Chapter 168: Channel Opens

Huaxia capital war zone.

Lin Zhan stood straight in front of the hall's podium, speaking slowly:

「In 4 hours and 59 minutes! All Awakened Ones must uniformly release information; everyone must pay attention to the content, no mistakes allowed! 」

「This is the capital's first release of information to the outside world; we want all Survivors in Huaxia to know! 」

「We're still here! 」

「Huaxia still has a unified government! 」

「The state has abandoned no one! 」

The hall was spacious, the lights bright.

Over a thousand Awakened Ones responsible for sending information had solemn expressions and determined eyes.

「Yes! 」

The shouts were uniform, and they saluted in unison.

「We guarantee to complete the mission! 」

These 6000 Awakened Ones were all selected by the military; each underwent repeated political vetting, guaranteeing clean backgrounds and loyalty to the state.

Called together overnight, no one slept; they repeatedly recited the first information release drafted just three hours earlier.

All this to ensure that, amidst the massive chat messages, every Survivor could see the information accurately and clearly.

Nie Ping stood on the other side; he was responsible for, after the 【Capital Speech】 was released, continuing to release information about the capital regarding specific measures concerning Lin An and Long'an Base, as well as the attitude.

Likewise, these 6000 Awakened Ones guaranteed that their information would not be buried by spam messages.

Just...

He let out a light sigh, his gaze complex.

Lin Zhan had read the report he gave him.

If Lin An truly is the person in the report, then he is indeed worthy of caution.

But, everything is still just speculation...

The content of the information release given by superiors three hours ago was actually somewhat inhumane.

In a sense, it carries a tone of coercion and probing.

He also came to understand some of Lin Zhan's thoughts.

As long as Lin An cooperates and hands over the Safe Zone token, as long as he is not the person in the report.

The state is still willing to 'boost' him, shaping him into a Huaxia rising star; his status will definitely not be low.

Military rank, supplies, wealth, authority...

As long as Lin An cooperates, give him whatever he wants of these things.

After all, as the first player to establish a Safe Zone.

Unless absolutely necessary, Hua Guo would not go so far as to slap its own face, treating its own war zone's first as an enemy.

Regardless of whether Lin An succeeded by luck or fortune.

Or perhaps, with the help of a certain Military Region, he was merely pushed forward as a puppet.

At least the title of the first Safe Zone is still worth the state's attention.

Nie Ping opened the chat channel; dense messages poured down like a waterfall.

Although sending information consumes energy, the number of Survivors is simply too great to withstand.

Moreover, just having been opened, almost no one can restrain the urge to send messages.

Many are even surviving alone, or trapped somewhere.

The chat channel is their only hope for help.

「Huaxia War Zone Chat Channel: 【When sending information, player info will be marked—level, rank, specific war zone, and the Safe Zone they are in; this information cannot be hidden or forged】」

「Huaxia East War Zone-Zhang Ya: Save! Zhuzhou Fuyuan Road Primary School! 171 people! 」

On Zhuzhou Fuyuan Road, a young woman with a pallid face looked out the window at the dense Corpse Horde.

The stepped classroom originally for music lessons was packed with children; these children timidly looked at their teacher, not daring to make a sound.

Why... no one replied to the message!

Zhang Ya clenched her hands tightly on the anti-theft bar in front of her, supporting her weak body.

After the Apocalypse broke out, they were trapped here; if not for the nutrition lunch prepared for the kids on the fourth floor, they could not have lasted until now.

No army, no Survivors, no hope.

As soon as the chat channel opened, she hurriedly sent out a message.

Already lacking food and with a weak body, those few short words almost took half her life.

However, the sent message vanished like a stone in the sea, instantly drowned under the tens of millions of messages pouring out at the same time...

Hope shattered.

In despair, she gave a bitter smile and glanced at the clueless children.

A few seconds later, she trembled again and slowly typed out a few characters.

「Zhuzhou Fuyuan, children」

The six characters had just been sent when they were pushed out of the chat box, unnoticed.

「Plop. 」

The fingers gripping the iron bar weakly loosened.

「Teacher! 」

「Teacher Zhang! 」

The children's panicked cries rang out, causing the Corpse Horde outside the window to stir.

South China War Zone - Cao Yi: Looking for father Cao Jin, daughter is.....

On the second floor of Vanguard Supermarket, a girl in a white dress knelt on the ground; a few short words almost drained her.

Hunger in her stomach clenched painfully, and her vision went dark.

If she typed a few more characters, the system would probably drain her vitality completely.

"Brother Huang... please give me something to eat so I can finish typing these words..."

The girl's eyes were wet as she desperately begged the Awakened One before her.

Before the chat channel announcement came out, she found the leader among the survivors here, begged him for some food, and then used the message to locate her missing father.

She had thought that the food obtained by promising... to sleep with them would allow her to send a message.

But she didn't expect that her strength was utterly insufficient to support sending a complete sentence.

The man called Brother Huang glanced at her contemptuously, then stubbed out his cigarette butt hard on her body.

The girl couldn't even muster a painful groan.

"You slut, getting something to eat just to send a message is already not bad."

"Want to find your father? Those few words won't eat much of my stuff."

Brother Huang turned his head to look at his few underlings and waved them over:

"Come on, come on, a few of us brothers will send messages together."

"I can see that with few people, sending messages is useless."

Several men holding steel bars bent over, flatteringly asking Brother Huang:

"Brother, what should we send?"

"Shall we find a few chicks for you to come to?"

Brother Huang snorted, kicked a lackey, then pulled out a pack of beef jerky from the crate beneath him, eating as he said:

"Got some ambition? In this apocalypse, women are the last thing lacking! Sending a message to look for women is pointless."

"It's definitely about recruiting manpower!"

"If we recruit a few more Awakened Ones, we can also set up a Safe Zone to play with."

"Right, remember to add a few words looking for Lord Lin An later; if that lord is willing to reply, we'll make a big profit."

"Maybe he'll even tell us a trick to complete the mission..."

Upon hearing this, several people quickly nodded and took the food Brother Huang handed out.

"South China War Zone - Huang Si Hua, Rank 0: Welcome Awakened Ones to join at the Vanguard Supermarket on Tengjiang Road! Food is sufficient! Huang Si Hua greets Lord Lin An! Looking forward to your reply!"

"South China War Zone - Liang Ping Zhi, Rank 0: Welcome Awakened Ones to join at the Vanguard Supermarket on Tengjiang Road! Food is sufficient! Liang Ping Zhi greets Lord Lin An! Looking forward to your reply!"

Seven identical messages in a row actually drew some people's attention.

After a few people sent the messages, aside from two Awakened Ones, the rest instantly felt dizzy.

"Damn, it almost drained us to death; this damn system is really harsh!"

They quickly chewed a few bites of beef jerky to replenish the drained stamina.

"Quick! Send a few more!"

"Who knows, maybe Lord Lin An has already seen our messages!"

Inside the hydroelectric station, more than ten Awakened Ones sat on piles of goods, eating while chatting.

These people had fled from the surrounding county towns, where zombie numbers were low, and they themselves were Awakened Ones.

They had brought their whole families with them, so after the chat channel appeared, they were more concerned about future survival issues.

Backed by the hydroelectric station, the area is desolate, and no forces can be mustered.

Not everyone harbors the ambition to become a regional ruler.

Furthermore, on the surface, the authorities have said nothing so far; many Awakened Ones who thought to cling to the military's thigh turned around and wanted to find Lin An.

Awakened Ones understand the strength of Mutants better than ordinary players.

Thus, the first established Long'an Base became, in their eyes, a safe haven.

North China War Zone, top floor of the Wealth Building.

Twenty-six Awakened Ones in a squad all looked toward the man before them, awaiting orders.

"Everyone! Continuously send the message that the Beichen Safe Zone is about to be established; I have already taken on the Safe Zone task last night."

"Distribute the weapons we previously obtained, and then designate 200 civilians as bait."

The man slowly turned his body, his eyes thoughtful.

He wore a neat, crisp suit.

He swayed the glass in his hand, full of confidence.

"I led a team to kill a Second Level Mutant yesterday; I believe that with the new heavy firepower's help, killing a top-tier Second Level Mutant is no problem."

"If nothing unexpected happens, we can establish our own Safe Zone at most in half a month!"

The man, ambitious, looked at the chat messages spamming searches for Lin An and praises, a flicker of contempt flashing in his eyes:

"Lin An? Just a lucky guy.."