"Understood," Advik Bhardwaj responded. "Salvage what we can. If it's unsalvageable, we'll demolish it and rebuild."
The engineers used laser scanners and ground-penetrating radar to map out unstable areas while reinforcing weakened pillars with steel supports.
0345 Hours.
With the immediate clean-up operations underway, Advik Bhardwaj turned his attention to finding survivors.
"Sandeep, take Razor Team and start clearing the interior structures. Move room to room, check every floor."
Sandeep nodded. "Understood. Moving now."
The search teams swept through the mall in tactical formations, their weapons raised as they checked for signs of life. They moved cautiously—although most of the zombies had been exterminated, there was always a chance that some infected remained hidden.
Inside a call center office on the second floor, a soldier called out.
"We got movement!"
The team raised their weapons as they approached a locked janitor's closet. A faint knocking sound came from inside.
"It's barricaded from the inside," one soldier noted.
Sandeep stepped forward. "We're not here to hurt you! If you're alive, open the door!"
A tense moment passed before the lock clicked open. The door slowly creaked, revealing a young woman in tattered office clothes, clutching a makeshift weapon—a broken broom handle with a sharpened tip.
She looked at the soldiers, her eyes sunken and weary.
"Are… are you real?" she whispered.
"Yeah, we're real," Sandeep said calmly. "How many people are with you?"
She hesitated, glancing back into the darkness of the room.
"There's… six of us. We've been hiding here for weeks."
Sandeep turned to his men. "Get them water, food, and bring them to the triage zone. Keep moving."
0400 Hours.
As the search continued, multiple survivor groups were found barricaded in stores, restrooms, and maintenance rooms. Some were barely hanging on, malnourished and dehydrated from weeks of hiding.
In a storeroom behind a fast-food restaurant, a team found an elderly couple with their teenage grandson, surviving on rotting canned food and rainwater collected in plastic bottles.
Inside a luxury watch shop, they discovered a group of security guards—former mall staff—who had managed to hold out using batons and scavenged firearms.
A total of 82 survivors were rescued in the first two hours.
Advik Bhardwaj monitored the incoming reports.
"Good. Keep looking. There could be more."
0500 Hours.
With cleanup and rescues underway, Advik Bhardwaj turned his attention to fortifications.
"Eagle Eye, I need a full recon report on all entry points. We need to seal this place up tight."
Captain Jagdish, commanding the sniper teams, responded.
"Copy that, Commander. We'll get drone surveillance over the perimeter now."
Engineers worked to reinforce barricades, installing steel barriers and automated turrets at the main entry roads leading into the complex.
They secured:
Highway Main Road of Delhi- N.D Chowk (West Entrance)
J.W Chowk- Main Road of Delhi (North Entrance)
S3 Khawaja (East Entrance)
CSD Tanjana (South Entrance)
Samsung SGR-1 Sentry turrets were mounted, and roadblocks made from concrete barriers and armored vehicles were positioned at choke points.
At the V3S Mall Atrium, Dr. Aanya set up a field hospital to examine the rescued survivors.
"Dehydration, starvation, mild infections—nothing severe," she reported. "But they're traumatized. Some of them lost family in this hellhole."
Advik Bhardwaj approached one of the security guards, a man named Manikanta, who had been working at V3S Mall when the outbreak hit.
"You held out for a long time," Advik Bhardwaj said.
Manikanta nodded, his voice hoarse from exhaustion. "We tried to fight. But there were too many of them. Most of us didn't make it."
"You made it," Advik Bhardwaj said. "That's what matters."
Manikanta looked at the military vehicles and soldiers patrolling the area. "Are you… rebuilding?"
Advik Bhardwaj gave a firm nod. "Yeah. We're taking this city back."
0700 Hours.
By dawn, the V3S Mall Complex was fully secured.
[365,500 zombies eliminated
Survivors rescued: 123 (Additional survivors found overnight)
Main roads barricaded and secured
Triage and resupply stations established
Structural reinforcements underway]
Advik Bhardwaj stood on the rooftop of Leela Palace Hotel Hotel, overlooking the cleared ruins of New Delhi. The city was still broken, but for the first time in months, there was hope.
Sandeep approached, handing him a canteen of water.
"Not bad for two days of work," he said.
Advik Bhardwaj took a sip, exhaling slowly. "We're just getting started. And by getting started, I mean it's time for shopping."
Advik Bhardwaj didn't look much at his stats during the operation as it was a nuisance to him. How annoying? Well imagine having your facebook notifications flooded every second informing you that you have killed a zombie. Not to mention, the chime was noisy that reverberated in his head.
Due to that, he doesn't know how much he has gotten from the operation and what level he is. But one thing is certain, he had gotten a copious amount of blood coins, and experience points.
Opening his system stats, his eyes widened in shock.
[User: Advik Bhardwaj]
[Level: 25]
[Experience Points: 35,556,213/36,147,970]
[Skills: Combat Proficiency Level 3, Weapon's Proficiency Level 3, Charisma Level 3, Leadership Level 3. Driving Level 3. Aviation Level 3.]
[Souls: 370,000]
[Blood Coins: 89,543,674]
Advik Bhardwaj stared at the numbers, unable to believe the sheer scale of his gains. The six-hour experience multiplier had done its job, catapulting him straight to level 25 and rewarding him with an absurd amount of blood coins and souls.
Sandeep, standing nearby, noticed Advik Bhardwaj's reaction. "Something wrong, boss?"
Advik Bhardwaj exhaled sharply. "Not wrong. Just… unexpected."
"I see."
"We are going to do a serious upgrade in this complex," Advik Bhardwaj said.
Sandeep crossed his arms. "So, what's next? You said something about shopping."
Advik Bhardwaj nodded. "We just took back V3S Mall, but we need to fortify it properly. We won't always be able to pull off a large-scale operation like this. I want this place to be self-sustaining and nearly impenetrable."
He navigated the System Shop, scrolling through high-end military and infrastructure options.
The first priority was turning V3S Mall into a fully operational fortress. Advik Bhardwaj selected Tier-4 Perimeter Walls, reinforced with steel plating and watchtowers, to enclose the entire complex.
(A/N: From next week, all chapters will upload on Saturday.)