The winds of the apocalypse seemed to pierce through the shattered window frames, and the silence inside the gymnasium was suffocating. Several Marine Corps soldiers followed Lin Xuan to the warehouse where the survivors were being held.
Lin Xuan looked at those panic-stricken survivors without a trace of pity in his heart. He knew full well that in this era of collapsed order, a "saintly heart" was a one-way ticket to hell; only an iron fist and blood could forge the foundation of survival.
"Listen up. From now on, there are no students here, and no teachers. There are only 'laborers'." Lin Xuan's voice spread to every corner through a megaphone, cold as the frozen soil of Siberia.
Lin Xuan pulled a trembling middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses from the crowd. His name was Zhou Jianguo, an associate professor in the Human Resources Management Department before the apocalypse. Lin Xuan stared into his eyes; Zhou Jianguo's gaze was filled with terror, and he had no idea why he was being singled out.
"Professor Zhou, from now on, you are in charge of labor distribution here. I want to know everyone's specialties, physical fitness, and whether they are worth wasting a piece of bread on. If you manage them poorly, I will throw you out to feed the things outside."
Zhou Jianguo kowtowed repeatedly, cold sweat soaking his shirt. "Yes... yes! Mr. Lin... no, Commander! I will definitely do a good job! Definitely!"
Subsequently, Lin Xuan turned and issued the first fortification order.
"Miller, take four armored vehicles to the school gate. Use the vehicles to block all gaps horizontally and set up heavy machine guns. Any creature that tries to approach the gate, whether it's a zombie or a thug trying to sneak in during the chaos—kill them all."
"Understood, sir! We'll turn that place into a meat grinder!" Miller gave a grim smile. He then headed to the plaza, leading twenty Marines away with murderous intent.
Next, Lin Xuan looked at Chu Wenhai. The black monster was mechanically wiping a dagger.
"Chu Wenhai, take the remaining sixty Marine Corps soldiers and conduct a carpet sweep of the entire school in squads. The teaching buildings, lab buildings, and dormitories—every floor and every restroom must be cleared for me. The troops must return to the gymnasium before dark; your safety is the priority. Oh, and if you encounter survivors, bring back those you can."
"As you command, Commander." Chu Wenhai's voice carried a hint of morbid excitement. "I will ensure every corner of this school is painted with our 'efficiency'."
As the orders were issued, the dense sound of gunfire and the roar of armored vehicles echoed outside the gymnasium once more. It was the overture of death. Standing on the second floor, you watched as the survivors were driven by Zhou Jianguo to carry sandbags and reinforce the windows.
Lin Xuan did not stop them; these steps were necessary before development could begin.
Meanwhile, in the temporary laboratory on the top floor of the gymnasium, Karen Parker watched everything happening outside with indifference. She saw a middle-aged man—who had once incited the crowd to protest and was now trying to escape—have his leg broken by a Marine's rifle butt before being dragged toward the warehouse like a dead dog.
"Is this your management style, Commander?" Karen had walked up behind Lin Xuan at some unknown point.
Lin Xuan turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Karen's curvaceous figure before resting on her intelligent yet icy eyes.
"In the apocalypse, this way you live longer than the dead. Doctor, what brings you here?"
Karen shook the test tube in her hand. "I extracted spinal fluid from those zombies the soldiers killed earlier. Their internal Biomass is very unstable; there's a kind of 'lock' that I currently cannot break."
"I see." Lin Xuan wasn't surprised. Developing a vaccine in such a short time and with a lack of manpower was an unrealistic fantasy to begin with.
After Karen Parker finished reporting her work status to Lin Xuan, she said her goodbyes and left.
On campus, the slaughter was escalating. Chu Wenhai ordered several Marine grenadiers to fire wildly at the dormitory windows. Flames and shockwaves tore apart the zombies hiding inside along with the unfortunate survivors. After the fire support, Chu Wenhai led his team to clear every corner of the rooms.
[Ding! Killed 142 ordinary zombies, gained +1.42 Biomass.]
[Ding! First kill of 2 Mutated Zombies (Proto-Mutants), gained +20 Biomass.]
[Current Biomass Balance: 23.51]
As the zombies continued to fall, Lin Xuan felt the system's Biomass gradually increasing. Soon, he would be able to summon more manpower. He intended to turn the gymnasium into an ironclad fortress.
"Reporting to Commander! This is Team B-2." A Marine's voice came over the radio, accompanied by the sound of intense gunfire in the background. "We've discovered an underground wine cellar in the girls' dormitory. Dozens of Art Department students are hiding inside; it seems to be a food storage room. But there's a big guy here... this thing has blocked the door, and our squad can't take it down."
Lin Xuan's eyes narrowed as he picked up the radio. "Chu Wenhai, take a few heavy weapons soldiers to Team B-2's location and support them."
Under the fearful and awe-struck gazes of the survivors in the gymnasium, Chu Wenhai's black silhouette appeared exceptionally prominent and oppressive. His synthesized electronic voice lacked any inflection, yet it was filled with a chilling aura of slaughter.
"First Squad! Second Squad! Follow me!" Chu Wenhai waved his hand sharply, his metal armor reflecting a cold, deathly light.
Over a dozen fully armed Marines stepped out in unison, the sound of their tactical boots hitting the ground heavy and powerful. The survivors instinctively parted to create a path, shrinking into corners and whispering, their eyes filled with primitive worship of raw power.
"Holy crap, did you see that? That's a rocket launcher! The real deal!" a boy whispered in shock, his eyes fixed on the rocket launcher slung over a soldier's shoulder.
"That guy in black is actually their officer... He doesn't look like a living person at all, more like a monster." Another survivor hugged their shoulders and shivered, watching the death squad disappear through the gymnasium entrance.
Chu Wenhai led his team at high speed along the campus's tree-lined paths. The campus was no longer an ivory tower but a slaughterhouse strewn with rotting meat and shell casings. When they reached the girls' dormitory, a thick stench of blood and rot hit them.
A bizarre creature was clinging to the basement wall. Its skin had completely peeled off, revealing bright red, constantly twitching muscle fibers. Its limbs had evolved into steel-hook-like claws, and a blood-red tongue several meters long was licking the bloodstains at the door crack. Its lidless eyeballs snapped toward Chu Wenhai's group upon hearing their footsteps.
This was a product of viral mutation—a Licker.
Chu Wenhai tilted his head, his cold electronic eye performing a rapid scan of the monster. In his eyes, this thing's structure bore a striking resemblance to the "Hunters" he had dealt with back in Manhattan, though it was leaner and its muscle density seemed slightly inferior.
"Open fire!!!"
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
A dense hail of bullets poured out like rain, instantly causing stone chips to fly from the wall where the Licker was. The Licker let out a shrill screech, attempting to use its extreme speed to leap across the walls and evade, but it was facing highly trained Marines.
Boom! Boom!
Two 40mm grenades exploded precisely at its landing point, the powerful shockwaves knocking it off the wall and onto the ground. Before it could roll over and get up, two rocket launcher operators had already pulled their triggers.
Whoosh—Boom!!!
Two rockets, trailing long plumes of fire, struck the Licker's chest head-on. Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion, flames instantly engulfed the monster. The scorching metal jets and shockwaves tore through its tough muscle tissue in an instant, splashing dark red rotten blood and shredded meat onto the dormitory windows like a rainstorm.
As the smoke cleared, the once-formidable Licker was now nothing more than a charred and mangled heap of meat, still twitching slightly on the ground.
Stepping over the shell casings littering the ground, Chu Wenhai walked forward unhurriedly. His heavy tactical boot kicked the mass of mangled meat hard, his electronic eye flickering twice. His tone was filled with disappointment. "Heh, I thought it was something new. Turns out it's just a shrunken version of a Hunter."
He bent down, his short blade precisely piercing the skull of the mangled meat to deliver the finishing blow.
"Commander, the threat has been physically eliminated." Chu Wenhai pressed his radio, his voice echoing in Lin Xuan's office.
"This thing's strength was lower than expected. Given our engagement, I doubt the survivors inside made it."
A moment later: "Wait, Commander, there are still a few breathers. Hey! You guys, go bring the people inside out and move the supplies while you're at it." Chu Wenhai waved his hand, ordering the soldiers behind him into the wine cellar.
Lin Xuan sat in his office, watching the notifications flashing on his system panel.
[Ding! Killed Low-level Mutant: Licker, gained +55 Biomass!]
[Killed 6 survivors, +0.06]
[Current Biomass Balance: 84.57]