Doomsday: I Build a Space Fleet

Chapter 22 Repair and Reconnaissance

Lorraine stood up, looked at the damaged armor plating on the foredeck, then picked up her toolbox, preparing to dismantle the damaged armor plating.

The sun had risen, and the damage to the armor was clearly visible to Lorraine.

"Buzz buzz buzz," Lorraine pulled out a power drill and removed the bolts from the four corners of the armor plate. He casually put the temporarily unused drill into Tengu's storage basket and used a crowbar to pry out the armor plate that had been cut in half. Then he stacked it to the side.

Repeating this process, Lorraine quickly removed all the damaged armor plates.

The gunboat had now reached the vicinity of the dock and was slowly decelerating as it approached an extended walkway.

With a "whoosh," the gunboat anchored and came to a steady stop 5 meters from the boardwalk.

Lorraine put the damaged armor plates back into the warehouse and said to Ouyang Nian, "We don't have the equipment to disassemble finished products right now. See if these things can be used."

"It can be used, but it depends on the purpose and what you want to do." Ouyang Nian stepped forward to check it and found that the strength was acceptable.

"A 5-meter-long gangplank, preferably the kind that even a tengu could cross," Lorraine stated her requirements.

"A 5-meter-long gangplank is no problem, but expecting Tengu to cross it is wishful thinking. I suggest letting it jump over it; Tengu can jump that distance with a running start."

"How long will it take? We're here now," Lorraine asked as she took out her welding torch.

Ouyang Nian placed the damaged armor plate and several steel plates into the machining center and said, "It will take about 10 minutes. Give me the welding gun, I'll fix it." Ouyang Nian took the welding gun and the materials needed to repair the armor plate from Lorraine.

"Why don't you bring the armor plate and we can work together? That way we can speed things up," Ouyang Nian said, picking up his tools and walking out while trying to reassure Lorraine.

"I understand." Hearing the reassuring tone in Ouyang Nian's words, Luo Lin stopped arguing with Ouyang Nian and followed behind him, carrying several armor plates.

The welding torch spewed flames as it filled the cracks in the deck with steel plates, and soon the deck was smooth again. Lorraine then re-laid armor plates over the deck.

"Let's go." Ouyang Nian put all the tools back in the warehouse, picked up the newly made boarding gangplank, and handed the two newly made weapons to Lorraine.

"Which one should we choose?" Ouyang Nian asked.

Lorraine took the Lynx anti-materiel sniper rifle and said, "You can keep the machine gun. This anti-materiel weapon isn't needed here. I'll put this gun back first."

When Lorraine picked up his gun, he glanced at the intelligence system, which clearly displayed the message: "[Countdown to Alien Zombie Invasion]".

After Lorraine put the lynx back in the armory, she glanced at the intelligence system and was immediately startled.

[1. The mutated rats in the underground tunnels will appear in the eastern and western parts of the industrial area.]

2. There is a small marine gas turbine in the northern part of the industrial zone.

3. There is a small dock in the eastern part of the industrial zone, with a converted sand transport vessel.

[4. Zombie invasion, countdown: 2 days 20 hours.]

Lorraine took out his usual semi-automatic shotgun and submachine gun, loaded all the buckshot into the shotgun pouch on his waist, and carried two magazines of spare ammunition for the submachine gun. Finally, he pulled out two 100-round 7.62mm ammunition belts and three fully loaded pistol magazines.

Lorraine returned to the deck and handed two ammunition belts and three pistol magazines to Ouyang Nian: "Here, pull the trigger if anything happens, don't be stingy with bullets."

Ouyang Nian had already seen the neatly moored ships on the dock, and naturally knew how horrifying the scene before him was. However, he was indeed curious why Lorraine hadn't used the Lynx.

Seeing Ouyang Nian's curiosity, Lorraine explained, "I don't think that large individuals can appear here under the suppression of giant zombies, not to mention the Tengu's 40mm grenades as a safety net."

"Let's go then!" Tiangou jumped onto the concrete walkway first, followed closely by Diting and Lorraine, with Ouyang Nian at the very back. After the two people and two dogs were all on the walkway, Lorraine used the mechanical arm to carry the boarding ramp back onto the ship.

As a scout, Di Ting went forward to scout 100 meters away from the squad, while Luo Lin stood 3 meters to the left and in front of Ouyang Nian, so as not to affect Ouyang Nian's vision and to avoid being accidentally injured in case of emergencies.

Tengu, as the last line of defense for the entire team, is positioned at the very back.

The team quickly crossed the road filled with parked trucks and headed straight for the factory at the end of the road.

Approaching the factory gate, Ouyang Nian stepped forward and tried to push the two iron gates. The gates remained unmoved, indicating that a group of survivors had once lived here.

Seeing that the gate in front of them could not be opened, Lorraine asked Diting to go ahead and find a way for it to enter the factory, while he and Ouyang Nian took Tiangou to find other entrances.

Lorraine and Ouyang Nian walked north along the wall, looking for a spot on top of the wall where there was no barbed wire.

Before long, Di Ting found a dog hole in a patch of grass and crawled inside.

At that moment, images of the factory interior popped up on Lorraine's eyepiece. To the south was an enclosed area with two gantry cranes, while directly opposite the factory gate were a dozen modified engineering vehicles and a huge factory building. No bloodstains were found in the entire open-air area.

"Something's not right, very wrong. Given the level of security at this factory, only crawlers should be able to get in, but there shouldn't be no bloodstains in the entire open area."

"Moreover, there are no signs of acid corrosion here."

Ouyang Nian added, "It's hard to imagine how the entire army was wiped out here without a zombie invasion."

"Look, there's a railway track ahead!" Suddenly, Lorraine spotted two grooves in the ground in the distance. "Listen, head north quickly and check if there are any tracks leading to the outside world."

"Received." Di Ting abandoned its silent operation mode and sped towards the northern railway tracks.

At this moment, Lorraine and Ouyang Nian, who were on the outskirts of the factory, had arrived at the railway tracks. Looking at the thin iron gate in front of them, Ouyang Nian thought it was a good entrance.

"Once Di Ting has figured out what's going on inside, you can step on my hand and I'll lift you up." Lorraine said no problem, and then focused her attention on Di Ting's perspective.

Soon, Di Ting arrived near the railway tracks and scouted the area. It found no railway leading to the outside world; this was the train's terminus, with two empty wagons parked outside a factory.

"Wait a minute, Di Ting, look to the northeast corner." In the image transmitted back by Di Ting, Lorraine noticed an unusual white color.

As Di Ting approached, the white object revealed its true form: a somewhat decaying skeleton.

"This can't be right!" Ouyang Nian exclaimed in surprise. "I've never seen any zombie that can eat so cleanly!"

"Didn't we run into one we'd never seen before yesterday?" Lorraine shrugged, but his heart was heavy. Could this have been the work of a mutated rat? It had clearly been dead for some time.