Chapter 482, Blueprints
The composite bows seen this time,
were somewhat unexpected for Wu Heng.
They differed slightly from the otherworldly bows he had brought before.
Ordinary survivors could easily draw these bows and shoot arrows with great accuracy.
Their power was also considerable.
They might even replace the traditional longbows from the otherworld.
Wu Heng continued to ask, "Give me the exact location or directions to get there."
The corpse paused briefly before answering, "Leave the train station and head east for about 5 kilometers. You'll see the factory."
East, 5 kilometers.
Wu Heng silently repeated the direction to commit it to memory.
Two questions remained.
Looking at the corpse's bloated physique, he asked, "Were you always this fat, or is there a specific reason?"
In the current conditions, even getting enough to eat was a challenge.
If food were plentiful, they wouldn't have taken the risk of blocking the tracks.
Additionally, this so-called Brother Tiger was incredibly resilient.
Tolga, a level 17 skeleton, could normally kill someone with one punch, yet when he hit Brother Tiger, the man was merely sent flying and groaning on the ground for a while.
Afterward, he still managed to charge back toward them.
The corpse responded, "It might have something to do with corpse cores, but I'm not sure."
"Did you consume a corpse core?"
The corpse replied, "No, I didn't dare to eat it directly. I cleaned it and soaked it in a barrel of liquor, drinking a little each day."
After answering five questions, the bloated corpse collapsed heavily to the ground.
Wu Heng found the last answer surprising.
Soaking it in a barrel of liquor?
Could that method cause changes in people too?
Was the effect of the corpse core diluted by the liquor?
Or was it something else entirely?
Wu Heng couldn't make sense of it.
The composite bows were collected by Kalema and stored in Wu Heng's spatial ring.
Standing in the center of the hall, Wu Heng cast [Battlefield of the Dead]. A circle of light rippled outward, and the fallen corpses began to rise.
Slowly, they stood behind him.
Wu Heng went to check the room where the leader had lived.
There were some stored food supplies and a radio still broadcasting external information.
...…
Tap, tap, tap~!
Soon, the sound of dense footsteps echoed.
Qi Hancai led a large number of skeletons into the station hall.
Glancing at the bloodstains and flesh scattered on the ground,
she quickly walked toward Wu Heng.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine! Everyone has been rescued. There are a few women inside—ask if they want to leave with us or if they have another base. Get our people off the train to move the supplies here onto it."
"Got it!" Qi Hancai agreed promptly.
As she walked toward the nearby rooms, she used the walkie-talkie to summon people to move the supplies.
Soon, survivors who had arrived with the train rushed in.
They moved all the supplies onto the train.
Qi Hancai returned with the rescued hostages and several women with numb expressions.
She instructed them to help load the supplies.
Then she approached Wu Heng. "There are five women in total. These people imprisoned them. They have nowhere to go and want to come with us."
"Then take them back. They wouldn't survive long if we left them here."
In this weather, even with some food left behind,
their chances of survival were slim.
"Understood." Qi Hancai nodded and asked, "Should we leave at dawn, or head to 'Enzhou City' overnight?"
"We'll wait until dawn. There's a factory nearby that makes bows. Let's check it out first," Wu Heng replied.
The original plan was to head to the next city after rescuing the hostages.
But now he decided to visit the composite bow factory first.
"A bow-making factory? Isn't that illegal?" Qi Hancai asked with a frown.
In the past, such things were strictly regulated.
"It might have been for competitions. We'll know when we see it," Wu Heng speculated.
Whether it was an illegal workshop or a legitimate factory for competitions,
it didn't matter anymore.
What mattered was whether the factory's resources could be of use to Wu Heng.
"I'll arrange a room for you."
"I'll rest on the train for a while. It's almost dawn. Let everyone finish moving the supplies and get on the train to rest. We'll leave the skeletons here to guard the area."
Wu Heng walked toward the train.
Qi Hancai followed, using the walkie-talkie to instruct everyone to rest on the train after loading the supplies.
...…
The next morning.
The skeleton army gathered outside the station.
Besides the skeletons brought with the train, more were created from the corpses found around the station.
Over a hundred additional skeletons were added to the ranks.
"Everything's ready," Qi Hancai reported.
The skeleton wyverns that came along had their compartments loaded with solid iron projectiles.
Wu Heng nodded. "Let's go."
He gave the skeletons orders, and the army began marching eastward.
After covering some distance,
zombies began appearing in increasing numbers.
Growls and footsteps echoed from the distance and the sides.
Dense hordes of zombies surged like black rivers, charging out from roads and alleys.
They flooded the roads, heading straight for them.
The zombie horde grew larger, filling the field of vision.
Wu Heng glanced at them and ordered, "Send the skeleton wyverns to drop iron projectiles."
Whoosh, whoosh~!
The skeleton wyverns ascended, flying over the zombies, and opened their compartments.
Dense iron projectiles rained down like a storm.
Thanks to the snow-covered ground, there wasn't much dust.
The streets, however, were instantly cleared of zombies.
Only piles of corpses remained.
After the bombing, the skeleton wyverns returned.
Wu Heng commanded, "Advance."
Clatter, clatter~!
The skeleton army moved forward, clearing out any remaining zombies along the way.
...…
After advancing about 5 kilometers,
they still passed various shops, mostly auto repair shops.
Xiaoxiao returned to Wu Heng's body and shared the image of a building.
The sign at the entrance read: [Sanda Archery Equipment Sports Supplies Co., Ltd.]
There it was—a sizable facility.
"It's over there. We passed it," Wu Heng called out to Qi Hancai in the distance.
Qi Hancai walked over.
The army turned off the main road and headed down a side road.
After about five more minutes, they saw the factory from Xiaoxiao's shared image.
"Enter," Wu Heng ordered.
The skeleton army swarmed in, filling the courtyard instantly.
Inside the factory, there was an office building on one side and a large workshop on the other.
Wu Heng entered the workshop first to inspect it.
The glass was shattered, and the interior looked like it had been partially blown up, with debris scattered everywhere and charred walls.
"Looks like they found a lot of zombies in the workshop and used explosives," Qi Hancai speculated.
"Hmm. Let's check the office building," Wu Heng said.
The equipment inside was likely unusable.
The priority was finding blueprints.
They entered the office building.
The two began searching room by room.
"Over here…!" Qi Hancai called out.
Wu Heng walked over. It was a document storage area.
A wall-mounted safe stood open, revealing stacks of blueprints inside.
Wu Heng picked up the topmost sheet and unfolded it. His eyes immediately lit up.
It was a blueprint for composite bows.
It detailed the materials, specifications, precise dimensions, and requirements.
It was exactly what he needed.
Opening the second sheet, it described bow handles made of 6061 aluminum and the processing standards.
The blueprints were incredibly detailed.
"How is it?" Qi Hancai asked.
"Very useful. This trip wasn't in vain," Wu Heng said, collecting all the blueprints. He searched the area further.
He also found some relevant books and collected them all.
Then they walked out together.
Qi Hancai asked, "Will we be using these bows in the future?"
Currently, the survivors in the base used heavy crossbows provided by Wu Heng.
Those crossbows were quite powerful.
However, they were also quite bulky.
"We'll see. It's unclear if we can even produce them. The blueprints mention aluminum and steel materials that we may not be able to manufacture."
"If made properly, they should be lighter than those heavy crossbows," Qi Hancai said.
"Hmm, we'll consult with experts back at the base to see if we can substitute the materials."
The skeleton army returned to the station.
After a short rest, the train departed again.
Its destination: Enzhou City.
...…
At 4 PM,
dusk had already fallen.
The train stopped far from the station, and the skeleton army advanced, weapons in hand, to meet the charging horde of zombies.
The sounds of growls and blades clashing filled the air.
"Push forward," Wu Heng ordered.
Clatter, clatter~!
Spear-wielding skeletons rose within the zombie horde and began advancing.
Zombies fell in waves.
The foul blood turned the snowy ground a deep red.
As the army pushed closer to the station,
the zombies were gradually cleared.
Only a few maimed, sluggish zombies crawled forward, still growling.
Skeletons wielding axes rushed in and finished them off in a flurry of blows.
Finally, the area fell completely silent.
The skeletons began clearing the battlefield, removing the debris from the tracks.
The train slowly rolled into the station.
Wu Heng surveyed the seventy to eighty corpses of evolved zombies before him, casting [Raise Skeleton] one by one, and then searching for corpse cores.
He found 12 cores in total—not too many, but still a decent haul.
Wu Heng cast [Battlefield of the Dead] again, raising skeletons from the surrounding remains.
The newly risen skeletons joined the army.
After thoroughly inspecting the station,
and ensuring there was no danger,
the survivors from the train disembarked with their tools.
Temporary lights were set up.
Doors and windows facing outward were sealed with steel reinforcements.
Everyone worked as if they'd rehearsed countless times.
"Have someone prepare dinner. Are you eating here?" Qi Hancai asked after assigning tasks.
"No, just prepare a room for me," Wu Heng replied.
"Alright!" Qi Hancai nodded and quickly had a room prepared.
Wu Heng entered the room,
opened the boundary gate, and returned to Gold-Silver Island.
...…
Exiting the study,
Wu Heng first went to the alchemy lab.
He placed the corpse cores he obtained today into a side freezer and checked the progress of the alchemists.
Various herbs and extracted potions filled the lab benches.
But no Tier 3 potions had been produced yet.
The Tier 3 corpse cores were still sitting in the organ jars.
Leaving the alchemy lab,
Wu Heng went to the artificer's room.
He handed over the complete set of composite bow blueprints he had obtained.
He also gave the artificer two finished composite bows for reference.
Firearms and ammunition were still a while away from mass production.
The composite bow's key feature was its pulley system, which converted the tension of the bowstring into the elasticity of the bow limbs, making it easier to draw and more powerful.
Manufacturing this weapon should not be difficult given the otherworldly forging techniques.
They could be equipped for both the base's survivors and the local guards.
The potential applications were extensive.
Exiting the artificer's room,
Wu Heng headed downstairs.
Seeing him, someone immediately brought out a set of utensils.
Wu Heng sat down and began eating.
While eating, Minnie remarked, "Master, earlier today, Steward Sheila Grey came by."
"Another case?"
"No, she asked about the preparations for your fleet. She said the fleet docked at the port spotted traces of pirates again," Minnie replied.
Wu Heng frowned.
Pirates again.
Was it a newly formed pirate group, or some survivors from the previous raid?
It was indeed time to deal with them. If left unchecked, more people might join the pirates over time.
"Alright, I'll go to the port tomorrow to take a look."
After dinner,
the three of them trained in the training room.
As night fell, they returned to their rooms to rest.
...…
The next day, at the port,
the area had returned to its bustling state.
Many merchant fleets were docked, and large groups of workers were loading and unloading goods.
Unlike before,
the skeleton army now guarded the port, reducing conflicts among the workers.
Even when disputes arose, they quickly dispersed when skeletons approached.
They acted very disciplined.
At the docking area for the association's fleet,
Philipa led Wu Heng aboard the deck of a large warship.
Enthusiastically, she said, "The people of Gold-Silver Island are so generous! They reinforced this ship without even asking me for money. Being an island lord is amazing!"
Wu Heng asked, "Did you offer to pay?"
"They didn't ask for any! How could I pay?"