58: Inspiring - Yongjiang Restoration

The smoke from the Luocheng Zombie Tide had not yet fully dissipated, and the aftershocks of fear intertwined with hope were still echoing across the vast land of Huaxia. At this very delicate moment, a clear, steady radio broadcast, carrying an unquestionable power, struck like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly shattering the habitual silence and wailing of the post-apocalyptic radio communication channels:

"To the people of the nation and the National Government agencies: Our unit—the garrison of the secret Lujiang Base, the Red Alert Legion—has fully liberated the entire Yongjiang County under Lujiang City today! So far, we have annihilated over five hundred thousand zombies of various types and successfully gathered over thirty thousand trapped civilians! Currently, order in Yongjiang County has been initially restored, and production work is being carried out in an orderly manner!"

The voice on the broadcast was calm yet contained an iron will, continuing the report:

"In the main urban areas of the six counties surrounding Yongjiang—Tai'an, Xiashan, Anle, Ningkang, Anguo, and Ganxin—sixty percent of the zombies have been cleared, and survivors within these areas have all been safely relocated! The Red Alert Legion will continue to take in surrounding residents, eliminate remaining zombie threats, and is determined to fully liberate the entire Lujiang City in the shortest possible time!"

"Red Alert Legion, Jiang Xin."

The "beep" sound that ended the broadcast echoed in countless survivor bases, whether rudimentary or sturdy, leaving behind a deathly silence, followed by an eruption of unbelievable exclamations and discussions!

Kyoto Base, Strategic Command Center.

Around a huge circular conference table, over a dozen heavyweight figures representing the supreme power of the National Government, the Commander of the Central Military Region, the Chief of General Staff, and the Commanders in charge of the various military branches gathered. The air was so heavy it felt like it could drip water. The discussion on the recently concluded Luocheng Zombie Tide crisis was completely interrupted by this sudden broadcast.

The Commander of the Central Military Region, Qin Guoqiang, a veteran who had experienced countless storms, furrowed his thick brows. His fingers tapped unconsciously on the tabletop, making a dull "thump-thump" sound, breaking the silence first: "Garrison of a secret base in Lujiang City? Red Alert Legion? What kind of organizational structure is this? Which sequence of troops does it belong to? I... how come I've never heard of it?" His voice was filled with confusion and disbelief, his gaze sweeping over his colleagues, seeing only faces that were equally blank.

Xiao Weihua, the acting supreme official of the National Government, a middle-aged man with a refined appearance but sharp eyes like a hawk, pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. The look behind his lenses flickered with deep thought: "Liberating a County, gathering thirty thousand civilians, and even starting to restore production... This is undoubtedly great news! But..." His tone changed, his voice carrying an unquestionable seriousness, "The specific information about this 'Red Alert Legion'... must be clarified immediately! Order the Confidential Bureau to use the highest authority! I want to see all the files on this base, this legion, and this Comrade Jiang Xin within half an hour! Immediately!"

"Yes! Officer Xiao!" An aide standing by immediately accepted the order and walked quickly out of the conference room.

The conference room fell into a suffocating wait. High-ranking generals exchanged glances and whispered, the air filled with suspicion, vigilance, and also a trace of imperceptible anticipation. Was this powerful force that suddenly appeared a friend or an enemy? Was it a spark of hope or an unknown variable?

Half an hour later, the thick blast door of the conference room slid open silently. The confidential secretary looked solemn, holding a black alloy password box that flashed with a red warning light and had triple physical locks. He walked to Xiao Weihua's side and entered a complex password. With a slight mechanical unlocking sound, the box lid popped open. He carefully took out a thin, top-secret document with yellowing paper and curled corners.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on the document.

The confidential secretary cleared his throat. His voice was not loud, but it echoed clearly in the pin-drop silent conference room:

"Report to Officer Xiao and all leaders. According to the highest-level decrypted files: The Red Alert Base was established on X month X day, 19XX. It was personally approved and established by the then-supreme official of the National Government, Comrade XXX. It is a national top-level (S-level) secret base. Security classification: Top Secret. The base's main research project... unknown. The file records are vague, only noting 'involves future strategic-level super technology.' The base's garrison situation... unknown, no specific organizational records. The current supreme person in charge of the base: Jiang Xin, male, 28 years old. His military rank, specific position, and other resumes... are not recorded in the National Government and military archives."

The confidential secretary's voice paused, carrying a hint of heaviness: "The file finally notes: The full access rights to the information regarding this base and its person in charge... were originally only granted to the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 National Elders... and the three National Elders have... unfortunately... passed away during the early stages of the zombie virus outbreak." He didn't continue, but the meaning was self-evident. The atmosphere in the conference room instantly dropped to freezing point, and heavy sighs and deep regrets filled the air. Those three wise and highly respected elders had ultimately not survived this sudden catastrophe.

After a brief silence, Xiao Weihua let out a long sigh, as if he had unloaded a heavy burden, and his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed. He took off his glasses, rubbed his tired brow, and when he put them back on, his eyes were filled with relief and excitement: "Since... it is a secret base established by the highest level of our official government, then they are our own people! This is a great blessing!" The biggest worry in his heart—whether this was an infiltration by foreign forces—finally dissipated.

"Immediately reply to the Red Alert Legion in the name of the National Government and the Supreme United Front Work Department!" Xiao Weihua's voice regained its steadiness and strength, carrying an unquestionable decisiveness, "Highly praise Comrade Jiang Xin and his Red Alert Legion for their glorious victory in Yongjiang! Following the emergency meeting of the National Government and the Supreme United Front Work Department, it has been decided: Grant the Red Alert Legion the highest level of independent development authority! I hope Comrade Jiang Xin will continue his efforts, lead the troops to liberate the entire Lujiang area as soon as possible, and establish contact with the Hongdu Base of the provincial government to form a joint force and protect the West River Region together!"

Yongjiang County, inside the Red Alert Base command center, which had just been cleaned up and was still filled with the faint smell of gunpowder. Jiang Xin sat in the large command chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest, his eyes fixed on the communication screen. When the solemn and appreciative reply broadcast from the Kyoto Base rang out clearly, his young face, already etched with determined lines, instantly bloomed with irrepressible excitement!

"...The National Government's highest Officer Xiao highly praises Comrade Jiang Xin, the person in charge of the Red Alert Legion... Granting Comrade Jiang Xin independent development authority... Hoping Comrade Jiang Xin can lead the troops to liberate Lujiang as soon as possible..."

Every word was like a heavy hammer striking Jiang Xin's heart! He stood up abruptly, his chest heaving violently. As a child raised in a military family, that patriotism and cherishing of national honor integrated into his bones and blood now gushed out like molten lava! Being able to receive public praise and authorization from the highest official of the National Government was a recognition of his ability. This heavy trust made him feel that the responsibility on his shoulders was heavier, and the fire in his heart burned even brighter!

"Commander, the Kyoto Base has sent another encrypted communication." Jiang Feifei asked, "They are inquiring about our current specific military strength and whether we need support from Kyoto in terms of heavy weapons, such as heavy artillery or armored vehicles?"

Jiang Xin took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and his eyes became sharp and confident again. He walked to the huge strategic map, his gaze sweeping over the huge red marks representing the controlled areas of the surrounding counties and Lujiang City, and said loudly: "Reply to Kyoto! Thank the National Government for their concern! Our Red Alert Legion currently has five thousand fully armed and well-trained elite soldiers! We are well-equipped with both light and heavy weapons and have established complete air strike capabilities! Currently, all combat resources are sufficient, and there is no need for heavy weapon support for the time being! Our army will fulfill its duties and fully promote the liberation plan!"

He was full of confidence. Although there was still a gap between his current troop strength and five thousand, the "285,000" funds figure on the system resource panel (of which the silver mine contributed a stable 1,000 daily, and the jewelry stores and banks in the six surrounding counties brought in a huge income of over 50,000) was his confidence to explode his troop numbers!

Jiang Xin temporarily suppressed the urge to immediately expand his troops and turned his gaze to a longer-term strategic layout. The huge fund figure on the system resource panel gave him a happy trouble—how to spend it?

His strategic thinking was clear: the six surrounding counties were important resource points and buffer zones, which must not be abandoned. However, scattering valuable survivors was neither safe nor conducive to restoring production. Yongjiang County, as the first completely liberated base, possessed a relatively complete light industrial foundation, especially food processing and textile factories that were crucial to people's livelihoods. This would become the core of his integrated forces!

"Order!" Jiang Xin turned around and ordered the messenger, "Move all survivors gathered from the six counties, including Tai'an and Xiashan, to Yongjiang County in an orderly and safe manner! Concentrate manpower and material resources to prioritize the restoration of the production of basic living supplies such as food, clothing, and drinking water in Yongjiang!!"

He knew the urgency of time. Lujiang City was a behemoth with a population of five million! Deep inside, it was likely that a Corpse King comparable to the "Winged Bat King" had already been bred! The speed of zombie evolution far exceeded expectations!

Over the past half month, Jiang Xin had not expanded his army blindly but had reserved his resources to be used after the Lujiang City base was established.

He first built the core system building—the Research Center! This cost him a lot of resources, but it was absolutely worth it. With the support of advanced potions from the Research Center, Jiang Xin had successfully promoted to a Second-Tier Evolver, and his strength had greatly increased.

(Due to the reason for writing the book, I won't write about expanding the army midway here; it's too detailed and really hard to write. I know that money earned should be spent to expand the advantage, but writing every detail is too much trouble. Here, I'm just saving money to build the Lujiang Base.)

The core strength under his command also achieved a qualitative leap:

Chen Hao: This old soldier who followed him earliest successfully broke through with the help of advanced potions, becoming a Second-Tier Evolver. His combat power soared, and he possessed the powerful destroyer nuclear mecha and metal-type Supernatural Ability.

Hero Template Upgrade: Jiang Xin unhesitatingly used the 14 accumulated hero badges (obtained from system rewards and tasks) to light up the path of heroes for his four generals:

Yang Wen: Awakened "Earth-type Supernatural Ability"! Can instantly condense hard earth and stone to form heavy armor covering the whole body, with amazing defense; can even infuse earth-attribute energy into weapons.

Lin Yufei: Transformed into an Abyss Demon Dragon, possessing powerful dragon flame breath. The dragon flame carries dark corrosion ability, and he stands several meters tall!

Shen Nan: Obtained a rare transformation-type ability—can transform into a powerful half-human, half-wolf form, possessing sharp claws like diamonds, terrifying speed like a ghost, and strength enough to tear through steel!

Li Hong: Wind Guardian, can conjure wind armor, gale dual blades, and the Heaven-Piercing Bow, with diversified abilities.

Among the survivors, Jiang Xin also distributed 1,000 zombie crystal cores to survivors who performed well. Four special Evolvers were successfully awakened. One male was an Evolver who could strengthen his entire body's muscles, known by everyone as Muscle Tyrant. One was an Evolver whose arms could grow larger and whose fists were hard, known by everyone as Iron Fist. One female Evolver possessed the water element ability to create and purify pure water. The pure water she created even had a slight body-strengthening ability. She could create 10 tons of pure water a day out of thin air, or purify 100 tons a day. Her ability also greatly alleviated the base's drinking water crisis. There was also a farmer uncle who awakened the ability to accelerate plant growth. Under his continuous acceleration, one hundred acres of rice could be harvested in a week. Jiang Xin also gave these four people very high treatment, but the true core strength would only be the Red Alert Legion and Zhang Lei. (Those with ordinary abilities are not written.)

Looking at the remaining 67 hero badges on the system panel (50 of which came from the "big gift package" for liberating Yongjiang), Jiang Xin fell into a happy dilemma. His gaze wandered back and forth between two avatars glowing with tempting light on the system's special hero interface:

Night Hunter · Natasha: Her abilities were truly heart-stirring: mastering the power of shadows, capable of traveling through shadows, possessing unparalleled stealth and mobility! Her exclusive weapon, the "God-Slayer" sniper rifle, equipped with special God-Slayer armor-piercing rounds, possessed devastating single-target lethality against high-value targets (BOSS)! It was the ultimate trump card for beheading enemy leaders! Thinking about the unfathomable Corpse King that might be faced in Lujiang City in the future, Natasha was indeed a good choice.

Battlefield Valkyrie · Tanya: Her ability was all-around physical enhancement! Strength, speed, endurance, and reaction time all reached the top of the same tier! Her combat techniques were superb, and she was invincible in close combat! That "war god blade" was the pinnacle product of Red Alert black technology; cutting the Second-Tier Ironback Zombie encountered so far would probably be like a hot knife through butter! She represented absolute dominance on the frontal battlefield and was an unparalleled blade for tearing through enemy lines!

Jiang Xin leaned back in his chair, his fingers unconsciously drawing circles on the tabletop.

In terms of sniping, there was already the Frost Archer Li Ang. Although he didn't have the ghostly unpredictability of Natasha, he also possessed powerful armor-breaking capabilities.

On the frontal battlefield, there was the humanoid beast, the king of the frontal battlefield who controlled the power of ice and fire - Zhang Lei! The all-around enhancement brought by his "Divine Fire Body Tempering" meant his physical fitness was not necessarily weaker than Tanya's, and his dual-element Supernatural Ability also had large-scale killing ability.

"It seems... either one would work?..." Jiang Xin muttered to himself.