Chapter 390: Pre-battle Meeting

Long'an Base.

Zombie tide attack countdown: 49 hours 03 minutes.

After a night's rest, inside the meeting room.

Lin An, Mo Ling, Wen Ya, Jing Tian, Gao Tian, and Chu An sat facing each other.

The remaining twenty members of the base's core management sat in the outer ring.

Of these twenty players, seventeen were Awakened Ones, and the other three were carefully selected ordinary players.

Liang Shaoguang, Yun Tian, and a few others attending their first meeting felt somewhat uneasy.

At the head of the table, Lin An flipped through a half‑person‑high stack of documents, signaling Colonel Chu to begin the meeting.

There were too many summary documents to review, but fortunately Chu An had already provided an execution plan for each, with Wen Ya filling in the details.

Otherwise, just handling base affairs would waste a lot of time.

After a night's rest and the side effects of suppressing his Fearful Body, Lin An could barely maintain normal sanity.

Once his Fearful Body reached 21%, not only did the Gate of Desire open, but intense urges to kill and a frenzied consciousness constantly interfered with his thoughts.

Like a heavy truck on a downhill slope with no brakes, if he couldn't suppress it, the Fearful Body's progress would surge again.

If the progress increased again, Lin An had no doubt he would become a monster like the Scaled Beast, or even a purer killing machine than that.

After receiving Lin An's signal, Colonel Chu looked around and then turned on the projector:

"Everyone, we currently face three main problems."

"First, the pressure of the zombie tide attack."

"The zombie tides from Linjiang City and surrounding areas have gathered, with an estimated number exceeding about 310,000."

"Not only the thirty thousand zombies from the system mission, but some zombies along the way have also joined this tide."

"The projected final scale of the zombie tide... 370,000!"

"Of course, the pressure of the zombie tide is manageable thanks to the Dark Crystal Wall; as long as mutants don't breach the defense, these zombies are no threat."

That said.

Lin An and the others showed little reaction, after all they'd seen even seven hundred million third‑level beings...

A mere three‑hundred‑thousand zombie tide now sounds like nothing.

But for Yun Tian and the others, that number of three hundred thousand sent a jolt of panic through their hearts.

They knew there were many zombies, but they hadn't expected so many.

Three hundred seventy thousand...

If it weren't for seeing Lin An return, they'd be frantic with worry.

Seeing no objections, Chu An displayed pictures of the mutants:

"Mutants are the main threat of this zombie tide."

"We've detected thirty‑three mutants, sixteen of which are second‑level."

"First‑level mutants need not be worried; in the battle plan, Awakened Ones squads will cooperate with heavy artillery to kill them."

"The key is the second‑level mutants."

"Among them, there are four Tanks, four Impactors, three Rotting Giant Corpses, three Wailing Banshees, and two unidentified mutants."

After a brief pause, Chu An displayed the pictures of the four second‑level mutant types in that order.

The Tank and the Wailing Banshee were familiar to everyone.

After the previous encounter with these mutants, Wen Ya had compiled the data into a manual.

The Rotting Giant Corpse is a siege‑type zombie, similar to the Tank, but its massive interior can carry zombies, which it spews into the city when approaching the walls.

Were it not for a slight lack of defensive power, this zombie, resembling a siege tower, would be a nightmare for the Safe Zone.

The Impactor, meanwhile, is a high‑speed mutant with a drill‑like head; observations show its attack method poses a huge threat to ground forces.

At high speed, with rotation and tearing impacts, it can easily destroy a tank regiment.

Even in speculation, this mutant is suspected of having a burrowing ability, allowing it to bypass ground forces and strike artillery positions, making it extremely troublesome.

As for the remaining two unknown mutants, we'll only know their nature on the day of the attack.

After viewing the mutant data, everyone's faces darkened.

Huang Haitao, deputy captain of the Awakened Ones Special Forces, couldn't help but speak up:

"Colonel Chu, just four Tanks could tie down most of our Awakened Ones; how should we handle the rest of the mutants?"

"Second‑level..."

"Our base currently has sixty‑seven Awakened Ones, thirty‑one of whom are still stuck at zero level, while only thirty‑six have just broken through to first level."

"If we were given another ten days, the remaining Awakened Ones could also break through to first level."

"Even relying on the Spiritual Energy Defense Tower and the city walls, we could at most oppose six of them—that's the limit!"

As soon as he said that, the meeting room erupted in noise.

Huang Haitao's words were exactly what they were thinking.

Frankly, sixty‑seven Awakened Ones facing six second‑level mutants left them with little confidence.

Many even pessimistically thought that being able to oppose just two would already be not bad...

In the chat channel, reports of a single second‑level mutant breaking through a thousand‑strong troop almost every day kept appearing.

A bunch of zero‑levels paired with first‑levels—how could we possibly fight?

If it weren't for Lin An's unfathomable strength, many would have thought of fleeing.

Chu An calmly looked at the worried crowd and gave a slight shake of his head.

Inside the base, the Awakened Ones actually have a major flaw: they've become too comfortable.

The base is well situated, with few mutants or zombies around.

Besides, the previous supply searches were all handled by Lin An, so these people hardly experienced any combat.

That can be said.

Since Lin An founded the city at the academy, the base members have faced no danger.

With sand worms and Lin An holding the fort, they naturally grew lax over these days.

Training is training, but few people want to team up to hunt mutants.

Who wants to risk their life?

Especially, supplies in the base are plentiful, and most members, after training, go for walks and chats, making it feel like a vacation.

Not for any other reason.

Many believe staying at Long'an Base yields level gains—10 days gives 1 experience point, so 40 days reaches first rank.

Besides, with Lin An as backup, even if the sky falls, Lin An will hold it up.

This is why, after nearly a month of establishing the safe zone, the awakened ones' strength in the base has barely improved.

Only some awakened ones, led by An Jing Tian, hunted mutants and reached first rank.

"Quiet!"

Chu An lightly raised his glasses frame, and An Jing Tian beside him sternly stopped the increasingly heated discussion.

"Regarding second-rank mutants, I naturally have arrangements."

"First, we are defending, not engaging in field battles."

"Relying on the city walls and spirit-energy defense towers, as well as the restorative effect of the Land of Rules, everyone's strength will be greatly bolstered."

"The danger of second-rank mutants is simply a major close-combat threat."

"Those legions that were broken were mostly ambushed in the wild, naturally lacking any resistance."

"In the simulation, among the 67 awakened ones, the zero-rank awakened ones can fully rely on the spirit-energy defense towers for output; after slaying mutants they level up, and continue releasing skills by relying on the level-up recovery."

"With the recovery from leveling up, zero-rank awakened ones' final combat strength will not be inferior to that of first-rank ones."

"Furthermore, I will present the relevant achievements of the Weapon Research Institute..."