6: Mine foundation laying

Chapter 6: Secret Treasures in the Warehouse, Laying the Foundation of the Ore Refinery

The first light of dawn pierced through the clouds, casting a hazy gray outline over the dilapidated city. The fire at the gas station had completely died out, leaving only charred remains and a pungent smell of smoke. In the area where the zombie swarm had been incinerated, dark brown oil stains mixed with bone ash, forming ugly patches on the ground.

Lin Zhou stood at the second-floor window of the convenience store, watching Scarface and the others lift the unconscious girl into the SUV. Su Mei was squatting by the vehicle checking the tires. Her shoulder wound had been re-bandaged, and though her movements still carried a hint of stiffness, they were much more agile than before.

"Boss, the warehouse is just three streets away. It's an abandoned construction materials warehouse with plenty of rebar and cement inside, plus a few scrapped excavators," the Short Man approached with a flattering smile. "We scouted it once before. There aren't many zombies inside, but the door was too sturdy for us to pry open."

Lin Zhou nodded and glanced at the back of the SUV—several oil drums were securely placed inside, enough to keep the Power Generator Station running for half a month. He turned to the Conscript and said in a deep voice, "You come with us. The Machine Gunner will guard the rooftop. Remember, kill any living thing that approaches without exception."

"Yes, Sir!" the Conscript straightened his back, the muzzle of his AK47 glinting coldly in the morning light.

The group of eight split into two vehicles. Lin Zhou, Su Mei, and Scarface took the SUV, while the rest squeezed into a scavenged pickup truck. The roar of the engines drowned out the sporadic roars of zombies in the distance. The SUV bumped along the potholed streets, with ruins constantly receding behind them. Occasionally, a few wandering zombies lunged at them, only to be dealt with by the people in the vehicles.

Twenty minutes later, the convoy stopped in front of a massive steel-structure warehouse. The warehouse door was a heavy sheet-metal door reinforced with thick rebar, and a large, rusty lock hung from the handle. The surrounding walls were riddled with bullet holes and claw marks, clearly having survived a past zombie tide.

"This is it," Scarface jumped out of the vehicle and pointed at the warehouse door. "We tried prying it with steel pipes and smashing it with rocks, but it didn't budge."

Lin Zhou walked to the door and reached out to touch the cold iron. Immediately, the system notification sounded in his mind.

[Heavy alloy iron door detected. Devouring can yield a large amount of metal points. Devour immediately?]

"Not yet." Lin Zhou gripped the Fire Axe at his waist and glanced at the side of the warehouse. "Prying the door makes too much noise and attracts zombies. Su Mei, come with me to the side to see if there's a ventilation vent."

Su Mei nodded, and the two walked halfway around the warehouse. Sure enough, they found a half-person-high ventilation vent on the back. The iron grating was already heavily rusted and could be deformed with a gentle pull. Lin Zhou had the Conscript stay outside the vent on guard while he and Su Mei crouched and crawled inside.

The ventilation duct was filled with dust and a musty smell, the narrow space only allowing one person to crawl at a time. Using the faint light from their phones, they slowly moved forward until the duct opened into a vast space. Lin Zhou kicked open the vent's grating with force, flipped down, and held his Fire Axe across his chest, warily scanning the surroundings.

The warehouse was indeed filled with construction materials, just as the Short Man had said. Bundles of rebar were stacked against the walls, next to several dust-covered excavators and cutting machines. In the corner, dozens of discarded metal toolboxes were piled up, along with several rolls of brand-new copper cables. To Lin Zhou's surprise, there was even a small diesel generator deep in the warehouse. Although it was scrapped, the copper coils and engine parts inside were excellent metal resources.

"We hit the jackpot," Su Mei's voice held a hint of amazement as she pointed at the rebar and excavators. "This metal is enough for you to build ten Ore Refineries."

Lin Zhou took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement. He walked to a bundle of rebar and reached out to grab one. The system notifications began to ring frantically.

[Devoured a large amount of finishing rebar. metal points +120]

[Devoured discarded excavator metal parts. metal points +280]

[Devoured copper cables ×5. metal points +85]

[Devoured scrapped generator core components. metal points +150]

[Current metal points: 58.5+120+280+85+150=693.5]

[Convert all into red alert system resources?]

"Convert!" Lin Zhou said without hesitation.

[red alert system metal: 693.5, power: 2]

[Constructible buildings: Ore Refinery (metal 50, power 10), Barracks (Already built), Power Generator Station (Already built), Radar (metal 100, power 20), War Factory (metal 200, power 30)]

The power was still insufficient. Lin Zhou frowned, his gaze falling on several rows of solar panels in the corner of the warehouse. Although covered in dust, the panels didn't look damaged and should be removable to expand the Power Generator Station's capacity.

Just as he was about to start, a violent impact sounded from outside the warehouse door, followed by Scarface's roar: "Dammit! It's zombies! So many zombies!"

Lin Zhou's expression changed, and he immediately rushed back to the ventilation vent with Su Mei. Just as they crawled out of the duct, they saw a dense swarm of zombies surging toward the warehouse from the end of the street. There were at least two hundred of them, interspersed with over a dozen extremely fast Speed Types. Scarface and the others were desperately holding the door with steel pipes and machetes. The girl in the pickup truck was huddled in the corner, her face pale with terror.

"Hold the door! Don't let them in!" Lin Zhou roared, raising his AK47 and firing into the swarm. The Conscript also opened fire immediately. Dense gunshots echoed outside the empty warehouse as the zombies in the lead fell one after another.

Su Mei was even faster. She drew the Fire Axe from her waist and charged into the swarm like a leopard. The blade flashed coldly, each swing bringing a spray of black blood. Seeing this, Scarface and the others plucked up their courage and joined Su Mei in hacking down the zombies.

But the swarm was simply too numerous. As one group fell, another surged forward, and soon someone was injured. The Short Man's arm was clawed by a zombie, and he retreated with a scream. Just as he was about to be tackled, Lin Zhou acted quickly and severed the zombie's neck with his axe.

"Hold on!" Lin Zhou growled. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the diesel generator in the warehouse and instantly had an idea. "Su Mei, get everyone into the warehouse! I'll cover the rear!"

Su Mei didn't hesitate and immediately called for Scarface and the others to drag the injured Short Man and the girl toward the ventilation vent. Lin Zhou fired while slowly retreating, drawing the swarm toward the warehouse door. Once everyone had crawled into the vent, he quickly climbed in and pulled the iron grating back into place.

The zombie swarm slammed frantically against the warehouse door and the ventilation vent. The sheet-metal door made loud "clanging" sounds, threatening to be breached at any moment. Lin Zhou didn't have time to catch his breath and immediately issued an order in his mind.

"Build Ore Refinery!"

[Consumes 50 metal and 10 power. Current power is insufficient. Consume metal points to convert to power? 1 metal point = 1 power]

"Convert! Consume 8 metal points to convert to 8 power!"

[metal: 693.5-50-8=635.5, power: 2+8=10]

[Please select a location to build the Ore Refinery.]

Lin Zhou selected the open space in the center of the warehouse. A faint blue light descended from the sky. As the light dissipated, an Ore Refinery spanning twenty square meters appeared. The red alert logo was printed on the gray walls, and the conveyor belt at the entrance slowly turned, as if ready to devour metal resources at any moment.

[Ore Refinery construction complete! Automatically devouring surrounding metal resources, producing 200 metal points per hour. Currently devoured surrounding scattered metal, producing 100 metal points.]

[Constructible buildings updated: Radar (metal 100, power 20), War Factory (metal 200, power 30)]

Overjoyed, Lin Zhou immediately issued another command: "Build two more Power Generator Stations!"

[Consumes 40 metal and 0 power. Converting 20 metal points to power to meet construction requirements.]

[Two Power Generator Stations construction complete! power +20, current power: 30]

The banging outside the warehouse grew more intense. Finally, the sheet-metal door let out a loud groan of being overwhelmed and was forced open a crack by the zombies. The rotten fingers of several zombies reached in, clawing frantically.

Lin Zhou walked to the Ore Refinery, watching the conveyor belt continuously devour the surrounding rebar and metal components as the metal points surged. He took a deep breath and looked toward the ventilation vent, where Su Mei, Scarface, and the others were staring at him tensely, their eyes filled with expectation.

"Don't panic," Lin Zhou's voice was steady, carrying a reassuring power. "The Ore Refinery is built. In ten minutes, we'll be able to train enough troops to completely wipe out this swarm!"

Sunlight streamed through the warehouse's damaged skylight, falling onto the Ore Refinery's conveyor belt and reflecting a cold metallic luster.

In this desperate situation, a steel Ore Refinery had become their new hope.