On the other side, Captain Lü and his group were not far from Xin City.
Inside the base, there was a peaceful atmosphere.
But amidst this peace, Li Yu was also contemplating how the base should develop in the future.
In this apocalypse, weakness is the original sin, and strength is the absolute truth.
No one will talk to you about morality, rule of law, or relationships; only with a hard enough fist can you have confidence.
The connections, power, and money from before the apocalypse had all become useless now.
Interactions between people became more realistic, somewhat cold, but highly efficient.
No one talked about ideals and freedom, no one talked about dreams and the future, because in this apocalypse, being able to live until tomorrow, being able to eat a full meal, was already a kind of luck.
Currently, there are 70 people in the base, with over 60 combat-ready individuals, both men and women.
This number had roughly reached the scale Li Yu had anticipated in his heart.
He had also considered expanding the population, but before his rebirth, he had seen too many large gathering places that, due to food issues, eventually erupted into internal conflicts, became extremely difficult to manage, and ultimately fell apart.
In the fifth year before his rebirth, there were basically very few large gathering places because they couldn't sustain themselves.
Under the dual threat of natural disasters and zombies, there was a constant state of uncertainty.
He had personally experienced a seemingly powerful gathering place, with tens of thousands of people!
Yet, due to a blizzard, the crops froze to death, followed by heavy rain and a zombie horde.
Food crisis, too many people internally, extremely difficult management, people with different intentions, and finally, collapse!
When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact.
That time, he almost died too.
After that, he never joined a large gathering place again, because while a large gathering place meant greater strength, it also meant that if problems arose and couldn't be solved, the outcome would be even more tragic.
But.
If the base wasn't expanded, it also meant fewer people; perhaps with the advantage of foresight, they could seize some firearms, but bullets would eventually run out, which wasn't a long-term solution.
However, if the group's scale was to be expanded, it also faced one major problem: food!
He had also thought about forming a powerful team, recruiting talent, building factories, and developing technology. But doing these things required people, and finding those people.
This was undoubtedly extremely difficult.
Take the simplest example. Manufacturing firearms and bullets, just the bullets alone were enough of a challenge.
Bullet manufacturing involves stamping, requiring a large number of molds, and the specific dimensions of these molds are confidential; generally, workshops don't have these conditions. If one wants to make their own bullets, they must overcome the hurdle of mold dimension control.
And then there's the gun!
A firearm's structure can be broken down into components such as the stock, receiver, barrel, magazine, piston, bolt, firing pin, rear sight, front sight, trigger, action, grip, cleaning rod, recoil spring, gas tube, gas port, trigger sear, cartridge in the chamber, muzzle brake, magazine catch, and safety sear!
Among these, the most difficult is undoubtedly the "barrel"!
The barrel, as a major important component of a firearm, leads directly to the chamber.
On the battlefield, when a bullet is fired, the expanding gas produced by the gunpowder explosion or air pressure pushes the bullet through the barrel, becoming a high-velocity projectile that ultimately strikes the enemy target.
If, after pulling the trigger, the high-energy bullet cannot smoothly slide out of the barrel, it will cause a "bore explosion," posing a potentially fatal risk!
To ensure good hardenability, through-hardenability, and machinability, the material's grain size must also reach 4-6 grades and have a uniform structure!
After solving the material problem, one also needs to face the fine and rigorous manufacturing process of the barrel! Not only does it require considering numerous details like the firing pin and linkage engagement points, but it also needs to engrave fine rifling into the already thin inner wall of the barrel itself.
Rifling can be said to be the soul of the gun barrel! Because it is what gives the bullet rotational force, allowing it to maintain its intended direction and hit the target after leaving the barrel!
If only some simple ones were to be made, it would still require many processes. Before the apocalypse, it might have been possible to assemble them by purchasing some parts.
But now, in the apocalypse, it's a desolate land, with no complete parts. Just making them oneself is too difficult.
To produce these things, there must be professional talent, and the number of people will inevitably increase.
A certain scale is needed to support doing this. Some people are needed for protection, some for farming, and some specifically for scientific research and production.
But it fell into a dead loop again.
Too many people—natural disasters, zombie hordes, various accidents, insufficient food, easily leading to collapse.
Too few people—unable to form a scale effect, lacking talent, without enough strength to resist.
Whether there are many people or few, it seems that ultimately, it leads to destruction.
This apocalypse is too unfriendly to humans.
This apocalypse is not just about zombies; his only advantage is the foresight brought by his rebirth.
He has no supernatural abilities, no system; all he has is his sufficient ruthlessness!
Slaying to stop slaying! Full of killing intent!
However, as time passed, it wasn't just him who was ruthless; everyone who survived was a tough character.
This problem still troubles Li Yu to this day.
Originally, his initial idea was not to have too many people, but later, after planting farmland in the base, he found that it could support more people, so he accepted more personnel.
These individuals were all thoroughly vetted multiple times before being allowed to join.
So far, Li Yu is satisfied with the people who have joined.
Standing on the base wall, Li Yu looked at the distant mountains, feeling the heat gradually subside.
A gentle breeze blew, and Li Yu heard footsteps nearby.
It was Second Uncle.
Second Uncle glanced at him, then stood beside him; neither of them spoke.
He lit a cigarette.
After taking a puff, he let the wind carry the smoke, and after a while.
Second Uncle said, "Xiao Yu, sometimes, you can share your thoughts or worries with us more; don't keep them bottled up alone."
Li Yu nodded silently, remained quiet for a few seconds, and then said, "The base must have been exposed by now. I don't regret killing those people, but I've always been worried about the base's development. As the population grows, management will inevitably become difficult, and food will become the biggest problem. But with too few people, it's also very difficult to survive in this apocalypse."
Second Uncle pondered for a moment, then said directly, "What's there to be so conflicted about? Just carefully select partners, control the number of people within a range we can bear, wouldn't that be fine?"
Upon hearing these words, Li Yu felt as if a fog had lifted. As the person involved, he had always been stuck on this problem, but when Second Uncle said it, it seemed like it wasn't such a big problem after all.
That's right! Since too many people are difficult to manage and sustain, why not just carefully select useful people to join?
