Chapter 72: The Wasteland (End)
The black SUV left a lonely trail across the wasteland, speeding towards the deserted mountain area she had chosen.
It was a vast basin naturally enclosed by continuous mountain ranges, its terrain secluded, with only a narrow pass serving as the sole entrance and exit—a truly impregnable place. Within the basin, rivers and trees formed a stark contrast to the desolation and decay of the outside world. Most importantly, it was far removed from all known human settlements, and even traces of zombies were extremely rare.
A perfect place to secretly develop, a perfect "passage" landing point.
Zhou Jue parked the car outside the pass and carefully surveyed the surrounding environment. After confirming it was safe, she took out the remaining root of the "Abyss Devourer" from the Starry Sky Box.
"Brother Tongzi, this thing is so weak right now, will it survive if we plant it?" Zhou Jue asked in his mind.
[Host, rest assured, this organism's roots possess extremely strong vitality. With only a small amount of biological nutrients, it can quickly regain its activity and begin to grow.] The system replied: [It is recommended to plant it in the center of the pass as the first natural line of defense.]
Zhou Jue nodded, walked to the narrowest part of the pass, and buried the broken branch in the soil. Then, through the master-servant contract, she issued a clear and absolute command.
"From this moment on, protect this basin."
"First, actively kill any zombies that approach the pass. Second, if you find humans or other mutated plants or animals, do not kill them; use vines to confine them within this area and wait for me to handle them."
"Third, without my order, no one shall be harmed among the confined targets."
The broken branch buried in the soil trembled slightly, as if responding to her command. But it was far too weak, not even showing a trace of decent energy fluctuation.
If you want a horse to run, you have to feed it grass.
Zhou Jue looked at the wilderness outside the basin, her eyes sharpening. In her final moments, she needed to do two things: first, accumulate more energy before returning; second, feed this future "Guardian Tree of the Nation".
These two things can be done simultaneously.
Over the next two days, Zhou Jue transformed into the Grim Reaper of this mountainous region. Centered on the pass, she began to clear out the zombies in a radial pattern.
"boom!"
The miniature electromagnetic cannon let out a low growl, and a blue beam swept across, instantly severing seven or eight wandering zombies in front of it at the waist. Before their upper bodies even hit the ground, they had already lost all signs of life.
Zhou Jue didn't stop. The power armor's engine roared, and she moved at high speed through the wilderness like a silver cheetah. Light prism blades popped out, drawing deadly blue arcs, cleanly and swiftly slaying one approaching zombie after another.
For her, fighting had become a highly efficient form of slaughter.
Whenever she finished clearing an area, she would throw the mangled zombie corpses next to the "Abyss Devourer" plant.
At first, the corpses were just piled up there quietly. But soon, as the nutrients increased, tiny black roots began to emerge from beneath the soil. As if they hadn't eaten for eight hundred years, they quickly wrapped around the corpses and slowly dragged them into the ground.
Visibly, the soil at the pass was becoming increasingly dark, as if a terrifying life was awakening and growing beneath that land.
On Zhou Jue's system panel, the energy was also rising rapidly.
Collecting regular zombies grants +1% energy.
Collecting regular zombies grants +1% energy.
...
When she had almost completely wiped out the zombies within a ten-kilometer radius, her energy had accumulated to 2389%, and her points reached 40,000.
The mutated plant at the pass finally showed some signs of improvement. Several black vines, as thick as an arm, emerged from the ground and moved slowly around the pass like vigilant sentinels.
Just as Zhou Jue was preparing to expand the cleanup area, she made an unexpected discovery at the foot of a mountain wall infested with zombies.
To clear a horde of zombies hiding in a cave, she unleashed an overloaded electromagnetic cannon, blasting half of the cave into the ground. Amidst the rubble, some ores shimmering with a strange metallic luster were revealed.
[Ding! Unrecorded high-value mineral vein discovered!]
[Composition analysis in progress... Analysis complete. This ore is a by-product of 'Thorium' and 'Adamantite', possessing a variety of excellent properties such as high strength, high toughness, and high energy conductivity, making it an excellent material for manufacturing advanced power armor and energy weapons.]
Zhou Jue's heart skipped a beat.
Scarce resource! And strategically important at that!
She immediately set to work, using the high-temperature mode of the Prism Blade to slice off large chunks of the exposed vein as easily as cutting tofu. She didn't take too much; she only mined the outermost and most easily accessible part, filling nearly a hundred cubic meters, which she piled into a glittering little mountain in the Starry Secret Box.
After doing all this, she cleverly moved the rocks to cover up the traces of the mineral vein again, making it seamless.
This world truly has many treasures.
[Countdown to Return: 1 hour 00 minutes 02] The system notification sounded.
Zhou Jue returned to the tranquil basin and selected the future landing point for the passage—a wide grassland in the center of the basin.
She began to take stock of what she had gained from this doomsday trip.
Inside the Starry Secret Box, a mountain of plundered precision instruments, equipment blueprints, and finished weapons lay beside a small thorium-adamite mine, along with the "Chimera's" cryogenic hibernation chamber and its accompanying medical and life-sustaining equipment. In addition, there were advanced gene optimization fluids, advanced plant evolution fluids, blueprints for bone regeneration technology, blueprints for medical pods, and the mysterious architectural blueprints for the "Heavenly Observation Pass."
The harvest was absolutely abundant!
"Brother Tongzi, one last question," Zhou Jue asked in her mind, "After I establish the two-way passage, will the zombies, gray gu, and other dangers in this world travel through the passage to Blue Star?" She didn't want to turn Blue Star into a second apocalypse; if there was a risk, it was better not to establish it.
[Host, please rest assured. The passage constructed by the 'Multiverse Coordinate Anchoring System' possesses a 'Law-level' purification barrier. Any life form or matter lacking 'access permission' will be instantly decomposed into the most basic particles upon attempting to traverse the passage. Only life forms authorized by the host or those with a contract with the host can travel safely.]
Zhou Jue breathed a sigh of relief; this was the most important safety guarantee.
"After the people from Earth come here, will they be rejected by the Heavenly Dao or the laws of this world? After all, they are outsiders."
"No." The system's answer was straightforward.
First, the system channel itself follows the laws of all realms, constituting a 'legal entry,' and will not provoke an instinctive backlash from the world's will.
Secondly, due to the cataclysm, life in this world is continuously decreasing, and the world's primordial energy is severely depleted. For the 'Heavenly Dao,' it is simultaneously fighting against an external 'Heavenly Dao' and losing internal energy, leaving it in a state of extreme weakness and thirst. The arrival of life forms from Earth is not an invasion for it, but rather 'nourishment' to replenish 'humanity' and restore the world's vitality.
[As long as it doesn't cause world-ending destruction, it would even welcome it.]
“Legally entered the country…nutrients…” Zhou Jue was speechless at the system’s analogy, but she understood the reasoning.
The world is eager for us to come! With all his doubts resolved, Zhou Jue had no more worries.
[Countdown to World Travel: 10, 9, 8...]
She took one last look at the basin that had been the source of her heart and soul and her hopes.
【…3, 2, 1! The journey begins!】
Just as the white light was about to engulf her figure, the sky above this shattered world changed color. A faint golden light, almost imperceptible yet containing the power of supreme rules, pierced through the thick clouds and entered Zhou Jue's body with perfect precision.
[Transfer complete.]
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