By one in the afternoon, Gu Chengyuan and the soldiers of Elite Squad 1 finally cleared Unit 1, Building 3.
At the same time, they rescued 16 survivors from the building, including four couples, two of whom were students from Yezhou University.
The rest were regular office workers renting there, mostly young adults. Among them, three young men gave Gu Chengyuan a bad first impression.
Their demeanor was somewhat unruly, giving off a restless vibe. Two of them weren't even residents; they were there to dine and drink with friends.
Gu Chengyuan arranged for these people to stay in three other rooms on the first floor of Unit 1, leaving Qin Rao's Room 102 unoccupied by survivors.
One couple objected, saying the three rooms were too bloody and wanted to move to Room 102, but Gu Chengyuan refused, citing the need to protect the original occupant's personal rights.
However, Qin Rao voluntarily invited two couples to stay in her room, on the condition that they help with cooking, considering that Gu Chengyuan and his team had been fighting zombies all morning and deserved a hot meal.
Gu Chengyuan agreed wholeheartedly with this idea. Soldiers are human too, and although self-heating meals taste decent, they can become tiresome if eaten too often.
Rather than leaving these people idle, it was better to ensure the combat personnel were well-fed.
He immediately ordered the logistics team to collect ingredients from the cleared rooms on the second floor.
Since the apocalypse had only been going on for less than two days, the food in the refrigerators hadn't spoiled despite the power outage.
Soon, they gathered several pounds of beef and pork, two fish, and some potatoes and vegetables.
Due to time constraints, Gu Chengyuan decided on hot pot, which was relatively simple.
They boiled the hot pot base in a pot and then added the prepared ingredients one by one.
While the survivors were busy preparing the meal, Gu Chengyuan arranged for the soldiers to rest on the spot.
The soldiers, organized into combat teams, went to the rooms on the second floor to find beds for a nap.
Gu Chengyuan himself slipped into the Mengshi 3 Armored Assault Vehicle parked outside, while the sniper who had been on guard was sent to the kitchen to assist, essentially to supervise.
Human nature is unpredictable, so it's better to be cautious and avoid any chance of poisoning.
Alone in the vehicle, Gu Chengyuan didn't sit in the passenger seat but lay down on the spacious back seat.
Stretching comfortably and enjoying the car's air conditioning, Gu Chengyuan called up the system.
At this moment, the word "Credits" on the system interface seemed particularly endearing to Gu Chengyuan.
Credits: 1504
This was the reward for his and Elite Squad 1's hard work all morning.
Regular Infantry Squad: 1500
Seeing this option, Gu Chengyuan excitedly clicked to exchange.
It wasn't easy; although it hadn't taken long to save up, it felt like a hard-earned achievement.
With this infantry squad, he could have two squads, doubling the speed of resource collection.
The snowball effect would only grow! Gu Chengyuan could almost envision himself commanding an army of hundreds of thousands!
"Exchange!"
As soon as he spoke, a virtual blue frame appeared in his view.
This time, however, Gu Chengyuan noticed two options on the blue frame: immediate deployment and concealed deployment.
"Concealed deployment?"
Gu Chengyuan was a bit worried that exchanging here might be seen by survivors lurking in some corner, so the system's concealed deployment option was just what he needed.
Since the system assured concealment, it should be reliable.
With this thought, Gu Chengyuan immediately chose concealed deployment.
Ding~
Regular Infantry Squad X1
Deploying...
Deployment successful.
"Where is it?" Gu Chengyuan scanned the surroundings in confusion, noticing no movement.
After waiting a while, just as he thought the system might have a bug, a familiar vehicle nose turned into view!
What appeared in Gu Chengyuan's sight was another Mengshi 3 Armored Assault Vehicle in jungle digital camouflage, but this one was a high-spec version equipped with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun.
"Damn, this system is something! The price is halved, but the vehicle's quality hasn't dropped!"
Screech~
The sound of brakes echoed as the armored assault vehicle came to a steady stop beside Gu Chengyuan's vehicle.
Just like when the Elite Infantry Squad first appeared, they reported their numbers. New chapters come out on g.com first.
However, Gu Chengyuan could still see a noticeable difference between the two squads.
Firstly, in their disembarking actions, although this Regular Infantry Squad was also quite swift, they lacked the fluid grace of the Elite Infantry Squad.
"This might be the difference between 'qualified' and 'excellent' military proficiency as described in the system."
But with the price halved and this configuration, who needs a bicycle?
Moreover, military proficiency can be improved, especially in this apocalypse, where battles are abundant.
"Attention!"
"Reporting to the Commander! Squad 2 Leader Lu Chong reporting!"
"Squad 2, all 10 members present and accounted for, awaiting your orders!"
Squad 2's leader, Lu Chong, was very tall, slightly taller than Gu Chengyuan, estimated to be around 1.9 meters, and extremely strong.
"At ease!"
"Yes!"
"Report on personnel and firepower configuration!"
"Reporting to the Commander! Our squad consists of 10 members, organized into 2 combat teams, each led by the squad leader and deputy squad leader (each carrying a radio). Each team is divided into 3 riflemen, 1 grenadier, and 1 machine gunner according to combat roles."
"Riflemen are equipped with QBZ-191 Assault Rifles, with 500 rounds of ammunition; grenadiers are equipped with 35mm grenade launchers, with 300 rounds of rifle ammunition and 15 grenades; machine gunners are equipped with QJB-201 5.8mm Squad Machine Guns, with 700 rounds of ammunition, and their teammates carry an additional 600 rounds for them."
Gu Chengyuan was very satisfied with this firepower configuration. Compared to the elite squad's special forces-oriented equipment, this straightforward squad firepower was undoubtedly most suitable for dealing with zombies.
"Have you eaten?"
Lu Chong responded with an awkwardness that didn't match his appearance, scratching his head with his large hands.
"Hehe, reporting to the Commander, not yet!"
"Haha! Then organize your squad to go upstairs and find ingredients. Take as much as you need and bring it to the first floor for the survivors to process."
"Make sure you rest up, as we plan to clear Unit 2 in about an hour!"
"Understood!" Hearing there was a combat mission, Lu Chong stood at attention and saluted Gu Chengyuan.
At this moment, Pu Guangqiang came running out excitedly.
"Reporting to the Commander, it's time to eat!"