50: Construction of a mine

Jiang Xin scanned the silver mine shrouded in death, calculating quickly in his mind.

He opened the system in his mind: "No. 1, construction command: one Barracks, one Power Plant, and one ore refinery!" The command was confirmed, and 2,500 funds were instantly deducted. Furthermore, Tengqiao Town was still within the detection range of the Yongjiang County urban area's radar, so there was no need to build additional radar; all Red Alert buildings were instantly connected to the command network.

Accompanied by a low energy hum and the light and shadow of spatial distortion, three buildings full of futuristic technology rose from the ground. The ore refinery was particularly spectacular, its massive metal structure gleaming in the sunlight. Even more surprising was that an extremely sci-fi looking armed mining vehicle appeared along with the refinery. Its streamlined body was covered in composite armor, and a 12.7mm heavy machine gun turret on top rotated slowly, its dark muzzle exuding a chilling murderous intent, with the ammunition display showing 1,000 rounds. At the same time, fifty robust miners dressed in uniform overalls lined up in front of the refinery. The protective fences that came with the refinery and the Barracks intertwined, quickly constructing the outline of a sturdy temporary base at the edge of the mine pit.

Jiang Xin walked up to Chen Hao and patted his capable subordinate on the shoulder, his gaze sweeping over the newly built base: "Chen Hao, I'm leaving this place to you. Your mission is to clear out the remaining zombies in Tengqiao Town and the surrounding townships as quickly as possible. At the same time, do your best to search for and rescue survivors! Any survivors found should be sent back to the urban area for resettlement immediately using the 'chinook armed transport helicopter'."

"Understood, Commander!" Chen Hao straightened his back, slammed his right fist heavily against his left chest in a standard military salute, his eyes firm as iron. "Mission guaranteed!" He watched as Jiang Xin turned and boarded the "chinook," the massive rotors beginning to accelerate, kicking up a cloud of mine dust. The helicopter roared as it climbed, eventually becoming a black dot on the horizon and disappearing from Chen Hao's sight.

Yongjiang County Urban Area

The soldiers of the 1st Company and the 4th Company did not relax just because the Commander had left. They used the camp as the center and relied on the precise real-time maps provided by the radar scans, combing through the area neighborhood by neighborhood like a precision comb. Under powerful firepower and tacit cooperation, the zombies entrenched in the buildings were efficiently cleared, and survivors were brought out safely one by one from ruins and hiding places. The efficiency was so high that this deathly silent city began to show a faint glimmer of life.

Xiashan County Urban Area

The clouds of the apocalypse had shrouded this place for a full half-month. This county town, which was not particularly prosperous but still had a population of several hundred thousand, with its urban area concentrating seventy percent of the county's population, had now become an ocean of zombies.

Zhang Lei stood by the open cabin door of the "chinook," the strong wind whipping the hem of his combat uniform. He looked down at the scalp-numbing sight below: dense crowds of zombies surged and pushed through the streets like a tide, letting out bone-chilling low roars that merged into a background sound wave of death. Despite having experienced many bloody battles, witnessing this boundless Zombie Tide caused Zhang Lei's heart to beat uncontrollably fast, and fine beads of cold sweat seeped from his palms.

However, beneath this palpitation, an even hotter, more primal flame burned fiercely in his chest! It was the power originating from his Superpower awakening, a thirst for battle, and an endless hunger to "become stronger"! This desire wrapped around his will like poisonous vines, dispelling all fear.

In this operation, he planned to hone his close-combat skills.

The helicopter hovered dozens of meters above the ground, the airflow kicking up dust below. Zhang Lei took a deep breath, the last trace of hesitation in his eyes replaced by resolve. Without the slightest hesitation, he leaned forward and leaped out of the cabin like a giant stone thrown into a deep pool!

The sound of the wind shrieked piercingly in his ears, and the sensation of weightlessness instantly seized him. Falling! Rapidly falling! Zhang Lei focused intently, and his Superpower instantly activated. He tapped the empty air with his feet; with every step, the air beneath his feet suddenly condensed, blooming into crystal-clear yet iron-hard ice crystal flowers! These ice flowers layered upon each other, quickly accumulating and extending beneath him to form a thickening ice crystal cushion. "Pffft!" With a dull impact, ice shards flew everywhere! Zhang Lei landed steadily on the ice cushion, the massive impact force skillfully neutralized layer by layer. Although his control over his ice-type Superpower had not yet reached perfection, it was already precise and practical enough.

Just as his feet touched the ground covered in thick, foul blood, Zhang Lei's arms were already swinging. Piercing cold air condensed frantically, and two ice blades over a meter long, crystal clear throughout with lethal cold light shimmering on their edges, instantly formed in his hands! Without a moment's pause, he turned into a bolt of cold lightning and crashed boldly into the densest core of the zombie crowd!

"Swish! Crack!" The sharp sound of the ice blades slicing through the air intertwined with the crisp sound of shattering bones. Zhang Lei's figure moved like a ghost through the zombie crowd, weaving and dodging, every swing of his blade precise, ruthless, and without hesitation! Wherever the ice blades passed, decayed heads soared into the air with expressions of frozen shock, and foul blood splashed onto the cold blades like cheap fountains, only to be instantly frozen into dark red ice beads by the cold air. He deliberately avoided the larger-scale but more taxing flame Superpower, focusing instead on this close-quarters combat on the edge of a blade; every breath he took carried white mist, and sweat was frozen into tiny ice crystals by his low body temperature as soon as it emerged from his pores.

In just a few minutes, the area around Zhang Lei was a mess, with hundreds of headless corpses lying on the ground, piled into a bloody little mountain. The high-intensity burst of energy left him feeling a wave of intense exhaustion, his lungs pulling in cold air like bellows. He suddenly leaped backward, temporarily breaking away from the zombie crowd, and leaned against the wreckage of an abandoned bus, gasping for breath, his chest heaving violently as cold sweat trickled down his temples.

He gave the order into his communicator: "Action!" The signal was sent!

At the cabin door of the "chinook" hovering in the air, the three-star elite Conscripts, who had been waiting for the order, leaped down one after another like dumplings into a pot! After landing, they quickly rolled to dissipate the force and formed a tight tactical formation. The assault rifles in their hands spat out lethal tongues of fire!

"Da da da da—!"

The dense gunfire instantly drowned out the roars of the zombies. Precise single shots and fierce bursts of fire intertwined, and shell casings were scattered on the ground like golden raindrops, tearing apart and knocking down the surrounding zombie crowds that tried to swarm forward, forming a brief safety buffer zone.

In just a few breaths, Zhang Lei forcibly suppressed his churning blood. Cold killing intent once again filled his eyes. His gaze swept across the battlefield, and with a low shout, his figure moved again, like an ice arrow shot from a bow, carrying a biting chill as he boldly charged into the fray. The cold light from his swinging ice blades instantly tore apart dozens of ordinary zombies!