Chapter 281, Exaggerated Lazy Dog Bomb
Wu Heng wasn't too surprised by Qi Hancai wanting to join.
He had previously discussed this with Li Yanhong.
Qi Hancai had been visiting the auto shop more frequently and subtly inquiring about its operations.
Both the auto shop and Dong'an Village were considered major refuges in the region.
But the difference in power between them was vast.
Dong'an Village was about hiding from zombies, while the auto shop was actively hunting them.
There was simply no comparison.
Before, the people of Dong'an Village might not have thought much of it, even believing their refuge to be on par with the auto shop.
But after witnessing the combat power of the skeletons, their mindset must have shifted.
As the zombie hordes continued to grow stronger, it would become increasingly difficult to survive.
Relying on a stronger refuge would be the best option for survival.
"Looks like we guessed right," Wu Heng said.
"Of course, if Ma Zhiyong had seen how you fight, he'd be frustrated for days and probably want to join too," Li Yanhong said with certainty.
Wu Heng chuckled, "What's your opinion?"
"I don't mind; adding another ability user isn't a bad thing," Li Yanhong continued, "The only concern is that if too many people come over at once, especially as a group, it could be hard to manage if something goes wrong."
"How many people are they bringing?" Wu Heng asked.
"They said over 80."
"That's quite a lot."
Not counting the prison, there were only about 50 survivors at the bus station. Bringing in 80 people all at once would indeed be tricky.
If it came to a fight, it wouldn't be a concern.
The issue was whether they might secretly cause problems, leading to unnecessary trouble.
"Exactly," Li Yanhong continued, "Wang Chenggang, Qiangzi, and I discussed it. We thought we could keep Dong'an Village as it is, have Qi Hancai bring some people over to help with scavenging and patrols, and slowly integrate them."
Wu Heng looked at her in surprise, "You know how to manage this?"
"Is it that difficult?"
"Not really. I just didn't expect you to seem more and more like a leader," Wu Heng said.
Li Yanhong smiled, "Not at all, we came up with it together."
This approach did seem like a good idea.
After all, Qi Hancai's side was still developing, and things like solar panels had surely been installed.
Abandoning it completely would be a waste.
Keeping it as a secondary base wouldn't be a bad move.
Li Yanhong continued, "Shall we go with this plan?"
"Sure, I think your idea sounds good," Wu Heng agreed.
"Alright, I'll let them know in the next couple of days."
"Good!"
After settling the matter with Qi Hancai, Li Yanhong asked, "Any plans for today?"
"Let's keep clearing zombies along the road."
"Alright!"
Li Yanhong agreed.
She brought the bus around, and they continued heading toward the main road.
......
By 4 PM.
The second stretch of zombies was lured by the skeleton army.
Roaring and snarling, they surged like a flood, charging forward with clawed hands.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh~!
A dense rain of arrows darkened the sky.
They fell with a loud crackle into the zombie horde.
Next came the thrown spears, followed by the crossbowmen positioned on the platform of the commercial buildings.
Various attack methods howled toward the zombies.
Wave after wave of zombies collapsed.
Those behind them trampled over the fallen.
Bang~!
A gunshot rang out.
Hunter One, standing atop a wrecked bus, pulled the trigger.
The bullet whistled through the air.
A fleeing mutated hound was instantly hit, losing balance and collapsing.
Bang~!
A second shot followed, hitting the hound as it tried to get up, ensuring it stayed down.
Another mutated hound glanced back.
It ran even faster.
Bang bang~!
Two more shots rang out.
The second hound dropped instantly, never to rise again.
Wu Heng glanced at the battlefield and said, "Speed it up."
The mutated skeletons charged into the zombie horde.
The zombies were instantly scattered, and the skeleton ranks began advancing, killing all the zombies attracted by the mutated skeletons.
Soon, the battle was over.
The skeletons began cleaning up the battlefield.
Two mutated hound corpses were dragged by Giant One and dumped in front of Wu Heng.
It had been a while since Wu Heng had seen skeleton hounds.
He looked at the corpses and immediately cast [Raise Skeleton].
The flesh peeled away, and two lion-sized skeleton hounds rose.
[Skeleton Hound (Level 6)]
Level 6 now.
It seemed even the mutated hounds were leveling up.
He motioned for the two skeleton hounds to stand aside and used a stick to fish the zombie cores out of the flesh.
He handed them to Li Yanhong, "Take these to the alchemist skeleton."
"Got it!"
After dealing with the mutated hounds, the two stood aside for a while.
They waited until the main force had finished clearing the battlefield.
Wu Heng cast [Battlefield of the Dead] again, adding a large number of skeletons to the ranks.
It was getting late.
They decided not to continue clearing.
They boarded the bus and headed back.
Back at the bus station, Li Yanhong took Wu Heng to check on the skeleton blacksmith's progress, where a furnace had already been set up.
In this world, iron was everywhere.
The scavenging team had also added a new task—collecting various iron items.
As the evening wore on.
Li Yanhong joined the others for dinner, while Wu Heng returned to Gold-Silver Island.
......
Night fell.
Minnie lay back on the bed, her legs resting on Wu Heng's shoulders, her words coming in broken fragments, "Why are you wearing a belt… it looks weird… and it's uncomfortable."
"It's a health belt, good for the body," Wu Heng replied softly.
Minnie's eyes grew hazy as she mumbled, "What's the point of health right now? It won't make much difference."
"Of course it will. Gotta take care of yourself."
"It's ugly and not… ugh~!"
Minnie tried to protest further, but her mouth was quickly silenced.
Her eyes closed tightly, and her arms wrapped around his neck.
The gentle rocking of the bed made Andviel open her eyes.
"Still at it… huh~!" Andviel tried to turn away, but a hand reached for her chest.
She quickly said, "Master, I have to go to the guild tomorrow!"
......
The next day.
Wu Heng went with Andviel to the guild.
After confirming there was nothing that needed his attention, he returned to his residence and then headed to the zombie world.
It had rained lightly the night before.
The air was damp, and the ground was full of puddles.
Wu Heng waited at the door for a while, but Li Yanhong hadn't shown up yet.
Qiangzi was the first to arrive.
He rushed over excitedly and said, "Boss, we've got results!"
"Oh?" Wu Heng was curious.
Qiangzi panted heavily, pulling two bullet-sized solid projectiles from his pocket.
"Lazy Dog Bombs," Qiangzi said.
"That fast?"
Yesterday, Qiangzi had mentioned the Lazy Dog Bombs to him, and now they were ready?
That was much faster than other weapons.
"It's not difficult. You just mold them and pour in molten iron until they solidify," Qiangzi said plainly.
Wu Heng thought about it and agreed.
He picked one up, tossing it in his hand, feeling it weigh about the same as a gold coin.
"How heavy?" Wu Heng asked.
"27 grams. If we want to reduce the weight further, we can make them smaller."
Gold coins weighed 30 grams, so it was about the same.
The flying dragon could carry an adult man and fly quickly through the air.
Not considering the pirate's armor and grenades at the time, and using 120 pounds as a baseline.
That was roughly equivalent to two thousand of these solid projectiles.
That seemed like quite a lot.
"How many have you made?" Wu Heng asked.
Qiangzi said, "Over a thousand."
Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Load up the ammo, let's go try it out."
"Alright!"
Wu Heng and Qiangzi headed toward the warehouse when Li Yanhong came over.
Seeing the two of them, she asked, "Where are you going?"
"We're going to clear some zombies."
"Oh, alright!"
Li Yanhong brought the bus around while Qiangzi drove a military truck to haul the skeleton dragon.
They headed toward the main road.
...…
Roar~!
On the main road leading into the city.
A dense horde of zombies began to gather, their piercing roars echoing through the area.
Massive swarms of zombies poured in from both sides of the road, filling the entire street, surging towards them.
Wu Heng glanced at the rapidly approaching horde.
He turned to see Qiangzi and the others sweating profusely as they continued installing the ammo racks inside the dragon's chest cavity.
Qiangzi and his team were dedicated, having assembled a honeycomb-shaped ammo rack out of plastic.
They were busy securing the clips to the skeleton dragon's spine and ribcage.
The louder the horde's roars, the more they sweated.
It seemed there was a sizing issue somewhere.
"How much longer?"
"Almost done."
Qiangzi took off his belt to replace a clip, securing it to the spine.
He tested its sturdiness by hanging from it.
Wiping his sweat, he said, "All set."
Wu Heng nodded and pointed to a nearby smaller skeleton. "Put down your sword and armor; you ride on the dragon's back."
The skeleton warrior tossed aside its weapon and armor, then climbed onto the dragon's back.
It gripped the reins that had been prepared in advance.
Wu Heng instructed the skeleton warrior, "Fly over the zombie horde and open the ammo racks."
Once everything was ready.
Wu Heng patted the dragon, "Take off, fly higher."
The skeleton dragon kicked off the ground, its entire form rocketing into the sky.
The weight of the ammo inside its chest didn't seem to affect its flight.
...…
The skeleton dragon kept ascending until it looked no larger than a matchbox.
It then began flying along the main road.
When it reached the horde's position.
Suddenly, a dense shower of black projectiles rained down from above.
They quickly slammed into the horde below.
Boom boom boom~!
The deafening sounds echoed like a torrential downpour.
Instantly, it was like thunder had struck, sending shattered stones and glass flying; each iron projectile kicked up a cloud of dust two to three meters high.
Wu Heng and the others, standing behind the skeletons, were startled and crouched to avoid any stray debris.
They stared at the scene ahead in shock.
The entire street was shrouded in dust.
Blocking their view.
[Experience +1.]
[Skeleton Dragon, Experience +1.]
[Experience +1.]
[Skeleton Dragon…]
[Experience…]
Countless experience notifications popped up.
Wu Heng's eyes widened as he looked at the dust-covered battlefield.
"Is it really this effective?"