The forty-nine-day cataclysmic war had finally reached its conclusion. While the victory undoubtedly called for celebration, the quiet moment following the cheers brought the heavy burden of tallying the aftermath. Triumph was sweet, but none could overlook the sacrifices made to secure it.
The majority of casualties suffered during the final wave stemmed from the sudden appearance of those pitch-black zombies. Xiao and his group had barely finished slaying one when another emerged without warning. Utilizing a deceptive tactic to draw attention elsewhere, the creature struck straight through the defensive wall. The breached section spanned over a hundred meters, allowing a horde of thirty to forty thousand undead to pour directly into the city streets.
Fortunately, the Dragonriders and modern weaponry units moved with exceptional speed. Backed by timely reinforcements and Ryen's Heaven's Fall Longbow, they managed to plug the gap in the wall at the cost of over a thousand fallen combatants.
Regrettably, fewer than half of those thousand could be revived immediately. For the remainder, commanders gathered whatever remains could be found for preservation, while writing down the names of those whose bodies were entirely lost.
As for requesting Hu Tao to conduct a formal funeral service, it was hardly necessary. They were not truly dead, merely awaiting resurrection. Had these losses occurred back in Teyvat, no one would have disputed the natural cycle of life and death. But since these casualties happened within the Minecraft world, resurrection remained a viable and necessary path. Even Hu Tao, who strictly upheld the boundaries of mortality, raised no objection to Ryen's decision. Training capable exploration teams for this realm required immense effort and time.
With the current pool of revival points exhausted, resurrecting every fallen soldier would conservatively require a full month of steady accumulation.
Casualties were only one side of the coin.
The stockpiles of firearms and heavy ammunition were entirely depleted. Alchemical potions and consumables remained at less than ten percent of their original levels, and the total count of Totems of Undying hovered at barely four to five thousand. Factor in the immense destruction of general strategic supplies, and simply restoring their baseline inventory would demand two months of concentrated labor.
Even Ryen's Heaven's Fall Longbow had suffered under the relentless bombardment. Its impressive durability rating of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine had taken such a beating that the durability indicator flickered in the deep red. The sight brought a sharp pang of pain to Ryen's heart. The longbow functioned as a rapid-fire intercontinental missile system, proving wildly effective in large-scale combat. Fortunately, once the cataclysm rewards were distributed, the bow could be replicated using system commands.
Beyond the military supplies, Redstone Tech City itself lay in ruin. The outer walls were shattered into jagged fragments, while internal districts suffered extensive collateral damage from the fighting. Main thoroughfares, residential blocks, structural buildings, and redstone mechanisms all sustained heavy destruction. Guizhong felt a deep ache in her chest watching the devastation, every stone having been forged through her meticulous efforts. Repairing such sprawling damage would take at least half a month of uninterrupted work.
Outside the gates, the scene proved far grimmer.
Cratered earth stretched across the landscape for miles, stripped entirely of vegetation and turned into a desolate expanse of broken ground. The most extreme structural shift was brought about by Ryen's nuclear warhead.
A quick inspection confirmed that no lingering radiation remained, yet the sheer physical impact on the geography was staggering. Ningguang remarked that the last time she witnessed a pit of such magnitude, it was the Chasm. The blast crater spanned a four-kilometer radius with a depth approaching seven hundred meters. Even the vast lake to the northwest had been completely vaporized in an instant. Such was the terrifying yield of a single nuclear detonation.
Gathered inside the City Master's Manor to review the inventory lists, the leaders felt their hearts skip a beat despite having witnessed the explosion firsthand. Forty-nine days of continuous bombardment by TNT and rocket artillery outside the walls paled in comparison to the terrain alteration caused by that solitary weapon.
The structural damage from the bomb was one matter, but the cumulative loss of supplies and infrastructure presented an urgent dilemma. Rebuilding the city and harvesting fresh resources would require deploying a massive workforce. Yet with the Witchery module slated for widespread military rollout and new modules on the horizon, the persistent issue of limited labor pressed heavily upon them once more.
Clear narrative silence fell over the room until Ningguang cleared her throat gently, organizing her thoughts before speaking.
"We face many pressing matters, and we must address them systematically," she began softly. "First, we must repair the primary roads outside the city and fill the blast craters. Only then can our forces maneuver efficiently into the surrounding areas to collect raw materials for structural restoration."
At her words, several eyes turned toward Ryen with subtle, peculiar expressions. Ryen caught the collective gaze and crossed his arms, clearly unamused.
"Why is everyone looking at me like that? I acted out of caution. It is just a large hole in the ground. We can simply assign a crew to fill it in later. Isn't that how we repaired the TNT blast sites before?"
He paused, glancing around the room. "Besides, there were over a hundred thousand zombies pressing our gates last night, and our ammunition was completely spent. Were we supposed to engage in extended hand-to-hand combat? Do you have any idea how many more soldiers would have fallen? Furthermore, all of you wanted to witness the true yield of a nuclear warhead anyway. I merely satisfied your curiosity."
Hu Tao rolled her eyes and let out a light huff. "When did any of us say we were eager to see that monstrosity go off? How can a crater from a nuclear warhead even be compared to a simple TNT hole? A TNT blast is tiny by comparison. Fixing a crater of that size will take several days of solid labor."
Ryen's face darkened slightly as he fixed a steady gaze on her. "Are you taking my side or not? Talking like that after everything... If I hadn't detonated that warhead, how many more lives would we have lost last night? A loss of material resources, no matter how vast, is far better than losing our people."
Noticing the subtle shift in his mood, Hu Tao quickly slid closer to his side, her face wearing a coaxing, sweet smile. "I was only joking! What you did was completely right, Ryen! Sacrificing supplies is infinitely better than losing lives."
Ryen gave a faint hum and pridefully withdrew his hand from her grasp. Since the young woman had taken to teasing him in front of everyone, she needed a gentle lesson in tact.
Hu Tao pouted, her lips curving into a crestfallen line. She reached out cautiously to tug at his sleeve, only for Ryen to lightly pull his arm out of reach. Leaving her to simmer for a short while would ensure she made up for it later in the evening.
"Although the destruction from the blast exceeded our operational baseline and repairs will prove troublesome..." Ganyu began, her voice soft and her eyes brimming with warmth as she looked at Ryen. "Ryen is entirely correct. The density of the horde last night was far too high. Had we engaged in direct melee combat, even in victory, our casualty rate would have exceeded acceptable limits."
She shifted her gaze back to the council. "Personnel remain our highest priority. Heavy losses among our vanguard would hinder our ability to operate after the cataclysm ends. Right now, fewer than a thousand soldiers require resurrection, making the gathering of revival points far more manageable. Besides, Ryen has already agreed not to deploy nuclear weapons recklessly in the future."
Ryen smiled, reaching out to clasp Ganyu's hand gently in his own. "Ganyu always understands my intentions."
He looked back toward the group with a slight smirk. "I hereby commit to a strict policy: as long as the opposing force does not deploy the Heavenly Principles, our side will not be the first to launch nuclear weapons."
A few light chuckles echoed through the hall as the leaders shook their heads in amusement. Hu Tao made a few more subtle attempts to slide her hand into Ryen's, but he evaded her touch with practiced ease each time. Left with no choice, she sat back in her chair, staring at him with a mix of longing and faint annoyance.
Ningguang shook her head gently before returning the focus to the documents. "The extent of our losses is clearly laid out before us. Let us resolve each issue step by step, and anyone with a proposal should feel free to speak. As for the rewards following the cataclysm, we can discuss those later, along with a formal merit system for the frontline troops."
The council members nodded in agreement, though several glanced at one another without speaking up immediately.
Tartaglia and the Fatui commanders kept their eyes closed, resting quietly. Strategic layout and macro logistics were not their domain. Furthermore, during the clash against the second black zombie, Tartaglia had personally experienced a fall in combat. The cold lingering memory of death, paired with the shock of the nuclear explosion, meant he was still recalibrating his mindset. Naturally, Ningguang and the others did not expect martial specialists to offer civil administration plans.
Jean reviewed the battle report carefully, remaining silent for a long moment before offering her thoughts. "Though it may sound harsh, human casualties in war are inevitable, and this outcome falls well within our original projections."
She rested her hands on the table. "To wage a forty-nine-day war against millions of undead and end with roughly five hundred permanent losses after accounting for Totems of Undying is, in truth, an exceptionally fortunate outcome. Personnel recovery is manageable through regular Nether expeditions for Wither Skeleton Skulls. Within a month, everyone can be restored, and we can resume building our stockpile of revival points. Therefore, troop resurrection should be designated as a secondary priority."
Her stern assessment met no opposition. Facing millions of monsters led by high-tier entities and losing only five hundred men was a statistical miracle by any standard. Resurrection remained mandatory, but it did not require halting all other operations.
"The loss of strategic supplies, however, presents a far more critical bottleneck than temporary personnel shortages," Jean continued, her brow furrowing slightly. "Our stockpiles of ammunition, alchemical potions, Totems of Undying, and basic construction blocks have been drawn down far beyond our comfort margins. Even factoring in the reserves stored across our secondary bases, the deficit remains massive."
She paused, looking toward Lisa. "Rebuilding our supply lines is essential for city repairs, ongoing construction, supporting Teyvat, and developing the New Continent. Yet accumulating those supplies requires workforce."
Lisa nodded in agreement, resting her chin on her hand. "Gathering resources requires personnel. Expanding the Witchery module across the standing army requires personnel. Re-exploring the various dimension worlds requires personnel. On top of that, our main national forces have their own construction assignments, not to mention the two custom modules Ryen plans to unlock soon."
She shrugged slightly, a trace of helplessness in her soft tone. "We are only two months into the new year. Although time remains on our side, our blueprint for this year called for building nine major cities and multiple satellite settlements across the Main Continent. The remaining ten months will demand non-stop construction, and building new cities may trigger trial events similar to what Redstone Tech City faced."
Lisa concluded softly, "To put it simply, we are facing a severe shortage of hands once again."
Silence settled over the room once more.
Labor shortages had remained the single most persistent challenge since their arrival in this world. The pace of development moved so rapidly that before the army could fully complete one phase, new initiatives demanded immediate execution. Now, at the very moment when resource gathering and city repairs required maximum output, new modules and vast territorial plans pressed upon them simultaneously.
The core dilemma returned to the same fundamental questions: How many people were needed to push forward, and where would they find them?