Chapter 38: Chapter 38: New Gift Pack
Ye Fan began saving money to build a radar, and now he needs more time to accumulate enough resources to construct a Tank Factory, so he is thinking about quickly advancing to Company Commander Level.
According to his staffing requirements, a squad needs twenty-four combat members and thirty-two Red Alert Units, not including vehicles.
This means that Ye Fan needs to have thirty-three Red Alert Units to advance to company commander authority.
Currently, Ye Fan commands a total of twenty-four Red Alert Units, including eleven Conscripts, six Army Soldiers, two Medical Staff, two dogs, plus a Scout, Sniper, and Engineer, exactly twenty-four in total.
Battle Tigers and mining vehicles are not included in this count.
To advance to company commander authority, he needs to produce nine more Red Alert Units, of which at least six must be regular combat units, meaning Army Soldiers and Conscripts.
This amount of money could have originally taken Ye Fan two days to collect, but he didn’t expect Lan Lili to bring a surprise.
Ye Fan decided to start production immediately.
A current squad needs eight regular combat units. He plans to equip each squad with four Army Soldiers and four Conscripts.
This setup balances firepower. When Army Soldiers upgrade to Three-Star, they can use light machine guns. Although powerful, continuous high-rate firing wastes bullets, so Conscripts’ single-shot mode is usually sufficient.
When encountering strong enemies, the firepower of Army Soldiers can make a difference.
Conscripts may not be as strong as Army Soldiers, but they are cheaper and provide numerical superiority, useful for intimidating others.
Having six Army Soldiers, he needed six more, so Ye Fan spent 1,200 to produce them.
"Confirmed production of six Army Soldiers, requires twelve minutes; please be patient, commander."
During the production of Army Soldiers, Ye Fan also started producing Conscripts.
With currently eleven Conscripts, he was just one short, but Ye Fan produced three more.
Because producing just one would still leave him two Red Alert Units short of a full squad, so making three completes the count.
During the production of Conscripts, Ye Fan decided each squad should be equipped with a military dog, so he produced one more dog.
After completing all this, he had thirty-four Red Alert Units under his command.
He spent another 600, leaving him with 700, which he didn’t use for now, wanting to see what changes would come with advancing to company commander level.
Eighteen minutes later, Ye Fan discovered the appearance of new troops.
To avoid drawing suspicion by appearing directly in the tavern, Ye Fan had the troops appear 3,000 meters away and slowly move over, indicating they were here to join him.
"Beep beep~~~! Congratulations, commander. Your Red Alert Units have exceeded a squad, promoting you to company commander authority. Please claim your Company Commander Level gift package!"
Ye Fan promptly opened the Red Alert interface, and the gift package reappeared in the lower-right corner.
Clicking to extract it, a new package appeared on the table.
Opening it, he first found clothes.
This time, the clothing had changed.
Besides a set of camouflage uniforms, there was also a new set of formal officer attire.
An impeccable green military uniform, perfectly straight trousers, the belt now appeared more aesthetic, and the shoulder badge had a single horizontal bar with three stars.
This shoulder badge is at the Captain level, representing Ye Fan’s further military rank advancement.
The commander’s uniforms (Company Commander Level): include a camouflage combat uniform and formal attire, crafted with excellent workmanship, providing strong protection, capable of withstanding normal zombie attacks and small-caliber bullets. If damaged, they automatically restore to their original state every 24 hours.
After these two uniforms appeared, Ye Fan’s Squad Leader uniform vanished automatically.
He put on the Company Commander uniform, and with a mirror in the room, he turned side to side, admiring himself.
The camouflage uniform was fine, but the formal military attire looked exceptionally sharp.
Especially the peaked cap, wearing it made him instinctively stand tall, feeling any nonchalant pose would disrespect the uniform.
"If I wore this out to other survivor bases, the deterrence and charisma would be nearly invincible."
While the uniform looked impressive, Ye Fan was somewhat reluctant to wear it, preferring the more casual camouflage uniform.
He decided to save it for special occasions, admiring it for a long time before setting it aside.
"Commander, upon acquiring this uniform, all Red Alert unit members automatically gain the right to dual sets of uniforms. However, unless you appoint a Squad Leader or class leader, their uniforms remain as standard soldier attire."
"Oh, so my subordinates have two sets of uniforms too?"
"Yes, the soldiers now have dual uniform rights, and appointing someone as a class leader increases their uniform’s protective capability. Officer uniforms offer superior protection over standard soldiers."
Ye Fan was pleased to hear this, envisioning the Red Alert Soldiers in formal military attire, looking both smart and intimidating.
After reviewing the uniforms, next came the change in his pack.
The pack had now transformed into a pocket.
Previously, Ye Fan had to carry a bag during operations. Now, he didn’t need to; he could conveniently turn any pocket into a storage unit, which was also much larger.
The commander’s pouch (Company Commander Level): contains four cubic meters of storage space, with preservation and freezing effects, unique to the user which others cannot access.
Four cubic meters is vast, meaning Ye Fan could store more food and other valuable resources. Had he possessed such a large pouch early on, he could have brought many items from the mining vehicle rather than leaving them at the villa.
Checked with the left upper pocket, indeed finding many stored items like meats, tobacco, and alcohol.
It also contained a medical box.
The commander’s medical box (Company Commander Level): contains a variety of special-effect medicines, providing a 400% efficacy boost for use with Red Alert units, and 150% for ordinary people. Includes three vials of antiviral serum to retrieve someone turning into a zombie before 65% transformation. Regular medications refresh every 24 hours, and the serum every 48 hours.
The medications’ effectiveness greatly enhanced, along with increased quantity. Squad Leader Level healing medications catered for two people, while Company Commander Level caters to three.
The serum’s effectiveness also enhanced, similarly with an extra vial.
An idea occurred to Ye Fan suddenly: "Nana, can I extract medications from here, then have them auto-refresh after 48 hours? That way, I’d be stocking up on medications."
In truth, Ye Fan wanted to talk about bullets, but thought better of asking directly.
Nana’s merciless words shattered his dreams.
"If existing medications or bullets are unused, new batches won’t refresh; usage determines refresh rate."
"Alright, I suppose that’s fair."
Ye Fan sighed but acknowledged it made sense, as the system wouldn’t grant such a glaring loophole.
After checking the pouch, next was the pistol.
Ye Fan touched his waist, confirming that the model 23 was gone.
The package contained a new pistol.
The gun was black, with a larger frame.
Ye Fan picked it up, feeling its weight.
The commander’s sidearm (Company Commander Level): G22 military pistol, an improved version replacing the model 23. Comes in 5.8mm and 9mm models; this version is 9mm, equipped with a fluorescent sight for nighttime use. Maximum effective range is 80 meters, with a capacity of 15 rounds, boasting significant power and range, a classic handgun.
Ye Fan examined the G22, finding it comfortable in his hand.
While perhaps not the top-tier in performance, it was a marked improvement over the previous model 23.
He particularly liked the expanded magazine capacity, holding 15 rounds.
Earlier, his model 23 had too few bullets, limiting his potential, but now it had its rightful place.
Taking aim with the pistol, the bright fluorescent sight made Ye Fan feel his marksmanship would drastically improve.
"It seems many zombies and villains will meet their end at this gun’s mercy; it’s destined to be a legendary weapon!"
With the pistol sorted, the last item before Ye Fan was a brand-new car key and a blueprint detailing the disassembly and assembly of a large vehicle.
"This car...!"