After returning to the base, Duane reflected on the recent battle. He was increasingly sensing the changes in the laws of this world, which led to more high-level zombies appearing. This unexplainable sense of crisis furrowed Duane’s brow.

He had initially thought that finding David would solve the mystery of the second red light, but to his surprise, David was just like him—a survivor searching for answers. This left Duane completely clueless.

Shirley sat in front of the monitoring screens and became puzzled as she watched one of the screens. Suddenly, a red lightning bolt struck down from the clouds, creating an eerie sight.

“Red lightning?” Shirley couldn’t help but mutter. Hearing Shirley’s voice, Duane quickly walked over.

“Captain, why would there be red lightning? Could it be related to the second red light?” Shirley asked, confused.

As they both looked at the winding red lightning, Duane was just as perplexed. Even though this was the apocalypse, where strange phenomena were not uncommon, he had never seen lightning like this before.

“Perhaps Alvin might know something. Where is Alvin?” Duane thought of the more experienced Alvin, but he couldn’t find him anywhere after searching around the base.

Seeing this, Shirley said, “Alvin went out early in the morning to inspect the base in the northern district. He should be back by now.” Checking the clock on the wall, it was already past five in the afternoon. Just as she said that, they heard the sound of a cane striking the ground, and Alvin slowly walked in from outside.

“It’s just a natural phenomenon, nothing to make a fuss about.” Alvin casually remarked, seemingly understanding Duane’s thoughts. At the same time, he glanced at the red lightning on the screen, a faint trace of coldness appearing on his face.

Upon hearing Alvin’s words, Duane nodded and didn’t say anything more. As an elder member of the Phoenix Rising team, Alvin had always earned Duane’s respect as the captain. If it weren’t for Alvin stepping up when the previous captain sacrificed himself, the Phoenix Rising team might not have survived to this day. After briefly glancing at the red lightning, Alvin returned to his own room.

“It’s strange. Alvin feels different today.” Watching Alvin close the door, Shirley muttered softly while fiddling with the cat accessory on the hilt of her knife.

Early in the morning, David woke up and, after a simple wash-up, headed outside while the others were still asleep.

Looking at the silver-grade base, David decided to upgrade it to a gold-grade base. There were five days left until the system mandated the transformation of the base into an apocalypse base. Now, David realized that the rules of the apocalypse were changing, and the world was becoming more mysterious in the later stages. He had to seize the opportunity to fortify the team’s shelter. ｂｏ𝚟𝚕.

“System, upgrade the silver-grade base to a gold-grade base,” David softly requested the system while standing in place.

Ding! Upgrading to a gold base requires forty defense system crystals!

Detected that the host has fifty defense system crystals remaining!

David nodded, and then the triangular defense system crystals appeared before him. “Upgrade!” David decisively said.

Ding! Upgrading the base to a gold grade!

Ding! Congratulations to the host for upgrading the base to a gold-grade base!

Soon, the sound of the system completing the upgrade rang in David’s ears. As David looked at the base in front of him, he saw a sudden flash of golden light. Then, that light quickly spread to every corner of the base, leaving a faint golden texture wherever it touched.

David approached and knocked on the base with his hand, causing a heavy metallic sound to resonate. Compared to the previous silver-grade base, the gold-grade base had become more formidable. David took out the spatial blade and swung it forcefully at the wall.

“Clang!” Sparks flew, but David carefully observed and found no traces left on the wall. Obviously, the defense had greatly improved. Satisfied, David nodded. This way, their team had a bit more reliance when facing stronger zombie attacks.

In the apocalypse, the strength of survivors was crucial. But even more important was the establishment of a shelter. A shelter with strong defenses could protect survivors’ safety at any time. That’s why David’s first priority after the previous base was destroyed was to find a new base. Looking at the golden base before him, David suddenly noticed a faint golden defense coating on his bones and skin, which surprised him.

“Is there a resonance?” David suddenly realized that his bone reinforcement ability must have formed some kind of connection with the gold base, causing a resonance at this moment. In other words, his physical defense should be on par with the gold base.

After a brief thought, David once again swung the spatial blade without hesitation, chopping down on his forearm. Another metallic collision sound rang out, but the spatial blade, upon touching David’s forearm, immediately rebounded back. The golden coating on his forearm flowed like running water, perfectly shielding him from this “self-harm” attempt.

“Not bad!” David smiled with satisfaction. This meant that his defense ability had made a breakthrough into a new stage. Combined with his Level 7 rank and spatial ability, David felt that he could now protect himself in the apocalypse, but he didn’t stop there.

Now as the captain of the Embers team, it was his responsibility to protect all the team members. So his current level was still far from sufficient. What’s more, he needed to help each team member improve their own level and strength.

After circling around the golden base for a while, David gathered all the team members and continued with their outdoor combat training. The difference this time was that he brought Little Black and Cola along, allowing these two little ones to participate and gain experience levels.

With a command, Little Black leaped onto the war vehicle, excited to go out. Cola, on the other hand, remained elegant, climbing into Sally’s arms and grooming its fur before casting a disdainful glance at the restless Little Black.

David chuckled lightly at this and stepped on the accelerator, driving out of the parking lot. Along the way, they encountered scattered zombies, all of which were quickly dispatched by the team members.

Soon, David drove the war vehicle to a ruined area of the city. The wind blew with an eerie chill, There seemed to be a faint smell of decay in the air, instantly sharpening the team members’ focus.