Dragon Transformation in the Apocalypse

Chapter 423 Seize the Time for Development

In the following days, Dawn City continued its steady development without any battles. In fact, after this global war ended, a stalemate seemed to have formed between Earth and the alien alliance, with not a single battle taking place.

On October 24, tens of thousands of people from Dawn City, along with representatives from the military and Cecily's side, attended the post-war memorial service at Dawn Square in front of the Dawn Tower. Li Chenglong, Zheng Yong, and Erica delivered speeches on behalf of Dawn City, the Dawn Army, and the alien friends, respectively.

To make it easier to distinguish between the alien alliance and Cecily and Erica's side, after discussion, everyone decided to henceforth refer to the alliance brought by Cecily and Erica as the Space Fleet.

In this operation, although the Dawn Army soldiers fought for only one night, they suffered heavy casualties. The Air Force lost 32 Tyrannosaurus Rex fighters, with 40 pilots killed and 8 seriously wounded. The Dawn Army Rocket Force lost 50 Crystal Beam Cannons and Super-Energy Anti-Aircraft Cannons, with 317 soldiers killed. The Dawn Army's two corps, comprising four divisions, suffered a total of 10221 soldiers killed and 1874 seriously wounded. The Armored Division's Mech Brigade lost 76 S1 Land-based Mechs and 58 pilots killed.

Li Chenglong held a document that Wang Jie had just printed out—the latest population statistics for Dawn City. Yun Lan sat next to him, looking at it together. With the addition of more than 40,000 people from the space fleet, Dawn City now has a total population of 401,150, of which 64,876 are people with superpowers or abilities.

Among aliens, there is a distinction between those with superpowers and those with extraordinary abilities. There are certain differences between the two. For example, Erica and Cecily are awakened superpowered individuals, and their planets are also inhabited by superpowered individuals. However, on planets like Reina's planet and Hyland, including Setan, these people are all extraordinary individuals. Li Chenglong stated that for ease of future statistics, they will be collectively referred to as superpowered individuals, since in Earth's culture, superpowers are considered a type of supernatural ability.

Of the 64,876 ability users currently in Dawn City, two are at level 13: Li Chenglong and Cecily. There are 47 at level 12, 4218 at level 11, 14880 at level 10, and 20024 at level 9. After Li Chenglong released that energy when he reached level 13, high-level ability users in Dawn City have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. With the addition of the space fleet, Dawn City's strength is now virtually unmatched.

Especially among the 47 level 12 ability users, besides the 30 from the space fleet, and Yun Lan, Li Xue, Qin Susu, and Zhao Liying who had already reached level 12, the other 13 level 12 ability users had only recently leveled up. However, even the weakest of these individuals possessed special abilities, such as Wang Shuang, a level 12 dark attribute ability user, and Han Xiaoling, Zheng Yong, Wu Gang, and Zheng Aiguo, level 12 B-grade Wind Chaser Leopard spirit awakeners—all dual-element ability users who were among the first to reach level 11 and had upgraded to level 12.

Moreover, it's not just Dawn City; news has spread that superhumans have reached level 12 in dozens of bases, large and small, including Flying Cloud Base, Clear Water Base, Qianyun Base, Black Gold City, and even in the regions of the New Human Empire, but the exact number is unknown.

After reviewing the population statistics of Dawn City, Li Chenglong said with a smile, "With the latest technology brought by Princesses Cecily and Erica, the production speed of our Dawn City's Industrial Zone 1 and Industrial Zone 2 has increased significantly, and the quality has also improved considerably."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Especially after consulting with many alien scientists a few days ago and conducting research with them, we improved many production lines in my space factory. Now, we can produce three Tyrannosaurus Rex fighters a day, and 40 S1 mechs a day. Other products, such as super rifles and super potions, have also seen significant increases in production. And most importantly, while production speed and quality have improved, costs have actually decreased considerably."

Yunlan nodded and replied, "Not only that, they also brought many high-yield crops. Some of them, like ordinary Dawn Rice, can grow quickly when irrigated with water that has special abilities. However, it is already late autumn here, so we can only plant them next year."

Li Chenglong drank some water infused with the supernatural royal jelly, then said seriously, "We must seize this window of opportunity to quickly develop our various industries. The alien alliance suffered a major defeat this time, and they might come back at any time."

While the two were still chatting, Wang Jie knocked on the door and came in, saying, "Captain Li, Sister Yun, City Lord Shangguan Jingyun and the others have already entered the city. In addition, Dongfang Yunbing and Nangong Yanran have just gotten off the plane. What do you think we should do?" Li Chenglong said in surprise, "So fast? It's definitely too late to go out of the city to welcome them now. Tell the person in charge to invite them directly to Dawn Tower. Yunlan and I will welcome them here."

After Wang Jie left, Yun Lan thoughtfully tidied Li Chenglong's appearance, then notified the relevant departments before going downstairs. Over the next hour, more than twenty representatives or envoys from various bases, including Shangguan Jingyun, Xu Limin, Wei Jing, Sun Tianlong, Sun Qingpeng, Ding Hai, Xu Chu, Liu Zhigang, Dongfang Yunbing, Nangong Yanran, Liu Xuehua, and Wang Ruyan, were escorted by convoys to the Dawn Tower. They warmly interacted with Li Chenglong, Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, Ma Tiancheng, Yun Qian, Shen Menghua, and others who came to welcome them, and took photos together. Dawn City TV Channels 1, 4, and 12 broadcast the event live.

Afterwards, everyone, along with Cecily, Erica, and more than twenty other representatives from the space fleet who had been invited, gathered in the large conference hall on the second floor of the Dawn Tower, where a four-hour meeting was held. This meeting, because it greatly influenced the subsequent battles against the alien alliance and indirectly promoted the reunification of China, was later known as the "February 4th Conference".

After the meeting, a buffet-style dinner was held on the observation deck at the top of the Dawn Tower. This time, the number of attendees was even greater, reaching over a hundred. Li Chenglong, Liu Xuehua, Dongfang Yunbing, and Cecily each delivered speeches at the dinner, expressing their views and positions, while also looking forward to future developments.

While Dawn City was making great strides in its development and actively cooperating with other bases to explore a path of common development, a rather somber atmosphere permeated the alien alliance.

At the Mars base, in the newly renovated main base, seven figures at the pinnacle of the alien alliance's various factions—Emperor Notos of Kiel, King Beman of Bozan, King Ismail of Dayne, and Marina of Setan—were gathered. Other participants included key officials from various factions, such as Babar, Commander-in-Chief of Kiel; Keltilan and Sitros of Setan; and Bos, the forward commander of Bozan.

The seven supreme leaders of their respective factions exchanged glances, and King Beman spoke first: "Our allied forces have lost tens of thousands of brave and skilled warriors in less than a month of attacking Earth. Not to mention the countless air warships, aircraft carriers, land-based mechs, and flying mechs we have lost. This is a major setback that our allied forces have never encountered in our hundreds of years of drifting in space."

After King Beman finished speaking, the scene fell into a deathly silence, with only the sounds of machinery and electronic equipment humming in the background.

After a while, Babar stood up and said, "My esteemed kings, I don't think we can call the first ground landing operation a failure. Although we didn't capture some important places, Africa, South America, Central Asia, and West Asia are now under our control. As for the previous defeat, it was mainly because we underestimated our opponent. As long as we use all our forces this time, we will definitely be able to..."

"enough!"

Before Babar could finish speaking, Marina interrupted him: "Now that Cecily and Erica's resistance forces have arrived on Earth and joined forces with the Earth forces, I think that even if we put all our forces into it, it won't be easy to win. Even if we do win, it will be a very brutal victory, and in the end, we might even suffer heavy losses and be completely destroyed."

Upon hearing her words, the room fell silent once more. Marina then spoke again: "I do have a plan. If they agree, things will be much easier for us. Please listen." She then began to explain, and 20 minutes later, her idea received unanimous approval from everyone.