31: Chapter 31 A Hard-Fought Victory

After returning from the Alliance Base, Wang Jie locked himself alone in the command room and sat in silence for a long time.

His thoughts were constantly entangled with that mysterious organization known as the "Ark."

Zhou Jianguo had informed him that the Ark was a large-scale survivor force far exceeding the Alliance in size, holding massive populations, weapons, and supplies, with strongholds established nationwide and interconnected communication.

The Ark's mission was to rebuild human civilization.

However, the way they practiced this was diametrically opposed to the Alliance.

The Ark firmly believed that only the top-tier powerhouses deserved the right to survive.

In their eyes, ordinary citizens, the weak, and those without a single specialized skill should all be ruthlessly eliminated by the apocalypse.

Therefore, the Ark was constantly searching everywhere for "elite talent"—scientists, Engineers, doctors, and elite soldiers; they would use any means necessary to recruit anyone with utility value.

As for those useless people, they would never spare them a second glance.

After listening to Zhou Jianguo's account, Wang Jie's heart surged with complex and indistinguishable emotions.

The Ark's philosophy wasn't entirely without merit. Resources were extremely scarce in the apocalypse, and prioritizing the survival of useful people was originally a helpless reality.

But to stand by and watch millions of ordinary people be abandoned... he couldn't do it.

Zhou Jianguo seemed to see through his thoughts and let out a heavy sigh.

"Young man, I know you don't agree, and neither do I. But we have to admit that the Ark's way of doing things has allowed them to survive the apocalypse, and live better than any of us."

Wang Jie remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "What exactly is the connection between the Ark and the Academy of Sciences?"

Zhou Jianguo slowly shook his head. "There's no conclusion yet, but the core figure of the Academy of Sciences, 'K', is almost certainly one of the Ark's people."

Wang Jie's heart suddenly tightened.

If that were truly the case, then the Ark was the black hand manipulating everything behind the scenes.

Was it they who created the zombie virus? Or were they merely exploiting this catastrophe to achieve their goals?

Everything remained a mystery.

But he swore he would get to the bottom of it.

Over the following days, while resting his troops and stabilizing the base's defenses, Wang Jie put all his effort into gathering intelligence regarding the Ark.

Information passed from the Alliance showed that the Ark's headquarters was located in a place called "New City" in the north. It was originally a large military base and had now been transformed into a massive survivor settlement. It was said that the permanent population exceeded ten thousand, and it possessed an independent army, factories, farmland, and even schools. Over ten thousand people.

Wang Jie's base combined with all the Alliance's combat power still didn't reach five hundred people.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was like a natural chasm.

But Wang Jie didn't feel the slightest bit discouraged.

He knew that as long as he was given enough time, relying on the red alert system in his hands, he would eventually catch up to the opponent.

With the red alert system as his trump card, what did he have to fear?

From then on, Wang Jie began to go all out in mass-producing troops and expanding his army.

The Barracks operated twenty-four hours a day, non-stop training Gene Warriorss, Tesla Troopers, and Psychic Commandos; the War Factory ran day and night, with assembly lines producing tanks, infantry vehicles, and Armed Helicopters; inside the Battle Lab, researchers worked day and night on breakthroughs, developing cutting-edge technologies like Energy Shields, Electromagnetic Pulse Cannons, and Nano-Repair Robots.

Funds were consumed rapidly like flowing water, but the mining vehicles were also working with all their might, dismantling and converting all nearby abandoned vehicles into combat funds.

A week passed, and the base's military strength directly doubled.

Two weeks passed, and the military strength doubled again.

After three weeks, Wang Jie commanded a truly modern army—two hundred elite soldiers, twenty Main Battle Tanks, ten Armed Helicopters, and five Armored Infantry Vehicles.

Looking at the neatly lined up, high-morale soldiers before him, seeing the majestic array of armored vehicles on the ground, and watching the fleet of armed aircraft ready to go in the sky, a surge of unprecedented confidence and power welled up in the depths of Wang Jie's heart.

At this moment, he had the confidence to face any incoming enemy.

Even if the opponent was the powerful Ark, he was no longer afraid.