When Xiao Fan finished building all the watchtowers and machine gun bunkers, he leaned on the parapet of the southern city wall, gazing out at the vast wilderness and the flowing Haoyuan River, his heart filled with boundless emotion.
The most beautiful thing in the world, he realized, was not how much money one had, but how powerful one's strength was.
This grand city would become his base from now on. He was the sole master here, which made his heart swell with pride.
Within these two defensive works, there were 126 personnel, nearly a full infantry company.
Xiao Fan decided to add 14 more people and form a city defense company.
He appointed one of his snipers, Lu Ping, as the company commander.
This company would have no platoons or squads, all under the direct command of Lu Ping.
Under Lu Ping's command, Xiao Fan assigned thirteen additional snipers.
Including Lu Ping, all the snipers were divided into seven teams, patrolling the city walls day and night, forming a city wall patrol squad.
Strangely enough, before the first and second companies were fully staffed, the city defense company had already reached full strength.
Since there were no hostilities at the moment, the soldiers in the watchtowers and machine gun bunkers had all come out to join the base construction.
Leaving one sniper in each watchtower for guard duty was enough.
As the number of people increased, although they consumed more food, the efficiency of their work also increased.
The installation of drainage pipes was complete, and the basic electrical grid facilities were nearly done.
Now the main tasks were leveling the streets and completing the underground tunnels.
Once those were finished, the basic construction within the city would be more or less complete.
Outside the south gate was also a major construction site, with tunnels still being dug and streets being leveled in preparation for laying foundations.
However, Xiao Fan instructed them not to pave concrete roads, as they would be difficult to repair in case of war.
So the roads outside the city were all asphalt, though still in the initial stage.
With the completion of the city walls, Xiao Fan's main task was over.
Lying in the SUV, listening to the hubbub of construction outside, Xiao Fan felt rather idle.
Fiddling with the massive blue sapphire in his hand, a system notification suddenly popped up just as he was bored.
"Commander-in-Chief, a supply crate has appeared on the Haoyuan River outside the south gate sluice, and is drifting away downstream!"
Hearing this, Xiao Fan sprang up as if his ass had a spring under it.
"A water supply crate!"
His mind raced back to recall from the game.
Supply crates frequently appeared, and some did indeed appear on water.
But water supply crates usually meant the appearance of naval units, or at least units that could swim.
Although he had a river here, he had no shipyard, and he was certain he couldn't build one anytime soon, meaning he wouldn't have any ships either.
Would this supply crate give him a ship?
Xiao Fan didn't have time to ponder further. Opening the radar, he found the supply crate had already drifted out of range.
He immediately ordered Xue Ninger to go with him to chase after the crate.
Xue Ninger acted quickly, bringing over a motorcycle. Xiao Fan hopped on, not bothering to bring anyone else, and the two sped out of the city gate on the motorcycle.
Xue Ninger drove the motorcycle at top speed, following the Haoyuan River to the southeast.
Since it was drifting with the river current, following the river was the right move.
The Haoyuan River's waters were rapid and turbulent. After chasing for five or six kilometers, the supply crate finally appeared on Xiao Fan's radar range.
"It's ahead, another five hundred meters."
The river curved and twisted, making the motorcycle ride rather bumpy. Another three or four kilometers later, they finally approached the location of the supply crate.
Seeing the raging river waters, Xue Ninger asked Xiao Fan, "Commander-in-Chief, which one of us is going to enter the river later?"
If it had been a male soldier asking, Xiao Fan would have scolded him immediately.
But since Xue Ninger was a gorgeous woman, her question was reasonable.
Xiao Fan pondered for a moment, "You should know that as the Commander-in-Chief, I studied at a naval academy."
"Yes."
"It was a coastal region, and my favorite thing was going into the sea to battle the wind and waves, enjoying that boundless and dangerous feeling. So I'm a strong swimmer. Although I developed a cramp when in water for too long back then, this small river shouldn't be an issue."
Hearing this, Xue Ninger hurriedly waved her hands. "Then never mind, your health is the priority. I'll go into the river instead."
Xiao Fan nodded, it seemed it had to be that way.
At that moment, the supply crate got caught on some river weeds at a bend and stopped drifting.
Xiao Fan and Xue Ninger immediately got off the motorcycle and approached the riverbank.
Xue Ninger stretched her arms. "Commander-in-Chief, I need to take off my clothes to enter the river. Can you hold them for me so they don't get dirty?"
"Sure."
Such a simple favor, Xiao Fan was happy to oblige.
And he was quite the gentleman, turning away to show he wouldn't peek while Xue Ninger undressed.
What was there to look at a woman undressing?
In the time it took, Xiao Fan would rather study the rearview mirrors on the motorcycle.
Facing the mirrors with his back to Xue Ninger, Xiao Fan was the very picture of propriety.
Behind him came the sound of rustling as Xue Ninger undressed.
Suddenly, her movements stopped.
"Commander-in-Chief, it seems someone is coming this way."
Xiao Fan immediately looked ahead, his hand already on his assault pistol.
This was ten kilometers away from the base, not a safe area.
However, Xiao Fan wasn't too worried. Xue Ninger was now a two-star scout with formidable abilities. Though his own abilities were lacking, his bulletproof vest and gun could easily deal with three or five people.
The two approached the motorcycle and looked downstream along the river.
Gradually, two people appeared on the opposite bank, walking along the river.
One held a fishing spear, the other a fishing net, moving at a leisurely pace.
Their tattered clothes and thin, sickly appearances were the hallmarks of post-apocalyptic survivors.
Spotting Xiao Fan and Xue Ninger, the two survivors were startled.
Their first reaction was to flee, but Xue Ninger immediately drew her pistol. "If you try to run, you'll stay here forever."
The two survivors quickly turned back, dropping their gear and raising their hands. "Officer... officer, we were just out fishing for food. We haven't done anything wrong. Whatever tax you want, we're already collecting it. Give us a few more days, and we'll have it ready. Please don't kill us."
Before Xue Ninger understood, Xiao Fan had already realized.
These two survivors had mistaken them for members of the Survivor Alliance.
. As long as he maintains the villain image and follows the plot to the grand finale, he can obtain generous rewards and return to the real world. So Gu Chen'an entered the role and began to act as a scumbag villain, but who would have expected that the female leads could hear his inner thoughts. Miss Su from the Su family was shocked: "I originally thought Gu Chen'an was a scumbag, but I didn't expect he turned out to be a gentleman! What? You said I have to call off the engagement? I definitely won't, I'll piss you off!" Bai Yuan Tian was dumbfounded: "Young Master Gu is usually unreasonable and a complete brat, but he actually calls me little sweetie in his heart? What, Young Master Gu even said he likes me?" As the female leads' images collapsed more and more, the plot also collapsed with it. Gu Chen'an looked at all this chaos. "Ladies, don't aggro me, if you keep this up the male lead really will stab me, I still need to survive to the grand finale!"
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
