The Second Wave of Commanders and the Fallen

Mike opened the storage space of the shelter and began carefully tallying the resources he had accumulated over time.

His primary gains came in three categories: points, items, and personnel.

The bulk of his points came from using his vassals' talents each month, skillfully incorporating the Talent Swap Plan.

His personnel gains were largely due to the Puzzle Gate, a strategy Mike's faction had perfected by the second month. They had devised comprehensive plans to assign personnel based on the different types of Puzzle Gates, ensuring a steady flow of new recruits and the promotion of existing talent.

Item gains were more complex. Some came from purchasing with points, others through the Talent Swap Plan, where Mike inherited items that couldn't be transferred from other shelters. These items were classified as submissions from survivors who participated in the plan. The shelter rewarded him with work points based on their value and quality.

The most important category of items, however, was upgrade materials. These primarily came from the Puzzle Gates, though some could be purchased from other survivors. In his tally, Mike had accumulated 500,000 survival points and 56,525 units of electronic components—though both still fell short of the required amount to upgrade his shelter to level 5.

"It looks like the upgrade will have to wait. At least until the new Puzzle Gates refresh, or until I figure out a way to fast-track the Ghost Fog Dilemma," Mike mused.

The points were not much of a concern for him; as long as the Talent Swap Plan's threshold was low enough, a massive amount of points could be quickly gathered. The electronic components, however, were the real currency for upgrades.

"As for the recruitment vouchers... I remember clearing a few Puzzle Gates before the end of the third apocalypse, and I accumulated quite a few useless ones," he thought. "Hmm, over a hundred. Perfect time to recruit."

"As for those useless, non-tradeable items... I'll hand them over to the nation. Many of them have overlapping functions, and I can't give them to others, so there's no point in keeping so many."

After completing his tally of the shelter's reserves, Mike headed downstairs, standing within the circle of light turned on by the old man, and proceeded to recruit over a hundred C and D-tier basic personnel.

With a wave of his hand, Mike allocated all the new recruits to the shelter's reserve personnel list.

Following the recent management sweep by Jiang Xiaoci, vacant positions were naturally filled by the new recruits.

Once the recruitment was done, Mike headed upstairs while opening the war materials donation interface for the national army.

He briefly glanced at the rankings. Although the Third Apocalypse had just begun, there was already a significant shift in the contribution leaderboard.

Having not donated in a while, Mike found his ranking had dropped to 10th, with several new survivors claiming top spots.

"Been hiding all this time, now you're feeling envious?" Mike chuckled to himself, not surprised but somewhat amused.

When the donation leaderboard had first appeared, these survivors had hoarded materials and treasures, unwilling to donate to the nation. Mike understood their selfishness at the time. But once the Commander Program was launched and the national situation showed improvement, these same people suddenly realized that even from another dimension, the nation could influence the local apocalypse. Now they were scrambling to catch up.

Mike wasn't entirely convinced these individuals were acting out of genuine desire to help. Their motivations, he suspected, were more personal.

While contemplating this, an alert suddenly popped up.

[A new communication request detected from the national apocalypse army. Would you like to respond?]

"Accept communication."

Mike agreed without hesitation, and soon a familiar virtual communication interface appeared, accompanied by General Wang's voice.

"Comrade Su, long time no see."

"Good to hear from you, General Wang."

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, General Wang, with a smile in his voice, asked, "When we last spoke, we were still in the middle phase of the Second Apocalypse. Today marks the first day of the Third Apocalypse for us. How are things in Jinling and Xinchang?"

Mike noticed a slip of the tongue. General Wang had mentioned "Jinling and Xinchang" specifically, indicating that the higher-ups had already assigned Xinchang to Mike's rescue area.

"Jinling is doing well, but the situation in Xinchang remains unclear," Mike replied, keeping his tone steady.

"The Third Apocalypse has brought a fog across the planet, creating strange phenomena known as the 'Ghost Fog Dilemma.' From what I've gathered so far, it appears to be a combination of resource-based dungeons and disaster mechanisms—both an opportunity and a danger."

"Jinling has experienced only minor casualties, most of which occurred during the initial spread of the fog. As for Xinchang, due to communication issues, I haven't received specific updates yet. I've sent additional resources to aid the rescue. Commander Liu Wenbo is leading the efforts there, and with his abilities, Xinchang should be fine."

General Wang listened patiently, then smiled. "Liu Wenbo is indeed capable. However, after reviewing his performance last month, we've found that he's not suited to managing the rescue operations of an entire city. While he's not at fault, we believe that in a disaster of this scale, a lack of success would be considered a small fault."

"So, after careful consideration, we've decided to revoke Liu Wenbo's Commander status and assign you to take over Xinchang, Comrade Su."

Mike was stunned. He hadn't expected the higher-ups to give him such a clear and direct role, allowing him to officially take charge of Xinchang.

"However..." Mike hesitated, his mind racing as he tried to grasp the deeper implications.

Before he could voice his thoughts, General Wang moved on to another matter. "Don't worry about the pressure. Your task is to focus on saving the people. We have high expectations of you."

"Additionally, there's another matter I need to discuss."

Mike listened attentively as General Wang continued, "In last month's evaluation of the Commander Program, we identified some issues with several Commanders, including a severe shortage of personnel. To address these, we'll soon be announcing the second batch of Commanders to assist in rescue operations. We'll also be revoking the positions of some others."

Mike remained silent, sensing the weight of the situation. If he had received this notice, it likely meant his position was secure for now.

General Wang, in his usual manner, continued. "To help the new Commanders adapt faster, Comrade Su, you and the other senior Commanders will need to mentor the newcomers and share your disaster management experiences."

Mike's mind clicked as he asked, "General, are there new Commanders for Xinchang?"

"No, not for Xinchang," General Wang answered with a knowing smile. "I know what you're concerned about. You're wondering if new Commanders will interfere with your work. Don't worry. Your abilities are outstanding, and we won't send anyone to disrupt your progress."

"Just a reminder," General Wang added, his tone growing serious, "The world is small. Eventually, you'll encounter other Commanders. I hope that when that day comes, you'll remain true to your mission and focus on rescuing the people."

Mike's thoughts raced. General Wang was subtly warning him about the dangers of unchecked expansion. While broadening the scope of rescue efforts was fine, it had to be done for the right reasons. If Mike were to pursue personal power or glory, he might find his name on the next list of revoked Commanders.

"I will, General."

After a brief silence, Mike couldn't help but ask, "General, I have a question. Should the new Commanders be chosen based on the strength of their shelter or their dedication to the cause?"

General Wang's voice softened. "Comrade Su, you can always ask me anything. The evaluation will take both factors into account—but what matters most is your faith in the mission."