The concrete walls of the militia armory were smeared with dark red and black blood and flesh, giving off an eerie, oppressive feeling.
Clearly, a bloody massacre had once taken place here.
All the zombies on the outer road had been headshotted by M99 with the VSS, but those that had already rushed into the armory compound couldn't be sniped.
Lux parked the truck and carefully walked into the compound with his katana.
"Roar!"
Two zombies lunged at Lux.
The katana whistled through the air, instantly severing both heads.
Seventeen or eighteen zombies turned toward Lux at once and charged him together, sending a jolt through his scalp.
If he were surrounded by that dense mass, he'd be torn apart in seconds.
Lux tapped the ground and used his aura to leap onto the concrete wall. The zombies slammed into it one after another, making the wall shake beneath his feet.
The first few zombies that crashed and fell were trampled by those behind them. Arms reached upward, but their height wasn't enough to reach their prey. Calmly, Lux stabbed each zombie in the head with his katana.
"45, come in and watch my back. Everyone else stay outside on standby."
After speaking into his tactical headset, Lux jumped down.
Before UMP45 entered, Lux scanned the compound. He hadn't seen any zombies wearing military uniforms earlier, but now he noticed fragments of bloodstained camouflage and broken rifle parts scattered in the gore. It looked like the garrison had fought to the very end.
"Commander, let's go."
UMP45 entered the compound with her submachine gun raised, a gentle smile still on her face, completely unfazed by the hellish scene.
"You're staring at me like that—are you in love with me, Commander?"
UMP45 teased casually.
"You are pretty cute, but I was just wondering what it would take to scare you. Even in a place like this, you're still smiling."
"Cute? Hehe. Aside from 9 and 40, no one's ever said that. I'll take it as a compliment."
UMP45 stepped into a pool of blood, smiling.
"Of course it's a compliment."
"Hehehe, Commander, you really are a man steeped in sin. Let's go inside. I'll watch your back—you don't want me to fire my gun, right?"
She urged.
Seeing that she wasn't continuing the topic, Lux shrugged and walked ahead.
Aside from the initial wave, the remaining zombies were scattered in small groups—nothing difficult for Lux, who had already killed over a hundred.
Eventually, Lux and UMP45 reached a massive warehouse with tightly sealed doors.
Lux took a crowbar from his system space, wedged it into the door, and pried hard. With a creak, the door burst open.
Rows of neatly stacked wooden crates filled the warehouse, but Lux's eyes ignored them entirely, locking onto a massive vehicle deeper inside.
"What the hell? There's even a tank? Wait—why doesn't it have a main gun?"
Lux said in shock.
"Commander, that's a Type 63 armored personnel carrier, not a tank."
UMP45 replied while lifting a crate lid.
"Oh, oh. This thing can still be driven, right?"
"Yes. I know how to operate it, but it's not very agile. If the enemy has anti-materiel rifles or RPGs, it's basically a live target."
"It's the apocalypse—who'd still be sniping us?"
"You were already attacked with a crossbow. What makes you think they can't get RPGs?"
"And although it can carry over a dozen people, it only has a single 12.7mm heavy machine gun. Everyone else's combat capability would be wasted. I don't recommend using it."
UMP45 said calmly.
"I was planning to let Rick's people drive it. A 12.7mm is still pretty fierce."
"The firepower is acceptable, but Commander, with something like this, would they still need to follow you? They could go solo."
"Power makes people lose reason. What you should do is manage the power you distribute."
"If you want to absorb them, you need to make sure they have no choice but to rely on you."
UMP45 reminded him.
"Good point. I'll store it for now and decide later once I understand their character better."
Lux nodded, quickly walking over and storing the massive APC into his system space.
Seeing it had made him so excited that he'd ignored human nature.
"There are ten Type 81 rifles in this crate—standard decommissioned military gear. There should be more types. Let's check the other crates."
Lux casually took out a Type 81 and removed the magazine.
"Why are there only guns and no ammo?"
"Armory regulations usually separate weapons and ammunition. The ammo should be stored elsewhere."
UMP45 replied.
That finally put Lux at ease. Guns without ammo would've been a big loss.
With a wave of his hand, Lux stored the crate.
After opening all the crates, UMP45 tallied the inventory: 730 Type 81 rifles, eight Type 56 squad machine guns, and one Type 63 APC.
Lux left behind three crates of Type 81s and one Type 56 machine gun—enough to arm Rick's group. The rest would be used later to form a defensive force once a settlement was established at the mine.
They then moved to another massive warehouse.
Lux pried the door open again, revealing rows of neatly stacked 7.62mm ammunition crates.
He took most of them into his system space, left enough to plausibly fit into their vehicles, staged signs of prior looting, and returned to the pickup.
"Commander, your mouth is twitching. Did something happen?"
M99 asked worriedly.
"I hit the jackpot. Let me calm down first."
Lux took out a can of coffee and drank it.