The sudden appearance of a distress flare instantly made the atmosphere tense.

The communications officer quickly made contact with them and relayed the general information.

"Here’s the situation. Outpost 32 had just begun construction and hadn’t finished setting up its large-scale optical cloaking devices when they had the extreme misfortune of running into a Mutated Zombie. What’s more, it was an Armored Corpse with powerful Defense Power."

"Although they managed to kill the Armored Corpse with repeated missile strikes, the creature kept calling for reinforcements while under attack. Now, not only have two more Mutated Zombies been drawn to the location, but the zombies have also launched a horde. The situation is extremely serious," the outpost officer told Lin Xinghai, his expression grave.

"What kind of Mutated Zombies showed up? And what’s the projected size of the horde?" Lin Xinghai asked.

"A Hunter and a Giant Arm have arrived so far, but more Mutated Zombies may appear. The horde has already surpassed 10,000 and is still growing. The final count will likely exceed 30,000."

"But Outpost 32’s defenses are nowhere near complete. Forget 30,000, they probably couldn’t even hold off a horde of 3,000 right now," the outpost officer said.

"A horde of 30,000." Lin Xinghai’s eyes narrowed slightly. "What’s your plan?"

"Send reinforcements to ease the pressure on Outpost 32. They’re rushing to build defensive positions. Once those are finished, with the help of Attack Drones and Combat Robots, there’s a good chance they can hold on."

The outpost officer paused, then continued, a little sheepishly, "I know this isn’t within the scope of your mission, but I was hoping you would lead your team and head to the outpost with our reinforcements."

The officer wouldn’t have made such a request to any other battalion. But Lin Xinghai’s First Battalion had arrived here in such a short time and with so few casualties; their combat prowess was self-evident.

Moreover, stories of Lin Xinghai’s exploits had reached the Military Department. This "Gun God" standing before him could supposedly mow down Mutated Zombies like cutting vegetables, so of course, the officer hoped he would lend a hand.

"Now that we’re here, we can’t just stand by and do nothing. How many troops does your outpost plan on sending?" Lin Xinghai asked.

"Half!" the outpost officer replied without hesitation.

"That’s not wise. Your outpost is on the flank, which is already a high-risk position. More importantly, this outpost cannot fall," Lin Xinghai said, shaking his head.

"Then what do you suggest?"

"How about this: give me half of your Combat Robots and half of your Attack Drones. The First Battalion will go. That will be enough," Lin Xinghai said after a moment of contemplation.

He calculated that his team could handle a small horde of at least 10,000. If they were willing to take casualties, wiping out a horde of 20,000 wouldn’t be a problem.

This horde would likely grow to 30,000, but they were only going to assist in the defense. Outpost 32 was there, and it was a given that the nearby Outpost 33 and Outpost 22 would also send reinforcements.

Therefore, the pressure they would ultimately have to bear would be minimal.

Under these circumstances, his main consideration was minimizing casualties. By requesting the robots and drones, he could use them as a buffer during dangerous moments, further reducing the risk.

The outpost officer was visibly surprised. After confirming that Lin Xinghai wasn’t joking, he nodded and said, "Alright! Be careful out there."

The outpost quickly became a hive of activity. More than 50 Combat Robots and 500 Attack Drones were swiftly distributed by Lin Xinghai among the Armored Vehicles of the various Mercenary Corps.

The outpost officer also transferred control of the equipment to Lin Xinghai’s wrist-mounted computer.

Whether it was the robots or the drones, everything was controlled by an AI system. During battle, Lin Xinghai only needed to issue a combat support command to the AI; it would handle the rest. That was why even a novice like him could control them.

In addition to the robots and drones, Lin Xinghai had the various Mercenary Corps restock their ammunition at the outpost, especially their Hand Cannon Bullets.

On the journey over, it was safe to say that aside from the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps and the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps, the other corps had expended at least half of their Hand Cannon Bullets. That would have been fine for a regular cleanup mission, but it was definitely not enough to face a zombie horde.

Of course, given the special circumstances, the outpost didn’t mark up the price on this batch of ammunition as per the previously established Rules, selling it at cost instead.

In just three minutes, all preparations were complete. The First Battalion departed immediately.

Upon learning they were heading out to face a zombie horde, it would be a lie to say the First Level Mercenary Corps in the battalion weren’t nervous.

If Lin Xinghai had made such a demand back when the team was first formed, these Mercenary Corps would have certainly mutinied.

But after the journey here, their trust in Lin Xinghai had undoubtedly grown severalfold. More importantly, the team had faced almost no pressure along the way, which gave them the illusion that they were unstoppable, capable of slaying gods and buddhas alike.

So, despite their fear, the Mercenary Corps Leaders were surprisingly quiet and raised no objections.

Seeing the reactions of the various Mercenary Corps, Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but smile. ’The cohesion between these corps is even stronger than I thought!’

Of course, to boost morale, some words of encouragement and reassurance were still necessary.

This time, he switched on the loudspeaker and addressed the entire battalion. "I know many of you are worried, even if you don’t say it. But I want to tell you that a zombie horde isn’t as terrifying as you might imagine."

"First, we have 19 Mercenary Corps here, totaling over 1,000 people. By ourselves, we can already take on a horde of ten thousand Zombies."

"Besides, we’re not fighting the horde to the death; we’re just providing support. We’ll circle the outskirts of the horde and pin them down with our firepower. This gives us the flexibility to attack or fall back. Even if we run into danger, we can retreat with ease."

Hearing Lin Xinghai’s words, the tension many of the men felt was greatly relieved.

Lin Xinghai had been observing everyone with his Perception Power. Seeing this, he paused for a moment before continuing, "And don’t forget, risk and reward go hand in hand. If we help the army repel this horde, who knows what kind of benefits we’ll get from the Military Department. But just the mission Points and Elemental Crystals we’ll earn will be a fortune."

"Think about it. Normally, you’re lucky if one Hand Cannon Bullet takes out three to five Zombies. But in a horde this dense, a single shot can easily kill a dozen or more."