Chapter 124: Forward Base – II

Hans retreated from the command room, not allowing anyone to see him but his trusted soldiers.

Training would take some time, and time was what he and his troops needed to transform this military outpost into a forward base.

Patrol shifts had long been assigned to the squads; it did not require Hans’s participation at all.

Matilda was efficient in her job, and so was the rest of the units—particularly the Engineers.

Debris scattered haphazardly below the destroyed watchtowers.

Two Engineers approached its base: their work boots stepping over the fractured concrete fragment.

Their AR visors flickered; a faint grid overlaid the debris.

One Engineer opened their large yellow case and deployed the nanofiber repair toolkit.

A soft mechanical hum filled the air during its activation. From the compact device, silver filaments streamed outward—threading through the fractured concrete and bent rebar alike.

The broken structure began to realign.

Cracks were sealed. Steel straightened itself back to its original alignment. Concrete fused back into its solid form.

The Engineers stood unmoving as the toolkit worked, their visors monitoring structural integrity in real time.

The process wasn’t instant. But within twenty minutes, the watchtower stood once more—restored to its operational condition.

A machine gun nest was reinstalled at the top, like it had never fallen a night ago.

Elsewhere in the compound, shattered floodlights lay scattered across the perimeter. Engineers linked their toolkits to the fractured poles.

Nanofiber filaments surged upward. Burnt wiring rewoven itself to place. Cracked housings resealed shut.

Moments later, the southern fence line blazed back to life. Should darkness fall again, it would retreat from this area.

Hans observed from afar, feeling magical about the Engineer’s capabilities.

Not as instant as in-game, he mused. But there should be a limit to this. I must conduct more tests in the future.

His eyes shifted to the hard-working Conscripts.

Along the inner fence line, fresh sandbags were stacked in a way more durable and structured than what the raiders could ever do.

Beside them, Army Soldiers hammered metal stakes into the ground. The loud clanks brought a peculiar vibrant vibe, making the base feel alive after its recent dire conditions.

Machine Gunners tested their firing lanes from the rebuilt towers, the barrels of their M249s sweeping slowly across the empty highway and innocent, poor grasses.

When the Engineers were done with the small work, they moved into the larger structures.

The main office building was no longer treated as an administrative center.

Engineers sealed the broken windows with steel plating and installed firing slits along the corridor walls. What had once been a paperwork room now became a hardened command relay.

Hans felt invigorated at every work completed by his soldiers.

Nobody shouted at each other’s ears.

Everyone moved with intent—to do what they were told to do, or in their own initiatives. This was what real territorial control looked like, or rather, how efficient his system-based units are.

Kross suddenly approached from Hans’s left. He stopped three meters away and gave a salute.

“Commander.”

“As you were,” Hans glanced over. “Report.”

Kross stood in attention.

“Scouts has investigated the nearby military base. Place has been emptied out. We don’t know if it’s the raiders or somebody else.”

“Must be the military,” Hans narrowed his eyes. “They either returned to the city or headed west. No need to chase them. Secure that military base. I will stay there for a while.”

“Understood, Commander.”

Kross saluted, then turned around and left.

Hans picked up his Radar and zoomed in to the northeast. System, can’t I upgrade my minimap from this dumpster of a visual?

——

[ Radar Visuals can be upgraded in the future. Requires Tech Lab and Satellite Coverage. ]

——

Hans coughed. I even have to launch my own satellites to space?

Launching them posed no problem—finding a launching platform did. Though Ashington was a global power in some respect, its space agency was deemed inadequate compared to Libertan, Valeria and the Daikan Technocracy.

Libertan is an ocean away from me, he gritted his teeth.

I shall focus on Valeria then. Ashington and Valeria are already at war before. Consider it an act of patriotism. I just need to reclaim a launching platform or two from them. It shouldn’t be that bad, right?

Hans paused his thoughts. This was too far from him for now.

Grefort City hasn’t even been liberated from the clutch of the apocalypse.

His family remained at risk down south.

Save Grefort. Then Silverpeak. Then Sandtrup.

Conviction shone on his eyes. Ashbourne can wait.

He shook his head, took a deep breath, and tapped on his comms.

“Dmitri, give me a ride,” he said while watching the training queue go down.

“Where shall we go, Commander?”

“Northeast military base.”

“Understood. Sending dispatch to your location.”

The armored SUV arrived no later than three minutes. An unfamiliar Scout held the wheel; his head slightly turned towards Hans.

“Commander. I have arrived.”

“That was fast.”

Hans clicked the passenger door open and sat inside. The engine hummed as the SUV motioned forward.

Hans went past the busy sections of the compound—soldiers hauling materials in and out, up and down.

All of them halted their actions and saluted at the armored SUV, paying respects to their Commander.

The vehicle exited the compound not long after; it entered the northern road—one too wide that ten vehicles could drive side-by-side all at once.

Hans never felt any familiarity about the heavy industries. To him, the width of this road was too strange. Not only that, barely anyone would use it aside from the large, heavy trucks that passed through.

And even then, no one aside from those big truckers were present when it happened.

“The view here is majestic indeed,” Hans muttered.

Grefort City’s skyscrapers looked more pronounced on this angle than the one that he had at his previous apartment complex.

His admiration fell short as he knew such tall buildings no longer stood attractive and glorious to his eyes.

For what lies inside those skyscrapers were massive numbers of zombies—the kind that his current army couldn’t hope to hold against.

“Increase the speed,” Hans suddenly ordered. The mere sight of those tall silhouettes drove his mind in shaping horrors he once never thought of.

The Scout pressed harder on the accelerator, more fearful to the Commander’s vexation than dying from a high-speed ride.

As the SUV zoomed past the long, wide road, Hans suddenly perked up. His glowing eyes latched into the newly popped up system panel notification, the contents giving him a huge surprise.

——

[ Approaching a Strategic Facility: Military Medical Wing. ]

[ Approaching a Strategic Facility: Military Vehicle Maintenance Depot. ]

[ Recommended to capture with an Engineer to receive bonuses. ]

——

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