Chapter 9

Five walls completely surrounded the base, leaving a seven-meter-wide opening directly opposite the main gate.

Fortunately, Li Lan had a keen eye. If the entire base were enclosed like in a game, how would he get out? The five-meter-high walls were too high for him to climb. The instructions clearly stated that they could not be sold or recycled, unlike other building units which could be sold.

With just him alone, he was helpless against the five-meter-high walls, unable to climb over them.

This seven-meter-wide opening was deliberately left by Li Lan after careful calculation. Among the defensive units, machine gun bunkers and sentry guns were also within the current available range.

However, unlike the walls, which had the same price as in the game, the prices of these two defensive units increased exponentially.

Sentry Gun:

- Basic defensive counter unit

- Construction cost: 5,000 base funds

- Required construction time: 2 hours

- Description: Twin 30mm rapid-fire cannons, capable of causing significant damage to infantry and vehicles, and some damage to armored targets. Cannot engage air targets, average defense.

- Special Note: No personnel required, no ammunition needed, alert range: up to 5 kilometers, automatically counterattacks when enemies are detected.

- Recommendation: Do not stand in its line of fire when it is angry, or you will surely die.

Machine Gun Bunker:

- Basic defensive counter unit

- Construction cost: 6,000 base funds

- Required construction time: 2 hours

- Description: Can automatically switch attack types. Type 1: Equipped with a six-barreled 12.7mm Gatling gun, capable of causing significant damage to infantry and vehicles, but not to heavily armored targets. Cannot engage air targets, high defense.

- Type 2: Equipped with a high-temperature flamethrower, capable of causing significant damage to infantry and light armored vehicles, but not to heavily armored targets. Cannot engage air targets, high defense.

- Special Note: No personnel required, no ammunition needed, alert range: up to 5 kilometers, automatically counterattacks when enemies are detected. Smart attack mode switching.

- Recommendation: Do not approach, or you will surely be roasted.

The performance described in the introduction was quite good, especially since Li Lan wouldn't need to manage them once they were built. However, the exorbitant prices made him feel a bit sad. The powerful tank factory only cost 2,000, while these defensive units were ten times more expensive than in the game.

But when he thought about the prices of units in the tank and ship categories, Li Lan felt these units were not overpriced at all. In the tank category, the cheapest unit was the mining vehicle, which cost 15,000. Units like the terror robot and suicide truck, though relatively cheaper, were still much more expensive than the mining vehicle.

Fortunately, Li Lan couldn't produce these things yet, or he would have to worry about the funding source.

Currently, Li Lan had only 1,415 base funds left. Even by noon the next day, he would only have 6,415 base funds, enough to build only one machine gun bunker, and he couldn't build any other units during this time. If he chose the sentry gun, he could build at most two magnetic reactors within 24 hours.

However, Li Lan didn't want to build these defensive weapons yet, mainly due to the prices. He had his eyes on the ore refinery, as each one built could shorten the mining vehicle's return time. Although Li Lan wasn't sure how much time each additional ore refinery would save, he estimated it wouldn't be a short time.

Faced with the high costs, Li Lan found there was nothing else he could build. The soldiers he had previously ordered were all completed.

Thinking about the initial formation of his armed forces, Li Lan instantly forgot about the pressure of the prices. He went to his room and changed into a well-fitted suit, provided by the base, just like his other living supplies.

The base, which seemed extremely stingy to Li Lan, was quite generous with his clothing. His room was filled with various types of clothing and shoes.

When Li Lan, dressed in a well-fitted suit, arrived at the barracks, he found that General Da had already become friends with the ten tall black soldiers inside, along with the two military dogs, all playing and running around.

When Li Lan appeared at the barracks door, both the people and the dogs inside immediately noticed his arrival.

In the barracks, which was only about a hundred meters wide after the dormitories, the ten soldiers and three dogs formed a neat column in front of Li Lan in just a few seconds. The two new military dogs stood neatly on either side of the column. General Da, the most special one, did not stand with them but squatted by Li Lan's feet.

Perhaps to Li Lan, all the black people looked similar, so his attention wasn't immediately drawn to the soldiers' appearances. He only glanced at the two military dogs, which were two sizes smaller than General Da, for a couple of seconds.

What caught his attention the most was the military uniforms the ten soldiers were wearing.

Online, he had seen many chaotic military uniforms of Somali armed forces, but when he saw these soldiers' uniforms, he felt a sense of freshness.

Although they weren't the world's most advanced digital camouflage, seeing soldiers in ordinary camouflage uniforms in a country with single-color uniforms was quite novel. Not to mention the helmets, which were even rarer. Even in the trained forces of the Somali interim government, not everyone had a helmet, let alone a camouflage one.

On the left shoulder of the khaki-colored camouflage uniform, a small Somali flag was embedded. The flag is rectangular, with a ratio of 3:2. The background is light blue, with a white five-pointed star in the center. The five-pointed star symbolizes Africa's freedom and independence; the five points represent the five regions of the original Somalia: Italian Somalia (now the southern region), British Somalia (now the northern region), French Somalia (now independent Djibouti), and parts of present-day Kenya and Ethiopia.

On the right shoulder, the national emblem of Somalia was embedded, which looked very three-dimensional. The emblem features two standing African black leopards, supporting a shield. The shield uses the colors and design of the national flag. At the top of the shield is a crown from the ancient Ethiopian dynasty, symbolizing independence and sovereignty. The image of the African leopard represents courage and strength. The crossed spears at the bottom of the shield symbolize the Somali people's determination to defend national sovereignty with force if necessary; the two palm leaves on the spears represent the country's crops.

The medals worn on their chests not only showed their military achievements but also indicated that they were active soldiers, ready to fight for their country and faith at any time. However, the only medal on the chests of these ten soldiers was a small red checkered one.

On their feet were heavy military boots, which were also rare in Somali armed forces. Many smaller armed groups had soldiers wearing sandals. Of course, those supported by foreign groups were exceptions.

After looking at the uniforms, Li Lan finally paid attention to the soldiers' appearances. Due to different aesthetic standards, Li Lan couldn't really judge how they looked, but in his eyes, they all looked very handsome, with well-proportioned features.

He also noticed that their bones were not small, which was uncommon in Somalia. Somali people generally had smaller bones, and years of war and poor nutrition had made them look weak.

Now, Li Lan saw ten strong-looking soldiers, at least more muscular than the typical bony appearance of Somalis.

"Report, Commander, my name is Ahmed, rank: corporal, and I am the temporary squad leader of this small unit."

The familiar Chinese report caught Li Lan's attention. On the far right, a soldier stepped out of the line, saluted Li Lan, and reported.

"Salute, Commander." The other nine soldiers also saluted.

Seeing these black soldiers report to him in fluent Chinese, Li Lan felt a strange sense of novelty. Regardless of their capabilities, their fluent Chinese alone earned him a lot of goodwill.

"Are you not Somalis? How can you speak such fluent Chinese?"

"Report, because the Commander is Chinese, our honor is loyalty, so every soldier is proud to speak Chinese," Ahmed loudly answered, still in fluent Chinese, and even added a phrase.

Hearing "our honor is loyalty," Li Lan felt a bit stunned, but seeing the soldiers' serious eyes, he saw their firm faith. For the first time, he felt a sense of pride, proud to have such soldiers.

Li Lan had always aspired to a military career, but his unsatisfactory life had deprived him of the chance to join the military. He had always envied soldiers. Now, although he was still an ordinary person, he had loyal soldiers, and this alone was enough to make him feel extremely proud, especially since his soldiers could say "our honor is loyalty."

For the first time, Li Lan felt a sense of warmth. Growing up alone, he had seen the coldness of society, and this feeling was truly rare.

"I am also proud to have you!" Li Lan awkwardly returned a salute and said seriously.