Reassured by Lin Xinghai, Liu Miaomiao finally let go of her worries. Filled with anticipation, she followed him to the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps’ headquarters.

When the two of them arrived, everyone at the headquarters was already present and ready to move out, except for those too seriously injured to fight.

"Tsk! You really know how to enjoy yourself, don’t you? Worn out from last night? You’re half an hour late." Roger was the first to approach, a wicked grin on his face.

Liu Miaomiao’s pretty face instantly flushed red.

Lin Xinghai retorted irritably, "What are you talking about! We went to see Elder Wei."

Roger immediately wiped the playful look from his face. Fang Tianhe, who was nearby, walked over at once and asked, "What’s wrong? Did Elder Wei have instructions for you?"

Lin Xinghai’s two-word reply was simple and clear. "The Seed Plan."

Upon hearing this, Fang Tianhe understood immediately. He didn’t ask any more questions and instead told everyone to prepare to depart.

Only then did Lin Xinghai have a moment to learn about the losses their Mercenary Corps had sustained the day before.

Their corps, originally at a full complement of 200 members, was now deploying only 156 for today’s mission. Of the 44 people missing, 25 were injured and the remaining 19 had been killed in action.

However, among the Three Major Mercenary Corps, their Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps had suffered the fewest losses.

Of course, this wasn’t to say that the Holy Light Mercenary Corps and the Soaring Dragon Merc had more Mercenaries killed in action. Rather, both of those corps had lost Mechas. Fortunately, each had only lost a single Mecha, which wasn’t enough to shake the foundations of their corps.

As for the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, the reason they had no Mecha losses was twofold. First, they had fewer Mechas to begin with. Second, during combat, the Mechas piloted by both Shen Han and Roger engaged in long-range attacks as much as possible, thus facing far less risk.

As for Lin Xinghai and Fang Tianhe, who charged onto the front lines, they were strong enough to handle the dangers. This led to a situation where, despite having the weakest overall strength among the Three Major Mercenary Corps, their losses were paradoxically the lowest.

"Have the death benefits been distributed?" Lin Xinghai asked Fang Tianhe in a low voice as they walked.

"Don’t worry. They were all paid out at double the standard rate. As for our injured brothers, we’ve also requested the best medical equipment for their treatment, so hopefully there won’t be any lasting complications," Fang Tianhe replied.

Lin Xinghai nodded and didn’t ask anything further. Fang Tianhe was the Mercenary Corps Leader, after all; he had only asked casually.

Soon, the group arrived at the Mercenary Guild. They were surprised to find that the Guild was even more bustling than usual today. There was even a line forming at the mercenary registration desk.

This was an extremely rare sight. After all, for many people, being a mercenary was a very dangerous profession. They would rather work inside the Shelter for less pay than go out and risk their lives.

But yesterday’s incident with the Morgan Conglomerate had taught everyone a profound lesson: in an apocalyptic environment like this, there was no such thing as an absolutely safe place. In some situations, survival depended on oneself.

Therefore, after careful consideration, many people decided to either enlist in the military or become Mercenaries.

This was undoubtedly good news for the Star Shield Shelter. Especially with the Geothermal Energy Extractor now installed, the ample supply of Energy meant many jobs could be automated, freeing up a large amount of manpower.

Building on this, increasing the number of soldiers and Mercenaries would allow them to seize resources from the outside world more quickly.

"These missions... they’ve changed so much!" Roger, who was walking ahead, exclaimed at that moment.

Hearing this, Lin Xinghai and Fang Tianhe hurried forward to look at the mission board.

Sure enough, the vast majority of the missions had changed. The tasks now posted by the Mercenary Guild were mainly focused on collecting various building materials and equipment. Moreover, the Points awarded were 20-30% higher than usual.

"Looks like the Shelter is really planning a massive expansion!" Fang Tianhe couldn’t help but exclaim.

"I wonder what the Star Shield Shelter will look like after a few more years. It’d be great if it could expand by half its current size. Then I could move into a bigger place," Xu Haishui said, his face full of anticipation.

"Probably more than that. Based on the Geothermal Energy Extractor’s operating power, the Energy it converts is enough to support two or three Star Shield Shelters. So it’s possible our Shelter could expand to two or three times its current size," Roger offered his opinion.

The others also began to discuss it animatedly, with looks of anticipation on everyone’s faces. As for Lin Xinghai, he just listened quietly from the side.

Suddenly, Xu Haishui looked over. "Brother Hai, what do you think? How much do you think our Shelter can ultimately expand?"

"It’s hard to say how much it will expand, but I don’t think it will be a simple expansion. I think it will be built with the goal of becoming a large-scale base," Lin Xinghai guessed, recalling his recent conversations with Elder Wei.

The others were secretly astonished upon hearing this. One had to understand that a large-scale base and a Shelter were two completely different concepts.

Shelters are built underground, just to eke out a meager existence. But bases are built on the surface.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Zombies near Star Shield Shelter have been more or less cleared out. If they dared to build a base on the surface, the Mutated Zombies would absolutely not stand by and do nothing. They might even band together, mobilize Zombies from several nearby cities, and launch a super-massive zombie horde.

Of course, if they could withstand that, and the base was successfully completed, its development potential would be incomparable to that of a Shelter. After all, building on the surface was much easier than building underground.

So, after their initial shock, the group became excited. If Lin Xinghai’s speculation was correct, then once the base was built, their lives could become several times better than they were now. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

But even if this was true, there was no telling how long it would take to achieve. So, everyone was only excited for a moment before turning their attention back to the business at hand.

"Which missions should we choose?" Fang Tianhe asked Lin Xinghai.

Lin Xinghai watched the constantly scrolling mission board. He didn’t make an immediate decision. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Do you know anyone in the middle or upper management of the Mercenary Guild? You could ask them if there are any missions that are important but difficult to complete."

Fang Tianhe gave Lin Xinghai a somewhat surprised look. Other Mercenary Corps only chose missions that were within their capabilities.

But here was Lin Xinghai, basically asking the Mercenary Guild directly if they needed any help.

Any other Mercenary Corps, even the Third Level Mercenary Corps, would never dare to say such a thing.

However, Fang Tianhe didn’t hesitate. He nodded and immediately said he would go make contact.

Before, he certainly didn’t know any of the Guild’s upper management. But now, holding a Merit Medal, even the president of the Mercenary Guild would have to show him some respect.