Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 552 - 274 Partners

Chapter 552: Chapter 274 Partners

Given that it’s about farming, the natural choice is to go for an outdoor setup. Shana offered her opinion that perhaps they could use the super large plot for livestock and poultry and the remaining two small plots for hydroponics. Shana wasn’t suggesting this because she was fond of eating meat; she thought that as it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain scraps of fabric, if they could breed sheep, they could ensure a supply of clothing materials for the base members.

With this setup, the small plots would become extremely tight, and although the yield from hydroponics wouldn’t compare to traditional farming, the advantage was that hydroponics would still produce crops during winter.

Next was an issue for the leaders to consider. After expanding the base, Maya continued to discuss how to utilize the base plots with Stone and Shana. Following the expansion, Maya brought good news to everyone: the Doomsday Fortress could expand a second time. The bad news was that the second expansion required a thousand building materials.

The result of the expansion was simple and crude: they stacked shipping containers up to three levels high outside the northeast corner wall, creating a large, almost square, rectangular space. A slightly more humane touch was the addition of a 1.2-meter-high railing around the entire top level. Additionally, the five spare plots on the first and second floors were sealed off.

Now, the Doomsday Fortress had two small plots and one super large plot left. Considering the gym was non-essential and the cinema had only one movie poster, there were effectively four small plots and one super large plot.

Speaking of the super large plot, it was genuinely huge, the size of a real acre. Maya thoughtfully moved the water faucet at the south gate to the super large plot, ensuring that whether for grazing or planting, water was readily available.

Lin Wu suggested a combination of planting and animal husbandry. Whichever animal ate the crops, they would eat that animal that evening, thus taking care of everyone’s compassion. After all, crops also had lives, and as their owners, they had a duty to avenge them.

...

The scorching heat was unbearable, with no new developments, and even the occasional Fortress agents had vanished from sight. Shadow and the Apocalypse People repeated their daily tasks, gradually getting used to the hot weather. They worked late in the morning, returned home early in the evening, ate meals, bathed, and fanned themselves day after day, day in, day out.

What tugged at everyone’s heartstrings was the Threat Value of the Sawmill, which, on the first weekend of the third month of summer, broke through to seven stars, making the danger palpably clear to all. Faced with what could be an imminent siege, the leaders agreed to use all available weapons and ammo reserves.

Why not give up the Sawmill? That’s human greed for you—the higher the star level, the greater the difficulty, and the higher the points earned. This thought was the pit that Little White Rabbit dug for Shadow when he lodged the complaint before. With each increase in siege level, the difficulty didn’t just double; it grew exponentially.

Stone could solo a one-star siege. The Soulless brothers could take on a two-star. Apocalypse or Shadow could hold off a three-star on their own. But when it got to four stars, in order to defend the base, everyone had to deploy, and they had to use firearms to snipe the key zombies.

At five stars, a qualitative change occurred due to the increase in quantity: firearms became the primary weapons, and both the terrain and the base’s defensive capabilities became critical factors to consider.

At six stars, the difficulty level rose again; even when unleashing full firepower, those defending the fortress faced significantly increased danger, with at least some buildings likely to be destroyed.

Seven stars? No one knew, nor had anyone heard about it.

If an encounter was inevitable, then it was best to calmly wait for it. Most people had a calm attitude, with Maya being the most concerned. She started a primitive form of military chess with the floor plan of the Sawmill, seeking the most efficient way to use everyone’s combat strength.

She thought to place a two-person team on either side of the back door, each equipped with a close-combat member and a primary handgun, using the door’s narrowness to quickly eliminate zombies. If that line broke, the teams would retreat to the second line of defense: the south entrance of the factory. While the main force reinforced the south gate, the armored vehicle would reduce the threat at the north gate with a frontal assault. Simultaneously, the west and east gates would abandon their posts at the parking lots and fall back to the factory’s western and eastern entrances to further reduce the battle space.

After simulating it in her mind, Maya was pessimistic about this defense. The Sawmill’s greatest flaw was its openness on all sides and lack of any significant elevation difference, which made it difficult to withstand the intense onslaught of zombies from all directions. Frankly, the formation was likely to be breached within a minute.

Maya found Shana and Stone and conveyed her thoughts, "The strategy of centering our main defense on the factory won’t hold the Sawmill. I suggest we abandon the northwest parking and the factory, and instead fortify the backyard. This way, we only need to look after two doors, the back door and the factory’s south gate."

Shana said, "The command center is next to the south gate of the factory, outside the protection range." The destruction of the command center would signify the failure of the siege.

Maya said, "Zombies have one characteristic. For example, if I’m inside an iron cage, zombies will surround the cage, hitting and destroying it. Suppose there’s an entrance to the cage, the zombies will crowd toward this door, attacking the cage near the door. If the door is open and zombies decide the door is spacious enough, they won’t attack the cage anymore. They’ll just try to squeeze through the door."

Maya continued, "We could block off the command post with concrete, stones, and bricks, making the door at the back of the yard. Perhaps the zombies will take the door as the only entry point."

Stone said, "Why not just block all three doors?"

Maya replied, "That might be a different concept."

Shana mused, "Maybe, should, Maya, you seldom use such words."

Maya said, "I’m not sure what might happen."

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