Wasteland for All: I Can Infinitely Upgrade My Vault

A deep crimson light surged within the portal, and amidst the heavy clanging of armor, a heavily armored warrior slowly stepped out. Her appearance was like that of a blood beast, enveloped in an intense, unyielding aura of blood.

This chapter maidservant was clad in heavy armor, its surface adorned with dark runic patterns that refracted light into a somber, blood-red hue. Her face was completely concealed by a full-face helmet, leaving only a pair of crimson eyes that gleamed with a chilling light.

In her hand she held a fiery red church spear engraved with golden scriptures, and on her back she carried a bomb gun with smooth lines but sharp edges and a bayonet, also engraved with dark red exorcism scriptures.

Most importantly, the other side was clearly well-equipped! They were the elite of the elite, completely different from Zhong Li and Wu, who were just wasteland scavengers still carrying broken gun barrels!

The moment the other party appeared, he took in the entire situation before him. With the sharp and capable demeanor of a soldier, he walked straight towards Zhong Li, then stood directly in front of Zhong Li, solemnly raised his right arm, and gave a military salute by pounding his chest with his fist: "Church Armed Forces - Red Dragon Battle Group - Tactical Squad - Red Phoenix, under orders to serve the Administrator."

Zhong Li looked at Hong Luan, the red dragon knight who was almost as tall as him. This female attendant's figure was probably no less than that of the most top-tier, most perfect supermodels on Earth. Even without her armor, she was over 1.8 meters tall. Her legs were 1.2 meters long, longer than his own life!

Suppressing his excitement, Zhong Li immediately replied, "Welcome to the team. I believe that as long as we work together, we will definitely be able to build our home in this wasteland."

Hongluan's face was cold: "I will obey the Holy Maiden's will and carry out all your orders. You can give me any requests you have directly."

"Shall we take a look at your legs?"

"..."

The next moment, the pupils of all the men present involuntarily contracted. Without any hesitation, Hongluan unfolded her armor, pulling up her skirt to reveal her fair and shapely legs, which shone brightly even in the murky red mist of the wasteland, dazzling to behold.

What man could resist the allure of a beautiful young woman lifting her skirt to reveal her graceful, slender legs? This skirt-lifting move made Zhong Li's blood boil, his chest pounding violently, burning with heat.

Zhong Li wiped the blood from his nose and calmly said, "I was just kidding. I know your legs are longer than my lifespan, so put on your armor."

He wasn't joking, of course; he was simply testing Hongluan's absolute obedience through this command. The result showed that her promise was highly credible.

Hongluan remained expressionless and showed no emotional fluctuation. She put on her armor and stood silently in place, awaiting orders.

This sharp and efficient demeanor made Zhong Li truly feel the desolation and urgency of the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Everyone's only goal was to complete the mission and survive, with no unnecessary words.

Zhong Li then opened her attribute panel and browsed through it in detail.

【Name: Hongluan (Elite Unit - Damage Settlement Value +50%)】

[Class: Red Dragon Knight]

Gender: Female

Age: 19

[Level: 3]

[Combat Strength: 9]

【Life: 10】

[Protection level: 12]

[Movement: 9]

Courage: 8

[Faith: 3]

[Psionic Power: 8]

Critical Hit Rate: 5%

[Special Ability: First Strike - Will initiate an attack first in battle]

[Female Rider: Charge +1, Slowed by -2]

[Weapon Mastery: All weapon damage +1]

[Guardian Glory: Protection +2] (Green)

[Faction Keyword - Red Dragon: For every allied Red Dragon Knight on the battlefield, the user's Health increases by 1 / For every 10 allied Red Dragon Knights, the user's Defense increases by 1]

[Faith in God: Black King · Black Soul: Parry (3)] (After being attacked 3 times, the next attack will be blocked)

【武器1·刃爆枪：【攻击範围：32】【攻击次数：1】【命中：3-】【破甲：-】【伤害：2】【特效：爆裂（攻击附带20%爆裂伤害）】

【武器2·燃血之矛：【攻击範围：3】【攻击次数：1】【命中：5+】【破甲：2】【伤害：3】【特效：血刃（每次攻击使目标战力-2）】

【Equipment 1 - Heavy Red Dragon Armor: Heavy Armor Attributes (Damage Calculation -30%), Protection +2, All Damage Received -2 ​​(Ignores Holy Damage Caused by Faith)】

[Item: None]

【Skill: Blazing Inferno Lv1: Only by transcending the limits can one glimpse the light of blazing flames. Consumes 2 points of spiritual energy. Within 3 seconds, the Red Dragon's Blood erupts, dealing additional (9) points of fire damage to the attack, and causing the target to lose (1) points of health per second for the next 5 seconds. The flames are extinguished, and the effect ends. Cooldown: 30 seconds. (Damage value is affected by combat power)】

After reading it, Zhong Li took a deep breath. It was incredibly powerful! As expected of an elite unit.

She has a base defense value of 12 points, which means that ordinary soldiers can't break through her defenses at all!

Zhongli's combat power is 7, plus the 1 point of damage from the worn-out Thunder Spear, it's impossible for it to penetrate her defenses.

But if she attacks Zhongli, a single thrust of her Blood-Burning Spear will penetrate Zhongli's 5 points of defense and deplete his 6 points of health.

With Hongluan's powerful combat strength as an aid, Zhongli's confidence in collecting enough blood for the Dark Saintess has greatly increased.

Zhong Li then opened the [Wildfire] module to see if she could enhance it.

Fortunately, she is different from the Holy Maiden. The Holy Maiden is too powerful, and at this stage, Zhongli simply cannot afford the enhancement fees, so the system doesn't even show her.

Hongluan's name successfully appeared in the [Army] module. The only problem is that her enhancement requires a whopping 5000 victory points! This elite-level being is far more powerful than Zhongli had anticipated.

Zhongli is still unclear about the difficulty of obtaining victory points; he will only be able to see the specifics after fighting a battle.

So Zhongli turned to scout Wu and asked, "Where are some monsters around here that we can kill?"

Wu said with a serious expression, "The wasteland has no shortage of monsters, but I suggest that you, Administrator, first go to the command center of the vault to check the situation around the vault, make overall plans, and then take action."

"Very good suggestion." Zhong Li nodded and said, "Shi Tou, the Holy Maiden's injuries are too severe to move. You stay here and guard her. Try not to disturb her. If there is any danger, the Holy Maiden can quickly resolve the battle and protect you with her power."

Stone, being of a simple and honest nature, immediately nodded earnestly and said, "Don't worry, Manager. I will do my best to protect the Holy Maiden."

"Okay. Everyone else, come with me. We'll head to the command center first."

As Zhongli walked along the road, he took the opportunity to observe the condition of the shelter. It was in a very dilapidated state, with the outer walls mottled by the passage of time, and the once vibrant paintings gradually peeling away, leaving only a few weathered, mottled colors.

Scattered across the wasteland surrounding the shelter are abandoned machines and broken equipment. These remnants, like abandoned behemoths, lie in the dust, displaying their former glory and present desolation.

The last building in the shelter, and also the core of the shelter, is the [Shelter Command Center], located inside an abandoned air-raid shelter, surrounded by dilapidated buildings and broken rocks covered in wasteland.

Stepping inside, the walls of the air-raid shelter were covered with vines and moss, and the dim light cast dappled shadows on them. Fortunately, at the very back of the shelter, there was a room with a faint, warm yellow light.

Zhong Li strode inside, and a cold, mechanical synthesized female voice rang out.

[Welcome back to Command Center, Administrator. Identity verification successful. Command privileges granted. Please note that the shelter is in extremely poor condition. Energy reserves are insufficient, and food supplies are unstable. It is recommended that you take immediate and forceful emergency measures to ensure the shelter's basic survival needs are met.]

Then a light blue transparent panel appeared in front of Zhong Li.

【Name: Black Sand Shelter】

[Level: Dilapidated Shelter (Currently cannot be upgraded)]

【Durability Rating: 316/1000】

[Protection level: 10]

[Buildings: Shelter Management Center x1, Damaged Shelter Room x1]

Population: 6/10

Public support: 5

[Resources: Weathered Mutant Jerky x1, Bloodstained Bandage x1, Damaged Leather Armor x1]

What a sorry sight! This dilapidated shelter is practically empty.

The only thing that could help Zhong Li was the territory map marked on another panel in the command center.

The black fog occupied most of the screen, with only a 3-kilometer radius around the Black Sand Refuge clearly visible.

Two kilometers northeast of the shelter, there is a dilapidated ruin that appears to contain a mutant camp, with the system indicating that there may be 9 to 17 people inside.

To the due west, a group of 13 scavengers were passing by. These were cruel scum who roamed the wasteland, searching for trash, and also worked as robbers and cannibals.

Within the ruins more than 500 meters south of the shelter, there is a ratman dungeon, its size marked as unknown, with the note "[Evaluation: Extremely Threatening (Red)]".

This is truly a crisis-ridden start! All the intelligence we have is either suspected, possible, or unknown.

Zhong Li quickly analyzed the situation and made a decisive deployment, saying, "Hongluan and Wu, come with me immediately to attack this scavenger team. Shortcoming, look around the shelter for any broken buckets or similar containers, take them and follow us to collect blood."

As they spoke, Zhongli took out the tattered leather armor and threw it to Wu. Although the protection was practically nonexistent [protection +1 when suffering more than 10 points of damage], if he was lucky and the opponent's damage was exactly 10, he could barely survive.

One reason for choosing to attack this wanderer squad was that, among the three monsters, only their intelligence was clear and accurate, making the battle more certain and less prone to major changes.

Another reason is that he was just passing through and would be gone soon.

Ye Wei needs a lot of blood to barely stop the injury.

Zhong Li must go all out and not let any possible blood slip by. Once they leave, it will be difficult to find another group of monsters to kill near the shelter in the short term.

After Zhongli gave the order, Hongluan and Wu immediately grabbed their weapons and charged toward their target.

This is where the importance of movement becomes apparent. Hongluan, with her movement speed of 8, moved like a whirlwind, her movements elegant and swift, truly like a red dragon spreading its wings, exceeding Zhongli and Wu's speed by nearly half. In just one minute, she had widened the gap to over 300 meters, leaving Zhongli with only a red dot in her eyes, vividly illustrating what it means to be far behind.

In just three minutes, Hongluan successfully arrived near the scavengers, carefully surveyed the surrounding terrain, and then hid behind an abandoned oil pipeline.

She then demonstrated a very professional tactical maneuver to Zhongli and Wu, who had arrived from behind: she made a fist with her right hand, placed her index finger vertically on her lips, then bent her elbow, pointed her arm behind her, and swung it forward with her fingers tightly closed.

Even Zhongli, a newcomer who knew nothing about tactics, understood the meaning at a glance, remained silent, and advanced to her side.

Clearly, she had already scouted the battlefield and chosen the best ambush location. Zhongli trusted her without hesitation and immediately led Wu, holding their breath and cautiously approaching quickly.

The tense atmosphere of battle and the rapid breathing from running together made Zhong Li's heart feel like a wild beast beating violently, almost jumping out of his throat, and his lungs were burning with pain.

Hongluan remained expressionless and said calmly, "Commander, I can fight alone."

Zhong Li took a deep breath, using her willpower to calm her excitement and trembling body, and focused on the scavengers who were walking leisurely ahead.

This ambush point was calculated in advance by Hongluan, and at this moment, the wandering scavenger group happened to be passing by in this direction just a few dozen meters away.

Zhong Li could clearly see their appearance. The dozen or so people were all dressed in tattered leather clothing, decorated with bones and animal teeth. Their appearances were deformed and bizarre. Some had fierce patterns painted on their faces, while others deliberately showed off their scars. Their muscles were thin but full of wild power, like wild beasts that preyed on people.

Their levels range from lv2 to lv4, and their combat power does not exceed 10.

But Zhong Li glanced at all of that; the most crucial thing was the guns! These people actually had guns! Although most of them were worn-out rifled guns or crude single-shot iron-barreled rifles. They only added 1 point of damage when the target's armor was below 10.

But any gun is deadly, and Zhong Li's low defense stat is no match for it. Once hit, he will lose health points! With only 6 health points, he would be gone in two or three shots.

It's not Zhongli's style to leave a girl alone to face more than a dozen thugs while she hides behind a wall trembling in fear!

After taking two deep breaths to compose himself, Zhong Li took out his worn-out Thunder Spear, placed his left hand on Hong Luan's shoulder, and solemnly said, "On the battlefield, at least everyone can gain the [Guardian Glory] trait and launch an attack together. I'll follow behind you. Wu, take your crossbow and follow me!"

The two men immediately gripped their weapons and replied crisply, "Roger that!"

"receive!"

"On my command, attack the scavengers in stages according to their range. Attack!"

At Zhongli's command, Hongluan, Zhongli, and Wu San quickly formed a battle formation, turned out of the oil pipeline, and launched an attack on the scavenger group that was wandering over at the same time.