366: Dominate the country

Dawn Base is located in a state named Henei, covering an area of approximately 500,000 square kilometers, and the country it belongs to is Da Hua Country.

This is a very ancient country, with a civilization that has lasted over 100,000 years.

It has a vast territory, with a total area of nearly 200 million square kilometers. Before the apocalypse, its population exceeded 30 billion, and it comprised 107 states and one capital special administrative region.

Before the apocalypse, the people of Da Hua Country affectionately referred to them as the 108 Constellations.

Henei State is located on the eastern coast. To its north is Neidameng State, to its south is Hezhong State, and to its west is Shanlan State.

Henei State ranks second to last in the country by area, only slightly larger than the capital's special administrative region. It is sparsely populated and its resources are depleted, making it a poverty-stricken area in Da Hua Country.

The only advantage is its coastal location, which means one less neighboring state, and thus fewer potential enemies.

At this moment, Qin Zhong had already hung a national map opposite Pan Han, with red stars marking the location of Dawn Base.

Pan Han, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, narrowed his eyes and studied the map.

Cheng Xiao and the others also gazed at the national map; they had never imagined that one day they would dominate the entire country.

This was no different from dreaming.

As an ancient nation with a civilization spanning over 100,000 years,

before the apocalypse, class stratification was already very severe, with almost all avenues for advancement and high-quality industries occupied by various powerful families.

Although ordinary people had enough to eat, drink, and owned homes and cars, there was virtually no hope for them to get rich or achieve a significant social leap.

Unless you were a prodigy with exceptional learning abilities and got into a top-tier university, only then would there be a glimmer of possibility.

If not for the apocalypse, Dili Abasi would have been such a person.

A doctor from a top-tier university, possessing unparalleled beauty and an impressive figure, she would have been recruited by major companies immediately after graduation.

Upon hearing about dominating the entire country, everyone's expressions varied.

As a transmigrator between two worlds, Pan Han naturally enjoyed the excitement and didn't shy away from grand ambitions. Dominating the country was merely a mid-term goal; he was certainly aiming to control the entire planet.

Dili Abasi, as an Intermediate Evolver and former leader of Daughter Country, remained committed to the global liberation of women.

However, Qin Zhong and the others actually dared not imagine that one day they would dominate the entire country.

Cheng Xiao was the most composed; her eyes held no thought of the country or even the world, only Pan Han. Whatever he said to do, she would do.

The three surrounding states each cover an area exceeding 1 million square kilometers.

Given the current manpower and resources of Henei State, it's unrealistic to conquer them in the short term. This amount of military force is sufficient for self-preservation but insufficient for offense.

"Old Qin," Pan Han finally spoke after a long deliberation.

"Yes, Commander!"

"Take notes."

Qin Zhong immediately opened his notebook and picked up his pen.

"Order! Within one month, ascertain the power dynamics of the three surrounding states, including the number of Intermediate Evolvers, and provide me with a concise report. Within one month, by any means necessary, find combat aircraft development personnel, the more the better. Within one month, increase the proportion of elementary evolvers in the army to 15%!"

Pan Han issued three directives in one breath, and Qin Zhong committed them firmly to memory.

"Does anyone have anything to add?" Pan Han asked.

"Commander, we should also find more fighter pilots," Cheng Xiao reminded him at this point.

"Hmm, that makes sense. Old Qin, add that to the list."

"Yes, Commander!"

Cheng Xiao's words gave Pan Han a reminder.

If there were ready-made pilots here, the combat aircraft from his own world might not be unusable.

This planet is vast, and typical combat aircraft can fly tens of thousands of kilometers, with a combat radius exceeding 10,000 kilometers.

Even helicopters can maintain a range of over 5,000 kilometers.

Transport planes, needless to say, often have a range of 100,000 kilometers.

The combat aircraft in Pan Han's world are far inferior, with a typical combat radius of just over 1,000 kilometers.

But Pan Han had overlooked two variables before.

First, if they were to attack the three surrounding states, with a total area of just 3.5 million square kilometers, even with a short range, they wouldn't be entirely unusable. Second, the fuel energy in the apocalypse is many times that of Pan Han's world. If the engines could be modified, the range might be increased.

Given this, he would go back and get two combat aircraft, then have Old Wu modify them. Perhaps there was hope of quickly building an air force.

Thinking this, Pan Han slapped his thigh. "This is it!"

Seeing Pan Han's mood improve, everyone else also relaxed.

The meeting lasted a full three hours. Everyone spoke freely, and since it had been a long time since a formal meeting, many other things were also discussed.

The feeling of the old Dawn Squad returned.

After leaving the meeting room, Pan Han called out to Cheng Xiao and asked her to take a walk with him.

"Walk? No fun. Let's drive!" Cheng Xiao jingled the car keys in her hand.

"Driving it is!"

Pan Han recalled the first time he practiced driving in the apocalypse, with Cheng Xiao by his side.

The two headed straight for the backyard, selected an SUV, and drove directly towards the main gate.

Upon reaching the gate, Pan Han stopped the car and looked at Wei Monk's head, hanging high above.

"Sigh! Why did you have to do this?" Pan Han muttered to himself, looking at the head.

Some people can do well in adversity, but once they have no worries about food and drink, their inherent flaws are exposed.

This is different from most people, who usually have their flaws exposed in adversity.

Wei Monk was the first to fall on the path to success.

Pan Han shook his head; he also didn't know how many people would fall in the future.

He didn't have many close comrades, and the Dawn Squad itself only had a few members.

Future battles would be even more intense and cruel, and it was hard to say which member would die in battle.

"Commander, let's go." Seeing him lost in thought and looking a bit downcast, Cheng Xiao took Pan Han's hands and gently reminded him.

"Mm."

"If one day I die, I hope you'll remember me," Cheng Xiao suddenly blurted out.

"Why say such a thing?" Pan Han frowned. He had only lived with Cheng Xiao for half a year; why would she bring up this topic?

"Everyone dies, you know!" Cheng Xiao gave a bitter laugh.

Ever since entering the apocalypse, Cheng Xiao's mind was only focused on survival; she had no time to ponder death.

Because death was always lurking.

But after Pan Han arrived, the situation changed.

Survival was no longer an issue, so only death remained.

The most critical thing was that women in the apocalypse couldn't have children, which meant no continuation.

And one of the most important meanings of life is continuation.

Pan Han was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say, and offered Cheng Xiao a cigarette.

The two fell silent, smoking and driving aimlessly.

Now, All States was within Dawn Base's sphere of influence, so there was no need to worry about safety.

Pan Han drove the car very fast, rolled down the window, and let the wind mess up his hair.

Cigarette ash flew everywhere.

Death, unsolvable. Inability to reproduce, unsolvable.

These two ultimate problems, Pan Han couldn't bear.

After finishing a cigarette, Cheng Xiao seemed a little calmer, and said with a slight apology, "I'm sorry, the topic was too heavy."

"It's fine," Pan Han said with a smile, shaking his head.

At this moment, the sky gradually darkened. Looking at the time, the sun was about to set.

Suddenly, a crack appeared in the distant clouds, and a sliver of sunset shone on their faces.

"This is...?" Cheng Xiao was somewhat incredulous, reaching out to touch her face.

"This is the sunset!" Pan Han had also never seen the apocalyptic sun from the ground. What was happening today?

"It's so beautiful! I'd forgotten what a sunset looked like." As she spoke, Cheng Xiao's eyes suddenly welled up, and a line of tears slowly fell.

"Yes! It's truly beautiful!" Pan Han stopped the car and pulled Cheng Xiao onto the roof.

Against the backdrop of the sunset, their silhouettes stretched long.

"Look, even the sunset can reappear. Perhaps nothing is impossible," Pan Han said, holding Cheng Xiao's hands and pulling her into his embrace.

Cheng Xiao leaned against his chest, turning her head to watch the sunset, as if she saw hope.