At night…
(Base meeting.)
“This month the base has accommodated more than a thousand people. If this continues, the base’s residence is not enough to accommodate…”
“There are still six months of reserves of diesel fuel, and the amount of coal is not enough. The anti-inflammatory drugs, hemostatic agents, and bandages in the inventory are needed to be replenished…”
“One of the generators in the base broke down. The base’s power supply has been reduced by 20%. The base’s power supply quota has to continue to decrease. Now the power supply to the concentrated residential area of the base has stopped at night… The maintenance person said that the generator is an important part. The bearing has been damaged after decades of fatigue. The manufacturer of the generator has already closed down, and now I don’t know where to find a replacement for a while…”
“The zombie snake recently broke into the base and caused the residents of the base to panic. The corpses were also found at the bottom of the river. At night, the residential areas lacked lights. Some people acted in the dark. There have been many bad robberies. The people are angry and eager to know when the power supply will be restored… “
“The law enforcement team has caught several offenders, but if this problem is not resolved, it will still be of no avail…”
As the leader of a base, Cao Leipeng is not like ‘The Majesty’, as perceived by the outside world. He has to deal with all kinds of affairs related to the base every day. The continuous troubles make him full of sadness, and he has a few more white hairs: “Without a generator, many equipment in the base can’t operate. Is there no other way to solve this problem?”
The research institute and several professors who participated in the meeting looked at each other, their eyes frustrated and helpless.
Before the end of the world, the country vigorously developed science and technology. Several of their professors were respected scientists in various fields. Colleges and universities provided a large amount of funds for them to conduct research and teach students. Unexpectedly, the situation changed drastically after the end of the world, and the status of scientists declined repeatedly.
At first, their professors were still protected, and the research institutes staying at the base conducted research safely, relying on their scientists to find a solution to the problem named ‘zombies’.
Unexpectedly, one year, two years….. almost thirty years, and those damn zombies became more and more powerful and terrifying.
The zombies that evolved to a high level were powerful enough to change the terrain of mountains and rivers. The high-level zombies of the soil system can create an 80-meter-high mountain out of thin air, and control it to crush tens of thousands of people.
The metallic zombies have destroyed the confidence of mankind to raise technological weapons to fight and resist them.
At first, the appearance of zombies did not attract attention. Even ordinary zombies can be killed with guns, but things gradually get out of control. A large number of zombies appeared, and some zombies even showed abilities.
The leaders of the country realized that the serious situation was that the zombies were capable of resisting human weapons. The bullets fired by humans are controlled by metallic zombies, which in turn harm humans, resulting in heavy losses. Even the high-speed missiles developed by experts are powerless against zombies.
As long as it is a weapon, it contains metal, and human science and technology have been defeated for a time.
There was a small country that desperately used the original bullets and zombies died. Unexpectedly, a high-level zombie in a water system could instinctively detect the danger contained in the original bullets, and the water that controlled the sea covered the explosion of the original bullets, which contained huge amounts. Energy fluctuations swept through the turbulent currents and flooded the country, and finally, the fragile humans died, the country perished, and the zombies were still there.
Through satellite monitoring, leaders of various countries were silent after seeing the destruction of this small country.
Nuclear weapons symbolize the most powerful weapon of human destruction even those weapons are declared useless in fighting zombies. Is there any other way for human science and technology to solve this eschatological crisis?
As a result, human beings put their last hope on supernatural beings, and only supernatural beings can fight against the zombies. The technology that symbolizes the development of human civilization temporarily takes a step back.
Survival comes first, and then the human development.
Several professors in the institute have long realized that their value is low. They are old professors with decades of scientific research experience, but they are reduced to repairing cars, installing wires, and changing light bulbs. Even so, they work cautiously, and in the end, they are still being driven out of the base.
Many bases gradually canceled research institutes more than ten years ago. People who think that it is useless to waste so much food to feed, it is better to change the research site to planting land. These older professors are not physically strong and can’t compare to young people. No base is willing to keep them.
Just when they were desperate, a young man from outside came to the base and said that there was a research institute in Lucheng base, and they could accept them. Old guys like them were grateful, and they finally got through the procedure and entered the base.
When they did not know how to repay the kindness of the young man, several old professors gave him relevant knowledge. The young man hadn’t been exposed to that knowledge but learned very quickly, which made a professor admire him very much and they wanted to accept him as a disciple, but the young man hesitated and refused.
He said: Time is not enough. Unless there is a breakthrough in today’s technology, zombies will evolve and surpass humans, it will be the moment when humans die. The development of technology takes too long. He can’t wait that long. He can only choose supernatural powers. This way they can save people.
The professors were very sorry, but they understood and respected his choice.
Later, they learned that the young man was a powerful supernatural being, that is, the commander of the base that is now admirable and awe-inspiring.
They are very grateful for the care of the commander, and they are trying their best to do something for the development of the base, but many people have always felt that they are a waste of resources and there is no need to conduct any research. They want to cancel the research institute and reduce their funds.
Professor Yan, who is in charge of the mechanics, said helplessly: “The people in the institute have tried hard, but we know the solution without blueprints is not possible. We are helpless… It’s useless if the production chain can’t keep up.”
Professor Yan looked sad and sighed: “The screws needed by the base are all made manually, and are time-consuming. The precision requirements of the bearings of large generators are very high. The base lacks large-scale CNC machines. Without machinery, it can’t work under the conditions of the base…The bearings of the large generators before the end of the world were imported from abroad. If the base wants to retrieve the bearings corresponding to the generators, it would be easier to search for supplies outside and find a new generator. “
Cao Lei Peng was very dissatisfied and slapped the table angrily: “The base provides so many resources to the research institute, why can’t we even get a generator repaired? If this continues, the funding of the research institute will be reduced by half. Anyway, there is no need for so many people. Just leave a few people who can repair car street lights.”
This almost contemptuous and casual remark made Professor Yan and the others sigh and numb.
They are accustomed to this kind of treatment. From an optimistic perspective, there is no difference between being a car and street lamp repairer to that of research.
The words that Chief Cao said directly were not only what he said in his heart, but also what most of the base people thought. They had long wanted to reduce research expenses and let more laborers go to cultivate land to grow food, go out to search for supplies, and kill zombies.
It’s just a pity that the smart young people in the Institute can not learn anything from their professors.
Many precious books of human civilization were destroyed during the apocalypse. The new generation born after the last days is not educated, and they are illiterate and only focused on how to survive. They worry that even if humanity defeats the zombies, there will be a hole in human civilization, and it will cost thousands to make up for it and a hundred times the strength.
Several old professors in the scientific research institute were looking down and did not refute the words of Chief Cao. They were all silent and powerless.
The others at the conference table had already started discussing the next topic, and no one expressed concern or objection.
Si Huaixi pressed his eyebrows lightly, and his sea-blue eyes flashed with a hint of obscurity. He said coldly: “There is an abandoned computer city 75 kilometers away from the base. It used to be a large-scale electronic product mall equipped with commercial power generation. I’ll get it back. The generator may not be able to run after so long, but the parts are largely complete. Please have a few professors in the Institute take a look.”
Several professors from the research institute nodded their heads and said positively: “Don’t worry, Commander, our old bones will work hard to fix them.”
Cao Lei Peng frowned, looked at the people in the institute with dissatisfaction, and then sighed secretly, looking worriedly at Si Huaixi, who was used to dealing with the mess created by the institute.
In the beginning, it was still looking good as Si Huaixi brought these people, but the research institute was a burden to the base. Although the Lucheng base is better than other bases, it can barely maintain food and clothing, but there are still a lot of material shortages that cannot be used for research. Many of the funds for the research of the institute were privately given by Si Huaixi.
Cao Lei Peng had always disapproved of Si Huaixi’s raising these people, and this time he planned to take this opportunity to be the villain for Si Huaixi.
He considered Si Huaixi his younger brother.
In the beginning, he believed in the former leader, right or wrong, and felt extremely guilty for almost harming Si Huaixi. Fortunately, Si Huaixi hid his strength, and unexpectedly solved the problem of the former leader and his son who had misguided intentions. At that time, Cao Lei Peng was vaguely aware of Si Huaixi’s unparalleled talent.
In contrast, Cao Lei Peng is an old person who is almost reaching 50. He has witnessed the eruption of zombies in the peaceful era since his youth and has experienced countless lives and deaths along the way, and he is also a rare Thunder-type supernatural being. Looking at the world, the eighth-order thunder system superpowers are not weak.
It’s difficult to upgrade abilities to a high level. It’s difficult to upgrade to one level in a few years. From the seventh to the eighth level, he absorbed more than a dozen high-level thunder crystals during the period, and it took five and a half years before he reached the level of Eighth order.
Two years ago, Si Huaixi was only a few years old at that time. It didn’t take long for him to become an adult. He was only in his early 19s. Cao Lei Peng was shocked that Si Huaixi’s strength vaguely surpassed him, and he was even irritated. Si Huaixi, who is amid great strength, raised fear in his heart.
After the former leader died, the position of the leader of the base was originally given to him, but Si Huaixi said that he should concentrate on studying to upgrade his ability.
To support Si Huaixi in managing the Lucheng base, Cao Lei Peng had no choice but to bite the bullet and become the new leader of the Lucheng base, but he still persuaded Si Huaixi to be the commander of the base.
But Si Huaixi spent too much useless energy on research, and his talent shouldn’t be wasted in these backward places.
In the opinion of Cao Lei Peng, Si Huaixi, a child born after the end of the world, always has a certain naive yearning for the peaceful era and the technology of that time. Technology has indeed brought many conveniences to the end of the world such as communicators and cars. The products of the science and technology industry still need supplies.
But these are just auxiliary tools, and the most important thing in the apocalypse is the supernatural being.
Even Cao Lei Peng couldn’t stop the torrent of this apocalyptic era, and the aircraft cannon became a pile of scrap iron in front of the zombies.
The zombie bird easily destroys the fragile aircraft shell. If you take a plane to cross the apocalyptic high altitude, you will only end up in a plane crash.
The sky and ocean of the last days have become forbidden places for mankind.
Mankind can only crimp in a small base, occupying one percent of the territory that originally belonged to mankind.
The people of the last days don’t know how many humans are still alive in the world, and they don’t care.
Because the true value was too cruel and desperate, the upper-level people simply concealed it, and only a handful of ability users knew about it.
The population before the end of the world was over eight billion.
After 30 years in the last days, there are only more than 100 million people left.
The dead humans are dead. If there are 8 billion zombies left, this number makes people feel helpless and desperate in the depths of their souls.
This means that one human may have to deal with eight zombies, and the zombies are still evolving. Due to the huge base of zombies, the probability of the appearance of zombies with supernatural powers is greater.
Cao Lei Peng only learned about it after he became the leader of the Lucheng base, but after knowing that, he couldn’t sleep for several nights. His face was haggard and he couldn’t think of a way.
He was under too much pressure and went to tell Si Huaixi, but he didn’t expect Si Huaixi to be much calmer than him, as if he knew this reality early on.
He said: “I knew it six months ago.”
Cao Lei Peng was a little dumbfounded, and asked Si Huaixi: “Then how can you be so calm?”
Cao Lei Peng vaguely remembered Si Huaixi’s childish and young face, and his sea-blue eyes were bright with youthful vigor, and it was not as mature and stable as it is now.
Si Huaixi smiled and said to him: “Whether we know it or not, we will kill the zombies, or we will be killed by the zombies. As long as we kill the last zombie, we will be able to end the end times, and I have never met any unkillable zombies…”
After listening to such arrogant words, he was changed to another young man, he could be replaced by Si Huaixi, and Cao Lei Peng inexplicably believed it.
Si Huaixi went on to say: “I have never calmed down. I know that mankind has one last chance.”
Suddenly, deep sea-blue eyes drew a sharp ambition, like a fierce and strong lion in the grassland about to pounce on its prey, and its powerful minions hid in the grass waiting for the time to come.
At that time, Cao Leipeng rekindled hope and looked forward to the future of this young man.
Back to the meeting room.
Cao Leipeng disagreed with Si Huaixi’s proposal to go to the computer city more than 70 kilometers away to get generators.
Not to mention that he is also confident in Si Huaixi’s strength, but this problem should not be solved by him. The research institute has caused enough trouble.
On the other hand, for the safety of the members of the base, no one went into the computer city to search for supplies after 30 years. It is certainly not that no one has been greedy for the materials in it, but everyone who has been there has never returned. This computer city is not that simple.
Cao Leipeng decided to be a villain and refused: “No, I also know the location of the Computer City. I have not cleaned up zombies for so many years. It is impossible to guarantee that there will be no high-level zombies in it. In short, as the leader of the base, I think this matter has risk is too great to be worth the risk.”
After talking about it, Cao Lei Peng was still afraid of Si Huaixi’s objection. He looked at him with a very serious expression, and the atmosphere became particularly solemn.
For a while, the people at the meeting looked at each other, and were too afraid to speak because of the solemn atmosphere, thinking that there was a conflict between Chief Cao and the Commander.
Si Huaixi frowned slightly, bent his fingers against his chin, eyes drooping in thought, and said in a flat tone: “Professor Yan, can you tell me how long the base has only four generators in use?”
Chief Cao frowned silently.
Professor Yan perceived the tense atmosphere between the two top leaders of the Lucheng base. You can think of the old and scrapped bases, but to supply the daily needs of the base, they are still trying to repair the machines that are hard to use.
Professor Yan lowered his eyebrows and said frustratedly: “Two of them have been used for more than 20 years, and one has been used for 16 years. Only one is relatively new. It was found five years ago by the base’s search and material team. The internal parts are rusty and the generator can’t work. Our research institute has repaired it for three months before we can finally use it.”
After speaking, Professor Yan said helplessly: “Leader Cao, it’s not that we don’t want to repair it, but that we can’t repair the generator. The bearing was broken once due to excessive fatigue. We burned the molten iron to re-bond the fracture. It was hand-polished before reluctantly letting the generator run again.”
“But because the accuracy of manual operation cannot be as precise as that of the machine, the vibration generated during the operation of the generator will affect various parts. This time the bearing directly broke into several pieces. Deformation and internal cracking occurred, and the bearing did not take long to support it before it cracked again…”
Si Huaixi had cold eyes and continued to ask, “Professor Hu, how many cars are left in the Lucheng base?”
Before the end of the world, Professor Hu was engaged in the design of the automobile industry. Of course, he took care of the cars after he came to the Lucheng base. The usual maintenance and modification were done by Professor Hu. On weekdays, he is the one who loves the base vehicle. If someone touches the base at will Even if it’s a supercar, Professor Hu will swear angrily and complain to the leader.
Regarding Si Huaixi’s question, Professor Hu didn’t even think about it, he blurted out: “Twenty-six units, two large trucks, six medium-sized trucks, three vans, eleven private cars, and four tricycles. Commander, you can put your mind at ease. This Old Hu treats these precious cars better than his son, and when he has nothing to do, he will polish them up and shine.”
Si Huaixi nodded lightly, but his eyes were still heavy: “Professor Hu’s contribution to the base is obvious to all, and I can see it. Professor Hu maintains these cars very well, but I want to ask, how many are left. Can it be used?”
Professor Hu was stunned and hesitated for a while. He stooped in frustration and said guiltily: “I’m sorry for the base. Only nine of the 26 cars are intact. Among them, only the trucks can be driven out. The remaining two are in the warehouse. They are more or less faulty. They can barely be moved, but they are not safe. I will not let people from the base drive out.”
Si Huaixi’s eyes were clear.
But at the meeting, Professor Hu’s remarks caused an uproar.
Trucks are the most needed vehicles for the base. They are large and transport a lot of goods. When encountering some low-level zombies, they can even run over them at full power. The first choice for the supersquad to go out is to drive this kind of car, but Professor Hu is very careful of this kind of car, and he usually manages it strictly. Unless it is a large-scale outing transportation mission of the base, otherwise the super squad will not be allowed to leave with this kind of car.
Now that they are not allowed to drive this kind of car, is it because Professor Hu did not take good care of it that made the base vehicles useless?
One of the supernaturalists, Zhang Rong, the captain of the Outing Material Team, suddenly stood up and pointed to Professor Hu’s nose and cursed angrily: “Old Hu. What’s the matter with you? The cars are not repaired well, and it is a waste of food to raise you on the base. Fortunately, I also said a few good things for you at the beginning, so that other members of the ability team don’t lose their temper with you.”
The captains of several teams of supernaturalists who were also at the conference table also criticized Professor Hu for his negligence.
“What’s the matter? The scientific research institute simply should be shut down, it’s useless anyway.”
“Even a car can’t be repaired well. So I ran out to kill the zombies desperately at the expense of Lao Tzu, and in the end, I have to feed useless old trash like you.”
“Chief Cao, what do you plan to do with Lao Hu?”
The scolding voices were enthusiastic, and Professor Hu, who fell into public opinion, lowered his head, and trembling shoulders, and clenched his gray pants with his fingers, his face was not visible.
Sitting in the corner Chen Wen smiled watching this scene of ugly humanity between the surviving humans on the base. His dark pupils flashed with interest.
Si Huaixi’s eyes became cold, and amidst the one-sided condemnation, he interrupted abruptly: “I didn’t want to blame anyone for telling this. I also want to thank Professor Yan and Professor Hu. If it hadn’t been for their efforts to maintain the equipment at the base, I’m afraid the base would have ceased to be operating a long time ago and returned to the primitive ancient state of no electricity and no cars.”
Professor Hu is a stubborn old man. He didn’t cry when he was scolded and insulted by the people at the meeting. Instead, tears welled up in his eyes when Si Huaixi spoke for him.
Wiping away the tears, Professor Hu said in a hoarse voice: “Commander, thank you for helping us old men so much. I won’t say anything else. Since they all think I’m useless, I can’t take care of the base car. It won’t be a drag on you anymore. This old Hu is not as good as the supernatural being. He just breaks and repairs the car. I’ll leave the base. Anyway, I have had enough.”
The people who were just complaining heard that Professor Hu really would rather leave the base and didn’t care about these things, and their expressions became complicated.
They should be grateful that the base has one less person who eats rice, but Professor Hu has the best car repairing knowledge in the base, so thinking about who will repair the car after he left, they started to feel a little regretful, and think this stubborn old man is ignorant.
Si Huaixi said in a deep voice, “Professor Hu doesn’t need to go. On the contrary, I have something I want to talk to the captains of the various superpowers.”
The violent Captain Li immediately asked, “What are you talking about? Commander, you want to speak for this useless, bad old man!”
Professor Hu saw the commander who had been taking care of the old guys, was yelled at by other people on the base. That made him so angry that he said, “You don’t need to speak for me. Every day, to repair the scrapped cars and look for replacement materials, it is better to live with a grandson than that.”
Si Huaixi took out several inspection orders and handed them to several superpower captains, and said calmly, “I have seen most of the vehicle maintenance orders of superpower teams. The vehicles that Captain Li has applied for every time the vehicle returned from the previous mission, there would be a certain degree of damage. The headlights were broken twice, the tires were broken three times, the fuel tank leaked once, and there was another head crash that deformed a medium-sized truck completely.”
“The rest of the teams, Zheng’s team once discarded the vehicles from the base. Captain Zhang Rong’s is okay. It’s just that there are more waste tires…”
Captain Li said angrily: “So what? Commander, although I respect you, our supernatural beings are also fighting zombies outside. We just broke a few cars. Just find someone to fix it. What do you want more? Do you want me to settle accounts for such small problems?”
The captains of the other superpowers pouted and disapproved. Sometimes, to avoid the danger of getting out of the car and killing the zombies, they violently drove the car. It was normal for the vehicle to be damaged. Anyway, the task was completed and the supplies were shipped back.
Si Huaixi’s eyes were sharp: “If I want you to settle the bill, I will throw the bill for a discarded car and so many parts on your head. You know a truck is better than the supplies you brought back from the original mission. Is it even more precious? To clean up the mess for you, I even went to the base in the north and exchanged Tier 6 spar for a car and other miscellaneous car repair parts, which wasted much of my time.”
Captain Li’s eyes were shocked. This is a Tier 6 spar. It can feed more than 300,000 people in the base for a month when replaced with food. He slowly spits out a curse: “Commander, you are not deceived, right? Isn’t it a car? That was to be picked up from outside.”
Si Huaixi frowned and said, “Then you can find it for me.”
Captain Li wanted to stubbornly yell to show the commander, but he also knew that even the better cars had been picked up in the wilderness, not to mention the whole car, he didn’t know how long he hadn’t seen it.
Captain Li turned his head and said nothing.
Si Huaixi calmed down and continued: “Since the beginning of the end of the world, all industries in China and abroad have ceased production. All industrial products such as vehicles and generators were produced 30 years ago. After so many years, they can still be used. There is not much left… until the day they are completely scrapped. There is no power supply, and the zombies attack the base at night, what do we use to light it? Without vehicles, we can only walk to each base to exchange materials, but how do we bring back so many supplies?”
“How can we feed the population of the base without materials? How can our base grow food without people? You can think of yourself as a supernatural being. There will be people taking care of you at any base, but if there are no ordinary people in the base, can you just rely on a small number of supernatural players? Can they take on all the tedious tasks required for the operation of the base?”
“You only see how much food the research institute consumes in the base a year, but you don’t see how much food the research institute saves for the base. If it weren’t for the old professors of the research institute working together to keep the base running, could you still survive the end of the world? Are there days when the front lights are bright enough to be full? There are many bases destroyed by invading zombies at night…”
“I stayed at the research institute, not to shield anyone, but to explore the future of the base.”
Si Huaixi’s far-reaching words caused many people to silently reflect.
But some supernaturalists hold a superior status and disagree arrogantly.
For these supernatural beings, those who know a little about research skills are no different from ordinary people who are struggling at the bottom and who also contribute to the base. They all have the same concept, and they only think that these people can live, relying on the protection of supernatural beings, of course, they can not complain about paying for them.
“Change to other unorganized bases, and treat ordinary people as slaves directly. It is enough to not die from starvation. It is necessary to provide ordinary people with the Lucheng base so that they can fill their stomachs.”
Si Huaixi showed an indifferent expression.
Just facing the various affairs of the base, Si Huaixi would occasionally press his lips irritably, a trace of fatigue and boredom flashed under his eyes.
He started to miss the golden-eyed cat that he had just picked. It was much cuter to spend time with him than the boring work of the base.
He was missing the bright and clear amber-golden eyes. Without so many distracting thoughts of human nature, when the pupils look at him, it is like treating him as the whole world.
Especially when he is so timid and squeamish. He seems to need him so much…
Si Huaixi gritted his teeth, his sea-blue eyes darker.
‘—I’m annoyed, I want to pet the cat.’
