Kingdom of Corrosion
Chapter 978 - 422 Searching for Oil (Part 1)_2

Chapter 978: Chapter 422 Searching for Oil (Part 1)_2

Shana recalled the words of the bald man when they parted: if there’s work to be done, do it swiftly, don’t hesitate or wait. Currently, Veteran Base has a moral obligation to fully support the Railway Bridge Base, but once the base is relocated, they’ll be out of reach.

An interesting fact is that only a few people at Veteran Base are aware of the Railway Bridge Base possessing a helicopter.

...

To evade possible drone surveillance, Lin Wu, Maya, Xiaoji, Little Girl, Xiao Wu, and Little Knife left the base at four thirty in the morning the next day. Snow Egg, in addition to being responsible for command work, was researching electromagnetic interference equipment to counter drones.

Command work meant instructing the helicopter to hoist a small oil tank with a net rope.

This set of net ropes was already part of the helicopter’s supplementary equipment. There were multiple hook grooves on the underside of the helicopter for lifting cargo. This device should not have been present on an armed helicopter, but was fitted at the special request of the naval base.

Xiaoji had calculated the weight. Last night, all 35 rocket rounds were extracted, and the 30mm cannon’s ammunition box removed. As for the missiles, they were left untouched due to lack of equipment.

Since it was an empty oil tank, the impact on takeoff was not significant. Maya balanced the helicopter slightly, and it successfully took off.

Xiaoji, seated in the co-pilot’s seat, nostalgically said, "Little Girl, do you still remember the jungle raid? We flew at low altitude for three hours in the dead of night, dropping your squad and a motorboat onto the lake surface."

"Uh-huh," Little Girl responded. For her, the operation was quite routine. They arrived at the hostage location, raided it, rescued the hostages, and left. They used the Gatling heavy machine gun on the motorboat to sweep pursuers. At the retreat point, they hooked the helicopter’s drop-down hook onto the motorboat and the helicopter towed the motorboat away.

With each lost in their thoughts, they gazed at the night sky, pondering their own matters.

Around five-thirty in the morning, the helicopter reached the airspace above Southeast Refinery. The sky had brightened by then, and from high up, one could see the factory buildings, chimneys, and oil tanks in the distance.

Xiao Wu asked, "Could the kerosene we’re looking for be in those oil tanks?"

Xiaoji responded, "Possible, but unlikely. Open-air oil tanks usually store crude oil and other unfinished petroleum products."

Maya asked, "Where do we start?"

Xiaoji suggested, "Let’s circle around first."

The Southeast Refinery had a deep-water dock, and Xiaoji explained, "On one hand, crude oil is imported by sea; on the other, refined oil is exported by sea as well. If my guess that the open-air tanks are used to store crude oil is correct, then the refined oil should be on the other side."

Lin Wu asked, "Xiaoji, what’s that central factory building for?"

Xiaoji answered, "Apart from refining petroleum products, it also processes associated products like asphalt, sulfur, etc. There are various workshops—like the heating workshop, separation workshop, gas workshop, CFB furnaces, and so on. Positions range from workshop laborers and administrative staff to coke removal workers, mechanics, patrol workers, and others. Maya, over there."

In the southeast of the refinery, four kilometers away from the dock, there was a large empty space with a two-story building in the center. Cars and tanker trucks could be seen scattered throughout the area.

Xiaoji announced, "Good news, there are definitely underground tanks here. Bad news, aviation kerosene is consumed in small quantities and theoretically wouldn’t be stored with the general public’s fuel."

Xiaoji continued, "The zombie density in the open area is lower compared to that of the factory zone. The two-story building nearby is likely the dispatch center. With any luck, we could find information about kerosene there. Maya, find a suitable spot to land."

"Okay," Maya said, "All clear, preparing to land."

As the helicopter descended, the oil tank touched the ground first. Lin Wu jumped out of the hovering helicopter two meters above ground, climbed up the net rope, and removed one side of the hooks. Little Knife and Xiao Wu were responsible for exterminating zombies. Little Girl directed in front of the helicopter, guiding it to move several meters to the right for landing, so the helicopter’s underside left side net rope remained attached to the helicopter. If needed, the helicopter could lift off, move several meters to the right, then reattach the hooks to the body to hoist the small oil tank again.

The helicopter’s noise was still too loud, attracting a large number of zombies; the fight lasted two minutes and used up quite a bit of ammunition.

Maya ordered, "Little Knife, Xiao Wu, and Xiaoji in one team, responsible for inspecting ground valves; everyone else with me to the building."

Xiaoji and others first arrived at a valve, pried open the outer protective net, and turned the valve open with tools. Xiaoji lay on the ground, sniffing at the pipeline, and said, "It’s diesel."

Xiao Wu asked, "Should I check the tanker truck?"

Xiaoji asked, "Can you distinguish between different types of oil?"

Xiao Wu replied, "I can smell gasoline."

Xiaoji said, "Then please check the vehicles, and try to find an operable oil tanker."

Xiao Wu nodded, "Okay."

Xiaoji cautioned, "Be careful."

Xiaoji and Little Knife pried open another valve. After sniffing, Xiaoji regretfully said, "It’s still diesel. It seems all the underground storage tanks in this area contain diesel."

...

Elsewhere, Lin Wu and his two companions had already stormed into the small building. Their combat abilities stood out. Compared with close-range pistol combat, the girl was inferior to Lin Ma. The trio weren’t in a hurry to clear the rooms and went up the stairs to the rooftop. The girl took up position on the rooftop, swapped her pistol for a sniper rifle, took up the binoculars and assumed the role of the team’s observer.

Lin Wu and Maya started clearing from the second floor, checking each room after clearing. As they entered the first room, similar to an administrative office, they sensed something was off due to the scant amount of paperwork.

Xiao Wu responded over the walkie-talkie, "Paperless office was promoted in 2030. Documents that could be handled electronically were all processed on computers. Try turning on the computers to have a look."

Lin Wu said, "Big brother, there’s no power."

Xiao Wu was taken aback for a moment, "Then I don’t know." He had been at the railway bridge base for so long that he had forgotten the outside world was without electricity.

Xiaoji suggested, "There should be paper copies of shipping documents. Oil tankers need to have shipping documents to transport refined oil, and the documents should have detailed data, such as gasoline or diesel, volume, corresponding vehicles, etc. The drivers need these shipping documents to transport the refined oil."

Maya asked, "Could the shipping documents be on the drivers?"

Xiaoji replied, "I don’t know how it works here. Usually, there are two copies of the shipping document. The first one is given to the driver, submitted to the relevant department, and the department keeps a copy, likely in the computer. After verification by staff, the driver’s copy is taken and replaced with a different document, let’s assume it’s called a pick-up slip. The driver uses the pick-up slip to collect the refined oil from the staff, and then pumps it. The whole process is similar to refueling a car. Some places require the oil tanker to show the pick-up slip when leaving the refinery. Regulations vary by location, but there should be such a document."

Lin Wu retrieved a stiff paper from the pocket of a zombie corpse, about half the size of an A4 sheet, and read, "-Diesel No. 10, 12,000 liters, license plate number: 12345."

Xiao Wu interjected, "Found the oil tanker 12345."

Xiaoji stated, "Matching it to the vehicle parking area and the stored diesel in the underground tanks, that should be it. Now we need to find the kerosene card, match it to the corresponding vehicle, and then we can locate the corresponding underground storage tank."

Maya inquired, "Is the area near the helicopter landing zone the diesel zone?"

Xiaoji answered, "It should be. Our squad will head west for investigation."

Sentry girl: "I advise against that. Besides the helicopter landing point, other areas are close to the plant buildings, and the density of zombies is relatively high." Even if we could win, it would waste a lot of bullets.

Xiaoji said, "Alright then! Let’s start with the vehicles, and then search the bodies of the zombies for any key information."

Xiao Wu said excitedly, "I found a fully loaded diesel oil tanker."

Lin Wu asked, "And then what?"

Xiao Wu sighed, "Ah... If only we could take it back." If we could bring these 10 tons of diesel to the base, we could do a lot of things.

Lin Wu said, "I just want to take off the gas mask."

Xiaoji checked the detector and said, "The area we are in is fine; you can take off your gas masks now. If you want to enter the plant area, you’ll need to test again."