At that moment, every Mercenary Corps was tallying their gains. Lin Xinghai was no exception; he was intently studying a data sheet in front of him.

As the battalion commander, he had a very high level of authority. He could view all the gains of the entire First Battalion through the AI system.

A smile crept onto Lin Xinghai’s lips as he looked at the number of Zombies each Mercenary Corps had killed.

’What a huge haul this time!’

According to the rewards for this mission, killing an Ordinary Zombie was worth 10 Points, an Intermediate Zombie 15 Points, and a High Level Zombie 20 Points.

On top of that, the sale price of Elemental Crystals was calculated separately.

An Ordinary Zombie Elemental Crystal was worth 20 Points, an Intermediate Elemental Crystal 40 Points, and a High Level Elemental Crystal 60 Points.

In other words, killing an Ordinary Zombie yielded a total of 30 Points after adding the reward and the Elemental Crystal. Killing an Intermediate Zombie was worth 55 Points, and a High Level Zombie was worth a staggering 80 Points.

By that calculation, even the Mercenary Corps in his First Battalion that had killed the fewest Zombies had earned over 40,000 Points from this one mission.

Of course, that 40,000 Points was before deducting the cost of ammunition. Only then could it be considered net profit.

But even after that deduction, they would still have an income of at least 30,000 Points—and that was just from a single mission.

An income like this might not be much for the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, but for the First Level Mercenary Corps, it was an astronomical sum.

The First Level Mercenary Corps in the other battalions probably wouldn’t earn this much even by the end of the entire Guanghan City operation.

After all, the points from killing a Zombie weren’t pure profit. They still had to deduct the costs of ammunition, medical treatment for the wounded, and even repairs for Mecha and Armored Vehicles.

The members of the First Battalion, on the other hand, had not only earned a lot by following Lin Xinghai, but they had also suffered fewer injuries. The money they saved on medical treatment alone was a considerable sum.

And that 30,000 Points in profit was from the lowest-earning Mercenary Corps.

The other First Level Mercenary Corps had profits ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 Points. The Blood Carving Mercenary Corps and the Mountain and Sea Mercenary Corps had even earned 80,000 and 100,000 Points, respectively.

As for the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, their earnings were on another level. They carried the most ammunition. When the other Mercenary Corps had used up their Hand Cannon Bullets, Heaven-Sundering was still bombarding the enemy. Combined with their members’ superior Gun Technique and high rate of fire, they were projected to clear over 300,000 Points in profit, even after accounting for ammunition costs.

Even Lin Xinghai was quite satisfied with these results, and the other Mercenary Corps were absolutely ecstatic.

Lin Xinghai had previously told them he would help them earn at least 50,000 Points during the Guanghan City operation. Though they hadn’t said anything at the time, they hadn’t really believed him.

But now, after just a single mission, Lin Xinghai had nearly fulfilled his promise. Everyone was now eagerly anticipating just how much they would earn by the end of the entire Guanghan City operation.

Of course, they also understood that encountering a Zombie horde was a rare opportunity, so their future profits were unlikely to compare. But even without a horde, their income would still be substantial given the speed at which they could hunt Zombies under Lin Xinghai’s command.

Inside the Blood Carving Mercenary Corps’ Armored Vehicle, Chen Tianlei looked at a statistician with a complex expression. "Have you double-checked the data? Are you sure our net profit this time is as high as 83,260 Points?"

"Rest assured, Commander! I verified it three full times with the other members of the statistics team before coming to report to you." The excitement on the reporting member’s face hadn’t faded in the slightest.

"Alright. Good. You’re dismissed," Chen Tianlei said with a nod.

"Old Chen, why do you seem a little unhappy?" Gou Sen, the vice-commander sitting beside him, asked with a confused look.

"I’m not unhappy, just... thoughtful. I always used to believe that to survive in this apocalypse, you had to be ruthless and underhanded. It was a dog-eat-dog world; either we devoured others, or they devoured us."

"But after seeing the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps, I’ve realized that resorting to such tactics is just a sign of weakness. True strength is what really matters."

"Based on our current progress clearing out the Zombies in Guanghan City, we should earn enough to buy two Mechas. Once we have those, we’ll have what it takes to aim for becoming a Third Level Mercenary Corps."

"So, when we have a moment, I want you to talk to our men. Once we become a Third Level Mercenary Corps, we can’t be using our old, underhanded methods anymore. Tell everyone to clean up their act when we get back. No more picking fights with other Mercenary Corps for no reason—unless, of course, they provoke us first," Chen Tianlei said, laying out all his thoughts at once.

Gou Sen was shocked. He never imagined that Chen Tianlei was thinking of completely reforming the Blood Carving Mercenary Corps.

But after a moment of thought, he couldn’t help but nod. It was indeed a wise move.

After all, as a Third Level Mercenary Corps, they would be under much more scrutiny. If they did anything else out of line, the Mercenary Guild would surely intervene.

"I understand." Gou Sen nodded, then said hesitantly, "I’ll talk to them, but our recruitment standards have been... shall we say, ’unconventional.’ I’m afraid some of them won’t be willing to change their ways."

"One warning. If it happens a second time, kick them out of the Mercenary Corps. I won’t let one person drag the entire corps into serious trouble." A fierce light glinted in Chen Tianlei’s eyes.

...

The convoy pressed on, soon arriving at Sentry Point 31. After Lin Xinghai had his people return the "Combat Robots" and "Attack Drones," they continued on their way back.

However, returning the way they came didn’t mean it was safe. Groups of Zombies still appeared constantly.

This was to be expected. After all, their initial sweep wasn’t a thorough, grid-by-grid search. They had only killed the Zombies they ran into, so they had certainly missed a lot.

Besides, Zombies didn’t stay in one place. Even if they had completely cleared the route, Zombies from surrounding areas would eventually wander over.

Only by clearing the area repeatedly and suppressing the overall Zombie population to an extremely low level could they truly establish a safe route.

Of course, since the area had already been swept once, the number and density of Zombies were significantly lower. Not much time had passed since their first pass, so the number of Zombies was, at most, one-fifth of what they’d faced on the way in. Clearing them out was not difficult at all.

Lin Xinghai noticed, however, that the various Mercenary Corps were feeling a bit absent-minded. After the huge rewards from fighting the horde, cleaning up these "small fry" on the way back felt anticlimactic, and they lacked their initial passionate energy.

Lin Xinghai didn’t say anything about it. It was only natural for them to want to head back and celebrate after such a great victory.

Liu Miaomiao, however, was a surprise. She was meticulously practicing her Gun Technique. Her pretty face was stern with concentration, and in her Combat Suit, she had a truly valiant and heroic air about her.

"You treated a lot of seriously wounded people, which must have taken a huge toll. Why don’t you take a break?" Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but suggest, glancing at her slightly pale, pretty face.

During the final stages of clearing the Zombie horde, nearly 20 more people had been seriously injured. Liu Miaomiao’s Superpower must have been all but depleted.

"I don’t need to!" Liu Miaomiao pursed her lips. "I just used up most of my Superpower. I still have plenty of physical stamina. I’m fine."

Lin Xinghai could sense her urgency to improve her strength, so he didn’t insist. He stood beside her, offering a pointer or two from time to time.

After another half hour of fighting, they finally left Guanghan City. The convoy immediately picked up speed, heading for the Military Department’s main camp ten kilometers away.