Boots thudded loudly on the streets. Streetlights flooded the vision of a group of soldiers as they made their way into the nearest Industrial Refinery Complex.
The dark, tall silhouettes ominously stood in the background. The soldiers held their breaths despite the loud whirring surrounding them.
"Engineering Team One to Golden Eagle," the Engineer of the pack reported. "We're now on-site. Accessing refinery's area. We're making our way into the control panel."
The comms crackled before Hans answered.
"Proceed with caution. Report any abnormalities."
Though the sector has been cleared, Hans didn't want himself nor his soldiers to be complacent.
"Understood, Commander."
The squad advanced through the outer yard of the refinery complex.
Tall storage tanks loomed above them. Their curved surfaces reflected the floodlights in a dull, silver tone. Thick pipelines ran overhead, crossing one another in an ordered fashion.
Some hissed softly as the newly restored systems breathed back to life.
Even with the power restored, the place did not feel alive.
The soldiers kept their rifles raised as they moved between pipes and concrete barriers. Metal grates rang loudly as their boots stepped in.
One Army Soldier glanced upward. "This place still gives me the creeps."
"Keep your eyes open," the squad leader muttered.
The Engineer at the center of the formation said nothing. His gaze remained fixed on the processing building ahead.
Unlike the rest of the complex, that structure was boxier—shaped with narrow windows and a steel door reinforced by thick locking bars.
Above it, an elevated control room overlooked the entire yard.
"We're back," the Engineer remarked.
"Move."
Two soldiers advanced and reached the entrance. One pressed himself beside the wall while the other turned the handle.
The steel door groaned open. Inside, the air was warmer.
Rows of dormant monitors lined the walls. Control panels blinked weakly beneath a thin layer of dust.
Somewhere above them, the machinery hummed through the caged ceiling.
The Engineer stepped toward the central console. With practice, he placed his interface rod against the panel.
Blue light spread through the console and its circuits, awakening the metal underneath.
A faint tone echoed from the panel.
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[ Strategic Facility Capture in Progress: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
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The soldiers exchanged glances. For a moment, the entire area remained silent.
And then, deep within the refinery, something heavy began to turn.
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[ Strategic Facility Captured: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ System restoration protocol initiated. ETA: 3 hours. ]
[ Unlocked Functions ]
[ Industrial Processing ]
The facility enables high-efficiency resource conversion at industrial scale. Energy input is refined, stabilized, and converted into Gold. Output is automatically integrated to System reserves.
[ Output ]
+200 Gold / day (Base Conversion Rate)
[ Requirements ]
80 Energy Units
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Hans breathed deeply. Two Conscripts each day? I'll take that any chance I have.
He could spam more Power Plants if needed.
With the capture of two Industrial Refinery Complexes, he knew that money would no longer be a long-term problem.
While he basked in the glory of a cheat money-making facility, the system blared.
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[ Strategic Facility Captured: Industrial Refinery Complex. ]
[ ... ]
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[ Strategic Facility Captured: Chemical Processing Plant. ]
[ ... ]
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[ Warning: Energy Unit usage arriving to critical levels. Please construct more Power Plants ASAP.]
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[ Energy: 366 / 400 Units. ]
------
The energy usage suddenly rose to an alarming degree, prompting Hans to quickly reach into his comms.
"Golden Eagle to all Engineering Teams, cease capture mission immediately!"
His eyes narrowed. Fast, too fast!
As broken the Strategic Facilities were, their energy consumptions wasn't a laughable matter either.
He reopened the overlay at once.
The two captured refinery complexes pulsed brightly on the radar map. Its systems were now marked as restoring under the virtual grid.
Across the sector, several other strategic facilities were greyed out. Their dormant systems lay low, not drawing any power from the grid at all.
Except for one—the Chemical Processing Plant.
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[ Strategic Facility Captured: Chemical Processing Plant. ]
[ Unlocked Functions ]
[ Chemical Synthesis ]
The facility enables large-scale synthesis of volatile and enhancement compounds. Integrated into System supply chains for combat application.
[ Upgrades Received (Infantry & Explosive Units) ]
+20% explosive damage
+20% infection resistance
+10% armor penetration
+10% combat efficiency
[ Requirements ]
120 Energy Units
------
"System, I didn't see the Energy Units on my previous Strategic Facility captures."
He paused, then added an argument.
"A military gen-set can power two Strategic Facilities at once. How come I am struggling with a Power Plant?"
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[ Notice: Previous Strategic Facilities were sustained by conventional external power sources. ]
[ Conventional electrical supply is not automatically converted into System Energy Units (EU). ]
[ System Energy Units only apply to facilities integrated into the virtual construction grid. ]
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[ Clarification: Military-base Strategic Facilities were compact, specialized support structures. ]
[ Their restored operational state did not require industrial-scale synchronization load. ]
[ Current captured facilities are industrial-grade infrastructure. ]
[ Full restoration, synchronization, and output activation require substantially higher energy expenditure. ]
------
[ Energy Unit requirements are revealed only after successful capture and grid integration. ]
[ Reasoning: Actual load is determined by facility type, restoration state, and active function set. ]
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[ In Summary ]
Military-base facilities have low-scale support infrastructure and conventional generator supply.
Industrial-sector facilities have high-scale strategic infrastructure with System grid integration.
[ Conclusion: Commander comparison is invalid. ]
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Hans clenched his fist; the nerves on his forehead throbbed wildly before returning to normal.
"You're never giving me the full information at first glance, are you?"
The system didn't respond.
Hans resigned, not wanting to argue more.
The logic connected.
An industrial complex needed a huge amount of energy to operate most hours every day.
Its broken output should also be considered. Eighty EUs for an hourly income of 600 Gold was already too much.
With two at once, that meant 1200 Gold every hour; 28,800 Gold every day!
And that was just two in this area. If he could find more, even a large-scale drug dealer wouldn't match his daily income.
Hans shook his hands in excitement and quickly reopened the Main Building tab.
The answer was obvious now. It wasn't building a physical Barracks or War Factory.
And definitely not the Airfield Base. Not yet.
His finger hovered over the Power Plant entry for only a moment. Then he confirmed it.
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[ Power Plant - 8000 Gold ]
[ Power Plant enqueued for construction. ETA: 13 hours and 20 minutes. ]
------
[ Gold: 42,020 (-8000) -> 34,020 ]
------
The prompt faded.
Hans stared at the sector map once more. Two refinery complexes. One chemical plant. The rest still waiting in silence.
All of them were valuable to his eyes, yet hungry to his energy grid.
He reached for his comms again.
"Golden Eagle to all Engineering Teams. Current capture priority is suspended until additional power is secured. Those with completed tasks, return to your posts."
"Engineer Team One copies."
"Chemical Plant team returning to patrol duties."
"Workshop team waiting for Commander's signal."
Hans lowered the comms and glanced back toward the newly deployed Power Plant.
The fight has shifted from the zombies toward scale. He narrowed his eyes at the dark outlines of Grefort City beyond the industrial sector.
Then a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Fine," he muttered. "I'll build bigger. You just have to wait."