The group left the north gate of the base and walked about 200 meters away. Under the light of the wall lamps, Wen Le flipped his hand and displayed a large amount of supplies, including food, daily necessities, and various raw materials.

From initial surprise to subsequent numbness, Wen Le ignored the expressions of others and looked towards Zhang Zhifeng after putting away the machines he had displayed last. Hw did not participate in the subsequent communication and the various tasks related to the merger with the military district.

For nearly three months, even though Wen Le and Xiao Wen slept on the same bed, they didn’t have much time to meet while awake. The integration of the military district was the largest action since the establishment of the base, and almost all personnel of the base were involved.

On the other hand, Wen Le spent most of his time in the space except for sleeping every day.

Although Wen Le and Xiao Wen had not stopped planting in the space before, they were somewhat lax. With the sudden increase in the number of base personnel to two hundred thousand, Wen Le began to attach more importance to the planting in the space. It would take a long time for the environment in the Tibetan area to develop sufficient self-sufficient agriculture, so the power of the space was still needed before that.

In addition to managing agricultural work, Wen Le also began to carefully count the reserves of goods in the space, from machines to small items like toothpaste.

In three months, the ice and snow gradually melted, and all the people, including Wen Le and Xiao Wen, in Apocalypse base moved to the military district. The top-level personnel of the base, including Xiao Wen, moved into small villas that were originally allocated to senior officers of the military district and became neighbors with Zhang Zhifeng and other high-level military personnel.

The office building of the military district also became the office building of the base.

The military district remained the military district, but it was now attached to Apocalypse base.

And the original site of the base was taken over by Yan Wei Guo, who led the earliest military forces of the base and the soldiers who were later transferred from the military district to establish an affiliated arms factory of the base.

As for the military district, since the number of soldiers is greater than that of the surviving civilians, they will rebuild not far from the military district after the weather warms up, gradually separating the civilians from the military in order to implement different management methods more effectively.

It’s worth mentioning that after the military district merged with the base, the national defense network was connected, and the military headquarters immediately demanded that the military district report on casualties and weapons and other materials.

However, Zhang Zhifeng simply stated that the military district had merged with Apocalypse Base and refused to report.

Wen Le didn’t inquire about the military’s response in detail.

In any case, it was left unresolved, but upon closer consideration, it was understandable that faced with the threat of zombies everywhere and an uncertain state of the entire country, even if they wanted to manage this area, they probably lacked the capacity.

After all, holding onto the major surviving bases in the Central Plains region was more important than separating the military district.

It took almost half a year to re-integrate all aspects of the base, and during this period, Xiao Wen and Wen Le went to Xinjiang again to not only complete their previous cooperation with the local survivors but also establish a more detailed long-term cooperation plan for the future.

With the assurance of a steady supply of fuel and the increased production from the arms factory, the military re-armed themselves and entered the central plains with a plan.

After several years, the surviving bases in the central plains became stable and difficult for zombies to breach and destroy.

With the restoration of the Sky Net, the various bases were able to communicate with each other, and the list of survivors in each base was uploaded onto the Sky Net.

If any were found, Apocalypse Base would send soldiers to escort them back to their own base.

The army was divided into four groups, each consisting of two thousand soldiers, and they left the Tibetan region along four different routes that connected almost all of the surviving bases in the country.

The remaining soldiers in the base began to clean up the cities and towns in the Tibetan region.

After three years, all the zombies in the Tibetan region were completely eradicated.

By then, the headquarters of Apocalypse Base had already moved to U City, which was closest to the military district. With sufficient mechanical and raw materials, the military district had established commercial transactions with other bases.

The number of survivors under the jurisdiction of Apocalypse Base had exceeded one million, most of whom had followed Apocalypse Base’s commercial caravan to reach safety in the Tibetan region.

In the tenth year of the apocalypse, the planting and animal husbandry in the Tibetan region had become sufficient to support the livelihoods of all those under Apocalypse Base.

In the twenty-seventh year of the apocalypse, all zombies within the country’s borders had been completely eradicated. That same year, Apocalypse Base returned to the central government, but retained its own laws and regulations for after the apocalypse under the principle of “one country, two systems.” Additionally, the highest leadership of the base was selected by the base itself and was not subject to central government jurisdiction.

In the forty-second year of the apocalypse, the last zombie on earth was finally destroyed, and the world began to experience a great revival.

Because Z country was the first to eradicate zombies, its revival came ten years earlier than other countries, making it the world’s leading superpower without competition.

In the sixty-nine year of the apocalypse, scientists confirmed that the lifespan of Espers is influenced by their Esper level, with the highest reaching 230 years.

In the 199th year of the apocalypse, the leader of the Z-country’s Apocalypse Base, Xiao Wen, passed away at the age of 226. In the same year, his partner Wen Le lost all his spiritual power three days after Xiao Wen’s death and passed away at the age of 219.

After Wen Le lost his spiritual power, all the plants within the range of the Apocalypse Base matured overnight and were no longer affected by climate, and the time for crops from planting to maturity was shortened by nearly half. Livestock and other animals also became twice as fertile.

No matter how scientists researched, they could not decipher the reason for the growth within the Apocalypse Base’s range, only attributing it to Wen Le’s unique spiritual power. In the end, the Apocalypse Base remained a mysterious and special place, existing on the newly born Earth and commemorating its founders.

– The End –

TL/Note: Today, I will also upload 5 chapters at once. (｡･･｡)

This chapter is brought to you by Momoko, thanks for the ko-fi!  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･

Hello! Thank you very much for the support and loyalty of the readers who have been waiting for the translation of this project. We greatly appreciate your presence and are glad to be able to assist in translating the content. We hope to continue to meet you in the next translation projects. Goodbye~（＾ｖ＾）

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When Wen Le and his team saw the arrival of the other party, they couldn’t help but gasp for breath. The neat military uniforms and rows of military ranks were dizzying to look at.

Xiao Wen, as the leader, hesitated for a moment upon greeting them, but quickly regained his composure and welcomed them.

The military region was still led by Zhang Zhifeng this time. He shook hands with Xiao Wen and didn’t say much, following them directly to the conference room.

Because there were so many officers from the military region this time, the conference room was too small to accommodate everyone. Zhang Zhifeng left a few people behind and the rest went down to rest.

Once the idle people had left, Lin Yan stood up and closed the conference room door. The atmosphere immediately became serious.

Zhang Zhifeng didn’t beat around the bush. Before Xiao Wen and the others could inquire, he had his staff bring out the documents.

Xiao Wen was the first to take them and, after just a glance, he furrowed his brows tightly.

“The Sky Net has been restored?” Han Ya, who was sitting next to Xiao Wen, also saw the contents of the document and asked in surprise.

Zhang Zhifeng nodded. “Three days ago, our logistics group intercepted a signal, which was a military code. It should have been sent from the capital’s communication equipment to inform local troops to connect to the Sky Net.”

“We’ve also been trying to connect to the satellites, but so far we haven’t found any that can operate normally.” Han Ya couldn’t help but say.

Zhang Zhifeng turned to look at the military officer behind him and signaled for him to speak. The officer nodded and began to explain.

“After receiving the message, our technical corps re-examined all known satellites and detected that a subsidiary satellite belonging to the Aerospace Bureau had deviated from its original orbit, but was still moving in a safe position according to a newly established safe route, presumably after reconnecting with the ground.”

Han Ya stopped talking. The personnel at the base were still too few, and there were even fewer professional talents. It was very likely that they had not yet discovered the satellite detected by the military.

“What do you mean?” After reading the documents in his hand, Xiao Wen handed them to Yan Weiguo and then looked at Zhang Zhifeng.

Zhang Zhifeng and Xiao Wen looked at each other for a while, and finally sighed.

“Old Zhang, three days should be enough time for you to think it through, right?!” Yan Weiguo spoke up after reading the documents and seeing that Zhang Zhifeng had not yet explained their purpose.

From the other party’s previous words, it was not difficult to hear that the military district did not connect to SkyNet after receiving the military’s coded message. Otherwise, it would be unnecessary to investigate each satellite individually. And up until now, it had been three days, and Zhang Zhifeng and his team had not made direct contact with SkyNet or the military. It was likely that the military district had already reached a unified opinion.

“I’m afraid you have already guessed the purpose of our visit this time, so I won’t beat around the bush. Let’s work together. Our military district and your base can join forces.” Zhang Zhifeng closed his eyes and finally spoke.

Han Ya, Yan Weiguo, and others all looked at Xiao Wen. Although they usually discussed things together, this matter had far-reaching implications.

If the military district did not connect to SkyNet, it meant that they did not want to contact the military, or they were afraid to do so.

After the initial depletion during the end of the world, the military district lacked weapons and gasoline, and they still relied on their own base for food and necessities. In this situation, the military district could only barely preserve themselves and had no ability to act recklessly.

Once they contacted the military, they would inevitably have to follow the military’s orders.

Compared to the outside world, the military district had preserved their military power well, and the military would not let them go.

It was not that the military did not want them to be safe but sending them to their death, but the situation outside was undoubtedly very grim.

Whether it was for rescue or support, the military district would need to deploy troops. And once they did so, the military district, which had barely survived in the end times, would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.

Yan Wei Guo understands Zhang Zhifeng’s thoughts very well, because he himself is a typical example.

For the sake of “protecting the country and defending the home,” and for the responsibility they shoulder, Yan’s troops have a survival rate of less than ten percent. If they had not been lucky enough to be taken over and supported by Xiao Wen’s group in the end, they would have disappeared long ago. At that time, they had no choice, but now it’s different, because they have the support of their own base, Zhang Zhifeng has one more chance to choose.

Obviously, Zhang Zhifeng has already made his choice.

Joining forces with the Apocalypse Base, which has sufficient resources, is like finding a foothold for survival. In today’s environment, the country probably won’t be able to sanction a military district that disobeys orders for several years, or even a dozen years.

However, after cooperating with the base, the military district can not only obtain security, but they are also aware that a huge arms factory is all in the base’s pocket. Once the cooperation is stable, the weapons and equipment produced by the arms factory will naturally be equipped to the military district’s troops. With food, guns, and a safe environment, the development speed will definitely surpass the areas that the country can control.

However, on the other hand, once the base agrees to cooperate, they may no longer be able to quietly develop themselves like they are doing now, because receiving a military district that disobeys orders will attract the attention of higher-ups. Even in the future, if order is restored, whether they can continue to develop stably is an unknown.

“I don’t accept cooperation,” Xiao Wen finally spoke after a long time.

Zhang Zhifeng’s expression froze, and his eyes couldn’t help but narrow.

“Can you tell me why?”

Xiao Wen nodded. “The foundation of cooperation is that both parties are on equal footing, Captain Zhang. Do you think we are equal?”

Zhang Zhifeng thought for a moment. “Indeed, if we were to cooperate, I would need you to provide food and some essential supplies for survival. But in return, the zombies have been continuously advancing towards the depths of the hiding area. To resist the zombies, it is impossible to rely solely on the number of people in your base. However, we can resist the invasion of the zombies on a large scale, whether it is from the number of people, the personal qualities of soldiers, or the supernatural abilities.”

Having understood Xiao Wen’s decision, he didn’t need to negotiate alone, and Han Ya naturally took over the conversation.

“Captain Zhang is right. If we are only talking about the confrontation between us two and the zombies, we can indeed become partners. But the problem now is that the zombies have not yet reached the position where we must resist, while SkyNet has already covered us. If we cooperate with you, we will be classified outside the sphere of influence of the military. If necessary, we may not be able to easily obtain the support of the military. Even on the day of world peace in the future, we may still become thorns in the military’s eyes. In this respect, the risks our base faces are too great.”

Zhang Zhifeng nodded.

What Han Ya said was indeed the truth. “But from another perspective, we have not yet entered SkyNet. We just don’t want the surviving soldiers in the end of the world to lose their lives due to the military’s dispatch. However, if we cannot reach a cooperation with you, we will inevitably have to obey the military’s orders to obtain food. Once they know that you have food and ammunition, do you think they will continue to let you live here peacefully?”

Zhang Zhifeng’s meaning is very clear.

Now that the internet is restored, there is a basic guarantee for aviation, and the military no longer needs to rely on the supply provided by Xiao Wen and his team.

The military can completely airlift supplies to the base.

Once there is no restriction on food, it will be easy for tens of thousands of soldiers in the military district to capture this small base.

Moreover, even if the military district does not actively send troops, once the military knows that the machines in the weapons factory are all in Xiao Wen’s hands, they will definitely order the military district to forcibly requisition them.

At that time, this small base will be completely unable to resist.

Han Ya smiled, “Captain Zhang, do you really think the military can provide you with sufficient food? I’m afraid there aren’t many places in the world that can restore planting now. The reserves of food are getting less and less, and the consumption of tens of thousands of people in the military district is not a small number. As for our base, to be honest, even if we abandon the current base, we can still ensure our own survival. But once you force us to leave, you won’t get anything, not even the machines in the weapons factory, let alone food and supplies. In the end, the only ones who will fall into desperation are yourselves. So we won’t accept cooperation. If you want to save yourselves and refuse to be restrained by the military, then you can only merge into the base. That means, once you accept, from that moment on, you will no longer be the military of the Tibetan military district, but the army of the Apocalypse base, and all actions will be under the command of Xiao Wen.”

As Han Ya’s voice fell, Zhang Zhifeng frowned, and several officers sitting behind him wanted to stand up angrily, but were suppressed by the staff next to Zhang Zhifeng.

The staff looked at Xiao Wen and others who were unmoved, and sighed in their hearts.

Merging into the Apocalypse base and following Xiao Wen’s command was their worst case scenario before they came. And now, it seems that the other party is only willing to accept their merger, and cooperation is unlikely.

“Following your command and following your rules, we can do it. But why should we?” Zhang Zhifeng stared at Xiao Wen and asked in a low voice.

Xiao Wen hooked his mouth, “Because we can continue to provide sufficient food and living supplies, ensuring that all people under the base can live normally. And we have sufficient materials to put all the machines in the weapons factory into production.”

Not only Zhang Zhifeng, but all the military officers who came with him were stunned by Xiao Wen’s words.

Endless supply of food and survival resources? What is the total national reserve?! Why is Xiao Wen so confident?!

Moreover, there are raw materials to allow all the machinery in the military factory to be put into production? That’s not just weapons and ammunition, but even the equipment lines for good friend armored vehicles!!

Xiao Wen whispered to Wen Le, who nodded and took out a list of materials that had been organized earlier from the space and placed it in front of Zhang Zhifeng.

“This is the situation of our base’s resources,” Wen Le said.

Zhang Zhifeng took it and took a deep breath.

Due to the characteristics of the space, Wen Le and Xiao Wen have been continuously growing crops and vegetables in the space, and with the comfortable environment inside, the breeding of animals and seafood is very fast.

The total amount accumulated even shocked Han Ya and the others at that time, let alone Zhang Zhifeng and the others who were unprepared.

Moreover, the materials collected by Xiao Wen and Wen Le on their way out of the Tibetan area, as well as the materials exchanged with the local survivors, made them not believe that the military district personnel would refuse the base’s recruitment under such conditions.

As they had expected, after seeing the base’s resource reserve, Zhang Zhifeng only said one sentence: “If I see these resources, I will agree to join the base.”

Han Ya and the others looked at Wen Le unconsciously, and Wen Le shrugged and agreed to Zhang Zhifeng’s request.

“The base cannot hold it. If you want to see it, you have to go out of the base. Do you want to see it now or wait until dawn?” Wen Le asked.

Zhang Zhifeng looked at Wen Le for a moment and twitched his mouth. “Where are these supplies?”

Wen Le blinked, “They’re in my space.”

Zhang Zhifeng paused for a moment, “Can your space hold all of them?”

Wen Le grinned, “My space is quite big. These things only take up a corner.”

Zhang Zhifeng closed his eyes and laughed bitterly for a while. “No wonder you guys are so confident. You rely on him, don’t you?!”

Seeing Zhang Zhifeng pointing at Wen Le, Han Ya and the others nodded seriously. From before the apocalypse to now, they have indeed relied on Wen Le to live so comfortably. But this is also their luck, which others can’t envy.

TL/Note: Today, I will also upload 5 chapters at once. (｡･･｡)

This chapter is brought to you by Momoko, thanks for the ko-fi!  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･

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After arranging all the processing from the machines to the raw materials, the base started a full-scale operation again.

Except for the people who were pulled out to become teachers and children under the age of sixteen who had already been arranged to start school, everyone under the age of seventy who could move was involved in production.

Although the development of the base has been relatively comfortable in the post-apocalyptic world, the lack of entertainment activities, coupled with the fact that people can’t go outside during the winter, made everyone particularly happy to participate in production.

Not only because the things produced can make their lives more comfortable and convenient, but also because having something to do can pass the time.

A few rare elderly people over seventy in the base were responsible for taking care of children under six years old. After experiencing the baptism of the apocalypse, even very young children were very well-behaved.

They played in the toy castle specially arranged by Wen Le under the care of several grandparents and never caused trouble where the adults were working.

Children aged seven to sixteen started to learn according to their pre-apocalyptic grade levels in classrooms specially built during the construction of the base. The apocalypse will end someday, and a new order will be established. The future of children still depends on absorbing knowledge to build it.

Some physically weak or defective people in the base, together with elderly people aged between sixty and seventy, made snacks for the children, such as dried fruit and potato chips.

Not only were the children welcomed, but even the adults couldn’t help but chuckle and ask for some.

The four thousand new soldiers in the base were divided into two teams, one for production and the other for road construction, alternating every day. And the road they were building led to the base in the Tibetan area.

Although the progress was certainly not as fast as the military district, it was still an attitude, which gave the military district some confidence.

Everyone in the base was working hard every day, and before they knew it, it was already December. The processed products in the base had accumulated to a certain quantity.

Except for the first few days when everyone was struggling to adapt to the machines and processes, after becoming more skilled, this kind of assembly line operation quickly met the needs of the base. Therefore, the accumulated products were quite substantial.

This food processing focused on canned food, mainly fish and meat. Although the canned food produced before the apocalypse was enough to last until now, the quantity was still very small.

Moreover, those who were capable of frequently having meat and fish after the apocalypse were extremely rare, except for the people in their own base. Even the neighboring military district with their base’s assistance couldn’t have meat and fish for every meal.

Apart from these two types of canned food, the rest are dehydrated vegetables and pickles.

After the apocalypse, vegetables were even scarcer than meat, but vegetables don’t stave off hunger like meat does, so the demand for them is not as high as for meat.

At most, people would just try them out. Looking at the finished products that arrived every day, Wen Le couldn’t help but feel happy.

Although these things were still far from enough to be distributed to other bases, they represented the future status of their base when they communicated with other bases.

“The road is open! The road is open!” A joyful voice suddenly came from the base communication room, and the once quiet room became noisy.

The person in charge of internal communication in the base quickly ran out and headed straight to the production area of the Second Ring Road. At this time, the leaders of the base were usually in the production area.

Wen Le was calculating the accumulation of finished products with Han Ya at the edge of the production area, while Xiao Wen silently accompanied them. Suddenly, a figure ran towards them from afar.

“Boss! The road is open!” With the approaching figure, the voice of the communicator also came over.

Wen Le’s eyes lit up, and he pulled Xiao Wen’s arm. “Let’s go and see!”

After briefly informing the person in charge of the production area, Han Ya followed Xiao Wen and Wen Le out of the base.

The voice of the communicator was loud, and most of the people nearby heard it. The previously mechanical sounds of the production area were soon replaced by the buzz of people’s voices. As the news spread, almost everyone in the base knew about it in less than half an hour.

People who were working couldn’t go out and directly see the road dug out outside the base like Wen Le and the others, but that didn’t affect their happy mood.

Although life in the base was comfortable, the range of activities shrank after the weather turned cold. In addition, the base had a small population, and almost everyone had known each other for such a long time after the apocalypse. Although the people from the military district who came over hadn’t communicated with most of the people in the base, it didn’t stop everyone from enjoying the excitement.

Before Wen Le and his group arrived at the entrance of the base, they ran into Lin Yan and his group who had also heard the news and came out.

When they arrived at the entrance of the base, the on-duty city guards had already prepared four vehicles. Wen Le and his two companions directly got into the car driven by Mo Yan and led the way down the newly repaired road away from the base.

Compared to the military district, the base had limited resources to mobilize people to repair roads. After so long, they had only managed to repair about thirty kilometers, and the rest was the result of the military district’s efforts.

When they arrived at their destination, everyone got out of the car and looked at the clearly incomplete road surface. Wen Le was puzzled, wasn’t the road supposed to be open?

Yin Chengyang, who was in charge of leading the road repair team today, walked over and raised the binoculars hanging around his neck. Wen Le understood immediately.

He took out a few binoculars from his space and handed them to the people who had come together in the car. They took turns looking through the binoculars.

Holding the binoculars, they could clearly see a long line of people in the distance, moving forward like a mighty dragon, in the direction Yin Chengyang had pointed out.

“Very professional,” Han Ya exclaimed.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Compared to their own stumbling efforts, this was truly professional road repair. Looking through the binoculars, there were at least tens of thousands of people, all working together without any chaos. Even the road they had repaired was smoother and more durable than their own.

“Cough… it’s the thought that counts, right?” said Yin Chengyang, feeling embarrassed.

Han Ya rolled his eyes at him, and the others stifled their laughter.

Yin Chengyang was really straightforward. Everyone present heard Han Ya’s one comment, but Yin Chengyang still tried to take credit for it.

“I thought it was really all done!” said Wen Le, rolling his eyes.

Yin Chengyang thought for a moment. “I don’t know if they saw us on the other side. If they did and they know we’re only a short distance away, they might speed up their actions and we could really be connected by tonight.”

“Wait! Look!” Lin Yan suddenly exclaimed.

“Signal flare!” Xiao Wen said, seeing it with Lin Yan.

The others looked up, and there was still some red smoke lingering in the blue sky. Before everyone could take their eyes off it, another string of yellow smoke exploded in the air.

“This can’t be for us, can it?” Han Ya asked.

Liu Yikun, who had come over with Lin Yan, spoke up. “If they were trying to remind us, they wouldn’t use different-colored signal flares. This should be them relaying a message back.”

As soon as Liu Yikun finished speaking, a red signal flare also rose in the distance, and not long after, a yellow one appeared as well.

“Look through the telescope!” Wen Le had been observing the movements of the army in the distance with the telescope since the first yellow signal flare went up.

After searching for a while, he finally saw someone on a car roof using a telescope to look in their direction.

“Brothers! Speed up! The people on the other side have already seen us. Let’s work hard and try to meet them tonight!” Yin Chengyang turned around and yelled at the base army behind him.

“Roar!” The orderly roar echoed in their ears, and Wen Le was stunned by the sound.

Unlike the various aspects of the base that Wen Le often participated in or observed, Wen Le had only seen the training of the base army at the very beginning, and later put more effort into the construction of the base. So after a long time, Wen Le was fortunate enough to see the spirit of their own army again.

However, Wen Le always felt a little strange, so he had to look at Liu Yikun, who came from the regular army.

“Do all soldiers in various armies respond with a ‘roar’?”

Liu Yikun twitched his mouth, “Hehe” twice.

Wen Le decided not to ask anymore.

They had seen what they needed to see, and Yin Chengyang drove Wen Le and the others back to the base, feeling that they were taking up space here.

Back at the base, Han Ya directly instructed the cafeteria that the team from the military district that was repairing the road would enter the base at an uncertain time in the evening, with more people than all the people in their own base. It was estimated that they could only start preparing the ingredients now in order to catch up.

Since the base began to carry out production and processing work, the base cafeteria has expanded. This way, everyone can have their meals in the cafeteria after a busy day, without having to prepare three meals themselves. Those who want to chat can chat, and those who are tired can go home and rest directly.

It is now half past two in the afternoon, and the cafeteria has just finished cleaning up after lunch. The cafeteria staff is chatting while preparing dinner ingredients. When they hear Han Ya’s announcement, they immediately speed up their work. For the people from the military district, everyone in the cafeteria feels a sense of sigh. They have come many times before, and their appetite is twice as much as that of the soldiers who have finished a whole day of training in the base. And when they transported supplies before, there were at most one or two thousand people, which was already exhausting for the cafeteria staff. But this time, there are ten thousand people, and everyone feels like scratching the walls.

Some of the more lively personalities directly shouted for overtime pay, and the person in charge of managing the cafeteria laughed heartily and agreed to it.

Wen Le and the others who walked with Han Ya did not object to his arrangement for the cafeteria. Since the people from the military district could come to the base to eat, they definitely wouldn’t prepare their own dinner!

That night, all the work in the base was finished early, and dinner time was also moved up to leave more time to prepare for the hungry wolves that were about to arrive.

At half past nine in the evening, the road was officially connected, and Yin Chengyang sent someone back to the base to inform them.

Upon receiving the notification, Han Ya immediately summoned all the base leaders to the conference room, even Yan Weiguo was invited.

“What happened?” Wen Le and Xiao Wen asked strangely as soon as they entered the conference room.

Originally, they thought that after the road was connected, they would let the military district’s team eat their fill and rest well first, and then discuss other matters tomorrow. Why did they suddenly hold such a solemn meeting? Han Ya did not explain directly, but waited until everyone was present before speaking.

“Just now, Yin Chengyang sent someone back to pass on a message. After the road was connected, they found that the military district had sent many leaders, including Zhao Deyang who wasn’t very competent and had worked with us in the arsenal.”

As soon as Han Ya finished speaking, the atmosphere in the meeting room became serious. The other side wouldn’t mobilize so many troops just for the sake of connecting the road between the military district and the base, something must have gone wrong.

“Surely the military district isn’t surrounded by zombies?!” Lin Yan said with a smirk.

“The possibility is too low. When Wen Le and I went out to collect supplies before, the evolution of zombies was not that great, and it’s impossible for them to have the power to break through the harsh and frozen plateau in just a few months,” Xiao Wen said seriously.

“Internal turmoil in the military district?” Wen Le asked.

Yan Wei Guo shook his head. “If there’s trouble within the military district, even hundreds of thousands of soldiers wouldn’t be able to suppress it, and it would be useless to come to us for help.”

“Then they can’t just come over and raid us because they think we have more supplies now that the road is open, right?!” Bai Yang shrugged.

If it weren’t for the fact that the other party was an elder, Wen Le really wanted to roll his eyes. They hadn’t raided anyone for half a year, and now they were going to do it in the midst of snow and ice? And with the leadership team leading the charge, while the soldiers waited at the military district?

Beep beep beep!

Han Ya’s communicator on his waist rang. He pressed the answer button and it was the city defense soldier informing them that the other party’s troops had arrived.

Calculating the time it took for Yin Chengyang’s messenger to return and Han Ya’s notification for the meeting, the other party should have arrived by now.

Alright, everyone stop guessing and go out to see them.

TL/Note: Today, I will also upload 5 chapters at once. (｡･･｡)

This chapter is brought to you by Momoko, thanks for the ko-fi!  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･

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The next day, Wen Le prepared the supplies in the warehouse and, after meeting with Wang Zhixin, he and Xiao Wen began to inventory them directly. After both sides confirmed the inventory, Xiao Wen left Tarim with Wen Le.

Afterwards, they went to several resource sites and, following their previous model of cooperation, signed contracts with the local survivors one by one and collected the existing resources, leaving the rest of the mining work to the local survivors.

Being able to exchange survival supplies for stable work is extremely desirable for any group of survivors. Since the apocalypse began, the inability to produce food has been the biggest hidden danger in all the surviving gathering places around the world. The inability to supplement food has made Xiao Wen and Wen Le welcomed and valued wherever they went.

On the way back, the two of them were in a cheerful mood. Looking at the various cooperation points marked on the map in their hands, Xiao Wen had a preliminary plan in his mind, but whether it could be implemented or not would require consideration from all aspects when they returned to base.

After entering the Tibetan area, with no zombies to stop them, their progress was much faster. They rushed back and finally arrived at the base before the first snowfall.

The construction of the base had basically come to a stop. According to the weather forecast, the next drop in temperature was less than three days away. Now, besides worrying about Xiao Wen and Wen Le being outside, everyone was making preparations to welcome the winter.

“We’re back! The boss is back!”

Suddenly, a cry echoed throughout the communication room.

The wireless communication team had now moved out of the meeting room in the courtyard and settled into another office, next to the newly built monitoring room.

The worker who had been watching the screen all along saw Xiao Wen and Wen Le’s car enter the wireless range.

“Are you sure?” The team leader of the communication team, who had not yet left work, rushed over in a flash.

“Confirmed!” The worker nodded in surprise. “We’ve already replaced all the connectors with the new generation, and only the bosses have the old ones that haven’t been collected and replaced.”

Looking at the only green dot among the red dots on the screen, the team leader nodded and stood up, rushing out of the door.

Xiao Wen and his team had been away for so long that the base leaders had come to ask several times, so the team leader went to the courtyard to report as soon as he confirmed.

“They finally came back!” Han Ya breathed a sigh of relief when he received the news.

Although they trusted the abilities of the two people outside, as the harsh winter approached, the people in the base couldn’t help but start to worry.

So when Xiao Wen and Wen Le saw the base gate from afar, they saw many people gathered in front of the gate.

Xiao Wen parked the car outside the gate and got out with Wen Le, walking towards the people in front of the gate. And someone else was responsible for driving the car to a designated location.

“You’re finally back,” Lin Yan said with a smile.

“What’s going on?” Wen Le was slightly surprised.

Yan Wei Guo, who knew the news and came out together, shook his head helplessly, “It’s going to get colder and snow in less than three days. If you don’t come back now, it’ll be difficult to come back.”

Wen Le shrugged and stuck out his tongue. The journey was too smooth, and they almost forgot to come back before the snow.

Han Ya laughed, “Looking at Wen Le like this, did you forget to come back because you were having too much fun out there?!”

Xiao Wen’s eyes flashed with a hint of unease, but he quickly concealed it. Except for Wen Le, who had been traveling with him, no one else noticed. They all thought that Wen Le was the only one who was crazy about playing.

“Alright, let’s go in. You guys seem to have had a smooth journey. Rest well when you get back, and we’ll talk about other matters later,” Yan Wei Guo patted Xiao Wen’s shoulder.

Back at the courtyard, Xiao Wen looked at Wen Le, who blinked and nodded with a smile. Although they had space to rest in, traveling was still tiring. However, both of them were in good spirits, so they ignored the fatigue.

“Let’s gather first. We didn’t tire ourselves out on this journey,” Xiao Wen said to everyone.

Seeing Wen Le also nodding along, everyone had no objections. Perhaps no one in the entire base was not curious about the gains from their trip this time. Of course, people couldn’t help but mock them in their hearts: Damn! Only you two can wander around in the zombie horde for a few months and still dare to say you’re not tired! You guys are not human!!

After everyone entered the meeting room and sat down, Wen Le still brought out some snacks and drinks from the space. Everyone grabbed some and treated it as a small gathering.

However, it had to be said that during Wen Le’s absence from the base, although there was no difference in the main meals with the supplies left by Wen Le before leaving, there were no more pre-apocalyptic snacks and small treats. At least for now, the base did not have the ability and energy to produce processed snacks and treats.

Han Ya briefly talked about the progress of the base during this period.

It was similar to the previous estimates before the two left. The entire base, including the outer wall of the Second Ring Road and the entire insulation roof, including the Second Ring Road, had been built. The part that exceeded their expectations was when the troops from the Tibetan military district came to take supplies, they also sent people to help with the construction.

The only thing that surprised the two of them was the frequent communication between the Tibetan military region and the base during this period of time, and their relationship gradually became closer. Both sides silently approached each other with affection. Many things no longer needed to be negotiated in black and white. The high-level officials of the military region and Han Ya and others had already developed a certain tacit understanding.

“You mean they plan to open a road directly to the base?” Xiao Wen raised an eyebrow and asked.

Han Ya nodded, “It’s not just a plan. It’s been almost a month since they last came here, so they should have started building the road by now.”

Xiao Wen thought for a moment, “Given their numbers, building a road shouldn’t be a difficult task. If they have the intention, we should also give some response. The supplies we’ve collected this time far exceed your imagination, and we can take out some of them for them.”

When Xiao Wen mentioned their collection this time, many people in the room brightened up and urged the two to speak quickly.

Xiao Wen and Wen Le did not beat around the bush and roughly explained their experience along the way.

Without caring about the scattered supplies collected by the two, Han Ya directly instructed someone to find professionals to study the ten or so contracts that Wen Le had presented. As for some aspects that the base did not have professionals to study, they could only wait for the next meeting with the military region and ask for some professionals to come over.

Due to the large-scale collection this time, Xiao Wen and Wen Le had no time and energy to organize them. They simply roughly stacked them according to their types when they were stored in the space.

After chatting for a while, everyone dispersed. Except for the team members on guard patrol and the necessary facility workers, all the people in the base, regardless of gender or age, gathered in the second ring.

Wen Le first took out all the production and processing equipment he had collected along the way, but even though training grounds like the martial arts field had been requisitioned, not all the equipment could be set up. There was still some equipment that couldn’t be accommodated and had to be stored in Wen Le’s space.

Looking at the dense array of machines, everyone finally realized that Wen Le and Xiao Wen had really exceeded the plan in their collection this time. The equipment that was currently displayed was only a portion of the small-scale processing equipment, and there were still other types of equipment such as large-scale processing equipment, mineral resources, cultural materials, daily necessities, and food. These items were sorted and classified by designated personnel, and Wen Le and Xiao Wen went back to rest while Han Ya and others joined the sorting.

It took a total of four days to sort and organize all the small equipment, including the small equipment that Wen Le had not taken out the first time. However, there were some machines without operating instructions, and Wen Le kept them to study slowly when there was time in the future.

During these four days, Wen Le and Xiao Wen almost always sorted the types of raw materials in the space. Fortunately, most of the raw materials were obtained through trading with survivors, and they had been specially marked when they were received in the space.

On the fifth day, Han Ya called a meeting of all the base management to determine the types of processing that would be put into production within the base starting in the winter.

All the equipment with clear operating procedures and purposes, as well as the corresponding sorted raw materials, were listed on paper and distributed to everyone before the meeting. While waiting for everyone to arrive, Wen Le read through the list from beginning to end. Fabric production and cotton processing were given special emphasis by Wen Le, while the others were not urgent and could be discussed together.

Xiao Wen turned his head and looked at the prominent symbols drawn by Wen Le, squinting his eyes slightly. After a moment of thought, he leaned over to Wen Le’s ear and whispered, “We acquired a large cotton processing factory. If the quantity of small-scale processing is too large, the energy and manpower required will be too much. It’s better to focus on large-scale processing.”

Wen Le was stunned for a moment. After thinking carefully, he remembered that he had indeed received such a large processing plant, which was almost the same size as the tobacco factory that had been acquired before. Later, he received too many and too miscellaneous things, so he forgot about it.

“I remember the equipment and process of that factory very clearly,” Wen Le said in a low voice.

Xiao Wen nodded.

After the meeting started, as expected, many people proposed that the first priority for winter supplies investment should be for production. Although the base has insulation ceilings and heating equipment installed in the inner city, the second ring road and along the roads to ensure the warmth of the base, no one will forget the Tibet Military District, which comes to show their existence from time to time. Now that both sides have expressed their willingness to merge, wouldn’t it be better to consider the bodyguards of the future base for both sides?

“Okay, fabric production, cotton processing, garment making, and fur processing will be put into production first. After the relevant personnel have finished the meeting, they will calculate the required personnel requirements and quantities, as well as the corresponding raw materials, and report to me,” Han Ya summarized.

“Just a moment,” Xiao Wen interrupted, “do everything else according to Han Ya’s requirements, except for cotton processing. We also collected a large cotton processing factory before, all of which are large machines. The output should be larger than small-scale processing, and the energy expended will be less. When we find out more, we can do large-scale processing directly.”

Han Ya nodded.

“I have a proposal. Let’s see if it’s feasible,” Lin Yan had been silent all the time, and now he spoke up.

“What proposal?” Han Ya asked.

“For cotton processing, we will continue to use small-scale equipment while sending the large-scale equipment directly to the military district. We will provide the raw materials, and they can produce the finished products themselves. We don’t need to put all of our manpower into producing warm supplies. We can combine other processing and production as well. It has been almost a year since the end of the world, and I believe that the survivors in the Central Plains base should be able to survive and not be easily overrun by zombies. We can slowly produce some storable supplies, accumulate them over time, and use them for trade when we can exchange goods with other bases.”

Lin Yan’s proposal opened a window for Xiao Wen and Han Ya to better and more quickly execute their next plan.

“I think it makes sense. We have already agreed to give some of the coal fuel we collected to the military district. With these things for heating, they can produce faster than us, especially since they have more people. And these are things they need for themselves,” said Han Ya.

Many people reconsidered their stance.

Han Ya glanced at Xiao Wen and paused before saying, “It seems like we should thoroughly confirm the merger with the military district. After all, we can’t give things away for free. We need to take a stance and show them we mean business.”

Xiao Wen nodded, “In that case, let’s first focus on what our base needs for production and what Lin Yan said about goods for future trade. We can discuss the rest with the military district if the merger is confirmed.”

The group’s attention shifted away from essential daily necessities that required large-scale production. These could be discussed with the military district since they have more people and can handle production more efficiently than their smaller group.

This way, food processing was put on the agenda. Currently, the food grown in the base is not enough to support three meals a day, so the raw materials came from Wen Le’s space.

Previously, Wen Le and Xiao Wen were not too focused on planting in the space since they had enough reserves to last a long time, even with the military district’s population of over ten thousand.

But since they can now process the food, they don’t mind speeding up the planting and investing in processing.

The Central Plains region would not have the resources for planting or food processing for several years, so their processed food would sell well for at least a decade.

With the weapon production in the factory and the military district’s troops guarding them, their base would be able to thrive in this chaotic and desperate era.

TL/Note: Today, I will also upload 5 chapters at once. (｡･･｡)

This chapter is brought to you by Momoko, thanks for the ko-fi!  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･

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After finishing their meal, Wen Le cleaned up the table and sat with Xiao Wen at the stone table in the courtyard.

Looking around, on one side of the yard was a field of golden crops, while on the other side stretched an endless sea.

The two of them were each thinking about what items they could offer for exchange, and they discussed and recorded them on the table. After tallying everything up, the list of goods they had recorded included food, clothing, medicine, and many other daily necessities.

It wasn’t that they were being generous; judging from the items they listed, they had enough to support the consumption of over two thousand people. From a sustainable perspective, in order to continuously obtain fuel energy in the future, it was necessary to ensure that Wang Zhixin and his group could survive and obtain licenses, so that they could spend time refining the energy into a usable form for Xiao Wen and his group.

“Should we reserve some supplies for them this time?” Wen Le asked.

“Based on their requests, I estimate that they are already running low on supplies, otherwise they wouldn’t have taken the risk of cooperating with us,” Xiao Wen replied, lifting his head from the table.

“Indeed. Although cooperation is about each side taking what they need, they have already taken a big risk by exposing themselves to us,” Xiao Wen glanced at the list, “but I believe they will be grateful for this risk in the end.”

Wen Le smiled.

Meanwhile, Wang Zhixin and his seven companions had walked for nearly ten minutes along the pipeline to reach the exit. Along the way, no one spoke.

The exit of the pipeline led to an underground factory similar to the one where Xiao Wen and Wen Le obtained oil. Unlike the spaciousness of that factory, this one had been transformed into a huge room resembling a studio.

Looking at the wall on the left, a row of surveillance screens were running, monitoring every corner of the Tarim Oilfield above and below ground.

On the other side, seven or eight people were sitting in front of a conference table made up of several desks.

“How did it go?” One of the middle-aged men hurriedly asked when Wang Zhixin and his companions came out.

Wang Zhixin nodded and sat down at the table with the others.

“The two people said they are from Apocalypse base in the Tibetan area, and they seem very interested in our proposal for cooperation. I think the possibility of cooperation is high. And both of them look healthy and well-fed, their clothes are clean and neat. Just by looking at them, they seem like people who lived a luxurious life before the end of the world.”

“Of course they look healthy when they have apples to munch on all the time,” a young man who had been staring at the monitor muttered under his breath.

Many people secretly swallowed their saliva.

Apples! If they were in the pre-apocalyptic world, even those who worked year-round in the Tarim would have been able to pick and choose their fruits. It’s nothing like now, where they can barely fill their stomachs, and with the dwindling food supplies, they don’t know what they’ll eat next. Will they drink crude oil?!

“The Tibetan area…” muttered the first elderly man present, who was over fifty.

Others also thought silently.

It’s not easy to get from the Tibetan area to here. Although the population in the Tibetan area must be sparse, the number of zombies beyond the Tibetan area is enough to make their scalp numb. These two people were able to rush all the way here, indicating that their ability was enough to make them unparalleled.

“I wonder what kind of Apocalypse base they have. It would be great if we could join them if it’s good enough,” sighed another young man.

“Join them?” The only female member present sneered, “Even if the conditions over there are good, how can our two thousand people go there? Fly over there like those two, stepping on zombie heads?”

“They mentioned something…” One of the middle-aged men who had followed Wang Zhixin to see Xiao Wen hesitated for a moment.

The others looked up at him.

Wang Zhixin knew what he was thinking and continued, “They mentioned before that they not only need gasoline and diesel, but also aviation gasoline.”

“Airplanes?!” One of the people who didn’t go with them was stunned and exclaimed in horror.

The leader, an old man, shook his head.

“Even if they have airplanes, what’s the use? The satellites in the sky are useless, and the airplanes can at most fly around nearby. If they really fly out, they probably won’t be able to find their way back.”

“But at least we know that Apocalypse base has aviation machinery,” Wang Zhixin thought for a moment, then looked at the old man. “Wei Lao, do you think they could be military personnel?”

The old man thought for a moment and denied it outright. “No. I saw them when they entered our surveillance range, and their behavior is not that of military personnel. No matter how strong their abilities are, the military cannot allow two non-military personnel to collect such important supplies as fuel on their own.”

However, it is also impossible to say that they have nothing to do with the military at all. The car they drove into Turpan is definitely produced by the military.

“Since they are interested in cooperation, it proves that their faction needs a large amount of energy, preferably a continuous supply. Being located in the Tibetan area and needing energy, it is very likely to be two possibilities. One, they are cooperating with the military. They use their abilities to obtain energy and trade it with the military, and then obtain the supplies they need from the military. Two, the non-military base they are in needs energy for themselves,” Wang Zhixin said.

“In terms of the first point, I think the possibility is not very high. With the abilities of those two individuals, obtaining food and supplies for survival is easy. And the things that need to be traded with the military are nothing but weapons. The number of weapons obtained in exchange for a large amount of fuel is definitely not small, but does the military district in the Tibetan area have the ability to offer a large quantity of weapons for trade? Moreover, a military district has at least tens of thousands of people, and what they need the most is not fuel, but food to feed these tens of thousands of people!” said a middle-aged man, analyzing.

“In this case, the possibility of the second point becomes much greater. Therefore, the base that requires a large amount of energy for development is bound to be not too small. They can develop underground right under the military’s nose… This base is not simple!” the only female member of the team, Fang Cheng, said.

“So far, their impact on us is not significant. Now we need to ensure the feasibility of the cooperation. Our supplies are almost exhausted. No matter what, we need to get through this current challenge first before thinking about other things,” Wei Lao knocked on the table, interrupting the conversation.

“Wei Lao, about tomorrow’s cooperation…” Wang Zhixin said.

“You guys can decide on that. Write down what you need. Negotiations are nothing more than demanding high prices and paying back accordingly,” the old man waved his hand, allowing others to discuss together. He was getting old and had no tomorrow. He would leave it to the younger generation and help them pass through the obstacles and offer advice while he was still alive.

The others looked at each other and understood Wei Lao’s meaning, so they didn’t say much more.

Wang Zhixin organized everyone to discuss the supplies they needed and the bottom line that the other party might pay.

The next day, when Xiao Wen and Wen Le arrived at the underground factory, Wang Zhixin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although there was no footage of Xiao Wen and the other person leaving on the monitor, they couldn’t relax until they saw them in person. This cooperation was very important to them and had a high possibility of determining the life and death of their over 2,000 people.

“Did we keep you waiting?” Wen Le asked with a smile, noticing the relieved expressions on Wang Zhixin and the others.

Wang Zhixin shook his head and led the two to the table that they had prepared in advance.

After everyone had settled down around the table, both sides didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

Xiao Wen and Wen Le’s main task this time was gasoline and diesel. They didn’t know much about other petroleum products, but they had found some relevant books the day before and roughly listed the types and quantities needed. The specifics would have to be sorted out by their team at the base and then they could reconfirm during their next visit.

After receiving the list, Wang Zhixin discussed it carefully with the people around him, and then finally confirmed the petroleum products they could provide in the second half of the year with Xiao Wen.

Xiao Wen and Wen Le had no objections, so the remaining discussion was about the supplies they needed to pay for.

The most important of these was food.

Before the apocalypse, the water resources in Tarim were not abundant, but with the awakening of human abilities, nearly half of all the abilities among Wang Zhixin’s group were related to water. Therefore, they did not lack water resources.

In their own view, the list provided by Wang Zhixin was already overpriced, so they were waiting for Xiao Wen and Wen Le to negotiate.

However, for Xiao Wen and Wen Le, who had experience trading with the military in the Tibetan area, what Wang Zhixin’s group was asking for was nothing more than a small request. They did not even bother to bargain and just agreed.

Wang Zhixin was a little surprised and asked, “These supplies?”

Xiao Wen nodded, “These supplies will be used to pay for the fuel we will need in six months.”

The few people who came with Wang Zhixin looked at each other in confusion.

Wen Le knew what they were thinking and smiled, “As you said before, we will give you two-thirds of the supplies as a deposit tomorrow, and when we come to collect the fuel in six months, we will pay the remaining one-third. Your survival will be ensured, and our fuel will be guaranteed as well. It’s a win-win situation. Next time we come, we will bring some professionals with us to renegotiate our future fuel requirements. We hope to have a long-term cooperation with everyone.”

After reviewing the list with his companions, Wang Zhixin and Xiao Wen finalized the quantity of finished oil they could provide for the latter half of the year. Xiao Wen and Wen Le had no objections, so they moved on to discussing the materials they would need to pay for.

The most important of these was food. Prior to the apocalypse, water resources in the Tarim Basin were not abundant, but as humans began to awaken their special abilities, nearly half of Wang Zhixin’s group of ability users were skilled in controlling water. Therefore, they were not lacking in water resources.

Wang Zhixin presented a list of prices that he believed to be fair, but Xiao Wen and Wen Le had experience trading with the military in the Tibetan region and knew that the prices were not unreasonable. They agreed to the prices without haggling, which surprised Wang Zhixin and his companions.

Xiao Wen explained that they needed these materials as payment for the fuel they would require in six months. They suggested paying two-thirds of the price upfront as a deposit, and the remaining third when they returned to collect the fuel. The proposal was mutually beneficial, and they hoped to establish a long-term partnership.

Wang Zhixin promised to prepare enough fuel according to the list in six months and said that they would not work with other large bases besides scattered survivors. Xiao Wen and Wang Zhixin shook hands, agreeing to meet the following day to exchange goods.

Once they left, Xiao Wen and Wen Le sorted the goods according to the list and left tomorrow’s delivery in a corner of the yard. After finishing their work, they took a shower and relaxed with some food and tea. Wen Le complained that sorting the materials was tiring, but Xiao Wen explained that it was worth it to establish partnerships with local survivors who could extract materials for them in exchange for supplies.

TL/Note: Today, I will also upload 5 chapters at once. (｡･･｡)

This chapter is brought to you by Momoko, thanks for the ko-fi!  (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･

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The lock on the secret door was not complicated. Xiao Wen fiddled with it a few times and it opened easily. The dark interior was filled with the distinctive smell of oil. Xiao Wen held up a lamp in one hand and took the damp cloth that Wen Le handed him to cover his mouth and nose. He stepped inside, and Wen Le followed closely behind, gently closing the secret door.

The area inside was as large as a factory floor, with countless pipes crisscrossing the walls on one side. Instead of heading straight for the pipes, the two of them each fixed six lamps to the wall, illuminating the interior clearly.

After installing the lighting, they went straight for the pipes. There were pipes of all sizes, with some as large as five meters in diameter and others as small as half a meter. Xiao Wen stood in front of a pipe and observed it carefully for a while, then bent down and touched the ground with his fingers before smelling them.

“This should be the gasoline pipeline,” Xiao Wen pointed to the pipe in front of him.

Wen Le also pointed to a valve next to him and said, “I think this one is diesel.”

Xiao Wen walked over to Wen Le and observed it carefully, “Indeed, it’s diesel.”

Looking around at the surrounding pipes, Wen Le said, “Out of all these pipes, only these two have any markings on them. We’ll have to try them out and see how much oil we can collect from them. Let’s leave the rest for now.”

“Okay, are the containers ready?” Xiao Wen asked.

Wen Le nodded, “They were prepared back at the base.” As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a custom-made box that was about ten cubic meters in size appeared.

“Fortunately, there’s enough space here, or we wouldn’t have been able to fit the box in,” Wen Le remarked.

Xiao Wen smiled, “If we couldn’t fit it in, we would have had to do it the hard way and transfer the oil little by little with small buckets!”

Wen Le smirked and refused to imagine such a scenario.

He then pulled out a pipe from his space that could connect to the gasoline pipeline and placed the other end into the box.

After securing it, Wen Le nodded to Xiao Wen, and he slowly opened the valve, allowing gasoline to flow into the container.

Wen Le sat on top of the container, keeping an eye on the oil level. Whenever the container was full, he immediately swapped it out with an empty one from his space to continue collecting oil. Xiao Wen caught the apples Wen Le tossed down from above and leaned against the valve, slowly nibbling on them.

“I don’t have a pipe that can connect to the diesel,” Wen Le said, closing his eyes and searching his space.

Xiao Wen looked up and examined the pipe opening, which was nearly one circle larger than the gasoline pipeline.

“How thick is your thickest pipe?” Xiao Wen asked.

Wen Le thought for a moment, “It’s somewhere between the size of the gasoline and diesel pipelines.”

“That’ll do. I’ll just open the valve a little and use the pipe to connect it. If we try to pour it directly into the container, we’ll end up spilling a lot,” Xiao Wen said. Suddenly, he furrowed his brows and looked around.

“What’s wrong?” Wen Le asked curiously.

Xiao Wen didn’t answer, but narrowed his eyes and looked around.

Seeing Xiao Wen’s actions, Wen Le also straightened up and scanned the entire factory with his spiritual power, leaving no small detail unnoticed.

After a while, Wen Le opened his eyes and met Xiao Wen’s gaze. He nodded and slightly gestured in a direction.

Xiao Wen walked over to where Wen Le had gestured. It was a weathered cement wall that, at first glance, seemed to have nothing except for some dirty marks.

However, Xiao Wen carefully felt around the wall with his hands and soon found a small protrusion.

“This should be the latest surveillance device from before the apocalypse. No wonder we didn’t notice it,” he said while patting the monitor and then walking away without bothering to turn it off.

“We might have been noticed on our way here,” Wen Le shrugged and didn’t say much about Xiao Wen’s behavior of leaving the surveillance device running.

After all, they were outsiders and there was no need to pick a fight with the local survivors. Moreover, since they had not blocked access to the oil products, this factory seemed to be a place where the local survivors extracted oil together.

Since the owner was so generous, there was no need for them to disrupt the locals. Besides, whether or not they were being watched had little effect on them, as long as they had such an incredible space at their disposal, there was probably no one who could really harm them.

Putting the surveillance device aside, the two continued to work together, searching for gasoline and diesel.

“The next time we come, we should bring a maintenance person for the fighter jet. The aviation gasoline used for the jet should be different from the gasoline we usually use. We should let them identify it so we can prepare some in advance,” Xiao Wen looked at the remaining pipelines on the wall and said.

“Okay,” Wen Le nodded, feeling a bit regretful as well.

Their base was in the early stages of development, and they were extremely lacking in all resources. If they had someone who knew the types of oil in these pipelines, it would be great. Because they didn’t know the types, they couldn’t even collect them. Who knows which of these pipes contained liquid or gas. If they encountered something that would explode on contact with air, they wouldn’t even have a place to cry.

“Let’s rest for now. There’s still a lot of oil left. We’ll continue after we rest,” Wen Le looked at the container that was about to be filled and said to Xiao Wen.

“Okay. You be careful. I’ll check if there are any leaks after I close the valves,” Xiao Wen said, standing up and forcefully closing the valves.

“Alright, neither of them are leaking,” Wen Le said as he jumped down from the container, letting Xiao Wen take the full container. He waved his hand and retrieved the two full boxes back into the storage space.

Just as Wen Le was about to return to the storage space with Xiao Wen, his expanded mental power picked up some movement.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Wen asked curiously. As he was hugging Wen Le, he felt the tensing of Wen Le’s body when he sensed something.

“Someone’s here,” Wen Le whispered, leaning on Xiao Wen’s shoulder without moving.

He extended one hand and pushed Xiao Wen’s face away from the hidden door, and the two of them stared at a pipeline with a diameter of about two and a half meters.

As soon as Wang Zhixin opened the pipeline door, he was met with two pairs of straight and intense gazes that made him feel uneasy.

With a light cough, he gestured slightly to the person behind him, and then took the lead to walk out of the pipeline.

Including Wang Zhixin, there were a total of seven people who came this time. When all seven people walked out of the pipeline and came in front of Xiao Wen and Wen Le, Wen Le did not climb down from Xiao Wen’s body.

Wang Zhixin smiled awkwardly at the two of them. Xiao Wen nodded expressionlessly, while Wen Le looked at them with shining eyes.

The people on the opposite side really wanted to criticize.

Come on! You two are the outsiders, okay? Do you have to be so calm? It makes them, the locals, look like unwelcome outsiders.

“Hello, I am Wang Zhixin, the deputy chief engineer of the original Tarim Oil field,” Wang Zhixin said, introducing himself and extending his hand.

After hearing the last sentence, Xiao Wen’s eyes flashed with a glimmer of light, and Wen Le’s already bright eyes became even brighter.

Xiao Wen let go of Wen Le’s embrace and shook hands with Wang Zhixin.

“Hello, I’m Xiao Wen.”

Taking the opportunity, Wen Le stood behind Xiao Wen.

“I’d like to ask, where are you two from? Of course, we have no other intentions. If it’s not convenient, just ignore what I said,” Wang Zhixin said with a smile.

Xiao Wen smiled, “There’s nothing we can’t say. We’re from Apocalypse base in the Tibetan area.”

“Tibetan area” Wang Zhixin’s pupils contracted as he repeated the words in a whisper, firming up his resolve. “We are here to make a deal with you two. If possible, this transaction could potentially last for a long time. I wonder if you are interested,” he said, smiling amiably.

Xiao Wen raised an eyebrow. “Tell me more.”

“Not to hide anything from you, but we have very little stock of gasoline and diesel left, especially after the amount you took today. Given the distance between your base and here, I believe that the remaining oil in the pipeline will be taken by other survivors here before you come again. So next time, you may end up making a wasted trip,” explained Wang Zhixin.

Xiao Wen looked at him. “So what do you propose?”

“I suggest we make a deal. We provide you with enough gasoline and diesel when you come next time, and you provide us with survival supplies such as food, clothing, and medicine. Food is the most important. You provide us with the supplies, and we refine gasoline and diesel for you. If you can offer us something we’re satisfied with, we can even provide oil products exclusively for you,” proposed Wang Zhixin, maintaining his unwavering smile.

Xiao Wen nodded. “You provide oil products, and we provide survival supplies. That’s fair. But what do you want specifically?”

“Survival supplies, mainly food, but also clothing, medicine, and other essentials. If you can provide something we’re really satisfied with, we can even consider offering oil products only to you,” Wang Zhixin reiterated.

Xiao Wen narrowed his eyes. “You’re very smart.”

Wang Zhixin smiled but did not speak.

“How many people do you have? And how much oil can you provide in six months? And when I say oil, I’m not just talking about gasoline and diesel, but also aviation gasoline,” said Xiao Wen seriously.

Although they tried to maintain a calm exterior, Wang Zhixin and the six people behind him couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous when they heard about aviation gasoline.

“We have over 2,300 people in total, with 2,100 oil workers and 200 survivors who used to work in other logistical positions here. I’ll need to go back and calculate how much oil we can provide in six months. At the beginning, there were a lot of existing crude oil reserves, so production in the first half year will definitely be higher than in the later period. When the crude oil reserves are depleted, we will have to collect crude oil while refining, which will slow things down a bit,” Wang Zhixin explained.

“Okay, you go back and calculate how much oil we can take from you in six months, and we’ll calculate the supplies we can offer in return. Let’s meet here at noon tomorrow,” Xiao Wen said.

Wang Zhixin thought for a moment and nodded.

Watching the seven people walk back into the pipeline, Xiao Wen and Wen Le exchanged a glance but didn’t say anything. They opened the secret door and left the factory. After carefully scanning the building and finding no surveillance cameras, Wen Le pulled Xiao Wen into their safe space.

“It looks like we’re going to have a big harvest this time!” Wen Le let go of Xiao Wen and walked over to the box filled with gasoline, patting it with a smile.

Xiao Wen smiled and walked over to clean their dirty hands with Wen Le.

---

On the morning of the fifth day, all the preparations were done. Xiao Wen and Wen Le sat in the modified military jeep and waved goodbye to the core members of the base who came to see them off at the gate before setting off.

As they couldn’t see the base anymore in the distance, Wen Le suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of reluctance, as if leaving home for a long journey.

Xiao Wen looked at the expression on Wen Le’s face and comforted his with a smile, “It’s okay, we’re coming back. Think about the list that Han Ya gave you.”

Just as he finished speaking, Wen Le’s expression twisted instantly. He took out the thick stack of lists he had received earlier, which didn’t even include the maps. If they added maps from various places, the thickness could rival that of a dictionary.

“Do they think we’re gods or something?!” Wen Le gritted his teeth.

Xiao Wen stifled a laugh and didn’t explain. According to Han Ya, it was best to collect everything they saw along the way and bring it back to the base. The base was in its early stages of development, and not only were resources scarce, but even soil that could be used for farming was a precious commodity.

He couldn’t say this to Wen Le, at least not now, lest he get too excited and rush back to the base and confront Han Ya and the others.

Seeing Xiao Wen smirk, Wen Le snorted. Did he think he didn’t know the words that Han Ya had secretly told him? It turns out that Han Ya’s words were always covered by Xiao Wen’s spiritual power, so if they whispered, they should move a little further away.

However, when he thought about the situation at the base, Wen Le could only swallow his grievances and collect resources obediently.

This time, it’s rare that we’re out purely to gather supplies. It would be strange if we didn’t leave a trace wherever we go!

“I’m still a little worried about the military district changing the supplies at the base while I’m not back,” Wen Le said, looking down at the compass and confirming that the direction was correct before speaking.

“Didn’t we already discuss this? We’ll wait until we get back to exchange any supplies. Besides, didn’t you leave enough food and coal behind? Even if they’re in a hurry, it’s only these two things. Han Ya and the others can handle it. But we need to speed up. I’m worried that the satellite will recover when we’re not aware, not only for the safety of the base, but also our movements may be exposed to others.”

“Alas! Such a laborious life!” Wen Le sighed.

Xiao Wen laughed, “Alright, at least you’re better than Han Ya.”

Wen Le also laughed. It’s no wonder that the members of the base privately called him “Housekeeper Han.” Han Ya almost had to go over every little thing in the base.

“There are still too few people in the base, and even fewer talented people,” Xiao Wen said helplessly.

“That’s true. We’ll probably find survivors this time, and then we can bring them back,” Wen Le shrugged.

“Indeed, anyone who can survive until now in the apocalypse must have some ability. No one can deny that,” Xiao Wen agreed.

“However, no one knows how the base is distributed in Xinjiang. After all, there are many crops grown there, and there are nearby oil fields. The gasoline reserves are abundant, and they are probably living better than us,” Wen Le said.

Xiao Wen frowned, “If all else fails, we can always exchange. I don’t believe they don’t lack vegetables, fruits, and meat.”

Wen Le nodded. That’s probably the only option they have.

Because the two of them wanted to make good time on the road, they kept going until nightfall. Apart from a bathroom break, they continued on their journey. When they got hungry, they took out the precooked dishes that Wen Le had stored in his space before the apocalypse. These dishes had been kept secret from everyone at the base, except for a few people who knew that Wen Le had been gathering supplies before the apocalypse. They couldn’t explain it to anyone else; they couldn’t just say that they knew about the apocalypse in advance. That would require too much explanation.

As night fell, they quickly entered their space with their car.

They closed their eyes and rested for a moment after the sudden light, then got out of the car to stretch their stiff bodies.

They took out two portions of Western-style food and sat at the table in the stone villa to have dinner.

Since they had just set out, they were not very tired yet. Xiao Wen went to the fields to operate the machinery to harvest the ripe crops. Wen Le went to the lake, got on the small wooden boat that he had collected before the apocalypse, and fished while using his mental power to scan the list that Han Ya had given him and the maps of various places that he had marked. He tried to piece them together in his mind to save time instead of having to flip through maps and information.

When they became a little tired, they went back to their villa room to sleep and continued their journey the next day.

They continued like this for six days until they finally left the Tibetan area and entered the Xinjiang region.

It was only when they approached the border between the two regions that they began to encounter zombies. They started with just a few, but gradually increased in number, delaying the progress of the two of them. However, compared to the central region, the zombies here were relatively rare, except in densely populated towns.

Along the way, Xiao Wen and Wen Le took turns driving, while the other person cleared the road of any zombies with a gun.

According to the map compiled by Han Ya and his team, every town that the two of them passed by in the border area near the Tibetan region in Xinjiang was thoroughly looted. After all, as they went further in, the number of zombies increased, making it much more difficult to collect supplies.

Because their main objective was towns and mining areas, which were either overrun by zombies or had no crops, the likelihood of establishing a base was very low. Even after ten days of entering Xinjiang, the two had not come across any base, not even people collecting resources outside the base.

“I can’t believe there are so few people in the library here!” exclaimed Wen Le.

Now the two of them were standing inside the largest library in the city, and they had just cleared out eight zombies before finding any survivors.

After killing the last zombie, Xiao Wen put away his knife.

“The educational level here is different from that of the Central Plains. And besides, the fewer zombies there are, the easier it is for us,” he said.

Wen Le shrugged and began to systematically store the books and bookshelves in their space. The shelves were arranged one by one at the foot of the mountain in their space. This was not the first library or bookstore they had collected from.

Most of the other resources were directly collected on the grassland, where there was the most space. However, they were worried about the livestock on the grassland knocking things over, so they had to tidy up the shelves and books carefully.

After collecting everything in the library, including the tables, chairs, and vases, they left the library empty-handed.

Thanks to his continuous mental training, Wen Le’s mental power had now reached the mid-level of Tier 3, and se could collect resources all day without feeling mentally fatigued.

Leaving the library, the two of them ran towards a nearby hardware store.

It took two days to collect all the resources in the entire city. This city had the most small workshops since they entered Xinjiang. Each workshop had a considerable amount of production machines. After finishing each workshop, Wen Le would make a simple record of the items produced by the machines, and then paste it on the machines for easy use when they return to the base. As for the operation of the machines, it was not something he could figure out, so he would let the people at the base study it themselves.

“We finally did it!” Wen Le collapsed on the grass and exclaimed.

Xiao Wen sat beside him, looking just as exhausted.

“There are too many small workshops in this city, and many of them are not even marked on the map. It’s really troublesome to check them one by one. Altogether, it’s not as big as the equipment we collected from the cigarette factory before,” Wen Le complained.

“Let’s call it a day here. Don’t rush, take a good rest. The next stop is the main event!” Xiao Wen pulled Wen Le up and headed towards the villa.

Wen Le hung onto Xiao Wen, letting him drag him along. His mind drifted to the next destination.

The Tarim Oil Field…

They had a dreamless night and got enough sleep. The two of them got up energetically, shook off the fatigue from the previous day, ate breakfast, sharpened their knives, and headed straight for their destination.

If they could collect enough gasoline, they wouldn’t need to collect any other resources. It took them half a day to finally reach their destination.

“The Tarim Oil field is like a small town with complete living facilities for the workers here,” the text reads.

“There are so many zombies here,” Wen Le looked out the window at the zombies outside, feeling depressed.

“I guess a lot of people have been here, but because of the resources here, guns, ammunition, and fire and lightning-based abilities are probably not used. If they are not used properly, they could cause a fire or even an explosion. So the zombies here haven’t been cleared at all, and even more zombies have come with the survivors,” analyzed Xiao Wen.

Wen Le rolled his eyes.

“The first thing to do is to find the map of this place, otherwise, with so many zombies and no use of firepower, it’s impossible for us to search bit by bit,” Xiao Wen said, leaning over to kiss Wen Le’s eyebrow, then stepping on the gas to hit the zombie in front of the car.

Wen Le didn’t pay attention to anything else and scanned carefully with their mental power.

They didn’t know how this place was distributed, so Xiao Wen could only try to drive along the main road as much as possible. But more and more zombies appeared on both sides of the road, rushing towards the jeep regardless of anything.

“No, still haven’t found it. The pipelines underground are also too complicated to refer to,” Wen Le anxiously said as the car slowed down and the zombies outside became terrifyingly dense.

Xiao Wen pursed his lips and pondered while driving carefully.

“I think we’re heading in the right direction now,” Xiao Wen said after thinking for a while.

Wen Le was puzzled. Just then, a zombie somehow climbed onto the car window on the right. Without thinking, Wen Le rolled down the window and slashed the zombie’s head in half with a wave of his hand.

Looking at the zombies who kept coming, Wen Le had a sudden insight.

“Are you saying that the more densely packed the zombies, the closer we are to the location we’re looking for?”

Xiao Wen nodded, “It’s very possible. Since the zombies here have followed the survivors who came here to search for resources, they should mostly be concentrated at the locations where the survivors stopped to collect the resources. Do you believe that people who come to search for resources are not here for gasoline?”

Of course, Wen Le didn’t believe it and rolled his eyes. They were the best example!

“And I believe that most of the people who come are local people from Xinjiang, who are more familiar with this place than we are,” Xiao Wen continued.

Wen Le looked outside and sighed.

Let’s refuel!

“I’ll go up first,” Wen Le said, opening the skylight and jumping straight onto the roof of the car.

He hooked his feet onto the edge of the skylight to secure his body, took out an iron whip covered in leather from the space, and swung it hard to clear the zombies in front of the Jeep, ensuring that the car would not be blocked by the zombies.

Perhaps Xiao Wen’s guess is correct. The further they go, the more zombies they encounter. Additionally, most of the damaged vehicles on the road have been modified. They may have been trapped by zombies when they first arrived here, and are now survivors.

“There! The building on the left front of Xiao Wen!” Although swinging his whip with great ferocity, Wen Le’s mental power has been observing the surroundings. Once he detects any clues, a simple analysis leads him to believe that their destination is probably nearby.

Xiao Wen heard Wen Le’s words and looked at a building similar to a factory about 200 meters away.

“I’ll take you there. When we get to a hundred meters away, give me something to stand on.”

Upon hearing Xiao Wen’s words, Wen Le leaned forward, using only one foot to hold onto the skylight. His whole body was on top of the car, leaving space behind him for Xiao Wen to climb up.

Finally, he gave a strong whip and shouted, “Come up!”

Almost as soon as Wen Le finished speaking, Xiao Wen climbed onto the roof, holding onto Wen Le’s waist. With a forceful kick on the roof of the car, they both flew off.

Because they were moving so fast, the zombies they stepped on didn’t even react until the two of them had run far away.

As the two worked together seamlessly, the truck was immediately taken back into Wen Le’s space after Xiao Wen’s kick. When they were about to collide with the cement building, Wen Le brought out the truck again.

“Go up.” Xiao Wen said to Wen Le, as they stood on the roof of the truck.

Wen Le nodded, and this time, Xiao Wen hung onto Wen Le’s body as they walked up the vertical wall.

Xiao Wen couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart. Although he knew that Wen Le’s mental power had this ability, every time he saw this scene of completely ignoring gravity, he was shocked again.

When they reached the rooftop and saw that it was entirely safe, the two of them sat down.

Looking at the zombies below desperately reaching out for fresh flesh and blood, Wen Le joked, “Why don’t we just take out all the trucks in my space and make a bridge when we leave?”

Xiao Wen laughed along with him. It was not a bad idea.

“What’s the situation inside?” Xiao Wen asked as he took a sip of water.

“There are no zombies inside, or at least no live zombies. They must have been cleared out by someone. And those people closed off the entire factory before they left, probably with the intention of coming back later.” Wen Le told Xiao Wen what he had detected with his mental power.

Xiao Wen’s eyes lit up. “That means there must be some supplies here that they weren’t able to take.”

Wen Le nodded and continued, “The factory inside is empty, but there’s a hidden door near that area. The door leads to a larger space, but the area is too big, and my mental power can’t see everything.”

Xiao Wen was a little surprised. He knew that Wen Le’s spiritual power had reached level three, and the area covered by his spiritual power was quite large. Even Wen Le couldn’t see everything. One could imagine how vast the space under the secret door was.

“Now?” Wen Le asked.

Xiao Wen looked at the flat roof and couldn’t help but ask, “How do we get down?”

Wen Le stood up and smiled, “Of course, we walk down.”

Xiao Wen raised an eyebrow, stopped asking questions, and instead stood up and followed behind Wen Le as they walked towards the back of the factory.

“Hold on to me,” Wen Le said, turning around.

Xiao Wen tightened his arms around Wen Le’s shoulders.

Wen Le led Xiao Wen to walk vertically on the wall. The previous zombies had already surrounded the entire factory, but Wen Le didn’t even look because the smell of fresh flesh and blood was getting closer and the zombies were getting more excited.

About three meters off the ground, there was a small window that was probably used for ventilation. When they were on the roof before, Xiao Wen had seen a few similar windows.

The only difference with this small window compared to the few that Xiao Wen had seen before was that it was locked with a large lock on the outside.

Wen Le reached out and grabbed the lock, pulling it into his space, and then opened the window, letting Xiao Wen go in with the flashlight first. When Wen Le entered, he carefully closed the window.

As soon as Xiao Wen entered the factory, he turned on the flashlight, and the strong light immediately allowed him to see the inside of the factory clearly.

After releasing the window frame, Xiao Wen jumped down. When Wen Le walked over to his side, the two of them walked towards the hidden door pointed out by Wen Le.

---

After parting ways with Lu Jianye, Wen Le went straight to the courtyard. Xiao Wen, Han Ya, and Lin Yan were almost stuck in the conference room every day. Although the base seemed to be built well, there were still many aspects that needed to be discussed and implemented step by step.

Walking into the conference room, as expected, Xiao Wen and the others were discussing a map, along with Yan Wei Guo who was rarely pulled in. Li Yunsheng and Mo Gang, two old men, were sitting on the side sipping hot tea and watching the fun with a smile.

“Hey, why are you also looking at this map?” Wen Le walked up and was surprised when he saw the map they were studying.

The map on the conference table was the map of Xinjiang.

Seeing Wen Le coming over, Xiao Wen reached out and pulled over an idle chair and put it next to him for Wen Le to sit on.

“You have been studying this map for the past few days, I guess you want to take a trip before winter arrives,” Xiao Wen said with a smile.

Wen Le nodded, “Yes, that was the plan.” Then he looked down and carefully studied the markings on the map made by Han Ya.

Han Ya explained on the side, “The satellite can’t connect, so we don’t know a lot of information and situations. These marked resources were found in the database of the military factory. Part of the raw materials of the military factory are obtained from these resources.”

Wen Le looked at the map for a while before looking up, “Let’s put that aside for now. I just separated from Lu Jianye, so let me say two things first to avoid forgetting later.”

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Wen asked.

“It’s nothing, just two things. First, the construction of the Second Ring Road may not be completed before winter arrives. The time we estimated was based on last year’s calculation, but judging from this summer, the arrival of winter this year is a bit uncertain. So Lu Jianye and I tentatively agreed to continue construction until the first heavy snowfall arrives. Even if we build the soldier’s dormitories by then, it won’t be possible to live in them with such low temperatures, even with heating. All the construction and training personnel will have to be gathered in the inner city and live there throughout the winter.”

The others nodded, but Yan Wei Guo frowned, “What about the heavy equipment we bought? If they freeze in the open, they will become scrap iron by next spring.”

“After the city walls are built, we’ll focus on building these warehouses first. When we were planning, weren’t these warehouses supposed to be right next to the inner city walls? We can just pull out heating pipes from the inner city and provide heating directly to them. If we don’t have time before the heavy snowfall, we can just move them to the empty space inside the inner city.” On his way back, Wen Le thought of this issue.

“Move them to the empty space inside the inner city?” Yan Wei Guo was stunned. Wouldn’t they still be exposed to the cold in the empty space?

Xiao Wen, Han Ya, and Lin Yan all reacted at the same time.

“Wen Shao, do we need to add courtyard-style roofs to the inner city?” Han Ya asked directly.

Wen Le nodded, “That’s the second point I want to bring up. Since we may not be able to finish the Second Ring Road before winter, I’ll have Lu Jianye allocate some people to start building roofs like the ones in the courtyards on all the buildings inside the inner city as soon as possible. That way, the entire inner city can be used as a normal activity area.”

Everyone looked at each other, and Lin Yan hesitated a bit, voicing everyone’s concerns, “Is it necessary?”

Wen Le nodded solemnly, “Absolutely necessary. I just thought of this a few days ago. ” He took out a map of Xinjiang that he had been studying for the past few days from his space. Unlike the map that Xiao Wen and the others had been studying, this map had more notes and various markings that covered almost the entire map.

Not only was there a map, but all the blank spaces next to it were filled with notes, along with another piece of paper with just as many notes.

“While you guys have the distribution of mineral resources in various parts of Xinjiang, I also have the distribution of other material resources throughout Xinjiang. For example, the AKS region in Xinjiang is one of the major cotton-growing areas in our country. Finished clothing and bedding are limited resources, and in the future, except for individual short-term bases like ours that don’t need to fight zombies, most bases in the country will not be able to allocate manpower and resources for clothing production and processing for a period of time. Without finished products, whether it’s for our own use or for trade with other bases, we need to process the raw materials we collect into finished products. So along the way, I want to collect more machine production equipment. We wasted most of our time this summer except for a small amount of time spent on base construction. Besides, winter is not suitable for construction. I can’t bear the thought of wasting so much time and manpower.”

Han Ya was the first to get the maps marked by Wen Le, which also indicated various mineral resources. However, there were even more other resources marked, such as cotton, silk, tobacco, and timber.

It had to be said that they were much more useful and abundant than simply dividing up mineral resources.

Yan Wei Guo nodded first, “Let’s do it as Wen Le suggested! Not to mention, Bai Yang and the others have been complaining to me recently about the rapid consumption of clothing during new recruit training. Even the old soldier’s combat uniforms are all patched up.”

Xiao Wen also nodded in agreement, “Once we have the raw materials and machinery, we can completely produce and process various goods on the open spaces in the inner city during the winter. Since the zombies have not invaded the Tibetan area, we should try to speed up production in all aspects during this time. It has been almost a year since the apocalypse began, and the bases in various parts of the Central Plains that have survived the zombie siege should be stable by now. B City cannot give up on satellite connections, and it’s only a matter of time before Sky Net is rebuilt. Once the satellite is restored, our base will probably not be able to develop as recklessly as it does now.”

Since everyone agreed, Wen Le directly took out the maps of various towns in Xinjiang.

“Han Ya, find someone to mark the resources, useful goods, and possible locations of machinery and equipment in each town. It might take me forever to do it alone until winter is over.”

Han Ya took the stack of maps handed to him by Wen Le, “It’ll take a few days at least, but I’ll give them to you as soon as they’re done. Also, we can’t have too many vehicles on this trip. We don’t have much fuel left in our base, even if we give it all to you.”

Wen Le glanced at Xiao Wen.

After receiving the message conveyed by Wen Le, Xiao Wen thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

“This time, let’s just have the two of us, Wen Le and me, go. We don’t necessarily need enough fuel for a round trip, we will try to replenish along the way.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Wei Guo immediately rebuked, “Nonsense! Just the two of you? Do you think you’re Superman? What if there’s danger and there’s no one to support you? Are you going to collect supplies or send yourselves to die?!”

Li Yunsheng, who had been silent all along, also sighed and said, “This is wishful thinking.”

Looking at Mo Gang, although he didn’t say anything, the expression in his eyes as he frowned at the two of them was full of naked reproach.

Wen Le and Xiao Wen looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“We’re really not being reckless. The two of us are the most convenient and safe to move around. Even one more person would be a burden,” Wen Le had to reassure the three elderly people present.

Wen Le’s words didn’t really count as an explanation. Yan Wei Guo was about to say something, but when he noticed that Han Ya and Lin Yan were squinting at Xiao Wen and Wen Le with a suspicious look, he suddenly stopped what he was going to say.

It seemed that these two must have had a secret that no one else knew. Perhaps Han Ya and Lin Yan had already suspected something, so when they heard Xiao Wen’s decision, they did not oppose it.

However, they also knew that these two would never do anything that would harm the base, so this secret could just be kept as a secret. There was no need to dig deeper. After all, they would benefit from it regardless of what the secret was.

With this in mind, Yan WeiGuo still had some concerns and asked seriously, “Are you sure it’s just the two of you going? Can you ensure safety? This is not a short journey, and with the supplies you need to collect, you may have to travel across half of Xinjiang. Anything unexpected can happen at any time.”

Xiao Wen and Wen Le nodded solemnly.

Since they had made their decision, there was no need to force them to bring more people. Xiao Wen and Wen Le were not the type to make empty boasts, and everyone present had great faith in their decision. Thinking back to what Wen Le had said, if they brought too many people, they might end up as a burden instead of help. It would be too late for regrets then.

After confirming everything, the three elderly men got up and prepared to leave the conference room. Suddenly, Mo Gang remembered something and stopped, saying to Yan Wei Guo and Li Yunsheng, “You two go play mahjong first. When you call Lin Qing, have his wife stand in for me for a while. I just need to talk to my child for a few minutes.”

“Then hurry up. Lin Qing’s wife is not very good at mahjong, and it’s awkward for her to win all the time,” Yan Wei Guo waved his hand and reminded him.

“Okay, I’ll be quick,” Mo Gang responded.

Xiao Wen and the others listened with frustration. What was going on here? It was really unfair. They had to count their rest time, but the others seemed to have plenty of free time. No wonder Yan Wei Guo always looked reluctant to come to meetings!

“I was wondering why I never see my parents. They are busier than me every day. Now I know why!” Lin Yan muttered to himself, feeling a bit low.

Mo Gang said that the Lin Qing couple they were talking about are Lin Yan’s parents.

Mo Gang turned around and saw four children looking at him with sorrow, and he awkwardly coughed.

“Well, when you get old, you need to have some hobbies, right?”

The four of them pursed their lips and accepted Mo Gang’s words. What if they didn’t accept? Were they going to have another table for the four of them?

“What does Uncle Mo want to talk about?” Han Ya spoke up, not wanting to embarrass the old man.

Mo Gang thought about the main topic and said to Xiao Wen and Wen Le, “When you go out this time, see if you can bring some food processing machines and bottles and cans. I see that the children at our base can only eat fruits besides their regular meals. Although their nutrition is sufficient, children need some snacks and candy. There are quite a few idle elderly and disabled people at the base, and it’s not too tiring to make some small things for the children. Moreover, I see that you have plenty of fruits and grains, you can make some wine in bottles and cans, or make some soybean paste and chili sauce, or fruit preserves or something as a pastime for the elderly.”

Xiao Wen and Wen Le nodded in agreement.

Mo Gang walked away with a smile, leaving the four of them in silence.

Although they had always been considering the life and development of the base, they still couldn’t do everything.

“Since Uncle Mo mentioned the children, I suggest you also bring some books and notebooks this time. Our base policy is that children over the age of sixteen can participate in labor, and the work assigned to children who are still growing is not very tiring. Anyway, if they have spare time, it’s good for them to continue learning. I remember that the survivors wanted to do education, and Li lao said that there are also many old professors at our base. If necessary, we can even assign a few college students to teach.” Han Ya said.

Xiao Wen and Wen Le nodded. Children are the future after all.

“In my opinion, since it will take a few more days to organize the map, why don’t we have each temporary department head make a list of what they are responsible for, collect what we can on the way, and forget about what we can’t collect. It’s better than trying to think of everything.” Lin Yan proposed after thinking for a moment.

“Okay, Xiao Shao.” Han Ya called over a soldier who was organizing the materials.

These materials were collected by the factory, and at first, they were only roughly organized, with only the most urgent ones carefully studied. Even after the production line started to use them, these almost ten people were still sorting out the remaining information.

Once they were all familiar with it, they would be able to handle future production easily.

Moreover, these materials were the safest in the entire base when placed in the conference room. Even though even Li Yunsheng and Mo Gang came to listen in, in fact, if we carefully calculated, the personnel who could freely enter and exit the small courtyard were extremely rare in the entire base.

“Brother Han, what’s up?” Soldier Xiao Shao, who was called over, hurried over.

Strictly speaking, he was not a specialist responsible for the factory’s information.

Before the apocalypse, he was one of Yan Wei Guo’s bodyguards. Later, he followed Yan Wei Guo all the way to the base. Except for occasional major events, Yan Wei Guo would discuss with him. For the rest of the time, he had already lived a retired life. Therefore, he was assigned to run errands for Han Ya, who stationed in the conference room every day and also helped with information sorting when there was nothing else to do.

“Xiao Shao, you go find the responsible persons from all aspects of our base and tell them that we will send people out for a trip, asking them to make a list of the missing materials, whether we can collect them or not, we will try our best.” Han Ya directly ordered.

“Okay!” Xiao Shao nodded and ran out.

Wen Le twitched his mouth. “I said, when they finish listing, I have to bring all of Xinjiang back!”

Han Ya shrugged. “Anyway, you don’t have an accurate destination this time, so work hard. Come back when your giant space is full.”

Xiao Wen and Wen Le were suddenly speechless at the thought of the boundless space. They didn’t feel like going out anymore.

“Cough cough!” Lin Yan chuckled and cleared his throat. “The main purpose this time is gasoline and the raw materials produced by the factory. Let someone make a list of these materials for you later. As for the others, we will have someone list them according to their necessity when the time comes. Just collect what you can.”

Wen Le nodded, there was no other way.

---

The three weapon production lines within the base and the small underground arms factory are designated as off-limits areas, and the personnel responsible for internal operations, transportation, and guarding are all carefully selected core soldiers under the command of Yan Wei Guo.

With no farmland or pasture work, most of the idle personnel within the base have no work to do. Han Ya waved his hand and ordered all personnel without clear jobs to join the construction of the perimeter outside the base.

The current boundaries inside and outside the base are still the walls built after they decided to station here. Although the number of personnel in the base has slowly increased, even if the survivors brought back by the small teams that went out to collect supplies are added, there are less than 7,000 people in the entire base. If they live normally, the space inside the walls is enough. However, whether it is the weapon production equipment still idle in the Wenle Space or heavy equipment such as tanks and fighter planes exchanged by the military district this time, they all require the expansion of the base.

Apart from soldiers with assigned tasks such as weapon production and patrolling outside the perimeter, the remaining soldiers are few. Under the orders of Yan Wei Guo, Bai Yang and Li Ran began to recruit new soldiers within the base. The recruits are men between the ages of 16 and 35 who are healthy and have excellent physical fitness. As for middle-aged people between the ages of 35 and 50 who still have abundant physical strength and women with excellent physical strength, they are divided into the main force for base construction.

Both the survivors who joined later and the original Tibetan residents understood that although the location of the base seemed like a paradise on earth, unless everyone had the ability to encircle the entire Tibetan region with walls, someday the zombies would not spare this place. So when they heard about the recruitment of new soldiers, everyone within the age range actively signed up and tried to join the army after passing the physical fitness test. There was still plenty of time for training before the zombie invasion. Those who had undergone training would undoubtedly have better survival skills than those who had not.

Therefore, joining the army was not only to contribute to the base but also to increase one’s own survival ability.

After this recruitment, the army was completely expanded to 4,000 people, not including soldiers with tasks. Therefore, the number of military personnel in the entire base far exceeded that of civilians.

After four days of reorganization, Bai Yang shuffled and reorganized the new and old soldiers, with the old soldiers leading the new ones, and began daily training on the grassland outside the base.

The newly expanded perimeter of the base was mainly measured and cleared of weeds by civilians, and the land was leveled. When it was almost leveled, the soldiers who trained outside the base every day would take turns to become the main force in construction.

This time, Lu Jianye and Ren Cheng were still in charge of the base expansion and construction. After discussing with Xiao Wen, they finally determined to use the current location of the base as the center and expand outward in a circular shape again, positioning the existing base as the inner city and defining the new area as the second ring road

In the previous construction, the radius of the inner city wall was one kilometer, and this time, the radius of the second ring road wall was set at three kilometers.

This area could be completed before the arrival of winter and ensure that the current number of personnel in the base could defend the entire base in case of accidents.

If it was any larger, the personnel in the base would not be able to handle it.

The construction of the second ring area is mainly for military purposes. In addition to soldier dormitories and infantry training grounds, there will also be training grounds for tank and armored units, as well as a small airport.

Although the tanks and other equipment received in the exchange are not enough for a full armored division, they can barely form a semi-armored company with the addition of armored vehicles. However, such heavy equipment will continue to be added in the future, and if not prepared in advance, there may not be enough space to store and use them.

Putting aside whether the military district will come again to exchange supplies, even if they do not, when the production of several weapon production lines in the base reaches a certain level of reserve, the production of tanks and armored vehicles will be put on the agenda.

I don’t know why the First Arsenal had production lines for tanks and armored vehicles in the beginning. Generally speaking, these two items, like fighter planes, belong to separate categories of production. Although there is only one production line for each, it just happened to be cheap for them.

As for fighter production, even if Xiao Wen and the others were arrogant, they did not believe that they could produce them without sufficient technology.

However, agricultural production such as farming and food supplies were not included this time. Initially, before the base was constructed, everyone wanted to be as self-sufficient as possible in every aspect in the future, but it is not necessary at present. Even if Wen Le’s previously stored food is consumed, the rate of growth of food and vegetables in the space is enough to feed everyone, not to mention the breeding speed of livestock.

When the number of base personnel increases again, enough to support the construction and defense of the Third Ring City, the agricultural production will become the main focus, and other materials will become supplementary, making it a food supply reserve area. However, this is all a story for later, for now, it is just a rough idea.

Wen Le stood on the inner city wall and looked outwards. As far as the eye could see, it was no longer an endless grassland, and the walls of the second ring road were rising from the ground in the distance.

The construction this time was still building the walls first, then the interior. After more than half a month, the foundation of thesecond ring road wall was completed, and many sections had already built walls over one meter high. After the wall is completed, it will still be three meters high, but the thickness will be increased to three meters. However, the interior will no longer be a solid cement structure but rather a small space reserved at intervals on the wall facing the outside, providing an attacking opening. Some details have also been adjusted based on the suggestions of Bai Yang and others. Even the walls in all four directions of the city are expected to be able to allow tanks and armored vehicles to climb onto the walls from inside the base without opening the base gate and then descending to the outside of the base on a slope.

However, both the inside and outside slopes are movable and portable to prevent zombies from climbing in before the tanks have gone out.

“The design of the wall this time is entirely based on the militarization of increasing defense and firepower output. We have fully adopted the suggestions of Captain Bai and others under the premise of being able to construct them,” said Lu Jianye, accompanying Wen Le on the inner city wall.

Wen Le nodded. “In the future, they will still have to defend this wall. As long as it is strong enough, they can come as they please.”

“Should we go see the outer perimeter?” Lu Jianye asked.

Wen Le shook her head and said, “No need, I went for a tour yesterday evening, and the progress is good. Can it be completed before winter?”

“If the winter in the Tibetan area is similar to that in the Central Plains, then the construction of both the city walls and the second ring road can be completed before winter. I’m afraid that if winter comes early this year, we may not have enough time. After all, prolonged cold weather is not conducive to construction.”

“Did you ask the local Tibetans about when winter started last year?” Wen Le asked.

Liu Jianye nodded, “Yes, I did. However, summer came early this year, and the temperature was extremely high. So, I’m worried that winter may also come early this year, and the temperature will drop very low.”

Wen Le pursed his lips. Liu Jianye’s worries might come true because now we cannot make predictions based on pre-apocalypse norms.

“If winter comes early, then we’ll stop the construction. I’ll let Xiao Wen and the others know when I get back. The construction deadline will be set to the first heavy snow. Even if it is completed, the army cannot move into the second ring road if the temperature is too low. Moreover, after the heavy snow, we don’t have to worry about the zombies in the Central Plains. Low temperatures will affect their movement, so at least the base will be safe this winter.”

Liu Jianye looked at the sky and then at the busy construction workers in the distance. Hopefully, they’ll have enough time because if they finish building before winter, the army can move in and use it directly in the spring.

“By the way, do you have enough materials for the base construction?”

Liu Jianye thought for a moment and then opened the folder he was holding under his arm, saying as he flipped through it, “I’ve looked at those materials, and I’ve calculated that, according to our previous plan, they are just enough to build the second ring road. However, materials such as cement and bricks will be used up after this construction. The other materials may have more or less remaining.”

Wen Le sighed inwardly. The construction materials collected during the sweep in X City and the building materials gathered by various teams later have all been handed over to Liu Jianye. After the second ring road is completed, building materials may be scarce. Of course, glass must be excluded from the scarce materials. Remembering the various glass items still piled up in the space, Wen Le didn’t know where to put them other than throwing them away.

“By the way, since it’s uncertain whether we can finish the construction before the heavy snowfall, why don’t we allocate some manpower to build the roofs of the inner city like those of the traditional courtyard houses. During the hottest time this summer, people can only move around in the buildings with air conditioning or in the courtyard, so when the roofs of the inner city are all finished, the winter activities in the base will not be greatly affected.”

Liu Jianye turned his head to look at Wen Le, hesitating a bit. “Actually, our winter activities are minimal. If it’s just for activities, we can build some closed corridors connecting the buildings first, which will also increase our activity area. There’s no need to spend a lot of manpower and resources building roofs over the entire inner city.”

Wen Le shook his head. “We’ve wasted most of the time this summer due to the weather, and although we can endure the heat with air conditioning and ice, it’s not so easy to cope with the cold. If frostbite and colds sweep through the entire base, it will be uncontrollable. Although we have plenty of medicine, we don’t have the ability to produce it ourselves. Even if we use Chinese medicine, planting still takes time. Moreover, I plan to go out and collect some machinery and equipment so that when winter comes and we can’t go out, we can still produce things with the entire base personnel. Apart from clothing and bedding, which are consumables, the consumption of hygiene products such as soap and toothpaste among our 7,000-plus people is also alarming. My reserves alone won’t last long.”

After listening to Wen Le’s words, Liu Jianye had nothing to say. Although the survivors have everything they need in terms of food in the apocalypse, various small items are also indispensable for maintaining the operation of the entire base and people’s lives.

“Then I’ll arrange it now. The existing buildings in the inner city have different heights, and we also need to consider the load-bearing capacity of the roofs after winter snowfall, as well as other factors like hail. The design and calculation will also take some time.”

“It’s not just snow, but also hail that needs to be considered. I still have a lot of tempered glass left, which should be enough to support the construction of the roofs in the inner city. Apart from the glass, I have nothing left from the building materials I gave you before.”

Liu Jianye smiled, “Okay, got it. If it’s really not possible, we’ll slow down the construction of the second ring road and focus on the inner city first. Also, because it’s winter, the reflective panels can wait until before next summer to be installed. If we want to ensure the activities in the entire inner city, we may need to build some heating equipment outside the buildings that can heat up and warm up.”

“‘Alright, you go ahead. I’ll put the glass on the empty ground in the inner city isolation zone later. By the way, make a rough list for me before I leave. I’ll try to collect some building materials on the way out. After the second ring road is completed, we still have the third ring road to deal with!” As he spoke, Wen Le and Liu Jianye descended from the city wall together.

Liu Jianye laughed and waved to Wen Le before running towards the city wall under construction in the second ring. In the base, a few professional designers and experienced builders selected by him and Ren Cheng were assigned to the construction department, and they were currently supervising the construction at the city wall. Since the inner city was going to have a roof, everyone has been busy these days.

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The next day, the military personnel were still under strict guard by Yan Wei Guo, and Xiao Wen and his team took half of the soldiers to clear the soil around the base and fill it up as much as possible. Tanks and armored vehicles weren’t picky, but it was different for fighter jets. If the ground quality was poor, the wings could be damaged and the plane could veer off course.

Wen Le stayed in his room, partly because he didn’t want to face the military personnel, and partly to tidy up the rainproof cloth in the space. At least until the warehouse specially designed to house those heavy vehicles was built, he didn’t want them to rust in the rain and wind.

In the afternoon, the convoy arrived near the base to the anticipation of everyone. Zhang Zhifeng’s men cooperated with Liu Yikun’s dispatch and placed the transported heavy equipment in the designated area outside the base. While the soldiers who came to deliver them rested inside the base, Wen Le quietly loaded the supplies that had been prepared beforehand onto the transport vehicles just like he did the night before. They could simply drive away once Zhang Zhifeng and his team left.

After finishing everything, Wen Le sneaked back into the base amidst the amused gazes of the soldiers patrolling the base’s walls and nestled in Li Yunsheng and Mo Gang’s room. Even these two old men found his actions amusing, which made Wen Le feel helpless. Was it necessary for everyone to derive pleasure from his cautious behavior? Did he have to be a thief in his own base?

Due to the shortage of military resources, Zhang Zhifeng sent people to coordinate with Bai Yang to arrange a small air force unit and five mechanics who would be accompanying them on this mission. They were in a hurry to return, and Yan Wei Guo knew their situation, so he didn’t insist on keeping them.

When Zhang Zhifeng finished organizing the team and they were waiting to depart, the officers and soldiers responsible for verifying and exchanging goods reported that all the goods were already loaded onto the trucks. Zhang Zhifeng’s expression became complicated in that instant.

He bid farewell to Xiao Wen, Yan Wei Guo, and the others before the long line of vehicles departed from the base.

When the convoy was just a small dot in the distance, visible only from the top of the base’s walls, Han Ya gave the order for the three newly-prepared heavy weapons manufacturing workshops to begin operations.

The personnel who had been previously arranged to prepare the warehouse for the large equipment outside the city walls also left the base to begin construction at the designated site.

Wen Le handed over the preliminary materials needed for the construction to Lu Jianye and Ren Cheng, then returned to the base, where he coincidentally met with Xiao Wen’s group, who had just come down from the city walls.

“Oh, we finally don’t have to be sneaky anymore,” joked Yan Wei Guo as he looked at Wen Le, and the others laughed along.

Xiao Wen hugged the black-faced Wen Le reassuringly and gave him a peck on the forehead.

“Let’s go have a meeting. After it’s done, we’ll have some work to do!” Han Ya stretched and said.

The group agreed with smiles and walked into the meeting room.

Although the base was small and still in the midst of construction, it had already entered a normal state in all aspects, so the minutes of the meeting were now recorded by specialized personnel.

These recorders were directly requested by Han Ya and Li Ran from the military.

Besides taking minutes, they were also assigned to teach five others who were selected by Han Ya as future recorders for the base.

Among the five, two were soldiers selected from the military, one was the young girl who had originally followed Xiao Wen and the others into the Tibetan region, and the remaining two were Tibetans who were proficient in Chinese language and writing.

These two soldiers selected are both soldiers who have suffered leg injuries. Although they can walk after treatment, they cannot support the army’s training or stand for long periods of time. Originally assigned to logistics, Han Ya knew they had some educational background and no problem with writing, so he called them over.

The girl, on the other hand, had been taken care of by her brother and sister-in-law with abilities since the apocalypse. She initially followed Lin Yan and later merged with Xiao Wen and his group. She was a student before the apocalypse, physically weak and frail. If it weren’t for her caring brother and sister-in-law, she probably wouldn’t have survived the beginning of the apocalypse. After the base was built, because of her poor physical strength, except for some easy work, she relied mainly on her brother and sister-in-law for care, which made her feel particularly uncomfortable. When she heard that they were recruiting people to learn shorthand, she rushed over to recommend herself.

As for the other two Tibetan people, they were deliberately arranged by Han Ya. Although they had been living together with the Tibetans for such a long time, they could not really integrate to some extent, so for some jobs that were not specific requirements, Han Ya tried to let both sides participate as much as possible to speed up the integration process.

When the person in charge of the meeting records was ready, Han Ya drank some water to moisten his throat and began to report on the process of the trip and the negotiations with the military region.

“We originally estimated that there were about 100,000 soldiers on their side, so we prepared supplies for two months of living for 150,000 people. During the negotiation, the number given by the other side was not much different from our estimate. There are a total of 178,000 military and non-military personnel, with 136,000 belonging to the military region, and the remaining 42,000 survivors were rescued by the army when they entered the town to collect supplies after the apocalypse.”

Xiao Wen nodded, “No wonder there are few zombies in the Tibetan area, but there are very few survivors who escaped from the Central Plains. They must have searched the major towns near the Tibetan area, and there are probably not many people who have the ability to escape from farther away.”

Other people nodded, but no one mentioned why the other side rescued so many survivors in the Central Plains, but left the indigenous¹ people of the Tibetan area to fend for themselves. It is likely that the other side is aware of the strong resistance of the Tibetans towards them and is afraid of leaving hidden dangers in the military district.

“I thought they were so fierce that they wouldn’t care about the survival of the survivors,” Wen Le shrugged.

Yan Wei Guo shook his head. “Only the one in charge is fierce. As for the survivors, there are some things that are inherent in military personnel and cannot be easily erased by any ideology.”

“But on the other hand,” Han Ya thought for a moment, squinting his eyes, “although there will inevitably be bargaining during the negotiations, the other side did not strongly demand that we exchange weapons. After the negotiations, I feel that it was a bit too smooth.”

The others didn’t feel it, but Yan Wei Guo closed his eyes and carefully thought about Han Ya’s words. After a moment of silence, he spoke again: “To be honest, I didn’t expect the other side to use tanks and armored vehicles as exchange items, and there are five tanks and ten armored vehicles. Although we don’t need fighter jets now, I don’t believe that even you, Han Ya, have thought about the possibility that satellites will be restored in the future. They dare to offer five as soon as they make a move. It doesn’t look like much now, but the exchanged supplies can only support them for about two months. What about after two months?”

Han Ya nodded. “The result of my negotiation with them is that if they still want to exchange the same supplies, they will still have to pay the same amount of heavy equipment.”

After the two of them explained, the others present also felt a bit incredible.

Even if the military district plans to farm and raise animals to be self-sufficient, there are still nearly 180,000 people! Just thinking about the amount of food that so many people need made everyone a little frightened. This place does not have the kind of soil suitable for farming in the Central Plains. They don’t have Wen Shao’s black soil, nor Wen Shao’s grain storage-like space. If they want to be self-sufficient and not need outside support, it is simply impossible.

“Could it be that the leader had a change of heart?” Bai Yang asked inexplicably.

No one could answer this question. Should they go and ask the leader in person? Even if the other side was stupid, they wouldn’t let them go to the military area to inquire about their own leader, right?!

Suddenly, Wen Le’s lips twitched and he had a strange expression on his face.

Xiao Wen was the first to notice and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

Everyone looked at Wen Le.

Wen Le still had a strange look on his face as he looked at everyone, until everyone was made uncomfortable by his gaze, then he slowly spoke out his speculation.

“Could it be that the leader didn’t survive the mutation…”

After hearing Wen Le’s words, everyone’s expressions became equally strange, making the little soldier recording on the side shiver with his heart pounding.

“That can’t be…” Yan Wei Guo said uncertainly.

No one had considered this kind of speculation except for Wen Le, but once they thought about it, they felt that it was not impossible. After all, the zombie mutation did not discriminate against people, and the virus would not avoid someone just because of their rank.

The group looked at each other and chuckled awkwardly for a few moments before falling silent again.

After a long silence, someone spoke up.

“If that’s really the case, then we are incredibly lucky,” Han Ya said slowly.

Yan Wei Guo looked at Xiao Wen and the young people next to him, while Bai Yang exchanged a glance with the other military officers.

“Have you noticed that your luck has been unusually good since the apocalypse?” Yan Wei Guo said to Xiao Wen and the others. “Mo Gang has told me a lot about your experiences before, and although they weren’t exactly smooth, they weren’t as difficult as they should have been. According to reason, you shouldn’t have been able to withstand such good luck in the apocalypse, but you did. And with the incident at the weapons factory, it seems that your luck is still getting stronger. It’s really strange.”

Xiao Wen smiled after hearing this. “We’re just lucky to be around Wen Le. Even before the apocalypse, his luck was already good. He was a commercial rookie, but he managed to make his company better and better.”

Han Ya nodded in agreement.

But Yan Wei Guo shook his head. “I’m not talking about Wen Le’s luck. I’m talking about yours,” he said seriously.

Seeing everyone’s confusion, he explained further. “Wen Le’s space has benefited you the most, but he has been supporting and working hard for you all along. And it’s you, not him, who wants to achieve great things.”

Everyone thought about it seriously and realized that Yan Wei Guo was right.

Because Lin Yan had always been interested in Wen Le’s behavior, he had observed him silently many times.

Therefore, as Yan Wei Guo spoke, Lin Yan saw Wen Le’s expression change from blank to realization, and then to a dazed and absent-minded look.

He even caught Wen Le silently mouthing something.

“So it’s cause and effect,” Wen Le murmured.

Through lip reading, Lin Yan could understand what Wen Le was saying and became even more curious.

What does “So that’s how it is, The law of cause and effect?” mean? After becoming familiar with everyone, Zhou Quan also talked about their experiences, but I couldn’t understand the meaning of “The law of cause and effect”.

However, Lin Yan also knew that Wen Le had always felt his exploration, and had always avoided it, so he couldn’t expect to clarify it from Wen Le.

Looking at Xiao Wen, he was probably even more clueless.

Lin Yan guessed right. Except for Wen Le himself, there was probably no one in this world who could understand the meaning of “The law of cause and effect”.

In the previous life before the apocalypse, his luck was really good, so he continued to balance his luck from the first twenty years of his life until his death after the apocalypse. Xiao Wen and his friends, on the other hand, did not have a good life since childhood, and they have been working hard all their lives, and even died tragically in the previous life’s apocalypse. So in this life, he used his good luck to balance their past hardships and tragedies.

He even reincarnated for them in this life!

Taking a deep breath, Wen Le put down his thoughts. If it was really like this, then their luck would continue to be good.

After withdrawing his thoughts, Wen Le immediately felt someone’s prying eyes and looked up to glare at Lin Yan fiercely.

Lin Yan felt embarrassed and rubbed his nose, shifting his gaze away.

Talking about luck was too vague and ethereal², and there was no way to prove it, so everyone returned to the topic at hand.

“Captain Yan, have you noticed anything in your communication with Captain Zhang Zhifeng in the past few days?” Han Ya asked.

Yan Wei Guo thought for a moment, not too sure. “We have been chatting casually and not discussing the situation of the two bases. But his expression was complicated during the first meal, and even the complex emotions couldn’t be concealed when he left the base. I always thought he was a bit suspicious of our material reserves, but now that I think about it, if that commander is really gone, then his thoughts are worth guessing carefully.”

Han Ya nodded, “Let’s put this aside for now. After all, we have no way to prove it. We know in our hearts, so let’s prepare for the worst.”

Next, everyone agreed that the base’s main focus would still be on weapon production. Regardless of the situation in the military district, weapons reserves are always a top priority in the apocalypse.

With the heavy equipment obtained from the military district, the base couldn’t just leave it idle.

When Yan Wei Guo and his team left the military district, they naturally had heavy weapons equipment, but they had to abandon those fuel-guzzling vehicles along the way due to the shortage of gasoline supply in F City and the other two divisions.

However, the soldiers and technicians of the corresponding armored regiment accompanied them to the Tibetan area.

It can be said that they can handle all the tanks and armored vehicles, whether it be driving or maintenance, within the base.

As for the fighter jets, Han Ya learned from Bai Yang on the way that Yan Wei Guo’s army had no personnel who had contact with the Air Force, so he requested a ten-person Air Force team and five mechanics for fighter jet maintenance.

These fifteen people came to the base with the fighter jets today and will officially join the military under the base, completely cutting off ties with the military district.

Moreover, these fifteen people will be thoroughly searched upon entering the base to eliminate any possibility of contact with the military district.

Xiao Wen and the others cannot rely on these fifteen people to take care of the fighter jets all the time. After the meeting, personnel will be arranged to follow them, eat and live with them.

On the one hand, this is for monitoring purposes, after all, they are people from the military district, to prevent them from getting too close to the base’s weapon production.

On the other hand, it is to learn the Air Force technology as soon as possible. This may be a long process, but now that the satellite is not restored, they have enough time to learn the theoretical knowledge.

In terms of practice, they can only practice simple maneuvers in the airspace near the base. If they fly too far, they may have to abandon the plane and walk back to the base, assuming they don’t get lost.

Speaking of fuel, it is also a major problem for the base. After two trips with over a thousand people, the base’s fuel reserves are clearly below the red alert line. Whether it is the armored regiment’s training or other aspects, the red light has already been turned on. Therefore, after the meeting, the leaders of the base are all worried about the fuel problem.

Note :

¹The word “indigenous” refers to the people or groups that are native to a particular region or area, usually implying that they have been living there for a long time, before other groups arrived.

²“Ethereal” means something that is delicate, airy, and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world, often with spiritual or supernatural connotations.

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