"Name?"
"Lin Yuan."
"Gender?"
"...Male."
"Any special skills?"
"I'm 18... Oh no, I can kill some zombies, I can cook, I'm quite strong, and I graduated with an engineering degree."
The prosecutor, a young lady, glanced suspiciously at this unreliable young man. She filled out the form and said, "If you can kill zombies, you can join the army. Frontline field units are short-handed now. After passing the review and physical examination, you can officially enlist. The specific benefits are on this paper."
She then handed Lin Yuan a black and white photocopy.
He took it and scanned it, immediately memorizing its contents. Besides free food and accommodation with two days off every month, there were various welfare benefits, such as a fixed monthly meat subsidy and supplies subsidy. There were also disability subsidies, sacrifice subsidies, preferential treatment for military families, and so on.
To Lin Yuan's surprise, there was also a matchmaking event once a month!
This wasn't a random assembly of people for matchmaking. The army first screened soldiers with good moral character and a sense of responsibility, then unified the venue, and finally announced it to the safety zone. Eligible single women could register to participate. Whether they succeeded or not depended on mutual intention.
The coverage area was the entire safety zone.
Interesting.
"Let me give you a heads-up: if you join the army, you must obey all orders. No matter how good you were at fighting or killing zombies before, or how outstanding your command abilities were, you need to take it step by step. If your abilities are truly good, there will be monthly assessments, and your performance will be judged then.
Also, family members do receive preferential treatment, but no one, regardless of who they are, will receive any special treatment if they break the law. You need to know this in advance.
If you are not interested in joining the army, you can register as a safety zone hunter. During your off-duty hours, you can apply to go out into the field to earn military merits and supplies.
Going out into the field is done with a large group, but anything you find belongs to you. You'll need to pay taxes upon return, with the tax rate depending on the specific supplies.
For ordinary supplies like food, drinking water, and common materials, you only need to submit 5%, or sell them to the safety zone. We will purchase them at 85% of the market price. High-grade food and liquor will not be acquired by the safety zone, but we can sell them on your behalf for a 2% consignment fee.
For precious metals like gold and silver, you need to submit 75%, or sell them to the safety zone at 95% of the market price.
If you kill Alpha variants, Night Demons, or other high-level variants, you need to provide proof of identity like a head or mutated organs. If you collect a nerve sphere, the safety zone will purchase it with military merit points plus a supply subsidy card. The specific prices are listed on this form."
Lin Yuan took it and glanced at it, roughly understanding the value of the items he brought. If split among the 56 people, it would last a month of comfortable living, but Lin Yuan had no intention of splitting it with Zeng Yilong and the others.
Even though their families were close, it was best to keep things clear, otherwise, it could lead to conflict.
"If your cooking is good, the mess hall is short of cooks, or you could find a spot in the night market to sell your specialties, that's also a good option.
If you're strong, you can also work as a coal transporter at the thermal power plant, or find work on new construction sites. If you know construction, you can also take exams, and once you pass, you won't have to rely on brute strength.
The safety zone now doesn't look at academic qualifications. To get better jobs, you need corresponding assessments. You can only take up the post after passing the assessment," the examiner said, handing him another detailed information sheet.
"Fill out this form, and I'll register your identity information and issue you a universal card. This card is equivalent to an ID card, salary card, and access pass combined.
Also, if you have a mobile phone, hand it over, and we'll replace the system. Don't worry, the data on your memory will remain unchanged."
"Alright, right away."
Lin Yuan and the other 55 people were being reviewed by four examiners, who didn't know what their duties were. Their orders were to only register the information and not inquire about anything else.
As for Jiang Ziqi, she had already been secretly escorted away when they disembarked the helicopter. Lin Yuan and the others would need to submit an application if they wanted to see her now.
"Comrade examiner, I've finished filling it out," Lin Yuan handed over the completed form. This form was a bit like a detailed household registration review. It clearly stated that the information should be close to the information on the ID card, and the address didn't need to be too detailed.
Lin Yuan guessed it was for matching with the identity in the system.
"If you're done, come with me for a photo."
And so, 10 months into the apocalypse, Lin Yuan experienced taking a photo for an ID card again.
"Uh, don't I need to wash my hair?"
"It's fine, you look handsome like this."
Lin Yuan: "..."
"Guest politely"
"Come on, look at the camera, 3, 2, 1, cheese!"
It was something like this:
[(๑˙ー˙๑)]
The entire process took about an hour. Lin Yuan and all his companions received an ID card with a red flag printed on it. The front had a red flag, and the back had Lin Yuan's photo, name, and personnel code.
"These are all laser printed. Please don't take them out of the card holder during normal times. Take care of them and keep them safe. If you need to replace them, you'll have to submit 100 merit points. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
"Those who wish to exchange for merit points, please go to the No. 1 examiner. Additionally, since ordinary zombies do not count towards merit, we will purchase the supplies you carry at 200% of the market price. Extra weapons and equipment will be calculated at 200% merit points. Nerve spheres and high-level zombie proof will be handled according to regulations. This is to compensate for your efforts in eliminating ordinary zombies."
Hmm.
The team members were momentarily speechless. If they were an ordinary team, this would be understandable, but they had killed so many zombies, and it was only double the rate.
Seeing that most of them were reluctant, Lin Yuan walked over and quietly told them, "Comrades, we were rescued. We can't be greedy. Moreover, the safety zone is just starting. If we suddenly show up like this, I think the possibility of us being strung up on the street in the future is very high."
The team members were not unreasonable people, just a little unwilling. After all, they didn't have much in terms of supplies, mostly small amounts of gold, silver, and sentimental items.
So they felt that the examiner's words about "effort in eliminating ordinary zombies" were a bit undervalued.
However, after Jin Zuan said that, this little thought disappeared. It was good enough to be alive and reach the safety zone, and they even got housing and jobs assigned. What more could they ask for? Moreover, they were rescued early, and it was mostly Jiang Ziqi's credit. What were they getting involved for?
After thinking it through, the team members even felt a little ashamed. They quickly cooperated with the examiners, leaving behind some of their favorite jewelry and giving the rest of the gold, silver, jade pendants, and bracelets to the safety zone.
The examiners didn't have much of a reaction to these items; they had seen too much and were not moved at all. At most, they would praise them if they saw something beautiful or finely crafted.
"Oh, this is so pretty~~(￣▽￣～)~~"
"Holy crap, this jade is so green!"