Li Yu chuckled upon hearing this and said, "Don’t worry about that. There are quite a few people at Uncle Qin’s side who know how to operate tanks. Even though they operated them many years ago, I’ve asked around, and Old Zhou and Ah Hong said there shouldn’t be any major issues."
Old Luo’s face brightened when he heard this and said, "That should be no problem then. I’ll go prepare a bit earlier. What time are we leaving tomorrow?"
"Still at seven, as usual," Li Yu replied without hesitation.
At a little past seven, the time when the sun usually rises, under the sunlight and in such hot weather, most zombies would be hiding.
Old Luo nodded and then said to Li Yu, "Alright, Director Li, I’ll go down and start preparing."
Li Yu stood up to see him out.
Back in the duty room, Second Uncle was smoking with a furrowed brow and said, "Li Yu, is it too hasty? Your Third Uncle is still outside; should we wait for them to come back before discussing it further?"
Li Yu shook his head and said, "The weather is unpredictable; we don’t know how long this hot weather will last. It’s the perfect opportunity to bring back the armored vehicle earlier to avoid any unforeseen issues. Furthermore, time waits for no one. We’re still unclear about the situation on Third Uncle’s side; I must strengthen our base’s capabilities as quickly as possible."
Immediately after, Li Yu looked towards his uncle, who had not spoken, and said, "Uncle, stop arguing with me. You take good care of the base here; the base needs you."
Uncle had initially proposed to lead the team to South China, but Li Yu had convinced him to stay.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his uncle; rather, because he trusted him so much, he wanted him to stay.
As of now, key positions within the Big Camphor Tree Base were occupied by Li Yu’s relatives and family members.
It wasn’t that Li Yu didn’t trust others; he simply didn’t want to test human nature.
There was no need, and it was meaningless.
Moreover, Uncle’s capabilities and status were more than enough to keep the other members of the base in line.
As long as the base had people like Ding Jiu, Uncle, Second Uncle, and the younger generation, including Li Haoran and Li Haoxian, as well as He Chao and the others at the base,
Big Camphor Tree Base couldn’t be thrown into chaos.
Strict enforcement and control meant that without an official mission, even Old Luo was not allowed to have weapons.
Only when there was an external threat to the base could they be armed with firearms, or when on a mission.
But when inside the base, people like Old Luo didn’t possess firearms.
The night was silent.
The continuous hot weather caused people to sweat profusely.
Even at night, the temperature remained at thirty-seven degrees.
There was hardly any wind lately, and the slightest movement would result in torrential sweat.
The sunlight was intense, making solar power generation very effective. In the rooms, cool air blew out of the air conditioners.
Li Yu was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, lying on a recliner and sipping iced lemon water.
He had to rest well today as he would be heading out tomorrow.
Yutong also wanted to join this time, but Li Yu refused.
However, after persistent persuasion from Yutong, Li Yu eventually agreed.
It wasn’t because he thought Yutong would hold him back; her combat abilities were impressive, with high shooting and fighting skills.
But Li Yu didn’t want her to follow because of the potential risks involved.
Yutong also worried about Li Yu, not wanting him to bear the burden alone, so she insisted on going.
In previous missions, Yutong had indeed been a great help.
She was calm and composed in emergencies, displaying courage and wit.
Ever since Li Hang became a father, Li Yu had asked him to stay mainly within the base to help Second Uncle and others.
Becoming a father does indeed have a significant impact on a person. Li Hang had matured a lot and understood the meaning of responsibility.
He was no longer as unruly as before but still treated Li Yu the same as always.
He also wanted to go out this time, but Li Yu refused.
Feeling a bit dejected, Li Hang spent most of his time, besides taking care of Ding Qingqing, working on handcrafting machinery with He Bing, as well as other equipment.
And to their credit, they actually made some headway. After research and modifications, they improved the solar energy storage capacity of the base’s batteries by twenty percent compared to before.
This meant that, assuming the batteries were fully charged, even if there was no solar power generation for one and a half months, the base could still maintain normal operations.
This was truly an incredible feat.
For this, Li Yu had awarded them.
He Bing received from him some of the apocalypse’s hard currencies: cigarettes, liquor, food.
Li Hang, on the other hand, was given a toolkit.
The next day, Li Yu got up early.
He packed his tactical backpack with items: food, water, medicine, anti-heatstroke medicine, and so on.
The place they were headed this time was somewhat dangerous.
They might face many zombies, and so they decided to deploy one of their base’s deadliest weapons against zombies.
A 200-ton class super-sized loader.
Originally used for loading coal and the like into large trucks, its bucket had a maximum capacity of 50 tons, nearly 30 cubic meters.
After modifications, its maximum power output reached 2900KW (3500 horsepower).
It is a terrifying figure considering that the horsepower of a standard family car is around 100-150.
A sports car might have a bit more, but not by much.
This loader, even more formidable than the LeTourneau L-2350, had been so heavily modified that it was unrecognizable.
The giant loader, standing 8 meters tall, was as high as a two-story building.