Chapter Thirty-Three: Shanwei Food Factory

Although food was scarce in the apocalypse, scrap metal could be found everywhere. To forge a full set of iron armor, one needed not only scrap metal but also some fabric and animal hide. The fabric and hides would be affixed to the inner side of the armor, serving as shock absorbers and padding, protecting against scrapes from the armor’s sharp edges. At joints such as the knees and elbows, animal hide was essential for flexibility, ensuring that the scrap iron armor would not restrict movement.

Qin Fei used a hacksaw to cut off panels from the abandoned cars on the street. To save on fuel and costs, car exteriors were typically made from lightweight, sturdy metals with high resilience. For aesthetics and rust prevention, the outer layer would often be covered with an aluminum alloy sheet. This was precisely the material Qin Fei wanted; it was soft, tough, and highly malleable—ideal for crafting scrap metal armor.

However, Qin Fei had no means to weld the sheets together. Though there was welding equipment at Baishui River Camp, its use was strictly forbidden except in emergencies, as welding consumed diesel fuel. Any tool that burned diesel generated heat and attracted swarms of zombies. Not only welding but even power saws and drills were prohibited near the camp.

Left with no other option, Qin Fei had to use nails to fasten the metal plates. He would then bend the nail tips with pliers, wrap them in animal hide, and thus barely managed to join two plates together.

In truth, the process of making the armor did not take much time. The real challenge was that abandoned cars were hard to find near the camp. He had to venture farther afield, always returning before nightfall, which meant most of his daylight hours were spent hauling materials. From gathering supplies to the final assembly, it took Qin Fei three days.

[Level 3 Scrap Iron Armor (Yellow): This armor increases carrying weight and provides effective protection against damage.]
[Level 3 items grant minor attribute bonuses: Explosion Resistance +20%, Defense +20%.]
[Due to the drawbacks of heavy armor, some attributes are reduced: Mobility -20%, Noise +20%.]

Wearing the armor granted formidable resistance to blows but also caused much more noise during movement. Consequently, most survivors disliked venturing outside in iron armor.

When scavenging for supplies, survivors prioritized avoiding zombies over confronting them directly. The noise from iron armor only made them more conspicuous, and the added weight slowed them down.

But Qin Fei was different. Thanks to the game system, he could instantly equip or remove his armor using the space backpack, allowing him to adapt to different situations.

For close combat, Qin Fei spent over two hundred casino tokens to buy a bat from the woman doctor.

[Bat: This club was once used in grand arena combat tournaments.]

The grip was wooden, but the head was reinforced with several layers of metal, making it exceptionally hard. The bat was highly effective—far more so than knives or swords—when dealing with zombies. Blades and axes might leave wounds, but zombies did not bleed, feel pain, or lose mobility from such injuries.

A metal bat, on the other hand, could shatter a zombie’s skull, inflicting devastating trauma to the brain. Once the head was destroyed, a zombie would almost always die. It was a simple, brutal, and highly effective method. In this world, blunt weapons far surpassed edged ones.

As for firearms, unable to afford a good one, Qin Fei spent a handful of casino tokens on a battered homemade thunder tube for his backpack. Most survivors in the Navingan region favored these improvised firearms. Their ammunition was easily made by wrapping gunpowder and pebbles in paper by hand—pebbles were everywhere, so as long as there was gunpowder, the supply was nearly limitless.

Yet the thunder tube had its disadvantages. Essentially a primitive muzzle-loader made from an iron pipe, it could only be loaded with one shot at a time and reloading was slow. It fired buckshot, effective only at close range. Still, having one in the backpack was better than nothing.

After acquiring his gear, Qin Fei had almost spent all his casino tokens. With no other choice and still in need of food, he returned to the woman doctor to request a new map so he could scavenge for more supplies.

“Most of the buildings near the camp have already been stripped bare,” the woman doctor said with a hint of helplessness. “There seem to be more... outsiders like you among the survivors from other camps in the Navingan region. Most of the supplies have been taken by them.”

Outsiders like me?

Qin Fei paused at her words. Did this mean there were other transmigrators in this game world? But there was no way to confirm that now.

He turned to the woman doctor and asked, “The map you give me doesn’t have to be for somewhere right near the camp. Even if it’s a bit farther or more dangerous, that’s fine.”

The woman doctor hesitated, her expression conflicted. “There is a dangerous place not too far from here. I can give you the map, but you must promise not to search too deep inside!”

She didn’t want Qin Fei risking his life—her people were already few, and every person mattered to the camp’s survival.

As she cautioned him, she pulled a sheet of white paper and a pencil from her small waist pouch and quickly sketched out the location of the building.

[Level 5 Scavenging Mission: In order to obtain supplies from the Shanwei Food Factory, Baishui River Camp needs you to clear out the zombies there.]

Level 5 mission?

Qin Fei’s expression soured. The last time, it had only been a Level 2 mission at a bakery, and the fat zombie inside had nearly done him in. If he was only scavenging the outer perimeter of the factory, perhaps it would be manageable... In any case, he would have to be extremely cautious.

Taking the map drawn by the woman doctor, Qin Fei left Baishui River Camp.