Surviving the Long Night: Starting from the Gas Station and Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 68 Building Materials, Electric Fence Installation, and Night Visitors

At present, there are only two sources of building materials: rubble collection and family supplies.

In Lu Sheng's view, both of them are problematic.

The ruins are now overrun with ferocious beasts. He had already witnessed the swarm of insects and knew that the dark clouds crawling along the ground were just the tip of the iceberg of the ferocious beast horde in the ruins.

Even on a sunny day, there are still safety risks in entering the ruins to collect materials.

As for the materials provided by the family, Lu Sheng admitted that the materials brought by Lu Zheng were of very good quality, but the family could not provide a stable supply.

Lu Yuexin practically told him outright that the family wasn't united on the project, and that the majority of supporters weren't even in a position to back it up.

Buying it himself became the safest option, and price became the only consideration. He decided to buy the cheapest scrap steel.

"Brother Lu, if you want to buy scrap steel, I should be able to, but the quality varies greatly, so it's hard to guarantee it."

Wei Fa was honest and told Lu Sheng the drawbacks of using scrap steel.

This is not a problem for Lu Sheng at all. After the upgrade system is reconstructed, the scrap steel will be transformed into good steel for the upgraded items.

"That's alright. I'll be frank. I'm going to scrap steel anyway, so I don't care about quality. What I care about is the price."

Seeing that Lu Sheng had made his point so clear, Wei Fa no longer hesitated:

"Don't worry about that. The price of regular steel is over three thousand yuan per ton, while scrap steel is only three-quarters of that. I'll help you negotiate and try to get it down to two-thirds of the price of regular steel."

Lu Sheng reached out and patted his shoulder:

"Ah Fa, thank you for everything."

After all the goods were unloaded, Wei Fa did not choose to stay overnight. He said it was still early and he could go back to the distribution center to run another trip and earn a little more money.

Before leaving, he told Lu Sheng to contact him anytime if he needed anything about the shipping containers, and that he needed some time to negotiate the price of the scrap steel.

The crane operators stayed overnight because there were too many rubble stones on the roof of the abandoned commercial street.

If it's not cleaned up, there's too little space to install solar panels, and it can't be cleaned up by manpower alone; only a crane can help.

Before nightfall, solar panels were used to cover the rooftops of the abandoned commercial street as much as possible. Then, Lin Ran, who had just finished installing the armored wiring, came over and began connecting the lines between the solar panels.

Meanwhile, Lu Sheng directed the workers to move the battery boxes one by one into the refueling warehouse, where he planned to build a power storage station.

The gas station warehouse originally had a medium-sized battery box made up of two battery boxes, but now that the piled-up building materials have been used up, the warehouse is spacious enough to hold several more battery boxes.

Next to the medium-sized battery box, ten battery boxes were stacked in two rows. Lu Sheng looked forward to the completed upgrade and ran to help Lin Ran, who was wiring the cables on the roof.

After some time, the two came down from the sunroof of the gas station, and the wiring was now fully connected.

To ensure stable power transmission, Lin Ran used armored cables for the section from the top of the abandoned commercial street to the top of the gas station, and there were still quite a few left after the water well was energized.

Now, only the last step remains.

"A large number of small storage boxes and connected solar panels have been detected. Should we upgrade according to the existing upgrade plan, which would consume 20 units of steel and 20 units of wood?"

Because the power lines are interconnected, the upgraded system will form a complete solar power supply system.

Looking at the words that appeared, Lu Sheng withdrew his outstretched hand.

"What's wrong?"

Lin Ran, who was standing nearby, noticed the strange look on Lu Sheng's face.

"The materials in the entire camp are not enough to complete this power supply system; we'll have to wait."

Lu Sheng was neither surprised nor worried about the result. The entire solar power system would be fully charged the moment the upgrade was completed, so there would be no loss from being exposed to the sun for a day or two less.

"Why not just do it all at once?"

He thought for a moment and looked at Lin Ran:

"Lin Ran, once this power supply system is completed, the power reserves of the entire camp will more than triple. I have found a stable supply of building materials, so we just need to wait a little longer."

Before that, let's lay the camp's power lines. You can calculate how much armored cable we need in a bit.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran nodded after a moment's thought:

"Okay, I'll calculate it in a bit. However, to power the entire camp, wires probably won't work; we'll have to use armored cables, which will be much more expensive."

"As long as we can guarantee a stable power supply, we don't need to worry about the budget. We'll still get the supplies from my uncle in Shutong, on credit, and it won't go through the construction budget."

"it is good."

The two then discussed some details of laying the underground electric grid, when Lu Sheng suddenly felt his bracelet vibrate.

He looked up and immediately frowned.

"Is a ferocious beast attacking?"

Noticing Lu Sheng's worsening complexion, Lin Ran guessed a rather bad possibility.

"To make matters worse, a large truck is coming this way, and according to the sentry's description, it's most likely one of those family members."

The car was going very fast; there must be a large group of ferocious beasts chasing after it.

After explaining the situation to Lin Ran, Lu Sheng sent a message to the northeast gate tower via his bracelet:

"Notify us immediately if there are any changes in the situation. I will bring powerful weapons and, once the vehicle approaches, if it is not surrounded by ferocious beasts, I will open the door and let it pass."

After sending the message, Lu Sheng walked to a corner of the warehouse, lifted a layer of tarpaulin, and underneath were light machine guns and bullets.

Lin Ran then asked:

"Should we notify the recycling team?"

"Notifying them is useless. Qin Feng led his team out on a mission this afternoon and hasn't returned yet."

Lu Sheng picked up a light machine gun, his words revealing no worry, but rather a strong sense of eagerness:

"Perfect timing to test its power, Lin Ran, give me a hand."

Soon, Lu Sheng and Lin Ran, carrying light machine guns and plenty of ammunition, climbed the northeast gate watchtower.

"Stationmaster, that vehicle is getting closer and closer; we can confirm it's being chased by a ferocious beast."

Gu Yan, who was stationed here, immediately reported the latest situation to Lu Sheng upon seeing him.

"Okay, go down and assist the sentries below. Make sure to close the door immediately after the bus enters."

"Yes, ma'am."

Upon receiving the order, Gu Yan slung the rifle over his back and quickly got down, while Lu Sheng mounted the machine gun on its fixed support and aimed the muzzle at the distant lights.

Lin Ran opened the side feed port and pressed the ammunition belt onto it. The two of them waited quietly for the ferocious beast to enter firing range.

Soon, the truck got close enough that the two men could see most of its body. As a heavy vehicle, its speed at this point could only be described as the driver stepping on the gas.

Behind the vehicle, a large group of ferocious beasts were in hot pursuit.

As the distance drew closer, Lu Sheng raised his bracelet and gave the order to the sentry at the bottom of the tower:

"Open the gate and let them through."

He then pointed his gun at the herd of animals that were relentlessly pursuing the truck and pulled the trigger.

A dense hail of bullets rained down, instantly tearing a gap in the pursuing horde of beasts.