The day after Huaguo announced its city evacuation plan, the nation released another piece of explosive news that shocked the entire world:
To better withstand the upcoming catastrophe, the Huaguo military officially issued a conscription order, expanding its army by one million troops.
If other countries had still been laughing at Huaguo the previous day, mocking its evacuation plans as paranoia, they stopped laughing now. With the announcement of a million-strong military expansion, panic began to spread abroad.
No one could figure out what Huaguo was planning.Was this mighty lion preparing to go on the offensive?
Setting aside the opinions of foreign nations and their media speculations, the people of Huaguo reacted in a way that stunned the world. The moment the news broke, countless young men and women flooded into recruitment centers nationwide, eagerly responding to the call of duty.
Across the country, veterans who had long retired wept as they called their old comrades, fulfilling their oath:
“If there is war, we will return. If we return, we will win.”
This was Huaguo—a nation that could unite as one when faced with crisis.
The world was dumbfounded. Those who had expected Huaguo to struggle finding recruits were left speechless.
“Are these people insane? What’s so great about being soldiers?”
“My God… their unity and speed of action—Huaguo truly is a miraculous country.”
“This has to be a conspiracy! There must be something behind it!”
…
Within just thirty-six hours, Huaguo completed its goal of recruiting one million new soldiers.
Even then, countless citizens who hadn’t managed to register on time were filled with regret, declaring that if the nation ever needed them, they would stand ready—no matter what.
The new recruits immediately began intensive military training, transforming themselves into an elite force as quickly as possible.
Why expand the army? The answer was simple: with the apocalypse approaching, minimizing civilian casualties required militarized management, and that meant a vast number of soldiers. Moreover, they had to prepare for inevitable losses once the zombie outbreak began.
At the same time, Huaguo began massive, no-cost-limit acquisitions of strategic resources across the entire planet.
This large-scale mobilization spurred other countries to follow suit, hoarding supplies in fear of falling behind. Ordinary citizens in foreign coastal regions, once skeptical of the tsunami warnings, also began to move inland.
Across Huaguo, everything unfolded with discipline and order under clear national directives. Citizens did their utmost to support the government’s every policy:
This was the spirit of Huaguo—when faced with disaster, its people came together with unbreakable unity.
After three relentless days of work, Mo Xiaobai, with the help of the institute’s experts, finally succeeded in creating the first vial of basic gene serum.
The moment success was announced, cheers erupted throughout the laboratory. Everyone was utterly exhausted—after three sleepless days and nights, the victory felt like a miracle. The instant their tension eased, several researchers fainted right where they stood.
The lab descended into chaos, but Mo Xiaobai barely noticed. She was exhausted, yes—but more than that, she was exhilarated, because the system notification had just appeared:
Congratulations to the host for completing the Beginner Merit Mission:Successfully produce a gene serum using the basic formula.
Reward: 6 Safe Zone Construction BlueprintsCompletion Rate: 100%Merit Points: +10,000
Grinning from ear to ear, Mo Xiaobai examined the six blueprints. Though she couldn’t yet decipher them, she could tell they represented different designs, each emphasizing a different function.
She was just about to bring the blueprints to the nation’s leaders when Fubao’s voice chimed in—two new missions had appeared simultaneously.
Intermediate Merit Mission:Build a Safe Zone based on the provided blueprints.Reward: Blueprint for an Ultra-Large Base Protective Shield.Merit Points: Calculated by completion quality.
Beginner Merit Mission:Rescue the trapped children.Reward: Formula for Basic Repair Solution ×1, Formula for Basic Nutrient Solution ×1.Merit Points: Calculated by completion quality.
The first mission was understandable—it was a higher-level task, but since it didn’t specify that she had to personally build the zone, she could simply hand the blueprints over. After all, constructing entire bases was far beyond her capabilities.
But the second mission—rescue the trapped children?
“Fubao, what’s this beginner mission about?” Mo Xiaobai asked immediately.
Fubao rolled its eyes. “Host, can’t you read? There’s a ‘Mission Details’ button under each task. That’s where all the specific information is.”
Mo Xiaobai hurriedly opened her system panel and indeed found the small “Details” tab she had previously overlooked.
Opening the “Rescue the Trapped Children” mission, she quickly grasped the situation.
During the chaos of the coastal evacuation, human traffickers had kidnapped numerous children—some were orphans or homeless, others had been separated from their parents. They were being held in a mountain cave near City B.
The traffickers’ buyer had been caught by the police while fleeing and was now in critical condition after a car crash. The kidnappers left behind in the cave, realizing their accomplice hadn’t returned, drugged the children unconscious and tied them up before going down the mountain to look for him.
But before they could find him, the traffickers ran into an old enemy and were killed in a fight—leaving the children forgotten and alone.
By now, those poor kids had gone without food or water for days, still unconscious, and night was approaching. The mountains would soon become perilous in the dark.
Thankfully, the mission provided precise coordinates of the cave’s location.
Mo Xiaobai immediately decided to head for Central Command—this was urgent. Those children represented the future.
When Director Zhang saw her preparing to leave, he quickly stopped her. “Xiaobai, you’re going to Central Command, right? Take this materials list with you. Tell the leadership to arrange collection as soon as possible. Once the experts here rest, we’ll begin mass production immediately.”
“Got it, Director Zhang. Please get some rest too! I’ll take care of this and rest after,” she said, taking the list. Seeing the deep exhaustion on his face, she urged him again to go rest.
“Alright, alright, I’ll wrap up and rest. You take care out there,” he said with a weary smile before turning back to finish his arrangements.
Mo Xiaobai walked straight toward the research institute’s gate—only to be stopped by a man she had never seen before.