Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 720 - 338 Pre-Battle_2

Chapter 720: Chapter 338 Pre-Battle_2

"It’s not that complicated; Dawn simply doesn’t allow it," Lin Wu said. "But they didn’t say we couldn’t dismantle. After we settle down, we’ll have all the NPCs walk to work."

"Vehicle plates."

As Lin Wu disassembled the vehicle plates, he saw Maya using a flashlight to examine the inside of the car and reminded her, "Stealing is illegal."

Maya said, "I’m looking for an RF device; I can’t rule out that the vehicle might be equipped with a pre-installed RF identification system. Didn’t find it, it’s probably plate recognition."

After swiping two vehicle plates, the two continued their journey. By circumventing the villas, they managed to reach the second horizontal line to the right of the dry character without too much trouble. The situation on this lower-right road was a bit complex, an open road flanked on both sides by commercial buildings. The buildings were closely packed, with the highest being a five-story hotel and office building and the lowest being two-story shops.

The outdoor zombie density increased, but since there were no mutant zombies, it didn’t pose a threat to Lin Ma. However, this area was under complete surveillance coverage.

The commercial district was in the upper-left corner of the dry character. To reach it, they had to cross the lower-right road to the crossroads center, then move upwards, and make a left turn. The closer they got to the center, the higher they estimated the zombie density would be, not to mention the omnipresent surveillance.

"Could we move forward by climbing over the buildings? It’s too difficult. First, we would still need to cross the intersections. Second, with uneven building heights, you could rappel down from a five-story to a two-story, but how would you climb up from a two-story to a five-story? Those are sheer walls without any handholds," Maya pointed out.

"We can’t continue on foot. This means that even if we take over the commercial street, our pedestrian activity zone is limited to just the upper-left route,"

The upper-left in the dry character is the left-upper road, and the right-upper is the right-upper road, with the vertical line in the middle being the one road. Their current position was on the lower-right road.

Lin Wu said, "Our only chance is to deceive the entire system with the vehicle plates."

Maya replied, "Not necessarily. If the pickup can’t fool the system even with the plates installed, then we’ll have to lie low for a few days, gather enough gasoline, and break through with an armored vehicle. However, that pretty much writes off the armored vehicle."

Although the armored vehicle could keep moving, UAVs would eventually surround it when it had no roads to take or fuel to burn, and it would only be a matter of time before it succumbed to the swarm of suicide drones, turning the armored vehicle into a pile of scrap metal.

"That’s tough luck for Stone, not us. Taking out this gas guzzler could actually be a good thing for the base," he said.

Maya looked at Lin Wu and said, "That makes sense."

Lin Wu quickly added, "I was just saying. Don’t tell Stone; he’ll choke me."

"He won’t," Maya said. "Have you noticed that aside from the villas inhabited by NPCs in the villa area, there’s not a single light in any shop or apartment building?"

Lin Wu said, "The commercial street most likely doesn’t have electricity, which means we’ll have to use the only Outpost Card to connect power from the park."

Maya looked at Lin Wu and said, "Along the way, we came across several suitable substations. Why didn’t you use the Outpost Card? You know I would never refuse, and I won’t now either."

Lin Wu replied, "If there’s electricity in the tents and not at the base, won’t everyone run to the tents at night? How would I find any peace and quiet then?"

"Is that so?" Maya asked. "Maybe you think that a tent inhabited by one person doesn’t deserve an Outpost Card and that we should save the power for the greater good."

Lin Wu denied it, "That’s not it at all."

Without arguing further, Maya said, "We understand the basic situation, so we’ll have to rely on the vehicle plates and give it a try, preferably before the NPCs head for the airport in the morning. Let’s pull back for now."

...

They retraced their steps back to the camp, where Maya ditched Lin Wu and began planning with Shana, allocating ammunition, and clarifying everyone’s duties. Finally, they convened a meeting with everyone.

The departure time was set for 8 a.m. After obtaining a day’s worth of gasoline from Dashuang, they immediately crafted incendiary grenades. Then, Dashuang drove the pickup truck to the commercial street. In the first round, one driver would enter the town alone, to avoid being wiped out without having understood the game mechanics.

After Shadow was disbanded, Dashuang and Cotton divorced their respective spouses and got married to each other.

If Dashuang died, they would have to strategize over the long term. Maya’s plan was to camp in place over the winter, on one hand sending Lin Wu and others into the town to scavenge for supplies, and on the other, farming and fishing, while also wiring the tent base with electricity.

If Dashuang returned safely, Stone would drive the car, taking Maya, Lin Wu, Cotton, and Shana to the commercial street. Once there, they would split into two teams to clear out the zombies.

Dashuang was not assigned to the siege because he lacked combat experience. The pickup could only seat five people, a fact that did not change even in Hardcore Mode.

Overall, they were somewhat lacking in combat strength, but fortunately, no mutant zombies had been found in Leimeng Town. Combined with a relatively abundant supply of bullets, Maya felt quite confident in the entire combat plan and the personnel arrangements.

After Maya finished speaking, she asked, "Does anyone have any questions?"

It was all explained in great detail. Everyone looked at each other in silence until Maya repeated, "Any questions?" If there are any, say them; if not, why stay silent?

Lin Wu said, "No problem."

The rest followed suit, "No problem." Indeed, there were no problems; it’s just that everyone had gotten used to being silent during meetings in recent months.

Maya asked another question, "Two last issues. First, what do we call the new base?"

Everyone answered, "Shadow."

Maya asked the second question, "Individual system, commander system, or collective system?"

Shana added an explanation, "The individual system has the least restrictions, fewer for you and everyone else. If you trust yourself to be self-disciplined, can you trust others the same way? The collective system might lead to factionalism, swaying others temporarily to reject or accept proposals. As for the commander system, it goes without saying. The commander holds absolute power and can appoint two deputies to help manage the base. Each system has its pros and cons, so think carefully before you answer."

Su Shi asked, "What are your and Maya’s views, Shana?"

Maya answered, "I support the collective system, and Shana supports the individual system. We both don’t reject the commander system."

Su Shi looked at Lin Wu, who said, "I am part of a separate base, I have a mobile base." Even under the commander system, allies entering the base would not have their weapons confiscated.

Stone, who had been silent throughout the meeting like a mascot, finally spoke up, "The form should be an individual system, with the expulsion under a collective system. Take Snow Egg as an example; even though he knew the item he took was a necessary component for upgrading to a level three command post and a core part of it, he did it to make his loved one happy. Such behavior must be subjected to a collective vote to decide whether to expel. Another example is Emerald Feather playing with a seagull she caught, which belonged to neither an individual nor the collective, so their conflict is limited to themselves. In such cases, they handle it on their own, with others at most adopting a mediating stance without a collective vote to decide right from wrong."

Stone said, "Anyone who deliberately damages the collective’s interests must face criticism or even expulsion from the group. Conflicts that do not harm the collective’s interests are personal. For example, if Lin Wu and I can’t stand each other and can’t go on, what do we do? One solution, one of us leaves the base voluntarily. Another solution, leave the decision of who should leave the base to a collective vote."

Stone added, "I know that forming cliques will happen, but that also reflects the person’s advantage in the group, whether it’s networking or ability. One last solution, let Lin Wu pick one of the individuals to go to the tent base, which means a separate base."

After Stone finished speaking, Su Shi raised his hand, "I support."

No one objected, "Support."

Maya spoke up, "That concludes the agenda items. It’s getting late, and to ensure combat readiness for tomorrow morning, everyone should rest on site, without whispering to each other. Even if you cannot sleep, please don’t make too much noise, so as not to disturb others’ rest." That was the downside of the tent base; even if dormitories were added, there would only be three beds, and everyone else would have to make do with floor beds.

Maya didn’t explain her reason for saying this; those who understood, understood, and those who didn’t, if they could follow the instruction, that was sufficient. If anyone had questions, she would explain to them. However, usually, if there were questions, they would ask Shana: Why did Maya even need to manage personal rest times?

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