SWDnovel Chapter 7 Project Dawn
Chapter 7 Project Dawn
A woman he had only known for less than five minutes invited him into her room.
If this were before the apocalypse, this would probably be the beginning of a story. But in the apocalypse, Lu Chen isn't thinking about a story; he's thinking about safety.
However, he did not hesitate.
"good!"
He strode toward 506.
He waved behind him, and Dazhuang immediately followed, pressing against his back as they entered the room together.
As for Tiezhu, Aunt Wang, and the other two zombies, Lu Chen told them to stay outside the door and guard for the time being.
When Shen Qingci saw that Lu Chen had even brought a zombie in to guard against her, she almost couldn't help but roll her eyes.
She almost lost her composure, her lips twitched, but she quickly suppressed it.
"I'm just a weak woman, do you really need to make such a fuss?" she said quietly.
Lu Chen ignored her.
A weak woman? No matter what, she's a superhuman; he wouldn't really treat her like a weak woman.
He walked straight into the living room and sat down on the sofa.
The layout of apartment 506 is similar to his apartment 501, but the decoration is significantly more refined.
The sofa is made of leather, a tea set is placed on the coffee table, and there is a floor lamp in the corner.
The curtains were half-drawn, letting in sunlight that made the living room bright and clean, as if the apocalypse had never visited this place.
Lu Chen took his phone out of his pocket.
When the screen lit up, his first glance went to the signal bar in the upper left corner.
Sure enough. The signal, which had only one bar left on 501 and was on the verge of dying, had recovered to two bars here.
Although it was still flashing faintly, it was much more stable than before.
Lu Chen stopped wasting time and went straight to the official website of Wanshun City.
The webpage loads very slowly; the progress bar moves forward little by little, like a dying earthworm.
The white screen remained blank for almost half a minute before text and images slowly appeared.
Lu Chen scrolled down a few times and quickly found the content he wanted.
At the bottom of the official website's homepage, there were originally only three sections: shelter locations, rescue plans, and a summary of zombie information.
Now there's a fourth section, and the title is in bold red font—
"Project Dawn!"
Lu Chen clicked on it.
The page redirected, and after another long loading process, he began to quickly browse through the text once it was all displayed.
The content was substantial, but clearly organized. Lu Chen read through it line by line and quickly understood what the Dawn Project was all about.
To put it bluntly, it's a recruitment program for people with superpowers.
The official intention is clear: to bring the scattered superhumans throughout society under the jurisdiction of the military, forming an organized and disciplined force.
However, the authorities have clearly taken the reality into account.
Those with superpowers possess special abilities, making them far more powerful than ordinary people. In a post-apocalyptic world, it's unrealistic to try to forcibly govern them.
Therefore, the Dawn Project was designed to be very flexible.
How relaxed is it?
There are absolutely no mandatory tasks.
According to the website, the authorities have established a new organization called the "Superpowered Individuals Management Bureau." The core function of this organization is to build a mission platform.
Shelters, military districts, and supply depots in various locations can post missions on the platform. Individuals with supernatural abilities can choose whether to accept the missions based on their own capabilities and location.
Completing missions earns you military merits. These merits can be exchanged for various items provided by the military.
Lu Chen scrolled to the page of the redemption list, his eyes widening slightly.
From basic necessities like rice, flour, drinking water, canned goods, clothing, and medicine, to all kinds of weapons and equipment, including knives, stab-proof vests, firearms, and ammunition, everything is available.
The list was very long; he scrolled down several screens without reaching the end.
At the very bottom, there is a line that says: If you have enough military merits, you can exchange them for heavy equipment, including but not limited to armored vehicles, main battle tanks, armed helicopters, etc.
It's only the third day of the apocalypse. No matter how strong the zombies are, they can't withstand a single shot from a heavy machine gun.
Of course, the military achievements required for these would be enormous, and it's not something to be expected in the short term.
He pulled himself out of his thoughts and continued reading.
The exchange list also includes items specifically for people with superpowers. For example, the webpage gives an example of a plant called "Crimson Spirit Stamen".
The label reads: "A newly discovered mutated plant after the Red Moon's arrival. Experiments have confirmed that it can enhance the power of those with superpowers."
Lu Chen's gaze lingered on this line of text for a long time.
It's only the third day of the apocalypse.
On the third day, the military had already found a mutated plant that could enhance superpowers and completed experimental confirmation.
What does this mean? It means that the changes brought about by the Red Moon go far beyond zombies and superhumans.
The rules of this world are being rewritten, and all sorts of exotic plants and mutated creatures will appear one after another.
The military possesses the largest organizational structure and the most powerful scientific research capabilities, enabling them to discover these things immediately, understand them thoroughly, and put them into use immediately.
With the military's backing, one's strength can be increased much faster than fighting alone.
Lu Chen continued reading.
The last part of the webpage is an explanation of military ranks.
If enough missions are completed and the accumulated merits reach a certain standard, the military will award the corresponding rank.
Starting as a second lieutenant, one can rise through the ranks, and these are not honorary titles. With sufficient merit and ability, one can gain real power, command troops, and mobilize resources.
This is what Shen Qingci referred to as the "ladder to the clouds".
In peacetime, it would take an ordinary person more than ten or even several decades to rise from private to major general.
However, within the Dawn Project system, as long as you have the ability, courage, and willingness to take on challenging tasks, your promotion rate is extremely fast.
It's not an exaggeration to say that you can cover in a few months what others take more than ten years to do; it's a fact.
Lu Chen put his phone on the coffee table and leaned back on the sofa.
His eyes, however, grew brighter and brighter.
This Dawn Project completely opened up his mind.
His previous idea was very direct and limited: to use his superpowers to control a group of zombies and then find a way to get back.
Walking several kilometers a day, getting stronger as you go, and if you're lucky, you can get home in a month.
But 1500 kilometers is no small number. In between are cities, towns, mountains, and rivers, and there are zombies and unknown dangers everywhere.
It's really hard to say how far he can go on his own.
But if we can leverage the power of the state, then it's a different story.
Lu Chen picked up his phone and scrolled back to the homepage of Project Dawn, his gaze lingering on the words "Task Platform".
If he can complete enough missions in Wanshun City and accumulate enough military merits and ranks.
Then he could directly contact the shelter in Ningcheng and ask them to send a rescue team to pick up his parents and sister.
Since the shelter is meant for rescue missions anyway, the order of rescues can be adjusted, and the targets for rescues can be specified.
Does saving anywhere not count as saving?
As long as he has enough military achievements, enough to make Ningcheng City take his request seriously, enough to make them feel that "this person is worth making a special trip for".
The key is that he must possess sufficient value.
Or, to put it another way, one must acquire enough military merits in a short period of time.