Dawn arrived slowly over the sector. Sunlight barely slipped through the still-dense clouds, and down across the trenches carved into the eastern plains.

Sandbag nests, armored vehicles, and rows of infantry waited in silence.

Machine Gunners checked their ammunition belts.

Guardian GIs sat on the ground; the grenade launchers standing proudly as it awaited the horde’s arrival.

Engineers inspected the trench walls one last time.

Squads of infantry advanced to the front, disciplined and locked in.

Their silence was swallowed by the loud roaring of warm engines.

The Vanguard MBTs returned to their positions; the Guardian APCs patrolling behind them.

Snipers covered the overwatch from the reinforced structures.

Zolyah settled on a building near the road, reaching to her comms.

“This is Eagle One. No visual contact on enemy, over.”

The channels went busy, but far from the tension on the eastern front—

Hans stepped into the open compound near the operations tower.

Kimmy and Yunera were nowhere to be found. The last time he heard of them, they went to the eastern front with the other soldiers.

He even glanced at his Radar map and indeed, the two blue dots lingered near the edge.

What a lost opportunity for them, Hans grinned.

He opened his troop count panel, savoring the last minute before the MCV spawned in.

——

[ Troop Count ]

362 Conscripts (+162)

220 Army Soldiers (+70)

20 Attack Dogs

55 Scouts (+10)

20 Snipers

28 Engineers (+8)

26 Medics (10 females, 16 male pairs) (+8)

59 Machine Gunners (+34)

64 Guardian GIs (+34)

30 Missile Infantry

20 DASF Units

13 Guardian APCs

8 Vanguard MBTs

2 HMT-90 Hellhammer Artillery Tanks

——

Let’s hope we can weather this through; Hans took a chilly breath.

As he rubbed his hands for warmth in the middle of a supposedly sunny day—

——

[ Mobile Construction Vehicle training complete. ]

——

The air above the compound warped.

A faint grid of green light traced itself across empty space, like invisible hands stitching reality together.

Lines of luminous energy formed a massive silhouette. Metal plates appeared piece by piece, assembling themselves from nothing.

Low hums echoed from somewhere inside the metallic fortress.

Hans felt his body vibrating as with the ground, both distressed by the arrival of something huge—something gargantuan.

Several nearby soldiers instinctively stepped back.

Even the Engineers stationed near the uncaptured Strategic Facilities turned their heads toward the compound.

The Mobile Construction Vehicle stood nearly the height of a nine-story building. It stretched nearly eighty meters from front to near, almost swallowing the entire compound just by the length alone.

Twelve massive wheels supported its armored chassis, each thicker than a man’s torso.

Thick industrial pistons connected its chassis to the fabrication module above, while a massive articulated construction arm rested along the vehicle’s flank.

The cylindrical fabrication module dominated its upper frame, wrapped in a reinforced plating and glowing system conduits.

Hydraulic arms, folded gantries, and construction racks lined its sides like the limbs of a mechanical titan.

The Crescent Federation’s moon-star insignia gleamed faintly on its armored hull.

Then came a mechanical hum deeper than the last. It reverberated across the compound while the machine powered up.

Hans stared upward. This… is larger than I expected. Is my apartment smaller than this thing?!

For the first time since having taken hold of the RTS System, he felt something undeniable

Civilization had just arrived. And it won’t just stop here.

“Good day, Commander!” The MCV’s driver proudly shouted in the comms.

“MCV, ready to be deployed at your command!”

——

[ Unit Type ]

Mobile Construction Vehicle (Crescent Federation)

Currently not deployed

Can be deployed in current location

——

[ Warning: Deployment will disintegrate all obstructing materials in the zone. ]

——

Hans stared at the massive vehicle for a moment, hitched a breath, then reached to his comms.

“Golden Eagle to all units. The MCV has arrived. Deployment is imminent. Watch your sectors. Golden Eagle, out.”

He raised his hand; his eyes locked at the MCV in front of him.

“Deploy!”

A sharp metallic clang echoed beneath the vehicle. Hydraulic stabilizers slammed into the ground, rocking it up and down.

Blue light flashed occasionally from the top, intensifying as the MCV ramped up.

The twelve wheels locked in place as massive steel plates unfolded from its sides.

They continued unfolding outward, slamming into the ground one after another.

The earth wobbled with each slam, rocking not only Hans, but something else inside Grefort City.

Segmented panels locked together with heavy clunks, forming a wide foundation beneath the vehicle.

At the center, the cylindrical fabrication module split apart.

Massive pistons pushed entire sections of the structure upward, reshaping the machine from a vehicle into a fortress.

The internal engines glowed with warmth, discharging intense heat waves as they breathed in and exhaled out.

Armored panels rotated and slid into new positions, assembling walls, gantries, and reinforced housings.

Then came the construction arm.

The articulated mechanical limb unfolded from the chassis and lifted itself high above the platform, its joints whining as power surged through the system.

Two reactor turbines ignited behind it, releasing deep mechanical roars that echoed across the plains.

The ground trembled beneath growing structure once again as energy coursed through the newly formed base.

Dust scattered across the compound. Even the trenches far beyond the sector felt the rumble.

Several soldiers grabbed onto their helmets, staring at the unfolding machine in disbelief.

Before their eyes, the Mobile Construction Vehicle had ceased to exist.

In its place stood the first structure of a new civilization—the Construction Yard.

Hans’s vision was filled by the system’s incessant prompts.

——

[ Detected deployment of a Mobile Construction Vehicle into a Construction Yard. ]

[ Processing… ]

[ New construction options unlocked! ]

[ You may now… ]

—–

Just as Hans leaned closer to read and observe the rest of the text—

The ground trembled.

Is the deployment not yet over? Hans frowned. No, this is different.

At first, it was subtle. A faint vibration beneath the compound.

Then it grew stronger.

A distant roar thundered across the eastern plains.

Hans froze; the radio channels exploded into life.

“This is Eagle One!” Zolyah’s voice cracked through the comms.

“Mass movement detected from the city!”

Another voice followed.

“Echo One reporting!” Dmitri added. “Multiple infected converging on the eastern approach. Combat units, ready for contact.”

The quiet battlefield erupted into motion.

Machine Gunners straightened their backs, exhaling coolly as they awaited the horde’s advance.

Tank engines roared alive, the turrets ready for the enemy’s arrival.

Far beyond the trenches, a dark tide began to spill out of Grefort City.

The dead had heard the Construction Yard awaken into existence.

And they were coming to destroy it once and for all.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep