Arriving at the penthouse on the thirty-second floor, Richard immediately walked over to the wall window and peered down below. There, it was like the same hell he saw the first time he peeked through the windows. There are still civilians running for their lives and the walkers chasing them.
He looked around further and noticed that there were no mutated monsters. Could it be that there were plenty of them and had gone to where the most people were?
He turned around and glanced at the summoned troops that were entering the penthouse that they cleared when they were sweeping every floor of zombies. The owner of the penthouse seemed to be away as they hadn't seen a person when they entered.
Alpha 8 was the last one to enter the penthouse before closing the door.
"Sir, this is the phone you ordered me to pick from your unit," Alpha 8 said as he handed out Richard's smartphone.
"Oh thank you!" Richard thanked Alpha 8. He forgot to bring his cell phone to him when they began their sweep.
He looked at the message, and there he saw that there were two missed calls from his little sister, Lisa.
He gasped, feeling relieved that Lisa is still alive. He immediately tapped the return call and held the phone to his ear.
The line rang a few times before his sister's voice came through,
"Brother? Oh my god, brother you're okay!" Lisa's voice trembled.
Richard's grip on the phone tightened, relieved that he heard his little sister's soft voice.
"I'm here Lisa. Sorry for not picking up when you called, there was a small problem but I already took care of it. Where are you?"
"I'm... I'm in our classroom," Lisa replied shakily. "I'm here with my classmates, Denise, Angela, and others…"
"Is the classroom secure?" Richard asked.
"Y-Yes, we barricaded the door with a desk and chairs, and covered the windows so the zombies can't see us…brother…I'm scared…" Lisa whispered, her voice breaking with fear. Richard's heart ached at the sound of his sister's vulnerability.
"I know you're scared, Lisa. But you're doing great, okay?" Richard said gently. "Don't worry I'm coming to get you."
"Y-You are coming here? But…brother…the school is filled with zombies…it's dangerous."
"I know it's dangerous, but don't worry, I'm not coming alone," Richard said, glancing at his summoned troops who were standing before him.
"Even so…it's still dangerous brother," Lisa whispered, her worry evident in her voice.
Richard took a deep breath. He understood the risks involved in reaching his sister, but he couldn't bear the thought of leaving her alone and scared in that classroom. He locked his gaze with his summoned troops, who nodded resolutely as if indicating that they were ready to follow his lead.
"Look, Lisa, I'm not going to abandon you in this hell. I will come and get you out, along with your classmates."
There was a brief pause on the other end, and then Lisa's voice came through, more determined this time. "Okay, brother. I trust you."
"That's my girl. Now, I need you to keep everyone calm. Do you have any food there that can last you for a day?"
"Uhm…" Lisa paused for a moment and then replied. "We only have two 500 ml water bottles and three large snacks. And there are ten people here. Seven girls and three boys."
"Shit!" Richard cursed inwardly, there's no way ten people can last long with such limited supplies. He knew he had to act quickly.
"Lisa, listen carefully. We're going to get to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, ration the food and water. Share it equally among everyone. We'll bring more supplies when we reach you."
Lisa's voice trembled slightly, but she responded, "We'll do as you say, brother."
"Good. And remember, keep the barricade strong, stay quiet, and don't attract any attention. We'll knock at your door two times to indicate that it was us."
"Be careful."
As he ended the call, he turned to his summoned troops.
"As you all heard, my little sister is in danger and we have to get to her as soon as possible. But first, we have to secure this condominium. This will be our temporary base of operations. For that, I'll summon more personnel to aid us in this battle."
"Sir, requesting permission to speak," Alpha 1 said.
"Go on," Richard granted.
"Sir, I think it would be dangerous if you use your powers carelessly. It's best that you use it discreetly where no one can see it. I suggest that you summon a person who is good at computers and hack into this condominium's server. From there, he can shut the security camera down."
Alpha 1's suggestion was reasonable. There are still survivors in this condominium with security cameras. It's best that no one can find out about his ability.
"Very well," Richard agreed to Alpha's 1 suggestion and opened his system.
In the shop tab, under the "Communication Troops" section, Richard scanned through the available options for personnel skilled in computers and hacking. There he came across a "Cyber Specialists" personnel. It cost 1,000 gold coins to summon.
[Total amount = 1,000 gold coins. Please confirm your purchase.]
[New current balance if purchased: 5,078,700 gold coins]
Richard tapped confirm and just like how everyone else appeared in this world, a magic circle manifested in the center of the room, its ethereal glow illuminating the surroundings. He still couldn't get over how fantastical it is to witness such magic happening before him.
Seconds later, a blonde-haired woman in her early twenties wearing long black sleeves, and tight-fitting black pants appeared. And then she saluted.
"Sir!"
"You are good with computers, am I right?" Richard asked, not wasting any time.
"Yes sir, I'm good with it. What do you want me to do?"
"I need you to hack this condominium's system and freeze the footage of all cameras so that I can summon more troops and equipment to clear this condominium."
After hearing Richard's orders, the blonde girl looked around as if scanning something.
"It seems that this condominium is high-end, which means that there's likely a central control room where all the security feeds are managed," she analyzed.
"Can you do it remotely? Without ever going to the control room?" Richard asked.
The Cyber Specialist nodded confidently. "Yes, I can access the central control room remotely, but it will take some time to bypass their security protocols. But first, I'm going to need a laptop that has advanced processing power, a discrete graphics card for running decryption algorithms, and a robust wireless network adapter for seamless remote access."
Richard checked the shop and bought her the laptop she needed. Seconds later, the laptop materialized in his hands and he handed it to her. She examined it with a nod of approval.
"This is perfect. Thank you, sir."
She wasted no time and quickly set up the laptop, connecting it to the penthouse's secure network. Her fingers danced across the keyboard as she navigated through layers of encrypted security measures. To an outsider, it might have seemed like a magical performance, but to her, it was the intricate dance of code and logic that she had mastered over years of practice.
After what felt like an eternity of focused work, the Cyber Specialist spoke. "I'm in. I've gained access to the central control room's interface."
"Great job. Now proceed with your task."
She didn't waste a moment, her fingers dancing across the keyboard again as she initiated the process of freezing the security camera feeds.
"The cameras are now under my control. No one will be able to access their live feeds or retrieve any recorded footage."
With their digital tracks effectively covered, Richard went on a shopping spree, summoning personnel, purchasing weapons, equipment, and supplies. He also changed the uniform of his troops.
They are now equipped with woodland-patterned battle dress uniforms with tactical vests and combat webbing, a load-bearing pack, a tactical helmet with a black balaclava, and weapons depending on their specialty.
In total, he summoned another 100 troops, mostly combat troops, and paid almost 200,000 gold coins. They instantly filled the penthouse suit, which made the room cramped.
At that moment, the notification screen appeared.
[You have two new missions. The first is to find yourself a base and the second one is saving your precious little sister.]
"This is convenient," Richard muttered under his breath before gathering the attention of the summoned troops. "Okay everyone listen up! I have a formal mission to you all."