Time passed by quickly like sand slipping through the fingers and in the blink of an eye, two days passed by.
During these two days, Cyrus never returned to Apex City, and besides, why would he?
He had no friends, no family, no ties; even if he had friends, they were only superficial ones, not that deep to him.
Everything he needed was right here, inside the Ark.
And to be honest, his new place was nothing beautiful.
At the very top of the Command Center Building, he saw one of his Administrator's benefits, as Noah referred to it as the 'Administrator's Living Quarters.'
Calling it a living quarters would have been an insult; it's more like a mansion bigger than any mansion he had ever seen before. The walls glowed with intricate, beautiful designs; there were countless luxurious rooms that he lost count of, and there was even an infinity pool at the far edge that stretched outward, which seemed to merge with the skyline—a view that is truly breathtaking.
And for these two days, Cyrus enjoyed himself; he swam in the crystal-clear pool, slept in silken sheets, and ate food he once considered out of reach for someone like him.
For two whole days, he lived like an emperor.
---
Zone 4-6: Weapon and Defense Production Base.
------
The production bases have already been completely repaired.
Cyrus stood inside the Heavy Arms Manufacturing Factory; the place was too big, even bigger than the Android Production Base.
And before him stood rows upon rows of armored trucks shining under the sterile blue lights. Their surfaces polished to a slide-like finish.
Each truck was mounted with heavy caliber machine artifacts, barrels long enough to pierce through concrete and steel without breaking a sweat.
And across the vast space, stood massive buses, each capable of carrying a hundred passengers in one go.
These buses weren't the regular buses; they were reinforced with advanced alloy plating and equipped with automated turrets on their roofs.
And finally, weapon racks lined up on the walls, sleek black assault rifles, rocket launchers, cannons, etc.
Cyrus's gaze swept over all the weapons; a smile appeared on his face, and he nodded vigorously in satisfaction.
"Good... good... good... this will really do," he muttered under his breath.
With that, he turned around and walked out of the factory.
---
Time continued to pass again, and half a month was already gone. During this time, the Ark worked full-time. The supplies that Noah had ordered arrived in waves: thousands of tons of rice, wheat, oil, etc.
All of them were stored in the warehouse facilities he bought in Apex City.
And also by that time, the Androids were already completed a day after the weapon bases were repaired.
At that time when Cyrus stood before them, they were neatly lined in rows; he stopped breathing for a second.
At first glance, these human clones seemed just like real humans, with flesh, skin, hair; their faces and skin color were diverse, their builds varied as if they had been picked up from every corner of Gaia.
He even brushed their skin with his fingers to see if it was real; their skin was soft and smooth, but one thing he found was that their eyes. Their eyes were lifeless and devoid of any spirit or spark, something a normal real human has.
He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Can they dream?"
That was the question he asked himself as he looked at them in a daze, but he quickly came back to his senses.
"It doesn't matter... dream or not, they are now his soldiers."
So with the Androids, it really became easier for him. The supplies that were being stored in the warehouse facilities in Apex began transporting them to the Ark's underground storage vaults.
Trucks constantly moved between Apex City and the Ark. Every thousands of tons of food and resources were being transported to the Ark.
Meanwhile, life outside never ceased to go on; people continued their daily activities, living in blissful ignorance.
As for Cyrus, his stronghold grew stronger with each passing day.
And just like that, two months passed by.
---
Two months later...
Inside the Strategic Command Hall, Cyrus sat in the command chair.
He had changed completely; previously, he was all skinny, but now, with two months of optimized training, he had built some muscles.
His physique is now well-sculpted and powerful. His silver-white hair is tied into a ponytail with bangs hanging over his brows.
He was dressed in a deep black operative uniform, the edges of the uniform glowed with red and blue lights that pulsed rhythmically.
His entire body exuded an aura of command and authority.
All around him, giant holographic screens kept flashing with streams of data and footage from all around the world.
Noah's virtual projection hovered before him, looking at Cyrus in silence.
"Apocalypse Countdown: 60 seconds remaining."
Noah's cold voice sounded within the command hall.
When Cyrus heard Noah's words, he slowly closed his eyes and clenched his fists.
History is about to repeat itself once again...
For the past two months, a part of him had hoped that this was just a dream he could wake up from, a chance to know that this time nothing would help through his regression.
But deep down, he knew that this was all wishful thinking, and nothing had truly changed; he knew very well that the world, whether he liked it or not, would face its end once more.
In his previous life, humanity was able to survive for ten long years; although he never knew how it ended, as death took that answer from him.
But now, although history is repeating itself, its course will be different because he is here.
The time on the screen continued to tick down:
30
23
18
Cyrus was silent; only the sound of his breathing could be heard as he looked at the time ticking down.
When the countdown reached zero,
Suddenly, it felt like the world came to a halt; Cyrus stopped breathing for a second.
The holographic screens in the command room erupted into dense red lights as skull marks kept appearing all over the screens.
Noah's cold voice cut through the silence.
"Virus detected."
"First zombie patient has been confirmed."
"In just two minutes, 30 people in Solvara have been infected."
Noah's words made Cyrus frown; Solvara was the first to collapse when the apocalypse hit in his previous life, and it seemed nothing had changed.
On the holographic screens, red dots kept spreading outward like an unstoppable wildfire.
Cities were consumed in a tsunami of red lights within seconds; entire regions were filled with red as the infection spread at a terrifying rate.
Cyrus took a deep breath and said to Noah, "Show me the situation in Apex City."
In an instant, the holographic screens shifted to reveal Apex City; it was still orderly as the virus hadn't hit yet. As he remembered, the virus hit Apex a few hours later.
"Noah, formulate a plan for me fast. I need to rescue some researchers and talents before the virus hits Apex City."
"Yes, Administrator."