Chapter 61: Base Upgrade

With the completion of the logging camp and the quarry, the entire base expanded to four times its original size, and Jiang Qiyu found herself busy inspecting the construction from dawn till dusk.

Rows of brand-new residential shelters stood in the center of the base. Their walls were pristine and neat, and their windows gleamed softly in the sunlight, radiating an aura of new life. The functional areas were distributed methodically; the dormitories, cafeteria, medical station, and warehouses stood adjacent to one another, offering both convenience and rationality, thereby providing the residents with an orderly living environment.

Even the moat near the villa area had been completely excavated. The clear water shimmered under the sunlight like a flowing silver thread, adding a natural barrier akin to an impassable chasm to the base.

Jiang Qiyu patrolled the heavily guarded footpath along the moat, her hands buried in the pockets of her military coat. She surveyed the surrounding scenery, her gaze carrying a hint of unblinking scrutiny. Her boot heels crushed the dry sandy soil, leaving crisp echoes in the quiet air with a steady and composed rhythm. In the distance, sparse shadows of trees were cast upon the ground, while a gentle breeze stirred the strands of hair beside her ear, silently speaking of this fortress's unyielding determination to protect itself.

"System notification: Level 2 territory construction complete." That mechanical, chilling voice sounded beside her. Jiang Qiyu instinctively raised a hand to press behind her ear. "Level 2 already..." she muttered to herself, though there was no joy on her face.

Immediately following, the system's next sentence caused her expression to turn grave: "Quest issued: Repel the first wave of the zombie horde. Countdown: forty-eight hours."

"Damn it..." Jiang Qiyu cursed under her breath, turning back to shout at Li Dalin not far away, "Can you speed up the finishing work on the barrier?!"

While swinging a shovel to clear excess rocks near the guardrail, Li Dalin raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. "It will take about another day! The workers here are already rushing as hard as they can!"

Hearing this, Jiang Qiyu's expression remained completely unrelaxed. She raised her head slightly to look toward the horizon, where dark clouds hung perilously low, like a black curtain swallowing the whole base. The wind carried a pungent, foul odor—an ominous presence that weighed down on her heart like a boulder.

"Make sure the barrier is reinforced quickly; there can be not a moment of delay. Send out two more shifts of night watch teams to take turns on duty, ensuring that no minor anomaly is missed," she quickly issued her arrangements, then turned and walked from the perimeter wall toward the tall tower. "I refuse to believe that a zombie horde of this scale would come without any prior warning." With her orders given, she turned decisively, her combat boots striking the ground with a solid, resonant beat, radiating an unquestionable aura of authority as she headed straight for the distant tower along the perimeter.

***

Up on the tall tower, Shi Chao was gripping a pair of binoculars, staring unblinkingly.

His tall, slender figure leaned slightly forward, resting against the cold iron railing. His hands firmly grasped the chilly metal bars, and his gaze pierced through the heavy dark clouds to look straight ahead, as if attempting to catch every single movement.

The cold wind swept across his short hair and the hem of his coat, carrying a sharp, murderous chill, yet he remained utterly oblivious to it, entirely immersed in this tense and solemn observation.

He had been fully focused on the distant horizon, his brows knitted with an unspoken sense of oppression. When Jiang Qiyu strode up the tower, he seemed to catch her familiar aura and quickly withdrew his slightly chilled gaze.

Then, the corners of his mouth slowly curled up into a slightly mocking smile, dilating the prior tension. He turned around, a flicker of mischief dancing in the depths of his eyes, and leaned leisurely against the railing, his tone carrying its habitual frivolous banter. "Well, well, Boss Jiang, adopting such an urgent style? You were never like this before. Who would have thought there'd be a day you look so nervous."

Before his voice trailed off, as if afraid she hadn't caught the teasing undertone, he deliberately switched to an even more exaggerated tone, casually waving a hand. "Seeing you this busy, I'm almost not used to it. It's so unprecedentedly heart-stopping."

Too lazy to humor him, Jiang Qiyu walked straight up to his side and snatched the binoculars from his hands. "Cut the crap. Any news?"

"As a matter of fact, yes—" Shi Chao's lips still wore that nonchalant smile, though it looked somewhat stiff. He tilted his head to indicate a direction, his voice mixed with a trace of uncontainable gravity. "Take a look down at the woods on the left." He raised a hand to brush back his wind-tossed hair, as though this trivial action could calm the turbulent unease in his heart. Although his tone was deliberately kept casual, his voice hitched slightly at the end, betraying an unmaskable, hidden anxiety. His gaze fixed on the swaying shadows of the trees not far away, looking as profound as if shielding some unspeakable chill.

Jiang Qiyu looked intently through the lenses.

A heavy fog shrouded the distant woods like a massive gray curtain obstructing her vision, with only indistinct tree silhouettes swaying in the wind. Through the binoculars, Jiang Qiyu saw that beneath that hazy gray curtain, countless black figures were slowly writhing like dormant monsters awakening from a deep slumber, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression.

Their numbers were massive, surging forward like a black tide, slowly yet resolutely approaching the base. Occasionally, some massive zombies thrust their distorted, broken limbs out from the dark shadows like grotesque banners, standing out conspicuously among the horde and presenting a horrifying sight.

***

A cold wind blew, bringing with it gusts of rotting stench. Jiang Qiyu took a deep breath, struggling to maintain her composure. At that moment, a pair of hands suddenly rested gently upon her shoulders.

"Don't wind yourself up too tightly." Lu Yao emerged from the corner and stood behind her, lowering his gaze to study her furrowed brow. "Since we know in advance which direction the horde is coming from, we can find ways to prepare. Don't I still have to throw punches for you?" His voice was gentle, yet the tail end of his sentence carried a pleasant tremor, and those deep, dark eyes unexpectedly revealed a hint of eager anticipation.

"Throw punches?" Jiang Qiyu's mouth twitched as she reflexively retorted, "A hundred is fine, but five hundred will give you more than you can handle." She deliberately lowered her voice, knowing in her heart that Lu Yao's ability might just display unique value when dealing with this kind of situation.

Shi Chao stretched lazily, letting his gaze sweep back and forth between the two of them before letting out a whistle. "Little Lu, you've got a point there. At the very least, I want to watch you go berserk, otherwise I'm truly afraid I'll be eaten first by these rapidly evolving zombies."

Ignoring Shi Chao's banter, Jiang Qiyu hung the binoculars back on their mount and tapped her fingers lightly against the edge of the tower. "The noise of the zombie horde—not just the zombies, but humans as well."

The faint cries drifting from afar grew clearer with each gust of wind. Jiang Qiyu's brows knitted even tighter as she instantly realized those were the cries of more refugees...

The distant cries sounded like a string of whispers shattered by the wind. At first, there were only intermittent sounds, as if hesitating whether to continue carrying that despair.

However, as the wind shifted, the sounds gradually transitioned from hazy whimpers to clarity, their wails and calls for help cutting through the silence like sharp blades, piercing into everyone's eardrums.

Jiang Qiyu's brows furrowed deeper still. Her knuckles turned white from gripping the edge of the tower, and her gaze grew increasingly frigid at that moment. Beneath those intermittent, pleading cries lay the final will to survive of humanity itself—the screams of more refugees.