They had made ample preparations.
At the very moment the apocalypse struck, the power in their hands protected them from the threat of zombies.
With the collapse of societal order, they could leverage their power and status to seize resources and monopolize wealth, becoming rulers of the new world.
Indeed, they were the beneficiaries of the old era.
But they were not reliant on the old era.
In fact, after the collapse of the old era, the apocalyptic times were even more favorable to them, like fish in water...
Those who were eliminated by the apocalypse were merely upstarts like the An Fang family in Jiangjing, whose foundations were not deep...
However, there was still an unpredictable factor: the emergence of talent awakenings.
After all, in the apocalypse, the true aristocrats could only be the evolved ones.
But fortunately, most of the Qin family had awakened their talents.
There was likely no other family in the world that could boast both evolved abilities and power like the Qin family...
Other top aristocratic families like the Qin family had not awakened their talents.
The power and wealth in their hands were nothing but illusions, like the moon in water or flowers in a mirror.
Most of those who had awakened talents were from grassroots backgrounds, lacking the power of the old era and starting from a low point...
The Qin family, a chosen family, was destined to become the ruling family in the apocalyptic era!
---
Dinner was quite sumptuous.
Pan-fried cod, red date and white fungus soup, stir-fried Arctic surf clams, steamed turbot in soy sauce—all were exquisite top-tier dishes.
Not only were the ingredients selected with extreme care.
The cooking methods were also incredibly lavish, reaching the level of a state banquet—after all, the Qin family's chef was a master of state banquets.
Although it was now the apocalypse, and humanity's means of acquiring food had become extremely limited, this did not affect the lifestyle of someone like Qin Jun, who belonged to the ruling class...
"Xiao Jun, you're already a level 2 evolver now?"
Qin Shanglong looked at Qin Jun with a smile, his face full of admiration.
It had to be said that humanity adapted to the apocalypse remarkably quickly.
In just a month, humans had figured out the talent evolution system from the black obelisks and other sources.
Talents were ranked from F to SSS, with higher levels indicating greater power and potential.
Evolvers themselves also had their own strength levels, ranging from level 1 to 12.
Now, only a month had passed, and most evolvers were still at level 1.
But Qin Jun had already reached level 2, a talent that excited the Qin family immensely.
After all, in the era of talent evolution, the true reliance of the Qin family was not their tens of thousands of soldiers, nor their endless wealth.
It was their own strength.
Qin Jun nodded and smiled, "I have to thank those energy crystal cores."
The energy crystal cores Qin Jun mentioned were the nuclei within the bodies of zombies and monsters, containing pure energy that could be used for evolvers' cultivation.
The Qin family had already established a large research lab, gathering over a thousand scientists to specifically study the evolution system and extraordinary powers.
They even conducted secret human experiments...
While other evolvers were still groping in the dark, clueless about cultivation.
The Qin family, with their absolute scientific resources, had already mastered the methods of cultivation, leaving other evolvers far behind!
This was the power of combining talent evolution with authority!
In the past month, the Eastern Capital's army had made several expeditions to the surrounding towns, conducting large-scale zombie extermination missions to obtain energy crystal cores.
But it had to be said that energy crystal cores were extremely scarce.
The army didn't dare to venture too deep, and after wiping out tens of thousands of zombies, they only acquired a little over six hundred energy crystal cores.
Of course, some ambitious ordinary people also joined this extremely dangerous extermination.
The casualty rate among these ordinary people was as high as 70%!
After all their hardships, they managed to obtain a few energy crystal cores, which they then handed over to the Qin family.
In return, the Qin family rewarded them with nothing but costless p points...
(A/N: Performance point)
----
Upon hearing that Qin Jun was already a level 2 evolver, the core members of the Qin family all smiled.
Although these core members had also awakened their talents, and many of them were even A-level or S-level high talents.
But compared to Qin Jun's SSS-level talent, they were still far inferior.
Qin De laughed and said, "Xiao Jun has an SSS-level talent, which seems to be the highest known talent, right?
I think it won't be long before the eldest brother has to step down and make way for him."
Everyone laughed.
In a top aristocratic family like the Qin family, there were indeed many dirty dealings, even scheming and plotting for power and profit.
But the biggest difference between the Qin family and typical upstarts was that...
The Qin family members were all very clear-headed.
They knew that in the apocalyptic era, with danger everywhere, although the Qin family had established itself quickly and became one of the rulers of the apocalyptic era.
Who could say for sure what the future would hold?
They understood the power of unity better than ordinary people.
Qin Yuan said to Qin Jun, "Now that the factories and research institutes in the Eastern Capital are running smoothly, you should take a tour and inspect them tomorrow."
Qin Jun nodded, knowing in his heart.
This was his father's way of formally allowing him to enter the family's decision-making circle.
And this also meant that he would become one of the decision-makers of the Qin family, a colossal entity with millions of people under its rule, an army of four hundred thousand, and nearly a thousand evolvers.
The others, hearing this, all smiled, without any surprise, feeling it was only natural.
Even though Qin Jun was only twenty years old, he was not just Qin Yuan's son.
He was also an SSS-level talent evolver...
---
The next day, Qin Jun, accompanied by Xie Han and a group of attendants, left the Qin family mansion and began inspecting his territory.
As for Su Ya, Qin Jun couldn't help but marvel at her talent.
Although Su Ya's talent was B-level, not top-tier, it was a rare psychic type.
Her ability, Psychic Interrogation, could inflict immense pain, making it impossible to hide secrets from her.
So, at Qin Jun's suggestion, the Qin family established an intelligence department of about 600 people, specifically to monitor and suppress internal instabilities.
Su Ya became one of the interrogators.
And Su Ya was very happy with this, as she had been thinking about how she could secure a place by Qin Jun's side.
Now, she could finally demonstrate her value.
Qin Jun didn't need a trophy women—he needed a useful one.
A grand convoy drove down the streets, and after a month of adaptation and adjustment, the situation in the Eastern Capital had stabilized.
There were even pedestrians on the streets again.
However, military and police checkpoints were still stationed at the intersections, which had become a routine practice.
In the car, Qin Jun sat across from a middle-aged man named Zhou Yunlong, Qin Yuan's secretary, who was extremely loyal to him.
He was also very capable, knowledgeable about many of the Qin family's secrets, and could be considered part of the Qin family's upper echelon.
Zhou Yunlong kept introducing Qin Jun to the resources and industries currently controlled by the Qin family. Although Qin Jun was the only son of Qin Yuan, he was still very young and had previously been studying.
So, he only had a general idea of the Qin family's specific industries but didn't know the details.
Now, under Zhou Yunlong's guidance, he finally gained a clear understanding of the Qin family's specific industries and power.
Zhou Yunlong smiled and asked, "Young Master, where should we visit first?
Should we start with the current office building, the military district, or the industrial area?"
Qin Jun thought for a moment and said, "Let's start with the industrial area."
Zhou Yunlong nodded and immediately arranged the route. Previously, Zhou Yunlong had been very polite to Qin Jun.
But now, his politeness was tinged with a bit of awe.
Because from this moment on, Qin Jun's identity was not just as Qin Yuan's son, but also as the helm of the Qin family...
---
Eastern Capital, Industrial Area, Third Military Factory.
It was mealtime again.
The workers all lined up with their lunch boxes and returned to their workstations, expressionless, with no one speaking. The huge workshop was like a morgue.
Li Deng forced himself to eat the mushy food, although it could fill his stomach.
But Li Deng felt his body growing weaker and weaker...
This mushy food had almost no nutritional value!
Coupled with the daily high-intensity work, Li Deng's mind was dizzy, his ears constantly ringing.
He was a young man in his prime, yet he was being worn down like this. There was no need to mention the others.
Last night, Uncle Song even fainted during overtime.
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(A/N)- please don't forget to give power stones and reviews so I know if i should continue this novel or not.