Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

To avoid allowing these aliens to interfere with humanity’s natural evolution, Ruo Manni and her group first relocated to Antarctica to settle. Later, they gradually allowed some Earthlings to come over.

The climate in Antarctica became even more terrifying after the apocalypse.
Not only was it perpetually icy and snowy, but the sudden storms were something even the powerful Gus Empire couldn’t withstand, let alone the relatively fragile humans of Earth. No one dared to venture into this area lightly, making it an ideal location for Ruo Manni and her group to settle.

They built a castle-like structure out of ice, but in reality, inside was their small spacecraft. It was cleverly disguised with a holographic illusion of an ice fortress. Even if Earthlings saw it, they would simply believe they were living in an ice castle.

Ruo Manni and her group rarely paid attention to the outside world now. They only intervened in crises where a base was at risk of being wiped out or when a level-six zombie appeared. For other matters, they stayed out of it, and no one could do anything about them.

Over the course of a year, it became apparent to people around the world that these 12 young individuals had a very mysterious background. They formed their own faction and were not affiliated with any country.

However, they maintained a favorable relationship with the country where they initially stayed, sharing their cultivation techniques. Within just two years, that country produced many fourth- and fifth-tier superhumans. Now, mutated animals and zombies in that nation had almost been completely eliminated.

Half a year after Ruo Manni moved to Antarctica, she went to B City to bring her parents, sister-in-law, and nephew after Lin Ruihai was transferred to the capital base.

She also brought along Wang Miaomiao, Liu Yang, and Liu Yang’s parents. The elite class often reminisced about Wang Miaomiao’s cooking skills.

As for Lin Kexin, she had decided to stay in China to be with Song Changlong. Naturally, she didn’t join Ruo Manni’s group. Lin Kexin had become the most renowned crystal energy expert in the capital base.

A year ago, Lin Kexin discovered how to harness the energy from crystal cores, providing a clean and sufficient energy source for machinery that had been rendered idle due to the lack of oil. Now, crystal energy was being applied across various fields.

With the advent of this new energy, global production resumed. Humanity no longer faced the massive loss of survivors. On the contrary, safety was now assured, and people no longer had to starve. This year alone, many babies were born, bringing a newfound vitality to the world.

After developing crystal energy technology, Lin Kexin quickly introduced crystal-powered guns, allowing ordinary people to fight back against zombie hordes by defending walls and killing zombies.

It can be said that Lin Kexin’s contribution to humanity was immense. As long as humanity on Earth wasn’t completely wiped out, she was undoubtedly the brightest star of the chaotic apocalypse era and the greatest scientist of the new human age.

After the harsh winter of the third year of the apocalypse, zombies that had undergone another stage of evolution began forming zombie hordes again, attacking the survivor bases of humanity.

This time, the majority of the zombies were fifth-tier, as any sixth-tier zombie that appeared was immediately killed. By the third year of the apocalypse, humanity still hadn’t seen what a sixth-tier zombie crystal core looked like.

In this wave of zombie attacks, even ordinary people armed with crystal-powered guns could fight back against the zombies. As a result, except for a few bases that encountered unforeseen circumstances, most survivor bases were able to defend themselves.

Humanity now had a newfound enthusiasm for killing zombies. What was once a desperate necessity had turned into an opportunity for profit. Zombies had become a source of wealth.

In their free time, survivors often formed teams to go hunting zombies. With so many zombies swarming in front of them during this wave, they couldn’t pass up the chance to kill as many as possible.

The planting season had already begun. Killing more zombies and collecting more crystal cores meant being able to exchange for more abundant supplies, ensuring a cozy and prosperous winter.

As time continued to pass, by mid-November of the third year of the apocalypse, Ruo Manni remembered from the rebirther’s apocalypse survival guide that a massive explosion was supposed to occur in mid-November of that year. The rebirther had died in this explosion during their previous life.

“I told you to ask them to disperse the crowds and keep everyone as low-profile as possible. What did they say?” Ruo Manni asked Lin Ruihai via communication.

The author of the survival guide hadn’t detailed the cause of the explosion or the last scene they saw before their death, leaving Ruo Manni and her group unable to determine what caused the explosion.

“In fact, I didn’t even need to submit a report. The capital base began taking action half a year ago. They’ve been digging numerous underground shelters and plan to evacuate most people into the shelters for the winter as soon as the season starts,” Lin Ruihai explained.

“Both Kexin and I met the rebirther who wrote the survival guide at the Bureau of Special Abilities. As soon as he posted that information, he was found and taken into custody by those in charge. So, the base has been somewhat prepared for humanity’s second potential calamity.”

Ruo Manni was slightly surprised. “No wonder they managed to preserve so many people and resources. That’s a good thing. When I arrived at the capital base, I already noticed some differences from what the rebirther described.”

“The warning time was too short. They didn’t have time to fully verify the information. Otherwise, they could’ve done even more,” Lin Ruihai said regretfully.

“They asked you to meet with him personally?” Ruo Manni asked thoughtfully.

After Lin Ruihai arrived at the capital base, he was indeed highly valued and became the chief instructor of the entire base’s military.

However, given Lin Ruihai’s background and connections, he should have been a mid-to-high-ranking officer, not someone with such high authority. So why did they inexplicably allow him to meet with the rebirther?

“Yes, it’s classified. If they hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t have had the clearance to go there. But the rebirther is living very well—he has food and shelter provided and even has dedicated protection. He’s healthy, well-fed, and doesn’t look like someone living in the apocalypse,” Lin Ruihai said with a sigh.

“Because of his memories from his previous life, he’s being given special treatment. But who knows if he’ll continue to enjoy these privileges after this harsh winter,” he added.

“They suddenly allowed you and Kexin to meet with the rebirther. Does this have something to do with us?” Ruo Manni quickly caught onto the key point.

“Yes. The rebirther said that in his previous life, you twelve didn’t exist. During the second year of the apocalypse, when zombies besieged the bases, humanity suffered catastrophic losses, with at least half the survivors perishing.

But in this life, thanks to your interventions, the number of casualties among survivors was only about one-tenth.

In the third year of the apocalypse, during the sweep of the second zombie wave, humanity couldn’t handle the sixth-tier zombies. At that time, the total global population of survivors dropped to less than ten million.

But in this life, by the third year of the apocalypse, not only are there many new births, but the number of survivors has clearly exceeded the losses.”

“And did you ask him what his situation was like just before he died?” Ruo Manni asked.

“Yes,” Lin Ruihai replied. “By the third year of the apocalypse, the number of survivors had plummeted sharply. To survive, survivors from different countries worked tirelessly to gather together during the harsh winter. But unexpectedly, they were bombarded with heavy artillery.”

“Artillery?”

“Yes. He said that before this happened, contact was suddenly lost with other bases. Then he heard earth-shattering explosions. After that, he felt intense heat, and in an instant, he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he found himself back seven days before the apocalypse began.”