Chapter 12: A Bountiful Harvest
stared at the map for two seconds.
The ’s location—two green dots.
Earlier, too many red dots had blurred everything together. Now that the plaza was cleared, the pattern finally showed.
“First, call out to confirm identity.”
Third floor of the office building.
signaled the soldiers to spread out into alert positions. Then he walked to the door, knocked, and called out:
“Listen up in there. We’re from the Emergency Command Center, on orders to clear the zombies. State your identity, and we’ll guarantee your safety.”
Silence answered from behind the door.
knocked again.
A few seconds later, a male voice came from the crack in the door—hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against tin.
“Who’s your ? What credentials do you have?”
heard the question through the intercom. He walked slowly up to the third floor and stopped at the door.
“I am , -in-Chief of the Interim Emergency Command Center and of the . After the city party committee and municipal government went dark, I lawfully assumed command of the entire district. If you’re personnel from the , state your name and position.”
For a moment, nothing.
Then came the sound of heavy objects being moved.
A filing cabinet slid aside. The lock clicked.
The door opened a few inches. A face covered in dust, stubble on the chin, poked out.
Armed Police combat uniform—police emblem intact on the left sleeve. He held a Type 88 sniper rifle, muzzle pointed down.
He glanced at the uniform camouflage and the standard-issue rifles in the corridor. His tense shoulders eased a little.
“Armed Police Squadron, .” His voice was gravelly.
Behind him came another young soldier, barely over twenty, with several tears in his combat uniform.
handed over two bottles of water and a few packs of compressed biscuits.
“Replenish your strength first. Don’t drink too fast.”
The two took them, thanked him, and wolfed down a couple of bites.
After a few bites, slowed down, caught his breath, and continued.
“On the day the virus broke out, there were over a hundred people on the training ground. Everyone turned on the spot.”
He and fought their way back into this and survived until now on a few packs of compressed biscuits.
swallowed what was in his mouth, wiped his face, and looked again at the soldiers standing straight in the corridor.
“ Shen.” He set his water bottle down and snapped to attention.
“ , of the . Beside me is soldier . I know the layout of this building, the location of the armory, and the door lock passwords.”
nodded.
That name existed in the original host’s memory. The and the Armed Police Squadron had run several joint drills, and had been the liaison officer for the squadron at the time.
“The original administrative system in has completely collapsed. The lawfully assumes command authority over the entire district.
You two are temporarily assigned to our unit. After you rest, you’ll move with us.”
“Willing to follow orders.” didn’t hesitate.
After arranging for the two to rest, re-divided the combat tasks.
“ , take First Squad to clear the east-side rooms on the first and second floors. , take Third Squad to clear the west side. Both teams maintain visible distance and advance alternately. If you encounter a group of zombies, don’t assault head-on—use noise to lure them and eliminate them one by one.”
Both teams moved out immediately.
The corridor was dimly lit, the walls covered in scratch marks from zombies.
On the east side of the second floor, the sound of an empty plastic bottle rolling across the floor drew three zombies. But before they could charge out the door, two short gunshots dropped them.
The cleanup advanced steadily. Gunfire came in staggered bursts. The soldiers always used the corridor walls as cover, never rushing into enclosed rooms.
After more than half an hour, the first through third floors of the office building were completely cleared.
“Rest for ten minutes, then clear the dormitory building.”
The soldiers rested against the walls.
sidled up to and whispered, “ … who are these people? Their gear isn’t ours.”
shook his head. “No idea. But they’re military.”
Ten minutes later, the team formed up and moved to the dormitory building on the west side. The process took less than twenty minutes, and the dormitory was cleared as well.
[System Notification: unlock conditions met.]
[Unlocked Content: Full-strength platoon headquarters direct personnel (8 people: 1 platoon leader, 3 radio operators, 2 ordnance maintenance personnel, 2 platoon-level medics); supporting 3 Mengshi basic assault vehicles, 1 armored command vehicle.]
glanced at the system panel.
Unlocked.
He closed the light screen and turned toward the deepest part of the compound.
stepped forward proactively.
“The armory has dual mechanical door locks—no electronic equipment. I remember the password for the outer iron door.”
The group followed to a standalone single-story building.
The heavy steel blast door was tightly shut, the door panel studded with reinforcing rivets.
turned the mechanical combination dial. The lock cylinder clicked open. Then he pulled out a brass key and inserted it into the inner lock.
The two doors swung inward, revealing a spacious interior.
Shelves were arranged neatly, with various types of locally made military equipment stored in categories.
Electronic scopes with chips and wireless communication equipment were all dead, but purely mechanical firearms and ammunition were intact.
reported as he walked.
“Sixty-five Type 81 automatic rifles, 43,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. Eighteen Type 54 pistols, 7,200 rounds of pistol ammunition. Forty-two bulletproof vests, fifty-six anti-stab helmets. Various tools. At the back, there are also two ten-ton military trucks with sufficient diesel reserves.”
The ammunition shortfall was temporarily covered.
gave orders.
“Detach two cargo trucks to transport supplies back to the . The Mengshi assault vehicles will handle perimeter security.”
Each squad received its orders, and the compound quickly became busy.
Taking advantage of the transport interval, walked to the wall and pulled up the all-domain heat source map.
He lowered the map slightly. On the road direction at the edge of town, there was a dense cluster of red dots. The movement speed wasn’t fast, but the number was at least three hundred.
He noted the location.
Just as he put the map away, ’s communication cut in.
“Director Shen, the hospital sent another signal. They say the supplies are completely exhausted. They can’t hold out.”