21: Chapter 21 The Bet

The emergency lights in the underground garage carved the entire B2 level into a grid of alternating light and shadow.

Commander Lin Dong squatted by the hood of the humvee, the military tablet in his hand displaying a constantly ticking number—base vehicle Construction Progress: 32%. The red circular icon on the screen had been flashing for three full minutes, like a dying signal on an EKG.

"It stopped," Li Na's voice came from behind him, carrying an irrepressible tremor. Her left hand pressed against her right shoulder, where blood was faintly seeping through the bandages—the result of a graze from a stray bullet half an hour ago.

Commander Lin Dong didn't look back. His gaze was fixed on another set of data on the tablet:

[Energy Fluctuation Detected]

Source Direction: North Ramp Entrance

Fluctuation Intensity: 78.3 Hz

Estimated Distance: 47 meters

Threat Level: Orange

"It's not zombies," he said softly, his voice holding no doubt, only a statement of fact.

Li Na leaned closer, the screen's faint light reflecting off her pale face. She was a Communications Soldier from the military sub-district; before the apocalypse, her job had been to watch over a switchboard that never malfunctioned. But now, she had to learn to interpret data that had never appeared in any training manual.

"Then what is it?"

Commander Lin Dong didn't answer. He handed the tablet to Li Na, his right hand already reaching for the type 92 pistol at his waist. The cold touch of metal made his mind race—12 rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber, and two spare magazines in the left pocket of his tactical vest.

"It's people," he said. "And more than one."

The emergency lights in the garage flickered suddenly, and the sound of boot soles scuffing against the concrete floor drifted from the distance. It was faint, but in this near-absolute silence, the sound was magnified tenfold.

Commander Lin Dong's brain began processing the information automatically: Source from the north ramp, preliminary estimate of 3-4 people, moderate movement speed, no attempt at stealth. If they were survivors, they should have called out first. If they were zombies, there wouldn't be such rhythmic footsteps.

That left only one possibility.

"Wake everyone up," he told Li Na, his voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't turn on the lights, don't make a sound. Assemble behind the humvee."

Li Na turned and ran toward the depths of the garage. There, two students who had escaped from the university town were curled up in a corner, next to three surviving soldiers—Platoon Leader Zhou Hai from the Second Company, Wang Lei Wang Lei from the Third Company, and that New recruit whose name Commander Lin Dong couldn't remember.

Commander Lin Dong turned his gaze back to the tablet. The base vehicle's construction progress was still at 32%, and the countdown showed another 4 hours and 17 minutes were needed. But a new prompt suddenly popped up in the top right corner of the screen:

[Extractable Energy Source Detected]

Source: Unknown Biological Units (Quantity: 4)

Estimated Energy: 47-62 points/unit

Extraction Method: Contact with corpse after kill

Risk Warning: Target units suspected to possess basic armaments

Commander Lin Dong's pupils constricted slightly.

The system was telling him that if he killed those people, he could extract energy to accelerate the base vehicle's construction.

He suppressed the thought like snuffing out a cigarette butt. It wasn't a matter of morality—morality in the apocalypse had long since been rewritten—it was a tactical issue: he didn't know who they were, how many there were, or if they had heavy weapons.

In this situation, the first choice was always concealment, not a proactive strike.

But the other party didn't give him that choice.

"Listen up down there!"

A coarse male voice came from the ramp entrance, accompanied by the electronic static characteristic of a megaphone. Immediately after, a blinding beam of light shot down from the top of the ramp, sweeping a swaying white circle across the garage floor.

"We know there are people in there! That humvee is a military vehicle! If you're smart, hand over the car, along with the weapons and food! I'm counting to ten. If you don't come out, don't blame us for being ruthless!"

Commander Lin Dong leaned against the side of the humvee, observing the ramp through the gap in the side-view mirror. The light source was a handheld searchlight; the person holding it stood midway down the ramp, their exact numbers unclear. But he could hear more footsteps coming from above the ramp—at least seven or eight, possibly more.

"One! Two! Three!"

The voice began to count, each number drawn out with a long trail, carrying a leisurely quality like a cat playing with a mouse.

Li Na crept back from the depths of the garage and crouched beside Commander Lin Dong. Her breathing was light, but Commander Lin Dong could feel her body trembling slightly.

"How many?" she asked.

"At least ten," Commander Lin Dong said. "Likely more."

"Can we fight?"

Commander Lin Dong didn't answer immediately. He was calculating: three soldiers, himself, two students with basically zero combat capability, and Li Na with a wounded right shoulder. Regarding weapons, the humvee had four type 95 rifles, less than six hundred rounds of ammunition, four grenades, and several pistols.

He didn't know how many guns the other side had. But people who dared to hijack a military vehicle wouldn't be empty-handed.

"Ten" hadn't been reached yet.

"What do we do?" A hint of despair began to creep into Li Na's voice.

Commander Lin Dong didn't answer. His gaze fell on the tablet—not at that damned construction progress, but at another set of data:

[base vehicle Armor Status]

Front Armor: 50mm Homogeneous Steel

Side Armor: 30mm

Top Armor: 20mm

Current State: Undeployed, Protection Level MAX

He looked up toward the back of the parking lot. In the dim glow of the emergency lights, that silver-gray heavy truck sat quietly, its 22-meter-long body occupying nearly an entire row of parking spaces. Its 80-ton weight made it look less like a vehicle and more like a fallen fortress.

A crazy idea began to take shape in his mind.

"Do you trust me?" he asked Li Na.

Li Na was stunned for a moment, then nodded.

"Then do as I say."

Commander Lin Dong began giving orders, his voice held to a whisper, yet each word was hammered into Li Na's ears like a nail.

"Nine!"

Commander Lin Dong darted out from behind the humvee, hands raised above his head. The searchlight beam immediately locked onto him, stinging his eyes so much he could barely keep them open.

"That's more like it!" The voice on the ramp turned cheerful. "Only those who know how to adapt survive long! Walk over slowly, let me see how many hands and feet you've got!"

Commander Lin Dong didn't move. He stood in the center of the beam, letting his face be completely exposed to their view.

"I need to confirm something first," his voice was calm, as if he were discussing the day's training subjects with a comrade. "Which unit are you with?"

A burst of jeering laughter came from the ramp.

"Which unit?" the voice laughed the loudest. "I'm with the 'God Almighty' unit! It's the apocalypse, brother. Those old rules don't work anymore! Now, whoever has the biggest fist is the law!"

"So you're not military."

"Military?" The laughter grew louder. "You mean the military that got chewed into a sieve by zombies? When I just got out of prison, I saw your camp. The entrance was full of dead people, and guns were scattered on the ground with no one to pick them up! Military? Hahahaha!"

The corner of Commander Lin Dong's mouth twitched slightly. It wasn't a smile; it was a confirmation—confirmation that the opposition had no military training, confirmation that they didn't know the meaning of tactical discipline, and confirmation that they were just a disorganized mob that had escaped during the chaos.

"Fine," he said. "I'm coming over."

He began to walk forward at a moderate pace, hands held above his head the entire time. When he reached the middle of the ramp, he finally saw what they looked like—

Seven people—no, eight. One was standing at the front with the searchlight, another behind him with the megaphone. The remaining six were scattered across the ramp, some holding machetes, some with steel pipes, and two were brandishing firearms—one was a Type 97 riot shotgun used by police, and the other was a hunting rifle.

The two gunmen were positioned at the very back of the group, at least fifteen meters away from him. This was good news—it meant these people didn't understand fire suppression or interlocking fields of fire.

"Just you?" The bald man with the megaphone looked him up and down. "Where are the others?"

"In the back," Commander Lin Dong said, pointing toward the depths of the garage. "I have the keys to the humvee; I can drive it out alone. As for the others... two are injured and can't move."

"Injured?" The bald man's eyes lit up. "Male or female?"

"Female."

A round of lewd laughter erupted from the crowd. The two gunmen edged forward, clearly wanting to see what the "injured woman" looked like.

Commander Lin Dong made a hand signal behind his back. It was subtle, but Li Na should be able to see it—it was the scout's hand signal for "Ready."

"Lead the way," the bald man pointed toward the back of the garage with his megaphone. "I'm going to see for myself."

Commander Lin Dong didn't move.

"What?" The bald man's face darkened. "Trying to play tricks?"

"No," Commander Lin Dong said, his voice still calm. "I just wanted to remind you that the vehicle is a bit large."

"Large? How large can it be? It's not like I haven't driven a Jiefang truck before!"

"Then you'll have to see for yourself."

Commander Lin Dong stepped aside, revealing the silhouette of the garage's depths behind him.

The emergency lights didn't reach that far, but by the light of the searchlight, the bald man finally saw the behemoth—

A silver-gray heavy truck with an unfamiliar streamlined design and no markings on its body. Its 22-meter-long trailer lay there like a train car. Even just sitting still, the sense of pressure from its 80-ton weight made the bald man instinctively take a step back.

"This... what kind of truck is this?"

"I don't know," Commander Lin Dong said. "It was here when I arrived. Probably left behind by some logistics company."

The bald man stared at the truck for a full ten seconds. He was hesitating—this truck was too big, so big it didn't seem like something usable in the apocalypse. But because it was so big, it might be full of cargo—maybe food, water, supplies...

"Go take a look," he finally decided.

Commander Lin Dong walked in front, the bald man following closely behind with the searchlight, while the rest moved toward the back of the garage in a loose formation. The two gunmen still trailed at the back, but the searchlight beam made it difficult for their eyes to adjust to the darkness in the depths of the garage.

Commander Lin Dong's pace grew slower and slower, to the point where the bald man nearly bumped into his back.

"What are you dawdling for? Move it!"

"We're here," Commander Lin Dong stopped and pointed to the silver-gray truck. "This is it."

The bald man raised the searchlight and aimed the beam at the truck's trailer—

And then he saw a person.

A person wearing an unfamiliar military uniform was standing next to the truck, holding an ak-47.

The barrel was pointed straight at his head.

Time seemed to freeze.

The bald man's mouth was halfway open, the word "enemy" hadn't even come out, and Commander Lin Dong had already moved—

His body leaned to the right, left hand bracing against the floor. He was like a spring compressed to its limit, using his momentum to sweep beneath the bald man's searchlight. The beam swept over the spot where he had just been standing, hitting nothing.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

The next second, his right hand had already drawn the type 92 pistol from his waist.

The target was not the bald man, nor those holding knives, but the ones at the very back—those two gunmen.

They were about eighteen meters away from Commander Lin Dong, raising their guns in an attempt to aim. However, the searchlight had temporarily cost them their night vision, and the direction Commander Lin Dong was moving happened to be the blind spot of the light.

First shot.

The wielder of the type 97 riot gun was hit in the left shoulder and fell backward. As he fell, his finger pulled the trigger, and with a loud "bang," the riot round struck the ceiling, causing concrete debris to come crashing down.

Second shot.

The wielder of the shotgun had just turned his muzzle toward Commander Lin Dong's position when his right kneecap was shattered by a bullet. He let out a scream, lost his balance, and the shotgun flew from his hands, sliding over three meters across the concrete floor.

Two shots, 1.7 seconds.

This was Commander Lin Dong's best record from his time in the Reconnaissance Company. Back then, his instructor said that on the battlefield, 1.7 seconds was enough for you to fire two shots, and also enough for the enemy to fire one—the key was whose gun went off first.

Today, his went off first.

"Fire!" Li Na's shout came from deep within the garage.

Three soldiers leaned out from behind the humvee, and their type 95 rifles began firing in bursts. The muzzle flashes were exceptionally blinding in the darkness, each flash taking down someone attempting to resist.

Platoon Leader Zhou Hai had the best marksmanship; with a three-round burst, two knife-wielders fell. Wang Lei's aim was slightly off, the bullet hitting a runaway in the back; the man collapsed to the ground, crawling forward while screaming. The New recruit's hands were shaking, but he still sent a bullet into the bald man's shoulder—even though he had originally aimed for the chest.

The battle lasted less than twenty seconds.

Eight attackers: five down, two kneeling on the ground with their hands over their heads, and one dropped his knife and ran toward the ramp.

Commander Lin Dong did not pursue. He put away his pistol, picked up the shotgun from the ground, and pulled the bolt to check it—there were still two rounds inside, copper-cased buckshot, powerful enough to punch through a car door at close range.

Then he walked toward the runaway who was crawling toward the ramp.

"Don't... don't kill me..." The man's voice was filled with a crying tone; one of his legs was already broken, dragging a trail of blood on the ground.

Commander Lin Dong crouched down in front of him.

"How many of you are there?"

"Thir... thirteen... eight came out... five more are in the vehicle..."

"What vehicle?"

"Van... a van... parked above the ramp..."

"Are there any guns?"

"There's one more... one pistol... in the boss's hand..."

Commander Lin Dong nodded. He pressed the muzzle of the shotgun against the back of the man's head.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! You said you wouldn't kill me!"

"I never said that."

The gun went off.

The remaining five attackers were taken to the side of the humvee. Three were injured, and two were unscathed—the latter were currently kneeling on the ground, shivering, completely unrecognizable from their arrogant appearance just minutes ago.

Li Na was bandaging them. Not out of sympathy, but out of tactical necessity—injured hostages wouldn't run, people who lost too much blood would die, and dead people had no utility.

"Three are dead," Platoon Leader Zhou Hai walked over and reported in a low voice, "Two gunmen, one knife-wielder. And this one." He pointed to the corpse whose head had been blown through by the shotgun, "Four in total."

Commander Lin Dong nodded. Eight attackers: four dead, two injured, two captured. The combat loss ratio was acceptable.

"What about our people?"

"The New recruit took a knife wound," Platoon Leader Zhou Hai pursed his lips toward the corner of the garage, "That kid ran too far forward and got his arm slashed by someone playing dead. It's not serious, just a flesh wound."

Commander Lin Dong walked over to take a look. The New recruit was sitting in the corner, his right arm bandaged, his face pale. Seeing Commander Lin Dong approach, he instinctively wanted to stand up.

"Stay seated," Commander Lin Dong pressed down on his shoulder, "First time seeing blood?"

The New recruit nodded, his lips trembling.

"You fired a gun, saw blood, and you're still alive," Commander Lin Dong's tone was very calm, "You are already stronger than ninety percent of people."

The New recruit was stunned for a moment, then his tense shoulders slowly relaxed.

Commander Lin Dong didn't say anything more. He turned and walked toward the silver-gray truck.

The construction progress of the base vehicle was still stuck at 32%, but a new prompt popped up on the screen:

【Enemy unit detected as eliminated】

Extractable energy: 4 units (corpses have not yet cooled)

Extraction method: automatically absorb by approaching the corpse

Current energy reserves: 32/1000 (insufficient to complete construction)

Recommendation: extract as soon as possible; energy dissipates after the corpse cools

Commander Lin Dong's gaze lingered on the words "corpse cools" for two seconds.

The level of digitization in this world was deeper than he had imagined. Even corpses would "cool," and even death would dissipate energy. If this system wasn't a hallucination from him going insane, then there was only one possibility—the world itself was being "formatted" by some kind of force.

He temporarily pushed this thought aside and walked toward the first corpse.

It was the bald man. The bullet had pierced his lungs; when he died, his eyes were wide open and his mouth was agape, as if he still wanted to shout that unuttered word "enemy." Commander Lin Dong crouched in front of him, extended his right hand, and hovered it ten centimeters above the corpse.

System prompt:

【Extractable energy source detected】

Energy valuation: 47 points

Extract? Y/N

Commander Lin Dong chose "Yes."

There was no sound, no light, not even any sensation. But he saw the number 32 on the screen jump to 79.

79/1000.

Still not enough, far from enough.

He walked to the second corpse, then the third, then the fourth. When the energy from the last corpse had been extracted, the number on the screen jumped to 176.

【Current energy reserves: 176/1000】

【Remaining construction time for base vehicle: 3 hours 42 minutes】

Three hours and forty-two minutes.

Commander Lin Dong raised his head and looked toward the ramp on the north side of the garage. It led to the surface, to the van parked on the side of the road, to the remaining five attackers, and to the gun in their boss's hand.

"Platoon Leader Zhou Hai," he called out.

Platoon Leader Zhou Hai ran over.

"There are five more above the ramp," Commander Lin Dong said, "One boss, four subordinates. There is one pistol. One van, don't know if there are other weapons."

Platoon Leader Zhou Hai waited for his order.

"You and the New recruit stay here," Commander Lin Dong said, "Guard the garage entrance, don't let anyone come down. Wang Lei, come with me."

"Just the two of you?" Platoon Leader Zhou Hai frowned, "They have five people, and a gun—"

"They don't know how many of us there are," Commander Lin Dong interrupted him, "They only know that eight people went down, and not a single one came back up. Now they are waiting up there, and every minute they are more afraid than the last."

He picked up the captured shotgun and checked the ammunition.

"People who are afraid have worse aim."

The ramp was long, long enough for Commander Lin Dong to count every one of his steps.

He used a standard infiltration formation—moving along the wall, every step treading in the shadows, the shotgun's muzzle consistently pointed at the increasingly bright light source at the top of the ramp.

That was the van's headlights.

Wang Lei followed five meters behind him, the type 95 rifle pressed against his shoulder, the safety already off.

When they reached the top of the ramp, Commander Lin Dong stopped.

He pressed his ear against the wall and heard voices outside, very chaotic, unable to clearly hear the content. But he could discern the tone—not anger, but panic.

"...Eight people went down, not one came back..."

"...Boss, let's retreat..."

"...Retreat my ass, that vehicle is still down there..."

"...How about we call the police?"

"Call the police my ass, the police are all dead!"

The corners of Commander Lin Dong's mouth curled up slightly.

He took a deep breath, then flashed out from the ramp opening.

The beam of the headlights stung his eyes, but he had already seen his targets—five people, gathered around a white van, among whom a fat man in a leather jacket held a pistol and was venting his anger at his subordinates.

The shotgun's muzzle pointed at the fat man.

"Don't move."

The five people's movements froze simultaneously.

The fat man turned his head slowly, and when he saw Commander Lin Dong, the expression on his face changed from astonishment to disbelief—and then it turned into fear.

Because he saw what was behind Commander Lin Dong.

Wang Lei walked out from the ramp opening, the muzzle of the type 95 rifle aimed at them. Then came Platoon Leader Zhou Hai—he hadn't followed Commander Lin Dong's order to stay below, but had brought the New recruit up with him. Four people, four guns, casting long shadows under the illumination of the headlights.

"Drop the gun," Commander Lin Dong said.

The fat man's hand was shaking, the muzzle of the pistol wobbling back and forth, not knowing who to aim at.

"Three seconds," Commander Lin Dong said, "Three."

"You f*cking—"

"Two."

"I'll fight you to the death—"

"One."

The moment the fat man pulled the trigger, Commander Lin Dong fired.

The buckshot struck the fat man in the chest at a distance of less than ten meters; the tremendous impact sent him flying backward, slamming into the side door of the van, sliding down, and leaving a trail of blood on the ground.

The pistol fell to the ground and went off, the bullet flying off to who knows where.

The remaining four people knelt down.

Commander Lin Dong walked over, kicked away the pistol that had fallen on the ground, and then raised his head—

Then he froze.

In the sky above the distant city, a red beam of light shot up into the sky, piercing the cloudy night sky like a giant coordinate, declaring something to the entire apocalypse.

The system prompt suddenly popped up:

【Special energy fluctuation detected】

Source: distance approximately 47 kilometers

Fluctuation intensity: MAX

Nature: unknown

Recommendation: immediately move away or head over to investigate

Commander Lin Dong stared at that red light, countless possibilities flashing through his mind.

A flare? Doesn't look like it, too high, too bright.

A nuclear explosion? Doesn't look like it, no mushroom cloud.

What is that?

His gaze landed on the last sentence of the system prompt:

【Hidden technology tree unlock condition detected: 2/5】

The second special energy.

Li Na was the first.

This red light was the second.

A low rumbling sound came from the distance, as if something huge was waking up.

The four people kneeling on the ground began to tremble—not because of Commander Lin Dong's gun, but because they saw that beneath the red light, countless black dots were rising from the ruins of the city, filling the sky and blotting out half the heavens.

A flock of zombie birds.

Tens of thousands of zombie birds.

Commander Lin Dong's pupils contracted sharply.

The direction they were flying—

Was toward him.

【End of Chapter】