Apocalyptic Reincarnation: Start with a 30-million Bonus
Chapter 476 - 459: The base has nearly 200 people!

After Captain Luo and his team left, Li Yu slowly retracted his gaze.

Recently, during the rainy period, He Bing and his group had been staying in Weng City.

Now that the rain had stopped and Captain Luo had left, it was time to go to the neighboring city to find those lathes sooner rather than later, uncertain if any accidents had happened during this period.

So, half an hour after Captain Luo left, Li Yu went straight to He Bing and talked to him about going to the neighboring city to find the lathes.

Of course, He Bing had no problem with that, so Li Yu asked them to pack up as soon as possible.

Then he returned to the walls. Last time, it was on these walls that he, Third Uncle, Second Uncle, and several others had a simple discussion about the itinerary and personnel for this trip.

After the last exchange where He Bing acquired a mini lathe, Third Uncle assembled the equipment, allowing Second Uncle and his team to start producing bullets.

They could produce nearly 500 bullets a day, although mainly reloaded bullets, but it was better than nothing.

The gunpowder for reloaded bullets differed between handguns and rifles.

Handguns used fast-burning gunpowder, and if the same amount was loaded into rifle bullets, it could cause the rifle barrels to explode.

All of this required great care.

Furthermore, Li Yu had arranged for He Chao and others to intensify their search for gunpowder.

Currently, regarding bullet production equipment, if they could find a lathe, there would essentially be no problems. They still had some production materials left, but not much. Given the current gunpowder reserves, they couldn't produce many bullets.

More gunpowder had to be collected.

...

After the torrential rain, the outskirts of the base were littered with zombie corpses, which needed to be disposed of to prevent the sun from causing the bodies to rot and breed bacteria, potentially leading to an epidemic.

This task was left to Second Uncle and the personnel stationed at the base; it was also very important.

Moreover, following this zombie tide, it was necessary to inspect and reinforce the base's protective systems. For instance, it became clear during this event that the moat wasn't wide enough. If the moat had been significantly wider, the zombies wouldn't have had the chance to approach the wall.

These were issues Second Uncle and his team needed to resolve.

After discussing with Second Uncle about enhancing the base's defenses, Li Yu called together the combatants of the base.

Currently, eighty percent of the base's population were combatants. Aside from the elderly and children, all the others, regardless of gender, were expected to fight.

Li Yu divided them into several groups.

One group stayed in the base, led by Uncle, specifically responsible for the base's defense.

He Chao's group was mainly tasked with scouting the surrounding areas, guarding outside the base, and collecting items needed by the base.

Two other groups were combat teams within the base: one led by Li Yu and the other by Third Uncle.

Apart from He Chao's group, the rest had a rotational system in place and were not fixed.

This time, Li Yu planned to lead the team personally since finding the lathe was crucial for the base.

Li Tie also requested to join; having healed from his injuries for quite some time, he was nearly recovered, so Li Yu agreed.

Li Yu had Li Yuan keep a record of every outing or weapon use in the register, and this time was no exception.

Since the journey wasn't short, Li Yu did not intend to take too many people.

As the base continued to expand, there were now over a hundred and thirty people in the Inner City of the base and over forty in the Outer City, almost two hundred people in total.

In addition to these people, there were also several dozen Second Level extra staff who cooperated with the base, adding up to over two hundred people.

The number of other people who cooperated with the base for food exchange was even larger, but for this group of people, Big Camphor Tree Base had no responsibility or obligation. They were merely in cooperation, and the base would only exchange with them when they brought something the base needed.

However, Second Level extra staff, who could reach that rank, had a meager monthly supply of food but at least a stable source of it.

Third Uncle and Dapao went to fetch the firearms and ammunition.

For this trip, since they had to transport a large lathe, Li Yu asked Dapao to bring along the previously used Dongfeng Heavy Lishen Heavy Truck.

The lathe, in fact, was needed not only for producing bullets but also had many other uses and was even considered the "mother machine" of all equipment.

Thus, once Li Yu learned that the neighboring city had this piece of equipment, he was determined to acquire it. With it, they could use many other pieces of equipment in the future.

Watching the truck slowly drive out of the garage, Li Yu recalled how a few days earlier, he had transferred the grains from the truck into the underground reserve warehouse.

A sea of golden rice, bursting with pleasant colors. Li Yu watched the warehouse gradually being filled with rice and had Grandpa identify which was fresher: the rice he had hoarded before the apocalypse or the ones they had found this time.

It turned out that the rice found this time was a bit older than what Li Yu had purchased before the apocalypse.

Given this, Li Yu decided to consume the older rice first before using the new rice.

Five heavy trucks, one Unimog RV, another off-road RV of an unknown brand which performed quite well, and two more off-road vehicles.

Including Li Yu and Third Uncle, there were thirty people in total.

Dressed and equipped, Li Yu led everyone out of the base.

Just after Li Yu and the others left the Big Camphor Tree Base, He Chao's group also headed towards the county.

They had other tasks arranged by Li Yu: to find gunpowder!

After Li Yu and He Chao left, the base returned to calm.

Second Uncle commanded everyone, using excavators to consolidate and deal with the zombie bodies.

...

After leaving the base, Li Yu and his group did not waste any time. Using a pre-apocalypse downloaded electronic map, they chose the shortest possible route.

This shortest route involved the use of the highway, the same one He Bing's group had used last time.

On the road, scattered zombies, upon hearing the rumble of Li Yu's vehicles, surged over in their direction.

But before they could even make a move, having just caught sight of the convoy, they were crushed under the modified Unimog's wheels.

Crunch!

The zombies were instantly run over—

Followed by the sound of crushing from the vehicles behind.

Clack clack clack—

On this road, the vehicles driven by Li Yu and his team acted like bulldozers, flattening the scattering zombies in their path.

The Unimog was naturally tall; Li Yu sat in the back of the Unimog, rolling down the window, and the spring breeze wafted into the vehicle.

The stale air inside the vehicle was swept away by the fresh breeze, and Li Yu sat by the window, eating freshly picked fruits from the base, crisp and fresh.

In the Unimog, where Li Yu was seated by the window, the ground was a good 2 meters below, making it almost impossible for zombies to reach.

Moreover, outside of this window, there was a steel-made iron window, through which zombies absolutely could not enter.

Inside the vehicle, all was quiet.

After finishing his meal, Li Yu took out his firearms to clean, meticulously wiping every corner clean, then filled each magazine with bullets.

The others in the vehicle also weren't idle, each checking their own guns.

This time around, he didn't know what the people in that factory would be like, and if they could acquire the lathe amicably, Li Yu was certainly willing to, even bringing some food on the vehicle to exchange with them.

To get the lathe, Li Yu was willing to pay a price.

He just hoped he wouldn't be given a hard time.

Thinking of this, Li Yu gazed at the scenery rushing past the window and squinted his eyes.

Li Yu reached up to touch his head; the last time it rained heavily, his hair often got wet, which made it easy to catch a cold, so Li Yu simply took a clipper and gave himself a buzz cut.

The buzz cut was refreshing and neat.

The vehicles sped along, and even if there were zombies on the highway, they couldn't stop Li Yu and his group.

...

On the other side.

Three heavy trucks continued to drive southward.

Not far from the county town, but these trucks showed no signs of entering the city, instead zooming past the city's edge.

These three trucks were the ones Captain Luo and his team had left the Big Camphor Tree Base in just that morning.

Xiaoshi sat in Captain Luo's truck, and seeing that his arm was still bandaged, a flicker of worry crossed her eyes, so she said, "Uncle Luo, why don't I drive? Your arm still hasn't healed yet."

Captain Luo smiled slightly and said, "It's fine, it's almost healed. Don't worry."

Xiaoshi sighed and said, "Uncle Luo, Xiaoma Ge told me that you guys have been out for more than a month this time, starting with several dozen people, and now only the three of you remain. I, I, sigh..."

Hearing Xiaoshi's words, Captain Luo felt a wave of bitterness. Who could know it would be so difficult? But in a world like this, since he had chosen to lead the team out, he was prepared to face death at any time.

The two of them didn't speak anymore.

Just like that, they quietly headed towards the south.

Now it was the spring when grass grew and orioles flew, supposed to be the season for flowers blooming and green trekking after the rain.

Unfortunately, this was the apocalypse, a time always on the edge of crisis.

In this apocalypse, no one could escape.

All there was to do was to endure and strive to survive.

...

Li Yu and his group drove their vehicles at full speed.

Xin City was not far from the neighboring city, yet it was still across a province.

Along the way, they didn't come across any other survivors, only zombies.

Weeds had grown on the walls of many buildings by the roadside.

Due to the frequent rain lately, many places had moss growing.

Suddenly, some sand and gravel appeared ahead, and the lead vehicle slipped a bit. Fortunately, Dapao, who was driving, quickly adjusted the steering wheel.

Screech—

Eventually, the vehicle drifted sideways across the road before coming to a halt in the middle of it.

Li Yu hurriedly told Li Gang, who was driving their vehicle, to slow down at once.

The following vehicles also reduced their speed.

"Damn it, who the hell dumped the sand here?" exclaimed Dapao.

Inside the vehicle, Yang Tianlong also felt a bit of relief, looking out the window at a small river not far away. The recent rainfall had filled the river.

If they hadn't stopped the cars just now, they might have slid into the river.

...

There's more tonight.