Invincible through Touching Corpses

Chapter 266 - 265: Good News

Half an hour later, the First Battalion returned safely to the Military Department’s main camp.

They had been fighting in Guanghan City for nearly three hours. Adding in the travel time for the round trip, they didn’t arrive back at the main camp until nearly midnight.

However, the main camp was brightly lit. The other battalions that had gone out were also returning one after another, and everyone was busy.

Tallying Merit, treating the wounded, and repairing armor—all these tasks had to be completed within a few short hours. On top of that, everyone needed to squeeze in time to rest, so many staff members were so busy they were running off their feet.

Even under these circumstances, the First Battalion’s return still attracted attention from all sides.

It couldn’t be helped. The First Battalion’s previous performance had been too stunning. Forget the other Mercenary Corps; even high-ranking Military Department officials like Lin Zhengyang were keeping an eye on them.

The guild master, Jin Canlan, even came out to welcome them personally. This was a level of treatment the other Mercenary Corps wouldn’t even dare to dream of.

"How was the haul?" Jin Canlan asked impatiently the moment he saw Lin Xinghai get out of the vehicle, his face betraying a hint of anxiety.

It was understandable. The Zombies at night were ferocious, and he desperately needed some good news to publicize and boost everyone’s morale.

"It was alright. A total of 15,620 Zombies and 3 Mutated Zombies killed," Lin Xinghai stated, reporting the most recently tallied numbers.

When Jin Canlan first heard Lin Xinghai say, "It was alright," he assumed their haul had been merely average.

However, once Lin Xinghai actually stated the kill count, Jin Canlan did a quick mental calculation and couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

Based on the quality of the Zombies in Guanghan City, the number of Points the First Battalion had earned this time would definitely exceed 800,000. Even split evenly, it was an amount that would make anyone green with envy.

"And the casualties?" Jin Canlan asked quickly, his breathing a little ragged.

"Thirteen lightly wounded," Lin Xinghai said.

"...That’s it?" Jin Canlan asked after a pause, unable to stop himself when Lin Xinghai said no more.

’What about the seriously wounded? What about fatalities?’

"What, you think our casualties aren’t high enough?" Lin Xinghai shot the fatty a look.

"No... It’s just..." Jin Canlan trailed off, not knowing what to say.

’It feels like the place the First Battalion went to clear out Zombies isn’t even the same one the other Mercenary Corps were sent to.’

"What about the other battalions? How did they fare?" Lin Xinghai asked in return.

"Many of the Mercenary Corps were nearly overwhelmed. Fortunately, they caught on and stopped advancing so recklessly."

"The smarter ones simply went back and forth, clearing the paths they’d opened during the day instead of pushing deeper."

"But even so, their casualty rates are grim. Most battalions have over a hundred wounded. Fortunately, the number of fatalities isn’t too high, averaging about ten per battalion."

Jin Canlan paused, then couldn’t help but ask, "Do you have any good ideas on how to handle this?"

It was his responsibility to handle such matters, but he was completely out of ideas.

Lin Xinghai shook his head. "Strength is the only real solution. What kind of trick could I possibly have?"

After a moment’s thought, however, he added, "You could show our combat footage to the other battalions. That might help a bit."

In reality, what the other battalions lacked most was an expert as powerful as Lin Xinghai to anchor their formation.

However, the impact Lin Xinghai had was something that even a Blood Qi Realm Martial Artist couldn’t replicate.

Unless the Shelter could assign a Body Shaping Realm expert to every battalion, it would be impossible for the others to replicate their success.

Of course, even without a powerful expert to anchor them, if the various Mercenary Corps within each battalion could improve their coordination, their overall combat effectiveness would still see a significant boost.

Take the current First Battalion, for example. Even without Lin Xinghai’s direct intervention, their overall combat power was now greater than that of the other battalions.

This was because Lin Xinghai had leveraged his prestige, forged through one battle after another, to mold them into a cohesive unit.

For the other battalions to achieve the same, however, would likely require a significant period of adjustment.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Jin Canlan’s face as he listened.

The two exchanged a few more words before Fatty Jin quickly departed. He still had publicity work to do to raise the morale of the other Mercenary Corps.

As for Lin Xinghai, he handed off the logistics to Fang Tianhe and went to sleep.

Every time he went out to fight, he consumed a huge amount of his Perception Power. The only way to recover it quickly was to sleep.

...

The members of the First Battalion all slept well that night.

The next morning, after two other shifts had completed their rotation, it was the First Battalion’s turn to go out and clear Zombies.

As expected, there were far fewer Zombies during the day. With no obstructions to their line of sight, everyone could put their Gun Technique to full use. The task of clearing Zombies was more than twice as easy.

Of course, there was a downside: their income was lower.

After three hours of clearing, the First Battalion’s total kill count had only just broken 10,000.

In other words, their income had dropped by a full third.

Even so, the various Mercenary Corps were quite satisfied. For them, following the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps on a mission was practically a way to get free Points.

Beyond the income, what was perhaps an even more pleasant surprise for them was that their own members’ Gun Technique was improving at a terrifying rate.

Of course, this was to be expected. The members dispatched from the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps had Gun Technique that was absolutely outstanding compared to the other Mercenaries, so giving them pointers was a simple matter.

Besides, the one thing Guanghan City had no shortage of was Zombies, making it the best possible shooting range.

With such uniquely favorable conditions, as long as someone’s aptitude wasn’t truly awful, their Gun Technique was bound to improve rapidly.

As the Gun Technique of these Mercenary Corps members improved, the First Battalion’s overall strength would continuously increase. This meant things would become progressively easier for Lin Xinghai, creating a perfect virtuous cycle.

...

When the First Battalion completed its third mission and returned to the Military Department’s main camp, the atmosphere there had improved considerably.

After all, the other battalions had learned from their earlier mistakes. After watching the First Battalion’s combat footage, they began to change their fighting style—or rather, they began to learn from the First Battalion.

The casualties among these Mercenary Corps started to decline while their income gradually rose. While still a far cry from the First Battalion’s results, it was a good start.

Around noon, Lin Xinghai was watching a movie on a holographic projection from his wrist-mounted computer when Fang Tianhe suddenly burst through the door.

"What happened?" Lin Xinghai’s heart tightened at the sight of Fang Tianhe’s frantic state, and he immediately asked the question.

"You’ve got it easy, finding time to watch movies. I just finished taking care of everything!"

Fang Tianhe grumbled, but then a smile broke out on his face. "Something did happen, but it’s good news."

"I just got back from the Military Department. That batch of Intermediate Gene Medicine Liquid we requested has arrived. Also, the High Level Breakthrough Potion I bought was shipped over from another base."