By the time I finished all this, it was already noon.

"Lu Wuyai, do you want to go hunting?" Su Xi asked subconsciously as she watched Lu Wuyai pick up the crossbow.

Lu Wuyai nodded. With the climate warming, they had to prepare some meat again, firstly to improve their quality of life, and secondly as rations for the march.

“You stay in the cowshed, and we can buy a new chicken coop and put the pheasants back in their enclosure,” Lu Wuyai said.

The pheasants brought from the bamboo forest had been living in burrows, and the smell of their droppings was too strong.

The woman nodded, told Lu Wuyai to be careful, and left with her seven wolfhounds.

After a whole winter, these wolfhounds have grown quite a bit and look very fierce; their wolfish nature has begun to truly emerge.

Soon, Lu Wuyai led the wolfhounds into the Deadwood Forest and searched for their target on its outskirts.

As the ice and snow melt, everything slowly recovers.

After being in the woods for some time, Lu Wuyai spotted dozens of wild rabbits. However, the branches around him were tangled. Sometimes, even when he aimed accurately at his target, the branches would obstruct his view, causing him to miss.

“We need to find a few big targets to try,” Lu Wuyai thought to himself.

He dispersed the wolfhounds nearby, while he walked forward, carefully observing the area.

The sunlight gradually shifted, and no one knew how much time had passed when a dog suddenly barked. Lu Wuyai shivered and ran towards the source of the sound.

Soon, Yang Xian saw several wolfhounds scratching and barking on a huge dead tree, appearing both excited and fearful.

"What is it?" Lu Wuyai looked at the dead tree curiously, but the next second, a black bear jumped out from behind the dead tree and growled at the wolfhound.

Lu Wuyai's eyes lit up, and the taste of bear paws automatically came to mind.

The key point is that this black bear isn't very big. Lu Wuyai thinks that these wolfhounds alone could kill it.

In fact, the seven wolfhounds killed the black bear in the dead wood, and he didn't have to do anything.

That bloody scene left Lu Wuyai with an unforgettable memory.

“Like a wolf.” Lu Wuyai sighed inwardly.

Ten minutes later, Lu Wuyai led the black bear out of the deadwood forest. He picked up the black bear with one hand and found it wasn't heavy.

Lu Wuyai didn't return to the cowshed. Instead, he went directly to the pond, thoroughly cleaned the black bear, collected its internal organs, and made some elaborate traps, placing them in a small grove of dead trees not far from the rocky hill. (Middle position)

The area of ​​this withered forest has been determined by Lu Wuyai and the others. It's not very large. Occasionally, wild animals such as wolves and cheetahs can be spotted there.

“Use marching rations as traps for herbivores.” Lu Wuyai used marching rations that smelled of grass to make traps and placed them in a hidden spot at the foot of the mountain.

Before we knew it, it was dusk.

Everyone had returned to the cave, and Lu Wuyai was busy cleaning up the orchard. You must know that all their droppings are here in this cold winter.

The woman refused to wash herself properly, so Lu Wuyai had to do it himself.

As for the others in the cave, they were busy cooking. One black bear was enough to feed them for two days.

As darkness fell, Lu Wuyai dumped the last load of garbage outside the Deadwood Forest, changed out of his clothes, and put on a brand new winter coat.

"It stinks." Lu Wuyai pinched his nose, threw the clothes on the ground, poured diesel fuel on them, and set them on fire.

In the orchard, Su Xi and others were also disinfecting to prevent the breeding and spread of bacteria.

At seven o'clock, Lu Wuyai finally returned. The aroma of roasted meat wafting through the cave made his stomach rumble with hunger.

“Lu Wuyai,” Su Xi said, raising her hands. “This is what I prepared for you.”

Lu Wuyai saw that Su Xi was holding a black bear paw. It was completely roasted, the outside looked charred, but the inside was very tender.

"Thanks." Lu Wuyai smiled and said without any politeness, taking the food from Su Xi's hand and taking a bite.

It must be said that the tender meat on this bear paw is very delicate, chewy, and has some kind of keratinous texture, making it very pleasant to eat.

As for the other parts of the black bear, the meat is also of good quality, just a bit lean.

“It’s probably because of the lack of food in winter that we’ve managed to survive this long,” Yuma said.

Gu Yuxin walked out of a shipping container, holding a bottle of red wine, and poured some for everyone.

"Red wine with bear paw, wow." Lu Wuyai couldn't help but admire.

Everyone got a little drunk after the meal. Even Lu Wuyai fell asleep on the floor. He was shaken awake the next morning.

"Sigh, I drank too much yesterday." Lu Wuyai covered his head, still feeling a little dizzy. As for the other women, they were also a bit unsteady on their feet.

Why is this red wine so amazing?

Gu Yuxin went to the lab and prescribed some hangover remedies for everyone. After drinking them, everyone sobered up considerably.

Time flies, and June is here in the blink of an eye.

In June, a rainy season that lasted for more than 20 days, almost catching the tail end of winter, enveloped this deserted island before anyone could react.

Lu Wuyai opened the cave entrance, looked at the continuous drizzle outside, then at the thermometer on the wall, before finally closing the entrance.

"It's been raining for too long." In the laboratory, when they heard Lu Wuyai say that the rain was still falling, the women were speechless.

Lu Wuyai shrugged and helped them neatly arrange the black stones with the herbs tied to them on the iron rack.

These herbs were seedlings discovered from plant seeds grown in containers. Their genes are very pure, making them ideal for making herbal medicines.

During this period, Gu Yuxin roughly studied the sixth stage of herbal medicine, but even she herself could not guarantee its effectiveness.

On the other hand, the consumption of black stone is once again rapidly consumed during the medicinal herb cultivation process.

“Now that the weather is better, I need to find time to go to the canyon and bring back some of the black rocks from there,” Lu Wuyai thought to himself.

All the machines in the laboratory are brand new; the old machines are temporarily stored in another hole as backups.

“Lu Wuyai, help me test these solar-powered machines.” Song Xiaoyou gave Lu Wuyai a few leverage points. These leverage points could control land patrol robots and drones. However, these machines had all been modified to absorb solar energy. However, the specific effects would remain unknown until they were tested.

Lu Wuyai was naturally delighted with this. Holding the controller and the robot, he immediately left the cave and led the wolfhound to the vicinity of the Deadwood Forest.

The air outside was fresh. The ice and snow had completely melted by this moment, and not a trace of white could be seen anymore.

Lu Wuyai bent down, placed several robots on the ground, and opened their solar panels to expose them fully to the sunlight.

An hour later, Lu Wuyai saw the battery was fully charged, immediately operated the controller, and piloted the drone over the deadwood forest.

This forest of dead trees is vast, and in the early morning, the mist swirls around it, giving it the illusion of a fairyland.

The drone was flying at low altitude. Lu Wuyai was extremely focused. There were wolves and dogs playing nearby, so there was no immediate danger.

Inside the fence not far away, Li Ruisi and Han Shuyi were grazing, occasionally glancing at Lu Wuyai. After all, he was the only man in the team.

Soon, in order to survey a larger area of ​​deadwood forest, Lu Wuyai went in and walked forward along the path that had been dug long ago, gradually going further and further away.

The wolfhound followed behind him, barking intermittently, bringing a bit of noise to the silent, barren forest.

The current temperature, even at its highest at noon, is only in the teens, not to mention that at eight o'clock in the morning, there is still a refreshing coolness in the air.

Lu Wuyai quickly stopped at the edge of the quicksand mud pit. Looking at the yellow mud so close, Lu Wuyai could vaguely make out some clothes.

"It seems like a lot of people have died here," Lu Wuyai murmured.

He looked into the depths of the quicksand swamp, recalling the drones flying in the sky, and took out another handle to directly control a land patrol robot to traverse the entire swamp.

This is why the land patrol robot is so light; it weighs less than an egg.

Soon, as it continued its journey, the land patrol aircraft left the land of human bones and continued exploring its way forward.

In another grove of withered trees in the quicksand swamp, the gaps between the trees were extremely narrow. Lu Wuyai had been here once before, but this time the land patrol aircraft had gone much further.

"This greatly reduces power consumption." Lu Wuyai was observing the solar panels. It was indeed much more efficient than the previous pure charging method. Unfortunately, these panels have a lifespan and cannot be used for extended periods.

Half an hour later, the land patrol aircraft entered the dense fog, which greatly affected visibility and even caused considerable interference with signals.

Lu Wuyai operated the handle, and the machine continued to move forward slowly and steadily.

“This forest is really big. This place used to be a deep mountain forest…” Lu Wuyai couldn’t help but sigh.

It turned out that there were many ancient forests near the rocky hill. Lu Wuyai and the other women had gone there several times, but none of them ventured deep into the forest. First, it was too dangerous, and second, it was unnecessary.

After the water mist dissipated, the machine's field of vision quickly became clear again.

Ahead, Lu Wuyai saw many animal tracks, which looked like they were left by small animals, because the nearby dead branches were still dense, making it difficult for animals like wolves to pass through, let alone large carnivores.

Another half hour passed, and when he saw that the battery capacity was only 50%, Lu Wuyai began to control the machine to return the way he came.

But soon, a stone on the ground caught his attention.

It was a black stone exposed on the ground. Its surface was somewhat dirty, but it also had a clean side that reflected a faint depth in the sunlight.

"How come there's a black stone here?" Lu Wuyai was puzzled. In fact, he wasn't sure if this was the black stone, it just looked too similar.

Lu Wuyai thought for a while, then controlled the robot to continue wandering around.

Five minutes later, he found the carcass of a cat-like creature under a large tree. Judging from the exposed bones, it must have died in winter.

It seems that even with the screen placed on Lu Wuyai, one can still smell the stench of a rotting corpse.

However, to Lu Wuyai's surprise, the corpse was incomplete.

The term "incomplete" does not mean that it was eaten by other animals, but rather that it was "dismembered" to a certain extent.

Lu Wuyai saw that the cat-beast's corpse under the big tree was only its upper body, and not far from the big tree, there was also the cat-beast's lower body.

Based on my familiarity with cat-like creatures, I can determine that these two corpses can be pieced together to form a complete cat-like creature.

He had a large hole in his stomach, as if it had been blown open.

Lu Wuyai focused his mind slightly and took a breath. He controlled the robot and carefully looked around. Sure enough, he found another black stone, about the size of a fingernail, buried in the soil under its original color.

"It really is a black stone." Lu Wuyai thought to himself, "This cat-beast probably ate the black stone and was blown in two."

Seeing this result, Lu Wuyai suspected that there might be illegal mining in this deadwood forest.

Looking around, Lu Wuyai raised the handle and controlled the robot to continue moving around to verify his guess.

But that day, until dusk, Lu Wuyai still couldn't find any clues. He suspected that these black stones might come from deeper within the Deadwood Forest.

By the time they returned to the cave, it was completely dark. Several of Lu Wuyai's land patrol robots had fallen into the deadwood forest. Knowing this, Gu Yuxin immediately scolded Lu Wuyai.

“I can return it to you tomorrow,” Lu Wuyai said sarcastically.

Early the next morning, Lu Wuyai took his axe and went to the Deadwood Forest.

Yesterday, in search of traces of darkness, Lu Wuyai left three land patrol robots in the Deadwood Forest.

At first, it didn't matter. After all, there were quite a few of these land patrol robots at the time. How many were destroyed didn't really matter. But these robots were equipped with solar panels. Such things were rare, so Gu Yuxin was particularly concerned.

Lu Wuyai took his axe and went into the forest. He circled the quicksand and mud pit, came to the other side, and began clearing away branches and telephone poles along the way in one direction.

These large trees, after losing their vitality and being battered by wind and rain, were actually much harder inside than when they were alive, which surprised Lu Wuyai.

"Is it possible for it to turn into petrified wood?" Lu Wuyai shook his head, waved his axe, and continued chopping at the branches along the way.

Lu Wuyai could only devote more effort to those solar panels.

"If I had known I would be this tired, I wouldn't have gone looking for the black mine yesterday." Lu Wuyai sighed helplessly for a while, thinking that he would have to clear a road by dusk.

At noon, Su Xi cooked a meal for Lu Wuyai: a simple eggplant and shredded pork rice dish. The shredded pork was fresh, and the eggplant was recently harvested and very tender.

Lu Wuyai ate very quickly, wolfing down his food, because the eggplant, shredded pork, and vegetable soup was so delicious that he couldn't eat rice with it.

"Take your time eating, you still have time." Su Xi smiled and poured Lu Wuyai another bowl of soup, seaweed and dried shrimp soup.

Lu Wuyai took a sip and couldn't help but say, "I'm exhausted this morning."

"Who told you to throw away those solar panels?"

“I’m not doing this to find the Black Stone so I won’t have to go to the canyon,” Lu Wuyai said.

After all, the canyon is too far from the rocky mountain. If we could find a black mine nearby, that would be perfect.

"Did you bring the machine?" Lu Wuyai asked.

Su Xi nodded, picked up the backpack on the ground, and took out three land patrol robots from it.

All three robots are rechargeable.

"Go and look around, I'll clear the way for you," Lu Wuyai said, before stuffing the rest of the food into his mouth.

Later, Lu Wuyai swung his axe, chopping down all the dead branches along the way, and gradually walked deeper into the deadwood forest.

Su Xi followed closely behind Lu Wuyai, using these robots to search for the Black Stone Mine.

Before we knew it, the sky began to darken.

"Found it," Lu Wuyai and Su Xi said in unison.

Lu Wuyai was stunned for a moment, then realized what Su Xi meant and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"I really found a black mine," Lu Wuyai asked.

Su Xi nodded and pointed to the image on the screen. There were some small bumps in front of the land patrol robot. It was difficult to spot anything without careful observation.

For example, the surface of these small bumps is covered with yellow sand, but occasionally, some reflections can be seen, which is obviously different from ordinary stones.

Lu Wuyai also saw that as the Land Cruiser robot repeatedly rolled over these small bumps, the scene under the sand gradually became clearer.

“It really is Black Stone,” Lu Wuyai said.

The robot's footprints were constantly covered in mud and sand; those small bumps were actually black ore.

Lu Wuyai scratched his head and looked at the distance displayed on the controller's LCD screen. He estimated that he wouldn't be able to get there until tomorrow.

Soon, before it got dark, Lu Wuyai and Su Xi returned to the cave to discuss the ore with the others.

Early the next morning, everyone temporarily put aside their work in the laboratory and went to the Deadwood Forest together, carrying guns and ammunition, to begin cutting down the forest.

Su Xi activated the land patrol robot and quickly located the area where the black stone was discovered yesterday.

Having determined the location and direction, Lu Wuyai took the lead and quickly approached the target.

Many hands make light work. At eleven o'clock, a small black stone exposed to the air suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

“There is indeed illegal ore here.” Lu Wuyai took a breath, bent down, and wiped away the sand nearby.

Although the black mineral has been discovered, the exact quantity is unknown.

“Let’s dig down and take a look; it shouldn’t be just on the surface,” Gu Yuxin said.

In the blink of an eye, the axe was replaced by a shovel. Lu Wuyai dug around and quickly locked onto an area.

"It's about the size of two basketball courts," Lu Wuyai said, looking at the withered forest ahead. "It should be the same over there. I didn't expect there to be such a large reserve."

"Dig out a portion first."

We brought an electric drill and a generator with us when we came out, so we can start digging now.

One minute later, the black ore was successfully extracted. Gu Yuxin placed the stone in the sunlight, holding a magnifying glass in her hand, a smile on her face.

“This is definitely a black rock, so there’s no need to dig it out of the canyon for now.”

Hearing Gu Yuxin's words, everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief. The canyon was really too far away, and the uncertainties were too great. Now it was much safer; we could quarry stones right at our doorstep.

"The passage is just too narrow, otherwise cars could drive right in," Su Xi said.