322: Meeting

In an instant, Tian Ming landed on the city wall. His clones had eliminated all ten Fourth-Tier Corpse Kings from the entire zombie legion, and the clones had integrated the Red Crystal Cores into their bodies, absorbing the energy within them.

Tian Ming hadn't expected the Base to be besieged. It must have been because he had fallen into an illusion, tricked by Lord Li. Jiang Chen's side must have thought he was dead, which was why they were so reckless.

Fortunately, he had returned in time, otherwise, his main base might have been destroyed.

The news of Tian Ming's return spread throughout the East Sea City Base, and the morale of the entire Base quickly stabilized.

Since the Commander left, about ten days later, the explosion at Su Yuan Base was learned by the Base's high-level officials. Everyone had a bad premonition. Lin Yao and Meng Xian discussed it and dispatched high-altitude reconnaissance drones to the airspace of Su Yuan Base for investigation, discovering that it was already a ruin.

From that time on, East Sea City Base tried to contact Tian Ming every day, but there was no response. And on the second day after the explosion, a Corpse King led a zombie horde south, gathering a hundred kilometers away from the defensive wall.

For the past month or so, Meng Xian, Lin Yao, and Ji Ruping had been swamped. First, they couldn't contact Tian Ming, and second, the gathering zombie horde actually knew how to disperse and hide.

Lin Yao had originally advocated striking first. The gathering of the zombie horde certainly wasn't for anything good; they were naturally preparing to attack East Sea City Base. The Super Legion had also been dispatched several times, but the results were very poor.

Firstly, the opposing Corpse Kings did not directly engage with the Super Legion's Ability Users. Secondly, these zombies were extremely dispersed, so even bombing them wouldn't have much effect.

In the operations room, Tian Ming listened to Meng Xian report the situation. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious. He had gone out to become stronger, and now, Xin Xin's return had caused his strength to advance by leaps and bounds.

And in Meng Xian's report, he also managed to figure out the duration of his unconsciousness.

From when he encountered Lord Li sixteen days after going out, plus the time he was unconscious, a total of forty-eight days had passed. So, the time he was unconscious was a full thirty-two days.

The internal losses of the Base were still bearable. The main losses were the thirty-five forward outposts outside the wall, which were all destroyed, not a single one remaining. Secondly, there were combat casualties, totaling 3,368 personnel.

There weren't many personnel losses in the defensive battle itself; the majority of casualties occurred during the previous harassment operations when the zombies were assembling. It was precisely because of Lin Yao's decision to proactively attack that the repeated back-and-forth disrupted the zombies' rhythm of preparing for a general offensive.

Without the previous harassment from the Base, today's large-scale general offensive would have happened at least five days earlier. Five days before that, Tian Ming hadn't fully woken up yet.

Therefore, Elder Lin's decision was very wise. If Tian Ming had returned five days after the general offensive, the Base's losses would not have been what they were now. At the very least, the hard-earned ground facilities and factories would have been destroyed in an instant.

Other losses were mainly weapons and equipment, mostly concentrated on drones and some combat robots. The consumption of ammunition was also astonishing; the inventory was basically depleted.

Most of the gunpowder production within the Base relied on Ability Users crafting it by hand. After all, it had only been established for a few months and could not achieve a full industrial chain.

Many industries take years to form, or even more than a decade. Even with the participation of a smart AI in design, possessing complete technology and experience, actually building them is another matter entirely.

Everyone conversed for a long time, and Tian Ming had a general understanding of what had happened during this period.

"I went out to improve my strength and gain some special abilities. But I didn't expect to fall into Lord Li's illusion at Su Yuan Base. I was unconscious for too long," Tian Ming said slowly.

As soon as Tian Ming finished speaking, Meng Xian interjected, "Commander, it's good that you're back. Actually, what we were most worried about was something happening to you."

Ji Ruping nodded slightly and said, "Yes, for the past month or so, the Base has been unstable. After the appearance of the zombie horde, and you didn't return, many people said you were killed by zombies, and there were even two small-scale riots. The Enforcement Team has been investigating the source of the riots."

Tian Ming took a deep breath and said, "I know that when I'm not here, morale is unstable. This time can be considered a blessing in disguise. Now, I've pretty much understood the situation of the Base. During this time, I will focus on identifying and addressing weaknesses. Additionally, I have five clones, and the knowledge they acquire will be fed back to me."

At this point, Tian Ming turned his head and looked at Lin Yao.

"Elder Lin, you are the Alliance Commander-in-Chief and an old general. Clone Number One will follow you. Treat him like a disciple and teach him to think like a human."

Lin Yao looked a bit troubled and said, "Tian Ming, can this clone of yours be defined as a person?"

Tian Ming smiled: "That's really hard to say. My current ability is not only full elemental control but also arbitrary elemental transformation. My clones, in essence, are no different from living beings. They are not just composed of a single element; they also have neurons. In essence, they should be considered a kind of superhuman."

Lin Yao nodded after hearing this, but he still found it a bit strange, so he didn't make any promises.

"Alright, since that's the case, I'll give it a try!" Lin Yao agreed.

Tian Ming turned to Meng Xian and said, "Clones Number Two to Number Five, I plan to send them to the Biological Laboratory for some modifications, to give them certain abilities. All my equipment was destroyed this time, and I lost contact with the Base. If my clones can simulate various advanced weapons, and even connect directly to the smart AI, then I won't need to carry any equipment when I go out in the future."

Meng Xian was stunned and asked, somewhat uncertainly, "Commander, do you mean you're going to train your clones to become Transformers?"

Meng Xian's analogy was quite apt, but simulating weapon forms, or serving as weapons or even communication stations, sounded a bit fantastical.

But essentially, all things are composed of particles, and clones can freely change their form. It's not impossible to achieve what Tian Ming hopes for. However, the clones need to be given a crash course in knowledge so they understand what they are transforming into and how the principles work.

Tian Ming nodded and said, "Yes, please help me communicate with the various Laboratories, find a positioning for the clones, and let them learn on my behalf."

Meng Xian nodded and said, "Okay, Commander, no problem."

Tian Ming finally looked at Ji Ruping and said, "Ji Ruping, for the next month, you will cooperate with me to address the shortcomings of the Shelter. I will resolve the most prominent and urgent issues. There is only one month."

Ji Ruping nodded, but seeing Tian Ming set a time limit, she couldn't help but ask, "Commander, can't you give me more time?"

"One month. Try to finish it within one month," Tian Ming did not state his reason.