Chapter 102: Base Construction and Food Crisis

On the outer wall of Long'an Base, Lin An led Liu Shiming to step onto the sand worm's back, climbing up to observe the surrounding terrain.

The academy sits on flat land; aside from a wasteland to the rear, the other three directions all offer a view of the suburban road.

It covers an area of about 3.2 million square meters, equivalent to a small town.

On the earth wall, thirty-six engineering department students, under the guidance of two Awakened Ones, constantly calculated data, but whenever the sand worm couldn't help twisting its body, it gave everyone a start.

The former nightmare was actually stepped on by Lin An underfoot, docile as a lamb, feeling like a dream.

Liu Shiming's face was deathly pale; he was merely an ordinary player, with poor physical and mental fitness.

If Lin An hadn't forcibly summoned him, he wouldn't dare step on the sand worm's back even if beaten to death.

Because the sand worm habitually twists its body, Lin An had to exert mental intimidation.

Frowning slightly, the sand worm's appearance and riding comfort are terrible; ordinary people just seeing it could have nightmares all night.

If it weren't usable as an engineering beast, he would have slaughtered it long ago for equipment, and its corpse could still be made into armor.

Helplessly glancing at the black dragon on his wrist, the little creature, after continuously releasing dragon's might that day, had fallen back into sleep, though it had not entered a petrified state.

Over these days, he had roughly figured out the black dragon's situation.

The Shen Yuan black dragon, still in its juvenile form, would need to undergo at least two long periods of petrification to grow into adulthood.

The required spiritual energy must start at five figures, or the mental power of six third-stage mutants would suffice.

If calculated based on the supply from the soon-to-be-built spiritual energy core, relying solely on a full daily supply of 100 units of spiritual energy, the black dragon would need about a year and a half to reach maturity.

During this period, Lin An cannot cultivate nor construct the base.

Otherwise, he would try every means to hasten the black dragon's maturation.

After all, it is the legendary fourth-stage imperial clan; aside from the base vehicle, the Shen Yuan black dragon is his future trump card.

Dragon Knight...

Thinking of the black dragon after it matures, not mentioning its monstrous strength, just being able to fight while riding a dragon is enough to stir the heart.

"Lord Lin An, do you mean to build a wall encircling the entire academy… Long'an Base?"

Wang Jian, the newly appointed construction supervisor of the base Awakened Ones, carefully supported Liu Shiming as he jumped down from the worm's back, and asked in disbelief:

"Moreover, it requires a minimum height of 10 meters, a thickness of 24.7 meters, a defensive tower gap every 60 meters, and the top of the wall must retain shooting ports and artillery placement points!!"

"Later, it will still need remodeling to increase height, with the planned design height…"

"Over 160 meters!!!"

Wang Jian looked as if he had seen a ghost, and at breakneck speed repeated the information he had communicated with Liu Shiming and Lin An.

When he spoke of the final design height of 160 meters, he almost fainted.

Heaven pities him.

In his whole life, he had never heard such an exaggerated, absurd design plan!

This isn't a city wall; it's essentially a complex of skyscrapers pieced together!

What is this meant to defend against?

Against aliens or Ultraman?

Lin An embarrassedly rubbed his nose; the outer wall defense was his design against king-level enemies after the great catastrophe.

If used to defend against zombies, without considering mutants, a 10-meter-high defensive wall is indeed sufficient.

But later, the attacking enemies will number in the millions at least, and there will be plenty of third-stage king-level entities.

A 10-meter city wall makes no difference to such beings, like stepping over a threshold.

"First, design according to this construction standard; later, Liu Shiming will be responsible for the final design plan."

"The 160-meter height will be added gradually later; for now, design according to the 10–15 meter standard."

"In the early stage, the wall's scope need not be so large; it only needs to enclose the core area and the main gate facing the city direction."

After hearing Lin An's explanation, Wang Jian still wore a grim expression, took a deep breath, and said with difficulty:

"Sir, do you know what it means to have a wall about 10 meters high and 24 meters wide encircling half the base?"

"This means we must mobilize over 100,000 workers, hundreds of engineering machines, and more than hundreds of thousands of tons of cement and steel…"

The figures are detailed, the experience seasoned.

As the reported numbers grew ever larger, even he himself could hardly speak them.

Lin An merely smiled, patiently waiting for him to finish.

Wang Jian wasn't deliberately opposing him or making excuses to avoid work; it was clear he had earnestly done the calculations.

For such people, Lin An does not think there is any problem with their attitude.

On the contrary, he greatly appreciates such talent.

Not fawning on superiors nor bullying subordinates, daring to speak frankly about their professional field.

"Sir, forgive my frankness. Without a construction period of over six years, we absolutely cannot finish!"

Six years is already an understatement; he didn't even dare say that, with the current manpower, even if those earth-system Awakened Ones were worked to death, building an earth wall would be not bad.

"Don't worry about the construction; you just need to cooperate with Liu Shiming to produce the design plan."

At present, no players have accessed the base architecture list; as long as a design plan is given, the base will automatically generate the corresponding facilities.

The precondition is that spiritual energy and materials are sufficient.

This is also why, in his past life, all major forces wanted to obtain the "Safe Zone token".

Otherwise, relying solely on manpower to build, even if Awakened Ones could raise walls barehanded, they couldn't even construct basic facilities in a few years.

At present, the most important thing is to establish a defensive line, for the first wave of zombie sieges is imminent.

Other facilities can only be postponed for now.

Surviving is more important than anything.

Wang Jian let out a deep sigh; Lord Lin An had already spoken, what else could he say?

Maybe the adult really has some way to create a 'miracle'?

Inside the base, Zhang Tie was leading several Awakened Ones to clear the remaining zombies inside the dormitory.

With his current strength, after activating bear transformation, he fears no zombie ambush bites; in just half an hour he clears out hundreds of corpses.

The original dormitory area will, in Lin An's plan, be turned into a military camp, with everyone managed militarily by class.

Just as before, all ordinary players slept in the library; the cafeteria's large open bunk is not long-lasting.

According to the information provided by Huang Zheng and others, since men and women started living together, there have been no less than a hundred cases of indecency, and there have even been two rape cases.

In the long run, it will seriously affect the Safe Zone's morale.

Jing Tian then leads four Awakened Ones to set up an inspection office at the government building.

As an internal armed forces department, many male students showed great interest upon seeing the recruitment notice.

Unlike the imagination that only Awakened Ones would hold positions, the Inspection Office will recruit 200 ordinary Survivors.

As the only position within the base that ordinary people can hold and that possesses the power of life and death.

All ordinary Survivors long to enter it; even without saying more, just being able to receive 1.5 times the food rations daily after joining is enough to make people envious.

Since the various regulations were issued during the day, everyone has received the notice.

Starting tomorrow, the base will distribute food according to the daily minimum survival standard: each person gets 0.5 cans of meat per day, a small amount of fruit, and two individual rations.

Want better food?

Yes, you can exchange contribution points for it!

Each zombie killed can be exchanged for 0.1 contribution points, a first-rank Mutant for 100 points, construction workers earn 0.5 points per day, combat personnel earn 1 point per day, and inspection personnel earn 0.5 points.

Each contribution point can be exchanged for any three cans of meat or six individual combat rations.

For Awakened Ones, earning contribution points by killing zombies is not difficult, but for ordinary people it is practically impossible.

Therefore, the inspection position offers good benefits, high contribution points, and certain privileges.

However, the two-hundred-person position involves fierce competition.

For a while, the Inspection Office was blocked by students from the entire zone, water cannot leak through.

On the other side, Wen Ya, accompanied by Mo Ling and the only two Awakened Ones, organizes all the base's documents.

As the Logistics Department, it not only has to undertake the task of managing material distribution for the entire Safe Zone, but also has to integrate personnel allocation well.

In the office, Principal Huang Zheng, with a fawning expression, leads the original leadership in busily cleaning before and after, organizing data.

In the past, such tasks were done by students and teachers, but now it's his turn to do them and it's truly unbearable.

But he also dares not show anything; as an old fox, he knows that if he has no use, his fate will likely be the same as Zhang Zhicheng's.

In the morning, after Lin An's Safe Zone bill was passed unanimously, the original management was completely cleared out.

Regardless of whether you were previously a principal or a director, everyone is treated as an ordinary person.

No work, no food.

If it weren't for Huang Haitao proactively seeking out Wen Ya, stating his willingness to serve as the vanguard team for tomorrow's expedition out of the city to search for supplies.

Given Lin An's personality, someone like this who doesn't want to work but still wants to stay in the Safe Zone?

If lucky, they're sent to the Frontline construction squad to haul bricks; if they dare to complain, they're sent to the supplies search team.

Just like the former vice-principal Zhang Zhicheng, he is now on the Frontline leading several middle-aged leaders to clear corpses and repair the road.

The three major departments start work simultaneously, the whole base bustles with activity, and everything develops toward a better direction.

Late at night, Lin An wearily rubs his brow; all matters big and small in the Safe Zone initially require his personal supervision.

After all, no one in the base knows how the Safe Zone should be built, and there is no experience to draw on.

Not only must we consider the later zombie tide problem, but subsequent construction and personnel also need adjustment.

"Lin An, the afternoon's data has already been compiled."

Wen Ya likewise wearily brings a cup of hot water and hands it to Lin An, while Zhang Tie had long ago run back to his own room to snore loudly asleep.

"The current food reserves are not optimistic."

"Even if you take out all the food inside the ring, given the current consumption rate of nearly three thousand people."

"At most four days, the entire base will fall into a state of food shortage."

"This doesn't even account for the problem that Awakened Ones consume more food than ordinary people."

"The construction team's food consumption is also huge."

"Moreover."

Wen Ya's face flashed with a hint of worry.

"All the good places near the base for searching supplies have been cleared out; the food problem is imminent."

"If there isn't enough food within seven days, the base will face the situation of people starving to death."

Lin An nods slowly, his fingers tapping on the wide desk.

"Tomorrow, I will lead the team to Linjiang City for a trip."

"There are several large supermarkets and food stations in the outer city area; I will find a way to solve this problem."

The Space Ring cannot be unbound unless he dies; therefore, going out to search for large amounts of supplies can only be done by him leading the team.

Otherwise, just bringing it back would be a problem.

"Food..."

Lin An murmured to himself; the painful scenes brought by hunger in his past life are vivid before his eyes.