Xiao Fan suspected the cafeteria because he saw that all the windows were closed and the curtains were drawn tightly, not letting in any light at all. This was undoubtedly abnormal behavior in the hot summer.
Zombies would not know to do this; only humans, only survivors, would be capable of such actions.
And he also saw that the location of the supply boxes indicated there were survivors, probably a dozen or so people. For humans trying to survive, a cafeteria with food was undoubtedly the top choice spot.
"Annie, have the supply boxes always existed?"
"No, Commander, the supply boxes only exist for 24 hours. After that time they automatically disappear."
Xiao Fan thought for a bit: "What if other people discover the supply boxes?"
"The supply boxes belong to the Red Alert System. Only Red Alert units can open them to get the real supplies. For others, they would just be empty cardboard boxes that people instinctively ignore."
Hearing Annie's words, Xiao Fan felt relieved. This way they didn't need to worry about the supply boxes falling into others' hands.
He was determined that before leaving the hospital, he must secure that supply box.
But before that, he still needed to check if there were any new enemy types appearing.
Opening the soldier page again, there were indeed new troop types appearing now.
Originally there had only been one infantryman, but now two more troop types had been added:
War dogs: 200 gold
Recon soldiers: 500 gold
Xiao Fan was startled for a bit. He knew about war dogs - in the game, their biggest use was identifying spies.
Once enemy spies infiltrated, the war dogs would definitely discover them. And war dogs also had very powerful combat abilities - a 3-star war dog could even wipe out an entire paratrooper squad.
Of course in reality, Xiao Fan didn't think war dogs could achieve that, but the System should still retain their function of detecting spies.
But now there was actually a recon soldier added, a troop type that didn't exist in previous games. It seemed this new Red Alert system was indeed different from before.
He currently only had 100 gold on hand, not enough to produce either war dogs or recon soldiers.
Xiao Fan also didn't immediately train more infantrymen, since additional basic infantry wouldn't be much use right now. The top priority was securing the supply box, since it had a refresh timer and he didn't know how long the supply box would stay there. It was best to grab it first before anything else.
Bringing his entire force, Xiao Fan prepared to leave the 7th floor.
The stairs still couldn't be used so they had to take the elevator.
Aside from the 7th floor, the other floors all had many zombies, especially floors 1 and 2 - no need to even think about it, those would be seas of zombies.
But Xiao Fan didn't plan to go to those floors at all. He had long since picked his target: the basement, floor -1!
The basement was the hospital's underground parking garage. From there they could directly enter the hospital grounds, and also access the first floor of the outpatient building.
There should also be scattered zombies in the basement, but that posed no danger to Xiao Fan.
The elevator was currently stopped on the 7th floor. Xiao Fan opened it and everyone got in, directly going down to floor -1.
After about a minute, the elevator reached the basement and the doors opened.
The basement was somewhat dimly lit. Many vehicles were still neatly parked in rows, but the exit was blocked by a car that had crashed and stalled, so driving out was impossible.
Luckily they didn't need to drive this stretch. Xiao Fan led the squad onward, checking the map as they walked to see where zombies might be.
Although there were fewer zombies here, Xiao Fan was still extremely cautious. They were about to exit the building, so gunshots here were ill-advised. A few stray zombies posed no issue, but if they attracted more, that would become seriously problematic.
After all, this was still in the hospital. Even with the map to check, completely avoiding all zombies was impossible. On the way out of the parking garage heading toward the outpatient building, Xiao Fan's group still encountered several zombies.
"Decisive strike, don't give them a chance to call more zombies!" Xiao Fan ordered.
Hearing the command, the soldiers rushed forth brandishing their bayonets.
The combat power of four 1-star warriors was quite good. The bayonets were used fiercely and powerfully - one forceful thrust could easily pierce through a zombie's brain.
The few worked in coordination, one soldier thrusting while another protected him, flanking and encircling to ensure no injuries occurred.
The System had endowed them with very strong innate combat talent. This kind of cooperation needed no prior training and came naturally to them.
One by one the zombies fell to the ground. Xiao Fan's group slowly advanced until finally exiting the parking garage.
Outside was the hospital backyard outdoor parking lot.
Upon exiting, Xiao Fan even saw a military-green three-wheeler parked not far away.
Colloquially called a "three-jumper".
The green vehicle could seat three people total. Mounted at the front was a place to station a machine gun, making the whole thing look much larger and tougher than a normal motorcycle.
With traffic jams plaguing the city, motorcycles really weren't a bad option for escaping the urban center.
But Xiao Fan didn't immediately head toward the three-wheeler. He had to hurry to the cafeteria.
As Xiao Fan slowly approached leading his men, inside the outpatient building cafeteria, the curtains were quietly lifted open a crack by someone...