The third watch is done, everyone come grab some recommendation votes as a reward. The exciting part is coming soon; if we hit 4200 votes tomorrow, there will be another triple update! ... Also, regarding the ranking system described above, I mentioned at the very beginning that it was re-established after the apocalypse. I explained the details later in the text—take a look. If you find the explanation acceptable, keep reading; if not, there’s nothing I can do. ... The method for earning military merits is simple: complete missions!

Ye Chen walked into a spacious building. The lobby inside was brightly lit. This structure, originally a community center in the residential zone, now served as an office space, crowded with people standing around. On a clean, neat wall to the right, there was a long row of announcements.

With Ye Chen’s eyesight, he could clearly make out the characters even from a hundred meters away, so he didn't crowd closer but observed from a distance.

The announcements stated: Missions are divided into five tiers: Tier A: Requesters must have reached the Intermediate Commander rank! Tier B: Requesters must have reached the General rank! Tier C: Requesters must have reached the Major General rank! ...

Given Ye Chen’s soldier rank, he could only claim Tier F missions. With his current strength, he could complete even Tier A missions, but the base city had established this despicable rule.

Why despicable?

Consider this: completing just one Tier A mission yields over one hundred thousand military merits, instantly elevating one to Battalion Commander rank. Starting from the lowest ranks, it takes 2,000 merits for a soldier to become a Captain, 5,000 from Captain to Colonel, and fifty thousand from Colonel to Battalion Commander! Layered this way, upon upgrading from Soldier to Colonel, the accumulated 2,000 merits reset to zero; one must then accumulate another 5,000 merits to upgrade to Colonel, but the merits zero out again upon promotion.

Within the base city, each rank carried distinct benefits and allocations.

Soldier: Upon joining, anyone failing to accrue 1,000 merits in one month is discharged! Benefits: One Type 64 pistol, two uniform sets, and 200 rounds of ammunition issued weekly! Merits expire monthly and are automatically deducted by 1,000! The remainder can be used to purchase weapons, ammunition, etc. Captain: A soldier automatically becomes a Captain upon retaining 2,000 merits after the monthly deduction! Benefits: Two Type 64 pistols, one rifle, two uniform sets, and 400 rounds of ammunition issued weekly! Authority: The ability to discharge or reassign team members! Each month upon expiry, 2,000 military merits are automatically deducted! If merits are insufficient, demotion is automatic! Once achieving Captain rank, one holds military power, commanding 20 soldiers. Consequently, each month, Captains receive assignments from Colonels—such as killing a specified number of zombies or escorting food or other resources transported from outside! This dynamic prevents Captains from casually discharging powerful soldiers, as failure to complete missions results in merit deductions! Colonel: A Captain automatically becomes a Colonel upon retaining 5,000 merits after the 2,000 deduction! Benefits: One sniper rifle, one submachine gun, one rifle, and one pistol, with 1,000 rounds of ammunition issued weekly! Battalion Commander: Achieved by retaining fifty thousand merits after the 5,000 deduction! Benefits: Submachine gun, rifle, cannon, and various other weapons. Missions are assigned monthly by headquarters; failure to achieve specified performance results in immediate demotion! As for ranks above this, the announcement offered no details; those were the great figures of the "General" class! Rumor had it that such powerful individuals were the base city’s treasures, receiving a fixed allotment of [Base Transformation] monthly, unlike Officers from Colonel down, who had to strive every month to meet merit requirements or face immediate demotion!

10g of [Base Transformation] equals one military merit point! A soldier earning 1,000 merits in a month equates to 10,000g of [Base Transformation]. Calculated at a rate of 150g to manufacture one gene serum bottle, with one serum bottle equaling the strength of one person...

This allows an ordinary soldier to achieve roughly the strength equivalent of 35 people! Upon reaching the strength of 10 people, a Level 2 [Base Transformation] is required, so the figure is divided by two. Once reaching the strength of 20 people, it must be divided by two again, and so on. Military merits cannot be utilized for purchases like weapons until the minimum qualification level is met. For example, a soldier's merits cannot be used before reaching 1,000 points, much like wages being held back. For every level, benefits are optimized. For instance, Captain-level personnel receive a 10% discount when purchasing weapons and ammunition from the base city's commercial stores using military procurement. The higher the rank, the greater the discount!

Ye Chen knew that as relics from prehistoric civilizations were unearthed, many treasures would fall into the base city's commercial vaults, managed by the Commerce Department. High-level items from those ruins were extremely expensive treasures. For example, his energy-infinite magazine pistol, if put up for sale, would certainly cause a frenzy, especially since no one had yet managed to excavate prehistoric civilization sites.

Ye Chen currently had no intention of selling such treasures; he would wait until the ruins were on the verge of being revealed. If he remembered correctly, in his previous life, the first ruin discovered by the Huaxia Base City was that of the Atlantean prehistoric civilization!

That was an extremely advanced civilization ruin, far superior to the meager, small rune civilization he had recently encountered.

Calculating the time, it was nearly upon them...

Besides discounts, higher officer ranks brought more advantages.

Some cunning individuals chose to remain at the Soldier level, paying the monthly 1,000 merit fee and keeping the rest for personal use to enhance their strength. After all, a Captain must remit 2,000 monthly, a Colonel 5,000, and a Battalion Commander 50,000!

However, the base city was vast, and such loopholes were not easily exploited; otherwise, it would truly become "every citizen a soldier."

A soldier only received 200 rounds of ammunition weekly, and their only weapon remained a Type 64 pistol. This pistol was often useless against Level 10 monsters, making it virtually worthless—forcing them into melee combat only...

In a close fight, monsters were unequivocally stronger than humans, possessing sharp claws, keen teeth, and tough hides; some scaled monsters even boasted terrifying defense. Without good weapons, they faced the predicament Ye Chen endured early on: having to punch things apart.

Under such circumstances, a Level 10 New Human could, at best, only manage to kill Level 9 or perhaps Level 8 monsters. Against peers of the same level, escape was the only option, drastically slowing down the rate of monster hunting.

Only by advancing officer ranks could better weaponry be distributed, thereby increasing the speed of monster elimination. For example, the submachine gun and sniper rifle used by a Colonel could take down Level 10 monsters.

Furthermore, rising in rank granted access to the military merit missions currently posted.

A Soldier could only claim Tier F missions, each awarding only a few dozen merits—requiring over a dozen claims just to equal one Tier D mission. The time spent traveling alone wasted a significant amount just to complete them...

This arrangement effectively prevented those who lingered at the Soldier rank from stagnating.

“Tier F Mission Directory...”

Ye Chen’s gaze drifted downward. “Ordinary Mission: Hunt 100 zombies, acquire 500g of [Base Transformation] on top, reward 50 military merits!” This was a repeatable daily mission, prepared for those who exchanged [Base Transformation] for merits.

“Ordinary Mission: Search for various food ingredients, such as eggs, candies, instant noodles, etc.; merits awarded based on the Commercial Department’s valuation!”

“Ordinary Mission: Search for daily necessity materials, such as gas, gasoline, electric lamps, excavators, and all other materials; merits awarded based on the Commercial Department’s valuation!”

“Ordinary Mission...”

There were over a dozen more ordinary missions below, all repeatable and extremely simple tasks. Many soldiers accepted these while out on assignments; if they spotted anything listed on the mission board while killing zombies outside, they would collect it, exchange it for merits, and strengthen themselves. The base city, in turn, benefited from this rapid acquisition of resources, allowing for swift and continuous improvement!

Below these were more complex missions.

“There is a power station in Shanghai City; the exploration convoy is waiting and requires escorts. A Soldier completion yields 800 military merits; a Captain completion yields 1,600 military merits! If the exploration convoy awards a Second Prize during the mission, merits increase by 50! First Prize increases merits by 100!”

Ye Chen glanced over and spotted the same mission in the Tier D directory nearby, though the merit reward differed: Colonels were offered 4,000! Battalion Commanders, 40,000!

“Too time-consuming!” Ye Chen shook his head. Setting out from here to Shanghai, navigating the monster-infested outside world, progress would be slow—completing it in under half a month was questionable.

He then moved his attention to the next mission...

Completely unaware, the gazes of the surrounding people had shifted, carrying a hint of strangeness. Here stood a man by the entrance of the hall, able to read the fine print on the wall seven or eight meters away—what kind of eyesight did that require?...

Finally, I reiterate: if you cannot accept the names or structure of the military ranks, please refer to the previous chapter for a detailed explanation.