The name of Taoyuan Base was decided, and the current residential area was sufficient for everyone to live in.
They then thought about how they could live better.
In the construction of new rural areas, there are many facilities. For example, photovoltaic power generation and wind power generation.
Lin Yan used her abilities to reroute the power lines from there. Although electricity consumption still needed to be controlled, many things could now be used. For instance, rice cookers and water pumps.
Solar water heaters could also be activated. With the pumped well water, everyone could take a thorough bath.
This residential area seemed to have truly become a paradise in the post-apocalyptic world. If it weren't for the need to go out and clear out the zombies that gathered every few days, it would have been just like the days before the apocalypse.
The zombies had also evolved somewhat during this time. Their movement speed was faster, and they were more agile.
However, their internal cultivation had reached the introductory level, and the sword techniques they learned were also respectable. Lin Yan used her abilities to melt a lot of metal items to forge a sword for each of them.
When facing zombies, they now had the ability to fight back. Even though the zombies' abilities had evolved, they could still kill those zombies through cooperation.
This further fueled everyone's enthusiasm for learning martial arts.
"Huh, what is this?" After a few of them jointly killed a troublesome zombie, a sparkling, diamond-shaped crystal-like object fell from the damaged zombie's head.
"Could it be the legendary crystal core!" a young man who loved reading novels exclaimed. He had returned to see his grandparents and was trapped in this small town when the apocalypse struck.
His grandparents, being elderly and frail, couldn't survive the initial mutations of the apocalypse. He, however, had awakened his abilities, though they were relatively weak. He didn't dare to venture out.
It wasn't until Lin Yan came out to rescue people that he immediately followed her to this residential area.
He not only awakened his abilities but also had a talent for martial arts. He was an avid reader of novels, and now, with abilities and the opportunity to learn legendary martial arts, he was naturally enthusiastic about learning.
Therefore, within this guard team, his combat strength was quite high. kAnshu伍.ξà
"Xiao Zhao, what is a crystal core?" another member of the team asked curiously.
"It's the thing in a zombie's head. It's the energy aggregate of a zombie. Novels say it can enhance abilities. Some novels say you eat it, while others say you absorb it." Xiao Zhao was quite knowledgeable about this.
"Eat it? I don't want to eat this thing. No matter how clean you wash it, it doesn't change the fact that it came from a zombie's brain!" another team member expressed disgust.
"Now that you mention it, I feel the same way!"
"Alright, alright, it's not confirmed yet, and you're already thinking about how to use it. Let's take it back first. It's not very safe here," an older man said.
"Yes, yes, let's take it back. Xiao Lin should know how to handle this better."
With that, everyone agreed, found a piece of cloth to wrap the crystal, and prepared to take it back.
When Lin Yan received the crystal core, she paused for a moment. Logically, crystal cores wouldn't be discovered until a week later. Why were there zombies with crystal cores so early?
Zombies without crystal cores were Level 1 zombies. With a crystal core, they became Level 2. When this crystal core turned pink, it would be Level 3.
The darker the color, the higher the level. Now that there were Level 2 zombies, but their abilities hadn't upgraded yet, it put them at a disadvantage when facing zombies.
Fortunately, after learning martial arts, they had some ability to contend with zombies.
"Did this zombie have any special characteristics?" Lin Yan did not pick up the crystal core on the cloth.
"Does being exceptionally strong count?" Xiao Zhao replied.
"It does!" Lin Yan nodded.
"Then that's it. Ordinary zombies can be dealt with by one of us. This zombie took considerable effort for three of us to kill. But that was also because we were being cautious, afraid of hurting ourselves." Xiao Zhao, who was involved in the fight, had a strong opinion on this.
"It seems the zombies are also evolving." Lin Yan's brows furrowed deeply. Although she already knew that zombies would evolve, this evolutionary process seemed somewhat fast, at least faster than humans.
"We feel the same way. Zombies have become increasingly difficult to deal with lately," the leading middle-aged man said.
"Then, Brother Qi, when you go out again, be absolutely sure not to go alone. I'll go out tomorrow to take a look. This single crystal doesn't have much reference value," Lin Yan decided to go and kill a few more similar zombies.
"Oh, and Xiao Li's fire ability has also improved. The temperature of her flames has increased significantly. I'll bring her out tomorrow to see if we can do something about the zombie corpses."
"Then you must be careful when you go out tomorrow."
This small base was like a primitive tribe, with different people doing different things. Children under fourteen only did simple tasks and spent more time learning.
Children over fourteen, depending on their martial arts proficiency, those who learned well would join the adult men in clearing out zombies in the town.
Those who were less skilled in martial arts did what they could.
Many adult women stayed behind to do logistical work, and the elderly helped look after the children and teach them.
The lessons the children were receiving now were different from before. The proportion of academic subjects was reduced, with more emphasis on life skills.
Now, in this residential area, except for those who were truly hopeless in the kitchen, everyone could cook a few dishes.
Lin Yan had not gone out to kill zombies recently. She was researching the local circuitry and network signals. Although the internet was down, Lin Yan wanted to set up an internal network to facilitate communication.
However, since the zombies had already upgraded, she should go out and see for herself.
An internal network wouldn't be established in a short time, especially since she didn't even have a helper.
The next day, when Lin Yan was preparing to leave the residential area with Xiao Li, another child wanted to go with Lin Yan.
"Maybe next time. If I bring both of you, I won't be able to manage. It's a bit dangerous going out this time. We can go together when it's less dangerous," she did not agree to this child.
This child had also awakened abilities, but it was water-elemental. The water they drank recently was provided by this child, saving them a lot of trouble, at least not having to move those heavy water barrels anymore.
This child wanted to go along because his abilities had a healing effect, though it was relatively weak, capable of healing only minor injuries.
He wanted to go so that if Lin Yan were injured, he could treat her immediately. If the time was delayed, the wound might deepen, requiring more energy and making healing more difficult.
In this time of scarcity of medicine and medical supplies, he couldn't let Lin Yan get hurt. Although everyone in this base was equal, Lin Yan was different.
They all knew that if something happened to Lin Yan, this base would not remain so peaceful and tranquil.