10: Special zombies at Jialejia Supermarket

"Target: Jia Le Jia Supermarket! Full speed ahead!" Jiang Xin ordered decisively, his finger pressing hard on the map. The convoy started again, the roar of the engines piercingly loud in the dead-silent streets.

Relying on the heavy armor of the armored personnel carrier and the terrifying 50mm cannon of the ifv, ordinary zombies were like moths to a flame; crashing into the steel barrier, they left nothing but filthy bloodstains and severed limbs. Their futile clawing and hissing posed almost no threat to this heavily armed unit. The vehicles crushed barricades and corpses, driving toward the supermarket with unstoppable momentum.

Arriving at the supermarket perimeter, Jiang Xin deployed quickly:

"Second Platoon! Establish a perimeter defense using the armored vehicles! Block all main entrances; do not let any more zombies pour in!" He roared into the vehicle radio. "At the same time, keep an eye out for refrigerated transport trucks and large cargo trucks! We need big rigs that can hold enough food!"

"Second Platoon copies!" Chen Hao's steady, powerful voice came over the walkie-talkie.

"hind! Take off! Maintain high alert, circle and monitor! Report immediately if there is any large-scale Zombie Horde movement or if you spot special threats! Provide fire support if necessary!" Jiang Xin looked up and gave orders to the steel giant bird circling in the sky.

"hind understands! Maintaining alert altitude!" Pilot Li Yi's voice came through the communicator, and the roar of the rotor blades became clearer.

"First Platoon, Third Platoon! Follow me into the supermarket! Clear out threats and collect all usable supplies! Food, water, medicine, daily necessities—priority! Move fast!" Jiang Xin pushed open the door, jumped off the armored personnel carrier, and vigilantly watched the pitch-black entrance of the supermarket.

Just then, Zhang Lei sprinted to Jiang Xin's side, his face filled with eager excitement and confidence: "Brother Jiang! Let me practice! Let me warm up!" Before he finished speaking, he had already darted out like a cheetah, instantly charging to the forefront of the team!

He was wearing a set of light polymer protective armor "borrowed" from the Riot Trooper, his left hand gripping a standard riot shield, while his right hand held the Riot Trooper's signature long-handled Guan Dao! His movements were agile, swift, and precise, and every swing of his blade carried a shriek that tore through the air! Wherever the blade flashed, a zombie's head would fly off! Black blood sprayed, but he deftly dodged or blocked it with his shield. Ordinary zombies were like wheat waiting to be harvested before him, completely unable to fight back. He was executing the military combat techniques he had learned from Li Wei; every move was concise, lethal, and aimed directly at vital points—no frills, just filled with the beauty of strength and efficiency.

Jiang Xin stood in the rear, watching Zhang Lei hacking through the Zombie Horde like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. A trace of genuine admiration flashed in his eyes, but it was immediately followed by a flicker of subtle envy. As a Red Alert Commander, he commanded disciplined troops and controlled powerful war machines, but his personal combat capability... was indeed lacking. Even though he had consumed a crystal core and his physical fitness had improved, compared to Zhang Lei's rebirth-like leap, the gap was truly too large.

He couldn't help but call out in his heart: "Number 1, as a Commander, do you think my individual strength... is a bit too weak? Is there any way to quickly improve my combat effectiveness? I can't just hide behind the troops forever, right?" His voice carried a hint of urgency.

【Commander, the individual strength enhancement path has been planned.】 Number 1's cold and clear electronic voice responded, 【When you are promoted to the next major rank (Major), the system will unlock exclusive enhancement modules.】

"Major? Battalion-level establishment?" Jiang Xin quickly calculated in his mind, "Three combat companies, plus reconnaissance, logistics, engineers... that would require about 600 people..." With the goal clearly defined, the bit of envy in his heart was immediately replaced by greater motivation. "Good! Then let's gather 600 people as soon as possible!" He stopped dwelling on it and refocused his attention on the battlefield.

The soldiers of the First and Third Platoons were extremely efficient. Led by Zhang Lei, who acted as the tip of the spear, the well-coordinated soldiers were like efficient harvesting machines. Rifle bursts, bayonet thrusts, shield charges, blade slashes... the hundreds of zombies wandering on the first and second floors of the supermarket were wiped out in just over ten minutes.

The First and Third Platoons moved very quickly, soon clearing the hundreds of zombies in the supermarket. When they reached the supermarket warehouse, Jiang Xin discovered that the warehouse had been locked from the inside.

General warehouse doors couldn't be locked from the inside.

Then there was only one possibility: there were people inside. Jiang Xin thought about it; since the people inside hadn't come out even after hearing the gunshots, he couldn't be bothered to deal with them.

Now his main goal was to quickly build combat strength and then rush to the government building to rescue his father and mother. The next target was to go to Lujiang City downtown to save Brother Lei's parents. There was no time to save these survivors; he would only have the capacity to save them after his strength was greater and he had established a survivor base. Besides, even if he saved them now, there was no way to take them with him. There wasn't enough food for them either. Since they didn't intend to come out, he couldn't be bothered to create extra trouble.

Just as the troops turned around, preparing to leave the warehouse area to move the supplies already piled on shopping carts and forklifts—

"Hiss-gah—!!!"

An extremely sharp, piercing shriek, completely unlike the roar of an ordinary zombie and filled with madness and malice, exploded from above everyone's heads! This sound felt like steel needles piercing the eardrums, making everyone's scalps tingle and hair stand on end instantly!

Jiang Xin looked up abruptly!

On the metal beam ceiling of the warehouse, which was six or seven meters high, an extremely bizarre zombie was clinging there with its limbs twisted, just like a giant gecko! Its skin was in a sickly state, covered in thick green pustules, and its whole body was covered in a layer of greasy, membrane-like substance that constantly dripped green slime—it was this slime that allowed it to ignore gravity and cling to the ceiling! Most unsettling was its giant mouth, split to the earlobes, filled with dense, hook-like black teeth, with green liquid—the same that covered its body and emitted a pungent, acrid smell—constantly dripping from between the teeth!

"What the hell is that?!" a Conscript exclaimed.

Just at the moment when everyone was shocked by this sudden terrifying sight, that "Acid Throat" zombie opened its huge, bloody mouth! A stream of thick green acid, like a jet from a high-pressure water gun, shot with a piercing whistle through the air, aiming with pinpoint accuracy at Jiang Xin, who was standing at the front of the team!

The speed of the acid was astonishing! Jiang Xin's pupils constricted, his body's instinctual warning screaming, but his brain was too slow to command his limbs to make any evasive maneuvers! He could only watch helplessly as that deadly green shadow rapidly enlarged in his field of vision!

"Brother Jiang! Watch out—!!!"

At the critical moment! A figure, with a desperate roar, slammed into Jiang Xin's side like a cannonball! It was Zhang Lei! The tremendous force knocked Jiang Xin several steps away!

At the same time, Zhang Lei unhesitatingly raised the riot shield in his left hand above his head, meeting the sprayed acid!

"Sssss—!!!"

A teeth-gritting, violent corrosive sound rang out instantly! Like a red-hot iron rod inserted into ice water! The polymer riot shield, which could withstand close-range 12-gauge shotgun blasts, dissolved rapidly like snow under the scorching sun the moment it touched the acid, emitting billowing, pungent, dense white smoke! The tough shield surface was etched through, softened, and collapsed at a rate visible to the naked eye! In just one or two seconds, half of the shield, along with the sturdy handle structure, was corroded into nothing but a small remnant of twisted wreckage!

Zhang Lei looked at the instantly ruined shield wreckage in his hand, his eyes filled with shock! The corrosiveness of this acid was far beyond his imagination!

"Bang—!!!"

Just as the Acid Throat zombie had succeeded in its attack and was about to open its mouth to spray again! A dull, thunderous, and highly penetrating gunshot exploded in the huge space of the warehouse!

It was Li Ang who fired! This one-star Sniper had already locked onto the target the moment the acid was sprayed! The thick muzzle of the Barrett spat out deadly flames! The 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary round tore through the air, carrying the Grim Reaper's shriek, and accurately penetrated the Acid Throat zombie's head, which was covered in green slime!

"Pfft—Boom!"

The muffled sound of a watermelon exploding! The Acid Throat zombie's head, like a rotten tomato hit by a heavy hammer, instantly exploded into green slurry and bone fragments flying everywhere! The headless corpse twitched, and with a smear of sticky green trail, it fell heavily from the ceiling, hitting the cold concrete floor with a "splat," splashing filth everywhere.

Zhang Lei reacted extremely quickly; he sprinted forward and, from that puddle of disgusting green slime and bone fragments, accurately dug out a crystal slightly larger than an ordinary crystal core, emitting a faint pale yellow light, and quickly wiped it clean and put it away.

Jiang Xin was still a bit shaken. He said to Zhang Lei: "Brother Lei, thanks."

Zhang Lei waved his hand, "Why are you saying that between us brothers?"

After the troops cleared all the zombies, they quickly began to transport the supplies. The soldiers, like efficient worker ants, quickly moved boxes of well-sealed canned food, bottled water, vacuum-packed rice and flour, boxes of medicine, and toiletries out of the supermarket and loaded them onto a large refrigerated cargo truck and a heavy box truck found by the Second Platoon. The two vehicles were packed to the brim.

Meanwhile, the number of zombies gathering around the Jia Le Jia Supermarket due to the gunshots was increasing. Jiang Xin, who was moving supplies, heard a voice from the walkie-talkie. It was the Second Platoon Leader, Chen Hao: "Commander, the number of zombies gathering at Jia Le Jia Supermarket is increasing."

"Good, load this batch of supplies and board the vehicles to evacuate immediately, heading to the government building." Jiang Xin decided decisively. The supplies were enough; they had loaded two trucks, enough for a hundred people to eat for a month, not to mention the daily refreshed individual rations.

The troops quickly pulled back. The soldiers covered each other and quickly boarded their respective vehicles. Jiang Xin and Zhang Lei climbed nimbly up a rope ladder into the hind attack helicopter hovering at a low altitude with its rotors roaring.

"Take off! Follow the convoy!" Jiang Xin ordered the pilot.

On the ground, the convoy started quickly: six armored personnel carriers were like mobile fortresses, one ifv carrying Heavy Infantry with its 50mm cannon ready for action served as the firepower core, four civilian off-road vehicles and pickup trucks followed closely, and finally, the two large trucks fully loaded with supplies. In the air, the hind attack helicopter, like a guardian falcon, circled and followed at a low altitude.

Inside the cabin of the attack helicopter, Jiang Xin handed the 15 zombie crystal cores he had obtained to Zhang Lei. The troops had killed at least 1000 to 2000 zombies. But because they couldn't stay on the streets for too long, some of the zombies' heads hadn't been opened. Also, because the drop rate of zombie crystal cores wasn't high, they had only obtained 15.

After seeing the special zombie Acid Throat today, a strong sense of crisis surged in Jiang Xin's heart. He knew deeply that in the face of powerful enemies, the team must have a truly high-end combat force to contend with them. Currently, Zhang Lei was the only one in the troop who possessed special superpower-type Supernatural Ability.

Zhang Lei naturally understood his position and responsibility in the troop; he had to grow rapidly and become the combat backbone of the team.

Just as Zhang Lei began to absorb the power of the crystal core, Jiang Xin opened the system, wanting to seek information about improving the soldiers' combat effectiveness.

He asked: "Number 1, can Red Alert Soldiers improve their combat effectiveness by consuming zombie crystal cores?"

But the system's answer disappointed Jiang Xin a little: "Commander, Number 1 cannot answer your question for the time being. Please upgrade your military rank to the next major level as soon as possible, and Number 1 will provide you with a solution then."

Although he didn't get a definitive answer, Jiang Xin wasn't annoyed. He had full confidence in the red alert system and believed it held endless possibilities. And as the owner of the red alert system, he was destined to reach the pinnacle of the world.

Just as Jiang Xin was deep in thought, he suddenly heard Zhang Lei's voice in his ear.

Jiang Xin looked over closely. Beside him, Zhang Lei, who had been closing his eyes to absorb the crystal core, suddenly shook violently! A wave of ice-fire energy, several times more powerful than before and filled with sharpness and destructive aura, erupted from his body! It instantly filled the entire cabin!