Chapter 2

Red Alert Base Introduction: The birthplace of all wonders, covering 10,000 square meters.

Explanation: This is a masterpiece of the divine. Do not be surprised by its functions. It can transform into various architectural forms.

Special Note: All impossibilities become possible with it.

Suggestion: Please cherish it, as even a sub-base cannot replace it. It is a unique existence in the universe.

The sunset is beautiful, but it is near dusk.

The sunset in Africa is truly beautiful. This was the only praise Li Lan gave to Somalia after unexpectedly arriving there.

Under the sunset, at the end of the overgrown weeds, a magnificent building appeared. Two huge mechanical arms kept rotating, scaring away many of the animals that originally lived there.

Hearing the distant barking of dogs, Li Lan was completely at ease. He tore off the black cloth, turned off the safety of his pistol, and put it in his pocket, as he had arrived home.

The withered weeds in front swayed, and a yellow figure quickly ran towards Li Lan. The newcomer was very fast and soon appeared in front of Li Lan.

This was a very robust military dog. Its strong limbs supported a body that almost reached Li Lan's hips, looking no smaller than a lion.

Seeing the military dog circling around him, Li Lan reached into the food bag he had just exchanged and took out a piece of camel meat, placing it in his palm and extending it to the dog's mouth.

The obedient military dog directly picked up the meat, tilted its head, and swallowed it without chewing.

This military dog was Li Lan's best companion over the past few days and a significant guarantee of his safety.

To others, it might just be a very strong and healthy big dog, but in Li Lan's eyes, the military dog was still a military dog, with a few Chinese characters floating above its head: Level 3 Military Dog, High Quality.

Accompanied by the military dog, Li Lan returned to the unique and hopeful building that had suddenly appeared in Somalia.

The huge mechanical arms, which looked enormous from a distance, appeared even more spectacular up close. The slight friction sound from the machine's operation became clearly audible. The entire building seemed like a whole, like a giant castle.

Familiarly approaching the front gate, there was no password, no iris scan, no fingerprint verification, and the gate opened automatically.

"General, guard the gate," Li Lan instructed the military dog he had named General, and then naturally walked in.

"Woof!" General barked and then quietly lay down at the gate.

The gate of the building closed silently after Li Lan entered.

Inside the building, Li Lan heard a very stiff electronic voice: "Welcome back, Commander. Everything in the base is normal."

Li Lan was no longer surprised by this sudden voice. After several twists and turns, he took the elevator to a hall with a strong sci-fi atmosphere, glanced at the vast space, and sat directly in a luxurious recliner in the center, casually placing the food bag to one side.

In front of Li Lan was a huge screen, a display that occupied the entire wall.

Familiar with the various buttons projected in front of the recliner, Li Lan no longer felt the curiosity of a child as he did four days ago.

Four days ago, Li Lan was just an ordinary office worker, living a life of either working or squeezing onto a bus, with a salary that barely kept him from starving, but with no hope of making a name for himself.

On the day the miracle occurred, Li Lan returned home as usual. While walking, he suddenly lost consciousness without any warning. When he woke up, he found himself inside the base, and only a minute had passed.

After the electronic voice, which claimed to be an assistant, explained repeatedly and after Li Lan verified it himself, he finally believed that everything was real.

When he asked to go outside, Li Lan saw a group of lions, with blood still on their mouths. In the distance, there was an endless expanse of barren grass. Everything forced Li Lan to face reality.

Over the past four days, Li Lan had completely controlled his emotions and thoroughly explored the functions of the base.

For Li Lan, who had an old computer in his dormitory, his interests after work were threefold: one, reading military news and browsing mainstream military websites, being a pseudo-military enthusiast; two, opening the battle platform and using games to relieve the pressure of reality; and three, something all men understand.

The game Li Lan played the most on the battle platform was Red Alert, as he had always dreamed of being a general, fantasizing about commanding the world's most advanced land, sea, and air forces to conquer enemies. Red Alert was his favorite game, despite its many bugs, which he still loved after several years.

Perhaps Li Lan's thoughts moved a deity. After fully understanding the functions of the base and confirming that it was not a prank or a dream, Li Lan officially took on his role: the highest commander of the base.

However, the base was not omnipotent, and the place was not safe. Most importantly, the base only provided 3,000 startup funds and a Level 3 military dog to guard it.

According to the normal gameplay, Li Lan should have immediately chosen a power plant, then built a mineral refinery, and then saved money to build a barracks, a vehicle factory, and have basic armed forces.

However, this was not the case. Over the past three days, no matter how many times Li Lan looked at the construction page, the building unit icons remained gray. No matter how many times he clicked, there was no response. Li Lan asked the base's assistant multiple times, but the assistant did not provide an effective answer.

Originally full of passion, he was directly doused with a bucket of cold water, from head to toe. Over the past few days, Li Lan would immediately come to the control panel upon waking up, but the icons did not light up.

At this moment, Li Lan once again opened the control panel, and his face fell. Looking at the 2,900+ funds on the display and comparing them to the various beautiful building unit icons on the construction page, Li Lan felt like his heart was being clawed by a cat.

No matter how Li Lan operated, the icons remained gray.

Flipping to the firearms production page, Li Lan felt somewhat relieved, at least not feeling like his role as the highest commander of the base was a mere decoration.

Since becoming familiar with the control panel, Li Lan understood that this was reality. Even if the base was a Red Alert game base, it could not completely replicate the game.

In addition to the original building units from Red Alert, there were many new units. The selection page also included a firearms and ammunition category. The four main categories in the game interface—buildings, defenses, characters, and vehicles and ships—were divided more finely here.

Just the building category was divided into military, civilian, and research. In addition to the units from Red Alert, there were many new units. From the graphics alone, Li Lan could not tell what functions these building units had.

The two categories with the least changes were defenses and characters, while the category with the most changes was the last one. It was more accurate to say that the game's content was reclassified. Divided into land, sea, and air categories, the icons alone made Li Lan feel a surge of excitement.

In the land category, Li Lan saw very familiar units like the armed mining vehicle, multi-functional infantry fighting vehicle, Rhino tank, Apocalypse tank, and Guardian tank. What disappointed him was that he did not see the Phantom tank he had been looking forward to, even after flipping through several times.

In the air category, in addition to the familiar icons of the Hind, Night Raven helicopter, Intruder, and Black Eagle fighter, there were two icons with question marks, which he was even more excited about.

In the naval category, from the Snail to the aircraft carrier, all the units from Red Alert were present, including the magical dolphins and giant squids. Unfortunately, there were no question marks in the naval icons that Li Lan had been looking forward to.

However, after the excitement, seeing the long string of numbers below each weapon unit, plus the defense units, each costing no less than 100,000, Li Lan felt a headache. He still did not understand where the funds in the Red Alert base came from. If he had to rely on the mining vehicle to obtain funds, who knew how long it would take to build a pure Red Alert weapon land, sea, and air force.

The Crack Generator, Guardian Tower, French Cannon, Spy Satellite, Patriot Missile, and strategic deterrent weapon, the nuclear missile silo, when would these become a reality?

What comforted Li Lan somewhat was that the construction costs for building units and character units had not changed. They were the same as in the game. Even the largest nuclear power plant in the building units had not changed.

This made Li Lan feel somewhat less cheated.

After all, it was the 21st century, and the huge number on the display in front of Li Lan clearly showed the current year as 2014.

Given that he was in Somalia, his life and property were not his own. If he did not quickly establish a self-defense force, no one could guarantee that the Somalis would not discover him the next day and swarm in with a large group of armed militants, likely dismantling his small body.

PS: There will be another chapter in the evening. During the new book period, I humbly request your support. Let the favorites and recommendations come in strong!