All these assignments were posted on a video screen, much like the display boards in a train station announcing stops and train numbers, constantly cycling and refreshing, the messages processed, collected, and relayed by the Information Department.

There were all sorts of tasks, such as locating signal towers, core internet operational technologies, and so on.

“Standard Task: Guard the city for eight hours a day, earn 10 military merits.” “Standard Task: The Construction Department needs personnel with specialized technical skills, as well as laborers, to assist in building a power station south of the city.

Soldiers earn 20 merits per eight-hour day!

Captains earn 40 merits per eight-hour day!

Technical personnel will be assessed according to their professional skill level and rewarded with corresponding military merits!” “Special Task: The Southern Ring Road wall has suffered severe damage from a monster attack, urgently requiring laborers to assist the Construction Department in rebuilding it!

Soldiers earn 30 military merits per eight-hour day!

Captains earn 60 military merits per eight-hour day!” What were called Special Tasks could only be claimed once and could not be duplicated; for instance, this wall-repair task was due to sudden monster assault damage, classifying it as an unexpected situation.

These tasks existed across A, B, and C major tiers, only the rewards differed, because the sheer strength of a soldier was completely different from that of a captain; a soldier might lift one stone, but a captain could lift two, and higher ranks like Regiment Commanders and Battalion Commanders moved stones with a speed incomparable to soldiers—their work efficiency was entirely different.

If someone tried to slack off, it was impossible for a Battalion Commander to only move a small stone, because the Construction Department had detailed allocations specifying how much material each rank was responsible for moving and how much work they needed to complete; failure to meet the quota resulted in dismissal and automatic task cancellation.

Ye Chen looked at these tasks, a slight sense of helplessness rising in his heart.

The base city was still in its infancy, barely qualifying as a Tier One base city; nothing was fully established—no underground sewage and water supply systems, no power stations, no local telecommunications, no mobile signal towers, etc.

However, from the tasks, it was clear that the base city’s current focus was entirely on perfecting the base itself, much like strengthening one's own equipment before facing an enemy to gain greater power.

In later stages, those Tier Five and Six base cities were extremely complete and advanced; their construction techniques and various designs incorporated technology inherited from the prehistoric civilization, and the city areas were vast, allowing people to freely use communicators and access the internet within the city limits.

Fortunately, although the apocalypse had occurred, humanity's wealth still remained, like the food left behind in supermarkets—it was theirs to use if they could acquire it in time.

“Right now, it’s all these small tasks.

Later on, as the prehistoric civilization remnants are unearthed and the base city gradually perfects itself, there will be many more tasks, all sorts of strange ones.

For example, the Production Department might issue tasks to find the bodies of various monsters to forge powerful weaponry, or to locate magical herbs that can miraculously heal wounds—all tasks that earn military merits, endless in number.” Ye Chen sighed internally, glanced casually for a while, and soon located a [Special Task]: to enter the underground sewers, kill the mutated rats and other creatures within, with military merits calculated based on the kill count.

It was currently the third month, and the weakest evolved rats were Tier Five, while the strongest reached Tier Twelve.

Their evolutionary magnitude varied, as there were many types of rats, such as white mice and grey rats, and some rats might even mutate during evolution to become new strains.

As for zombie rats, their strength was relatively uniform; this month, the vast majority were Tier Three to Four, unless a zombie rat had devoured the carcass of another powerful creature, thereby boosting its strength to become a transcendent existence like a Zombie Rat Leader.

“Merit Calculation.” “One Tier Five Black Rat equals 50 military merits!” “One Tier Six Razor-Claw Rat equals 70 military merits!” “One Tier Seven…” “One Tier Eight…” “One Tier Twelve Gold-Guzzling Rat equals 2000 military merits!” Beside the images of these monsters, there was a clear photograph depicting their appearance.

Naming these monsters and testing their power levels was the responsibility of the Reconnaissance Department, which also awarded military merits.

Anyone brave and meticulous could join this department; submitting information about any treasure found or unknown monster data would result in merits and rewards based on the findings.

Once a monster reached Tier Ten, an ordinary .64 pistol lost its lethal threat, making it very difficult to kill; such monsters could only be killed with extremely low probability using the rifles carried by Captains and Regiment Commanders.

After all— Weapon power is great, but it must hit the target; if your own strength is too small, even the most powerful pistol is useless if you can’t land a shot.

The weaponry of an ordinary soldier was sufficient to kill Tier Five monsters, and besides these creatures, they could also kill zombie rats or other animals, such as insects that were evolving or turning into zombies within the sewers.

Ye Chen walked up to the counter, produced his military ID, and stated, “I wish to accept this task to kill creatures in the underground sewers.” The young woman behind the counter checked the information on his ID, filled out a form, and then said sweetly, “Good luck, travel safely, and we hope to see you return after completing your mission.” A slight smile touched Ye Chen’s lips; he nodded and turned to leave.

… The mission location was on a street in the southern part of the city.

Ye Chen quickly made his way there by asking for directions.

When he arrived, he immediately saw the street front and back sealed off.

In the center of the sealed area, many figures in military uniforms were clustered together, firing and fighting relentlessly.

Ye Chen moved toward the interior.

“Your military ID, please!” A man in professional attire stopped Ye Chen at the blockade line.

Ye Chen casually pulled out his military ID and handed it over.

The man took it, compared it against the ID, confirmed the identity, returned it, and smiled as he stepped aside, clearing the path.

Ye Chen hurried forward and immediately spotted a sewer manhole cover blown open into a large gap, from which numerous zombie rats and evolved rats with ferocious fangs were fighting amidst each other.

Dark creatures that have become zombies are bloodthirsty towards all life, whether animal or human; thus, dark creatures are the global enemy.

Evolved monsters, however, only crave blood and show no interest in dark creatures, only hunting humans.

This created a dynamic where monsters kill humans, and dark creatures kill both humans and monsters.

Because they were closest to the monsters, the dark creatures aggressively attacked them first, which eventually provoked some of the evolved monsters, who then shifted their target, deciding to eliminate the detestable dark creatures first.

Nearby, many people dressed in white-collar professional attire stood holding pens and paper, taking notes, calculating how many monsters each soldier killed, cross-referencing the data, and docking merits if the record was incorrect, or offering bonus merits for perfect accuracy!

This was how the Information Department functioned.

In reality, most soldiers would mentally keep track of how many monsters they killed and which types they were, then use this data to cross-reference with the Information Department personnel, essentially providing them with reference data.

“Another one is here.” “Note his kills.” Several record-keepers paid increased attention to Ye Chen.

“Just a Soldier rank, how many can he possibly kill?” a pretty girl said dismissively.

“Alright, keep a slight watch, but the main focus should be on the Regiment Commanders and Battalion Commanders; those big shots are killing high-level monsters, so their records must not be missed.” “Understood.” … Ye Chen heard these low murmurs of mockery but paid them no mind; perhaps he was used to it, as his expression remained placid as he walked toward the sewer entrance.

Soldier-rank personnel wore a white horizontal bar pinned to their chests.

Captain-rank wore two horizontal bars.

Regiment Commander rank wore three bars.

Battalion Commander rank and above wore medals.

Previously, these bars were worn on the shoulders or sleeves, but in the apocalypse, sleeves and shoulders were easily scratched and torn, requiring frequent replacement of the bars.

Only the chest area was safe, because if your chest were torn open, it meant you were already dead.

A Tier Seven Blood Rat roared at the tunnel entrance, slapped two zombie rats biting at its rear to death with one swipe, then rushed out, leaping onto the street and lunging toward Ye Chen’s direction.