#16 - Chapter 16 Departure
The next day.
The sun rose as usual, the fog persisted, signaling that the danger hadn't decreased.
At Green Source Base, everyone had breakfast around seven o'clock and then proceeded with their respective tasks.
The combat personnel were testing and inspecting vehicles, modifying and familiarizing themselves with weapons, preparing fuel canisters, and coordinating tactics. After a day of working together, they had a rough plan in place.
The original dozen or so security team members were in better shape, having worked for several months and possessing a certain foundation.
The few who joined yesterday were much less familiar, forced to learn from the veterans to increase their chances of survival.
As for the rest, Qin Jin had also given them assignments yesterday. The base wouldn't support useless freeloaders.
Besides those cooking and maintaining base security, the vast majority were assigned to repair the walls, led by Wang Yang, Tang Jinming (former sales director), and Zhao Ling (former human resources director), all former company managers.
Even if some people had objections, they could only swallow their anger due to the boss's reputation and recent brutal actions.
Just like that, the previously glamorous white-collar workers who sat in offices had, in just two days, turned into brick-carrying migrant workers, a huge contrast.
When recruiting, Qin Jin had specifically hired several people who had worked in engineering before, who could now guide the others. Moreover, a lot of building materials had been left over from the base's construction, and some had been prepared when stockpiling supplies, enough to temporarily satisfy the wall's repair.
His goal was to quickly raise the original five-meter-high, one-meter-thick wall to over ten meters, and widen the thickness to one and a half or even two meters!
Initially, the construction might be slow due to the workers' unfamiliarity and insufficient materials, but the base's population would definitely continue to increase, and it would be repaired sooner or later.
His goal didn't stop there. Eventually, the wall would be at least twenty-five meters high and three meters thick!
That was close to the height of a ten-story commercial building, which would provide some sense of security!
One step at a time. The apocalypse had just begun, and many people couldn't adapt yet. After experiencing danger, they would know what gives them a sense of security and would do things from the bottom of their hearts.
—————————————
In the afternoon, the fog visibly thinned out.
Qin Jin knew the fog was about to dissipate. In his previous life, it had lasted about two days, and this time it was the same, indicating that his predictive advantage was still there.
In the past two days, he had confirmed that his strength had indeed been enhanced!
Originally, his single-arm strength was about 50 kilograms, a mediocre adult male's arm strength.
Starting from the night of the mutation the night before last, he had tested his arm strength yesterday and found that it had reached 70 kilograms!
Today, he tested it again and it reached 80 kilograms!
It had increased by 60% in just two days!
Although the growth rate seemed to have slowed down, it still seemed to be growing, and he was looking forward to seeing how far it could ultimately reach.
The world record for single-arm strength was around 120 kilograms, and for a two-handed lift, it was 500 kilograms.
He had heard that the single-arm strength of arm-strength mutants in his previous life was only around 280 kilograms, and their two arms could lift objects weighing around 1200 kilograms.
He planned to put some fitness equipment in his home and office because the more he exercised his abilities, the stronger they would become.
In his previous life, his swift legs could reach seven or eight seconds in the 100-meter dash even with insufficient nutrition. This time, if he ate well and exercised, he might be able to quickly surpass his previous life.
Even if the mutants among the survivors would never reach the level of splitting mountains and rivers in novels, and were far from the evolved zombies in the later stages, it was always good to run faster and be stronger, as it could increase the survival rate.
The time reached five or six in the afternoon.
The fog had dissipated by ninety percent.
It was obvious that the zombies occasionally passing by outside felt "weakened."
The previously swift and frantic state was gone, replaced by a slow trot.
Qin Jin knew that the fog was about to pass, and it was time to start his plan.
After dinner, he gathered the squad leaders of the combat team, the base management, and close relatives such as his parents and Zhong Yu in his office.
He announced that he would be going out to search for supplies tomorrow. All those present would be divided into two teams: a combat team of about twenty people would go out with him, and a defense team of about ten people would remain at the base under the management of Qin's father, uncle, and others.
In addition to other employees who followed instructions, there would be more than twenty people staying at the base. Qin's father, uncle, and aunt all had crossbows ready, which should be able to handle things as long as there weren't any major incidents.
If anyone dared to cause trouble while they were out, they couldn't be soft-hearted!
Compared to Qin's mother's worries about her son going outside, Qin's father was much more open-minded. He had quickly adapted in the past two days, knowing that going out was inevitable if they wanted to keep this large group of people alive longer.
Qin Jin called out the people who were staying behind, leaving only the team members who would be going out with him tomorrow.
In addition to a few squad leaders staying behind to assist his father in defending the base, Li Bowen, Chen Junchi, Liu Wenhao, and others would be going. Liu Wenhao was promoted to temporary squad leader, and he would have the opportunity to become permanent as long as he performed well.
Zhong Yu would also be going. His parents had known Qin's father and mother, so he quickly integrated into Qin Jin's relatives and was considered part of Qin Jin's close circle.
It's worth mentioning that Zhong Yu's younger brother, Zhong Ming, also requested to join the combat team. Zhong Ming had liked to play with Qin Jin when he was a child, and occasionally looked for Qin Jin with his brother when he grew up, so they weren't strangers.
After seeing Qin Jin's decisive and ruthless methods in the past two days, he had developed a sense of admiration for the strong and resolutely requested to join the combat team, wanting to go out and contribute.
Qin Jin didn't refuse, and was even happy to see it. The apocalypse didn't support useless people. Everyone had to work hard to climb up to survive. Those who wanted to lie flat could just wait to die.
That night, they checked the tactics, emergency response, rescue methods, escape methods, and other details several times, striving to go out safely and return safely!
It wasn't until nearly ten o'clock that everyone disbanded and went back to rest.
Qin Jin stayed in his office. He took out a tablet and re-examined the several places he planned to sweep tomorrow.
After confirming that the offline maps and routes were correct and planning the route, he prepared to sleep on the large sofa in the office until eleven o'clock.
This battle tomorrow was crucial and an indispensable part of the base's rapid development in the future, so he could only succeed and couldn't fail!
—————
October 13th.
6:30 AM.
The sky was slowly brightening, and all things were slowly awakening from the darkness of sleep.
Green Source Base.
The combat team all got up at 6 o'clock and gathered at the vehicle warehouse.
They re-examined all the items they would be taking out, confirmed that there were no errors, and everyone was fully equipped with the protective gear and weapons they would be carrying, lining up in front of the base owner to await further instructions.
Qin Jin, standing in front of the combat team, was also ready. He glanced at the team he had assembled; they would be an important force in the base's rise!
With a serious expression, he directly opened his mouth and said:
"We are about to face a new era outside, and there may be many difficulties, flesh-eating zombies, and various unknown challenges!"
"But are we afraid!?"
"We are not afraid!"
"Because there are others here who need us to protect them, waiting for us to return!"
"If zombies dare to stop us, we will crush their skulls!"
"If enemies dare to hurt us, we will cut off their limbs!"
"Remember, we are not heroes, we are a group of devils fighting to survive!"
"Devils who tear everything apart just to live longer!"
The combat team members were a little excited after hearing this. Before, they just felt like they were following orders and didn't think about what the future would be like, mostly holding the idea of living one day at a time.
Now, after listening to the boss's brainwashing, they suddenly understood.
Yes.
In the past, working was just for the sake of their families and themselves. Now, changing the method was also for the sake of their relatives and friends and themselves, just more direct and brutal.
Humans had evolved from primitive people by stepping on the corpses of other creatures all the way, and only hid their wildness after becoming the masters of the Blue Star, not abandoning it. Once stimulated, it would swarm out.
The warlike factors hidden in the team members' blood seemed to be activated, and they felt that the fear of facing the outside world that had been lingering before had greatly reduced, and they couldn't wait to chop down a zombie with a knife to offer a sacrifice to the blade!
Seeing that everyone's emotions were good, Qin Jin nodded in satisfaction and shouted loudly: "Get in the car!"
Tap tap tap—
The team members quickly got into their respective vehicles that had been arranged in advance, a total of five modified vehicles: two off-road vehicles, two heavy trucks, and one truck (one was additionally modified yesterday).
Qin Jin got into the passenger seat of the leading off-road vehicle and confirmed with the squad leaders in each vehicle through the intercom that everything was correct, and slowly drove to the gate.
He once again used the intercom to ask the remaining personnel controlling the gate to confirm that it was safe outside before opening the gate.
The gatekeepers confirmed that there were no zombies outside, and the gate that had been closed for several days finally slowly opened again.
Qin Jin's leading car didn't hesitate and drove straight out, and the vehicles behind quickly followed.
The convoy quickly disappeared from the sight of the remaining personnel.
At this time, a ray of sunlight just shone down, without the obstruction of fog, shining on the slowly closing gate.
It's a sunny day.
(End of this chapter)
