Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

At dawn the next day, everything in the shelter was operating normally, and everyone was doing their job, but everyone's movements were more agile, adding a sense of urgency to the shelter.

Zhang Shi and Zhao Feng led a team of twenty people and set off, their destination being two resource mines outside the shelter.

Zhang Shi looked around carefully along the way. Although he could find traces of living creatures passing by, he did not find any zombies.

Unsure whether this situation was a good or bad thing, Zhang Shi had no choice but to lead his team forward. After arranging the mining work, Zhang Shi and Zhao Feng selected a platform within the sulfur mine and set up the teleportation array. After instructing the soldiers on how to use it and the precautions, Zhao Feng left the team to supervise while Zhang Shi walked to the plain outside the shelter. He retrieved a refined-level resource generation card and used it without hesitation.

In an instant, a stream over ten meters wide appeared before him, encircling the entire shelter. "Now we don't have to worry about another zombie horde; at least we have a buffer."

Zhang Shi found a place close to the other side of the river, jumped lightly, activated the Shadow Step and moved to the other side. Pippi had been waiting for him on the shore. When she saw Zhang Shi coming back, she excitedly threw herself on his legs.

Inside the shelter, Ge Dalong and his men crafted a giant barricade using wood and pig iron. He tested its sturdiness with a knife and, satisfied, ordered his soldiers to produce it in large quantities. This would prove quite useful during the next zombie wave.

Wu Qing moved the botanical garden next to the wall. Countless plants climbed up the golden stone wall. Various vines, thorns, and carnivorous plants stood on the top of the wall, surrounding the front of the shelter tightly, making it look quite safe.

The engineers were still tinkering away at the research center. Zhang Shi, facing a shortage of weapons and equipment, had added five more engineers. Ten engineers were now working furiously at the research center, refining steel, synthesizing gunpowder, and manufacturing weapons and equipment. Ultimately, their work was paramount. Zhang Shi had Xiaomei prepare some restorative food, with unlimited supplies for the engineers.

The support soldiers work with Wu Qing to prepare various potions and catch up on meal times. They also help Xiaomei prepare meals for everyone in the shelter, mainly doing logistical work.

Scouts were ordered to patrol the area surrounding the shelter, keeping an eye out for zombies, especially in the forested area surrounding the shelter's back entrance. Last night, a large wave of zombies had gathered there, but the river had prevented them from attacking the shelter. While the temperature was slowly dropping, the river's water level had already reached a dangerous low. He couldn't use resource generation cards until the river dried up completely. Therefore, the back entrance became a hidden danger, and Zhang Shi had to order his scouts to strictly guard it to prevent a zombie attack.

……

After Zhang Shi returned to the shelter, before he could rest, Ge Dalong pulled him and led a dozen commandos to the main gate and dug a deep pit in the middle of the plain.

"Two lines of defense aren't enough. Last night, they were just ordinary zombies, and they already gave us a lot of trouble. I'm afraid that as time goes by, the zombies will evolve. It's better to be prepared than not. Let's just tire ourselves out a bit."

The shelter had undergone several expansions and was now quite large. Digging a deep pit around the perimeter was a massive undertaking, exceeding a hundred meters in total length. Even with high-quality tools, a dozen people still toiled until noon to complete the work.

In the wilderness, construction work was greatly simplified. By noon, the soldiers had copied over twenty of the chevaux de frise Ge Dalong had made that morning.

Ge Dalong put these barricades into his backpack, and then arranged them on the edge of the deep pit in a certain pattern, forming the third line of defense of the shelter.

After a hard day's work, Zhang Shi, fearing another zombie wave at night, specially arranged for his men to slaughter several sheep as a reward for the soldiers. Even the mining team in the cave enjoyed a freshly roasted whole lamb through a deal with Zhao Feng.

The soldiers already respected and were loyal to Zhang Shi, and after the battle last night, they felt a sense of belonging to the shelter. Zhang Shi continued to provide them with abundant food and fish, which moved these soldiers, who had not lost their past experiences, to tears of gratitude and expressed their willingness to die for Zhang Shi.

Are you kidding? A soldier costs a lot of time and money. How could Zhang Shi bear to let them get hurt? Before the antidote appears in large quantities, Zhang Shi will not let any soldier go out to fight hand-to-hand with the zombies.

In the afternoon, Zhang Shi received another piece of good news. Engineers' professional skills were upgraded differently than usual. Perhaps due to several days of intense work, Gong Yi had actually been upgraded, from engineer to craftsman.

Zhang Shi checked his attributes and found that except for the grade becoming high, other attributes did not change, so he called Gong Yi aside to ask him in person.

"Reporting to the Lord, after the upgrade, I feel that my construction speed has increased significantly. Many memories have also flooded into my mind. I have also learned the manufacturing process of several props."

After listening to this, Zhang Shi became interested and asked Gong Yi to narrate the story one by one.

A moment later, Zhang Shi's ears were drawn to the word "cannon," and his eyes lit up. After confirming that the cannon Gong Yi was referring to was the artillery that fired the shells in his memory, Zhang Shi's voice trembled with excitement.

"Go, start making it now, and call me when you're done!"

Gong Yi noticed the lord's emotional fluctuations and immediately trotted back to the research center to devote himself to the production of the cannon.

During last night's defensive battle, explosives could only be launched through primitive means like catapults, which had a short range and low frequency. If Gong Yi's cannon had truly succeeded, it would have been enough to completely change the battlefield situation. A single volley would have wiped out even the largest number of zombies, and the soldiers wouldn't have fought all night without being able to completely wipe out the zombie horde.

Near sunset, Zhao Feng and his mining team returned with backpacks overflowing with sulfur and saltpeter. Zhang Shi sent all these mineral resources to the research center. Just as Gong Yi had finished crafting the cannon, Zhang Shi led the group to the wall to test it.

Zhang Shi first took a look at the properties of the cannon.

[Fine Iron Cannon (Green): A primitive firearm capable of firing a variety of ammunition. It has a long range, great power, and is easy to carry. Different shells can produce different effects, making it a nightmare for infantry.]

Returning to the main structure of the cannon, the main structure is a barrel, with a gun carriage and pulleys installed underneath for easy transportation. The barrel is made entirely of fine iron. After the ammunition is loaded into the barrel, it is fired through a mechanism at the rear. The flint inside the mechanism ignites the gunpowder in the chamber, thus firing the ammunition.

Gong Yi took out the explosive bomb specially made for the cannon, loaded it into the barrel, and then signaled Zhang Shi that he could fire.

Zhang Shi slowly turned the wheel at the tail of the gun to adjust the angle and aimed at the small river a few hundred meters away.

"Oh!"

Zhang Shi pressed the trigger, and the shell was successfully fired. A moment later, the explosive shell landed in the center of the river, creating a huge wave. Many fish and shrimp in the river were pulverized, and the river immediately became much more turbid.