Apocalypse: the Most Ruthless Person

“Come on, come on, lock it up first!”

Zhang Su gestured for someone to attach the iron chain to 003’s collar while saying, “The Petrified Skin Zombies are the most affected by the cold, then the regular zombies. This modified thing is pretty wicked, no effect at all?”

“I guess… I think the skin activity of the Petrified Skin Zombies increases, its hardness further enhances, thus hindering joint movement, which is why they’re the most affected. Regular zombies don’t have this problem, so they’re comparatively stronger. As for why the modified zombies aren’t affected, maybe the degree isn’t enough, it hasn’t reached the threshold. I’d love to dissect and research it.”

Fu Weijun said, looking at 003 with interest.

“Hmm…”

Zhang Su rolled his eyes, quickly saying, “We can’t dissect 003 for now! Hey, Xiaowang, turn on the electricity, or it’ll wake up again. By the way, does this car have to keep running all the time?”

“It has to.” Wang Xin was operating while saying, “If it stalls, the battery won’t last long! All done, we’re good.”

After turning on the power to the iron chain, a slight buzz sounded, and the current started flowing.

“Keeping the engine running like this isn’t viable, fuel can’t keep up… Dr. Fu researched the critical voltage to control 003, right? Teacher Yu, tell Master Jia to modify the generator or the battery panel or something, we have to reduce energy consumption.”

Standing beside the cargo truck, Zhang Su watched the exhaust pipe sputter out white smoke, distressed about the fuel consumption, which was about two liters an hour even at idle. In the past, that kind of consumption was trivial, but now…

As days passed, fuel reserves were depleting, and finding fuel outside became harder and harder. They needed to conserve where they could.

“Well…” Duan Wuhu scratched his head suddenly and said, “Zombies are like perpetual motion machines, just some sunlight and they can move. Can’t we research using zombies for electricity generation?”

Swoosh.

The simple yet intriguing idea instantly caught everyone’s attention.

“Damn!” Zhang Su cracked a smile, saying, “Old Duan, who says phys ed teachers are all brawn and no brains? This brilliant idea, how come we didn’t think of it? Wait a minute, why does it seem like I’ve seen this concept somewhere before…”

“Hehe, I remembered it from a comedic zombie movie back in the day.” Duan Wuhu admitted without hiding anything, telling the truth directly.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t be fooled by its nonsense vibe, but it’s quite worth considering. Dr. Fu, do you think it’s feasible?”

Zhang Su turned to look at Fu Weijun, who was in a wheelchair.

Fu Weijun thought for a moment and nodded with a bit of a brilliant expression on his face, “It really might work…”

“How to generate power? Burn them? Zombies are indeed pretty resistant to burning, better than coal.” Lu Yubo saw everyone’s excitement and joined in, with one sentence leaving them all speechless.

Feeling the strange gazes, Lu Yubo awkwardly chuckled, “What, what are you looking at me for?”

“Burn… burn what? What do you think this is, thermal power?”

Zhang Su rubbed his forehead, looking worried at Lu Yubo.

Duan Wuhu grinned, “Hehe, Xiaolu, we’re not researching thermal power, but bio-energy generation. Make a treadmill to drive a generator setup, let zombies run on the treadmill, and presto, you have power!”

Lu Yubo was stunned at first, then clapped repeatedly, “Dang, this is a clever solution! Fix a zombie’s body to the treadmill, hang a bloody pig’s head in front, wouldn’t the zombie go crazy and run till it’s dead?”

“It’s a good idea.” Even Fu Weijun nodded in agreement, then added, “Generating power is easy, storing it is the issue. We could consider getting more batteries. This project is really great, I think we can start today.”

“Alright, Old Duan, since it was your idea, you lead the way. For the generator, talk to Master Jia, he’s an experienced electrician. For storage equipment, see if Teacher Xiaoyu can come up with something. Just let us know if you need help. Solve the electricity problem, and you’ll get a great merit once it’s done, and everyone involved will be rewarded!”

Zhang Su immediately made the decision to initiate the zombie power generation project.

“That would be wonderful if zombies can really be used for power generation. Our future livelihood…”

“Brother Su…”

Just at that moment, Tan Huajun, who was handling breakfast at Little Lucky, walked out of the yard wearing an apron, looking dejected, “The water’s out!”

“So soon?” Yuwen’s face wrinkled as he said, “I thought it could last a bit longer…”

“Without heating equipment, the reservoir can’t resist freezing…”

Zhang Su was stunned at first, then quickly walked towards Little Lucky, saying, “When I got up, I still used tap water, it’s only now stopped?”

“Just stopped recently, the water’s getting smaller.” Tan Huajun had dough on his hands, pointing towards the kitchen saying, “Half the meal is done, and that’s it.”

“This is freakin’ annoying, damn it!”

Zhao Dezhu, also part of the food crew, walked out of the kitchen holding a rolling pin, with flour and a sullen look on his face.

“Someone needs to check if it’s the pipes frozen or if the reservoir is completely frozen…”

Zhang Su looked in the direction where the pipes extended and saw Pang Dakun walking out from the forest, immediately waving, “Dakun, where have you been?”

“Uncle!” Pang Dakun ran up to the group in three quick steps, pointing at the mountain saying, “Brother Liu said the sudden drop in temperature might freeze the reservoir, so he sent me to check, and yeah, it’s freezing!”

Everyone exchanged looks.

“Isn’t the Celestial Horse Island Reservoir quite big, not too small either? It’s frozen so quickly?”

Zhang Su still held a glimmer of hope.

“It’s not entirely frozen, just a layer about this thick, but I guess the pipes freeze faster.”

Pang Dakun gestured with his fingers, showing a helpless expression.

The pipes only have a basic antifreeze layer, incapable of withstanding temperatures below minus twenty degrees. You’d need to increase water flow speed, meaning always having water running. But that’s not sustainable. As long as the temperature doesn’t rise, freezing is inevitable, so other methods of water extraction must be considered!

Everyone sighed, realizing humans cannot fight against nature.

“It’s fine, we still have a few tons of reserve water at camp, and Madian Village has a deep well, forty to fifty meters deep, so it won’t freeze. Just need to work a bit harder to haul water from there.”

Zhang Su shrugged, as no one could control the cold weather. Just when they figured out the electricity problem, the water issue came up, but thankfully, it’s just more of an inconvenience rather than a complete cutoff.

With the sudden drop in temperature and a recent intense battle, Zhang Su didn’t immediately lead a team out for raids, instead staying at camp to rest. Apart from anything else, every household’s windows needed sealing and reinforcement, otherwise, solely relying on heating wouldn’t ensure proper insulation, and many facilities also needed better protection against the cold.

The land clearing work at Madian Village was on hold due to lack of leadership, with the people from United Village all committed to various efforts on Celestial Horse Island, showing great diligence. However, even without the land clearing at Madian Village, they still managed to maintain several crucial wells.

Those injured in the battle with the Cyan Dragon Corps’ Grain Collection Team have all recovered, as Yang Wenjie put on clothes once more to exercise, showing disbelief on her face.

She thought her arm was done for forever, never expecting that just taking some medication would have her healing rapidly, giving her a surreal feeling.

Yang Wenjie and Guo Dachao even took the trouble to thank Zhang Su and Fu Weijun, subtly trying to discover what kind of medicine they took, but in the end, they didn’t manage to find out anything useful…