Chapter 181: Chapter 181: Steam-Powered Tank
Shelter, Weapon Craftsman Workshop.
Sylvie was obviously extremely satisfied with her results, so as soon as Lin Yi finished testing, she rushed forward.
"Boss! What do you think?"
"Very good, really very good, but it still needs a slight adjustment."
Lin Yi took off his helmet and seeing Sylvie’s expression was a bit disappointed, he smiled.
"When the engine is running at full capacity, I can feel it vibrating a bit, which affects my movements. Also, the movement speed is clearly limited. Sometimes, with my combat reaction speed, I encounter resistance—the exoskeleton can’t keep up with my movements."
"I understand..."
"How much does this super cool power armor cost?"
"7000 Coins."
"Only this much?"
"Because it’s mainly made of steel, and we have ample steel reserves."
"Understood, make some adjustments, start mass production, currently produce... say twenty sets. Let’s try them out in real combat and see how they perform."
Lin Yi said while coming out of the armor.
Thanks to the air conditioning system, he barely sweated; in fact, inside the armor was cooler than outside, as the room had turned into a sauna during testing.
Besides power armor, Sylvie had also developed some new armor and melee weapon prototypes.
But none were really impressive.
Because she and the other weapon craftsmen focused their efforts on the "Slaughterer" power armor.
The boss was ready to leave, but Sylvie still seemed a bit disappointed; she had thought the armor was perfect...
"I agreed to your small request, although... I still don’t know what it is."
Lin Yi said as he was about to leave.
Sylvie joyfully raised her head.
"You remember!?"
"Of course! So... keep it up?"
"Okay, Boss!!"
...
After leaving the Weapon Craftsman Workshop.
Lin Yi headed to Louis’ workshop, but the mechanician wasn’t there; the car mechanic said he was test-driving his latest "masterpiece" near the military base’s testing field.
Finding Louis was easy.
Lin Yi just had to follow the roaring sound of the engine.
He arrived at the testing field, which used to be a green patch, now almost turned over completely.
He found Louis there.
And his "masterpiece"!
This "masterpiece" was a steam-powered tank, built according to blueprints obtained from the beastmen.
Actually, Louis was still working on it, and currently, this model was just a crude prototype.
From its size, the tank looked like an old Soviet T-35, only wider, much wider.
It had a sturdy steel frame that looked a bit like a crab shell, as there were almost no flat surfaces.
Everywhere there were pipes, cylinders, and other parts with unknown purposes.
The main part of the tank was mostly occupied by some small turrets and a large turret, but this large turret looked more like a launch pad for a spacecraft.
Due to the wide diameter of the gun barrel, it could fire both tank shells and grenades.
The tank had two pairs of tractor-tread tracks, heavily modified and reinforced.
Despite Lin Yi’s doubts, the vehicle could turn in place with no problem, even achieving quite high speeds.
From the outside, you couldn’t tell the tank was not only fast but also highly maneuverable.
But that noise... could be heard kilometers away.
Meanwhile, Louis emerged.
"Is this your steam-powered tank, huh?"
"Oh, no."
The old rascal climbed out of the tank.
"It’s just a prototype. Building a real steam-powered tank is too difficult; I need at least three mechanician assistants. Either that or lots of Magic Value... or a pile of Coins."
"Can’t the weapon craftsmen help you?"
"Those guys? They know nothing about mechanics, and they can’t create complex devices. Besides, we’re almost out of gunpowder.
The workshop has been using recycled bullet shells. So I modified the guns and cannons. The main turret now launches shells filled with explosive compounds; others are flamethrowers.
I also reinforced the chassis, so my darling can easily crush zombies. Want to give it a spin?"
The old man was covered in sweat and soot.
Lin Yi twitched his mouth; he wanted to wait until the thing was cleaned before trying it.
"Not today... I have to inspect the entire shelter area; I also need to check on the military and manufacturing zones... by the way, can you..."
Lin Yi and Louis discussed the possibility of creating portable flamethrowers for infantry.
But apparently this tank used ordinary corn-based biofuel, so the flames it spewed weren’t meant to instantly burn the enemy, only to ignite them.
Louis agreed to consider making the flamethrower’s barrel more heat-resistant, but he wasn’t a metallurgist; they might need special alloys, preferably the kind used in spacecraft.
The two also discussed the possibility of installing flamethrowers on the "Slaughterer" power armor and fine-tuning the power armor itself.
After talking with Louis, Lin Yi went to find Immanuel.
According to Melanie, he’s currently at the foundry.
The workers there are trying to smelt a small amount of steel, and judging from their expressions, it seems they’ve achieved some success.
After pulling Immanuel aside, the two of them had a cup of coffee and discussed the achievements of the production area over the past few days.
Apparently, the factory is ready to brew wine; the equipment seized from the vineyards in the Champagne Region has been debugged and is just waiting for the grapes.
They’ve already found workers in advance, and everyone is on their respective posts. Due to the abundance of grapes, they are also considering making raisins and juice.
The Shelter is using rabbit hide to make clothes, mainly autumn and winter garments, which has given Xidi leather more uses.
Additionally, the first batch of cheese is already aging.
According to Immanuel, the aging speed of cheese in the Shelter is much faster than usual, so they expect the first batch to be ready within a week.
The residents of the Shelter have already collected all the titanium from surplus smartphones, and they didn’t forget to collect gold and silver either, so metal is abundant.
After discussing the possibility of making wine from apples, Lin Yi headed toward the border adjoining the island.
During his absence, a "small town" has emerged around both the human and beastman camps.
The young beastman warriors are well-equipped, evidently having had the opportunity to test new weapons.
Humans have established a military vehicle parking lot around the camp.
There are three armored combat vehicles inside, military and civilian jeeps, a few minibuses, and large buses.
There are also dozens of modified trucks for transporting infantry and cargo.
"Boss? It looks pretty bad!" a unique voice came from not far away.
Lin Yi turned around and saw Terghai returning from a mission on the island with a group of beastmen.
However, these beastman warriors were wounded, and their armor was battered and dilapidated.
"Looks like you guys encountered an ambush too, huh?"
"Thanks to me, we didn’t lose anyone,"
The beastman lord said awkwardly, speaking through a translator with his mouth firmly closed.
"We will suspend the raid as those monsters are getting more ferocious with each wave. But I’ve finally leveled up to 9."
"That’s pretty fast! Let’s call Hubert to discuss what to do next."
"Alright!" Terghai looked at his warriors and issued several orders.
Then, he followed Lin Yi to the human camp.
In the past five days, Terghai conducted four raids, killing approximately ten thousand zombies and scouting 95% of the island’s area, but he also suffered many losses.
But the fallen beastmen were almost all killed by increasingly powerful mutants.
After discussing all the macro aspects, Lin Yi began issuing commands.
An hour later, a convoy composed of six jeeps set off toward the island, preparing to enter the Zombie Territory.
Once they crossed the boundary of the Beastman’s Ark, the jeeps quickly dispersed.
To avoid ambushes or encirclement, these vehicles drove a few kilometers in different directions, scouting the area while staying vigilant.
Each "mobile watchtower" must prevent other vehicles from being surrounded or having their retreat cut off. In case of any issues, the army is ready to intervene at any time.
Most of the island’s forest has been cleared by the beastmen—stumps have been uprooted, pits filled, leaving only a few wide roads.
As an additional defense measure, a steel wall is set up in front of the entrance to the Beastman’s Ark as cover for a hasty retreat.
After the jeeps left the Beastman Territory, human infantry and beastman warriors remained there, providing support.
Overall, everything is very cautious.
After crossing the island’s edge, the jeep carrying Lin Yi arrived at another side of the wasteland.
At first, this land looked as if it had been doused in oil and set on fire.
The lush forest gradually turned into desolation.
For some reason, among the blackened remains of decaying tree trunks, there are occasionally some green trees mixed in, but they look more like mushrooms than trees.
They have sturdy, solid trunks, and their branches arch above like umbrellas.
Their broad leaves let not even a ray of sunlight through, so even during torrential rains, the ground beneath the trees remains dry.
The soil is gray and lifeless, with only occasional patches of black and yellow grass, which even so, look sickly.
No animal would eat it, not even if starving, for eating it means a slow and painful death.
Lin Yi pointed at a thick green trunk.
"What tree is that?"
"Boss, I don’t know..."
Solomon’s individual combat capability is more effective than Hubert’s, which is why he accompanied the boss here.
"Even the beastman shamans can’t tell them apart, but I feel it’s absorbing the toxins in the soil as nutrients."
"Oh? Then gather some manpower and have them uproot a few such trees to plant in the Shelter. I bet the professor will be excited when he sees them."
"Yes, Boss! So where are we headed now? The city with the zombies?"
"No, we’re heading to the center of the island. I believe the source of the toxins or something else must be right in the center, not in the city, where there are green trees, right?"
"Exactly!" Solomon slapped his forehead.
On the way to the island’s center, the jeep bypassed a small mountain and arrived at the entrance of a narrow canyon.
It looked like a stone mountain split in half, but that happened at least two hundred years ago.
Because inside the canyon, tall but decaying trees grow, and the soil looks quite level.
This canyon is dozens of kilometers long...