3: Chapter 3 The Birth of the Conscript

Early the next morning, Wang Jie was awakened by a commotion.

He opened his eyes and realized he had fallen asleep against the wall at some point.

An army coat was draped over him, and a bowl of hot water and half a piece of compressed biscuits were placed beside him.

He paused for a moment, then looked up to see Lin Waner checking on a few survivors not far away.

Those survivors had been rescued yesterday while clearing the surrounding buildings—six people in total, men and women, young and old.

Lin Waner was taking their temperatures and checking their wounds.

Wang Jie stood up and walked over.

Lin Waner saw him and nodded: "Awake?"

Wang Jie looked at the survivors: "How is the situation?"

"Not great." Lin Waner frowned. "Two show signs of mild infection, though it's unclear if it's the zombie virus or just a regular wound infection. Three have trauma and need debridement and stitches. And one—that child—has a high fever and needs fever reducers."

Wang Jie was silent for a few seconds.

He didn't have any medicine.

He asked the system: "Can you make medicine?"

【Available for Construction: Basic Medical Kit (Requires 200 funds, contains fever reducers, antibiotics, painkillers, bandages, etc.)】

【Construction Time: 10 seconds】

Wang Jie's eyes lit up: "Make five."

Ten seconds later, five white medical kits appeared before him.

Wang Jie picked them up and handed them to Lin Waner.

Lin Waner took them, opened one to look, and her eyes widened: "These things... where did you get them?"

Wang Jie didn't answer, only saying: "Is this enough?"

Lin Waner nodded, then shook her head: "Enough for now. But if there are more people later, it definitely won't be enough."

Wang Jie thought for a moment: "Use these first. Tell me if you need anything else."

Lin Waner looked at him, a complex light in her eyes.

Then she lowered her head and continued treating the survivors' wounds.

Wang Jie turned and walked toward the core area of the base.

He needed to properly plan the next phase of development.

Standing next to the base, Wang Jie opened the system panel to check the current resource situation:

【Current Funds: 31030】

【Power: 200 / 200】

【Buildings: Base (Level 1), Power Plant × 2, Barracks (Level 1), Walls, Machine Gun Bunker × 4】

【Troops: Conscript 20】

【Survivors: 7】

Twenty troops, seven people.

It sounded like a lot, but Wang Jie knew this strength was far from enough.

If the zombie wave from last night had been twice as large, his defensive line might not have held.

He needed more troops, stronger troops.

But the Barracks was only Level 1, and could only train Conscripts.

He needed to upgrade the Barracks.

【Barracks Upgrade: Requires 5000 funds, 200 Power】

【Units Unlocked After Upgrade: American Soldiers, Heavy Soldier, Engineer】

【Construction Time: 30 minutes】

Wang Jie looked at this upgrade option and hesitated for a few seconds.

300,000 funds—he had enough.

Power was also sufficient.

But was a thirty-minute construction time too long?

What if zombies attacked during this time—

He gritted his teeth and clicked confirm.

The Barracks began to upgrade.

The entire building was enveloped in a faint blue glow, and complex circuit patterns emerged on its surface.

The system displayed the remaining time: 29:59.

Wang Jie leaned against the wall, staring at the countdown, counting it second by second.

Lin Waner walked over and sat down beside him.

"That building is glowing," she said.

"Mm."

"Is it upgrading?"

"Mm."

Lin Waner was silent for a while, then asked: "Wang Jie, how exactly did you get these things?"

Wang Jie turned to look at her.

Lin Waner met his gaze without flinching: "You don't have to say if you don't want to. I just want to know if I can trust you."

Wang Jie was silent for a few seconds.

Then he said: "On the third day of the apocalypse, I obtained a system. This system allows me to turn a base from a game into reality."

Lin Waner was stunned: "A base from a game?"

"'Red Alert', have you played it?"

Lin Waner shook her head.

Wang Jie thought for a moment and explained it in a way she could understand: "It's just an old game. You can build a base, build troops, build tanks, and then fight wars. I am now—bringing this game into reality."

Lin Waner was silent for a long time.

Then she asked: "Those troops, do they really have consciousness, or are they just robots?"

Wang Jie remembered the look in No. 1's eyes, and the tone he used when he said "They will return."

"I don't know," he said. "They have expressions, can talk, and will execute orders. But they don't feel fear, and they don't need to eat or sleep. After they die, the Barracks can retrain them."

Lin Waner lowered her head, wondering what she was thinking.

After a while, she looked up at Wang Jie:

"I don't care if they are human or machine. As long as they can protect us, they are good."

Wang Jie nodded.

The two sat there, watching the countdown jump second by second.

Twenty-nine minutes—it wasn't long, but it wasn't short either.

The moment the countdown hit zero, the glow of the Barracks dissipated.

Appearing before Wang Jie was a brand-new building—taller and larger than before, the exterior walls had turned dark green, and above the main entrance was a huge logo: a soaring eagle.

【Barracks upgrade complete. Current level: 2】

【New trainable units:】

【American Soldiers: Requires 300 funds, training time 20 seconds】

【Heavy Soldier: Requires 400 funds, training time 25 seconds】

【Engineer: Requires 500 funds, training time 30 seconds】

Wang Jie looked at the "Engineer" option, his eyes lighting up.

Engineer.

In the game, Engineers could repair buildings, capture buildings, and dismantle bombs.

In reality, what could an Engineer do?

He immediately asked the system.

【Engineer: Possesses basic engineering skills, can repair buildings, fix machinery, and set up defensive facilities. Special Ability: Capture enemy buildings (Requires enemy building to be damaged to below 50%)】

Capture enemy buildings?

Wang Jie was stunned.

This ability seemed a bit overpowered.

He thought for a moment and decided to train two Engineers to test it out.

The gates opened, and two middle-aged men wearing work clothes, hardhats, and carrying toolboxes walked out.

They walked to Wang Jie and saluted: "Comrade Commander!"

Wang Jie looked at them, suddenly feeling a strange sensation—these two people looked just like real Engineers, their faces carrying the composure and confidence belonging to technical personnel.

"What can you do?"

One of the Engineers replied: "Reporting to the Commander, we can repair buildings, fix machinery, and set up power grids. If there are blueprints, we can also build simple defensive fortifications."

Wang Jie nodded: "Okay. You two familiarize yourselves with the base first, and see which places need repair."

The two Engineers saluted and turned to inspect the Power Plants and bunkers.

Wang Jie looked again at the options for American Soldiers and Heavy Soldier.

American Soldiers, in the game, were more advanced infantry than Conscripts and could be deployed into an enhanced defensive state.

Heavy Soldiers were equipped with stronger weapons and armor.

He thought for a moment and decided to train ten of each.

When the twenty new recruits walked out of the Barracks, Wang Jie's funds dropped by another chunk—ten American Soldiers, 3000; ten Heavy Soldiers, 4000; two Engineers, 1000. A total of 8000 funds.

Plus what he spent yesterday, he now had 23,000 left.

But looking at the forty-man team in front of him—twenty Conscripts, twenty new recruits—Wang Jie felt the money was well spent.

He stood before this small army and suddenly had a strange feeling.

This wasn't a game.

This was real.

These people would fight for him, die for him.

And he, he had to lead them to survive.