The zombies behind the wall were piled two to three meters high already. Seeing as the opportunity was right, the survivors brought the fuel cylinders up to the wall and began to pour it onto the zombies. Then the survivors tossed down torches.
The fuel wasn’t gasoline but an organic fuel similar to an alcohol mixture. It is worth mentioning that most of the vehicles in the 22nd century used high-capacity batteries, not fossil fuels. Because of this, all of Wanghai City barely had any fuel stations; what replaced them were charging stations.
Controllable fusion made electricity extremely cheap in the 22nd century. Power was produced from the fusion power stations located on the moon then transported through wireless technology to relaying satellites before reaching the earth’s surface. Fossil fuels naturally, were replaced.
And because of this, ten minutes after the war erupted, the world was vulnerable to a massive blackout. The small number of nuclear power and geothermal stations could only sustain military production rates. A lot of the nuclear fusion batteries used in civilian facilities were all confiscated and sent to the frontlines as fuel for power armor and tanks.
What was worse was that in the next few nuclear winters after the war, the survivors couldn’t find any fuel at all. Without power, electric heaters became scrap metal. The one saving grace was that the World Alliance Organization was at least somewhat useful – they left the survivors technology related to crystals, a large number of unused weapons and functional production equipment. This allowed the survivors, who had to face mutants and harsh winters, to have a chance at survival.
Although these weapons consequentially caused the birth of raiders, they did help the survivors pass through the most challenging period of time. Even if most survivors felt angry and disappointment towards the space colonization ship project, they still recognized that the World Alliance Organization did something good for them.
Flames were blazing and burning sky-high.
Thick smoke from four different directions engulfed Fishbone base. The soldiers all wore protective masks and the survivors all fled from the wall, covering their noses and mouths.
The fuel itself produced only a small amount of smoke; the burning zombies were the major source of the smoke. The thick smoke surrounding the base was almost comparable to a chemical weapon which substantially impaired the vision of the soldiers on the wall.
It wasn’t easy to produce the fuel – aside from requiring Carm tree sap as the raw ingredient, the fuel consumed 1.3 times the electricity compared to the heat generated through burning. With twenty cylinders dumped down, it used a total of 15 tons of Carm tree sap and five thousand crystals.
War is the same as burning money; Jiang Chen just witnessed a fine example to this point.
Because of the obstruction due to the smoke, the zombies couldn’t rush up the wall for the time being. Aside from retaining the instinct to hunt for people, zombies also retained a fear of flames. Although they wouldn’t necessarily flee, zombies wouldn’t come any closer either.
After the drones confirmed the zombies halted their attack, the soldiers on the wall finally got some breathing room. Soldiers with sore shoulders and necks all sat along the wall while volunteer workers and women headed onto the wall, bringing nutrient supply, water, and towels to the people protecting them.
The flames lasted two hours.
Once the flames stopped, the carcasses piled one-story high turned to dust and left with the wind.
“The most difficult period is the night.” Wang Zhaowu, with eyebrows furrowed, stared at the outside.
“Can the soldiers handle it?” Jiang Chen asked.
“Rotating five shifts. Every two hours, 400 people go to sleep. The production line for the machine guns and ammo can’t stop; they have to handle it. There isn’t much fuel at the base, so we have to do this.”
The patrol tower, acting as the command tower, had been fitted with an air filtration device. Although there was thick smoke outside, the air in the room was somewhat normal.
“Can you use gasoline?” Jiang Chen asked abruptly.
“Gasoline?” Wang Zhaowu processed this for a second before he said with a wry smile, “It would work, but where are we going to find that? Wanghai City before the war was an economic center, not an industrial base. Even if there were factories that used fuel before, they’re most likely cleaned out by survivors searching for fuel.”
Although fossil-based fuels were abandoned, there were still industrial applications for oil. Aside from burning, oil could be used as an excellent organic solvent as well as the raw material for rubber and plastic products.
Wang Zhaowu naturally assumed Jiang Chen was talking about industrial fuel since he didn’t know Jiang Chen’s secret.
With a smile on his face, Jiang Chen said, while scratching his chin: “You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll think of some ways to bring some here.
“That would be the best.” Wang Zhaowu was out of solutions himself.
Just then, there was a weak knocking sound at the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened and a figure that surprised Jiang Chen appeared at the door.
The girl wore a giant protective mask and timidly walked into the room. Her white cotton dress was stained with dirty smoke. Jiang Chen noticed there was a delicate lunchbox tightly clenched between her arms.
“Yao Yao? Why are you here?” Jiang Chen walked over, surprised by her presence.
“I-I was afraid you might be hungry,” she said timidly. Then she took out a giant mask, smiled at Jiang Chen and handed him the lunchbox between her arms. “So I cooked some food for you and brought it over.”
Wang Zhaowu knew too well what to do in this situation and turned around to face the wall.
But he muttered in his mind: [Good thing my daughter is only a one-year-old.]
Jiang Chen would have a spectacular expression if he could read his mind.
“Did you eat?” Jiang Chen kneeled down and tousled Yao Yao’s head.
“I haven’t.” Yao Yao scratched her face and said in a small voice.
“Then let’s go eat together.” Jiang Chen smiled.
“But, is this place going to be okay?” Yao Yao looked warily at the thick smoke outside.
“General, don’t worry, I’m here.” Wang Zhaowu turned around just at the right time, speaking at just the right moment.
[Nice, I like you.]
Jiang Chen smiled at him and nodded before he picked up Yao Yao’s hand.
“Let’s go. Let’s ask Sun Jiao to come along.”
“Mhmm!” Yao Yao nodded as she held onto his familiar, big hand with a joyful smile.
After he put on his protective mask, Jiang Chen managed to find Sun Jiao with a sniper rifle at the corner of the stairs. With her face pitch-black, Jiang Chen couldn’t hold in his laughter and passed her a protective mask.
“This place is going to choke me to death.” Sun Jiao rolled her eyes exaggeratedly as she snatched the protective mask and put it on.
“I told you to stay home, but you just had to come out,” Jiang Chen chirped.
“I wanted to. And I took out 51 throwers today – shouldn’t you compliment me?” Sun Jiao swished her luscious hair filled with dust as she spoke with her chest raised proudly.
“If you dare to get hurt, I’ll make sure you learn a lesson or two.”
Jiang Chen gave her a hard stare, although no one could see his expression behind his giant mask.