Leng Pan stood up from her chair and walked a few steps forward so everyone could see her clearly.
"The aliens won’t stop. Even if we destroy every team they send, they will simply send stronger ones."
Her gaze swept across the crowd.
"Defending forever is not a strategy. At best, it only delays defeat."
So of the fighters clenched their fists unconsciously.
They knew she was telling the truth.
Leng Pan continued calmly.
"If we want humanity to survive, we must eventually destroy their foothold on Earth."
Lu Tao raised his hand imdiately like a student in class.
"Does that an more portals like yesterday?"
"Most likely," Leng Pan replied.
"Portals are the easiest way for them to deploy forces across dinsions."
Lu Zhen crossed his arms and added casually, "Which ans our next priority is learning how those portals work."
Several researchers standing nearby instantly straightened.
One of the old guys leading the research team spoke.
"We’ve already begun studying the alien energy cores."
He gestured toward the research team.
"Their energy system is similar to zombie cores, but much more stable."
Another one of the researchers stepped forward excitedly.
"If we understand the energy structure, we might eventually be able to detect portals before they open."
That statent caused a ripple through the crowd.
If the portals can be detected early then they could prepare for battle before the enemy arrives.
Moreover, if they could deduce how the aliens use space to create the portals, they might find a way to ensure that more portals don’t open in the future.
In this way, they would only need to deal with the aliens already on earth and eliminating them would be easier.
Leng Pan nodded approvingly.
She then pointed towards the walls surrounding the base.
"However, research alone is not enough."
Her expression beca serious again.
"We must strengthen the base."
Everyone perked up when they heard that.
"Commander Leng, what do you need us to do?" Soone from within the crowd asked.
Leng Pan raised three fingers.
"Three priorities."
She lowered one finger.
"First, defense."
Her voice carried clearly across the courtyard.
"Yesterday proved that our defenses can withstand alien attacks, but only barely. If the base had not been reinforced with the teorite stone, we would have lost everything."
Everyone nodded.
They had seen the destruction outside the walls. The walls probably had withstood the impact because of that strange stone placed in Lu Zhen’s apartnt.
"Starting today," Leng Pan continued, "we will expand the defensive periter."
She looked around as if singling people out.
"Earth team will reinforce the outer walls.
As for the tal team, they will integrate alien armor fragnts into our defensive structures."
Lu Tao blinked.
"Wait... we can do that?"
Uncle Li chuckled.
"If we lt it down properly, yes. But it will probably need a mutated fire to lt."
The boy’s eyes lit up.
"That’s aweso."
Leng Pan lowered her second finger.
"The second priority is training."
Almost everyone who had fought yesterday straightened upon hearing that.
"Yesterday’s battle showed that teamwork could save many lives."
She looked at Ouyang Jin.
"Your tornado traps worked perfectly."
He smiled at the praise.
"We have experience after all." Ouyang Jin comnted.
They had fought in the other apocalypse war with the aliens before, so they knew what to do better than those doing it for the first ti.
"From now on, combat training will shift from individual strength to coordinated team formations. Yesterday we saw that teamwork was what saved us effort."
She glanced at the crowd.
"No matter how strong one person is, they cannot fight an army alone."
Lu Zhen raised an eyebrow playfully.
"Are you sure about that?"
Several people laughed.
Leng Pan shot him a sideways glance but didn’t argue. She hadn’t realized that he could be so cheeky sotis.
Instead she lowered her third finger.
"Our third priority is to expand the base. Even though we have more people than before, it is still isolated."
Sonny pushed his glasses up his nose and asked, "What do you an?"
She pointed toward the distant city skyline.
"There are still many survivors out there."
Everyone looked into the horizon and they knew that she was telling the truth.
Out there, there were still people struggling to survive in small groups or in those official bases that treated them like dirt.
"If we want to build a force capable of resisting the alien invasion," Leng Pan said calmly, "we must bring more people together."
Lu Tao leaned forward eagerly.
"So we’re going to recruit more survivors?"
"Yes."
"But it has to be done carefully," Lu Zhen added.
He finally spoke again, his voice calm but firm.
"We are building a ho, not a refugee camp."
Everyone there understood his aning.
Trust was important when it ca to recruiting more people.
If they accidentally brought traitors in, things could go south fast.
The apocalypse had proven that not every survivor could be trusted.
Leng Pan nodded in agreent.
"Only those willing to work and fight will be allowed to stay."
She paused briefly.
"Everyone here earned their place by standing and defending this base yesterday."
That statent filled many people with pride.
They had indeed fought to protect their ho with their lives.
Leng Pan sat down again beside Lu Zhen.
"For now, the next few days will be for recovery."
She looked toward the dical team.
"The injured must heal first."
"After that, we begin preparing for the next stage."
Lu Tao raised his hand again.
"One last question."
Leng Pan sighed at her silly brother-in-law but nodded.
"What is it?"
The boy grinned.
"If we really take the war to the aliens one day... are we going to ride the dragons into space?"
Leng Pan looked stupified. What kind of question was that? She didn’t know how to reply to him.
Then laughter erupted everywhere.
Even Lu Hao’s lips twitched slightly.
Lu Zhen leaned back in his chair with a grin.
"Honestly," he said lazily, "that sounds pretty cool."
Leng Pan shook her head helplessly. These brothers were becoming more like each other after spending so ti together.
However ,when she looked toward the sky again, her eyes grew thoughtful.
Humanity had taken its first real step toward fighting back.
Nothing was impossible from now on.
User Comments
0 comments from readers