Time passed quickly. In just two weeks, it was already late September.
Selection was complete for the small unit scheduled to follow Zhang Tianyuan into Legend World in the first wave.
An advance team of a hundred and fifty people in total.
They would serve as the first main force, following Zhang Tianyuan into the parallel spacetime.
Besides the previously requested soldiers, doctors, engineers, diplomatic and administrative personnel, virologists, and other specialists, these hundred and fifty people also included an additional nuclear, biological, and chemical protection team, added after careful consideration by the Mutual Aid Society.
Moreover, they would have to wear radiation protection suits when entering Legend World.
This was out of concern that Zhang Tianyuan and the others might be exposed to excessive radiation without realizing it after entering the parallel spacetime.
Although they could choose which city to enter, no one knew the specific conditions in each city amid the apocalypse.
What if the city Zhang Tianyuan and the others chose happened to have been affected by a nuclear leak or hit by a nuclear strike?
Wouldn't they be done for on the spot?
The nuclear, biological, and chemical protection team was there to guard against precisely that.
All hundred and fifty of them became the third batch of Mutual Aid Society members. Unlike the ten thousand people currently being selected, they were told everything.
The end of the world...
Parallel spacetimes...
Traveling between worlds to find a safe rear base where their country and its people could evacuate...
Like Instructor Yin before them, the advance team members doubted the news of the apocalypse when they first learned of these things.
But after they came to the convalescent grounds, now converted into the Mutual Aid Society's operations base, met Zhang Tianyuan, and personally experienced the Elementary School's blessing, which felt like wisdom pouring straight into their heads, everyone believed.
A fanatical sense of mission and an overwhelming sense of crisis rapidly brewed in everyone's hearts. Every day, Zhang Tianyuan faced a crowd of people making requests as soon as he went downstairs.
"President Zhang, when can we get started?"
"It's almost 2009, and 2012 is right on our doorstep! President Zhang, we're running out of time!"
Their repeated urging made Zhang Tianyuan's head buzz.
He wanted to set off sooner too, but the circumstances simply wouldn't allow it, would they?
Without a vaccine, he wouldn't enter Legend World even at gunpoint. If he caught the virus, it would all be over.
So every time, Zhang Tianyuan's response was to tell them to train hard. He would keep pressing for the development and production of the KV Vaccine.
The advance team weren't the only ones who needed to train.
Zhang Tianyuan needed training too.
Al-
though his body could already have been considered strong before, he was still far inferior to musclebound brutes like the Darkseekers.
There were vast numbers of Darkseekers in Legend World. He might get surrounded while searching a building one day, and then he would have to rely on this sturdy body of his to break out.
So during this period, Zhang Tianyuan had begun targeted conditioning under professional guidance.
The training mainly focused on his ability to withstand physical confrontation, along with stamina and speed, with occasional practice in clearing obstacles and parkour.
The other advance team members underwent similar training.
The peaceful days barely rippled, while turbulent currents remained hidden in the deepest depths.
No one in the world had imagined that an exploration team was training hard in preparation for the apocalypse.
In October, the first piece of good news arrived.
The ten-thousand-strong reserve team was fully ready. Everyone had entered the secret base to begin training and signed a Mutual Aid Society application, officially becoming a member.
From now on, Zhang Tianyuan could receive over ten thousand base energy points every ten days, enough to open the Spacetime Tunnel for one second.
Though brief, that was already enough.
He could now enter and withdraw from Legend World without worrying about lacking the energy to open the tunnel and being trapped there until he died.
In addition, prototypes of the "flashlight" Zhang Tianyuan had requested earlier had been manufactured.
There were more than a dozen models in total, each meeting all the requirements he had previously specified.
Bidirectional lighting, brightness above 300,000 lumens, modifications for ultraviolet irradiation, an output ultraviolet index above 15, adjustable settings, over three hours of continuous operation, hybrid fuel-and-electric power, a total operating life exceeding 720 hours, and a total weight no greater than fifteen kilograms...
For a country, manufacturing flashlights like these presented practically no difficulty. There simply hadn't been any demand for them before.
All these flashlights were brought before Zhang Tianyuan and the advance team for everyone to vote on.
In the end, everyone chose a boxy model with a moderately long body and a carrying handle.
This flashlight had a small built-in diesel generator. The electricity it generated could be stored in the flashlight's battery or supplied directly to power the flashlight, and could even be fed out to power other equipment.
Moreover, even with a full fuel tank, its total weight was only 13.8 kilograms.
Besides these large flashlights, Bai Xu and the others also requested small ultraviolet flashlights.
After all, the large flashlights were too cumbersome and less convenient to carry than small ones.
None of this was a prob-
lem.
Only at the end of October did Zhang Tianyuan finally receive good news about the vaccine.
The first trial batch of vaccines had been successfully produced, and emergency human trials could begin.
Under normal procedures, they certainly couldn't have acted so rashly.
But the vaccine technology came from the wishing machine, so the probability of problems was low. Moreover, it was urgently needed, so after obtaining the consent of several advance team members, the first KV Vaccine trial began.
Observation showed that after receiving a full course of injections, none of those advance team members exhibited any abnormalities, and antibodies were detected in their bodies.
Next came the second trial, then the third...
No one showed any abnormalities, and the antibody response rate was also one hundred percent.
By late November, when Zhang Tianyuan received his KV Vaccine injection, he was the last person in the entire advance team to be vaccinated.
By the time Zhang Tianyuan finished his full course of vaccinations and developed antibodies normally, it was already mid-December.
But this also meant that all preparations were complete.
They could officially enter "I Am Legend."
That morning.
Several buses picked up Zhang Tianyuan, Bai Xu and his four companions, along with the other hundred and fifty advance team members.
They would be heading to a recently constructed biosafety containment facility.
The facility's construction standards followed those of a P4 biosafety laboratory. Once activated, it could isolate the space within the site, as well as air, wastewater, and anything else that might come into contact with the outside world.
Inside the facility was a spacious plaza, now packed with all kinds of vehicles: generator trucks, water purification trucks, armored vehicles, cargo trucks, medical vehicles...
Every vehicle was fully loaded with supplies and various light weapons, as well as personal supplies packed according to each individual's duties.
After the advance team members arrived, drivers and passengers quickly found their assigned vehicles according to their previously designated roles.
Wearing radiation protection suits, Zhang Tianyuan, Bai Xu, and his four companions also entered an armored command vehicle and sat down.
Driving champion Mie Juan was their driver.
Outside the site, the leadership of "2012" had also arrived. All the leaders who had signed applications with Zhang Tianyuan last time were present, and they even walked over to his vehicle to speak with him.
But Zhang Tianyuan wasn't in the mood for pleasantries now. After a brief exchange, he closed the vehicle's door.
He picked up the radio handset from his own country and issued an order to all vehicles:
"Everyone, get ready. In one minute, I'll open the Spacetime Tunnel..."