Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 176 - 126: Prelude to Expedition_2

Chapter 176: Chapter 126: Prelude to Expedition_2

The Railway Overpass, like Gushan Hospital, is in a remote location to the northwest of the city. Building another platform on top of a railway bridge, they furnished it with two outdoor large cells and seven indoor small cells. This base’s defense capability is A-grade, and it has a watchtower at each end of the platform, offering a wide view with no obstructions.

The police station, officially known as the Left County Shuixi Police Department, has a river at its back and faces Road No. 3. With its own armory, as long as there are enough materials, any standard equipment can be made. The two-story building has a non-removable watchtower on the rooftop. It contains one outdoor large cell, two indoor large cells, and six indoor small cells.

Everyone was not very satisfied with these three bases.

Maya recalled the small to medium-sized Corner Office she had seen the first time she looked at the map, consisting of three indoor small cells, one indoor large cell, and three outdoor large cells.

This base had no special facilities, and its layout seemed to be a slightly smaller version of the fire station, with two large cells in front of the main entrance and one large cell on the rooftop. The first floor had no facilities inside, and the second floor had one large cell and one small cell, while the third floor had two small cells.

Occupation requirement: A team of 5 members, with at least one player reaching a 10-star level in a certain attribute.

...

Lin Wu thought the Corner Office was a good choice, and everyone else agreed, especially since it was opposite to the City Hall, making bounty tasks very convenient. It was also located in the center of the city with abundant resources around it. The downside was the large number of zombies, with patrolling hordes on the road in front. The biggest drawback was the limited number of facilities that could be built. Both the Hilltop Church and the Corner Office were small to medium-sized bases.

Shana said, "I think the police station base is good, but it has one drawback – it only has one outdoor large cell." There was another outdoor large cell that was the non-removable watchtower.

Stone agreed, "Give me three large cells, and I can guarantee the base will never lack food."

Lin Wu said, "The area around the police station has abundant resources, only 300 meters from the Shuixi Commercial District. Within a one-kilometer radius, there are two residential areas and one commercial district."

Maya said, "Shouldn’t we first consider the scale of the Shadow base? Whether to maintain a small to medium scale, or to grow strong and large, developing Shadow Base into a large base with 30, 40, or even more members? If we have ambitious plans, we must choose a large base. If we’re not too ambitious, I think the small to medium-sized Corner Office and the medium-sized police station base are both good choices."

Su Shi argued, "What about considering the Sawmill? We can get building materials for free, 1 every hour, 24 in 24 hours, and we can also trade the materials for anything we need." Whether the team was big or small was secondary, as Su Shi liked special buildings.

Su Shi continued, "If all else fails, we could also consider the fire station." The fire station came with an advanced manufacturing room which couldn’t be upgraded in ordinary bases.

Stone nodded, "Su Shi has made his point, now let’s all share our own thoughts, especially regarding the scale of the base. Shadow isn’t mine alone, it belongs to all of us, so I shouldn’t be the only one making decisions."

Lin Wu was always the first to speak up, "The Corner Office is good for slaying monsters, living, and scavenging."

Shana disagreed, "I don’t agree. The Corner Office is nice, but if we attract a horde, it’s like declaring war on the zombies in the entire city. It’s a very dangerous place." When dealing with the horde, you must fire your guns, and firing will attract a larger horde of zombies. With the screamers’ coordination, the zombies will come in endless waves towards the Corner Office.

Lin Wu rebutted, "Non-besieging zombies won’t damage the facilities, and we already have multiple automatic rifles. The zombies have only one path up the stairs, we can hold our ground. Furthermore, based on our experience bullying the screamers, there’s a limit to how often zombies respawn, the more we kill, the less they spawn. The more we kill, the fewer zombies will be in the area."

Shana: "Even if you’re right, do you have any idea how much threat a daily wave of zombies can add up to? I estimate one wave could easily jack us up to 5 stars. Have you considered that our life won’t be limited to this area? What if we don’t have enough manpower at the base?"

Maya: "I support Shana’s first point, but not the latter, which Shana herself contradicted. If we’re to settle down in the county town, we must reduce the surrounding zombie density as much as possible to expand our area of activities. This is the biggest difference between county town bases and rural ones."

Maya: "In rural areas, once we find a place to settle down, we can go looking for supplies everywhere. However, after establishing a city base in the county town, the first thing we should do is sweep zombies in the vicinity to expand the search area."

Shana pondered for a moment, "If that’s the case, I still recommend the police station."

The Corner Office is a stand-alone building near a crossroads, surrounded by roads, one of which is Road No. 1. A patrolling zombie horde passes through Road No. 1 every ten minutes. The good news is that it’s 30 meters away from Highway 1, and relatively safe though distance.

Stone said, "The police station only has one outdoor grid, which can’t guarantee a continuous food supply. Maya, which base do you think is most suitable for us?" Only outdoor grids can be used for farming.

Maya said, "I originally supported the baseball field, but the baseball field requires sentries. Considering this is a game, we can’t expect too much from the players. Therefore, I support the Sawmill. Eight outdoor grids not only allow for the construction of watchtowers, farmland, but also trade stations, barracks, and field hospitals. The surrounding buildings are mainly factories and warehouses, with both building and zombie densities being lower. It’s only about a kilometer away from the community and commercial areas."

Maya: "The only issue with the Sawmill is that it doesn’t have a second floor; we’ll need to build two watchtowers to cope with potential zombie siege threats."

Snow Egg’s opinion was the fire station; in his view, the fire station felt most like home, with abundant resources around, although it had fewer outdoor grids.

Horse Soul agreed with Snow Egg. Little Knife felt the same, liking the fire station’s six-person indoor dormitory. Unlike the indoor dormitory, the floor inside an outdoor dormitory gets very muddy when it rains, making it uncomfortable.

Su Shi supported both the Sawmill and the fire station, as both bases came with production bonuses.

Stone tallied everyone’s opinions and determined that more than half supported the fire station, so he decided to make the fire station the county town base. How to conquer the fire station with 10 people? No problem at all, we can temporarily gather a few more people to fill the numbers. Lin Wu and the others expressed respect for everyone’s opinion, as they didn’t think the fire station was a bad choice either.

The meeting ended, and taking the rare opportunity to gather, Horse Soul prepared a few dishes and brought out some wine bottles, and everyone sat down merrily to discuss the strategy for the fire station.

After three rounds of drinks, the system broadcast: Nightmare completed the mission "The Living Dead," unlocking the Waste City expedition mission, the details of which can be viewed in the game manual.

The expedition to Waste City is a long-term event dungeon. The system recommends players to carry firearms and backpacks. It discourages bringing close combat weapons (except for assassin players), with no need to carry bullets or medicine. The system prioritizes recommending silenced weapons.

The first expedition to Waste City starts in 48 hours. Players who want to participate can sign up at the base; they will be teleported into the dungeon after 48 hours. Each base forms a squad, non-base personnel cannot join the squad, and each dungeon accommodates up to 50 squads. The maximum duration of the mission is seven days.

Players that die during the expedition will respawn at the base without dropping the items they brought into the dungeon. Death penalty: all attribute points are halved, and a random skill is lost.

Reward: Unknown.

Bases that have personnel participating in the expedition dungeon will receive system protection.

Lin Wu definitely wants to participate, not for the unknown reward, but for the fun of the game. If he dies, so be it, he has many skills. But losing any skill would be painful.

Maya hesitated inside. Her strongest skill was swordsmanship, and the system clearly stated that close combat weapons are not recommended, which means swordsmanship may not be very useful in the dungeon, and she could lose it if she dies. She then glanced at Lin Wu’s excited face and decided to join the expedition. It wasn’t to look after Lin Wu; she would despise her own cowardice for the days Lin Wu went to play without her.

Aside from the self-aware Stone and Su Shi, who couldn’t face the zombies, everyone decided to join the dungeon.

Seeing this, Maya reminded, "According to the game instructions, close combat skills and weapons are not very useful in the dungeon."

Stone asked, "Should we transfer people to your base?"

Maya said, "Our base only has two beds, and at most, we can expand to three, but those without beds will have very low morale. I suggest that everyone except Shana temporarily refrain from joining the dungeon."

Stone knew Maya would not explain further, but others needed an explanation, so he asked, "Why?"

Maya answered, "Among the four from Bai Ban, Shana uses her crossbow well and also possesses ranged silenced weapons such as the Swallowtail Dart."

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