Guan Xin's Red Rose camp occupied an ancient castle in the area.
It was originally intended for tourist visits.
Now Guan Xin would restore it to its intended function.
The largest castle in the inner city was the base for Guan Xin and the Red Rose camp.
The surrounding slum areas and outer city walls served as the quarters for these newly gathered camps.
To attack the core castle, whether from the air or by land, attackers would have to pass through the civilian areas.
Therefore, it was not an exaggeration to call these people cannon fodder and a strategic buffer.
Guan Xin stood at the highest point of the castle, gazing into the distance.
"Leader, the surrounding defenses have begun construction and are expected to be fully completed by tomorrow morning!"
"The surveillance team reports that upon returning, the heads of each camp have issued defense operation plans as per your instructions."
"Except for a few individuals with objections, the majority of survivors are willing to obey their camp leaders' commands. Leader, you need not worry!"
A girl with large eyes reported from the side.
"Mm, these people are under my charm. They won't wake up for the next two days!"
"So, I'm not worried about the defenses..."
Guan Xin said calmly, her gaze fixed on the distance.
"Then... I see you seem preoccupied?"
"Our camp's combat power is overall much higher than other camps."
"When the third phase arrives, we might not be at a disadvantage..."
Before the girl could finish speaking, Guan Xin gently waved her hand to interrupt her.
"I'm not worried about ourselves!"
"Huh?" Hearing this, the girl asked with a puzzled expression:
"Not worried about ourselves? Then who else is worth the leader's concern?"
Guan Xin did not answer directly. After a brief moment of thought, she suddenly asked:
"You say... what exactly did one have to experience to discover a loophole that even the system couldn't find?"
"The original 30-day suppression was suddenly shortened to 15 days. How could such a thing be known easily?!"
"Will the person who experienced these things be in great danger?"
The girl with large eyes had only recently joined the Red Rose camp and didn't know who "he" Guan Xin was referring to, so she answered vaguely:
"Since this person has the ability to experience such things, their strength must be extraordinary!"
"Furthermore, they had the time to release this information, indicating that their situation is not dangerous. They are not worried about themselves but about others."
"Speaking of which, this person is quite rare in the apocalypse – someone with a sense of responsibility!"
Hearing the girl say this, Guan Xin couldn't help but smile slightly.
Hearing someone praise Zhang Chen made Guan Xin happier than hearing someone praise herself.
At this moment, suddenly, the system issued a world-wide notification!
Ding! The world's first Evolutionary has been born, announced to the entire world!
"No way, so soon? An Evolutionary has appeared?"
"Didn't they say that reaching an Advanced Transcendent was a limit, and no more upgrade cores could be collected?"
"How did this person upgrade?"
The girl with large eyes asked with a face full of astonishment.
"Let's go!"
Guan Xin smiled and turned to leave.
"Huh? You... you've figured out what you were worried about?"
The girl asked with a puzzled expression.
Although she had tried her best to comfort Guan Xin, she knew that Guan Xin was not someone easily persuaded.
Yet, in just a few seconds, she had already let go of her worries?
What was going on?
"Mm, I've figured it out. I was overthinking!"
"Let's go back to eat and rest, get a good night's sleep. Who knows how long we'll be fighting from the next phase!"
Guan Xin stretched with a relaxed expression and then walked briskly towards her bedroom...
......
On the other side, outside the seventh high-wall city.
Zhang Chen looked at the courtyard filled to the brim with [Energy Gathering Cores] and felt a bit troubled.
He had been on the road and hadn't had time to fuse cores to upgrade.
Now he finally had time to upgrade.
But he accidentally took too many cores!
30.12 million [Energy Gathering Cores], taken out from his ring, had completely submerged the entire manor.
Zhang Chen stood on the top floor, but if he opened a window, he could step directly out onto the [Energy Gathering Cores].
Zuo Nan, seeing this scene, was so shocked that he couldn't speak a word.
His gaze was dazed as he looked at these cores, his mind a complete blank.
He had never seen so many [Energy Gathering Cores] in his life.
Based on Zuo Nan's previous reincarnation, where he obtained 25,000 [Energy Gathering Cores] in 30 days,
to collect 30.12 million [Energy Gathering Cores] would likely require continuous effort for 1204.8 months, equivalent to 100 years...
Fusing these cores was like playing a game for Xiao Bai!
When she saw these cores covering the ground like mountains, she was so happy her mouth couldn't close.
She fused them here in the yard and there in the yard.
In no time, large pits appeared on the ground that was once covered with cores.
Then Xiao Bai and Mo Ran jumped around in the pits, letting out bursts of carefree laughter from time to time.
From dusk till midnight, these cores were finally completely fused.
Xiao Bai, whether tired from playing or from fusing, returned to Zhang Chen's room and fell asleep immediately.
Mo Ran, on the other hand, wove a comfortable hammock in the corner and lay on it lightly to rest.
Zhang Chen roughly counted the cores.
This time, he fused 30 million [Energy Gathering Cores], leaving 120,000 for Zhang Chen to buy things.
A total of 10,000 [Super Energy Gathering Cores] were fused!
Next was the stage of berserk upgrading!
Ding! Detected that your current level is Divine Tier 2 · Advanced Transcendent Stage 2, 10690 (originally had 690 [Super Energy Gathering Cores])/300*4!
Upgrade conditions met, do you wish to upgrade immediately!
Ding! Upgrade successful! Your current level is Divine Tier 2 · Advanced Transcendent Stage 3, upgrading to Evolutionary requires 800*4 [Super Energy Gathering Cores]!
Continue upgrading!
Ding! Upgrade successful! Your current level is Divine Tier 2 · Junior Evolutionary Stage 1, upgrading to Junior Evolutionary Stage 2 requires 6290/1500*4!
Continue upgrading!
Ding! Upgrade successful! Your current level is Divine Tier 2 · Junior Evolutionary Stage 2, upgrading to Junior Evolutionary Stage 3 requires 290/3000*4!
A continuous increase of 3 levels!
It felt absolutely amazing!
Each upgrade increased talent points by 4. At this moment, Zhang Chen had gained an additional 12 talent points!
Ding! A new talent tree has been unlocked!
As the upgrade was completed, a magnificent and vast new talent tree slowly appeared before Zhang Chen.