C2 Red Police System

The immense shock left Han Feng jittery as a spooked bird. He was at a loss to make sense of the zombie dilemma, let alone the persistent voice in his head urging him to construct a power station.

After several deep breaths, Han Feng steadied his nerves. He recognized that the events unfolding were beyond his control. Once he stepped outside, his options were limited to scurrying like a rat or facing death. But "death" wasn't quite the right term; becoming a fully-fledged zombie was more like it.

With that in mind, he decided to go for broke. If death was inevitable, so be it! If nothing else, he'd return as a hero in 18 years!

Han Feng sat back down and closed his eyes, concentrating hard to recall the Mobile Construction Vehicle and the power station from the game Red Alert.

A vast base materialized in his mind's eye. Was this reality? A figment of his imagination? Was he losing his mind? "Hello? Is anybody there?" Han Feng silently called out, seeking answers.

"Power station construction will complete in 21 minutes. Please wait," the familiar robotic voice chimed in.

Next to the massive base was a list of buildings, with the power station at the top. The progress bar was already a third of the way full.

Han Feng was dumbfounded. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he'd witness the 2D structures from Red Alert in real life!

"Power station? Power station?" he tentatively murmured in his thoughts.

"Virtual construction of the power station will take another 19 minutes. Please wait," the mechanical voice intoned, its coldness now sounding like the sweet serenade of an angel to Han Feng.

It was true! Unbelievably true! He was ecstatic. He was the Chosen One! May the Red Alert gods shield him from death! Long live Red Alert! Han Feng's inner self was in a state of euphoria.

In that moment, Han Feng's belief in the Red Alert System in his mind was unshakeable.

Faster! He urged silently. Build it faster! As a die-hard Red Alert aficionado, Han Feng knew that only with the power station complete could he construct the barracks and the ore refinery.

Once the power station was finished, he'd move on to build the ore refinery, the barracks, the radar, the war factory, and then produce infantry, tanks, and even nuclear weapons!

Zombies? Pfft, zombies are nothing! Just wait until I bring out Tan Ya and the Navy SEALs! No matter how many zombies there are, they won't stand a chance against me! Haha! Han Feng, in the real world, couldn't help but laugh out loud. Startled by his own laughter, he quickly covered his mouth, thinking it wasn't the time to get cocky. If the zombies at the door heard him and charged in... what an unfair way to go.

Han Feng held his breath, waiting several minutes to ensure no zombies were coming after him before he allowed himself to relax.

He stood up, the words forming in his mind, "The virtual construction of the power station will take 10 more minutes. Please wait." The mechanical voice was like music to his ears as Han Feng glanced at his watch.

10:20. That meant the power station would be complete by 10:30.

"Only ten more minutes... No big deal, it'll fly by," Han Feng whispered to himself.

Ten minutes to devise a battle plan. The battle units would surely open fire, attracting more zombies, necessitating even more battle units... an infinite loop. But Han Feng wasn't worried. With a relentless stream of troops, they would grow stronger with every battle and surely break through the siege! He could already picture himself, cool and collected, commanding the fight...

"The power station construction is complete. Would you like to build the barracks? Constructing the barracks requires 3,000 gold coins," the distinctive voice from Red Alert echoed in Han Feng's mind after ten minutes of daydreaming.

"No, not the barracks. Build the mining field first, then the barracks. Create 30 soldiers, then a heavy factory to produce tanks and fighter jets. After that..."

"There is no mining field option. Do you want to build the barracks? Construction of the barracks requires 3,000 gold coins," the impersonal mechanical voice cut off Han Feng.

"No mining field? That can't be right," Han Feng muttered, confident he could find the mining field option on the computer even with his eyes closed.

As Han Feng's perspective shifted, he found himself in the mental image of his world. Indeed, there was no mining field... only a barracks situated behind the power station.

"Alright, let's get the barracks built first. Once they're up, we can..."

"Commander, insufficient gold coins to construct the barracks." Han Feng was cut off mid-sentence by the mechanical voice of the game for the second time.

Not enough money? That can't be right! This game is a rip-off! No cash, no mines! Where am I supposed to find the gold coins to build anything? Where are my Navy SEALs? My planes and tanks?

Nothing is more infuriating than opening a treasure chest only to find it's full of dog crap.

"Since the commander cannot acquire gold coins at this stage, the system can convert the commander's real-world assets into gold coins." This might have been the most the system had ever said to Han Feng.

"Convert? How? And how many gold coins do I have left?" Han Feng fired off two questions.

"The commander's real-world money can be exchanged for gold coins at a 1:1 ratio, but the system can only perform this conversion once. You currently have 1,000 gold coins. Would you like to convert your real-world assets to increase your gold coins?" the system responded to Han Feng's inquiries.

"Do it." That's actual money! What kind of funds does a recent graduate have? Barely a month into the job, and I haven't even seen a paycheck! But staying alive is the priority right now.

"Conversion in progress... please wait... Conversion complete. A total of 2,050 gold coins have been collected and converted." The system informed Han Feng after completing the process.

"Construct the barracks!" Han Feng said through clenched teeth.

Ding-dong. A text message alert sounded from his phone. Han Feng glanced at his phone and nearly passed out. The balance read 0.53 yuan...

"Staying alive is what matters..." Han Feng muttered to himself, trying to stay calm.

"The barracks are under construction. Virtual building will take 10 minutes. Please wait." The system's voice rang out, steady and calm.

Ten minutes to go. Time to make a call.

Flipping through his phone contacts, Han Feng found no family members listed; he had grown up in an orphanage and had no knowledge of his parents. The person he needed to reach now was Liu Rui, his dormmate of four years and closest friend.

Unlike Han Feng, Liu Rui was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His parents were always abroad on business, leaving him in a villa with just a few nannies for company. Thanks to their compatible personalities, Han Feng and Liu Rui struck up a friendship that evolved into a brotherhood that endures to this day.

No signal? That can't be right. I just got a text. How could the signal vanish so quickly? Sigh... Never mind. I'll stop worrying about it and wait for the barracks. I should get out of here first; staying put isn't solving anything.

Han Feng reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up and inhaling deeply. The white smoke wafted away into nothingness.

"This is the last one... I should've bought more before laziness got the better of me," Han Feng mused, holding the cigarette. It wasn't really his fault for procrastinating; after all, who could have predicted a zombie outbreak? The convenience store was just across from the office building, but venturing out was too risky for Han Feng at the moment.

As Han Feng exhaled the last drag of his cigarette, the system notification announced the completion of the barracks construction in his mind. At last, he could produce combat units!

A humanoid icon popped up in his thoughts. Clicking on it revealed four production options: conscripts, American soldiers, police dogs, and engineers.

Where's the People's Liberation Army? How come there's no PLA? The formidable Red Alert combatants... why aren't they here? This system is such a trap!

"Produce American soldiers!" Han Feng had toyed with the idea of creating conscripts, but he knew they paled in comparison to the might of American soldiers. Police dogs? At this stage, the companionship of a canine was no match for the security provided by an armed soldier.

"Not enough gold coins to summon," intoned the system voice, dashing Han Feng's hopeful plans.

Damn it! I forgot I'm out of gold coins!

He checked the cost for American soldiers and saw it was 500 gold coins, the same for police dogs, 100 for conscripts... and he didn't even have the 50 gold coins needed for any summoning.

The system is just too much! It gives me nothing! Not enough money! And it's asking for over 2,000! Han Feng felt like he had plummeted from the heights of hope straight into a quagmire of despair.

"The commander receives a 50% discount on their first soldier summoning, but the system grants this offer only once," announced the System's voice, appropriately timed.