Invincible through Touching Corpses

Chapter 314: Triumphant Return

While the Mercenary Corps were cleaning up the battlefield, Zhang Yue had already tasked the Military Department with calculating their total earnings based on the number and Level of the Zombies killed.

From this final zombie horde alone, they had obtained nearly 300,000 Elemental Crystals, and that wasn’t including the significant number they had killed on their way here.

Therefore, according to the final estimate, the total Points they would gain from this operation would reach a staggering 16 million.

Of course, since the Military Department had lost a considerable number of Combat Robots—and since those robots had killed more Zombies than any single Mercenary Corps—the military would naturally take the lion’s share of the profits.

After all, a single Combat Robot costs 10,000 Points to manufacture. A staggering 6,231 units were destroyed this time, which would cost 62.31 million Points to replace.

However, these Combat Robots were only damaged, not completely destroyed. Hauling them back for repairs would significantly reduce the cost, but it would still require at least 10 million Points.

Still, even with the Military Department taking the largest cut, the amount of Points each Mercenary Corps received was substantial. After deducting for ammunition consumption, equipment maintenance, medical treatment for the wounded, and other miscellaneous fees, a Third Level Mercenary Corps could expect a net profit of at least 200,000 to 250,000 Points.

Even the few Second Level Mercenary Corps that had tagged along would walk away with a net income of at least 80,000 to 100,000 Points.

After all, these Second Level Mercenary Corps were all former members of the First Battalion. Over the past 10 days, members of the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps had been training them in their Gun Technique.

So, even though they were all newly promoted Second Level Mercenary Corps, the Gun Technique of their Mercenaries was hardly inferior to that of the Third Level Mercenary Corps. That was why their earnings were so high.

As for the group with the largest haul, that was, of course, the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps.

The other corps would turn over ten percent of their net income. From that alone, Heaven-Sundering would receive at least 2 million Points. Furthermore, the Gun Technique of Heaven-Sundering’s own members was already terrifyingly effective. Even with fewer people, their earnings were more than double that of any Third Level Mercenary Corps.

Therefore, by Lin Xinghai’s estimation, the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps’ net income from this operation would be around 2.5 million Points.

It was safe to say that every Mercenary Corps on this mission had made a massive profit.

Lin Xinghai announced this news publicly, and instantly, all the Mercenaries were filled with a new surge of energy, cleaning up the battlefield with even greater vigor.

However, extracting the Elemental Crystals from the bodies of 300,000 Zombies was a massive undertaking. Even with over 5,000 people and the assistance of more than 4,000 Combat Robots, the task took a full hour.

After the evolutionary meat was collected, Lin Xinghai looked at the mountain of Zombie corpses and gave a direct order: douse them in gasoline and burn them all.

After all, if these corpses weren’t destroyed, they would eventually become food for other Zombies, serving only to make them stronger.

Of course, burning them was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and even cost Points, so it wasn’t something they would normally do. But with such a massive number of corpses, they couldn’t just ignore the problem.

As dusk settled completely, the convoy of Mercenary Corps finally headed back to the branch base, laden with their bountiful harvest.

The road back was clear, and they encountered very few Zombies. The entire journey was uneventful and free of danger.

As they neared the branch base, they saw dozens of excavators, bulldozers, concrete mixers, and other engineering vehicles hard at work.

Lin Xinghai had no idea when this equipment had been delivered, but in the span of a single afternoon, the construction crew had already erected a three-meter-high perimeter wall, completely enclosing the Industrial Park.

Furthermore, numerous defensive fortifications had been built outside the wall.

With these additions, the Industrial Park was finally starting to look like a proper branch base.

The convoy drove through an opening that had been left in the wall. It would later be converted into a main gate, but with the wall still under construction, there was naturally no gate yet.

After entering the branch base, the various Mercenary Corps split off, and the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps naturally returned to their designated camp.

As they parted ways, they handed all the collected Elemental Crystals over to Zhang Yue, who would take them to be converted into Points for distribution.

He was remarkably efficient. Not long after they returned to camp, the Points had already been deposited into the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps’ account.

The immense profit prompted many members to suggest holding a celebration—specifically, an open-air bonfire party.

This was a type of celebration they had never experienced before. Normally, even after a daytime mission, they would have to be back inside the Shelter by nightfall.

Even if they were delayed and couldn’t make it back to the Shelter in time, they would find a secure place to hide, not dare to light a bonfire.

Lin Xinghai had no objections. If it made everyone happy, he was fine with letting them organize it.

Besides, when Star Shield Shelter had sent over the construction equipment, they had also shipped a large quantity of supplies. Now, food, clothing, and other necessities could be purchased directly at the branch base.

While the Heaven-Sundering Mercenary Corps was preparing for their celebration, Lin Xinghai received a summons from the Military Department and made a trip to the temporary command post.

In the meeting room, he met Lin Zhengyang again. The man’s spirits seemed much improved, and he even had a slight smile on his face; his mood was clearly excellent.

"I never thought you’d stir up such a commotion just by going out to clear some Zombies. I had already arranged a rescue team, but you handled it all by yourselves. That was a horde of 300,000 Zombies! Incredible!" Lin Zhengyang praised him as soon as he saw him.

"Elder Lin, you flatter me. It wasn’t as dramatic as you make it sound. In this zombie horde, we didn’t have to face any Mutated Zombies or their chaotic abilities, which naturally lowered the difficulty significantly."

"Besides, while it’s true the horde totaled 300,000, that was the cumulative number of Zombies over four hours. At any given moment during that time, the number of Zombies attacking us never exceeded one hundred thousand," Lin Xinghai explained, shaking his head.

Otherwise, if 300,000 Zombies had attacked all at once, supported by a few Mutated Zombies, winning wouldn’t have been so easy.

"That is still a testament to your ability. Alright, to get straight to the point, I called you here to ask for your opinion: do you think a zombie horde will attack tonight?" Lin Zhengyang’s expression grew solemn.

This was his greatest concern. Although the perimeter wall was now up, at only three meters high, it wouldn’t be of much use.

After all, once a horde arrives, it would only take one wave of dead Zombies to create a pile of corpses easily exceeding three meters in height.

If they could survive this one night, working around the clock, the wall’s height could reach at least seven or eight meters by the following evening.

At that point, dealing with a zombie horde would be much, much easier.