Upon hearing the noise, several people immediately turned their heads toward the source of the sound.
Because they were near the river, and it being springtime, coupled with the frequent rainfalls earlier, the river flowed swiftly, making a whooshing sound.
A small black rat emerged from one of the passageways, sniffing here and there.
It seemed unafraid of humans, and upon spotting Li Yu and the others, it headed straight in their direction.
Without hesitation, Li Yu fired a shot at the small rat.
The small rat was shot dead on the spot.
After firing the gun, Li Yu slowly walked forward, picked up a plastic tube from the pathway, and used it to prod the rat, flipping it over.
The rat was somewhat blown apart, its head barely attached to its body by a layer of skin.
The fur, normal; the color of the blood, normal.
Li Yu tossed the plastic rod aside and continued walking toward the drainage pipeline on the right side.
"What’s wrong?" Bai Jie asked.
Li Yu shook his head and said, "It’s nothing. This place is strange, the zombies have been affected by the chemicals here and have undergone changes. I thought this rat might have mutated too. But upon closer inspection, it hasn’t changed."
Having said that, he reached the right-side discharge outlet.
This connection to the river pipeline was a row of single-story houses.
Yang Tianlong stepped forward to open the door in one of the houses, revealing a pool that resembled an indoor swimming pool, except that, seemingly, this place was intended for the treatment and purification of chemical wastewater.
This pool was filled with the green liquid that had just been drained into the river; Li Yu examined the area and found a large hole broken open at the right side of the top of this simple single-story house.
Logically, inside this place, it didn’t make sense for this green water to still be flowing out after such a long time.
Seeing the broken hole, everyone understood; they guessed it was the recent rainfall that filled up the pool.
The pool, already settled with a lot of chemical substances, was filled upon the influx of rainwater, which then discharged the water outside.
Li Yu slowly approached the edge of the pool and carefully inspected it, finding the pipeline entrance with a valve on top that was closed. He pressed down on it forcefully.
The previously swirling water immediately calmed down.
Li Yu said to He Chao, who was next to him, "He Chao, Tianlong, you guys go check the drainage spot we saw earlier and see if there’s still green water entering the river."
He Chao and the others turned to leave.
Li Yu looked at the large hole on the top, then walked out of the single-story house and checked the distance between the house and the river.
It was about fifty meters, and due to the terrain, the area near the house seemed to be lower than the middle part.
Bai Jie squatted down, put on gloves, took a sample of the green water into a test tube, and then placed the test tube inside a tightly sealed metal box.
Li Yu glanced and saw two bright moons.
He looked at the hole above and felt it unnecessary to block it.
Should a torrential rain occur, and the pool overflows, given the layout of this place, the water would still not flow towards the river.
The zombies in the area had mostly been dealt with, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Li Yu left the single-story house and looked at the desolate factory buildings.
Ahead, there were two rows of notice boards, protected by glass, but the writing on them was already faded and barely legible.
You could just make out the words: Prosperity, Democracy, Harmony...
And to the right of the bulletin board, there were some photographs, with ’Factory Director’ written in the center, as well as some slogans proposed by the director...
Such a large factory, prior to the apocalypse, must have employed many people.
Li Yu could imagine the hustle and bustle of this place before the apocalypse.
But now, everything had changed.
A series of footsteps came from behind; Li Yu turned and saw He Chao and Yang Tianlong approaching.
As He Chao walked over, he said to Li Yu, "Director Li, we’ve checked, the water in the pipeline has stopped discharging."
Li Yu looked at the sky, realizing it was getting late.
So he nodded and said, "Alright, let’s head back. They’ve probably finished loading the sand."
Everyone got into the vehicles, Dapao accelerated the car, and they drove out of the factory area.
Ten minutes after they left, a figure on the rooftop of the factory building on the right watched coldly as Li Yu and the others departed.
They returned quickly and on their way, they met up with those carrying the sand.
The whole party proceeded back to the base together.
In the car, Li Yu said to Bai Jie, "After we get back to the base, focus on researching the wastewater discharged from that chemical factory and the transformation of the zombies. Find out the exact cause. This may help us understand the zombies better."
Bai Jie nodded and agreed.
When everyone returned to the base, they saw a busy scene.
Limestone, clay, rebar, sand, and gravel were sorted and piled up like small hills by category and area.
In the early evening, around five o’clock, Fusheng and the others also returned, bringing with them a rotary kiln and a shaft kiln specially made for producing cement.
These two pieces of equipment were quite large and had to be transported in disassembled parts.
Li Yu found Fusheng and inquired about the installation; he learned that it could be installed the next day, meaning they could start producing cement.
Once the cement was ready, using molds and a mixture of cement, sand, and gravel, they could directly construct by pouring the concrete on-site.