Chapter 170 Mid-Autumn Festival
September 1, 2026.
Over the past six months, most of the ordinary zombies have been cleared out, and what remains outside are hardened zombies.
Ordinary bone-hardened zombies have gradually "evolved" into having hardened skin. Zombies that could not be pierced by their skulls but could be burned to death can no longer be burned out and require more powerful and hotter shells.
This means that the difficulty of eliminating zombies has increased significantly, and the living environment outside the base has deteriorated to an unprecedented level. Even if ordinary people have water and electricity, it is difficult for them to survive in the face of such destructive zombies.
Once hardened zombies appear, artillery shells can eliminate them, but powerful shells have a wide blast radius and can easily injure friendly forces.
We can't just bombard all the surrounding cities from all angles; that would be too costly and destructive.
People pinned their hopes for eliminating zombies on biological laboratories.
The laboratory was always in a busy but low-pressure state. The base had high hopes for the laboratory, but Song Heng still had not developed a vaccine, and the antibodies extracted from various exotic species were still incomplete.
Dawn Base received several more research teams, but none of them made any breakthroughs in either vaccine or chemical weapons research.
Although some laboratories have developed drugs that can temporarily suppress zombie movement, they consume too many raw materials and the effects are not very obvious, so they cannot be put into production for military use.
During this period, the struggle between humans and zombies has temporarily reached a certain balance.
People live in safe underground bases, while zombies roam the outskirts.
Most of the survivors flocked to the nearest base. The concentration of the virus in the water circulation system had reached a certain level. Even if the survivors outside did not have the means to defend themselves, they basically had electricity to disinfect the water. With electricity, they could contact the base. Over the past six months, they have been rescued to the base one after another.
After a year of adjustment and development, the base has opened 16 floors, and factories and schools are gradually being put into use.
On September 1st, a special day, the children at the base started school.
The development of industry and agriculture has enabled the base to produce a batch of goods, and a small supermarket has been opened at the base.
Once vegetable and grain reserves have increased, the market will reopen. People will soon be able to stop eating in the canteen and, with enough points, can buy kitchenware to cook at home.
But not many people do this. Even someone as wealthy as Lin Xi only stays in a double room. It's hard for the smell of cooking a big meal in such a small space to dissipate.
On the other hand, Lin Xi simply didn't have the energy to improve her quality of life.
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September 25, 2026.
Mid-Autumn Festival.
As the base gradually got back on track, it began to have the resources to celebrate the festival. The base gave everyone a small mooncake. Although the taste was not good, it brought a little comfort to most of the refugees who had been fleeing for their lives and living in cramped conditions at the base.
Lin Xi returned to her dormitory with two small mooncakes in her pocket. One was a ration for everyone at the base, and the other was a perk for laboratory staff.
When the mooncakes arrived, several boxes were sent to the entire lab, less than the average for each person, which led to another round of heated arguments stemming from the hierarchy of contempt.
Lin Xi wasn't a fan of mooncakes, but she still got another one.
As she carried the two mooncakes home, she gave a self-deprecating bitter laugh.
What's there to fight over! My own cooking tastes way better than this!
There are too many staff members in this laboratory. Sometimes it feels like a harem. If you have good grades, it's like you're favored. When you go to the Imperial Household Department to collect supplies, they are all arrogant. If you don't have good grades, you're like a down-and-out. If you have enough supplies, fine. If you don't, they will definitely cut your allowance.
It's euphemistically called "allocating resources to those who need it more (or are more capable)."
Thinking of this, Lin Xi sighed:
It's been so long since I last watched "The Legend of Zhen Huan" while taking a break.
The days of slacking off while watching dramas are two lifetimes ago.
No overtime work during the holiday; everyone in the lab except for Song Heng, that research fanatic, went home for the holiday.
Lin Xi glanced at the mass-produced mooncakes and suddenly got a bit excited. She took her points card and went to the supermarket to buy flour and fresh meat, planning to bake a fresh meat mooncake herself.
Long ago, she only knew how to cook; she had never been involved in baking or other crafts. During those years of seclusion in Yunxiang, she spent her days leisurely and learned these skills to pass the time.
When Xiang Xin returned home, the mini air fryer was emitting a delicious aroma.
"It's been such a long time since I've seen San San's cooking skills." Xiang Xin took a deep sniff of the aroma and put the small box of mooncakes she had received aside.
Then they chattered around Lin Xi, sharing some recent news, such as her promotion to second lieutenant and how her work was no longer just about fighting, and her interpersonal relationships at work, occasionally mentioning Lu Wei and Liang Hui.
They are all doing very well. Lu Weiqi started high and accumulated military achievements later on. At a young age, he was promoted to colonel and became the backbone of the Dawn Base. In peacetime, it is almost impossible to reach this level at this age.
Heroes are made by the times.
Liang Hui had been fighting alongside them, and his contributions in the land-based shelters were significant. He started earlier than Xiang Xin and had already been promoted to captain within the past year.
Lin Xi was genuinely happy for them.
She made two batches of mooncakes. Even though she rarely spoke in the group chat at this base, she still treated them like family.
Xiang Xin chattered on for a while, and when the first batch of mooncakes came out of the oven, she couldn't wait to pick one up, and was scalded while munching on it while yelling.
She couldn't stop talking: "By the way, let's celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival today. We're going to Lu Ge's house for hot pot tonight. They asked me to come back and invite you along."
Lin Xi put the second batch of mooncakes into the pot, thinking that this was a good opportunity to get together with everyone without having to find an excuse.
In the past, Lu Wei was the one who organized most of the gatherings in the group, and she was the one who organized a few of them. But since we came to the base, everyone has been busy and we haven't had a proper get-together in a long time.
Xiang Xin: "We ordered some vegetables from the canteen and bought hot pot ingredients while inspecting the vegetable market. You have no idea how expensive the vegetables are at the base's market! The price of a box of fresh vegetables is, wow, the same as a piece of clothing."
The base opened a supermarket first, which mainly sells food, but fresh produce has only recently started to be sold publicly, and at one point the price was even higher than meat.
Xiang Xin: "But luckily we have a lot of points so we don't have to worry about redeeming them. That table is enough for a lot of people to eat!"
Lin Xi filled a whole box with mooncakes and handed it to Xiang Xin: "You take these to them, I won't go."
"?" Xiang Xin was only slightly disappointed; she had already gotten used to Lin Xi staying out of the crowd.
After get off work, Lin Xi spends all her time reading books and researching literature. She must have been influenced by her teacher, that Mediterranean research fanatic.
Oh no, I've got it.
But she still tried to persuade Lin Xi: "San San, why don't you take a break today? You've been studying all day, and you don't have any exams, so it won't make a difference if you take a break."
Lin Xi held up her phone screen, which displayed an angry message from Song Heng in the work group.
While engrossed in his research in the studio, Song Heng turned around and found that all his subordinates were gone. He was urgently calling for help.
Lin Xi placed the packaged mooncakes in Xiang Xin's hand and pinched her cheek: "Go on, have fun."
Xiang Xin muttered, "Even Mediterranean doesn't necessarily have to call you. Brother Lu specifically told me to call you."
Lin Xi packed the remaining mooncakes into boxes and took them to the laboratory.
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