71: New mission

By the time Lin Zhi and the others finished dinner, it was already midnight.

Lin Zhi had just returned to his bedroom, taken off his coat, and lay on the bed, preparing to sleep.

A familiar electronic voice resounded in his mind.

[Ding, the phased mission has been updated!]

[Please, Host, increase the number of people in the survivor base to 500!]

[Mission Reward: Synthesized Infantry Battalion! One small modern arsenal!]

?

Holy crap!

When he saw this mission,

Lin Zhi immediately jumped up from the bed!

His eyes were fixed intently on the mission rewards!

He didn't expect the rewards for this mission to be so generous!

A Synthesized Infantry Battalion?

A Synthesized Infantry Battalion is a special type of battalion-level unit, distinct from a regular infantry battalion.

Ordinary Infantry Platoons, due to their focus on mobility, lack large heavy weapons, and even their personnel count is usually around 350-500 people.

In contrast, a Synthesized Infantry Battalion is multi-dimensional, integrating various branches such as infantry, armor, artillery, and engineers. The number of personnel can reach 600-800, and it possesses independent combat capabilities.

Aside from the reward of this battalion-level combat unit, what attracted Lin Zhi the most was the second reward.

A small modern arsenal!

It could be said that as long as he obtained this reward, the biggest problem currently troubling Lin Zhi would be solved.

Lin Zhi did not lack combat power at the moment; the only thing he lacked was ammunition.

Although the arrival of the Infantry Company had replenished his supplies,

simply consuming existing stock was still not the ideal state.

If he couldn't get a replenishment, no matter how much ammunition he had, there would come a day when it would all be used up.

Furthermore, considering that even a small town has tens of thousands of residents, the ammunition consumption for each rescue mission would be enormous.

But as long as he got the arsenal reward, these problems could be easily solved!

"500 people? That shouldn't be a very difficult task."

Lin Zhi stroked his chin and thought for a moment.

Moreover, the construction of the base was now almost complete.

The second phase of the mission was outward expansion.

Radiating the survivor camp's sphere of influence to the surrounding towns and villages.

Currently known locations included Songshan Town and Shenghai Town, where he was, as well as H City.

However, H City had a large number of subordinate towns and villages.

If one were to spread out the map of H City and its surroundings, the number of towns and villages under H City's jurisdiction would be at least around 50 to 100.

With the current strength of one company, he might not be able to take down the entire H City and rescue its survivors and residents.

But a single town was not a big problem for Lin Zhi.

Having made up his mind, Lin Zhi closed the system.

He planned to discuss the first step of the expansion plan with his subordinates tomorrow... Meanwhile, on the other side,

inside a certain room in the survivor camp,

Xi Xi had just returned home, carrying two still-warm metal boxes in her hands.

Perhaps hearing the movement when Xi Xi returned,

her parents couldn't help but prop themselves up from the bed, looking at the somewhat secretive Xi Xi.

"Xi Xi, you're back?"

Hearing this, Xi Xi raised her head and revealed a smile.

Because the base still relied on generators for electricity, there were many places needing power.

Therefore, after a set time, most parts of the base would stop being supplied with electricity.

Speaking of which, it was like a militarized management system.

"Dad, Mom, come over for a second."

Xi Xi picked up a small desk lamp with dim light, turned it on, and placed it on the wooden table in the cramped room.

Although Xi Xi's parents were a bit confused, they still got up and walked over, casually throwing on their coats and sitting by the wooden table.

Their eyes looked at Xi Xi with confusion, wondering what she was going to do.

At this moment,

Xi Xi took out the two metal boxes she had been carrying.

As Xi Xi opened the metal boxes,

instantly, a wafting aroma filled the entire room.

When Xi Xi's parents saw the contents of the metal boxes, their eyes couldn't help but widen!

Because the two metal boxes were filled with hot food, including both vegetables and meat.

The sudden fragrance made Xi Xi's parents involuntarily swallow their saliva.

Living in the Apocalypse for such a long time,

they didn't even know how long it had been since they last ate a hot meal.

Even in the current survivor base, the standard food provided to survivors was just some simple porridge and steamed buns.

Of course, this was the result of discussions between Lin Zhi and other cadres.

No matter what, the base would provide survivors with basic meals to maintain their fundamental survival needs.

But the reason 'basic' was called 'basic' was that it only ensured you wouldn't starve to death.

If you wanted to eat better things, you needed to rely on labor to earn them.

After all, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Xi Xi's parents had just arrived at the base not long ago and had not yet recovered from their weakened state.

So so far, they had not participated in labor.

"Xi Xi, where did you get all this...?"

Xi Xi's Father asked, looking at Xi Xi with an expression of disbelief.

At the same time, his gaze revealed a hint of worry.

He immediately got up to check if the dormitory door was closed properly and found a piece of newspaper to cover the window on the iron door, preventing people outside from seeing the scene inside the dormitory.

Seeing Xi Xi's Father's actions, Xi Xi and her mother immediately understood.

It was important to know that the food for survivors like them in the base was generally not very good.

Although Xi Xi had brought back such a sumptuous meal from somewhere, if others saw it, it would definitely bring them trouble.

In the Apocalypse, the thing you can trust the least is human nature.

Only after the secrecy work was done

did the parents look at Xi Xi.

Even though the food in the lunch boxes was very attractive to them,

seeing this, Xi Xi then told her parents the origin of these two boxes of food.

"I got this at the Office Canteen."

"I asked Brother Lin Zhi, and he specifically let me bring it back..."

Hearing Xi Xi say this,

the parents looked at each other, seemingly seeing a certain suspicion in each other's eyes.

"I see..."

"Alright, Dad, Mom, hurry up and eat, or it'll get cold in a while."

Xi Xi didn't care about anything else and hurriedly urged her parents.

"What about you, Xi Xi? Have you eaten?"

"Mm-hmm, I came over after finishing my meal at the canteen."

"Alright then."

Seeing this,

Xi Xi's parents didn't say anything more.

Each of them picked up a lunch box and began to enjoy the meal.

It must be said, it was indeed worthy of being cuisine from the Cooking Squad.

Xi Xi's parents enjoyed the meal very much.

The large boxes of food were eaten clean in a short while, and they even seemed to want more.

However, after finishing,

Xi Xi's Father spoke to Xi Xi somewhat seriously.

"Xi Xi, you can't do things like this anymore."

"Although your relationship with Officer Lin seems quite good, we can't keep bothering him."

"After all, if it weren't for Officer Lin, we would probably be..."

"Don't worry, I've rested enough today. Tomorrow I'll go out to participate in labor, and I'll definitely get some good food back for you two."

"Mm-hmm, I know, Dad. I'll go participate in work too!" Xi Xi raised her small hand and said encouragingly.

At this moment, however,

Xi Xi's Mother looked at Xi Xi with a different gaze.

"Xi Xi, Mom wants to ask you something."

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"Xi Xi... do you feel something for that Officer Lin..."

...