Chapter 27: Chapter 27: Advancing Toward the City
Right now, Ye Fan’s choice lies between the Engineer and the Sniper.
In his heart, Ye Fan tends to choose the Engineer.
The Engineer has many uses, and after upgrading the system, there will definitely be more unforeseen functions.
Just the 1000 Gold cost alone is enough to outcompete all the current units, with its expense justified.
However, the Sniper is equally important.
If he hadn’t encountered the Armored Zombie, Ye Fan might not be in a hurry, but now that the Armored Zombie has appeared, and with the mining vehicle unable to enter the city for a while, he must have a powerful fire point.
His next mission is simple: to traverse the city towards home and search for his parents. It’s a long journey, potentially fraught with danger.
Against the Armored Zombie, only a Sniper could take them down.
Back in the small fishing village, Xu Haoran mentioned that only large-caliber weapons could suffice.
But what finally decided Ye Fan was the Medical Soldier factor.
When he asked Nana about the characteristics of the units, she gave him an answer.
"Commander, the Sniper and Scout have one slot each per platoon, but Engineers and Medical Personnel have no slot limits."
"If you are producing Medical Soldiers, it’s best to produce two at a time."
"Oh, why?" asked Ye Fan.
"Because Medical Soldiers need to carry stretchers, the other soldiers are responsible for combat. If a soldier gets injured, two Medical Soldiers are needed to carry the stretcher and move the injured to a safe place. If you produce only one Medical Soldier, then you as the commander would have to help carry the stretcher."
Ye Fan thought about it and asked Nana, "If I die, what happens to the Red Alert Soldiers?"
"The Red Alert System exists because of you, Commander. If you cease to exist, all Red Alert Units will automatically vanish."
Hearing this condition, Ye Fan abandoned the idea of producing an Engineer immediately.
He avoided cooking by bringing the Su Family Sisters along; he’s finally free from cooking — does he now have to carry stretchers?
It’s not laziness — he truly knows his importance. As the Commander, it’s best to avoid directly entering dangerous zones.
The Red Alert System exists in his mind. Once he’s gone, the entire system collapses. He can’t risk this.
He now has only 1200 Gold, which means producing an Engineer would allow for only one Medical Soldier, but producing a Sniper enables two.
"Nana, produce one Sniper and two Medical Soldiers for me."
"Yes, Commander, production will take a total of twelve minutes. Please be patient."
Ye Fan lay on the bed in the bedroom, and eight minutes later, the door opened.
A soldier wearing brown camouflage, draped in a grass-green cloak, and donning a beret walked in.
The man stood only 1.7 meters tall; although unremarkable in appearance, his eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s.
A long sniper rifle was slung across his back, with a silenced pistol and a dagger at his waist, the pistol being the same model as Xu Haoran’s.
He stood before Ye Fan and saluted: "Commander! Sniper Chen Chuan reporting!"
Ye Fan returned the salute: "Tell me about yourself."
"Reporting to the Commander, I’m skilled in assassination, stealth, able to conceal myself in harsh environments, and can maintain shooting accuracy without food for three days. I use sniper rifles with an effective range of 1800 meters, apply high-precision infrared aiming, equipped with night-vision scopes and silencers, with a magazine capacity of 10 rounds in a No-Star state."
Though it holds only ten bullets, Ye Fan believes the Sniper won’t take long to promote in stars.
Because every bullet from his gun will take down highly valuable zombie units.
"Besides sniping, how are you in other areas?"
"I handle pistols well too, and my combat skills are approximately equivalent to a One-star Conscript, surely not dragging the Commander down."
"Good, for this mission into the city, we’ll rely on your performance."
Sniper Chen Chuan saluted and then moved aside. If Ye Fan hadn’t seen him standing there, this person would easily be overlooked as if there were no one there at all.
Such is the quality of a Sniper — to remain unseen by enemies.
The addition of a powerful unit gave Ye Fan much more confidence.
After Chen Chuan’s introduction, the door opened again, and two soldiers in camo walked in.
Both stood roughly 1.8 meters tall and were quite burly, each carrying a large backpack, one also holding a collapsible stretcher.
Without primary weapons, they were equipped only with a Type 23 pistol at their waist, with no visible magazine.
Unlike other units, a cross armband on their left arm indicated their identity as Medical Soldiers.
Ye Fan was initially surprised because he expected two female soldiers.
In old movies, weren’t the rescuers always female soldiers, and often quite pretty?
When he raised this question, the Medical Soldiers provided an explanation.
"Reporting to the Commander, compared to female Medical Soldiers, male Medical Soldiers have a certain capability — carrying stretchers. As you intended for the Medical Soldiers to carry stretchers during production, male soldiers were selected by default; most female Medical Soldiers serve as nurses. If you construct a field hospital, then many female Medical Soldiers would be present, although you can also forcibly choose to produce female soldiers."
Ye Fan immediately waved off the suggestion: "That’s not what I meant, just casually asking. Bringing female soldiers is more trouble than it’s worth."
No matter his true thoughts, on the surface, he gave nothing away.
"What medical equipment do you have?"
"Reporting to the Commander, similar to your medical kit, but with added scissors, tweezers, transfusion plasma, and a small oxygen tank. We can handle simple injuries, but we don’t have Antiviral Serum, which is exclusive to you."
"Can you upgrade?"
"Yes, by killing zombies and rescuing Red Alert Soldiers and survivors, we can gather what’s needed to upgrade. Our medical skills and personal medical supplies will improve as we level up, even aiding more serious injuries. A Three-star Medical Soldier could even restore acquired disabilities."
Ye Fan was very pleased with this answer. Medical Soldiers are a crucial part of the battlefield, especially Three-star Medical Soldiers, near miraculous in ability.
For only 200 Gold, once trained, they become like university professors of medicine.
He couldn’t begin to imagine what a grand sight a field hospital might be, though it remains a distant dream.
"How are your combat skills?"
"Reporting to the Commander, Medical Soldiers receive basic military training; our combat and firearm proficiency is akin to that of a No-Star Conscript."
A No-Star Conscript can take on two; Ye Fan calculated his own ability, likely on par with that level.
Finally, a Red Alert Unit on par with his own skills — this brought a small sense of triumph within Ye Fan.
He didn’t know if the Red Alert System would offer him ways to enhance his own abilities later, but he was somewhat hopeful.
Nonetheless, he maintained a good mindset — better if possible, but no harm if not. His powerful army was his strength, and as long as his troops were strong, any individual prowess would mean nothing before him.
With the addition of three more members, Ye Fan’s Red Alert Soldiers reached fourteen people and a dog.
Now, with robust troops, Ye Fan was eager to go home.
But he waited through the night, as nighttime was not a good time for action. Leaving Shengshi Jiangshan to go home this time wouldn’t be a short journey; he needed to prepare thoroughly.
He took advantage of dusk, ordering Red Alert Soldiers to hunt once more.
With the radar’s guidance, the zombies within the district were all pinpointed, and Ye Fan had the area cleared of them.
Eliminating these zombies brought 200 units of money, possibly the last of the gold and silver jewelry in Shengshi Jiangshan District, with anything more likely in the hands of survivors.
Ye Fan didn’t intend to provoke those survivors, as he couldn’t bear the responsibility of too many people’s safety.
Using the 200 units of money, Ye Fan produced two new Conscripts assigned to remain in Villa 58 to ensure the Su Family Sisters’ safety.
This time they wouldn’t use a vehicle to leave; bringing the Su Family Sisters was too inconvenient. They might as well stay here.
Su Awakening and Su Chang stayed up making plenty of food for Ye Fan and the troops, steaming many buns and filling each canteen with enough water to last the group for two days.
Ye Fan’s Commander’s Backpack still had plenty of supplies as backup, though no external knew this.
After a good night’s rest, the next morning, Ye Fan set out with his troops.
Including a Three-star Conscript, three Two-star Conscripts, two Medical Soldiers, and a One-star Guard Dog.
Together with Commander Ye Fan, the group set out as fifteen men and a dog — a formidable force.
Though he couldn’t take the melter vehicle and tiger with him, Ye Fan was confident they could fight their way into the city and return home this time.