25: Chapter 25 Will

The air on Level B2 of the underground garage was thick with the smell of concrete dust and engine oil. Commander Lin Dong knelt on one knee beside the hummer vehicle's hood, the second hand of his Mechanical Watch face ticking second by second—there were eighteen minutes left until the base vehicle was fully deployed.

But his attention was not on the watch face.

His right index finger gently flicked open the sniper scope's dust cover. Through the crosshairs, he could clearly see a figure behind a support pillar fifty meters away. It was a bald man with a fresh scar on his forehead, holding a modified Five-shot Shotgun. The barrel was shaking—not from fear, but from excitement.

Commander Lin Dong had seen this kind of shaking before. It was the physiological reaction drug dealers on narcotics would have before firing, back during the anti-drug operations on the border three years ago.

"Chief." A very soft voice came from behind him. It was corporal Sentry Zhang Wei, the former Point Squad Leader of the Third Platoon, Reconnaissance Company. "What are these bastards waiting for?"

Commander Lin Dong didn't look back, his voice kept extremely low: "Waiting for us to run out of ammo."

He tilted his head slightly, scanning the situation behind him with his peripheral vision. Level B2 of the underground garage was about two thousand square meters, packed with hundreds of Private cars. They had chosen the northwest corner as their core position—it was the highest ground, backed against a wall, flanked by two large SUVs, with a relatively open lane in front providing a good field of fire.

In the center of the position, that silver-gray giant truck was emitting a rhythmic, low-frequency hum. The twenty-two-meter-long body occupied six full parking spaces. This eighty-ton steel beast was currently in its most vulnerable state—twelve semi-transparent energy shield plates hovered around the chassis, each displaying the data: [Deployment Progress: 68%].

Li Na leaned against the truck's right rear wheel, her face as pale as paper. Her left hand was pressed firmly against her right shoulder, and the blood continuously seeping through her fingers had already soaked half of her training uniform. Medic Zhou Xiaoyang knelt beside her, using hemostatic forceps from his first-aid kit to treat the wound.

"It's a through-and-through bullet wound; it didn't hit a major artery," Zhou Xiaoyang looked up at Commander Lin Dong, his voice low but his speech rapid. "But she's lost too much blood and needs a transfusion as soon as possible. She's Type AB, and none of us are."

Commander Lin Dong nodded without speaking.

His gaze returned to the sniper scope.

Through the crosshairs, he began to count the enemies' positions one by one—

Behind the support pillar, bald man, Five-shot Shotgun, Threat Rating: B-.

Twenty meters to the southeast, behind a white Jinbei van, two skinny guys with machetes and steel pipes, Threat Rating: D.

Forty meters directly ahead, behind an overturned truck, at least six people, three barrels visible—two homemade Muskets, one old Type 56 Semi-automatic. Threat Rating: B.

At the eastern tunnel entrance, that thin Man with Glasses was directing maneuvers with hand signals. Seven or eight people were gathered around him, four of whom had guns. That Man with Glasses was the one who had escaped during the chaos earlier; he was currently staring fixedly at the base vehicle with a look that made Commander Lin Dong extremely uncomfortable—it wasn't greed, but calculation.

Forty-seven people in total, twelve guns.

And on Commander Lin Dong's side—himself, corporal Sentry Zhang Wei, Sergeant Wang Lei, Private Veteran Liu Chuang, plus the injured Li Na and the non-combatant Zhou Xiaoyang; all told, six combatants.

Ammunition: 203 rounds of 5.56mm rifle rounds left, 12 rounds of 7.62mm sniper rounds, and three grenades.

The most critical point was that the base vehicle's deployment could not be interrupted by violent vibrations. Once the shooting started, this underground garage would turn into a battlefield, and they had to keep forty-seven enemies fifty meters away for eighteen minutes.

Commander Lin Dong exhaled softly, and the data panel in his vision began to update automatically:

[Current Threat Assessment]

[Total Enemy Count: 47]

[Armed Personnel: 12]

[Cold Weapon Personnel: 35]

[Maximum Defensive Line Endurance: 11 minutes (Ammo Depletion)]

[Time Remaining for base vehicle Deployment: 17:42]

He needed to make eleven minutes worth of ammunition last for eighteen minutes.

"Listen up, you people on the other side!"

A voice came from behind the overturned truck, carrying a deliberately thuggish air. A middle-aged man in a leather jacket stepped out, holding a sawed-off Double-barreled Shotgun, its muzzle pointing vaguely in Commander Lin Dong's direction.

"The name's Sun Desheng, and I call the shots in this area now!" The man in the leather jacket walked two steps forward, ducked behind a sedan, and continued shouting, "I want that big truck of yours. Hand it over quietly, and I'll give you a way out. As for that injured woman, I can even send you to a hospital—I have a doctor among my men!"

Commander Lin Dong didn't move.

His finger rested lightly on the trigger, but he didn't pull it. In the crosshairs, Sun Desheng's position was very tricky—most of his body was blocked by the car door, leaving only half a shoulder and a small piece of his head exposed. At this distance, there was a seventy percent chance of a headshot, but the fuel tank of the truck behind him was right next to the trajectory; if it were punctured, the resulting blast wave would be enough to interrupt the base vehicle's deployment.

He was waiting.

"What? Not giving me face?" Sun Desheng's voice grew impatient. "I was being polite just now because you're soldiers. Don't spurn my generosity!"

As soon as he finished speaking, two skinny guys suddenly rushed out from behind that white Jinbei van, brandishing machetes and crouching low as they used the array of cars for cover to advance quickly.

This was a probe.

Commander Lin Dong calculated quickly in his mind—the two skinny guys' movement route perfectly avoided the SUVs' blind spots in the line of fire. If they were allowed to get within thirty meters, they could throw grenades directly into the position.

"Sentry Zhang Wei," Commander Lin Dong's voice was extremely soft, "to the front-left, under that red Mazda, can you see their feet?"

Sentry Zhang Wei lay behind an off-road vehicle's hood. Hearing this, he adjusted his muzzle slightly and scanned through his scope: "I see them. Two pairs of feet, moving forward."

"Don't hit the people; hit the fuel tank."

"Copy that."

Bang—!

The gunshot erupted in the underground garage, making eardrums ache. Sentry Zhang Wei's Type 95 accurately ignited the red Mazda's fuel tank. The resulting fireball erupted in an explosion that instantly engulfed the area, the blast wave flipping three or four surrounding cars.

The two skinny guys who were advancing were slammed onto the ground by the blast wave. One was covered in blood, struggling to get up, while the other was already motionless.

"Shit!" Sun Desheng's voice came from behind the truck, "Open fire!"

Gunfire instantly exploded.

Shotguns, Muskets, and Type 56 Semi-automatics—a chaotic mess of bullets swept over like water being splashed, sending sparks flying off the vehicles in front of the position. A stray bullet whizzed past Commander Lin Dong's ear and embedded itself into the concrete pillar behind him, the stone fragments stinging his face.

Commander Lin Dong didn't move.

His sniper scope remained locked onto the edge of that truck, waiting.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds—

The enemy's fire began to thin out. The Muskets needed to be reloaded after every shot, the five-shots had to be reloaded after five rounds, and the ten-round magazine of the Type 56 Semi-automatic was also nearly empty.

In that momentary lull in firepower, Sun Desheng couldn't help but poke his head out to see the results—

Bang!

Commander Lin Dong's sniper rifle cracked.

The 7.62mm bullet traced a straight line through the air, grazing the edge of the truck and accurately hitting Sun Desheng's right shoulder. It wasn't a headshot; it was meant to cripple his gun hand.

"Ah—!" Sun Desheng screamed as he fell, his Double-barreled Shotgun clattering to the ground.

"Chief, why didn't you just finish him off?" Wang Lei's voice came from the left, filled with confusion.

Commander Lin Dong didn't answer, quickly cycled the bolt and ejected the casing, then chambered a new round.

What would be the use of killing him? There were over forty people on the other side; killing a leader would only enrage them and make them charge up at any cost. What was needed now was to stall for time and let the other side fall into chaos first.

Sure enough, as soon as Sun Desheng fell, chaos broke out behind the truck. Some shouted "The boss has been shot!", others shouted "Carry him down, quick!", and some shouted "Avenge the boss, charge!"

But that thin Man with Glasses stepped forward.

"Don't move!" His voice wasn't loud, but it had great penetration. "Nobody is allowed to charge! Their marksmanship is too accurate; charging up is just suicide!"

The chaos subsided slightly.

The Man with Glasses crouched down beside Sun Desheng, quickly checked the wound, then stood up and looked toward Commander Lin Dong's side from a distance. Across fifty meters, Commander Lin Dong could feel that gaze—it wasn't fierce or fearful like the other criminals, but terrifyingly calm, as if he were calculating something.

"Soldier," the Man with Glasses spoke, his voice carrying an eerie calmness, "good shooting. But you only have these few people and a few guns; you won't last long. I'll give you a chance—we only want half of that big truck. You give up the cab, and the cargo container in the back stays yours. That way, nobody has to die."

Commander Lin Dong still didn't speak.

His gaze swept over the Mechanical Watch on his left hand—there were fourteen minutes left until the base vehicle was fully deployed.

The Man with Glasses received no response, but he didn't get angry either.

He backed up two steps, ducked behind a Box Truck, and then whispered something to the people around him. Soon, the criminals began to disperse, no longer clustering behind that overturned truck.

Commander Lin Dong's heart skipped a beat.

This Man with Glasses was not simple. He knew that clustering together would only result in being picked off one by one by a sniper, so he began to disperse his personnel to slowly approach from multiple directions. This kind of tactic was not something an ordinary criminal could come up with.

"Sentry Zhang Wei," Commander Lin Dong quickly ordered, "you watch the left tunnel; those dispersed guys will definitely try to flank from the side. Wang Lei, Veteran Liu Chuang, you two hold the front; don't let them break the thirty-meter line. I'm going to take care of the one with glasses."

"Chief, you're going alone?" Sentry Zhang Wei said anxiously. "That's too dangerous!"

"He's more dangerous." Commander Lin Dong was already starting to back away, moving toward the right side under the cover of the vehicles. "This man must die, otherwise we won't make it through today."

He crouched low and moved quickly through the array of cars, the shattered glass beneath his feet making slight crunching sounds. Every few steps, he would stop to observe the surroundings, the data panel constantly refreshing the enemies' positions—

[12m Left-Front, Behind Car, Cold Weapon, Low Threat]

[18m Directly Ahead, Between Cars, Armed, Medium Threat]

[25m Right-Front, Behind Support Pillar, Bald Man, High Threat]

Commander Lin Dong chose the right-side route.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

He bypassed a van, climbed over the hood of a sedan, and finally stopped behind a wrecked bus.

Looking from here, he could see half of the Man with Glasses' body through the gap between the Box Truck and the wall.

The Man with Glasses was talking to the people around him, his voice drifting over faintly— "...Don't fight head-on, their ammunition must be running low... Wear them down until they are out of bullets... That big vehicle is no ordinary thing; if we seize it, we'll be rich... That leading soldier is problematic; the way he looks at things is not right..."

Commander Lin Dong's finger rested on the trigger.

But at that very instant, the Man with Glasses suddenly darted to the side, disappearing entirely into the shadow of the truck.

Did he notice?

Commander Lin Dong did not fire. A shot without absolute certainty is better left unfired.

Just then, a burst of intense gunfire suddenly erupted from behind—it was Sentry Zhang Wei and the others opening fire. Immediately followed by screams and the sound of metal clashing, it was clear that the attack from the side had begun.

Commander Lin Dong took a deep breath and quickly made his judgment: he had to return immediately, but if the Man with Glasses wasn't dealt with, it would be an endless trouble.

He pulled out his last grenade, pulled the pin, timed it well, and threw it hard toward the spot where the Man with Glasses had just been hiding— Boom!

The grenade exploded beside the truck, the shockwave overturning two sedans nearby. But at the very moment of the explosion, Commander Lin Dong saw a dark shadow roll out from the other side of the truck, completely unscathed.

That guy's reaction was too fast.

Commander Lin Dong did not hesitate any longer and quickly retreated.

When he returned to the position, the situation was already grim. There was a bloody scratch on Sentry Zhang Wei's forehead, grazed by shrapnel. Wang Lei was changing magazines, his hands shaking slightly. Veteran Liu Chuang was lying behind the hood, the barrel of his gun already heated from firing.

"Boss, we beat them back," Sentry Zhang Wei panted, "we took down at least seven or eight, but there are too many of them, and they've pushed forward another ten meters."

Commander Lin Dong glanced at the watch on his left wrist—eleven minutes left.

And their ammunition could last five minutes at most.

Just then, a faint groan came from behind. Commander Lin Dong turned around and saw Li Na struggling to stand up, her face as pale as paper.

"Don't move!" Zhou Xiaoyang held her down, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Company Commander Lin..." Li Na's voice was so weak it was almost inaudible, "That person wearing glasses... I've seen him before... He is... He is a serious criminal from the Provincial Second Prison... robbery and murder... sentenced to death... the apocalypse happened before it could be carried out..."

Commander Lin Dong's heart sank.

A death row inmate. No wonder he was so calm and capable of such calculations.

"Also..." Li Na's eyes suddenly widened a bit, as if she had seen something terrifying, "He... he has words above his head... I can't see them clearly... but the color is different... compared to normal people..."

Commander Lin Dong snapped his head around and looked into the distance through the sniper scope. The Man with Glasses was currently standing on top of a truck, staring over from afar.

In Commander Lin Dong's data panel, the information for the Man with Glasses was indeed different from that of a normal person—

【Target: ???】 【Level: Lv.4】 【Threat Rating: A-】 【Note: Abnormal energy fluctuation detected, suspected Awakened, ability unknown】

Awakened. This term appeared in Commander Lin Dong's field of vision for the first time.

"Boss," Sentry Zhang Wei's voice was extremely low, "is that Man with Glasses not right? I think I saw him dodge that grenade earlier, his speed was abnormally fast."

Commander Lin Dong didn't speak; he was calculating rapidly.

Awakened, ability unknown, abnormally fast speed—perhaps agility-type, just like the speed-type Mutant they encountered at the gas station earlier. If that was the case, ordinary bullets would be hard to hit him with.

He had to force him to use his ability, figure out his bottom line, and then kill him in one strike.

But ammunition was running low.

Commander Lin Dong scanned the ammunition box on the position: less than a hundred rifle rounds left, nine sniper rounds, zero grenades.

He needed a bait.

"Sentry Zhang Wei," Commander Lin Dong spoke, "if I rush out, can you cover me?"

Sentry Zhang Wei was stunned: "Boss, are you crazy—"

"Answer me."

"Yes." Sentry Zhang Wei gritted his teeth, "But if you die, none of us will survive."

"I won't die."

Commander Lin Dong handed the sniper rifle to Veteran Liu Chuang, taking only his pistol and two rifle rounds, and then crouched and rushed out of the position.

He deliberately chose a direction that the Man with Glasses could see, quickly weaving through the array of vehicles, stopping occasionally to fire a shot and take down a prisoner blocking his path. When the pistol rounds ran out, he used a machete he had picked up.

Soon, he had three new wounds—his left arm was grazed by a steel pipe, his right leg was cut by broken glass, and his back was aching from being struck by a club.

But he finally forced the Man with Glasses out.

The Man with Glasses jumped down from the truck and blocked Commander Lin Dong's path, a strange smile on his face: "Soldier, you've got guts. Rushing out alone to die, just to lure me out?"

Commander Lin Dong panted, gripping the machete in his hand, and didn't speak.

"Do you know who I am?" The Man with Glasses took two steps forward; his speed was indeed faster than a normal person's, "On the third day of the apocalypse, I awakened. I can now outrun cars and dodge bullets. Do you think the knife in your hand can hit me?"

Commander Lin Dong still didn't speak, but his left hand quietly made a gesture behind his back—it was the hand signal of a scout: Prepare.

The Man with Glasses moved.

His speed was almost too fast to see, but Commander Lin Dong didn't try to dodge; instead, he dove forward, thrusting the machete in his hand into the ground—

Swish—the blade sliced the Man with Glasses' calf. Although it was just a superficial wound, it did hit him.

"How is that possible?!" The Man with Glasses' speed dropped sharply, and he looked down at his leg in disbelief, "How could you—"

"Your speed is fast, but your turning radius is large," Commander Lin Dong stood up, wiping the blood from his face, "that's the law of physics. In a narrow maze of vehicles, your speed is actually a liability."

The Man with Glasses' expression changed. He stopped smiling.

"You are very smart," the Man with Glasses' voice became gloomy, "but you forgot, I am not alone."

As soon as he finished speaking, seven or eight prisoners suddenly rushed out from all around, holding machetes and steel pipes, surrounding Commander Lin Dong completely.

And in the distance, Sentry Zhang Wei and the others were pinned down by firepower and couldn't rush over at all.

Commander Lin Dong looked around and smiled. He smiled very calmly, just like when he was surrounded by over a dozen drug dealers three years ago.

"Do you know why I rushed out?" Commander Lin Dong gripped the machete, the tip pointing at the Man with Glasses, "Because you are the biggest threat. As long as I take you out, the remaining rabble won't last ten minutes."

The Man with Glasses sneered: "What are you going to use to take me out?"

Commander Lin Dong didn't answer. He just looked up at the ceiling of the underground garage. There was a fire sprinkler head there. The earlier gunfight and explosion had already caused the sprinkler system to start dripping water.

And Commander Lin Dong still had one rifle round left.

Bang! The gunshot rang out, not aimed at the Man with Glasses, but at the fire sprinkler head on the ceiling.

The moment the sprinkler head burst, a high-pressure jet of water poured down, and the entire area was instantly shrouded in a curtain of water.

The Man with Glasses was stunned—he didn't understand what this move was.

But the next second, his expression changed completely. Because he saw Commander Lin Dong throw away the empty rifle and pull the last item from his waist—a military signal flare. A red one.

That was an incendiary signal flare used by scouts to mark airdrop coordinates; once ignited, the temperature could reach over a thousand degrees.

Commander Lin Dong ignited the signal flare and threw it with all his might toward a spot not far away—that was the Mazda whose fuel tank he had blown up earlier, and a large puddle of gasoline remained on the ground.

"No—" The Man with Glasses wanted to run, but the curtain of water rendered his speed advantage non-existent.

Boom!!! The gasoline was ignited, the flames spread instantly along the water flow, and the entire area turned into a sea of fire.

Screams rang out, and the seven or eight prisoners instantly turned into human torches. The Man with Glasses tried desperately to escape, but the flames were faster than his speed, instantly swallowing his back.

Commander Lin Dong had long since rolled under a car, dodging the most intense flames.

When he crawled out from under the car, everything around was charred black. The Man with Glasses lay on the ground, with over ninety percent of his body covered in burns, but he was actually still alive.

He struggled to lift his head, staring at Commander Lin Dong with his only remaining eye, his lips moving to emit a few blurred syllables— "You... you think... you won?"

Commander Lin Dong walked over and looked down at him.

"I lost... but you won't... live much longer either..." the corner of the Man with Glasses' mouth curled into a strange arc, "He... is coming..."

"Who?"

The Man with Glasses didn't answer. His eyes suddenly widened, staring fixedly in the direction behind Commander Lin Dong, a complex expression of mixed fear and fanaticism appearing on his face.

Commander Lin Dong snapped his head around. There was nothing. Only burning vehicles and swirling smoke.

When he turned back, the Man with Glasses was already dead. But his eyes were still wide open, staring fixedly in that direction, a strange smile hanging at the corner of his mouth.

Commander Lin Dong stood up and suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. The wounds on his body were bleeding, and his stamina was almost exhausted.

But he still gritted his teeth and walked back to the position step by step.

When he finally crawled into the bunker, the Mechanical Watch on his left wrist displayed— 【base vehicle deployment complete】

The silver-gray giant truck emitted a low hum, twelve energy shields retracted simultaneously, and a line of translucent glowing text appeared on the surface of the vehicle body— 【Red Alert Outpost Base is ready】 【Deploy?】

Commander Lin Dong used his last bit of strength and pressed the confirm button.

The truck began to transform, the massive metal components slowly unfolding under the push of hydraulic rods, emitting a roar that shook the entire underground garage.

Sentry Zhang Wei and the others watched all of this in stunned silence.

Li Na's pupils contracted slightly; in her field of vision, above the transforming truck, a line of text that only she could see appeared— 【Warning: Unknown energy source detected】 【Coordinates: Beiling City center】 【Threat Level: Unable to assess】

In the distance, in the direction of the city center, a huge dark cloud was gathering. And beneath the dark cloud, something was awakening.

【End of Chapter】