Fireworks

Emerson spoke and then directly tossed the tablet to Born.

They had some military drones, but they didn't dare to get too close to the Star Laboratory. Such precision equipment was fragile and had no one to repair it if damaged. However, in some footage, there were indeed scenes of people from the Star Laboratory capturing live zombies. In one photo, Fern even looked up in the direction of the drone. A simple gesture, but it clearly indicated that the drone had been spotted. Yet Fern didn't take any action at all—was it because they were confident and unafraid?

Born flipped through the photos again and suddenly froze. All the zombies being captured by the Star Laboratory were female. Despite the increasing level of decay over time, the differences between male and female zombies were still discernible.

Born suddenly had a feeling. The Star Laboratory was capturing female zombies! They must be trying to compete with him, knowing that he could only recruit females, so they were capturing female zombies to weaken his power.

"This needs attention. Since we've made enemies with the Star Laboratory, they won't let it go easily. I'm afraid they're building up their strength, waiting to wipe us out when they're ready."

"I suggest we need to go and sabotage them. Where's that big cat of yours been lately? Call it back," Emerson said, standing up excitedly.

Born raised his hand to calm Emerson down. "We have to be on guard against the Star Laboratory. I think it's best to find an opportunity to talk with them."

Born was confident that the Star Laboratory would definitely talk to him. His base had grown to a thousand people after taking in survivors. Although the influx of survivors had diluted cohesion, the number of people with abilities had surpassed two hundred. As for the big cat, it was naturally using its tiger instincts to suppress zombie cats and harvest evolution cores.

Otherwise, how could the base have so many awakened individuals with abilities?

"Well, it's good that you have thoughts on this. It turns out that the once prominent conglomerate leaders have been funding the Star Laboratory all along."

"There are also many international conglomerates investing large amounts of money into the Star Laboratory," Emerson said as he pulled out the information from the tablet and handed it directly to Born. He seemed to be gradually integrating into the base. If it were before, he definitely wouldn't have revealed such confidential information.

Born glanced at the tablet. The conglomerates were massive forces with assets worth hundreds of billions, even up to a trillion. There were 18 conglomerates supporting the Star Laboratory, including foreign ones. No wonder the Star Laboratory could conduct so much technological research—it was all thanks to the financial support.

"The materials the Commander sent me a few days ago indicate that Dover City is also supporting it. This branch of the Star Laboratory is extremely important," Emerson said, looking somewhat anxious and glancing cautiously at Born.

Born paid no attention to Emerson mentioning the Commander. Some concepts are deeply ingrained, and even though Emerson was trying to fit in with the base, he was still a military major with years of service, so it wasn't surprising that he still had contact with the Commander.

Born examined the information closely. At that moment, Lane stood up and said with a smile, "I'm feeling a bit bored. The consciousness link can cover the entire exhibition hall, so you two continue."

With that, Lane turned and walked out of the meeting room. After leaving, Lane looked up at the sky, momentarily lost in thought.

The meeting continued late into the night. Born and Emerson climbed up the city wall together, watching the roaring zombies and lighting up a cigarette.

"You've got me hooked on smoking during this time," Born said helplessly.

"What, in the apocalypse, are you still worried about smoking being harmful to health?" Emerson retorted.

Born raised an eyebrow—there was no fault in that statement. The two fell silent.

Just past midnight, Born immediately activated his detection skill. Recruiting level 8, but the maximum number of bonds remained unchanged at 30.

However, Born's recruitment count was as high as 110. This meant he needed to continue finding more bonds to maximize the legion's attributes.

Of course, increasing flexibility and acquiring overtime skills were also quite necessary. Flexibility—those who understand, understand. The overtime skill could be activated when the "worker" trait reached 10 individuals, allowing those with the "worker" trait to fully immerse themselves in work, even going an entire day without rest. In the post-apocalyptic world, work generally meant killing zombies. Combined with point bonuses, it was quite a valuable bond.

Martial artists, singers, workers, maids, swordsmen, dancers, and doctors were currently Born's important bond bonuses. When he activated his detection skill, dozens of female zombies were marked.

Born observed for a moment and shook his head in disappointment. The "worker" trait was the most common, and he suddenly felt sorry for the modern-day overworked youth.

"Have you thought about how to contact the Star Laboratory?" Emerson suddenly broke the silence.

Born smiled and said, "They won't be able to resist coming to us first, so we'll just deal with it as it comes."

Emerson was left speechless and couldn't help but light another cigarette.

"Don't look at me like that," Born quickly waved his hand. "They're capturing female zombies, so they will definitely come to find me."

What secret did the Star Laboratory have on Born? It was nothing more than his ability to revive female zombies and have them fight alongside him. The fact that the Star Laboratory was also capturing female zombies couldn't be a mere coincidence. Born was convinced they would come looking for him.

At this moment, Lane approached.

"Born."

Seeing this, Emerson, with a cigarette in his mouth, jumped off the city wall and waved his hand with his back to Born.

Born was now accompanied by Lane. Lane moved closer, wrapping his arms around Born and resting his head on his shoulder.

"Do you think what the Star Laboratory is saying is true?" Lane asked.

"Look at the sky. When could you ever see so many stars in Dover City?" Born couldn't answer this question. Indeed, since the apocalypse, the pollution in Dover City seemed to have lessened significantly. However, this didn't mean that the Star Laboratory's plan to eliminate humanity was justified. He could never understand these so-called lofty ideals.

"It's New Year's Eve. It would be nice if there were fireworks," Lane continued.

Born was taken aback. He hadn't been keeping track of time and didn't realize that today was New Year's Eve.

Born pulled Lane closer and smiled, "Although there are no fireworks in the sky, I can put on a fireworks show for you."

He smirked mischievously and leaned in for a kiss. However, Lane, not in the mood, pushed Born away.

"You rascal, your stamina is really getting better," Lane said, sounding somewhat annoyed.

After a brief silence, Lane suddenly said, "Born, there's something I want to…"

Before he could finish, Born's gaze shifted sharply in a particular direction.