NOVEL WEB Chapter 399: The Beauty Raises Pigs
"Unrelated to the romantic moon, I'll write a preface awaiting your return
With a stroke of the pen, a masterpiece is created, where waves stack thousands upon layers at that shore
How to decipher the character for love, every stroke seems amiss
Yet all I lack is an understanding of your entire life
....."
As the sun sets, Li Yu stands atop the Observation Tower on the mountain, listening to music through headphones, his heart filled with emotion.
Old Zhou's songs are indeed enduring, and Old Fang's lyrics are truly beautiful.
But now, as times change, there's no longer a chance to experience Old Zhou's live performance.
The gentle evening breeze sways the leaves in the mountain forest.
Birds returning to the roost stir up a clamor.
Standing on high ground watching the sunset, observing the sun dip lower and lower.
The wind rustles through the trees at dusk, the sound is soft, yet it brings a sense of calm.
Such scenery makes one feel blissful.
Surveying all this, Li Yu thinks about some current matters at the base:
The first is about spring planting.
There are now 150 people at the base, and its scale is quite significant.
Li Yu had never imagined that the base would grow to this size when he first built it.
It was just natural development, going with the flow.
For now, there is no problem with the food supply, as recently An Ya, who is in charge of agricultural planting, has started leading people in spring planting.
The cultivation of early rice is essential, especially since a new area has been planned for planting in the Outer City.
The planting task for this month is quite severe; there are about twenty acres in the Outer City and more than thirty acres in the Inner City, along with nearly ten acres for indoor planting.
In total, there are over sixty acres of agricultural land to plant, and there is a bit of pressure for planting early rice as we need to hurry with the cultivation.
The second matter is the strengthening of the base's defenses.
As previously planned, trenches should be dug around the base to resist zombies and enemies.
Now, there are several excavators available for use at the base, just that more gasoline and diesel need to be stockpiled—it's always better to have more of such things than less.
The third matter is modifying the heavy-duty loader.
On Li Hang's last excursion, the purpose was to retrieve this heavy-duty loader; they even faced Hua Chuanlong and others, resulting in injuries.
But the modification of the loader cannot be delayed. Spring is here, and in Lingnan, the rainy season is just around the corner, which might trigger another Zombie Tide.
The fourth issue is figuring out how to manufacture bullets.
Bullets require titanium alloy and tin for sealing,
The ammunition inside uses Sulfur Powder and black gunpowder, first creating a mold, then shaping the bullet head and the base plug.
Then, fill the primer with a 10:1 ratio of Sulfur Powder and black gunpowder, cap it with the base plug, and seal it with tin.
But the most significant problem is the materials for bullet manufacturing, which include black gunpowder, iron blocks, and Brass.
The second problem is the bullet manufacturing equipment, a press, which is virtually impossible to obtain before the apocalypse.
However, this doesn't stump Third Uncle; despite not knowing what he's been through, he knows how to make a progressive reloading press.
This device only requires some parts to create; although the bullet-making efficiency isn't very high, an experienced person using a progressive reloading machine can produce up to 500 bullets per hour.
That is indeed sufficient.
This progressive reloading press includes an upper mold for carrying out various processes like depriming, resizing, priming, and bullet seating.
A progressive reloading press is designed so that each necessary mold is installed in the correct position, along with the powder-filling tools. With each pull of the handle, the casing advances one position, allowing different molds to perform different steps;
When the case completes all the positions, the result is a fully assembled bullet.
When Li Yu first heard Third Uncle talk about this, he was thoroughly bamboozled.
Even though he didn't understand much of what Third Uncle said, just by watching him speak, Li Yu felt quite impressed.
Right now, the most critical tasks they face are spring planting, followed by enhancing the defenses of the base.
For bullets, since they had obtained over a million rounds at a military base last time, they have enough to last them for a very long time.
...
Recently, due to the matters in Safe City, Li Yu and others have been busy for a while.
The day after returning from Safe City, Li Yu saw An Ya and Third Uncle planting in the base.
Because the land here is flat, planting machines can be used, which saves them a lot of manpower and time.
Watching An Ya and a group of people planting, especially after inspecting the development of some of the crops being cultivated indoors, it is clear that they are growing well.
Walking along the ridges, seeing them divide tasks, with some transporting seedlings and others operating the machines to plant.
Under the sun, Li Yu looks at the lush greenery, full of life, and genuinely feels it was right to bring An Ya on board.
Li Yu approaches the bustling An Ya.
An Ya, seeing Director Li, the head of the base, quickly comes forward to report some of the basic situation:
"Director Li, we now have a total of sixty acres of cultivable land, and the indoor planting section has been completed, which includes rice, corn, and some fruits and vegetables.
Additionally, I suggest focusing on rice in the plain areas, as it is more suitable for large-scale cultivation.
The terraced fields we previously opened in the forested area can be used for planting other crops, like sweet potatoes, for example.
The nurseries are ready now; it should take roughly five days to finish."