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

The shelter was too large, and it was obviously too difficult to cover it completely. Zhang Shi could only make preparations from other aspects. The first thing he thought of was the underground river in the ruins.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shi immediately led two soldiers to the ruins to check. After not coming for a few days, there was no change inside, the water level of the underground river had not dropped, and the remaining spiritual energy in the ruins had not dissipated completely, making people feel very comfortable.

"Patrol here every day to prevent other wild animals from entering. If there is any unusual movement, notify me immediately."

Zhang Shi gave the order and prepared to use this place as a strategic water source.

……

Zhang Shi spent another long day in the ruins, and by the time he returned to the shelter, it was almost sunset. Upon entering the main gate, Zhang Shi saw Zhao Feng and a group of soldiers preparing to go out on patrol. Zhang Shi glanced at the time and specifically instructed him to be careful with the direction of the mine, not to disturb Baihu's family, and to return quickly.

Zhao Feng looked confident and waved his hand nonchalantly.

It has to be said that Gong Yi's work efficiency is very high. He made a revolver according to the blueprint in just one afternoon.

Zhang Shi took the sample and took a look at it. He found that the sophistication of this gun far exceeded his expectations. It was light overall, with a simple structure, and looked very reliable.

[Flintlock Revolver (Blue): Crafted entirely from fine steel, the flint-fired spark ignites the ammunition, creating a powerful weapon. Its revolver structure compensates for its low firing frequency.]

Zhang Shi immediately took out gunpowder and steel balls to fill all six magazines, and then took everyone to the training ground for experiments.

"Boom, bang, bang!"

Three loud bangs followed, and the three thick wooden stakes turned into fragments. Zhang Shi smiled, unable to let go of the revolver.

"Well done! We'll mass-produce it according to this specification. It would be best if everyone in the shelter could have one!"

Gong Yi nodded in agreement and made a production plan for Zhang Shi based on the daily output of fine steel.

"Reporting to the Lord, based on the current production of refined steel, we can produce approximately three muskets per day."

Zhang Shi nodded and decided to recruit some more engineers to help Gong Yi. Basic types of ammunition and explosives could be made by ordinary engineers. Gong Yi could be freed up to teach Gong Er and Gong San the craft of making muskets, which would greatly improve the overall work efficiency.

Just as Zhang Shi was busy recruiting soldiers, a loud shouting sounded outside the shelter.

Zhang Shi frowned, thinking that the Eagle Group had come to harass him again.

"Someone, please send some reinforcements! Something's wrong!"

Zhang Shi recognized that it was Zhao Feng shouting. Recalling that he had led a team of soldiers out on patrol not long ago, Zhang Shi's heart sank. He quickly put down the work in his hands and hurried to the door to check the situation.

A number of soldiers had gathered in front of the door. Zhao Feng looked anxious. A commando was lying on the ground, wrapped in gauze. He seemed to have been injured by a wild beast. His eyes were closed and he was unconscious.

Wu Qing came over first and was checking the soldiers' condition.

As soon as Zhang Shi came over, Zhao Feng told him what had happened with a guilty look on his face.

It turned out that while Zhao Feng and his men were patrolling the area near the shelter, they stumbled upon a mad wolf in the woods. The wolf, incredibly fast and powerful, had snatched up assault soldier Zhang Yiling before the soldiers could react. Fortunately, Zhao Feng intervened and saved the wolf.

Even so, the part of Zhang Yiling's torso exposed outside the armor was injured by the wild wolf, leaving several bloody marks.

At first, Zhao Feng didn't take it seriously and just bandaged it with gauze. But on the way to the patrol, Zhang Yiling suddenly started shaking like he was having a seizure. Then his eyes turned red and he started biting anything he saw.

Zhao Feng, assuming he had rabies, had him tied up and restrained. A moment later, Zhang Yiling collapsed to the ground, seemingly drained of all his strength. Zhao Feng, realizing something was amiss, hurried back to seek help.

Wu Qing opened the gauze and found that Zhang Yiling's wound had turned black, with blue veins bulging nearby, making it look like he had been poisoned.

Wu Qing looked solemn as she asked Zhao Feng.

"Where's the wolf's body? Did you bring it back?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Feng quickly took out the bisected wolf carcass from his system backpack and explained.

"I'm wondering, normally during hunting, the beast's carcass would be processed directly into meat, but this time it's still preserved as a carcass. So there must be something fishy about this wild wolf."

Before Wu Qing could check, Zhang Shi had already used Ding Zhen to identify the wolf corpse.

[Zombie Wolf Corpse (White): A wolf corpse infected with the zombie virus. It has lost its mind and has extremely strong attack power. The corpse is covered with the zombie virus. My advice is to incinerate it directly and don't think about recycling it.]

Zhang Shi was shocked and didn't understand how zombies could appear in the wilderness. He quickly shared the information with the four-person group.

Wu Qing felt a bit overwhelmed after seeing this. If it was just an ordinary infection or poisoning, she could still handle it, but when faced with this zombie virus that only appeared in movies and TV shows, she really was helpless.

When Zhao Feng saw the message from the zombie wolf, he quickly took out a bottle of clean water to wash his hands, then put on his Dingzhen ring, identified all the soldiers in the group, and then told his men to wash themselves immediately.

Wu Qing glanced at the tightly bound Zhang Yiling, then at the row of guards behind him, each with worry in their eyes. She then stood up and slowly walked over to Zhang Shi, whispering softly.

"We have to find a way to deal with this, otherwise it will be a huge blow to morale."

Zhang Shi understood the deeper meaning of Wu Qing's words, but he didn't want to give up just like that, so he also asked in a low voice.

"Is there no other solution?"

Wu Qing shook her head.

"This is a wilderness world with limited medical resources. Infection and injury are troublesome, and poisoning is a life-threatening disaster, not to mention this mysterious zombie virus."

When Zhang Shi heard the word "poisoned" in her words, he suddenly remembered that when he was a novice, he was bitten by a poisonous snake. He then opened two powerful antidotes from the treasure chest, but he only used one at that time.

Zhang Shi immediately returned to the warehouse to search, and sure enough, he found it in the corner. After Lao Bai's sorting and classification, the antidote was well preserved without any damage.

Zhang Shi hurried back to the gate with the antidote. Everyone was puzzled when they saw him like this.

"Quick, lift his head up and open his mouth."

Seeing this, Zhao Feng, relying on the protection of his heavy armor gloves, directly pried open Zhang Yiling's mouth, while Zhang Shi carefully poured the antidote into his mouth.

Strangely enough, Zhang Yiling, who had been completely unconscious, seemed to know that this was a life-saving medicine, and he swallowed it naturally as soon as it entered his mouth. In just a moment, his expression changed noticeably, and the black blood clots on the wound melted away. Seconds later, under the expectant gaze of everyone, Zhang Yiling slowly opened his eyes.

Zhang Yiling felt a little embarrassed when he saw a group of people surrounding him and staring at him. Then he found Zhang Shi dragging his head and looking at him. Zhang Yiling remembered that he was bitten by a wild beast and then fell into coma. He guessed that it was the lord who saved him, so he quickly got up and saluted Zhang Shi.

"Greetings, Lord. Thank you for saving my life!"

Zhang Shi smiled and was about to pull him up, but the guards around him knelt on one knee in unison as if they had practiced in advance and saluted Zhang Shi with their fists clasped.

"Thank you, Lord, for saving my life!"

Seeing this, Zhang Shi thought this was a good opportunity to win people's hearts, so he stood up straight, raised his hand and spoke loudly.

"Everyone, get up. You are my Zhang Shi's people. As long as you are loyal to me and willing to serve me, I will naturally do my best to save you."