveled downward along the rusted rails.

One hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

The mechanical counter turned to three hundred and twenty meters.

The front of the vehicle lost a section first. The vehicle body, steel cables, and serial number plates subsequently went to zero.

There was no echo beneath the tracks.

Shadow stood guard at the shaft entrance, holding a military knife against the back of an A-rank zombie's neck. The blade sliced open the skull, and a blue crystal core fell into an iron tray.

The outer shell was intact.

The internal energy was zeroed out.

Shadow used the back of the blade to nudge the crystal core.

The empty shell knocked out two soft sounds.

The mechanical group retreated backward. The recorder put away the electronic tablet and switched to copying with a pencil.

Lin Motong raised her hand.

Hundreds of controlled zombies entered the tracks.

There was no sound down the shaft, but they turned around simultaneously, their soles taking a step toward the shaft entrance.

The Empress's authority covered the tunnel.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Zombie Horde's knees smashed against the railway sleepers, their waists and backs still leaning toward the deep shaft. The zombies in the front row grabbed the rails with their hands, dragging their bodies downward as they crawled.

The railway sleeper cracked beneath Lin Motong's feet.

She hugged her little bear tightly.

"Daddy."

"It's calling my soldiers back."

Lin Yuan picked up the empty crystal core.

"Pass the order to the three regions."

"Designate all migration areas of the wild Zombie Hordes as restricted zones."

"Evacuate all personnel within a five-kilometer radius of the silent wells."

...

The seventh and eighth rounds of red moons passed successively.

The Zombie Hordes grew smaller each time.

The railway connected the Jiang-Zhe-Hu Region. Greenhouse yields rose. The port of Shanghai resumed loading and unloading, and representatives from the three regions successively submitted applications to reduce city defense and open up crystal core reserves.

The administrative hall was packed full of people.

"Mr. Lin, the zombies are almost gone!"

"Ammunition and energy should be invested in people's livelihood!"

Su Xiaonuan posted the records of the silent wells onto the announcement wall.

Twelve wellheads.

Thirty-seven empty-shell crystal cores.

Over eight million missing zombies.

She turned around and stamped the steel seal down.

"Training ammunition will be allocated as usual."

"Mecha production scheduling will not be reduced."

The representatives surrounded the data tables. The bell from the production area drowned out the hall's broadcast, and the twelve assembly lines continued to operate.

The ninth round of the red moon rose.

Most land-based bases around the globe did not encounter large-scale Zombie Hordes.

Celebration fireworks rose into the sky.

Harbor workers in Shanghai raised their glasses, and the foghorns of cargo ships echoed along the river. City lights spread from the docks toward the Hongqiao Command Center.

On the outer walls of Tiangong, the garrison troops replaced the burned-out barrel.

Fireworks fell outside the shield.

The patrol team did not leave their combat posts.

Inside the command room, Wang Xue connected the coordinates of the twelve silent wells into a network.

She placed the empty-shell crystal cores in the center of the map.

"In my past life, the tenth round of the red moon saw a global Superpower interruption."

"In the eleventh round, the player System released sacrifice missions."

"In the twelfth round, the End descended."

She used a pencil to circle the zombie migration lines.

"The disappeared Zombie Hordes are all within the recycling range."

"Zombies, crystal cores, and Espers are all evolutionary energy."

"It is preparing a meal."

The celebration live broadcast was turned off.

Qin Yumo strapped her twin blades onto her back. Su Muxue pushed the mechanical medical plan to the top of the desk.

Lin Yuan connected to Beijing.

Adam's image appeared on the mechanical screen.

Beijing provided satellite observation, simulated machinery, and Ark Zero technology. Tiangong delivered the offline data of the Zero-Return Coffin. Neither side exchanged core personnel or surrendered base permissions.

The seal was stamped on the final page of the agreement.

Lin Yuan cut off the communication.

Su Xiaonuan pressed the civilian production expansion form to the bottom of the archives and replaced it with the military production scheduling form.

The workshops downstairs entered wartime shifts.

As the meeting was coming to an end, a mechanical alarm sounded from the direction of B1.

The paper-tape terminal began spitting out records.

[Jiang Xiaowan is experiencing regular uterine contractions.]

[Interval: seven minutes.]

Su Xiaonuan picked up the evacuation form and wrote her own name in the escort personnel column.

The second paper tape slid out.

[Contraction interval: six minutes.]

Lin Yuan closed the tenth round red moon contingency plan and stood up, walking toward the medical area.

The mecha production line was still hammering away.

The tenth round of the red moon had yet to arrive.

Lin Yuan's first child was about to be born first.