Sunlight weaved across the complex, bringing a lifeful vibe despite the dead silence it contained. The apartments, once filled with zombies, was now desolate.
Aside from the rare ones who remained dumbly standing at random areas, everything else had already been gunned down at the parking lot.
The conscripts and army soldiers dragged the corpses along the cement, leaving a trail of blood.
"We always have to do this, right?" Alexei complained, not about doing the labor, but enduring the the gruesome sight of the aftermath.
"Stop complaining and keep moving." Adam retorted, pulling a mangled corpse into the pile.
Hans observed the commotion. He had not expected that a simple visit to the manager's office would have resulted to this.
"I have become complacent." he lamented. The incident's progress was too close for comfort.
If Dmitri hadn't been able to dodge the fat zombies' attacks, he would have died.
If the soldiers ran out bullets and grenades without thinning the horde, they would have been at the zombies' mercy.
Hans's frowned at the thought of these scenarios, worsened by the strong stench drifting across his pale face. Even Dmitri and the new scout were disturbed.
"Burn that thing immediately." Hans shook his head. What's done was done. He would take this lesson to heart and be more cautious about operations in the future.
Hearing the order, Adam ordered Alexei to grab the gasoline cans stored in the maintenance room. Alexei ran off, muttering curses underneath.
Hans moved to the sides, approaching an area where several large bags had been placed. The fabric had stretched itself thin, almost bursting the contents inside.
"I assume the valuables are already handled properly?"
"They have been stored safely, Commander. Will you use them now?" Dmitri followed and asked. Their manpower was definitely low, and he was a bit confused why the Commander trained another scout rather than several conscripts and army soldiers.
"Yes, I will."
Hans's muscles tensed, holding the urge to smile and grab the bags for himself.
Counting those three more, it must be worth at least 2000Gold. He calculated. Having at least 25 troops was more than enough, at least that was what he thought for now.
He wanted to save his Gold resources for the Radar, which would cost him 5000 Gold.
I wonder if it would give me a top-view vision of the city, or the area aroundme.
But the severe lack of manpower put him on a difficult crossroad.
Unlocking the Radar would grant him access to the War Factory and new units in the Barracks, but then the problem about Gold resources would hinder him once more.
After all, the War Factory's in-game cost was cheap, but this was the RTS System he was dealing with. Many costs has been reworked and upscaled.
The Radar costed 1500 Gold in-game, but the RTS System variant was 5000 Gold.
By that logic, the War Factory's initial 2500 cost would be even higher, costing at least 10000 Gold. That did not include the War Factory's unit costs as well.
No, I don't even have to consider this. What am I even hesitating about? Hans knocked on his head. I've already decided to bolster my manpower first.
Training more soldiers would increase his workforce; area security and expansion would not be a problem.
Since gunning down zombies was inevitable, Hans might as well gain more guns and bullets.
"The scout units will lead the exploration, not me. Even if I have the Radar, it's only going to help me and not them. System, this should be the case, right?"
"Commander, please unlock the Radar first." the system replied, leaving Hans frustrated.
Would it kill you if you told me first?!
He contemplated and spaced out, leaving Dmitri in an awkward state. The new scout smiled and left the trouble to his colleague. He didn't want to disturb the Commander who seemed preoccupied on his own thoughts.
After several rounds of self-deliberation, Hans pulled himself out from this weird state and spoke.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot about the new special infected." he scratched his chin and stared at the gargantuan corpse that was taller than him, "This thing looks like that manager himself."
Hans circled around, analyzing the slightly deformed face and the familiar fatty skin and build.
"This is definitely the manager." he clicked his tongue, his brows twitching at the coincidence, "That guy turned out to be a lucky bastard."
He shrugged, contented about the countless holes formed from the bullets and fragments that pierced its skin. He didn't like the person in any angle, human or not.
"Well, how did the combat turn out against him?"
"This monster is quick and powerful, Commander. It detects preys using its strong sense of smell." Dmitri stepped forward, "Blindness is its weakness, but that case remains to be verified. We are unsure as the sample size is this one."
Hans nodded, "I see. We can only hope that these types of zombies are all blind."
He moved away from the corpse and converted all loots gathered into Gold.
[ Gold: 85 (+2665) -> 2750 ]
He looked at the new Gold amount and felt thrilled. This was the highest Gold amount he had achieved.
Hans even felt that the residents who became zombies seemed a bit richer compared to what he had thought. He didn't know when did the economy became this buzzing, but those watches, necklaces, rings, and a bunch of other valuables were more than what he expected.
"Conscripts... or Army Soldiers? No, let's get out of here first."
He walked away from the area, not wanting to smell the suffocating air any longer. If he continued to torture himself, he might choose the wrong decision and regret later.
The manager's office was nearby and Hans wanted to check the area.
"You have already scouted the office building, right?"
"Power has been cut off, Commander. We might not get anything useful from this building." Dmitri was worried.
The Commander had been looking forward to clear and secure it, after all.
"The manager's wealth is our main priority. I will task both of you to investigate further once this complex has been secured." Hans commented, remaining optimistic about finding that manager's stash of wealth.
If Hans could also pinpoint that sleazy guy's house within the city, he might be able to acquire more Gold resources than what he had received here.
"Find the apartment buildings' blueprints and other important documents or objects first. We may have gotten hold of the surviving maintenance team, but that doesn't mean they can do everything by themselves. There might be crucial information we could gain from the documents too."
"As you command, sir." Dmitri and the other scout bowed.
"Deliberate between yourselves on what to do with the information. Leave me out of the discussion unless it's something of great importance. Also, I will send a team to reinforce you and help with the investigation."
Hans waved his hands, losing enthusiasm of entering the manager's office. The entire place was dark—he wouldn't be able to see anything properly.
It was much better to spend this time consolidating his forces, arranging the apartment complex security plan, and using the newly acquired Gold resources to train new units.
"We'll be setting off now, Commander." Dmitri, Rex, and the new scout saluted.
"Don't explore for too long. Remind everyone to return before 4 PM." Hans ordered, not wanting to relive that incident about the meteorite shards again.
He stared at the hole in the third apartment building and narrowed his eyes.
"I'll deal with you tomorrow. I hope your value is worth all this trouble."
Along the path, he encountered one of the squads that were assigned for patrol duty. Ryan, Hans's first army soldier, led the two conscripts across the entrance road.
"Commander!" They saluted upon encountering him.
Hans returned the salute and let them on their way. He watched their figures—those focused eyes and taut muscles hellbent on eliminating any threat nearby.
"Dmitri sure does his job very well." Hans scracthed his chin, "Those gunfire have attracted attention, zombie or human. It's best to be prepared for this."
His eyes shifted to the highway ahead. The roaming zombies were no more, but the disabled cars still blocked the roads.
Hans always felt distressed that his acquired vehicles would gather dust in the parking lot.
"I should assemble a workforce to move these things. I don't want my troops to walk so far for future city operations."
Not only did it take time, but it wasted energy as well. Loot capacity would be reduced as well since a soldier could only carry so much.
Hans left this problem at the back of his mind and entered the first apartment building.
The four guards on the first floor saluted, "Greetings, Commander!"
"Hmm..." Hans nodded, "Continue with your work. Also, some of you will be reassigned to another duty later."
The four conscripts didn't mind it and were relieved instead. Staying on the same place for several days straight was too boring.
"We will follow your arrangements, Commander."
Hans waved his hands and returned to his room, plopping into his gaming chair.
[ Gold: 2750 (-2600) -> 150 ]
Hans trained 10 Conscripts and four more Army Soldiers. He viewed his information panel and looked at the total unit count and rank promotion requirement.
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Troops: 30 Conscripts, 10 Army Soldier(s), 1 Attack Dog(s), 2 Scout(s)
....
Commander's Rank Promotion Requirement (Platoon Leader Rank): At least six squads (~72 units), 24 Army Soldiers, 6 Scouts, 6 Attack Dogs
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"Still far away, but we're getting there." Hans closed his information panel and reviewed the other notifications sent by the system earlier.
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[ Conscript Alexei Novak has been promoted to 3-star! Unit ammo and grenades refreshed! ]
[ ... ]
[ Army Soldier Ryan Keller has been promoted to 1-star! Unit ammo and grenades refreshed! ]
[ ... ]
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