In the morning, Zhang Su had Tan Huajun drive a few technicians to Niuquanzi Town to continue repairing the excavator, while he stayed at the camp to participate in various tasks.

The arrangements for the community gathering, cleaning of various areas of the camp, manufacturing of defense facilities and weapons, picking crops, and feeding pigs and sheep (here’s a note, feeding pigs is done with old corn collected from villages. Many farmers in the countryside around Qin City plant a few acres of corn or sweet potatoes, which are dried on rooftops after harvest and used primarily to feed livestock).

Each task has someone in charge, so Zhang Su doesn’t need to do the work personally. His main role is to console and show concern, making everyone feel valued and as if he were a leader inspecting the work.

Whether it’s important defense works or the smelly task of feeding pigs and sheep, the respect received is the same. In this atmosphere, everyone’s mood visibly changes.

Originally monotonous work becomes more mission-oriented, and everyone becomes more aware that each task done improves the camp, improving their own lives. They personally experience this change.

There will be no such situations where joys are not shared, and hardships are borne by everyone.

"Brother Su, Teacher Yu, busy? Do you have time to talk?"

In the afternoon, Zhang Su was chopping wood in the mountain stream with Yuwen. After some time of logging, a large open area had been created, making it a decent spot for training and other activities.

"The fields down the mountain can’t remain idle, or it will be harder to reclaim them later. There’s no chance this winter, but we must plan to plant next spring."

"The area of farmland across several nearby villages is enough to sustain thousands of people. As long as there’s fuel, many farm machines can be used, greatly improving efficiency. As long as protection is ensured, future food supplies shouldn’t be a problem."

"The issue here is that our population is still too small for large-scale construction projects to be feasible. But if the population increases, I’m worried it will attract large groups of zombies. It’s hard to balance this."

Zhang Su shook his head wearily.

Attraction is no longer just a theory. After some time of validation, it’s well established that attraction is a real phenomenon, though its rules remain unclear. From what is currently known, it is positively related to population size.

Yuwen paused, adjusted her glasses, and said, "Mr. Zhang, extending your previous plan a bit, I think it would be very suitable as a developmental direction."

"You’re talking about the surrounding villages?" Zhang Su understood what Yuwen meant.

"Yes." Yuwen nodded, saying, "Just like the plan for An Dun United Village, using Celestial Horse Island as the center and extending around it to establish safe zones in nearby villages. Each village would have a population cap, closely connected to avoid large congregations, avoiding... Xiaochen?"

"Brother Su, Teacher Yu."

Zhang Su and Yuwen were discussing future development plans when Chen Hanzhou approached, holding a piece of paper and hesitantly said, "I have something to discuss, could I?"

"Just say it, what’s there to hesitate about?"

Zhang Su swung his axe against the tree trunk while lighting a cigarette.

"Go ahead and conversate. That tree over there seems to be of a good size."

Yuwen prepared to leave, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

Chen Hanzhou quickly gestured, "Wait, Teacher Yu, I primarily need your help."

"Oh? Then let’s hear it."

Yuwen stopped with a smile, leaning on his axe.

Chen Hanzhou awkwardly unfolded the paper he was holding and said, "I’ve been wanting to develop my right-hand usability, but I wasn’t satisfied with several weapon designs. After thinking up a solution, the camp’s welding machine broke down. Just when Brother Su brought one back from West Camp Village. Teacher Yu, would you be able to help create this?"

He handed the A4 paper to them.

Curiously, Zhang Su took the paper and looked at it together with Yuwen.

There were six or seven drawings on the paper. At first glance, they resembled some kind of online game equipment design sketch. But on a closer look, they were prosthetic-like weapons fitted onto the arm.

The sleeve was designed to cover the entire arm, with joint areas incorporating armor-like elements that allow for free movement. The head was designed with a threaded metal structure, with different operational heads for various scenes, like a dagger, machete, hammer...

The design was very detailed, including perspective diagrams from inside out.

"I wondered what Pei Lan was doing with you every day, writing and drawing all the time. Turns out, they were designing you a steampunk mechanical arm!"

Zhang Su laughed. He often paid attention to the team members’ conditions, and with his exceptional hearing, not much escaped him. But topics that weren’t sensitive, he listened passively, as managing every single conversation would overload his brain.

Chen Hanzhou scratched his head embarrassedly. "I wonder if it can be made?"

"You should ask Teacher Yu..." Zhang Su handed the design diagram to Yuwen.

Yuwen put on reading glasses, looked at it seriously, and said, "Most of it isn’t difficult, but dealing with the joint area might require some special materials which are currently hard to find. Let’s build the other parts first and later figure out the rest."

Without advanced precision machine tools, it’s reconfiguring by hand, focusing on functionality rather than precision.

"Alright, thank you very much."

Chen Hanzhou was genuinely pleased. After losing an arm, he became more optimistic, likely because narrowly escaping death has given him clarity on many issues.

After discussing the mechanical prosthesis, Yuwen noted that Chen Hanzhou seemed to have more to discuss with Zhang Su. Sensing as much, he wisely said, "Mr. Zhang, I will go back and study this design."

"Alright."

Zhang Su nodded, watching Yuwen leave before turning to Chen Hanzhou. "Is there something else?"

"Yes!" Chen Hanzhou nodded.

"Being so secretive, it’s not like you got Pei Lan pregnant, did you?" Zhang Su couldn’t help but be startled seeing the serious and hesitant expression on Chen Hanzhou’s face.

"No...it’s me. There’s something wrong with me!"

A strange expression appeared on Chen Hanzhou’s face as he took a step closer. "When we went out to capture a zombie yesterday, I got a cut on my hand and twisted my ankle. At the time, I didn’t mind it, but when I got back to camp to treat the wound, I found the wound had vanished, and my ankle wasn’t sore anymore!"

Zhang Su’s eyes narrowed. "Did Xiaoshan treat you?"

His first reaction was that Zhong Xiaoshan had given Chen Hanzhou the Zombie Thalamus. But upon asking, he felt something was off. That item was life-saving, and such small injuries wouldn’t justify its use. He had specifically instructed this, and Zhong Xiaoshan wouldn’t have disobeyed.

"No." Chen Hanzhou shook his head. "I felt it was amazing, so I secretly tested it again. A knife cut that’s this long (gesturing with his fingers) can heal in less than ten minutes with no scar. Brother Su, could there be something wrong with me?"

Chen Hanzhou didn’t feel joy for acquiring the ability but rather an underlying unease about the unknown power, fearing that he might end up transforming into a zombie — a change rooted in his unique past experience!

"Are you wondering if it’s related to being bitten by a zombie before? Didn’t you notice this before?"

Zhang Su frowned and asked.

"This started happening after the snowfall!"

Chen Hanzhou firmly stated, "I can be sure this wasn’t happening before the snow. Since I’m not handy with my left hand, I got injured several times recently. Look, the scars are still there!"

While saying this, he extended his left hand. Indeed, there were several scars — not only linear cuts but also coin-sized burn scars, and so on. Training the non-dominant hand was a challenging process fraught with injuries after losing the dominant one.

"It seems your change might be linked to being bitten by a zombie before. Don’t worry, I’ll take you to..."

"Brother Su, Brother Su, the excavator’s fixed, it started up successfully. We used up all the diesel we had in the camp, but it should be no problem driving it back. There’s a small issue with the bucket that can be fixed later, as it doesn’t affect driving. Should we bring it back to the camp now?"

At that moment, Guo Dachao’s voice came through on the walkie-talkie hung on Zhang Su’s waist.

He took off the walkie-talkie and said, "Bring it back and park at Madian Village first. Thank you for your hard work."

The excavator was extremely important to them and couldn’t be risked.

The Cyan Dragon Corps was scheduled to come and collect supplies in a few days, and during this period, they couldn’t do much construction, so it was best to hide it away. After dealing with the current matters, they could begin excavating defensive structures.

"Alright, it wasn’t any trouble, but Brother Su, the excavator’s quite noisy, and I’m afraid it might attract some zombies. It might need some of the guys to escort it."

"No problem, we’ll send an escort right away!"

After ending the call, Zhang Su pointed in the direction of the camp. "Let’s go, I’ll take you to Dr. Fu and also arrange some people to escort Dachao and the others!"

He arranged for Lu Yubo to lead a team of elite fighters to provide support, and then Zhang Su and Chen Hanzhou went to Cui Leng Pavilion.

Awwooo, awoo...

Inside a guest room at Cui Leng Pavilion, the Petrified Skin Zombie was still howling, but the sound had lessened and grown hoarse. It seemed that even a zombie’s throat couldn’t endure such prolonged shouting...