39: Chapter 39 Baptism

The air in the underground garage was thick with the smell of gunpowder, blood, and the dust kicked up from concrete shattered by bullets. Commander Lin Dong leaned against a load-bearing pillar, his chest heaving violently, tasting the metallic tang of rust in his throat with every breath.

His left ear was still ringing—a rifle bullet had just grazed his temple, punching through the bulletproof glass of a Warrior vehicle behind him; the slug was now embedded in a wall thirty meters away. A line of small text popped up on his interface: [Hearing system damaged, estimated recovery time: 22 minutes].

There was no time to worry about that.

He leaned out slightly, using his right eye to observe the battlefield.

Underground garage level B2, covering about three thousand square meters, was packed with military vehicles. His six people—three surviving soldiers, Li Na, and two students they had just rescued—were scattered across a twenty-meter-wide defensive line. Five Conscripts, in standard three-man combat fireteams, held positions on both sides of the garage exit ramp.

Opposite them were over forty prisoners.

To be precise, forty-seven. Commander Lin Dong had counted them before the battle started; he didn't know how many were left now.

"Rat-tat-tat—"

A burst of bullets struck the edge of the pillar, sending concrete fragments flying into Commander Lin Dong's face and leaving a bloody scratch. He didn't flinch, instead staring toward the source of the fire—the southeast corner, behind a fuel tanker, where three prisoners were changing magazines.

Data surfaced on his interface:

[Target A: Human Male, age 32-35, HP 92, Weapon: Type 56 Submachine Gun, Remaining Ammo: 17 rounds]

[Target B: Human Male, age 24-27, HP 100, Weapon: Shotgun, Remaining Ammo: 2 rounds]

[Target C: Human Male, age 41-45, HP 78, Weapon: Pistol, Remaining Ammo: 8 rounds]

Commander Lin Dong's brain completed the calculations within 0.3 seconds:

The fuel tanker had a capacity of 8,000 liters. If the tank were hit, the explosion radius would be 35 meters, with a yield equivalent to 500 kilograms of TNT. However, the positions of the three men were perfectly shielded by the chassis beams; the angle to hit the fuel tank was only 15°, with a hit probability of less than 7%.

Abort.

His gaze swept in another direction—

In the center of level B2, that massive silver-gray truck sat quietly. Twenty-two meters long and weighing eighty tons, it was currently emitting a faint blue glow. That was the base vehicle, his hope, and the root cause of this battle.

Deployment progress: 47%.

Twenty minutes had passed since the prisoner gang stormed the underground garage, yet the progress bar had only increased by 15%. Under normal circumstances, it should have been over 60%, but the vibrations from every exchange of fire caused the system to automatically pause the deployment program—a protection mechanism to prevent precision components from being damaged during combat.

Commander Lin Dong gritted his teeth.

He had to hold out for at least another forty minutes.

"Company Commander!"

Eight meters to his right, Li Na's voice was trembling. The twenty-two-year-old female communications soldier was crouched behind the hood of a Mengshi vehicle, her left hand clutching her shoulder as blood seeped through her fingers. Her face was terrifyingly pale.

Commander Lin Dong performed a tactical roll, moving low to the ground until he reached the Mengshi.

"Let me see."

He pulled back Li Na's collar to see a bullet hole just below her left scapula—a through-and-through wound. The bullet had entered from the front and exited through the back. The interface displayed:

[Li Na: Blood loss approx. 450ml, Heart rate 122 bpm, Blood pressure Hg, Status: Early-stage hemorrhagic shock]

Epinephrine. Pressure dressing. Blood transfusion within twenty minutes.

Three commands flashed through Commander Lin Dong's mind as his hands already tore open a first-aid kit. His movements were fast and steady—he had ranked third in the entire brigade for field medical training, a score he had remembered for ten years.

"Don't move." He stuffed the wound with gauze and then tightened a bandage securely. "Does it hurt?"

Li Na bit her lip and nodded, tears welling in her eyes but not falling.

"It's supposed to hurt." Commander Lin Dong pressed her hand onto the bandage. "Keep pressure on it with all your strength. Don't let go if you want to live."

Li Na nodded vigorously.

Commander Lin Dong turned, about to peek out, when a bullet struck the hood he had just been leaning against, sending sparks flying. He instinctively ducked, but his eyes remained fixed on the direction the shot came from—

In the southwest corner, between two load-bearing pillars, a bald man was aiming a gun toward him.

That man's interface data was different.

[Target: ???, Lv.5, HP 350, Supernatural Ability Type: Strength-type (Activated), Strength Attribute: 18 points, Note: Requires 2.3 seconds cooldown after ability burst]

The leader of the prisoner gang. The guy who had punched through a concrete wall.

Commander Lin Dong licked his cracked lips, his eyes showing no fear, only a bone-chilling calculation.

2.3 seconds.

That was enough.

"New recruit!"

Commander Lin Dong growled in a low voice.

The five Conscripts turned their heads almost simultaneously. Their movements were perfectly synchronized—holstering, turning, crouching, and locking their gaze on Commander Lin Dong’s position—the entire process took no more than 1.5 seconds.

The interface showed their obedience: 100%.

"Three-man team, suppress the target behind the fuel tanker in the southeast corner. Fire a burst every ten seconds; do not expose yourselves for more than two seconds."

"Two-man team, cover me. I'm moving twenty meters toward the center."

There was no verbal response, no "Roger that"; the five men executed the orders simultaneously.

The three Conscripts immediately turned toward the southeast, and their AK-47s barked rhythmically—"Rat-tat, rat-tat-tat, rat-tat"—a standard suppressive fire rhythm, not aiming for kills, but to keep the enemy's heads down.

The other two Conscripts moved in front of Commander Lin Dong, using their bodies to block potential lines of fire.

Commander Lin Dong moved.

Hunched over, he stayed close to the side of the Mengshi, moving toward the base vehicle at top speed. Every step was timed to the intervals of the Conscripts' fire—this was coordination, muscle memory carved into the bone through countless drills.

Bullets whizzed past his ears.

One, two, three.

Commander Lin Dong didn't dodge, didn't stop, and didn't even blink. His entire focus was on the load-bearing pillar to the left of the base vehicle—the new firing position he had selected. From there, he could observe both the southeast and southwest corners with a wide field of fire and sufficient cover thickness.

Eight meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

One meter.

Commander Lin Dong lunged, diving behind the pillar. Just as his back hit the concrete, a burst of bullets struck the ground where he had just been, sending sparks flying.

Safe.

He breathed for two seconds and then leaned out to set up his rifle.

A Type 95 Assault Rifle, 30-round magazine, 17 rounds left. The crosshairs of the optical sight centered on the southwest corner—

The bald leader was no longer in his original position.

Commander Lin Dong's pupils constricted. His muzzle swept quickly over every pillar and vehicle in the southwest. Nothing, nothing, still nothing.

Something was wrong.

He suddenly looked up.

Three meters above his head was the floor slab of level B1—a concrete structure at least 40 centimeters thick, impossible to pass through. But right where the floor met the load-bearing pillar, there was a fire pipe 20 centimeters in diameter, extending all the way from the southwest corner to—

Commander Lin Dong followed the pipe with his eyes, and his heart suddenly tightened.

At the end of the pipe, less than fifteen meters away, the bald leader was clinging to it like a gecko. His hands were thrust deep into the concrete, fingers fully submerged, using that strength to anchor himself in mid-air.

The moment their eyes met, the bald man smiled.

It was the smile of a predator seeing its prey.

Commander Lin Dong didn't hesitate, raising his muzzle and pulling the trigger.

But the bald man was faster.

Pushing off with both hands, he launched himself from the pipe like a cannonball, crossing the fifteen-meter gap instantly and crashing down toward Commander Lin Dong.

On the interface, his strength attribute skyrocketed in an instant—

[Strength: 18→25→31→42]

Supernatural Ability burst.

Commander Lin Dong didn't have time to aim; he could only roll to the side by instinct.

"Boom—!"

The bald man slammed into his previous position, his hands directly piercing the half-meter-thick pillar, shattering concrete and twisting rebar. The shockwave threw Commander Lin Dong three meters away, his back slamming into the tire of a truck.

Agony.

[Interface Display: Risk of stress fractures in ribs, soft tissue contusion on left back]

But Commander Lin Dong did not stop.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

He continued to roll on the ground, using all his strength to roll to the side.

The very next second after he left the spot, the bald man's palm slammed into where he had just been lying, shattering the concrete and leaving a ten-centimeter-deep palm print.

"What are you running for?"

The bald man stood up, his two-meter-tall frame like an iron tower.

His hands were still dripping with concrete debris, and his eyes were filled with a wild, crazy light.

"Aren't you a soldier? Come on, hit me!"

Commander Lin Dong did not answer.

He knelt on one knee, raising the muzzle of his gun—

The bald man had already charged over.

Speed: 7.8 m/s.

Distance: 12 meters.

Reaction time: 1.5 seconds.

Commander Lin Dong's gun fired.

A three-round burst, all hitting the bald man's chest.

【Damage Calculation: 5.56mm bullet, hit chest, penetrated body armor, target HP -12, -11, -15】

The bald man's figure paused, and three blood blossoms bloomed on his chest.

But he just glanced down and continued charging over.

Distance: 8 meters.

Commander Lin Dong's second burst, three rounds again. Hit.

【HP -14, -9, -16】

The smile on the bald man's face grew wider.

He spread his arms, like a bear pouncing on its prey.

Distance: 5 meters.

Commander Lin Dong did not fire.

He threw his gun away and reached for his waist with both hands—two grenades.

He pulled the pin, 3-second delay, held it tight, 1 second, 2 seconds—

Just as the bald man pounced to within three meters of him, Commander Lin Dong shoved both grenades into the bald man's chest, then fell backward, using all his strength to kick the bald man's calves, sliding backward two meters using the recoil.

The bald man froze.

He looked down at the two smoking grenades in his arms.

His Supernatural Ability had just ended.

【Cooldown remaining: 0.8 seconds】

0.8 seconds. It wasn't enough.

"Boom—!"

Both grenades exploded simultaneously, flames engulfing the bald man's two-meter-tall body.

The shockwave, mixed with shrapnel, blasted outward. Commander Lin Dong curled into a ball, feeling as if his back had been struck by countless hammers.

The panel was blaring alarms like crazy.

But he was still alive.

Three seconds later, Commander Lin Dong struggled to climb up and looked toward the center of the explosion.

The bald man lay on the ground, a bowl-sized hole blown into his chest, blood gushing out like a fountain.

Yet, he still wasn't dead, his two hands still futilely clawing at the ground.

Commander Lin Dong walked over and picked up his Type 95.

He pressed the muzzle against the bald man's forehead.

The bald man opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only blood gushed out.

Commander Lin Dong pulled the trigger.

"Click." The bolt locked open. Out of ammo.

He threw the gun away expressionlessly, drew the Type 65 reconnaissance dagger from the sheath at his waist, and, amidst the bald man's terrified gaze, stabbed it into his left eye.

The blade pierced through the eyeball and into the brain.

The bald man twitched twice and then stopped moving.

【Kill: Lv.5 user of Supernatural Ability, obtained Energy Points +150, obtained crystal core ×1】

Commander Lin Dong pulled out the dagger, wiped the blood clean on the bald man's clothes, and sheathed it.

Then he turned and looked at the battlefield.

In the southeast corner, three prisoners were standing there in a daze.

Their leader, that monster who could punch through a concrete wall, was dead.

In less than three seconds, the three prisoners threw down their guns, put their hands on their heads, and knelt on the ground.

Commander Lin Dong looked at them without speaking.

The underground garage went quiet.

Only the groans of the wounded and the low mechanical hum of the base vehicle deploying remained.

【Deployment progress: 72%】

Ten minutes after the battle ended, Commander Lin Dong stood in the center of the underground garage, taking stock of the losses.

Prisoner gang: 11 killed, 3 captured, the rest escaped.

His squad: 6 people, all wounded.

The most serious was Li Na, who had lost at least 800 milliliters of blood, her face as pale as paper.

The panel showed her blood pressure had dropped to 80/50, heart rate 140, early stages of shock.

She needed a blood transfusion. But what about her blood type?

Commander Lin Dong squatted down and opened the 【Squad Members】 interface on the panel:

【Li Na: Blood type AB Rh positive】 【Soldier A: Blood type O Rh positive】 【Soldier B: Blood type A Rh positive】 【Soldier C: Blood type B Rh positive】 【Student D: Blood type AB Rh positive】 【Student E: Blood type O Rh positive】

AB type, only Li Na herself and Student D were.

But Student D was a fifteen-year-old girl, weighing less than 45 kilograms; drawing her blood would be tantamount to murder.

Commander Lin Dong's hand clenched into a fist.

Just then, footsteps came from behind.

He turned around; five Conscripts were standing neatly behind him.

The one leading them—system ID 【Conscript-001】—stepped forward and said in a voice without any emotional fluctuation:

"Commander, detected wounded requiring emergency blood transfusion. Requesting blood matching test."

Commander Lin Dong was stunned.

"You have blood types?"

"Yes," 001 answered, "We possess complete human physiological systems, including blood circulation. Our blood types are randomly generated upon summoning."

Commander Lin Dong was silent for a second, then opened the Conscripts' panel.

【Conscript-001: Blood type AB Rh positive】 【Conscript-002: Blood type O Rh positive】 【Conscript-003: Blood type AB Rh positive】 【Conscript-004: Blood type B Rh positive】 【Conscript-005: Blood type A Rh positive】

Three AB types.

Commander Lin Dong took a deep breath: "001, 003, prepare for blood transfusion."

"Yes."

The two Conscripts did not hesitate at all, immediately walking to Li Na's side, rolling up their sleeves to reveal pale arms.

Student D—that fifteen-year-old girl—tremblingly took out the IV set from the first aid kit.

Her hands were shaking too violently, and she couldn't align the needle with the vein no matter what.

"Let me."

Commander Lin Dong took the IV set, his movements as steady as a machine.

Disinfect, puncture, secure, transfuse.

Dark red blood flowed from 001's arm, down the IV tube, and bit by bit into Li Na's body.

Ten minutes later, a hint of color returned to Li Na's face.

The panel displayed:

【Blood pressure rose back to 95/65, heart rate dropped to 110 bpm, out of danger zone】

Commander Lin Dong let out a long breath and stood up.

He looked at the base vehicle.

【Deployment progress: 89%】 11% left.

He turned around and looked at the three prisoners kneeling on the ground.

The three people immediately kowtowed like pounding garlic: "Spare us! Spare us! We were forced! It was the bald man who forced us!"

Commander Lin Dong didn't speak.

He walked over, squatted down, and looked at the thin Man with Glasses on the far left.

"Where did you come from?"

The Man with Glasses answered stammeringly: "Pri... prison, Beiling City First Prison. When the apocalypse broke out, it was chaotic inside, the bald man killed the prison guards, released everyone, and we just..."

"How many people?"

"In... in the beginning there were over two hundred, then some died, some ran away, leaving forty-something. The bald man said he could lead us to survive, so we followed him."

Commander Lin Dong nodded.

He stood up and walked toward the base vehicle.

Behind him, the Man with Glasses' gaze passed over Commander Lin Dong's back and landed on the huge silver-gray truck.

A strange light flashed in his eyes—fear, curiosity, and something indescribable.

But it was only for an instant, he lowered his head and continued to shiver.

The base vehicle emitted a final low hum.

【Deployment progress: 100%】

【Red Alert Outpost Base activated】

【Initial buildings unlocked: power plant, Barracks】

【Current Energy Points: 320, Ore: 0】

【Please Commander, issue further instructions】

Commander Lin Dong looked at the steel structure covering five hundred square meters in front of him, silent for a long time.

Then he turned and looked at the exit of the underground garage.

In the eastern sky, a signal flare was slowly rising.

Three long, two short. A PLA "request for support" signal.

Distance: about ten kilometers.

Commander Lin Dong's eyes narrowed slightly.

Behind him, the Man with Glasses among the three prisoners quietly raised his head, looked at the base vehicle again, and then quickly lowered his head.

At the corner of his mouth, there was a nearly imperceptible upward curve.

【End of Chapter】