The apocalypse struck, and I became a druid.

Page 249

"Since everyone has concerns, perhaps we can consider a different approach for the last three spots."

"Could we lower the standards a bit? It doesn't necessarily have to be complete underwater combat experts, but it must be someone with extremely strong survivability, stealth skills, or some kind of special auxiliary ability who can play a key role in the deep-sea environment."

He glanced at the leaders of the medium-sized gathering areas in the back row:

"For example, individuals with enhanced vision or hearing who can warn of danger in advance, or those who can generate oxygen or purify water, or even awakened individuals with life-saving skills such as short-distance teleportation or passing through walls—you should have such candidates under your command, right?"

“That’s right, these three can be leaned towards support roles,” Zheng Weiguo added.

Upon hearing this, many leaders' expressions softened somewhat.

If direct combat is not required, and the focus is instead on reconnaissance and survival, then the risk seems to be reduced considerably.

After further discussion, weighing of options, and even some private exchanges of benefits, the three spots were finally decided.

One qualified Awakened individual from each of the several large settlements known for their reconnaissance and survival skills will fill the vacancy.

Although their overall strength may not be as comprehensive as those Iron-level masters, their unique abilities may be able to play a surprising role in certain situations.

At this point, the reconnaissance teams targeting the three suspected source locations were finally assembled.

Each squad has a core of twelve members, consisting of the main forces from the Navy, the Sword of Judgment, and the White Shark, plus technicians from the Atomic Fission team, army special forces, and one person with special abilities, for a total of 36 people.

The specific details of the infiltration plan, equipment allocation, and communication support were led by technical personnel from the Navy, the Nuclear Fission Institute, and the Army, and each team discussed and formulated their own plans.

Throughout the entire process, Han Ning and the Biyun community he represented remained silent, offering no opinions and simply listening quietly.

Zheng Weiguo did not mention them, and the others did not pay attention to them either.

Even Liang Tie thought that among the five people sent by the Sword of Judgment, there would be a master like Han Ning.

The first day of the meeting concluded amidst the petty thoughts of the leaders of various gathering areas.

The following day, the focus of the meeting shifted to the overall framework of the "Deep Tide Decapitation" plan and the cooperation methods among all parties in the subsequent final offensive.

Issues such as resource allocation, intelligence sharing, communication, and evacuation support.

However, these issues were discussed by the personnel who were identified to be involved in the exploration.

The rest of the people began to share what they had and needed.

The group of people around Han Ning, as representatives of the Biyun gathering area, began to make contact with people from other gathering areas.

President Wu mainly focused on resource allocation. He detailed the advantages of the Biyun Cluster in agricultural planting and cultivation of special crops, and proposed to continuously provide high-quality food supplies and some medicinal plants to various clusters.

Lin Qianqian, Professor Ye, Cheng Rui, and others were extremely busy. They took the non-core rune application information compiled by the study group and had in-depth exchanges with the technical personnel of Atomic Fission, Sword of Judgment, and even the Navy.

Although the Origin Clan's heritage held by Biyun is top secret, some basic and lower-level heritages of the Fish-Man Clan have become bargaining chips in technology exchanges, bringing back much much-needed industrial technology knowledge for the Biyun settlement area.

After two days of meetings, Chairman Wu and his team returned with a thick stack of letters of intent and preliminary plans for cooperation, covering multiple aspects such as trade in goods, technology sharing, and personnel training.

That night, in the room where several people were temporarily staying in the Biyun settlement, Han Ning carefully reviewed these documents.

"Boss, we've done a preliminary screening of these proposals, eliminating some that are obviously unfair or contain traps."

Chairman Wu pointed to several documents and said,

"For example, the agreement to exchange monster crystals for food with the Blue Lake Gathering Area, the special ores for rune equipment with the Rose Gathering Area, the water-spraying melon and firearms trade with an army battalion, and some low-level extraordinary crop seeds from the Aoki Clan in exchange for our skilled planting personnel to come to the Aoki Clan for technical training... I think these can all be promoted."

"In addition, even atomic fission has sought cooperation with us. They are currently working with the Army to research a rune warhead, but this warhead lacks a carrier to transfer energy. They heard that our Biyun is good at cultivating different extraordinary crops, even better than the Qingmu Group, so they came to us to conduct preliminary technical exchanges."

Cheng Rui sat to the side and said,

"No specific technical exchange agreement has been reached yet. We are interested in atomic fission. What does the boss mean?"

Han Ning quickly skimmed through the key terms while asking:

What do they use for exchange?

“There are many. They gave several examples. For instance, the gray robes they wore were made of cloth armor woven using local extraordinary crops and technological means. They had strong cold protection, energy conduction, and heat shielding capabilities.”

"In addition, there are communication methods for harsh environments, methods for detecting the Black Tide monsters, and so on."

Han Ning closed the document.

These documents have all been screened by Chairman Wu and others, so there are basically no problems with them.

As long as he double-checks and there are no loopholes, that's fine.

He nodded in satisfaction:

"Yes, these collaborations are very helpful to our current development. In terms of technology exchange, we need to be careful not to leak the core knowledge of the Origin Clan for the time being. However, it is worthwhile to exchange scrap knowledge for the basic industrial capabilities we urgently need."

"We can try to make contact with them about atomic fission first, ask them about their specific requirements for warhead materials, and see if we can manufacture it."

"Thank you all for your hard work. This exchange has been very rewarding."

"Then it's settled."

Han Ning handed the documents to Chairman Wu.

"These plans will be implemented by Chairman Wu, with all departments cooperating, and contact information should be added as soon as possible."

"Okay!" Everyone nodded.

On the morning of the third day, as the meeting agenda was basically finalized and all parties began preparing to return, Han Ning took the initiative to approach Colonel Pang and Zheng Weiguo.

"Colonel Pang, Commander Zheng, I would like to formally invite you two, along with relevant technical experts, to conduct an on-site inspection of our Biyun Industrial Cluster."

Han Ning said sincerely,

"Seeing is believing. With both of you having personally witnessed the material's performance, our subsequent cooperation negotiations will have a more solid foundation."

Chapter 289 Warm Hospitality

That morning, a team composed of members of the Navy and the Sword of Judgment left the Aoki Group's base and headed northeast towards the Azure Cloud Gathering Area.

In addition to Han Ning and Bi Yun's original team, the team was expanded to include Colonel Pang and two naval technical officers.

Zheng Weiguo then traveled with Li Feng and three other team leaders.

Snowcake and the Frostwolf mount of the Sword of Judgment galloped across the frozen ground at great speed.

The closer they got to the area where Biyun was located, the more astonished Colonel Pang and Zheng Weiguo became.

Actually... when Colonel Pang saw Han Ning's "pet" Xuebing, he showed a surprised expression for the first time.

A lizard more powerful than most community leaders was actually this young man's pet.

This is something that has never been seen before.

When the tour group arrived at the periphery of the Biyun cluster area.

The originally leaden sky seemed to clear up a bit, and the biting chill in the air was diluted by a slightly moist, vibrant breath blowing from the front.

The frozen, hard ground beneath our feet was gradually replaced by cold-resistant meadows and low shrubs.

"The ecological environment here far surpasses that of other places."

Colonel Pang took a light breath.

For many days, he had been living around the mountains near the polluted water, and apart from Aoki-dan, he had rarely seen such a sight.

This was also the first time that Zheng Weiguo and the others from the Sword of Judgment had come to the Biyun Gathering Area.

They frequently scanned their surroundings and noticed that in some inconspicuous corners, there were huge beehives clinging to the rock walls, with worker bees busily moving in and out, seemingly oblivious to their group.

These are not the four major bee colonies, but rather some slightly weaker, extraordinary bees that are attached to the four major bee colonies and can only live on the outskirts of the forest.

"It seems that Chief Han's ability to control this area is even stronger than we imagined."

When the forest defense line composed of countless thick trees came into view at the edge of the horizon, even the well-informed Colonel Pang and Zheng Weiguo couldn't help but be slightly moved.

At the edge of the forest, towering trees with lush foliage seemed to defy the harshness of the apocalypse, their rich green almost overflowing.

Even more astonishingly, swarms of bees of all sizes and colors hovered above the forest.

They stand in perfect order, like loyal guards, protecting this pristine land.

"We've arrived." Han Ning signaled the team to stop, and at the same time, whispered a few words into the communicator.

Chairman Wu and others jumped off the giant wolf and stood at the entrance to welcome them.

The sound of rustling leaves came from the forest, and several passages formed naturally by thick vines and trees slowly opened.

The passageway is softly lit, the ground is flat, and the air is filled with the refreshing scent of grass and trees.

"Incredible... How do you control this swarm of bees?" A naval technical officer couldn't help but exclaim, touching the passageway, which was clearly made up of still-growing trees.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to Professor Ye and the bee swarm." Han Ning smiled, without going into details, and led everyone into the passage.

After passing through a deep yet vibrant forest passage, a breathtaking view suddenly opens up before you.

A wide-open forested hillside area came into view.

At the end of the hillside is a near-vertical cliff.

A huge hole appeared on the cliff.

After the cave entrance was repaired, the most striking feature was the moss that covered the rock walls on both sides, emitting a soft white light, which illuminated the area around the entrance and dispelled the gloom of the apocalypse.

In an open space in front of the cave, Xu Ming, along with Fei Long from Tie Hu, Su Mingke from the Agricultural and Forestry University, and the core members of the Biyun gathering area who remained behind, were lined up and waiting. Everyone was in high spirits and had sincere smiles on their faces.

Xu Ming, A Long, and the others standing in front even held up two large wooden signs.

The sign read: "Welcome to visit, fellow members of the Navy and the Sword of Judgment."

Behind them stood members of the community, men, women, and children, all dressed neatly and cleanly, with rosy complexions and clear, bright eyes, showing no trace of the numbness and despair commonly seen in the apocalypse.

Outside the cave, a swarm of extraordinary bees buzzed and hovered on the rock wall.

Two bees unfurled a long banner made of leaves, with the same words written on it as on the wooden sign.

This vibrant energy and spirit made Colonel Pang, Zheng Weiguo, and others feel very comfortable.

This is definitely not the appearance of a settlement struggling to survive.

"Welcome Colonel Pang, Commander Zheng, and all officers to visit Biyun!" Xu Ming stepped forward, his voice booming.

"Unbelievable," Li Feng murmured to himself as he watched this scene.

If we're talking about the Aoki Gang, the style of the Sword of Judgment's construction still belongs to the style of human settlements.

The area where the clouds gather before us already resembles a dreamlike kingdom built by elves in a fairy tale.

After a simple welcoming ceremony, Han Ning smiled and invited the guests: "You've all come from afar, and you must be hungry. We've prepared a simple meal for you to eat and chat."