Chapter 1578 - 893:
It seems he remembered something.
Lao Yi continued asking, "By the way, I heard you are an agriculture professor, right?"
"Yes, I also held a position at the Agricultural Science Academy before."
Hearing this answer, Lao Yi asked with interest, "Elder Zhang, I heard you were growing food in a university building before. How’s it going?"
Elder Zhang humbly replied, "It’s okay, barely enough to maintain food supply for everyone. The current weather changes are too harsh. Outdoor planting is difficult, and once the Zombie Tide arrives, all the crops will be destroyed."
Upon hearing this, Lao Yi felt touched.
He too had experienced those natural disasters. Honestly, sometimes he feels that humans cannot survive under such conditions.
He didn’t expect these intellectuals, who don’t seem physically strong, to survive in the harsh Doomsday.
With this question in mind, he asked, "How did you cope with the extremely cold and hot weather before?"
Elder Zhang pointed at a few students nearby and said, "It’s all thanks to them. Luckily, there were some pieces of equipment in the school. They made some solar panels and storage batteries themselves and used some insulation materials... things like that. I don’t really understand, but they can do it."
"Honestly, any one of us would not last long alone in the Doomsday. But when gathered together, we can always find ways to solve various problems. Our biggest challenge at that time was guaranteeing safety. During the Zombie Tide, we did make some automatic zombie-clearing devices, but still... sigh..."
Saying this, Elder Zhang and the students around him looked a bit sorrowful.
Seeing their expressions, Lao Yi knew they suffered heavy losses, so he didn’t ask further.
Soon, Xiao Zhu and the other person finished refueling the helicopter with aviation kerosene.
After tidying up the landing gear, Xiao Zhu got on the helicopter and said to Lao Yi, "Captain, it’s fully refueled."
"Good." Lao Yi glanced behind.
"Fasten your seat belts, we’re about to take off."
Everyone complied quickly.
The helicopter took off, gradually gaining altitude, continuing its flight.
After they left, in the distance, around two kilometers from the central road, there was a row of single-story houses.
.......
Inside the house.
"Are they gone?"
"Yes, gone."
"Phew—"
"Who were those people? Honey, why were you so scared? I haven’t seen other humans for a long time, can’t we just go greet them?"
"Don’t peek. What if they come back?"
"Honey, what’s with you? Previously, when someone chased the cows we were raising, you didn’t care and even told me to hide underground. I’m really sick of living just the two of us."
"Sigh... It’s the Doomsday! My silly wife, you’re really driving me crazy. If I hadn’t built this hidden underground room, we would have been discovered by those bandits."
"I didn’t see those bandits. Honey, you always think the worst of people."
The man was speechless, his face deeply lined. He gripped a homemade bird gun, looking at his somewhat naive to foolish wife.
For a moment, he felt that protecting his wife too well might be a mistake.
Their place was a ranch, surrounded by vast open spaces with few people.
The ranch was fenced with barbed wire, so it was relatively safe.
The underground room they built initially stored some beans and feed for livestock, but it unexpectedly became their food in the Doomsday.
Several times, they narrowly avoided detection while hiding in the basement.
But they were fortunate to escape each time.
The man looked at his wife, whose body had become skinny and dark from hunger, feeling pity and a headache about her question earlier.
But he was determined to educate her well.
"Honey, do you know what makes humans terrifying in the Doomsday?..."
He decided, no matter what, to change his wife’s mindset completely.
Because he knew very well that their survival so far was due to luck!
But luck wouldn’t always favor them.
....
Lao Yi piloted the helicopter, along the way he also spotted several scattered teams heading east.
He was a bit worried whether the Big Camphor Tree Base could accommodate so many people.
But soon, he stopped worrying. As someone from the Outer City, he didn’t have to worry about such matters.
This troublesome issue had someone else to handle.
After all, he knew one thing; Li Yu treated them, the combat personnel, very generously.
Besides, according to the current four-level system at Big Camphor Tree Base, as Outer City and Inner City personnel, they didn’t have to worry about these.
Furthermore, per regulations, most Cooperative Personnel at Big Camphor Tree Base were only in cooperative relations.
Without executing tasks, there is no food.
And from what he knows, the monthly food exchange quota is also limited to a certain amount.
Inner City and Outer City personnel form the basic framework.
Extra Staff ensures they won’t starve to death.
As for Cooperative Personnel, with limited food, they compete against each other to execute tasks to acquire food.
If there are too many people causing trouble, naturally someone will deal with them.
In summary.
The base’s production from its over a hundred acres of farmland is limited, but it’s sufficient to support Inner and Outer City, including Extra Staff.
As for the surplus food, that part is left for Cooperative Personnel to compete for by executing tasks.