Calista listened quietly, thinking back on how she had felt lately.
Aside from the trip to the Norris Community, she had been staying at the base recently, sparring with people she knew whenever she had time.
On the training ground, her punches seemed faster, and her stamina lasted longer. At first, Carver had knocked her down with one punch. Now, during training, she could already trade blows back and forth with him.
More often, she was learning fighting techniques from them instead of passively taking a beating.
Carver had marveled more than once at how fast her physical abilities were rising.
"So what you mean is," Calista said hesitantly, "the side effects brought by Wildfire can be controlled and eased through active, high-intensity physical exertion?"
"Not just eased, Calista!"
There it was. Dr. Jenner was slipping into that scientific fervor again.
"I think this is more likely a positive adaptation pathway! Your body isn't passively enduring the side effects. It is actively adapting and learning to control the extra energy brought by Wildfire!"
He waved his arms excitedly. "Before, I was developing a stabilizer based on your blood samples. My research approach was suppression and balance.
There was some progress, but without clinical trials, I didn't dare use it on you rashly.
Now it seems that only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. It might even limit your potential. The real solution should be guidance and consumption!"
Dr. Jenner's eyes were burning as he suggested, "Calista, listen to me. You should continue. No, you should increase the development of your physical capabilities!
Maintain higher-intensity combat training, push yourself through more extreme physical challenges, and put yourself more often in environments that force your potential to activate!
Let your body grow used to that high-energy-consumption state. Turn the energy brought by the Wildfire trial vaccine completely into part of your own strength!
It's like building muscle through exercise. You tear it down and repair it again and again, and that's how it becomes stronger.
You need to make your body fully adapt to and master this power!"
Calista fell into thought.
She lowered her head, looked at her own hand, and slowly clenched it.
Dr. Jenner's words were like a key, opening a door she had never imagined before.
All this time, Calista had treated Wildfire as a mystery to be solved and guarded against, a potential threat.
But now, Dr. Jenner was telling her that it might be an opportunity for her to become stronger, a power she needed to actively control and integrate into herself.
"I understand." She raised her head. The hesitation and searching in her eyes had vanished, replaced by a hidden trace of excitement.
"Continue researching the stabilizer as a backup plan. As for the main adaptation path, we'll do as you said."
Calista said nothing more. She turned, picked up the coat draped over the back of the chair, and put it on neatly.
"Seal the data and samples for the attractant and stabilizer. Classify them as top secret. Other than me, no one is to be told the specific data or effects."
Before leaving the laboratory, she added, "Keep researching the attractant. I want you to find the application parameters under different environmental conditions.
Continue controlled experiments once the weather warms up. Also... since an attractant exists, is there a possibility of a reverse effect, such as repulsion?"
"I understand, but for now, I have no lead on a reagent with a repellent effect." Jenner nodded solemnly.
"That's fine. If you can develop it, great. If not, we lose nothing."
When Calista left the laboratory, her steps were lighter than when she had come in.
Sunlight poured in through the window at the end of the corridor, dancing across the ends of her golden hair.
[I will become the master who controls this power!]
...
As if overnight, the extreme cold that had shrouded the Great Smoky Mountains for months finally began to show signs of exhaustion.
Although the mornings and evenings still froze people's fingers stiff, the midday sunlight had already gained a trace of real warmth.
The icicles that had hung from the eaves all winter began melting with steady drips, gathering into small streams on the ground.
The edges of the snow covering the mountains and fields began to blacken and shrink, exposing the damp soil beneath.
Throughout the winter, the reconnaissance teams had not stopped operating completely.
There was a saying. Survivors in the apocalypse were like cockroaches. When you found one nearby, there was already a whole nest hidden in the dark.
Especially now that the weather was starting to warm up, the survivors who had spent the entire winter holed up indoors were beginning to go out again in search of supplies.
Relying on their familiarity with the surrounding terrain, Hank's team and Rory's team each discovered small survivor settlements struggling to stay alive among the snow-covered mountains and forests.
Among them were two larger settlements.
One was made up of several families hiding in a remote ranger station, with more than thirty people.
The other had over forty people surviving in a semi-underground visitor center.
More often, they were small groups of only a few people, like John and Jim's group. Most were made up of a few family members or neighbors, hiding in houses and barely scraping by.
After Rock Fortress displayed its powerful strength and provided limited aid, these small groups chose to join almost without hesitation.
Humans were social animals. They knew too well how slim their chances were of surviving the next winter alone.
In the apocalypse, being able to join a large and powerful base like this was undoubtedly very fortunate.
The influx of newcomers proceeded steadily, and the strict quarantine and screening process had already been institutionalized.
Gwendolyn officially became a screening officer, responsible for reviewing and questioning personnel.
The newcomers were quickly assigned to various posts, filling the manpower gaps created by the base's expansion.
At the same time, the threat from other humans had not disappeared because of the extreme cold. Instead, after a winter of consuming supplies, they had become even more desperate.
A group of roughly twenty raiders, probably crazed by hunger, happened to run into a squad searching for supplies in a nearby town and tried to ambush them.
Unfortunately, they underestimated Rock Fortress's combat power.
Under the counterattack from Gavin, Mike, Ethan, Danny, and five members of the guard team, most of the raiders were killed on the spot.
The few who were too badly wounded did not last until morning. Rock Fortress's medicine and resources would not be wasted on enemies.
Only three sharp ones, who were not as vicious as their companions, threw down their weapons and knelt to surrender as soon as the fight began, after realizing that Mike and the others were well trained and well armed. They became the base's newest prisoners.
They were put in shackles and replaced Jack, who had been punished for stealing, taking on the dirtiest and most exhausting forced labor. They had set foot on the same path as Wagner and Jason.
Until they earned enough points to redeem themselves, the prisoners had only the most basic right to survive, with no freedom or dignity.
By this point, Rock Fortress's total population had reached more than four hundred and was still expanding.
As the main residential area, Blackberry Ranch was growing increasingly lively.
Children ran and played inside the designated safe zones. Their clothes were plain, but the bluish pallor of frostbite and hunger had faded from their faces.
Influenced by the first two children, Little Jimmy and Duane, most children over the age of eight took part in labor, earning a small number of points by doing work within their ability.
Jim's classroom also welcomed more students.
After surviving its winter hibernation, the base was coming back to life.