"Nana, how did you discover the supply box? I haven't built a radar yet."
"Sir, I can automatically sense Red Alert units within a 300-meter radius, but I can't sense anything beyond that. The supply box is considered a Red Alert unit, so I can only detect it within this range. If you build a radar, this sensing range will increase to a radius of 5,000 meters, and you can also check it through the system."
Ye Fan nodded; building a radar was essential. He planned to save money for the radar once he was promoted to a platoon leader.
"It's 210 meters to the east. Let me check."
Ye Fan went to the window. The streetlights were already out, but he could still sense the location from memory.
"East, 210 meters... it should be in that building. But which floor is it?"
"The supply box is between the first and second floors."
"First to second floor, it should be the supermarket in the community."
There was a medium-sized supermarket in the community, about 600 square meters, with two floors, probably named something related to fruits. By midday, there should have been at least 30 people including staff and customers.
Moreover, since the supermarket was close to the street, there were likely many zombies nearby, making this task far from easy.
In the Red Alert interface, a countdown for the supply box's refresh appeared.
It was night, inconvenient to go out, so Ye Fan lay back down to continue sleeping.
It was time for Wang Hu and Li Biao to switch shifts; they opened their backpacks, took out their sleeping bags, and slept directly on the ground.
"What great soldiers."
Smiling, Ye Fan fell asleep again.
At seven in the morning, after getting up and making breakfast from the collected vegetables, the three ate their fill and prepared to take action.
A new day began. Since the supply box took 48 hours to refresh, Ye Fan was in no hurry to fetch it. He only had two soldiers for now, which felt insufficient, so he planned to collect the valuables within his current building unit to strengthen his force first.
With Wang Hu and Li Biao, Ye Fan began clearing rooms with zombies.
With the fire axe in hand, opening doors became simple.
Li Biao wielded the fire axe; in three or four swings, he could split open the security door, showcasing incredible strength.
As soon as the door opened, the two soldiers simultaneously fixed bayonets, shooting any zombies attempting to charge out.
This community consisted of low-rise buildings, typically having three zombies per house at most, with most having just one or two.
The number posed no threat to the two senior privates; initially, Ye Fan was ready with his revolver, but soon found it unnecessary and instead collected gold and silver jewelry straightaway.
They were busy from morning until after 10 a.m., and Ye Fan collected over 260 in money.
Coupled with a small leftover amount from the day before, he now had 280 gold in hand!
However, both Wang Hu and Li Biao remained as senior privates without upgrading. It takes killing thirty zombies to upgrade from private to senior private, and ninety from senior private to corporal.
Ye Fan finally cleared out the building unit.
In fact, nearly half of the houses had yet to be cleared because there was no noise from those homes, and Ye Fan wasn't sure if any survivors were inside, so he didn't recklessly break down doors.
Although it was an apocalyptic world, Ye Fan was uncertain how long it would last or if civilization would ever be restored. Before knowing this, he had some reservations.
"Nana, produce two more conscripts for me."
Quickly, two new soldiers appeared in the stairwell.
Now, Ye Fan had four soldiers under his command: two senior privates and two privates.
A senior private had 90 rounds of ammunition, and a private had 30, totaling 240 rounds available to him.
Actually, to be precise, it was 246 rounds because he also had a revolver.
"Their combat strength has increased significantly; it's about time to check out the supermarket."
The four soldiers led by Wang Hu blazed the trail, with Ye Fan deliberately having Wang Hu kill as many zombies as possible to quickly upgrade to corporal.
The two new recruits followed at Wang Hu's side while Li Biao protected Ye Fan from behind. The team of five headed toward the supermarket.
Since it wasn't far, there was no need to ride a motorcycle. If things went south, they could make a quick escape on foot.
They left the quiet street, and in front of them was a side road. The supermarket with the supply box was diagonally across the way.
Borrowing the corner of a wall as cover, Ye Fan peeked over and saw a hellish scene in front of the supermarket.
The abandoned cars on the road were one thing, but he also saw many skeletons near the supermarket.
Roughly estimating, there were at least a hundred skeletons.
And just at the supermarket entrance, dozens of zombies were wandering around.
"Seems like many people tried to collect supplies from the supermarket but none succeeded. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many zombies."
"Sir, the zombies are concentrated here. We might suffer casualties if we don't fire."
"Alright, you are authorized to fire, but be mindful of conserving ammunition."
"Understood!"
After witnessing Wang Hu single-handedly luring away zombies the other day, Ye Fan felt bolder. The area was on the outskirts of the city, and the population wasn't particularly dense, so it shouldn't be a big issue.
Li Biao stayed back to protect Ye Fan while Wang Hu and the two others advanced toward the supermarket.
They quickly climbed to the roof of a small truck.
"Open fire!"
Wang Hu ordered, and the three immediately started shooting.
The sound of gunfire echoed as zombies fell one after another. The power of the Type-36 was immense, immediately killing some, while others were shot off target.
Upon hearing the gunshots, the zombies at the supermarket entrance immediately became agitated.
They roared and rushed towards the small truck, but they didn't understand how to climb, only able to claw below.
Wang Hu and the others remained fearless; the closer the zombies got, the easier it was to kill them.
If there were only these dozen or so zombies, Ye Fan believed they could wipe them out.
However, with the burst of gunfire, more zombies began pouring out from the nearby shops and inside the supermarket.
The number of zombies quickly surpassed a hundred, a black mass encircling the small truck.
This was the first crisis Ye Fan faced since acquiring his Red Alert soldiers; there were simply too many zombies.
The small truck wasn't very high; after dozens of zombies fell, some were able to reach the truck's top.
"This isn't good; Wang Hu and the others probably don't have enough ammunition."
Among the three, only Wang Hu had 90 bullets; even with improved accuracy, not every shot would hit.
Upgrading from One-Star to Two-Star required ninety kills, and he didn't have enough bullets for promotion.
Meanwhile, the two privates only had 30 bullets each, not enough to upgrade either.
The number of zombies was increasing; at this rate, they might all be wiped out.
"Li Biao, go support them."
"Sir, but your safety?"
"It's fine; I'll stay here and won't go out. With all the zombies drawn to you, I'm quite safe. Go ahead."
"Yes!"
Li Biao immediately followed, raising his gun to shoot.
With internal and external coordination, Wang Hu's side felt much less pressure.
However, they still couldn't completely clear the area in front of the supermarket.
Though the number of zombies had decreased a bit, Ye Fan promptly issued a retreat order.
"Reserve some ammunition, and quickly retreat!"
Upon receiving the order, Wang Hu loaded his third magazine, firing a barrage, leaving only a few bullets left. They finally cleared a small patch of open space, and the three quickly retreated.
The zombies roared in pursuit. Li Biao provided cover fire while the group charged out with bayonets ready.
Ye Fan also fired a few shots with his revolver, knocking down one zombie with five bullets—it was somewhat effective.
The Red Alert soldiers demonstrated tremendous combat effectiveness, not panicking in times of crisis, managing to break free from the zombie horde, running back to the fifth floor, and locking the security door.
The zombies couldn't match the speed of the humans. Since the area around the community had no blockades, they managed to escape back.
With the security door as a barrier, they were temporarily secure.
The zombies lost their target and wandered around the community yard and corridors, unsure where the group had gone.
"How's your ammo count?"
"Report, I have five rounds left," Wang Hu was the first to say.
"I have twenty-two rounds left," said Li Biao.
The two privates were left with only one round each.
"We were still somewhat careless; four soldiers aren't enough to ensure comprehensive safety in this area."
He checked his funds, which totaled 91. If they could retrieve the gold and silver jewelry from the supermarket zombies, he should be able to increase his soldiers by at least three, nearly forming a full squad.
"Let's wait until noon. After twelve o'clock, our ammunition will refresh, and things will be better then."
That's the Red Alert advantage: if one push doesn't suffice, refresh and try again.
"Let's eat first; it'll be time after lunch. We'll go again after eating."
Ye Fan began cooking, preparing the meal.
********
As they retreated, someone on the second floor of the supermarket quietly lifted the corner of a closed curtain.