As they came within 50 meters of the supermarket, which had appeared completely normal to everyone, the surrounding scenery suddenly distorted. The scene that greeted them was completely different from what they had seen before.

The supermarket, which had seemed deserted, was now bustling with dozens of soldiers busy erecting various defensive fortifications.

Dozens of self-propelled artillery pieces had already been installed around the supermarket’s roof. Aided by a radar system, they were locked onto the distant zombie horde.

Furthermore, Lin Xinghai used his Perception Power to discover several drone swarm control modules installed on the mall’s top floor. A thousand combat drones were docked there, waiting silently.

Without a doubt, if this outpost were attacked by Zombies, these combat drones would play a crucial role.

In addition to the drones in the sky, there was certainly no shortage of Combat Robots on the ground. Though not as numerous as the drones, there were still over 100 of them.

With all this hardware, plus the 50 soldiers stationed here, they could defend this fortified outpost and completely repel even a small-scale zombie horde.

And this was just what was visible on the surface. The Military Department had surely brought even more terrifying weapons to handle any unforeseen circumstances.

"No wonder the Military Department is confident enough to make a play for Guanghan City. Truly impressive." After seeing all this, Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but marvel aloud.

The other Mercenary Corps Leaders were even more astounded, their amazement quickly turning to joy.

The stronger the outpost, the safer they would be. At least when they rested, they wouldn’t have to worry about being ambushed by a zombie horde.

Just then, a soldier approached the convoy. "Welcome to Outpost 1. You’re safe now that you’re here."

He spoke as he led the convoy to an open clearing.

At the same time, two squads emerged quickly from the supermarket.

Based on their uniforms, it was clear they were the medical and logistics squads.

"The outpost’s medical facilities are limited! Get the seriously wounded down on stretchers, now! We need to save as many as we can," the medical squad’s captain shouted as soon as he reached the convoy.

In his experience, even if these Mercenary Corps managed to reach the outpost, the journey would have been anything but easy. He estimated at least fifty to sixty casualties.

But their outpost hadn’t received its latest shipment of supplies, so they could only treat a maximum of three seriously wounded patients at once. If they weren’t fast, the other critical casualties wouldn’t die to a Zombie, but while waiting for treatment.

That was why he had shouted with such urgency.

To his surprise, however, only one Mercenary Corps from the rear of the convoy was hastily carrying down an injured member.

It was a Mercenary who had lost an arm. The wound had been crudely bandaged and the bleeding stopped. While it was a serious injury, it wasn’t immediately life-threatening.

Seeing only one seriously wounded man, the medical captain’s face was a picture of confusion.

"Sir, my man has only been bandaged crudely. The rest is up to you," Meng Fujin said quickly as he accompanied the injured Mercenary.

Of course, he looked slightly embarrassed. Out of the entire contingent, only his Steel Mercenary Corps had a seriously wounded member. In such a stark comparison, it was impossible not to feel a little awkward.

"Uh... you only have one seriously wounded man?" the medical captain asked, his confusion growing as he signaled for his medics to take the stretcher.

"What do you mean by that, sir? Are you disappointed we don’t have more casualties?" Meng Fujin retorted, his tone stiffening.

"Ahem!" The medical captain knew he’d misspoken and quickly explained, "Apologies, that’s not what I meant. I’m just curious. How did you manage to come back with only one seriously wounded man?"

After all, even the Military Department’s own team, whose firepower far surpassed that of the Mercenary Corps, had arrived with three seriously wounded members.

And while these mercenary teams were larger, in a place like Guanghan City, bigger numbers weren’t necessarily a good thing. More people attracted more Zombies, so the pressure didn’t really decrease by much.

That was precisely why he was so astonished.

"How’d we do it? That’s because our Grand Commander is the ’Gun God,’ Lin Xinghai," Meng Fujin said with a hint of pride.

After all, being in the same contingent as the Gun God was certainly something to be proud of, though the way he’d joined was a bit... unconventional.

"Gun God?" The medical officer was still puzzled.

They’d heard of the famous "Gun God," of course, even as soldiers. But this wasn’t a problem that could be solved by good Gun Technique alone.

’After all, no matter how good Lin Xinghai’s Gun Technique is, he’s still just one person. Maybe he could protect a single Mercenary Corps, but how could he possibly protect a contingent of a thousand?’

But Meng Fujin clearly had no time for a lengthy explanation. After handing over the seriously wounded man, he called down two of his corps’ lightly injured members to be treated as well.

After all, while they were called "lightly injured," some of them had wounds over ten centimeters long. By the standards of Mercenaries, however, as long as an injury wasn’t life-threatening and didn’t incapacitate them for combat, it was considered minor in their dangerous line of work.

Seeing this, the medical captain could only suppress his curiosity and get back to work. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Just then, the lieutenant colonel in charge of the outpost came over to assess the situation. He too was astonished to learn how few casualties the first contingent had sustained.

Unlike the medical captain, however, he was better informed. He knew that in addition to his superb Gun Technique, Lin Xinghai also possessed immense talent as a commander.

He had demonstrated this ability during the operation to purge the Morgan Conglomerate; in fact, he was the one who had proposed this cleanup mission in the first place.

So, while he was surprised, he accepted the situation rather quickly.

At that moment, Lin Xinghai disembarked from his Armored Vehicle and had a brief conversation with the lieutenant colonel.

He quickly learned that the outpost provided not only medical services but also free food, and that ammunition was available for purchase.

Of course, ammunition purchased here was thirty percent more expensive than at the Military Department’s main base, but the food was free—and hot.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xinghai immediately had the Mercenary Corps Leaders arrange for their members to rest and recuperate. Of course, the break wasn’t long—only fifteen minutes.

The fifteen-minute time limit wasn’t set by Lin Xinghai; it was the maximum rest period the outpost allowed.

After all, they were still in the middle of a mission. Resting too long at these outposts would reduce the efficiency of their Zombie-clearing operation.

Anyone who wanted a long rest could return to the Military Department’s main base and rest as much as they liked.

There were exceptions, of course. If a contingent’s casualties were too high, they could rest at the outpost for an extended period, but doing so would mark the end of their participation in the current cleanup mission.

The Military Department camp would immediately dispatch another contingent to take their place.