31: Chapter 31 Blood and Steel

The air in the underground garage was thick with the pungent smell of gunpowder, blood, and pulverized concrete.

Commander Lin Dong knelt on one knee beside Li Na, his left hand pressing down on the wound on her shoulder, while the tactical flashlight in his right hand illuminated the camouflage uniform quickly becoming soaked in blood. The bullet hole was about three centimeters below the shoulder blade—a through-and-through wound with no bullet left inside. This was the only good news.

"Apply pressure to stop the bleeding; don't let go." Commander Lin Dong's voice was flat, as if he were talking about the weather, but his fingers were precisely pressed above the brachial artery. Li Na's face paled at a visible rate, and her lips began to turn white, yet she gritted her teeth without making a sound—a basic requirement for a Communications Soldier; when radio silence is in effect, one must endure no matter the pain.

[Target: Li Na]

[Status: Hemorrhagic Shock (In Progress)]

[Estimated Blood Loss: Approx. 1200ml, approaching the 25% critical threshold of total body blood volume]

[Remaining Survival Time: 21 minutes (without transfusion)]

[Blood Type: AB Rh-positive]

Commander Lin Dong's pupils constricted slightly.

AB type. It accounted for less than seven percent of the Han population. In this underground garage, among the six people who had just survived a fierce battle, he needed to find someone with a matching blood type.

"Everyone, report your blood type," he said without looking back, his hand continuing to apply pressure.

"Type A," the sniper Zhao Rui said, poking his head out from behind cover, his muzzle still aimed toward the garage entrance.

"Type O," the machine gunner, Wang Lei, was changing his ammo belt.

"Type O," the last Private, Zhang Qiang, replied while panting.

No Type AB.

Commander Lin Dong's mind raced. A blood bank—the camp's medical team had a blood bank four hundred meters away, but it was now a gathering place for zombies. The gunfire from the recent battle would have drawn in zombies from at least a kilometer away. Going out meant death.

Li Na's blood was still flowing through the gaps in his fingers, warm and carrying the speed of life slipping away.

21 minutes.

He looked up at the silver-gray heavy truck—the base vehicle. The energy patterns on the vehicle's body were still slowly flickering, the deployment progress frozen at 32%, like a frozen steel behemoth. If those convicts hadn't interrupted, it would have been fully deployed into a real base in another four hours. But now...

[base vehicle Status: Deployment Interrupted]

[Damage Level: 3% (Right armor plate hit by a stray bullet, outer protective layer damaged)]

[Repair Required: None; deployment can continue, time needs to be recalculated]

Commander Lin Dong's gaze moved between the base vehicle and the wounded soldier before him. A crazy idea took shape in his mind.

On the system panel, a gray icon next to the base vehicle was flashing: [Barracks]. That was a building that could only be constructed after the base was fully deployed. But now, if he skipped the normal process and forcibly activated the Barracks' emergency conscription function...

He opened the system panel, his fingers sliding rapidly through the air. A dense stream of data flashed by, finally settling on a line of red warnings:

[Warning: Base not fully deployed. Forcibly activating the conscription function will consume double energy points, and the initial level of the conscripted unit will be Lv.1 (standard is Lv.3). Continue?]

[Current Energy Points: 820]

[Emergency conscription of one Conscript requires: 400 energy points]

800 points for two lives. To trade for Li Na's chance to survive.

Commander Lin Dong did not hesitate.

"Confirm."

The silver-gray base vehicle's body suddenly shuddered violently. The previously slow-flowing energy patterns instantly became blinding, illuminating the entire underground garage as if it were daylight. Zhao Rui instinctively raised his muzzle, but Commander Lin Dong barked, "Don't move! He's one of us!"

The energy patterns began to converge at a point on the rear of the base vehicle. The air distorted under the high temperature, making a sizzling sound like welding. Three seconds later, a beam of light shot out from the convergence point, outlining a person's silhouette in the air—first the skeleton, then the muscles, skin, clothing, and finally the weapons.

The entire process lasted seven seconds.

Seven seconds later, a soldier wearing dark green combat fatigues and holding an ak-47 assault rifle knelt on one knee before everyone. There was no expression on his face, and his eyes were as hollow as a robot fresh off the assembly line, but when he stood up, his movements were as fluid as a ten-year veteran.

[Conscript (Emergency Conscription)]

[Lv.1]

[HP: 200]

[Equipment: ak-47 assault rifle (120 rounds), Body Armor (Level IIIA), Grenades x2, Medical Kit x1]

[Blood Type: AB Rh-positive]

Almost the instant he saw the panel, Commander Lin Dong roared, "Medical kit! Stop the bleeding, give her a transfusion!"

Without any hesitation, the Conscript tore the medical kit from his tactical vest and rushed to Li Na's side in three quick strides. Opening it, disinfecting, applying a tourniquet, hanging the plasma bag—the entire sequence of actions was as smooth as if it had been practiced a thousand times. When the needle of the transfusion tube pierced the vein in Li Na's left arm, only fourteen seconds had passed since Commander Lin Dong gave the order.

The deep red liquid in the plasma bag dripped slowly, flowing into Li Na's vein along the transparent tube.

[Li Na Status Update: Transfusion started, blood loss rate slowed, estimated remaining survival time extended to 47 minutes]

Commander Lin Dong slumped to the ground, his left hand finally moving away from Li Na's wound. His hand was entirely stained red, the blood having dried into a dark red crust that flaked off as his palm moved.

"Commander..." Li Na spoke weakly, her voice as faint as a mosquito.

"Shut up," Commander Lin Dong said without looking up. "Save your strength. Once the transfusion is done, you'll owe me a life."

A very faint curve appeared at the corner of Li Na's mouth as she closed her eyes.

"Wha... what the hell is this thing?"

Zhang Qiang's voice was trembling. The muzzle of his Type 95 wavered slightly, aimed at the Red Alert Soldiers who was giving Li Na the transfusion. The "creation of a person out of thin air" in those seven seconds exceeded all cognitive boundaries of his twenty-one years of life.

The Conscript slowly turned his head, his hollow eyes sweeping over Zhang Qiang before turning back to continue staring at the level of the plasma bag.

"It's not a 'thing'," Commander Lin Dong stood up, picking up his rifle from the hood of the hummer vehicle. "He's one of us. I'll explain later."

Zhao Rui lowered his gun, looking at the Conscript thoughtfully. As a sniper, he observed things differently from others. He was looking at the soldier's stance—feet shoulder-width apart, center of gravity slightly forward, knees slightly bent, ready to exert force to move in any direction at any time. This was a standard CQB (Close Quarters Battle) posture, and a very professional one at that.

"Have you served?" Zhao Rui asked.

The Conscript did not answer, not even glancing at him.

Commander Lin Dong answered for him: "He is a Conscript. You can think of him as... a special existence. He has combat instincts and basic obedience, but no past memories and not much self-awareness."

"An android?" Wang Lei's eyes widened.

"Something like that."

Silence. Only the sound of plasma dripping and Li Na's faint breathing remained in the underground garage.

After a long time, Zhang Qiang asked in a low voice, "Commander, who exactly are you?"

Commander Lin Dong did not answer. He looked at the progress bar flickering on the base vehicle—due to the forced activation of the conscription function just now, the deployment progress had dropped from 32% to 28% and needed to accumulate again. New estimated completion time: 5 hours and 47 minutes.

"It doesn't matter who I am," Commander Lin Dong finally spoke, his voice echoing in the empty garage. "What matters is that from now on, if you want to stay alive, you have to play by my rules."

He turned around, looking at the three soldiers who had escaped with him and the Communications Soldier lying on the ground receiving a transfusion.

"The world is gone. The army is gone. The government... might be gone too," he said, emphasizing each word. "You've seen those things outside. One bite, and the infection rate is one hundred percent. The mutation time ranges from three minutes to twelve hours. No vaccine, no cure, not even a safe zone."

"Then what do we do?" Wang Lei asked.

Commander Lin Dong pointed to the base vehicle behind him. "Rely on this."

He walked to the side of the base vehicle and pressed his palm against the cold armor plating.

"It can build soldiers, weapons, and bases. With it, we can survive in this hell. But the prerequisite is—" His gaze swept over everyone. "You must obey orders. Not the kind of obedience in the army, but absolute, unconditional obedience. Because I don't have time to explain every decision or convince everyone. What I want is execution, not a discussion committee."

Silence.

Then came Zhao Rui's voice: "Commander, when I was in the service, three of the New recruits I trained were sent from your Reconnaissance Company. They said that of the soldiers you led, the survival rate was the highest."

He lowered his sniper rifle and stood up straight.

"I'm with you."

Wang Lei looked at Zhao Rui, then at Commander Lin Dong, cursed under his breath, and hoisted the machine gun onto his shoulder. "I've nowhere else to go anyway. Count me in."

Zhang Qiang was still hesitating. He was too young, having only enlisted a year ago, and had not yet experienced true despair. But his gaze fell on Li Na—the female soldier who had been on the brink of death just moments ago and whose face was finally regaining a bit of color. If Commander Lin Dong hadn't brought out that... that Conscript, Li Na would be dead by now.

"...I'm in too."

Commander Lin Dong nodded, his expression unchanged.

"Good. Now, listen to my orders—"

Before he could finish, a roar came from the direction of the garage entrance.

Everyone's muzzles instantly pointed toward the sound. Zhao Rui looked through his scope; on the dim ramp, a zombie with a tilted head was slowly walking down. Its left leg seemed to be injured, dragging along the ground with every step, making a rustling friction sound.

[F-Class Zombie]

[HP: 95/120]

[Status: Left leg tendon injury, movement speed reduced to 1.8m/s]

Only one.

But everyone knew that since one had found the entrance, it meant—

"Withdraw to the B3 Level," Commander Lin Dong ordered in a low voice. "Take Li Na and the plasma bag. Conscript, cover the rear."

The Conscript rose silently, aimed his muzzle at the ramp, and began to retreat slowly. His movements were more professional than anyone else present—his footsteps were silent, his muzzle always pointed toward the threat, and he kept his distance from cover such that he could roll behind it at any moment.

Zhao Rui and Wang Lei lifted Li Na, Zhang Qiang carried the plasma bag and remaining ammunition, and Commander Lin Dong brought up the rear.

Just as they had retreated behind the fire door leading to the B3 Level, a dense sound of footsteps came from the garage entrance—at least thirty zombies were swarming into the B2 Level.

As the fire door slowly closed, before the last sliver of light from the crack disappeared, Commander Lin Dong saw that solitary zombie in the B2 Level being torn to shreds by its own kind.

"They'll follow the scent of blood," Zhao Rui whispered. "The blood Li Na spilled, and... the blood of those convicts."

Yes, there were at least a dozen corpses lying in the underground garage, each one emitting a strong scent of blood.

Commander Lin Dong looked at the base vehicle.

The progress bar was still slowly increasing: 29%.

Over five hours.

He needed to find a way before the zombies surrounded this place like a steel barrel.

The B3 Level was deeper and colder than the B2 Level.

This was the lowest level of the camp's underground garage, primarily used for parking heavy vehicles and military trucks. The air was filled with the mixed scent of diesel and antifreeze, and crates of car parts and repair tools were piled in the corners.

Commander Lin Dong turned on his tactical flashlight, the beam sweeping over a military truck covered in canvas. The truck's tires still had air, and the driver's door was slightly ajar—it might still be driveable.

But that wasn't what he was concerned about right now.

[part:gemini-3.1-flash-lite]

He found a relatively enclosed area—three sides were concrete walls, and one side was a pile of tires, forming a natural bunker.

Wang Lei and Zhao Rui placed Li Na on a cushion unloaded from a truck; one-third of the blood bag remained.

【Li Na Status Update】

【Blood Transfusion Progress: 68%】

【Blood Pressure: 85/50 (Still low, but out of danger)】

【Consciousness State: Light Sleep (Body Self-Repairing)】

"Let her sleep," Commander Lin Dong said. "Give her this when she wakes up."

He fished a block of compressed biscuits and a packet of glucose powder from his tactical vest, which he had picked up from the Barracks dormitory.

Zhang Qiang swallowed hard. They hadn't eaten anything all day either.

Commander Lin Dong noticed and fished out two more blocks of compressed biscuits, tossing them to them. "Share it. Make it last."

He didn't eat any himself.

While the others wolfed down their food, Commander Lin Dong opened the system panel and began to calculate.

【Current Base Status】

【Location: B3 Level of the Beiling City Barracks underground garage, Coordinates (E-147, N-233)】

【Surrounding Threat Assessment: Number of zombies on B2 Level is increasing (estimated 80-120), high concentration of blood scent, expected to discover the B3 Level entrance within 3 hours】

【base vehicle Deployment Progress: 29%, remaining time 5 hours 12 minutes】

【Available Combat Forces:】

— Commander Lin Dong (Lv.6, Light Injury, 95 rounds of ammunition + 1 grenade)

— Zhao Rui (Lv.3, Healthy, 42 rounds of ammunition + damaged sniper scope)

— Wang Lei (Lv.4, Healthy, 200 rounds of ammunition + machine gun overheating risk)

— Zhang Qiang (Lv.2, Tense, 90 rounds of ammunition)

— Conscript (Lv.1, Healthy, 112 rounds of ammunition + 2 grenades)

— Li Na (Lv.2, Seriously Injured, No combat capability)

【Total Combat Power Assessment: Can handle a direct confrontation with under 30 F-Class Zombies. If surrounded, 87% probability of total annihilation】

Commander Lin Dong's gaze fell on the last line of numbers.

87%.

This was the highest casualty probability he had seen since joining the army.

He needed to change this number.

He switched the panel to check the available emergency functions for the base vehicle. Besides recruiting soldiers, there was another option that was grayed out: 【Emergency Fortification Construction】. The note read: Consumes 200 energy points to build temporary sandbag bunkers and barbed wire within a 50-meter radius around the base vehicle. Requires base deployment progress of over 50% to unlock.

He only had 28% now.

There was another option: 【Remote Mining Vehicle Emergency Recall】. Note: Consumes 500 energy points to summon an armed mining vehicle, equipped with a 20mm autocannon. Requires base deployment progress of over 70% to unlock.

That wouldn't work either.

The last option: 【Core Self-Destruct】. Note: When the base is in an irredeemable desperate situation, the core can be detonated, producing a devastating explosion with a 300-meter radius. This was a suicide option, and Commander Lin Dong scrolled past it directly.

So, there was only one thing he could do now—buy time.

"Zhao Rui," he called out in a low voice.

The sniper looked up.

"Is your observation scope still usable?"

Zhao Rui picked up the scope on the sniper rifle and checked it. "The lens is cracked, but the imaging is still okay. The range-finding function is broken."

Commander Lin Dong nodded. "That's enough. I need you to find a position where you can see all passages from B2 Level to B3 Level. If any zombies come down, report the number, type, and movement speed immediately."

Zhao Rui didn't hesitate at all; he grabbed his rifle and disappeared into the darkness. A few seconds later, a location marker appeared on Commander Lin Dong's panel—Zhao Rui had climbed onto the roof of a truck; that position had a wide field of view and had the truck bed panels as cover.

"Wang Lei, Zhang Qiang," Commander Lin Dong continued to order. "Pile all the heavy objects you can move to the B3 Level entrance. Trucks, tires, oil drums, anything works. We need to build a barrier."

"Oil drums?" Wang Lei paused. "If that thing gets hit and explodes..."

"If it gets hit, even better," Commander Lin Dong's tone was as cold as ice. "Zombies burned to death are better than people bitten to death."

Wang Lei didn't say anything more and started working.

Commander Lin Dong walked over to the military truck covered with a canvas. He lifted the canvas and shone his flashlight inside—the truck bed wasn't loaded with cargo, but with neatly stacked military ration boxes.

【Military Ready-to-Eat Rations (24 boxes)】

【12 servings per box】

【Shelf life: 8 months remaining】

Commander Lin Dong's mouth twitched—this was the first time he had come close to smiling today.

Commander Lin Dong closed the canvas, not rushing to move the truck. It wasn't time to break out yet, but knowing there was a retreat route was always good.

He returned to the temporary camp and continued to look at the panel.

Suddenly, Zhao Rui's voice came from the darkness, kept very low, but every word was clear:

"Company Commander, B3 Level entrance, two zombies. F-Class, movement speed 3.0 m/s, coming down the stairs."

Commander Lin Dong glanced at the base vehicle progress bar: 31%.

Four more hours.

"Conscript," he said softly.

That Conscript who had been guarding Li Na stood up silently.

"Follow me. We have to let them know this place is not to be messed with."

Commander Lin Dong didn't fire his gun.

Firing a gun in an enclosed space was equivalent to telling all zombies "there is food here." He drew the military dagger from his thigh—the D80 Tiger Fang, 31 centimeters long in total, with a blood groove deep enough to drain a cow of blood.

The Conscript followed behind him, also drawing his dagger. His movements were lighter than Commander Lin Dong's, his footsteps landing like a cat's, his breathing almost inaudible.

The B3 Level entrance was a double fire door, and the dim light from B2 Level seeped through the gap—the emergency lights there were still working. Two zombies were walking down the stairs, their movements slow, as if they were smelling something.

Commander Lin Dong leaned against the door and gestured to the Conscript.

The Conscript nodded and slid silently to the other side of the door.

The two zombies walked down the last step and stepped onto the B3 Level concrete floor. Their heads turned in one direction simultaneously—that was where Li Na was receiving the blood transfusion; although separated by dozens of meters and several walls, the scent of blood still drifted over faintly.

Just as they turned their heads, Commander Lin Dong moved.

He flashed out from behind the door, crossing the five-meter distance in three steps, grabbed the left zombie's hair with his left hand and yanked it back, while his right hand stabbed the dagger obliquely upward from the jaw, piercing directly through the brain. The whole process took less than two seconds; the zombie didn't even have time to make a sound before its body went limp.

The one on the right heard the commotion and had just turned its head when the Conscript's dagger pierced its temple from the side.

The two zombies fell to the ground silently.

Commander Lin Dong shook the black blood off his dagger and signaled the Conscript to drag the corpses into a corner. He used the light seeping through the gap of the B2 Level door to observe the top of the stairs—no more zombies were coming down, but there were clearly fresh bloodstains on the stairs, indicating that zombies had passed through here.

He gently pushed the door open and poked half his head out.

The B2 Level had turned into purgatory.

A dozen prisoner corpses were torn to pieces, with internal organs and limbs scattered everywhere. At least fifty or sixty zombies were buried in the pile of corpses, gorging themselves, making teeth-grinding tearing and chewing sounds. The scent of blood was so thick it was almost suffocating.

Commander Lin Dong retracted his head and gently closed the door.

He glanced at the base vehicle progress on the panel: 32%.

Still not enough. Far from enough.

Just then, his eyes landed on a detail on the panel—【Ore Detector】. This was a device that came with the base vehicle, originally intended for finding ore veins, but now...

【Ore Detector Function Description: Can scan for mineral resources within a 500-meter radius, including iron ore, copper ore, rare metals, etc. Scanning consumes 50 energy points, takes 3 minutes to scan, and has a 1-hour cooldown.】

A thought flashed through Commander Lin Dong's mind.

The B3 Level of the Barracks underground garage was right next to the Barracks' mechanical repair workshop. And in the mechanical repair workshop, there was plenty of—

Steel.

A massive amount of steel.

Those scrapped military vehicles, dismantled armor plates, and piles of old parts were junk before the apocalypse, but now, for the Red Alert base, they were 【Ore】.

He chose to scan without hesitation.

【Scanning... 3%... 17%... 45%... 72%... 98%... Scan complete.】

【Detection Results:】

【47 meters from current location (Southwest direction), high-concentration iron ore resources detected】

【Estimated reserves: approximately 12 tons (converted from scrap steel)】

【Extractable mineral resources: 9.6 tons】

【Note: This resource point is located inside the Barracks mechanical repair workshop, current threat level: Medium (signs of zombie activity)】

Commander Lin Dong's breathing quickened for a second.

9.6 tons of ore.

According to the Red Alert system's conversion ratio, 1 ton of ore can refine 800 energy points. 9.6 tons would be 7680 energy points.

7680.

Enough to summon 19 Conscripts. Or build two Rhino Tanks. Or—directly unlock the 【War Factory】.

Commander Lin Dong closed the panel and looked towards the direction of the mechanical repair workshop in the darkness.

There was steel there, and there were zombies too.

But what he lacked most right now wasn't safety; it was resources.

"Conscript," he lowered his voice. "Come with me."

The Conscript followed silently.

The two disappeared into the darkness leading to the mechanical repair workshop. The fire door closed gently behind them, cutting off the chewing sounds coming from the B2 Level.

Meanwhile, in the temporary camp, Li Na's eyelids twitched.

She had a dream; in the dream, there was a silver-gray heavy truck, slowly unfolding to become a huge base. Above the base, a red flag was rising.

But the color of the red flag was strange; it wasn't bright red, but dark red.

Like coagulated blood.

She opened her eyes abruptly.

The blood bag was already empty, and the needle in her arm had been pulled out at some point. She tried to move her shoulder—the wound still hurt, but at least she could move.

She propped herself up and looked around. Wang Lei and Zhang Qiang were moving tires in the distance, and Zhao Rui was on guard on the truck roof.

Commander Lin Dong was not there.

The Conscript who had given her the blood transfusion was also not there.

"Where is the Company Commander?" she asked weakly.

Wang Lei turned back. "He went out to take care of something. He told you to rest well."

Li Na frowned.

She didn't know where Commander Lin Dong had gone, but she had a bad premonition—that suffocating feeling on the battlefield right before a storm arrives.

Just then, a gunshot suddenly rang out in the distance.

Immediately after, a second shot, a third shot.

Then came the tidal roar of zombies.

Zhao Rui's voice came from the truck roof, filled with unprecedented tension:

"The Company Commander is in the mechanical workshop! He's surrounded! At least... at least two hundred!"

Wang Lei dropped the tire, grabbed his machine gun, and rushed in the direction the sound came from. Zhang Qiang froze for a second before following.

Li Na struggled to stand up, but collapsed to the ground.

Her vision gradually blurred; the final image was the mottled concrete on the ceiling and the flickering muzzle flashes in the distance.

And before her consciousness sank into darkness, she heard a cold voice resonate in her mind:

【Special energy fluctuation detected... Meets hidden conditions... Unlock progress: 2/5...】

【End of Chapter】