Ye Fan and Wang Hu watched the zombies feeding below from the stairwell.
Ye Fan noticed that there was a tall male zombie eating very quickly.
The other zombies couldn't compete with it, causing this zombie's eyes to turn increasingly red.
Ye Fan felt vaguely uneasy: "This zombie seems a bit strong?"
Wang Hu also fixed his gaze on the male zombie and said, "Sir, this zombie is stronger than the others."
Upon closer inspection, it was true. During the struggle, this zombie waved its claws, able to push female zombies away, and even rolled an elderly female zombie like a rolling gourd. It was obviously much stronger.
"Zombies won't kill each other while alive, but will eat their dead companions. It reduces pollution, but eating more might make them stronger."
Ye Fan was uncertain if zombies could evolve, but this male zombie showed signs of such a possibility, as its skin looked slightly darker than the others, which was different.
"We can't let it develop further. Wang Hu, can you take it out?"
"I think I can, but I might need to fire a shot."
Ye Fan looked around the neighborhood. Firing might attract many zombies, and while he was hesitating, gunfire suddenly echoed from afar.
It seemed to be from the other side of the street, with the roar of engines and gunshots.
The shots, though not dense, rang out frequently.
It was clear that some survivors were trying to break through the area.
Ye Fan was in a suburban location, not downtown, so breaking out wasn't impossible.
The gunfire unsettled the nearby zombies, and Ye Fan saw zombies on the far street heading toward the direction of the shots.
Only the zombies in the apartment courtyard continued feeding, unfazed by the gunfire.
A few minutes later, a huge explosion echoed from the distant street, then the gunfire fell silent.
The noise attracted even more zombies, giving Ye Fan an opportunity.
"Wang Hu, it's safe to shoot now; the zombies have gone over there."
Wang Hu immediately extended the gun barrel through the stairwell window on the second floor.
The zombies were about ten meters away, a distance Ye Fan was confident Wang Hu wouldn't miss.
"Bang~~!"
The Model 36 Submachine Gun spit fire, taking down a zombie mid-feast!
"Great shot!" Ye Fan was delighted.
Wang Hu, slightly embarrassed, turned back: "I originally aimed for the big zombie."
Ye Fan: "....."
"That was a mistake; it won't happen again."
Wang Hu aimed once more, but the taller zombie was alert and dodged slightly, causing Wang Hu's shot to miss again.
The Model 36 Submachine Gun, an AK-47 replica, had firepower identical to the AK, delivering devastating impact at such close range.
However, this shot didn't have that effect.
The shot hit the shoulder, causing the tall zombie to stagger but not fall.
"Not only has its strength increased, but its weight has too."
The continuous gunfire made the zombies stop feeding and they all stood up, clawing towards the second-floor window.
The tall zombie rushed to the door, violently crashing into the unit door, the thunderous sound of impacts echoing.
The older residential complex's unit door wasn't very sturdy, and at this rate, it would soon give way.
The zombie was blocked by the eaves in front of the unit door, obscuring the line of sight, making it impossible to shoot.
Wang Hu immediately told Ye Fan: "Sir, I'll jump down to divert these zombies."
As a Red Alert Soldier, he was sworn to protect Ye Fan, sacrificing himself was just a small matter.
Ye Fan quickly glanced downstairs and pointed at a middle-aged female zombie: "Take it down, then lead these zombies to the neighborhood gate. I'll find someone to back you up immediately."
Without a word, Wang Hu raised his gun and fired another shot below.
This time, he finally performed as expected, exploding the female zombie's head with one shot, then immediately jumped down from the second-floor window.
Seeing Wang Hu come out, over twenty zombies roared and followed suit, moving at a decent speed.
Wang Hu ran fast, seizing opportunities to occasionally shoot back, but as a non-starred Conscript, he really wasn't cut out to be a Sharpshooter.
Looking back three or four times, he finally took down one zombie.
Good thing he finally drew away the zombie horde, and Ye Fan immediately dashed out of the stairwell, arriving at the female zombie's side.
A gold bracelet on her wrist was his target.
With a gentle touch of his fingers, Nana inside him activated immediately, without prompting, instantly converting the gold bracelet into System Money.
The bracelet was not light, weighing over thirty grams.
Ye Fan's System Money increased from 79 to 112.
"Nana, produce a Conscript immediately."
"As you wish, my commander."
One minute later, another soldier emerged from the hallway.
"Private Li Biao, reporting to the officer!"
This private was slightly shorter than Wang Hu, about 1.78 meters tall, with a fierce look that immediately marked him as ideal soldier material.
Same Model 36, same military backpack, yet another brave man.
"Immediately go support Wang Hu and coordinate with him in combat."
"Understood!"
Li Biao immediately dashed out of the hallway. On the other side, upon seeing Li Biao come out, Wang Hu immediately started leading the zombies around in circles in the courtyard.
The low intelligence zombies didn't understand tactics and only knew to follow Wang Hu, providing Li Biao the opportunity for steady shooting.
"Bang bang~~~!"
The Model 36 continuously spat fire tongues, and zombies kept dropping to the ground.
Wang Hu also sporadically fired in the front. With both of them attacking from two sides, the number of zombies dwindled rapidly.
Eventually, only two remained, including the tall zombie.
"I'm nearly out of bullets!" Wang Hu shouted.
"I have three rounds left."
Both of them aimed their guns again, and after three shots, they managed to take down the other zombie.
Each was left with one bullet, and Ye Fan immediately called them over.
They ran over with the zombie, and Ye Fan fired from the second floor.
The revolver fired successively, six bullets emptied out.
Ye Fan aimed at the zombie's leg, and three of the six bullets hit, finally creating a few holes in its leg.
Li Biao followed up with another shot, and the zombie staggered and slowed down.
Wang Hu walked up and kicked the leg, finally snapping it.
But in that instant it fell, the zombie lunged forward, its black nails scratching across Wang Hu's chest.
Wang Hu staggered forward a step, turned to see the zombie fall, and immediately fired another shot!
This time, there was no miss—he took it down directly!
Not even minding his own injury, he immediately started collecting jewelry with Li Biao.
The zombies with major jewelry were all collected, the haul not significant, only bringing back 13 units of money for Ye Fan.
Ye Fan hurriedly had Wang Hu and Li Biao follow him upstairs, took out his medical kit, and injected Wang Hu with antiviral serum.
Wang Hu's complexion was a bit gray initially but recovered quickly after the serum injection.
The chest wound was shallow, now scabbed and not affecting him much.
In the apocalypse, serum is extremely important, able to rescue someone before they reach 50% zombification, such efficacy is squad leader level.
Ye Fan let out a sigh of relief: "Although we didn't acquire the fire axe and spent all our ammo, the zombies downstairs are cleared—there's some gain."
Unexpectedly, Wang Hu suddenly stood up: "Reporting to the officer, Private Wang Hu has been promoted to Senior Private, that is a one-star soldier! Now equipped with new bullets."
"Oh, you've ranked up!"
Ye Fan, happy inside, looked Wang Hu over, immediately noticing some additional equipment on him.
Two more magazine pouches appeared on his gear belt.
Every Red Alert Soldier is born with a fully loaded gun, but once fired, it's gone—unless it's refreshed.
Or one could search for rifle ammunition, but it's hard to come by, only accessible in the military district.
Thirty rounds are too few, hardly daring to shoot, as zombies can be drawn and bullets could be wasted fast.
Unexpectedly, after ranking up, two extra magazines appeared.
"How did you rank up so quickly?"
"According to Red Alert rules, when we kill units worth three times our own value, we rank up."
Ye Fan quickly calculated Wang Hu's kill count, and found something off.
Wang Hu explained: "Each zombie is roughly worth ten gold, needing to kill thirty zombies to rank up to one-star. I just killed twenty-one zombies, with the tall one worth up to 100 gold, so I ranked up."
Ye Fan finally understood, the tall zombie was evidently showing signs of evolution, hence its higher value.
"Are the magazines fully loaded?"
"Yes sir, upon becoming Senior Private, I can use up to 90 rounds daily, additionally improving my shooting accuracy by 50%!"
Ye Fan had witnessed Wang Hu's shooting skill, even within distances of ten to twenty meters, headshots weren't guaranteed—now it seems much improved.
"What about other aspects? Any improvements?"
"Close-combat abilities have improved, I can take on three regular people alone."
Hearing Wang Hu's introduction, Ye Fan was very satisfied.
With a Senior Private under command, and 90 rounds available, he could now acquire the fire axe.