The night was alluring; many people suffered from insomnia this evening.

....

Guo Peng and Zhu Xiao entered the residential building of the First Outer City for the first time.

Under the guidance and arrangement of He Chao, they were allocated some rooms.

Then, He Chao tirelessly led Zhu Xiao and the others to familiarize themselves with this place: the shower room, the restroom, the hall, and the old doctor Hua Qian...

In addition, they were given some basic living supplies and canned goods recently transported back from the Western Alliance by Li Yu and his team.

Each person received two cans of fruit.

When Guo Peng got these two cans, he sat in this not-so-big room, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Finally, they had entered the Outer City; they had truly joined the Big Camphor Tree Base—it wasn't easy.

Taking a simple hot shower seemed so easy before Doomsday, yet it felt so luxurious now.

After comfortably and thoroughly enjoying a hot shower, Xiao Hu returned to his room after finishing the base-distributed dinner.

He stayed awake until midnight; he couldn't sleep.

Tossing and turning, excitement kept him awake for a long time.

Unable to sleep, he got up and walked outside.

The stars shimmered as he gazed at the sky.

The galaxy was brilliant, the multicolored sky looked dazzling, with clouds illuminated by starlight.

He lay on a large stone slab, listening to the wind and the rustling leaves nearby.

He felt inexplicably moved, gazing at the stunning starlight.

Perhaps, with fewer humans around to emit exhaust gases, the natural ecological environment seemed improved.

And the sky seemed to be purer and clearer.

Xiao Hu lay on the stone slab, which retained a bit of warmth from the sun earlier, transmitting through his clothes to his skin.

At this moment, Xiao Hu's mind entered a state of extreme tranquility.

This tranquility was precious and rare.

If possible, Xiao Hu wished to pause time at this very second.

......

Inside the base's Inner City, An Ya lay in her small room.

Her room was not large, with only a bathroom and a toilet; the hall was pitifully small.

But it was small yet complete, with everything necessary.

An Ya drew open her curtains, listening to lullabies with her headphones, staring blankly at the splendor of the starry sky.

Unknowingly, she had spent over a year at the Big Camphor Tree Base.

These more than twelve months seemed like a dream, with time slipping away unintentionally.

Yet, witnessing the base grow stronger, seeing the expanded planting areas producing more food, she felt a sense of pride surge in her heart.

But she dared not express this pride to others, secretly reveling in quiet nights in her bed.

I am useful too; I can create value.

.......

North of Xin City.

Xing City.

Ai Shan lay in the glass room, watching crops silently grow under the moonlight.

He was grateful, thankful for finding such a place.

Being able to plant crops on the rooftop, though life remained tough, at least starvation could be avoided.

Listening to the snores from behind, Ai Shan turned over, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

....

Sichuan Province.

After driving for three to four days, Uncle lay down to rest in the camper, staring at the moonlight through the blinds, eyes open, unable to sleep.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow we will arrive at the Western Alliance," Uncle murmured to himself.

Through numerous vehicles on this journey, despite encountering minor vehicle issues, no one fell behind.

Although zombies were frequently encountered at night, they always managed to find a campsite in advance, passing the nights safely.

Uncle slowly closed his eyes; he needed sleep, as he'd have to set off early the next day.

........

Time flows like water, silently slipping away.

A week later.

The walls of the Big Camphor Tree Base were finally completed today.

Li Yu looked down, treading on the newly built walls of the Third Outer City.

He overlooked the people busy constructing greenhouses and residential buildings below.

Touching the wall, there was a thin layer of dust on the surface.

Turning aside, he asked Ding Jiu, "How long until the greenhouses are completed?"

Ding Jiu heard this and said, "The greenhouse in the Third Outer City started construction a week ago. It will probably take another week. The planting area planned in the Third Outer City is quite large, so it needs more time."

Li Yu nodded. He naturally knew.

Once the greenhouse in the Third Outer City is completed, it will become the largest planting site in the entire base.

Even the planting area in the Inner City is not this large.

Looking at the duty room under construction in the distance, Li Yu walked around the fence and felt quite satisfied.

Nearly thirty meters of fencing, now, is enough to fend off zombie attacks.

The same mobile switch blades are installed on the fence to play a huge role in the event of rain.

Recently, cooperative personnel collected many chemical raw materials needed by Kong Shuang from some previously issued new tasks, and now they have made some daily chemical products and distributed them for use, receiving unanimous praise from everyone.

Walking on the fence, Li Yu's face was calm, but his heart was quite unsettled.

Yesterday, a bunch of refugees came from the north. After chatting with them, I found out that they were also people who fled from Nanyang.

Coincidentally, Zhong Chuchu and they knew these people as well.

After communications, Li Yu learned that the Motorcycle Gang is now rapidly expanding, almost becoming the uncrowned king of that area in Nanyang.

Relying on good mobility, they roam everywhere, controlling most of the population and letting them serve the Motorcycle Gang, providing stable food.

The lives of those who stayed behind are not much different from animals.

So more and more people are trying to escape from there.

Li Yu knew, now was the time.

Two in the afternoon.

The weekly meeting starts.

Except for Uncle who hasn't returned, everyone else was present.

It's still those daily tasks, including construction matters in the base, crop planting, material collection, etc.

But regarding material collection, now the base is in short supply of fuel, and petroleum is even more scarce.

.......

Li Yuan reported to everyone: "Now, the combined petroleum and fuel left in our base is less than 50 tons, which probably won't last long."

Second Uncle heard this and frowned, saying: "Why is there so little left? I remember a few months ago there were several hundred tons."

Third Uncle knocked on the table and said, "Going to Guang Steel Factory, running so many times, diesel consumption is huge. If Xiao Yu hadn't brought back dozens of tons of diesel from the Western Alliance last time, our fuel would be even less now."

He Chao listened to everyone's discussions, wanting to speak but hesitated. Li Yu saw his expression, pointed at He Chao and said, "He Chao, do you have something you want to say?"

He Chao saw Li Yu call his name and had to say: "Actually, even among the extra staff and cooperative personnel, this problem also appeared, the fuel shortage problem, it was better before the floods, now this issue is becoming more serious. I heard some cooperative personnel groups don't have fuel at all and can only build in the Third Outer City."

Second Uncle frowned and said: "I say this past couple of days why is there suddenly a lot more people building."

The people sitting around the table all discussed. They were discussing the fuel issue.

Li Yu put down the cup in his hand.

Bang.

The bottom of the cup touched the table, making a sound that attracted everyone's attention, and they looked toward Li Yu.

They knew Li Yu had something to say.

"It seems this is currently a matter that must be resolved." Li Yu's eyes were deep, and he said softly.

Then, he said to everyone:

"Actually, this problem, I had thought about it long ago, fuel would eventually run out, so I previously had Old Dong and Zhang San start researching electric trucks."

Li Yu paused, took a sip of water, and continued.

"In the base, there are actually dozens of electric vehicles left from before Doomsday, but these electric vehicles are used for a long time, and the batteries will eventually fail.

Now, Old Dong and the others can already make batteries and can complete the assembly. This kind of ternary lithium battery has high energy density, good discharge performance in a low-temperature environment, and a relatively long range.

It's just the battery raw materials, nickel-cobalt-manganese lithium or nickel-cobalt-aluminum lithium, these materials are not collected enough.

So only ten electric trucks were modified, and these ten electric trucks have a range of up to 700 kilometers, with battery replacements extending the range even further."

"700 kilometers! Can the range be so long? Is it the actual range?" Second Uncle was a bit surprised, he had also bought a new energy electric vehicle before.

The marked range is 600 kilometers, but it could only go 480 kilometers, a serious reduction.

He couldn't believe that electric cars manufactured by major car factories before Doomsday had shorter ranges than those made by Old Dong and the others.

Li Yu nodded and said: "Yes, the actual range can reach that much. Actually, batteries aren't that complicated, cars made before Doomsday had to consider various costs comprehensively, including vehicle weight. In essence, if you make more battery packs, the range of thousands of kilometers is not a problem, the key is the weight of the car body.

Of course, we don't have so many concerns now, so when fully charged, the range can reach 700 kilometers."

Li Yu's words caused discussion in the conference room.

Everyone was amazed, they didn't expect the range to be so long.

Li Yu knocked on the table and said: "Just like He Chao said earlier, without fuel, many cooperative personnel and extra staff can't go out to help collect materials, gather supplies.

At the same time, without materials and supplies in the base, without materials to make batteries, there is no way to make batteries and modify electric vehicles.

So, while everyone still has some fuel now, mobilize all cooperative personnel and extra staff to collect raw materials for making batteries.

As far as I know, in our Gansheng, raw materials for lithium batteries are relatively abundant.

In addition, these ten modified electric vehicles, keep five for Inner and Outer City use, and the remaining five can be distributed to the extra staff through a lottery method to let them test the performance."

.....

(Requesting monthly tickets)