4: Chapter 4 First Encounter with Danger

The afternoon of the second day after the Conscript training finished, danger arrived.

The first to notice the abnormality was the sentry on the perimeter wall. An American Soldier was observing the surroundings with binoculars when he suddenly saw a gray tide pouring out onto the street to the east.

It was zombies.

Dense and countless.

He immediately pressed the alarm.

The piercing sound of the siren echoed in the underground garage. Wang Jie rushed out of the command room, ran up to the perimeter wall, and took the binoculars.

Then he froze.

On the street to the east, at least three hundred zombies were moving toward them. Some were wearing work clothes, some pajamas, and some were naked. They walked slowly but with great determination—like a colony of ants advancing in the same direction.

"How can there be so many?" Lin Waner had climbed up at some point and stood beside him, her face pale.

Wang Jie did not speak.

He saw a particularly tall figure at the very front of the zombie horde—at least two and a half meters tall, its body swollen like an inflated balloon, with extremely long limbs and a large muscle mass bulging on its back.

A mutant.

He had seen one before. That time, just one was enough to nearly collapse his defensive line. This time, there were at least three in the zombie horde.

The system notification sounded:

【Zombie Horde Detected】

【Scale: Large (approx. 350 units)】

【Threat Level: High】

【Recommendation: Initiate maximum alert, concentrate all firepower】

Wang Jie took a deep breath.

He jumped down from the wall, ran toward the base core area, and opened the system panel.

Funds: 23,000.

He needed more defenses.

Machine gun bunkers cost 500 each and consume 50 power. His current power was 200/200, which was full. He needed to build a Power Plant first.

He clicked the Power Plant six times, consuming 4,800 funds, and the power immediately soared to 800/800.

Then he started building bunkers.

On the inside of the perimeter wall, one every twenty meters. The northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest corners already had one each, so now he needed to fill in the middle.

Five, six, seven—

He built ten in one go, consuming 5,000 funds.

Then he added four guard towers on the perimeter wall, each equipped with a Sniper—those had just been trained in the Barracks, costing 600 funds each, so four cost 2,400.

10,800 funds remained.

Wang Jie looked at this number, then looked at the approaching zombie horde.

Not enough.

Far from enough.

But there was no time left.

He climbed up the perimeter wall, stood on the highest guard tower, and watched the gray tide getting closer and closer.

Three hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

One hundred meters.

"Open fire."

The moment the order was given, the fourteen machine gun bunkers roared simultaneously.

The sound of the heavy machine guns was deafening, and bullets poured into the gray tide like a rainstorm. The zombies charging at the front fell row by row; some were headshot, some had their waists broken, and others were torn to pieces.

But the zombies behind trampled over their companions' corpses and continued to charge forward.

The largest mutant charged at the very front. Bullets hitting its body were like hitting a rubber wall—embedding themselves and then being squeezed out by the muscles. It didn't even bleed, just slowed down slightly.

Wang Jie clenched his fists.

"Snipers, aim for the big one."

The four Snipers pulled the triggers simultaneously.

Four armor-piercing rounds struck the mutant's head at the same time.

The behemoth's head jerked back violently, and black liquid sprayed from the bullet holes. It let out a deafening roar and continued to charge forward—but its speed was even slower.

"Keep firing!"

Another volley.

This time, the mutant's head finally exploded. The deformed skull shattered completely, and its massive body swayed twice before crashing to the ground.

Before Wang Jie could rejoice, he saw the other two mutants had already reached the perimeter wall.

One of them grabbed the metal fence with its sharp claws and tore it apart with force. Those thumb-thick steel bars were pulled open like noodles.

Another jumped directly, trying to vault over the wall—its jumping ability was astonishing, leaping over three meters high in a single bound.

"Hit the one vaulting the wall!"

All firepower turned simultaneously toward the jumping mutant.

It was hit by dozens of bullets in mid-air, its entire body spraying black liquid like a sieve. But it still vaulted over the wall and crashed heavily inside the base.

Then it stood up.

Wang Jie was only twenty meters away from it.

He saw that face clearly—it was a twisted, deformed face, but one could still vaguely discern a human shape. Its eyes were blood-red, with no pupils, only pure killing intent.

It stared at Wang Jie, opened its mouth that stretched to its ears, and let out a hiss.

Then it charged over.

Wang Jie raised the rifle in his hand, aimed at that face, and pulled the trigger frantically.

But he knew it was too late.

Just when the mutant was only three meters away from him, a figure suddenly rushed in front of him—it was Number 01.

Number 01 held his gun and fired continuously at the mutant's head. When the bullets ran out, he swung the butt of the rifle and smashed it hard against that deformed head.

The mutant was knocked back a step, but immediately swung its sharp claws, grabbed Number 01, and threw him away like a rag. Number 01 hit the wall, slid to the ground, and stopped moving.

But this moment bought three seconds.

Three seconds was enough for the other three Snipers to re-aim.

Three armor-piercing rounds struck the mutant's back of the head simultaneously.

The behemoth swayed, turned around, and looked toward the Snipers—

Another bullet struck its forehead from the front.

That was fired by Wang Jie.

The mutant's eyes widened, and a flash of bewilderment seemed to pass through its blood-red pupils for an instant.

Then it fell down.

Wang Jie panted heavily, looking at the corpse, then looked toward Number 01 by the wall.

Number 01 was lying on the ground, with a huge wound on his chest, bleeding out.

He walked over and knelt down.

Number 01's eyes were open, looking at him.

"Commander..." His voice was very soft, "I..."

Then he stopped moving.

The system notification sounded:

【Unit Loss: Conscript 01】

【Current Troop Strength: 39/40】

Wang Jie knelt there, looking at that young face.

He had always told himself that these soldiers were not people, but data, artificial intelligence. If they died, they could be recreated.

But at this moment, looking at Number 01's face, looking at those eyes that had lost their luster, he suddenly felt that he was lying to himself.

They are people.

At least, in his eyes, they were.

Lin Waner walked over and gently patted his shoulder.

Wang Jie stood up, turned his head, and looked at the battlefield outside the perimeter wall.

The battle was over. More than three hundred zombies, three mutants, all lay outside the perimeter wall. Black blood pooled into small streams, flowing along the terrain, and the air was filled with a pungent, foul stench.

His soldiers, three had died—one Conscript, two American Soldiers.

But he had survived.

His base had been saved.

Wang Jie stood on the perimeter wall, looking at the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, a complex emotion welling up in his heart.

This was his war.

From now on, every day would be.