Chapter 103: The Base’s Protective Trench

What is the most effective defensive measure for a base, or a survival outpost, when guarding against zombies? Against common zombies, a few layers of electric fencing and high walls are sufficient to hold them back. However, these defenses prove weak when faced with R2-class zombies. Through his understanding of the undead, Xie Han discovered a minor weakness: they possess a certain fear of water. Unless absolutely necessary, zombies generally do not force their way across streams or rivers.

Xie Han could not fathom why zombies were afraid of water. Even more baffling was why large aquatic zombie creatures could survive freely in water. Was it related to their habits or environment before they turned? The records offered no clear answer, but Xie Han believed his own hypothesis was likely close to the truth.

The military experimental base covered a vast area, and with the surrounding camp planned out, the total area reached ten square kilometers. Enclosing this entire space and digging a moat would be a massive undertaking. With the current manpower and resources of the base, it was an impossible feat.

Because of this, Xie Han ultimately had to exclude the military experimental base from the project, focusing only on surrounding the five-square-kilometer civilian camp with a moat. While this halved the workload, it was still a monumental project.

What gave Xie Han a headache was that the base had almost zero excavating machinery, which further compounded the difficulty. Having no other choice, Xie Han implemented a work-point system. Aside from the researchers at the Doomsday Corporation and necessary security personnel, everyone else had to participate in the excavation. They would trade their labor for food based on their daily output, with no limit on how much they could earn if they were willing to work hard.

Xie Han had expected this proposal to be met with resistance, but to his surprise, this system—reminiscent of the old communal dining halls—gained the overwhelming approval of the people. He struggled to understand why people who had been pampered for three years would abandon their guaranteed minimum rations to trade their sweat for more food.

Chu Tianhe, the logistics manager, saw it clearly. Addressing Xie Han’s confusion, he explained, "Boss, just think about their past lives compared to their current ones, and you'll understand. It's true that back at the Wangtian Base, everyone waited for the distribution of basic rations, but those days were like being a walking corpse, or a bird locked in a cage. Even though we offer a minimum living allowance, they prefer having a job—a job that restores them to a sense of order. So, even if our plan is exhausting, the vast majority are willing."

Chu Tianhe’s analysis helped Xie Han grasp the situation. Just like in normal life, if a person is unemployed for too long, they become bored and desperate for work to give their time purpose and their spirit an anchor. Conversely, those who are employed often dream of not working and living a life of leisure. It is this duality that made people who hadn't worked in over three years embrace the plan.

With the proposal passed, the construction of the moat was officially put on the schedule.

Manual excavation would be slow, and Xie Han briefly considered using his four-cubic-meter spatial storage to bring small excavators from the modern world. He eventually abandoned this tempting idea; the gap between modern and post-apocalyptic mechanical technology was too vast. The outdated diesel engine technology would be immediately obvious to anyone with experience.

To lighten the load, at Xu Qiang's suggestion, the moat construction utilized blasting. A massive amount of explosives was buried along the planned route. Based on the blast radius of each charge, they created a chain reaction circling the five-square-kilometer perimeter. The resulting explosions would displace most of the soil and create depths of two to three meters, reducing the manual workload by more than half.

"Boom... Boom..."

The violent explosions lasted for a full half-hour. The sky over the camp was shrouded in smoke, and countless clods of earth even rained down into the camp area. The swirling dust and smoke gave the military-green tents a gray, hazy hue.

At a safe distance from the blast zone, over three thousand people armed with various tools had been waiting. As soon as Xie Han gave the order, they surged toward the craters, following the blueprints to begin manual digging.

For every kilometer, a supervisor was assigned to oversee the work and keep records.

The line of three thousand people stretched out of sight. While this scene was nothing compared to the hordes of zombies, it filled Xie Han with an indescribable excitement. These people belonged to his base; they were the first force he had gathered to survive in this apocalypse. There might be a second, third, or fourth group later, but Xie Han believed none would ever feel as exciting or moving as the first.

Despite using explosives, the moat—a square perimeter totaling nearly 12 kilometers and 10 meters wide—was a massive task. Without heavy machinery or proper tools, it would not be completed in the short term.

However, Xie Han was not in a hurry. From the current situation, the surrounding hundred square kilometers were desolate and devoid of humans, let alone zombies. Time was on his side.

In the apocalypse, one should never lose vigilance. Even knowing there were likely no zombies in the vicinity, Xie Han did not let his guard down. He arranged a fifty-man patrol for the civilian camp and a hundred-man guard for the military base. Not content with that, he used Chen Liu's eight Humvee Kings to organize four large-scale patrol teams, each consisting of two vehicles, to ensure the entire restricted military zone remained secure.

With Chu Tianhe in charge of the moat, Xie Han trusted that things would run smoothly, allowing him to turn his attention back to research. Before the moat planning, Xu Qiang had informed him that he had finally succeeded in his previous request: securing a production line from a large manufacturing plant in Wangtian City capable of producing core chipsets for rice cookers.