"Viper," Hans called.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Take care of business here. I have someplace else to go."
"Shall I send a substitute bodyguard to go with you?"
"No need," Hans waved his hand. "This entire area is more than safe enough."
Without a pause, his figure shot from the freight yard toward the east. The concrete cracked from where he jumped off.
Hans's quick departure garnered attention from everyone.
"That was explosively fast," Johannes remarked first.
"Can you chase after him?" Evelyn asked.
"Impossible," Johannes shook his head. "I need to train more to even reach that speed."
Evelyn's body trembled slightly. Her understanding of Hans's capabilities deepened once more.
Good thing we were accepted by him. If he was our enemy...
"Don't think too much," Johannes lightly slapped her back. "We're allies with him now."
"Yeah. You're right."
Yunera simply glanced to the direction where Hans left. But Kimmy's stare lasted longer than Yunera had expected.
"Now, now. Don't think too much. He must be off somewhere with his business."
"I know," Kimmy replied, feeling a bit lost from Hans's departure.
A few streets away, Hans landed near the usual collection point. It was the same rooftop as yesterday.
The eastern horizon still glowed behind smoke and fire, burning through the filth that covered the land.
Watcher Three and the squad were already waiting.
Behind him, several tarps had been spread across the rooftop floor. Rings, necklaces, watches, coins, gold teeth, broken jewelry, and small metallic items were sorted into neat piles.
The sight was by no means glorious. After all, these came from corpse loot.
Hans stared at it for a moment before nodding at Watcher Three.
"Must have been a lot of work."
"Anything for the Commander," Watcher Three replied.
"Hmm."
Hans approached the pile, waved his hand over it, and commanded in his mind.
System, convert!
The familiar faint green light appeared once more, devouring all convertible materials into particles.
------
[ Gold: 26,545 (+8,740) -> 35,285 ]
------
Not bad at all, Hans's eyes brightened. "There seems to be more today?"
"These materials are less broken than before, Commander."
Hans quickly understood. The zombies at the front faced direct weapon fire. It would be a miracle if the System would even consider converting broken watches from those corpses.
Those who were at the back didn't suffer as much. Thus, the quality of loot would be higher.
"Is this the last wave?"
"There should still be one more wave, Commander."
Watcher Three answered, though with a hint of hesitation.
"You're not very confident," Hans chuckled. "Whatever the squads can haul today, just do your best."
He wasn't heartless enough to always ask for more.
I still have the entire Grefort City to loot around, Hans paused. Speaking of which, should I let another squad return to Pandora district?
Though he already sent Dmitri there twice, several houses remained untouched.
Some doors were too sturdy for them to force open, while others had simply remained locked after the electricity went out.
Not even the Engineers could CPR their way inside.
The cache alone...
His thoughts were interrupted as the System suddenly prompted.
------
[ Construction queue finished for: Radar Facility (Physical). Please select deployment zone. ]
------
You're finally here, Hans couldn't help but smirk. "Watcher Three, you may return to your post."
Watcher Three saluted and left the rooftop.
Hans glanced at the large open area where the previous battle had taken place.
Trenches scarred the land. Though they had been helpful during the zombie horde's attack, this defensive emplacement now burdened his troops' mobility.
"System, deployment of any structure will flatten the land, yes?"
------
[ Affirmative. Terrain within the deployment footprint will be leveled and stabilized. ]
[ External trenches and damaged ground outside the structure boundary will have limited repair effects. ]
[ Warning: Deployment cannot plug large holes. ]
------
"That's good enough."
Hans wasn't picky. Though large craters could be fully repaired in-game, that was nothing short of a wonder to make it happen in reality.
"System, open the map."
The digital Radar map zoomed into vision.
Hans navigated around the extended construction area still flashing brightly in dark green.
He quickly chose the area where the trenches were.
"Almost in the corner, but that's enough. It's time to expand the base anyway. The Radar's coverage should at least reach deep within the western sections of Grefort City."
He was bound to take action toward the city soon.
The Radar Facility would provide massive support to his advancing units.
It can map targets, allies, and neutral units within its coverage.
It could also assist Hans and his troops in laying out their offense in advance.
I also have those coordinates from Tyrus, and the documents retrieved from Pandora.
Hans clicked his tongue.
"It's not the safest area to pick, but who can threaten this base right now?"
Generally, such facilities should be protected behind layers upon layers of defense.
However, Hans needed the Radar to be placed where it is most useful right now.
Before confirming the deployment marker, Hans pinged on the Radar map, then switched to his radio.
"All units near the eastern trench line, clear the marked area. Heavy structure deployment incoming. Move outside the green boundary."
Several voices answered at once.
"Watcher Three copies."
"Engineer Team One copies."
"Guardian One moving personnel away."
Hans watched the blue dots on his map shift away from the selected zone. A few soldiers jogged out from the trenches below, while an Engineer team dragged their equipment farther back.
The area cleared in around five minutes or so.
Good. At least no one would become part of the foundation.
Without hesitation, Hans confirmed the Radar Facility's deployment marker on the digital map.
------
[ Deployment zone selected. ]
[ Radar Facility (Physical) deployment commencing. ]
------
A dark green outline spread across the battlefield.
The ground trembled.
Loose soil collapsed inward. Broken concrete vanished into digital green pixels.
The smaller trenches within the selected footprint flattened as if an invisible machine had pressed the earth down with a mountainous weight.
The large scars did not disappear completely, but their edges softened.
All debris vanished from reality, swallowed by something mysterious in the void.
Metal fragments and shattered stones were pushed aside as the System forced the area into a stable foundation.
Then the anchors came down. Loudly.
Heavy steel supports punched into the ground one after another.
A squat reinforced structure rose from the cleared zone, followed by a thick tower lined with armored panels. At its top, a folded radar dish opened piece by piece.
The dish turned eastward—to where Grefort City was.
------
[ Radar Facility deployed. ]
[ System Infrastructure Network synchronized. ]
[ Continuous battlefield scan initiated. ]
------
Hans's digital map flickered.
Then the fog over the western districts of Grefort began to peel away.