Until We Donate, Will the Commander Ever Be Unstoppable?

The crowd's cheers filled Mike with both relief and helplessness. Just at that critical moment, new news arrived from Xinchang!

"Commander Liu Wenbo and Deputy Commander Chen Xun from Xinchang have jointly issued a call to the people of Xinchang! Unite and fight the enemy! Support the Commander!"

"Let the Commander see the unity of Xinchang's people! Let the enemy witness the indomitable will of the Xinchang citizens!"

"No one can steal the good life of Xinchang! A private donation channel has been established! It will accept materials from all citizens, focusing on technological shelter upgrades, combat-related items, and survival points!"

"The Xinchang authorities solemnly promise: All donations will be delivered to the Commander, without exception!"

"In times of great disaster, true feelings emerge! The Commander saves the people, and the people save the Commander!"

Normally, intelligence between the two cities would flow through official communication channels, and the common people had no means to communicate across cities. So, this message should have first reached the Jinling Command Center and been made public before the rest of the population heard about it.

However, Mike had just learned of Xinchang's announcement, and already, the news was spreading like wildfire on the Jinling chat channels!

"What? Xinchang has already started donations? What are we waiting for?"

"Lazy officials! Open the donation channel NOW! Damn it, are you trying to sabotage our Commander?"

"The Commander is right here in Jinling—why are we so slow compared to Xinchang?"

"Others beat us to it and now it looks like we don't even support our Commander!"

"Enough talking! I've already prepared the banners. Let's go to the Command Center!"

No one knew how the news from Xinchang had leaked out, but the fervor in the chat channels was undeniable.

Xinchang was different from Jinling. The people there had experienced the chaos of city breakdowns firsthand, so they feared losing their current stability even more than Jinling did. When Chen Xun and others called for action, the people of Xinchang responded in droves.

Chen Xun was under no pressure; from Xinchang's perspective, it was a matter of defending their own interests, and he could easily rally the people for donations. But Jinling's response was much slower. By the time the masses had already become agitated, a late announcement finally came from the Jinling Command Center, which hesitantly opened a donation channel.

However, the rules were still stringent, only accepting shelter upgrade materials and no other resources.

This left the people frustrated.

"Why won't Jinling open up donations freely? We're wealthier than Xinchang, yet we're acting so stingy!"

But despite the frustration, the Jinling Command Center stood firm, unwilling to budge. People were left with no choice but to think of alternative ways.

Soon, someone realized the key: "The Commander needs to grow stronger, and upgrading the shelter is the best option! What does it take to upgrade the shelter? Definitely upgrade materials!"

"As for survival points, I'm sure the Commander has more than enough—his rank on the survival points leaderboard says it all."

"The Commander's stuck at a level 4 shelter, probably because he's short on upgrade materials. The Command Center had even mentioned speeding up the official teams, which hints at the problem!"

"So where do we get the upgrade materials? From the Puzzle Gate and the Ghost Fog Dilemma! These two places are stable and yield plenty of upgrade materials!"

"Brothers! Let's raid them! Let's tackle these two dungeons and gather as many upgrade materials as we can for the Commander!"

One person's rallying cry snapped everyone to attention.

Right! The Command Center only wanted upgrade materials, didn't they?

Let's go all out and collect them for the Commander!

The more materials we have, the higher the Commander's shelter level will be, and with that, we can face whatever enemies come our way.

As long as the Commander is safe, our future has hope.

Having come to this realization, many people shifted their focus to the dungeon expeditions, including those who had previously been indifferent to such matters.

After reviewing the policies, some realized that the Command Center had recently lifted restrictions on dungeon expeditions.

Although the Command Center still didn't approve of civilian teams tackling high-level apocalypse dungeons, they no longer explicitly banned it, only advising caution.

But now, no one cared about that advice. Who had time to be cautious when the Commander's strength was on the line? Would we let the enemies win, just because we were hesitant?

No more delays. Before long, people started posting in the chat channel, calling for action.

"[For the Commander] Civilian Dungeon Teams officially formed! We welcome anyone with combat-related talents! Our goal: One dungeon a day! One donation a day! With love for the Commander and our home!"

"[Brain Power Team] Civilian Dungeon Team officially launched! Specializing in the Puzzle Gate! Smart minds, join us! We have powerful talents protecting us! For the donations, we push forward!"

"[Everyone for Me] Civilian Advanced Dungeon Team is here! We are a top-tier civilian group, only accepting A-ranked talents! Our slogan: You don't donate, I don't donate. When will the Commander be invincible? You don't show up, I don't show up. Who will save us from the apocalypse?"

...

Mike stared in disbelief at these rallying cries. He knew the people loved him, but he never expected his popularity to reach such heights!

It was true—when a leader was truly exceptional, the people would raise them up, just as Mike had witnessed. Even Eastern Zhiyuan, an elder who had relied on no schemes, merely needed a little restraint to trigger the people's overwhelming support and spontaneous calls for action.

At that moment, Mike's heart was filled with mixed emotions—gratitude, and a faint sense of guilt.

"I'm not perfect. I still have many flaws. Yet the people trust and support me…"

"They sacrifice their own interests for the collective and for me. How can I let them down?"

Mike felt the weight of the responsibility bearing down on him. He had always been mindful of the collective's well-being, but now he felt that his fate was inseparably tied to the fate of the people.

He could feel the trust of the majority pressing on him, their hopes resting on his shoulders.

"The feeling of being beyond my control... So this is what it's like. From now on, I can't act based on my personal preferences and thoughts."

Mike silently reflected on this. As he watched the fervent emotions of the people—both in Jinling and Xinchang—he could feel the tide of support rising. The people were donating, joining the dungeon expeditions, and even volunteering to join the civilian guard forces.

Everyone wanted to be part of the group that would protect the Commander and secure their hard-won peace.

By 10:00 AM, the first round of donated supplies arrived. The resource department staff reported to Mike, presenting him with an itemized list of donations.

The list showed the following:

551,236 points of survival points351,235 units of electronic components735,124 various mechanism items

Among these, mechanism items were the most donated, and most of them came from the people of Xinchang. With over 700,000 items, the Xinchang people had truly given all they had.

Mike was deeply moved by their generosity but had no intention of accepting all of it. After all, he didn't need 700,000 items, nor did he plan to go through the effort of sorting them.

It was either all or nothing.

If he kept everything, it wouldn't burden the people too much. But returning it all might hurt their feelings, and there was also a risk that some staff might try to pocket some items.

After much thought, Mike decided to allocate the entire 700,000 mechanism items into Xinchang's contribution pool.

The contribution pool would be monitored by a dedicated department, and every item would be accounted for. That way, if any corruption arose, it would be easy to trace.

Additionally, Mike ordered a thorough check of the reward points received by the donors of high-level items, making sure they received the proper amount of credit.

For those who donated A and S-level items, Mike offered them the option to reclaim their items, given the high value of these donations.

This wasn't due to personal favoritism. Anyone who possessed high-level items was likely a strong survivor with potential worth nurturing. It was only fair that they be acknowledged for their contributions.

After issuing his orders, Mike glanced again at the donation list, only to spot another issue...