A car"s worth of dirt was transported by the team members from the underground channel and sent above to dry. Everyone felt relief – after smoothly hanging up the solar panels, the new base energy problems would all be resolved. Now they finally had an elevator!
Now when transporting items, there was an elevator to help and the building lights were working properly. Almost all the rooms were covered with heavy curtains for safety reasons. When someone had to do something, one would not have to worry about being seen by pa.s.sersby and zombies. They also did not have to worry about the satellite overhead taking pictures.
Yan Fei and Yu Xinran worked together, one first removed the metal, the other began to turn the ground into sound. The others moved the sand and it was transported away before Yan Fei sealed and reinforced the walls with metal, the new walls were expanded in this loop.
With the pair"s cooperation, the soil outside almost filled the whole square while the pa.s.sage had been widened by a lot. It was more than 3 meters, enough to let most trucks through!
The dried soil was transported to the ground floor for the planting areas. Since all sorts of strange crops had been planted on the shelves, Luo Xun was not sure if there had been any mutation before, it was best to be careful.
When these things were done, the Otaku team was ready with a list of needed items – in addition to paint, metal and solar panels, they needed a huge amount of wood.
Yes, wood, boards, trees, anything was good so long as they could be used to grow mushrooms to absorb the toxic substances in the air.
These things were badly needed but it would be impossible for them to gather everything in one go. For the metal, they would need to go out a few times to slowly gather the resources.
Fortunately they did not have enough seeds to fill both underground rooms, these also needed to be gradually increased.
The team discussed and decided to split into groups. There would be more manpower to carry out different tasks. Although the base seemed safer, if something happened…it was not prudent for everyone to act together.
Once again armed, a group of people slowly drove through the tunnel exit. If the car was left outside, it could be seen by outsiders.
After opening the tunnel, Yan Fei sealed the door, Yu Xinran covered it with sand, Song Lingling splashed water and Zhang Yi used the wind to create clay camouflage. This teamwork had quickly become a habit, the effect becoming more and more realistic. It would be even better with some scattered rocks, but for now it was great.
The car rumbled along the deserted road, the nearby area had become mottled, pieces of black and grey peeked out from the snow.
Yan Fei still collected metal along the way, carefully controlling the ball to roll parallel. In case of any danger, these would be lifesavers.
The group drove past the place where they had been attacked by zombies but it was night. THe next morning they saw where the military vehicle had been found. The were here to grab the two metal boxes, but if they were taken, where else would they go to find materials?
Yan Fei detected and confirmed that the two boxes were still intact underground. The team then continued forward to the solar panel factory from last time.
It was at the intersection between A City and several other provinces, a transport hub for several areas. Because it was close to several larger cities, there were many factories, laboratories and workshops of all sizes. Yan Fei collected a lot of metal from both sides of the road. There was a lot of other metal, but they could not bring more, so it would stay for a while.
When they went further south, they saw their destination from afar – the solar panel production facility.
After carefully scouting around, Luo Xun found traces of fighting and disturbed snow.
"Look, a gun."
"There are armored vehicle tracks."
"Just don"t know if there are any zombies in this area right now."
Used to buildings packed with zombies, Luo Xun and the others were unaccustomed to the empty city.
After a careful look and confirming that there were indeed no zombies, they drove close to the factory.
The people sent by the military seemed to have suffered a bitter battle. It was easy to see the huge hole blown into the wall. It was likely that the vehicle had been under heavy fire.
After a simple check, everyone grabbed their weapons and waited at the gate. Yan Fei moved the gate out of the way to reveal the dilapidated factory. Slowly, everyone began to check this long out of use factory.
In the barren factory, the workrooms were filled with dust. Some equipment and productions lines and broken down. The team checked and sadly found that:
"The solar panels are gone, only found a few batteries in the warehouse."
"Production line is broken, there is no way to repair it…"
"We found three barrels of diesel! It should still be usable."
Looking around, they found useful things but nothing to write home about. However there was a large number of metal pieces left. Luo Xun instructed Zhang Yi and Yu Xinran to find a secluded place to dig pits. Yan Fei pumped the metals from the factory.
Everyone helped dig holes to hide the metal. After all, other people would also come looking for things, maybe even from other bases. Metal in such a high concentration was hard to find and they needed to build a new base and make preparations.
Soon the pit was ready and Yan Fei poured the metal into Yu Xinran"s pit. Song Lingling added water and Zhang Yi blew it dry…with their proficiency the results were clear to everyone.
Yan Fei did not take all the metal, only a bit more than half. People who came later would naturally get the remainder.
After leaving the factory they headed in a more remote direction. The paint factory produced more pollutants so it was more remote with a river nearby.
In the distance, Luo Xun and the others heard dogs barking the barren wilderness! The team exchanged looks while Puppy perked her ears and looked out the window, tail up.
"Dog?"
"Or a zombie dog?" Luo Xun picked up the walkie-talkie. "Note we hear dogs barking in front, be vigilant…"
Before Luo Xun finished, Puppy barked from the back seat and unexpectedly slammed into the half-open window.
"Puppy!" The car was still moving!
The dog did not seem to hear Luo Xun as she leapt out the window and ran towards the ma.s.s of buildings in front of them.
*Bark, bark* There was more barking and as Luo Xun expected, wounded and bereaved dogs rushed out! Puppy faced them head on.
"d.a.m.n it…" This dead dog, against four or five, does she think she is invincible?! Luo Xun cursed as he pulled out his crossbow while Yan Fei pulled out metal and aimed it at the dogs.
Not waiting for the couple to take action, Puppy rushed forward and barked. The enemies were surprised and then were crushed to the ground. Such a good chance was not to be missed, she ran forward and attacked.
Perhaps the other side also had powers available but could their experience compare to Puppy? She turned the situation and pressured the enemies instead.
Luo Xun whipped out a crossbow and shot one while Yan Fei wrapped up several in metal and crushed them to death. Puppy was…rolling around the dead dog, one moment you held me down I pushed back and suddenly you aren"t playing anymore…
The pair helplessly exchanged glances, although they hoped that Puppy would get stronger with combat experience but she was their child, how could they watch her get bullied?
Driving forward, Yan Fei cut off another enemy"s head before it could bite their dog.
Puppy returned from the battle with drooping ears and tail. She slowly approached the car and looked up with an incredibly wronged expression. Luo Xun lamented, was it his fault that a chow-chow turned into a chihuahua?
Just then a few cars stopped next to them. Song Lingling quickly washed Puppy"s bite. It might have the virus so it needed thorough cleaning. Luo Xun took out medicine and bandaged the wound.
"Why did you rush out? Stay in the car okay? Your ability is more support, don"t rush to the front lines!"
Puppy while not able to understand Luo Xun"s word could understand the feeling. She wagged her tail in agreement while being hugged.