Inside the administrative office building two kilometers away from the campus, the air was thick with the musty smell of stale paperwork and a faint scent of blood. A twelve-man squad of Marines moved with assault rifles raised, their tactical boots making soft clicking sounds against the shattered floor tiles.
"Sir, seriously, I almost opened fire on that white freak last time." A young Marine lowered his voice, finger pressed tight against the trigger guard, his tone still carrying a hint of lingering fear. "That monster suddenly jumped from the roof—it was dozens of meters high! I thought the primary target 'Zeus' from the most-wanted list had appeared. If those civilian killers in black hadn't stopped me, I definitely would've pulled the trigger and whipped that monster's ass."
The Marine Squad Leader gave a cold snort, his eyes warily scanning the closed office doors on both sides of the corridor. "You should thank God, Private. God saved your life at that moment. Otherwise, I swear that monster known as a Super Soldier would have popped your head like a rotten tomato. They don't have any sense of 'comradeship'."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dull thud echoed from the darkness at the end of the corridor, followed by the friction of something heavy dragging across the floor.
"Contact! Boys, follow me!" The squad leader instantly shifted into a combat stance and signaled for the advance.
"Enemy spotted! Move, move! Go! Go!"
As they burst into the lobby, their flashlight beams instantly locked onto a terrifying figure. It was a massive mutant, its body covered in dark red hypertrophied muscle, its arms mutated into giant claws. It suddenly lunged from behind a structural pillar.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat...!"
Dense tongues of fire erupted instantly. Bullets struck the mutant's hardened skin, splashing countless blooms of blood, but they couldn't stop its charge.
Boom!!
The mutant's massive claws swept across, swatting two soldiers who couldn't dodge in time. They were slammed into the wall, reduced to a pulp of flesh.
"Agh...! My leg! Help!" Screams of agony echoed through the enclosed space.
"It's a mutant! Damn it, bullets aren't doing enough! Headquarters, this is E1 Squad. Mutant encountered in the administrative building, casualties sustained! Requesting backup! Requesting backup!" The squad leader roared hoarsely into the radio while firing and retreating frantically.
Inside the command center, Chu Wenhai listened to the chaotic gunfire and wails over the radio. He looked at you with a cold expression. "Commander, E1 Squad has encountered a mutant. Marine firepower cannot effectively suppress it."
Lin Xuan sat in a wide leather swivel chair, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest, a flicker of anticipation in his eyes.
"code d," you said plainly.
The Super Soldier, who had been guarding behind him like a steel tower, lowered his head slightly. A muffled breathing sound came from beneath the metal gas mask.
"Understood, Commander."
The Super Soldier wasted no words, spinning around and charging toward the balcony. He didn't take the elevator; instead, he smashed right through the floor-to-ceiling glass and leapt from dozens of meters up, crashing toward the ground like a meteorite.
Lin Xuan looked at the glass shards scattered by his feet. His mouth twitched violently, and his expression stiffened for a moment.
Three minutes later, outside the administrative building.
The struggling Marine Squad Leader looked in despair as the monster before him raised its giant claws again. He had emptied all his magazines. However, at that critical moment, the building's ceiling suddenly let out a massive boom!
Bang!
A massive white figure crashed through the ceiling, landing heavily on the mutant's back with overwhelming force. The immense impact crushed the arrogant mutant into the concrete floor. The sound of its spine snapping was exceptionally piercing in the silent corridor.
The Super Soldier slowly raised his head, his black goggles staring intently at the struggling monster. He reached out with a palm twice the size of an average person's, his fingers suddenly clenching with a metallic grinding boom.
"Little rat."
The Super Soldier grabbed the mutant's head. Under the stunned gazes of the Marines, he forcibly ripped that massive tumor out of its body along with the spinal cord. Blood geysered out, drenching his white combat suit, but he acted as if nothing had happened, casually tossing the head at the Marine Squad Leader's feet.
The Black Watch Soldiers who arrived shortly after expertly raised their flamethrowers and began clearing the remaining infected tissue in the vicinity.
"Threat neutralized." The Super Soldier turned and scanned the surviving Marines. The sense of oppression coming from the top of the food chain made it difficult for these veterans to even breathe. "Continue your mission. You know the procedure."
[Ding! Super Soldier successfully dispatched to kill mutant. Biomass gained: 50.]
[Administrative building successfully occupied. Reward: 3D Tactical Map Sand Table.]
"This efficiency is really high. I'm liking the Super Soldier unit more and more. It's just that 1,500 Biomass is a bit expensive," Lin Xuan sighed.
...
I am the dividing line ————————————————————-
Inside the stadium command center, the air was filled with the smell of high-concentration coffee and the faint scorched scent of electronic equipment heat dissipation. A massive tactical sand table occupied the center of the room, with a holographic projection above it displaying a detailed 3D topographic map of Qingyun Town—the result of three consecutive days of high-altitude reconnaissance by several virus-detecting drones.
Lin Xuan leaned both hands on the edge of the sand table, his gaze sweeping like a hawk over the flashing red dots (representing zombie density) and green dots (representing resource points).
"The drones have cleared the fog of war from the major sectors, everyone." Lin Xuan's voice echoed in the enclosed room. "Qingyun Town, fifteen kilometers away from us, has a mid-sized granary, a construction materials market, and a secondary hospital. This is the first piece of fat on our path of expansion. Any insights?"
A Black Watch Commander codenamed "Viper" stepped forward, the laser pointer in his hand drawing a red line across the main road of Qingyun Town on the sand table.
"Commander, with our current conventional forces, I propose taking Qingyun Town immediately." Viper's voice was as cold as if he were discussing the removal of a tumor. "But we cannot attack head-on. Qingyun Town has narrow, elongated terrain and dense buildings. If we drive tanks directly inside, they could easily be blocked in the alleys by the horde, or even suffer ambushes from mutants jumping from the second floors. This would be very unfavorable."
"Please continue." Lin Xuan nodded slightly.
Viper adjusted the sand table's display mode, simulating several attack routes. "My plan is 'Feint East, Encircle West'. First, use two attack helicopters to perform targeted demolitions at the abandoned gas station on the east side of Qingyun Town. The massive noise and fire will instantly attract over 70% of the common infected in the town toward the east side."
Another Commander in charge of armored units, "Anvil", immediately spoke up, pointing to the open ground on the west side of the town. "At this time, our six main battle tanks don't need to enter the town. Instead, they will be deployed in a fan shape on the high ground at the western entrance. The field of vision here is wide, forming a perfect Kill Zone. Once the horde is diverted by the helicopters, the tank group will use High-Explosive (HE) shells for carpet bombing, which can reduce the density of the horde within five minutes."
"But that's not enough." Chu Wenhai interjected at this point, his sinister eyes staring at the hospital area on the sand table. "The interior of the hospital is bound to hide a large number of dormant infected, and potentially even higher-level mutants. Tanks can't get in, and helicopters can't blast through."
"That's where infantry-tank coordination comes in," Viper added, his finger quickly marking several blue dots on the map. "After the first round of tank bombing ends, twenty-two armored personnel carriers will immediately carry the Marines in from the side roads on the north and south. Note: do not dismount for combat. Use the 25mm chain guns on the armored vehicles to directly sweep the first floors of the buildings. Our goal is a 'demolition-style' advance."
"Demolition-style?" Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Commander," Anvil explained coldly. "For any building where safety cannot be confirmed, use the armored vehicles' firepower to blast through the walls, or call for direct fire from the tanks. We don't search rooms; we are responsible for flattening the houses and everything inside together. Only after confirming the area is absolutely safe will the Marines dismount to establish a defensive line and recover resources."
"Ammunition consumption will be very high. What if we can't guarantee subsequent operations...?" Lin Xuan frowned.
"But this guarantees low casualties." Chu Wenhai turned to look at you, his eyes fanatical. "Commander, the lives of soldiers are more valuable than ammunition. Moreover, this thunderous approach will bring maximum psychological terror to the rats hiding in the corners of Qingyun Town—I mean, the survivors. When they see that we even dare to tear down buildings, no one will dare to hide anything, and no one will dare to resist."
"Regarding the details of air support," Viper continued to refine the plan, "after the lure mission is complete, the attack helicopters will ascend to high altitude, specifically responsible for 'calling names'. Any target larger than a normal human, or any target moving too fast, will be prioritized for a Hellfire Missile or 20mm autocannon greeting. We will utilize air superiority to the extreme, ensuring there is always a pair of eyes over the heads of the ground troops."
The entire plan was interlocking, cold, and precise. It completely abandoned traditional special operations thinking, instead utilizing the absolute heavy firepower advantage in Lin Xuan's hands to conduct an asymmetrical massacre of the zombies. This wasn't a battle; it was an industrialized cleanup operation.
Lin Xuan looked at Qingyun Town surrounded by red arrows on the sand table, as if he could already see the scene of soaring flames and rivers of blood. Tanks crushing bones, autocannons tearing flesh—he really wanted to wait and see this pure aesthetic of violence.
"Very good." Lin Xuan slammed the table. "Execute according to this plan. I want Qingyun Town to become our backyard before sunset the day after tomorrow. Tell the Marines: don't be stingy with bullets, don't be stingy with shells. I want to see a clean Qingyun Town with no infected. As for survivors, bring them if you can."
"Yes! Commander!" All the Commanders snapped to attention and saluted, the sound of their combat boots hitting the floor in unison, like the beating of war drums.
"What about the operation codename, Commander?"
"Call it 'Hammer Heart Acupoint Strike'. Dismissed."
[Ding! Tactical formulation complete: Codenamed "Hammer Heart Acupoint Strike". Capture Qingyun Town. Reward: 5,000 Biomass.]