Chapter 370

Three people sat opposite each other, the cigarettes in their hands flickering.

Smoke wreathed about, just like the white mist of early morning.

Gunfire rang out outside the vehicle from time to time, mixed with the whistling of artillery shells.

As expected, another wave of zombies appeared around them.

The line was very long, but fortunately the largest zombie horde was firmly 'guarding' the high tower, allowing them to reach this place smoothly.

"Lin Dui."

After Gao Tian finished his last puff of cigarette, he couldn't help asking Lin An:

"I always feel somewhat uneasy."

"I have been thinking a lot lately."

"Up to now, we haven't found any trace of the amoeba worm, nor any sign of the so-called undercurrents, the apocalypse crisis."

"Do you think it might be that we are driving all humanity to attack the zombie horde, which is actually a road to death?"

"If all humanity in this world were to die, would our mission be considered a failure?"

Lin An fell silent for a moment, then stubbed out the cigarette in his hand:

"No."

"The mission never mentioned protecting Survivors."

"Do you still remember the mission we received in the Safe Zone? 【Resist the zombie horde, survive to the end.】"

"This explanation means that if everyone in our Safe Zone dies, the mission counts as a failure."

"But after we entered the amoeba worm dungeon, the given task only said to resolve the apocalypse crisis."

"If the death of all humanity counted as mission failure, the system would certainly have given a clear explanation."

"I have verified this point with Huang Shaohua."

"Moreover, in fact, there is still a portion of humanity that we did not bring along."

Zhang Tie beside him chimed in with a muffled voice:

"Kid, just stop thinking so much."

"If we can't even solve the apocalypse crisis, do you think this bunch of rotten people could solve it?"

"That's how I see it. Didn't this dungeon not give a time limit?"

"That just means letting us slowly eliminate the zombies and restore the world to normal."

"But we're in a hurry, so we can only do it this way."

"Even if we don't bring these people along, they would still manage to get themselves killed."

"Have you forgotten what we saw when we first entered this world?"

"In those three years of cataclysm, more people died at the hands of these beasts than at the hands of zombies!"

"You've calculated this yourself, haven't you? At most another decade or so, and humanity in this world will have destroyed itself."

Xiong Hanzi patted Gao Tian on the shoulder and grinned:

"Look, at least we still have these people left; giving it our all still offers a bit of hope."

"With 700 million zombies, if each person kills a dozen or so, we'll wipe them out!"

"Drag it out a few more years, and who knows how many people will remain."

Lin An nodded, indicating that Zhang Tie was correct.

Actually, the time they entered was already the eve of this world's collapse.

He had actually calculated the world's future course if he did not intervene.

It was obvious.

War and the merger of a new round of Safe Zones were about to erupt.

Taking Troy and Lion Safe Zones as examples, these two major Safe Zones have already begun war.

Popular resentment, factional discord, material scarcity, plus humans in this environment are almost losing their most basic humanity.

Even if he did not intervene, the world would inevitably suffer heavy casualties in the new round of internal strife.

No one would care about the Greater Good.

Even if the surviving forces managed to annex other Safe Zones by luck after large-scale conflict, their fate would be nothing more than a slow death.

Weapons would break down from lack of maintenance, technology would suffer from personnel gaps, and food production would gradually decline due to lack of population and harsh weather.

The lower classes could not support newborns.

This world actually has no hope left.

In the projection, in about thirty years the world would regress to an agricultural age and eventually become 'barbarians'.

The speed of civilization's retreat will gradually accelerate.

The final outcome will be to remember, in despair, the once-flourishing human civilization before the cataclysm.

Then.

Utter extinction.

Thinking of this, Lin An couldn't help voicing his speculation:

"The clue about the amoeba worm should be in the high tower; as for the undercurrents and apocalypse crisis mentioned in the mission"

"I once wondered whether it might refer to the confrontation between the major factions."

"In the system's judgment, if we do not intervene to stop all this, humanity's end will be extinction."

"If in the system's simulation humanity is already powerless against the zombies, that counts as mission failure."

"According to common sense, what we are doing now should be the optimal strategy."

"Gather all forces, counterattack the zombies, and solve the mystery of the high tower."

Besides that, I can't think of any other way.

Zhang Tie slapped his thigh hard, feeling somewhat moved:

Yeah!

I think that's just how it is! What dark current, what dark current could there be?

Zombies don't run around randomly; the only things that can move are people.

No mutants, no supernatural incidents—plainly put, this bunch of bastards is just asking for death.

Gao Tian, after hearing that, also couldn't think of a more reasonable possibility; after a moment's thought, he voiced his other concerns:

Captain Lin, that's correct.

How did those Awakened Ones that Huang Shaohua mentioned die?

I can understand being a First Level.

Generally, a First Level Awakened One is strong, but it's unlikely they could conquer the world by strength alone.

They might not even have managed to bring all forces under their command before dying under artillery fire.

Just like me.

If I were to confront the army head-on, it would be certain death. Even if I slowly assassinated various leaders, I might not be able to stop the wars in the Safe Zones.

Let alone gathering all forces to counterattack the zombies.

Lin An nodded; Gao Tian's analysis was correct.

He also reasoned backwards about what a First Level Awakened One would do after entering this dungeon previously.

Supernatural power in this world is indeed terrifying, capable of multiplying.

But that's really all there is to it.

With his current strength, can it be said that he can crush the world by force?

To be frank, his strength has already surpassed the normal range of a Second Level.

An ordinary Second Level couldn't achieve that effect.

Even so, he still relied on a Space Ring filled with explosives, and by using Sky Walk and Celestial Form to disguise himself as a Divine Envoy, he only managed to wipe out two Safe Zones before winning over the people.

If it were a normal Second Level, an Elemental System might barely hope to slowly reveal a 'Divine Trace'.

If it were a First Level, or even a Body System...

... even if exhausted to death, they couldn't conquer the world.

Xiong Hanzi's defense and strength are strong enough, right? But if he truly had to face a million-strong army head-on, under successive seven or eight rounds of heavy artillery bombardment, he couldn't take it; he'd be worn down to death.

As for Gao Tian, even if a bowstring snapped, he couldn't take down a few thousand people.

Seeing Lin An agree with his view, Gao Tian took a deep breath:

Captain Lin.

Never mind us First Levels for now; I'm wondering how a Third Level Peak existence died.

Such an existence could only have had an accident inside the High Tower.

Could an Amoeba Worm be a top-tier existence, constantly producing zombies?

Upon realizing that, the Third Level Peak existence headed straight for the High Tower.

Result... dying in a short time?