Apocalypse: I can control zombies

Chapter 96 Building the Cafeteria (Please Subscribe)

"Then there's only one last question left." Gao Yuan turned to the last page of his notebook.

"As you requested, surveillance cameras need to be installed on every floor, both in the residential area and the warehouse, to prevent thefts like last night from happening again."

"Although we removed all the old, unused cameras from each building in the community, the number is still not enough."

"The cables for civilian cameras are also limited in length, and some floors will need to be re-wired. We may also need to collect some from other communities to use."

Lu Chen immediately said, "That's easy. When we go to Sunshine Garden this afternoon, you can arrange for an electrician to go with us and remove all the working cameras from the apartment buildings there."

"Okay, then there's no problem. Lunch should be ready in about half an hour. Why don't you go and rest for a bit?" Gao Yuan closed his notebook, his tone relaxing.

"No need," Lu Chen waved his hand.

Upon hearing the other person mention lunch, he suddenly remembered something: "With the number of people constantly increasing, I'm afraid the lobby on the first floor won't be able to accommodate so many people eating together."

"Uh, yes." Gao Yuan had obviously considered this issue as well. "I roughly estimated that the lobby on the first floor can only accommodate a maximum of 200 people dining at the same time. Any more than that would be too crowded."

"How about we knock down the walls between the rooms on the first floor? That way we can put in more tables."

Lu Chen shook his head. As the number of people increases, even if all the partition walls in all the rooms on the first floor were knocked down, it might not be enough to accommodate everyone.

There are currently 240 survivors, and the number may approach 400 after we go to Sunshine Garden this afternoon. As the rescue efforts expand to several surrounding blocks, the number will only increase.

He thought for a moment, then raised his hand and pointed to the open space in front of the two apartment buildings.

That was a paved area between buildings 2 and 3, originally the community's recreational area. It was quite large, with non-slip tiles on the ground. There was no shade overhead, and the midday sun shone directly on it.

"Later, you should find someone to build a large canopy here as a canteen, which should be able to accommodate at least 1000 people eating at the same time," Lu Chen said.

If the number of people reaches several thousand, then there's nothing that can be done.

However, we'll deal with that later. Once the base really develops to that scale, the canteen will definitely have to be divided into different areas and different batches of meals.

"Okay, I'll find someone to design it later, and we'll start construction this afternoon. As for materials, the frame of the pergola can be made from metal pipes and discarded building materials salvaged from various buildings, and the roof can be pieced together from waterproof fabric and shade netting. Let's try to get it done as soon as possible." Gao Yuan nodded immediately and quickly sketched a few lines in his notebook.

Lu Chen nodded. He had finished explaining everything that needed to be explained, and now he was truly free.

Even so, he didn't actually go to rest. Instead, he wandered around and checked the surveillance footage at the security booth to make sure there were no blind spots in the early warning system.

Then I walked around the neighborhood again, chatted with the other survivors for a bit, and asked them if there was anything that needed improvement.

These people who had just been rescued did not yet have a strong sense of belonging to the stronghold, but when they saw Lu Chen come over in person to ask for their opinions, several of them stood up and answered, feeling flattered.

During this process, his walkie-talkie would occasionally transmit reports from the early warning system's on-duty personnel: "Three zombies have been spotted approaching from the northwest street, and a small group of zombies is moving towards the residential area from the southeast alley."

After all, there are two bonfires burning fiercely in Xiangyang Community right now, with black smoke columns shooting straight into the sky, so it's normal for them to attract zombies.

The early warning system detected the approaching zombies even before the elite zombies he sent out. This can be considered a partial validation of the early warning system's success.

Upon receiving the notification, Lu Chen immediately dispatched the fastest zombie cat to resolve the situation.

Half an hour passed quickly, and lunch was finally ready.

Sun Xiulan, along with the kitchen staff, carried pot after pot of dishes out of the temporary kitchen at No. 101.

Today's lunch was even more lavish than yesterday's dinner—braised beef, fish balls, hot and sour shredded potatoes, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Lamb offal soup, and a large bowl of stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

There was plenty of rice; a large pot was placed on each table, steaming hot and emitting white smoke.

The aroma of the dishes wafted out of the first-floor corridor, past the unit entrance, and into the plaza.

The 110 survivors rescued from Cuizhu Garden were drooling just from the smell.

Although they had each drunk a bowl of lean meat porridge, after being hungry for so many days, a bowl of porridge was hardly enough to fill them up.

That bowl of porridge was just a buffer for their stomachs, which had been empty for several days. But when they saw the real feast being served, with the braised beef glistening on the plate and the hot and sour shredded potatoes emitting a fragrant aroma, everyone's stomachs started rumbling again.

The new survivors were guided by a team and led in batches to the open space in front of Building 3.

The lobby on the first floor was no longer enough, so Gao Yuan had a few more tables set up in the open space to create a temporary open-air restaurant.

Two thousand tables were packed with 240 people, the sounds of clinking bowls and chopsticks mingling with the hushed conversations.

However, the necessary procedures still had to be followed. Gao Yuan stood in the middle of all the tables, cleared his throat, and picked up his enamel mug.

His speech was as simple and powerful as ever, without any lengthy discourse; he simply summarized what happened that morning in a few sentences.

Then he raised his glass, and everyone stood up and said in unison the words that had been repeated countless times in this area.

"Thank you, Commander Lu Chen!"

The voices of 240 people overlapped, and Lu Chen felt an unprecedented heat emanating from the meteorite mark; the fluorescence on the mark's surface was scorching hot, as if it had been ignited.

This was entirely within his expectations; nearly half of the 240 people were attending the pre-meal thanksgiving for the first time, and the quality of their gratitude was extremely high.

But something else happened that he hadn't anticipated.

According to his experience, the gratitude of the older survivors should have continued to decrease as the number of times they participated increased.

But during lunch today, the warmth he felt from the old members not only didn't decrease compared to last night, but actually increased slightly.

Although the increase wasn't significant, it was definitely thicker and hotter than last night.

This struck Lu Chen as quite astonishing. As he accepted everyone's thanks while holding his cup, he frantically searched his mind for possible reasons.

"Could it be that living conditions have improved?"

"Or has the food gotten better?"

"Or perhaps the radio broadcast mentioned Xiangyang Community, making them feel proud?"

He couldn't come up with a definite answer right away, so he could only think about it slowly later.

Regardless of the reason, it's a good thing that the gratitude value has increased instead of decreased.

He casually pulled up his sleeve and glanced down at the meteorite mark.

Just as he had predicted, the collective gratitude of 240 people sent the glow sticks to full capacity.

At this moment, the fluorescence on the surface of the meteorite imprint is full and rounded, and it rises slightly from the skin surface.

This means we can strengthen it once more.

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