308: Chapter 308 The New Era, Day One

The First Day of the New Era

Tiangong No. 1, top-floor observation deck.

Morning light spread from the east, devoid of the blood-red color of the crimson moon, bearing only an ordinary golden hue.

Lin Yuan stood before the railing.

His alloy prosthetic limb gripped the handrail, metal clashing against metal with a soft click.

Below the elbows, his arms had been permanently reset to zero. The prosthetic limbs that Tang Qiqi had rushed to make in three days were nearly identical in appearance to his original arms, but their grip strength already surpassed the limits of an ordinary person.

He raised his right hand, slowly curling his five fingers.

A faint sound of mechanical interlocking came from his knuckles.

"Master."

Su Xiaonuan's footsteps came from the corridor.

In her hand, she held today's first paper daily newspaper, with neat pencil handwriting and a clear embossed seal.

Lin Yuan took it.

No System panel popped up with notifications.

There were no Superpower fluctuations.

There was only the tactile feel of the paper and the indentation left when the embossed seal pressed across its surface.

He turned to the first page.

The title bar contained only six characters.

[The First Day of the New Era.]

Su Xiaonuan stood to the side without any superfluous words.

Her hand pressed against the cover of the notebook, her fingertips pressing out a shallow crease.

Three days ago, she had nearly collapsed before the dispatch console.

Her vitality flowed toward Lin Yuan along that invisible thread, her chest burning and breathing difficult.

But she did not let go.

The embossed seal fell as usual, and commands were issued as usual.

Now, that thread was broken.

The System vanished, and Superpowers returned to zero.

She was still standing here.

Lin Yuan scanned the contents of the daily newspaper.

Article 1: The administrative Systems of the three regions of Jiangcheng, Shanghai, and Zhe City have completed reconstruction; the contribution value System is retained, with newly added detailed rules for civil administration registration and resource distribution.

Article 2: Zhao Dingshan takes over conventional military forces, the Titan mecha production line transitions to normal scheduling, and Tang Qiqi leads technical maintenance.

Article 3: The medical System is reorganized, Dr. Su Muxue serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Jiangcheng, and Xia Qingqiu is responsible for logistics dispatch.

Article 4: Zhe City agent Feng Sanhai officially steps down, and Feng Qingwu takes over Zhe City's civil administration.

Article 5: Yu Qingyi coordinates field operations and material circulation across the three regions.

Article 6: Captain Han Xue is responsible for building the New Era law enforcement System, and the Iron Laws of Tiangong are written into the official code.

There were no superfluous embellishments.

There were no emotional summaries.

There were only clear personnel appointments and delineations of responsibilities item by item.

Lin Yuan closed the daily newspaper.

"Su Xiaonuan."

"Present."

"Keep the contribution value System running."

"Yes."

"Update the material reserves of the three regions in real-time based on a seventy-two-hour consumption estimate."

"Understood."

"Restore production at the peripheral nodes, prioritizing agriculture and machinery manufacturing."

"Understood."

Su Xiaonuan recorded them item by item in her notebook.

The sound of the nib hitting the paper was completely identical to any ordinary workday.

She did not ask about Lin Yuan's arms.

She did not ask where the System had gone.

After checking all the entries, she simply looked up and glanced at him.

"Master, Jiang Xiaowan from the B1 Medical Area wants to see you."

Lin Yuan turned around.

"Let's go."

Medical Area.

Jiang Xiaowan leaned against the observation bed, her complexion somewhat better than three days ago.

The incubator was right beside her right hand.

The baby girl was sleeping very soundly, her tiny hands curled up, breathing evenly.

Lin Yuan walked to the bedside.

Jiang Xiaowan raised her eyes to look at him.

Her gaze first fell on his arms.

A section of the alloy prosthetic limbs protruded from his cuffs, revealing extremely precise mechanical structures at the joints.

She did not say "You've worked hard."

She did not say "Thank you."

She merely reached out and pushed the incubator slightly toward Lin Yuan.

"You bastard."

Her voice was still just as hoarse.

"I've thought of a name."

Lin Yuan looked at the child inside the incubator.

"Lin Chuqing."

Jiang Xiaowan's fingers pinched the bedsheet.

"Chu, the beginning of all things. Qing, after the wind and rain."

She paused.

"Don't let her live like me."

Lin Yuan did not reply.

He merely extended his alloy prosthetic limb, his fingertips gently touching the glass wall of the incubator.

Metal meeting glass produced an extremely soft sound.

The baby girl stirred slightly but did not wake up.

Jiang Xiaowan looked at that alloy hand.

After a long while, she spoke.

"Get lost, don't disturb her sleep."

Favorability numerical values had long since ceased to exist.

But the tone of that scolding was more certain than any number.

Tiangong No. 1, B2 Research Level.

Tang Qiqi crouched beside the Titan production line, holding a wrench in her hand and biting down on half a sugar stick in her mouth.

"My Lightning Superpower is gone."

She tightened the final bolt.

"But the production line is still here."

Tank walked over from the other side, holding a box of spare parts in his arms.

"Sister Qiqi, when will this batch of mechs roll off the line?"

"Three days."

Tang Qiqi stood up and patted the machine oil off her hands.

"Superpowers are gone, but technology remains. Next time anyone dares to come, I'll greet them with mass-produced mechs."

She turned to look at the photograph hanging on the wall.

Fat Dragon, Iron Arm King, and those who sacrificed themselves in battle.

Beneath the photograph, a line of text was carved.

[Their names are written into the New Era.]

Tang Qiqi bit down on her sugar stick and spoke no more.

Tiangong No. 1, outer training ground.

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen stood in the center of the field.

Her ancient martial arts Foundation was still intact.

Even without the Time Superpower, the combat instincts carved into her muscle memory over fifty years had not vanished.

Qin Yumo stood opposite her.

Her twin blades had been replaced with pure alloy materials.

There was no Superpower blessing.

There was no Wild Resonance.

There was only the most unadorned strength and technique.

The two stared at each other for three seconds.

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen made the first move.

A side kick, elbow strike, and shoulder throw.

Every single move was a standard ancient martial arts technique.

Qin Yumo blocked, counterattacked, and engaged in close-quarters grappling.

The blade edge brushed past Grandmaster Ling Suzhen's hem, leaving a shallow tear.

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen took half a step back and raised her hand to wipe the corner of her mouth.

"Without Superpowers, you can still fight."

Qin Yumo retracted her blade.

"Without Superpowers, I am still the inner circle's primary guard."

Grandmaster Ling Suzhen chuckled.

She turned and walked toward the equipment area.

The title of Eternal Light Martial Maiden still hung on the wall.

No one had taken it down.

Tiangong No. 1, Small World ruins.

Wang Xue stood at the location of the former spatial gate.

Now only scorched earth remained there.

The Small World had vanished.

Spatial Ability had returned to zero.

But she did not leave Tiangong No. 1.

Jiang Yun stood beside her, holding a document in her hand.

"Mom, it's the appointment letter from the New Era Biological Research Institute."

Wang Xue took it.

Her name was written at the top of the document.

Position: Chief Consultant.

She glanced at it, folded the document, and tucked it into her pocket.

"Let's go."

"Where to?"

"To see if those mutated plants can still be cultivated."

Jiang Yun followed.

The backs of the two figures disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Tiangong No. 1, command room.

Yu Qingyi sat before the dispatch console, opening the three-region material circulation table.

Zhao Ya stood nearby, holding a teacup in her hand.

"Manager Yu, have today's field operation applications been approved?"

Yu Qingyi did not even raise her head.

"Approved."

"Thank you, Manager Yu."

Zhao Ya turned and left.

When she reached the door, she looked back.

Yu Qingyi was still checking the data.

Black stockings, high heels, and exquisite makeup.

Even after the end of the apocalypse, she still maintained the dignity of an old-era socialite.

But those eyes no longer held the scheming and guardedness from back then in the Shanghai underground camp.

There was only focus and efficiency.

Tiangong No. 1, Medical Area.

Dr. Su Muxue wore a white lab coat and stood at the entrance of the operating room.

A paralyzed face and an indifferent gaze.

Xia Qingqiu walked over from the other side, holding a stack of medical records in her arms.

"Dr. Su, today's surgical schedule."

Dr. Su Muxue took it.

Opening the first page.

"Three routine surgeries, two emergencies."

"Yes."

Su Muxue closed the medical records.

She turned and walked into the operating room.

Before the door closed, she glanced back at the end of the corridor.

There, Lin Yuan had just walked out of Jiang Xiaowan's ward.

The corners of Su Muxue's lips twitched slightly.

Very subtly.

But Xia Qingqiu saw it.

Tiangong No. 1, core area.

Lin Motong sat by the window holding a little bear.

Anar stood nearby.

The four wings had vanished.

Holy Light had also returned to zero.

But she was still standing here.

Without the Master's command.

Without the System's constraints.

She simply chose to stay.

Lin Motong looked up at her.

"Sister Anar, why aren't you leaving?"

Anar did not reply.

She merely reached out and gently patted Lin Motong's head.

Deep within Lin Motong's pupils, that circle of black-and-red patterns flashed.

Very briefly.

But it truly existed.

Tang Qiqi's test report was written very clearly—that was not Superpower residue, but a permanent rewriting at the genetic level.

Beijing, control center.

Adam stood before the supreme command platform.

On the screens, the real-time data of the three regions was still rolling.

But his SSS-grade Devouring Superpower had already returned to zero.

The Project Ark Zero lost its meaning due to the end of the Superpower Era.

Jiang Yun stood at the doorway, holding a document in her hand.

"Dad, this is the authority transfer document."

Adam took it.

Glanced at it.

Signed it.

Stamped it.

Returned the document to Jiang Yun.

"Hand it to Lin Yuan."

Jiang Yun did not move.

"Are you just going to leave like this?"

Adam turned around.

"An Adam without a System is not worth him striking a final blow."

He walked toward the door.

Pausing as he passed by Jiang Yun's side.

"Live well."

Then he disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Tiangong No. 1, top-floor observation deck.

Lin Yuan stood back before the railing.

Jiangcheng's morning light had completely spread out.

There was no crimson moon.

There was no Zombie Horde.

There was no System panel.

There was only a purely physical world.

He raised his alloy prosthetic limb.

His fingertips gently tapped the railing.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Behind him, footsteps sounded.

Su Xiaonuan, Qin Yumo, Wang Ya, Dr. Su Muxue, Lin Motong, Jiang Xiaowan, Captain Han Xue, Tang Qiqi, Xia Qingqiu, Liu Qing, Yu Qingyi, Jiang Yun, Grandmaster Ling Suzhen, Anar...

One after another.

No one spoke.

They simply stood there quietly.

Lin Yuan did not look back.

"The First Day of the New Era."

"Start working."

Everyone turned around.

The footsteps gradually receded.

Only Su Xiaonuan remained at the very end.

She walked to Lin Yuan's side and handed over today's second document.

"Master, this is the final plan for the fallen heroes' monument."

Lin Yuan took it.

On the first page of the document were engraved the names of everyone who sacrificed themselves in battle.

Fat Dragon, Iron Arm King...

Behind every name, their position and contribution at the time of their sacrifice were noted.

Lin Yuan finished reading.

He signed at the end of the document.

"Build it according to this."

"Yes."

Su Xiaonuan took back the document.

She turned and left.

When she reached the door, she paused.

"Master."

"Hm?"

"Your hands..."

Lin Yuan raised his alloy prosthetic limb.

"Whatever the System gave has been returned."

He clenched his fist.

The metal knuckles made an interlocking sound.

"What remains is what I earned myself."

Su Xiaonuan spoke no further.

She turned and walked into the corridor.

The sound of the embossed seal came from the command room.

Clack.

The New Era's first administrative order officially took effect.

[The End of the Novel]