284: Chapter 284 The Red Moon Can't Break In, Ma Chao Gets Planted in the Ground

Lin Naer's name had just been entered into the highest authority zone when the sixth Red Moon pressed down over the Jiang-Zhe-Hu Region.

Blood-red light covered the main screen.

The Zombie Horde surged from the western line of Jiangcheng; the vanguard crashed onto the highway, while the rear was still climbing over the ruins.

Lin Motong sat in the command seat, hugging her lop-eared teddy bear.

"The zombie groups in the three regions, divide them into three hundred and sixty control zones."

"Cut off the charge routes."

On the outskirts of Jiangcheng, the zombie groups under her control pressed into the roads from both sides. The wild Mutants driven by the Red Moon were cut into dozens of pieces, blocking the space between the buildings and the elevated highway.

Wang Ya connected to the water network.

Rivers, fire hydrants, and underground reservoirs supplied water simultaneously. Walls of water rose above the intersections, and the low temperature sealed the wall structure. The Zombie Horde crashed into them, piling up in rows on the spot.

The twelve Titans were divided into three squads.

Tank guarded Shanghai.

Jiang Yun switched to Unit 4 and led her team to support Jiangcheng.

The defense line of Zhe City was commanded by Zhou Heng, with three mechs rotating their cores and coordinating with the artillery to advance forward.

Zhao Dingshan stared at the battle damage report.

"The eastern line of Shanghai has been cleared."

Chu Feng's voice followed.

"The outskirts of Jiang University have been dealt with."

Zhou Heng pulled out the military knife stuck in a corpse.

"No nodes in Zhe City have fallen."

From the moment the Red Moon rose until the last A-rank aberration fell, it only took forty-seven minutes.

Lin Yuan sat in front of the main screen, never leaving his seat the entire time.

The defense lines of the three regions had been cleared.

Yet, no one in the command room celebrated.

The water network in the port area of Shanghai had frozen into thick ice. Several soldiers stepped over the corpses, their military boots pressing onto the weeds by the roadside.

The blades of grass shattered into powder.

Footage was transmitted back from the agricultural area of Zhe City.

The frozen soil cracked, and the seedlings under the trellis lay flat on the ground. Lin Motong sent a zombie group to dig half a meter down, and the root Systems had already rotted into black mud.

Wang Ya drew a water sample from a deep well.

The water was drinkable, but the temperature was still dropping.

"The deep-layer water is also losing heat."

She placed the test bottle into the instrument.

"After the Red Moon receded, the rate of decline did not stop."

Su Xiaonuan pulled up the agricultural data for the three regions.

[Jiangcheng open-air agricultural area survival rate: 28%.]

[Shanghai retrofitted greenhouse energy consumption: 2.4 times the original standard.]

[Zhe City seed germination rate: 19%.]

"At this rate, if two more Red Moons of the same level come, the open-air agricultural areas will be completely ruined."

The curves for cold storage inventory, population growth, and crystal core consumption were displayed on the main screen.

Jiang Xiaowan supported her waist and leaned back against the chair.

"The mall can exchange for food."

Su Xiaonuan opened the crystal core expenditure.

"Defense lines, potions, mechs, and Superpower upgrades all require crystal cores."

"Using crystal cores to trade for food can save us in an emergency. But with the population in the three regions continuing to grow, this path is unsustainable."

She zoomed in on the population numbers.

"The current inventory can feed the existing population."

"As Tiangong continues to expand, there will eventually come a day when the cold storage is emptied."

The only sound in the room was the whirring of equipment fans.

The Zombie Horde had been blocked.

The blade left behind by the sixth Red Moon was slashing at humanity's food supply.

Lin Yuan pulled up the monitoring records of Wang Xue's Small World.

The temperature was stable.

The water cycle was normal.

The soil activity had not been affected by the Red Moon.

"The Small World will be converted into Tiangong's core production area."

The space entrance closed beside the table.

Wang Xue turned her chair towards Lin Yuan.

"The entrance is connected to my consciousness."

"Expanding land use and transporting personnel will increase the burden."

"Whoever dares to stuff a group of people inside, I will throw them out."

Jiang Xiaowan touched her belly.

"Lin Yuan enters and exits that hole of yours as he pleases, yet you didn't say you wouldn't accept that."

Wang Xue turned her head.

The space entrance brushed past the edge of the table; the water cup cracked, and water flowed over the meeting records.

"Young Miss Jiang, even pregnant women will be thrown out."

Wang Ya took a step forward.

Lin Naer retracted her four wings and stood behind Lin Yuan. She had just acquired the Lin surname, and she performed her duties as a guard even faster than the file could take effect.

Wang Xue raised her hand and clamped onto the space door.

Lin Yuan closed the population relocation plan.

"No one will live there during the first phase."

"Unmanned agriculture, seed bank, water purification System, and maintenance area."

"When equipment malfunctions, maintenance personnel will register to enter. Su Xiaonuan is in charge of permissions; whoever exceeds their authority dies."

Wang Xue flipped through the plan item by item.

The space entrance reopened.

"The place is yours."

"Wasteland won't grow food on its own."

Soil samples were sent to the medical level.

Su Muxue completed the test.

"The cycle is stable, but biological activity is insufficient. Relying on natural recovery would take several years."

Xia Qingqiu pushed up her glasses.

"I can preserve the plants, but I cannot cover large-scale forced maturation."

Lin Yuan looked at the table of Superpower requirements for plants.

A name lay in the old archives.

Ma Chao.

The communication with Jiangcheng University was connected.

Chu Feng was silent for a few seconds.

"He is still alive."

"After you crippled his limbs, he has been staying in the old greenhouse. He relies on forcing crops to grow in exchange for nutrient solution."

"Everyone calls him Mr. Tree."

"The greenhouse lost power last night; he won't last much longer."

Ten minutes later, Lin Yuan and Qin Yumo arrived at Jiang University.

The frozen insulation curtain was lifted by Chu Feng.

Rows of crops lay flat in the soil. In the center of the culture Tank, Ma Chao was wrapped in vines, roots grew from beneath his severed limbs, and half of his body was sunken into the nutrient pool.

Footsteps entered the greenhouse.

Ma Chao lifted his head, his teeth chattering a few times.

"Boss Lin, I haven't harmed anyone."

"A portion of the vegetables Jiang University has eaten over these years was forced to grow by me."

"I understand breeding, germination, and nutrient solution ratios."

"Don't kill me, I can work."

Lin Yuan signaled for Qin Yumo to act.

The twin blades sliced open the frozen vines.

Ma Chao shrank his neck, but until the blade swept past the outer roots, it did not land on him.

Lin Yuan inspected the culture Tank.

Flesh and plant tissues had already formed a symbiosis. If forcibly separated, Ma Chao wouldn't live for more than ten minutes.

He couldn't be moved.

He could force growth.

He could also continuously modify the soil.

"Take him."

The culture Tank, along with Ma Chao, was put into the Dimensional Space.

Wang Xue stood at the entrance of the Small World, watching this thing covered in roots fall into the wasteland.

"Throw it out."

"I don't raise this kind of thing in my place."

Lin Yuan raised his hand.

Su Muxue set up life monitoring equipment.

Xia Qingqiu connected the treatment tubes to the nutrient Tank. Qin Yumo stepped on the vines and buried the old roots into the new soil section by section.

Green Lotus Fire channels were buried around the periphery of the root System.

Ma Chao twisted his waist.

The tugging from under the soil made him stop. His root System had already connected to the wasteland; pulling out a section caused the life values on the monitoring screen to drop by a notch.

Lin Yuan squatted by the nutrient soil.

"For every agricultural area completed, I will give you nutrient solution, treatment, and crystal cores."

"If you slack off, supplies will be cut."

"If you touch the seed bank or damage the soil layers, the Green Lotus Fire will burn in along your roots."

Qin Yumo's twin blades pressed against the culture Tank.

Ma Chao nodded repeatedly.

Roots burrowed into the wasteland, extending toward the designated area.

The first row of dormant seeds cracked their shells.

Tender sprouts pushed through the soil layer.

The second and third rows followed closely behind.

Su Xiaonuan's tablet refreshed the data.

[Experimental agricultural area germination rate: 93%.]

[Soil modification efficiency: Reached phase one standard.]

[Ma Chao agricultural node: Operating normally.]

Water purification equipment, seed bank, and agricultural area were listed as level three permissions.

Nutrient solution standards, crystal core quotas, and daily output were written into the production regulations.

Su Muxue took control of life monitoring.

Xia Qingqiu was responsible for maintaining flesh vitality.

Ma Chao was fixed in the center of the wasteland, and vines spread out along the ridges into the distance.

Wang Xue stared at her originally empty space.

Now it contained equipment, farmland, and a human tree that knew how to beg for mercy.

Lin Yuan pulled up a new sprout and inspected the roots.

"The land can be farmed, grain can grow, and people can be used."

The first experimental agricultural area was registered.