Chapter 110: The New Recruits

The Barracks requires five civilian personnel to initiate the conversion sequence. It takes only one minute to transform a completely defenseless person into an auxiliary Red Alert soldier. In terms of genetic technology, this process involves loading combat experience memories and injecting genetic enhancement serums. While this will not turn them into Captain America, it at least grants them the standard proficiency of a competent soldier. The nanodevices implanted within these soldiers assemble into communication equipment, establishing a seamless link with Gao Ning.

Gao Ning quickly tapped the interface to cancel Liang Bing’s conversion, then converted the other four individuals. One minute later, the five were released. Back in the town, Liang Bing felt as though she had barely stepped inside before being pushed back out. Apart from a glowing basement, she had seen nothing. With a blur before her eyes, she found herself back beside the flag.

"Huh?" Liang Bing was stunned, then immediately grew vigilant. Just as she was about to reflexively seek cover, a teenager dressed in an eccentric style suddenly pulled out a walkie-talkie bearing the Red Alert logo. Gao Ning’s voice came through clearly: "Liang Bing, Liang Bing, please respond. This is Gao Ning!"

Liang Bing was overjoyed and snatched it up. "I knew it was a People's Liberation Army training camp! Thank goodness I played Red Alert for a while back in the day and vaguely remembered some things, otherwise I wouldn't have known how to contact you."

Gao Ning replied, "No time for pleasantries. The flag represents a Barracks; it can convert five neutral personnel into my subordinates at a time. I am appointing you as the temporary commander—try to convert as many units as possible. Note that there is no fundamental change to the units; they are merely injected with a weakened version of the genetic serum, and they come with no equipment subsidies, so you must procure weapons yourself. Now, what is the situation on your end? How did you suddenly suffer casualties?"

Liang Bing glanced at the four people beside her and signaled with a few tactical gestures; the four immediately dispersed to secretly recruit others. She then lifted the walkie-talkie. "The situation is complex. The hostiles are the ghost and the dog I encountered in the Elysium plane. They launched a sudden attack, and the three of them—Master Zhou and the others—were taken out before they could even react... If I hadn't prepared a dressing mirror in advance, I would have been finished by the ghost as well."

Gao Ning said, "Be careful. That dog's resurrection ability is troublesome. The town you are in is sealed by an invisible force, and I truly cannot enter. The incident has caused quite a stir, alarming the U.S. government. The news blackout only lasted a week before frenzied media outlets broke through it. Now, the whole world is discussing the town. The expert groups haven't found a way in yet, so I can't be of much help. Everything depends on you. Most importantly, the flow of time in the town has diverged from the outside; it has been over two weeks out here, yet the town remains stuck on that Halloween night..."

"What?" Liang Bing said, shocked. "No wonder I felt this night was exceptionally long! Never mind, I'll find a way. By the way, what is the conversion limit for the Barracks? There aren't many people in town, so I might not be able to recruit many troops..."

She glanced at her watch and saw the hands frozen at 12:30 AM. Everything around her seemed normal, as if only time itself had stopped. Just then, the four new recruits had somehow acquired a table, set out a pile of beer, and were standing on either side of a wooden door acting like bouncers, shouting, "Welcome to the underground bar! Free beer and snacks for Halloween, and plenty of hot girls!"

After a few shouts, the crowd swarmed over. Why watch the chaos when there’s free beer? A mob crowded toward the wooden door, and the four had to struggle to maintain order.

Liang Bing’s mouth twitched. She spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Okay, I take back what I said; Americans are truly easy to fool."

Gao Ning asked, confused, "What did you say?"

"Nothing! You’ve been a huge help, Gao Ning. Stay in touch!"

She put the walkie-talkie away. Turning around, she saw five more recruits in various outfits. After sizing them up, Liang Bing nodded. "Does anyone know where the gun shop is? Good, you—lead the way to the gun shop. I don't care how you do it, capture it. Try not to hurt anyone; reinforcements will be arriving steadily..."

Before she could finish, five more recruits appeared behind the first group. Liang Bing looked back and discovered that the line of people hadn't shrunk but had grown significantly longer. Several drunkards had wandered over, laughing and calling their friends to join in on the freebies. Looking at their beer bellies, Liang Bing suddenly felt the situation looked promising. In the time it took to glance back, the ten had become twenty.

Liang Bing exclaimed inwardly and waved her hand, "All of you, go! Objective: capture the gun shop!" The recruits saluted in unison and ran off.

Liang Bing waited a while longer beside the Barracks, gained twenty more recruits, and took the time to study the walkie-talkie. Finding she could issue orders directly, she sent all the new recruits to the gun shop, slipped into a nearby house party, found a dressing mirror in a bedroom, and hid inside. With over fifty recruits, even without firearms, taking the gun shop by surprise was a certainty.

The gun shop owner was losing his mind. He couldn't comprehend what was happening. Today was a holiday, and everyone was supposed to be partying. Yet, he was being robbed by a group of acquaintances—was this a joke? By the time he was tightly bound, gagged, and thrown into the storage room, the owner was still in a daze.

The gun shop was secured, and the recruits were armed. Under Liang Bing’s remote command, the first fifty men were divided into five squads, approaching the destination from three different directions. While they were securing weapons, the Barracks had already converted a second group of fifty. Liang Bing repeated the process, deploying them as a support group on the perimeter.

Gao Ning watched the icons moving slowly on the map, truly speechless. The discrepancy in time flow was also a problem. There wouldn't be a result inside for a while, and he had already done what he could. With the town isolated and inaccessible, it seemed he wouldn't be getting his hands on a World Wonder.

Gao Ning didn't force the issue. Since contact was established, there was no need to stay. He looked at the sky, which was beginning to brighten, then glanced at the vast array of tents on the lawn outside. He got out of his RV, checked out at the service desk, hopped on his motorcycle, and left. With help, Liang Bing’s progress would accelerate significantly. Gao Ning felt he needed to work harder, at least to secure another World Wonder to make up for his losses.