43: With a view of Xintai, the defense line is secure.

Chapter 44: New Lookout Tower, Secure Defense Line

The afterglow of the setting sun dyed half the sky red, outlining the oval base with exceptional clarity. The gunfire from the mountainside fortress had thinned out considerably, and the squad leader's voice over the communicator carried a hint of ease: "commander, there are fewer than three hundred zombies remaining, and they've formed scattered impacts. The defense line is as steady as Mount Tai!"

Lin Zhou stood by the base mobile vehicle, looking at the display showing 9,800 resource points and 11,620 energy points. A smile played on his lips. Four newly built military Barracks and three civilian residential buildings were neatly lined up on the west side of the base mobile vehicle. The military green and warm yellow exterior walls complemented each other in the sunset. A few soldiers on early rotation were curiously gathered around the Barracks, discussing the private bathrooms and weapon racks inside.

"Have the soldiers move into the Barracks in batches. Arrange for Old Zhou's family to be on the first floor of the residential building; it's more convenient being near the infirmary." After Lin Zhou finished instructing the logistics team over the communicator, he turned to look toward the mountain peak—there, a brand-new Lookout Tower stood in the afterglow, its alloy skeleton reflecting a dazzling light, more than three times larger than the previous simple observation point.

"Come on, let's check out the new Lookout Tower." Lin Zhou stepped onto the mountain path. After only a few steps, he saw two figures running from the direction of the mountainside; it was Lin Xi and Su Xiao.

Both had a slight flush of excitement on their faces. When they reached Lin Zhou, Lin Xi lunged forward: "Brother! The new Lookout Tower is so cool! We just took a look from afar; it's much grander than that old broken platform!"

Su Xiao also nodded with a smile, her tone carrying a hint of admiration: "When the energy barrier activated, a layer of pale blue light flashed. It looks very safe."

"Let's go. I'll teach you how to use the equipment up there." Lin Zhou ruffled Lin Xi's hair and led them up the winding mountain path. The path wasn't steep, and they reached the summit in no time. The newly built Lookout Tower sat right where the original power transmission tower had been. The base was made of solid alloy, surrounded by transparent bulletproof glass curtain walls. Standing outside, one could see the curved quantum displays and various equipment inside.

Lin Zhou pushed open the door, and a faint metallic scent wafted toward them. The interior of the Lookout Tower was divided into three areas: the operations area, the rest area, and the weapons area. In the center of the operations area, two massive curved quantum displays took up an entire wall, with a sleek touch panel below. In the rest area sat a double sleeping pod, with a water dispenser nearby emitting a low hum. On the racks in the weapons area, two assault rifles and six high-explosive grenades were neatly arranged, with a note pasted next to them: 'Designated Personnel Only, No Touching Allowed.'

As soon as Lin Xi and Su Xiao stepped inside, their full attention was captured by the two display screens. They leaned in close to the screens, their eyes widening at the flickering data streams and surveillance footage.

"These screens are huge!" Lin Xi reached out to touch the control panel, but her fingertips hovered in mid-air before she pulled back, looking at Lin Zhou with some trepidation. "Brother, there are so many buttons. What if we press the wrong one? What if we accidentally turn off the alarm and the zombies sneak up without us knowing?"

Su Xiao also frowned, staring at the shifting images on the screen. Just a moment ago, she had tried tapping the remote control, which resulted in turning on the infrared thermal imager, scaring her into letting go immediately.

"Don't be afraid. The system has 'idiot-proof operations' set up for you." Lin Zhou smiled and stepped forward, pointing to a red arrow button in the top-left corner of the touch panel. "This is the back button. No matter which interface you click into, just press this to return to the main interface. The main interface only has three common options—Surveillance, Thermal Imaging, and Warning Sync. You don't need to touch the other buttons."

As he spoke, he demonstrated with his hand. He tapped the 'Surveillance' option, and the two displays instantly switched to a sixteen-split screen, showing everything from the base center to the mountainside fortress and the mountain path five kilometers away; every corner was clearly visible. Lin Zhou then tapped 'Thermal Imaging,' and the screen instantly turned red and black. The zombies wandering in the distant valley became striking red dots, their numbers and positions clear at a glance.

"See," Lin Zhou pointed to a threshold setting box on the screen, "I've already set the zombie swarm warning threshold to 50. As long as it exceeds this number, the system will automatically issue an alarm and sync the footage to the base center and the fortress command post. You don't need to do anything manually."

Following Lin Zhou's instructions, Lin Xi tried tapping the 'Surveillance' button. The screen successfully switched back to the split-screen view. She then pressed the back button, and sure enough, it returned to the main interface. After trying it twice, her courage grew, and she began exploring how to adjust the camera angles. Although she accidentally pointed the lens at a rock on the mountain peak at first, she soon accurately locked onto that stretch of mountain path five kilometers away.

"Brother, look! I found where the zombies are gathering!" Lin Xi pointed excitedly at the screen, which clearly showed over twenty zombies wandering in the valley. "It's actually this simple. I thought it would be much more complicated!"

Su Xiao also breathed a sigh of relief. She followed Lin Xi's example and operated it a few times, quickly mastering the basic functions. She clicked the 'Warning Sync' option, and a prompt box immediately popped up on the screen, displaying 'Synced to Base Center, Fortress Command Post.' She smiled and said, "This way, even if we have to leave for a bit, the base will receive the warning. It's so convenient."

Lin Zhou watched the two of them operate the equipment proficiently and nodded in satisfaction. He walked to the rest area and opened the emergency food storage box, which contained compressed biscuits, purified water, and some energy bars. "There are enough supplies here for seven days. The water dispenser has hot water at all times, and you can take turns lying in the sleeping pod. If it gets cold at night, just pull out the sleeping bags."

He then pointed to an escape zipline in the corner of the wall. "This zipline goes straight to the mountainside fortress. If there's an emergency, like a large-scale horde assault, just clip on the safety buckle and slide down. You'll be at the fortress in thirty seconds. Got it?"

Lin Xi and Su Xiao nodded simultaneously, looking at each other with relief in their eyes. When they were guarding the simple observation point, they were always on edge, fearing zombies would sneak up or the equipment would fail. Now, with this high-spec Lookout Tower, the energy barrier could prevent impacts, the escape zipline could save their lives, and the warning system could automatically sound the alarm. It was practically foolproof.

"Right," Lin Zhou added as if remembering something, "Report the situation to the base center every morning and evening. If you find survivors or any abnormal movement, report it immediately. Don't act on your own."

"Don't worry, Brother!" Lin Xi promised, patting her chest. "Sister Su Xiao and I will guard the Lookout Tower well. We guarantee no zombies will get within five kilometers!"

Su Xiao also nodded solemnly: "We will take turns on watch; someone will be here 24 hours a day."

Lin Zhou smiled and offered no more instructions. He walked to the bulletproof glass wall and looked down at the base. The sun had already set, and the streetlights in the base were turning on one by one. Warm light shone through the windows of the Barracks and residential buildings. The power station by the base mobile vehicle was still humming, and the lights of the mountainside fortress echoed the glow of the mountain peak Lookout Tower, forming a solid line of defense.

He looked down at the system panel. With 11,620 energy points, he had plenty. Currently, the base only had 36 soldiers. He was close to the goal of summoning a full 120 men to be promoted to Company commander and unlock the Red Alert Command Center. With a thought, he issued the command: "red alert barracks, summon 84 Riflemen to complete the 120-man roster!"

Pale blue beams of light appeared in front of the Barracks. One by one, soldier figures quickly solidified and lined up. In less than fifteen minutes, 84 fully equipped recruits had assembled. The moment the 120-man roster was full, system prompts popped up one after another:

[Promotion conditions met! Promoted to Company commander! Reward: 3,000 energy points, 5,000 resource points!]

[The original 6 Platoon Leaders have simultaneously completed their assessments! Each rewarded with 2,000 energy points and 4,000 resource points!]

[Unlocked construction permissions for Red Alert Command Center!]

The numbers on the panel refreshed rapidly. The energy points instantly jumped to 11,620 + 3,000 + (6 × 2,000) = 26,620. The resource points soared to 9,800 + 5,000 + (6 × 4,000) = 38,800. A sharp light flashed in Lin Zhou's eyes as he issued the command without hesitation: "Consume 5,000 energy points to build the Command Center on the north side of the base mobile vehicle!"

A thick beam of energy crashed down, and an angular alloy Command Center rose from the ground, forming a core triangular layout with the base mobile vehicle and the Barracks. Its metal walls shimmered with a cold luster in the night.

The moment the Command Center was completed, the system panel updated automatically. The construction interface was cleanly divided into four core categories, removing redundant options and retaining only the key functions for survival and expansion in the apocalypse:

I. Main Buildings (Base Core Hub)

- Command Center (Built): Unlocks full function list, provides tactical sand table and encrypted communications

- base mobile vehicle (Initial Building): Mobile construction hub, supports base expansion

- Barracks (Built): Trains infantry units, unlocks special units after upgrade

- Ore Refinery (Constructible): Resource conversion core, increases resource acquisition efficiency

II. Secondary Buildings (Defense and Support Necessities)

- Lookout Tower (Built): Warning and surveillance core, supports upgrades and enhancements

- power Station (Built): Basic power supply, ensures all facilities operate

- Repair Depot (Constructible): Repairs damaged buildings/equipment, reduces combat loss consumption

- Machine Gun Pillbox (Constructible): Ground defense fortification, resists zombie swarm impacts

- Recycling Plant (Constructible): Recycles discarded units/buildings, returns 30%-50% resources, requires Ore Refinery to unlock

III. Unit Types (Unlocked and Trainable)

- Rifleman (Basic Unit): Conventional combat unit, low cost

- Engineering Corps (Special Unit): Repairs facilities, captures neutral buildings

- Scout Soldier (Special Unit): Stealth reconnaissance, expands battlefield vision

IV. Categories to be Unlocked

- Vehicles: Requires War Factory to unlock, includes tanks, armored vehicles, and other heavy units

- Aircraft: Requires Airfield to unlock, includes fighters, bombers, and other aerial units

Lin Zhou quickly scanned the interface. His fingertips paused on the 'Ore Refinery' and 'Recycling Plant' options before he shook his head. The refinery could process ore, and the Recycling Plant could revitalize discarded resources; it seemed like they could achieve self-sufficiency, but he knew this was merely a temporary measure.

Just then, his communicator vibrated, and Old Zhou's voice came through: "commander, I've finished checking the power station equipment by the base mobile vehicle; everything is normal! Also, the medicine in the infirmary has been organized, and we're ready to receive patients at any time!"

Lin Zhou pressed the call button, his voice steady and powerful: "Good work. Notify the 6 Platoon Leaders to gather at the Command Center in ten minutes to deploy for an excursion mission."

Hanging up the communication, Lin Zhou gazed at the night outside the window, a sharp glint in his eyes. The base was a stable safe haven, but if he only guarded this small patch of land, he would eventually run out of resources. Ore would be depleted, advanced technology required rare metals and chips to unlock, and blueprints for vehicles and aircraft were hidden in the military factories and research institutes outside. He even needed to find more survivors to strengthen the base's power.

He turned and walked into the newly completed Command Center. The 3D holographic tactical sand table slowly lit up, and the terrain within fifty kilometers of the base clearly emerged. Red dots for zombies in the valley, markers for unexplored ruins, and yellow areas suspected to be ore deposits were all listed before his eyes.

"Thinking of hiding in the base and living a peaceful life?" Lin Zhou whispered to himself. He tapped a point on the sand table, drawing a route leading to the outside world. "In the apocalypse, only by taking the initiative can one survive."

As the night deepened, inside the Lookout Tower on the mountain peak, Lin Xi and Su Xiao were staring at the surveillance footage on the screen, their fingertips sliding gently. Meanwhile, inside the brightly lit Command Center, an excursion mission concerning the future of the base was about to begin.