Just as Han Ning and Teacher Fang were discussing crop cultivation, there was a sudden knock on the door.
He opened the door to find Luo Chen standing there with his ever-growing Silver Lotus Wood.
"Hello, Teacher Fang."
Luo Chen first greeted Teacher Fang with a nod, then spoke.
"Han Ning, Dean Wu and Teacher Zhou are looking for you."
Halfway through his sentence, his eyes fell upon the one-meter-tall Yin Yi beside Han Ning, and a look of amazement once again crossed his face.
"Whoa, your Silver Lotus Wood has changed again?! Oh, right. After killing so many Monster Rats yesterday, a mutation is pretty normal..." he muttered to himself.
By now, it was no longer a rare sight for a Silver Lotus Wood to mutate.
"Dean Wu is looking for me? What for?"
"Apparently, something's happened over by the train. Dean Wu just told me to come get you. If you're not busy, you should head over as soon as you can."
"Okay, I understand."
Han Ning nodded and turned to Teacher Fang. "Teacher Fang, I'm going to Dean Wu's place first. I'll come back for the seeds later."
"Go on," Teacher Fang said with a small smile. "If Dean Wu is looking for you, it must be for something important. Don't waste your time here."
After saying goodbye to Teacher Fang, Han Ning and Luo Chen hurried to Dean Wu's dorm room.
...
Inside the plainly furnished dorm room, Dean Wu and several other teachers were already seated on the bed, discussing something.
Seeing Han Ning and Luo Chen arrive, they all fell silent in unison.
Dean Wu half-rose to his feet and waved them over. "Come and sit."
Seeing everyone's grim expressions, Han Ning couldn't help but ask, "Dean Wu, what exactly happened with the train?"
"A little while ago, we got a report from the students on lookout over at Building C. About fifty to sixty wandering corpses have gathered near the South Gate. They're constantly attacking the perimeter wall and the main iron gate, trying to get onto our campus."
"The corpses have made their way here? Does that mean everyone on the train is dead?" Han Ning's expression flickered.
"Not necessarily... We've heard reports of sporadic gunfire still coming from that direction. It's possible that group discovered the effects of the Silver Lotus Wood, that some of them survived and managed to drive away the corpses that were surrounding the train."
At this, Han Ning understood what Dean Wu was implying.
"Dean Wu, you want to send us over to take a look?"
Dean Wu smiled apologetically. "Han Ning, Luo Chen, I know you're both exhausted, but you are the two strongest among all the survivors. To be safe, we need you two to go over and take charge."
"I've gathered fifty men for you two to lead."
Hearing they wouldn't be fighting alone, Han Ning felt a great sense of relief and immediately agreed.
Luo Chen had no objections either.
'Dean Wu is almost sixty. We can't very well send an old man like him out to command a battle.'
After settling on a simple plan, the group got up and headed for the main entrance of the dorm building.
When they arrived at the entrance, no fewer than fifty people were already gathered there, including a dozen or so teachers from the school.
Teacher Zhou was once again the overall commander, with Han Ning and Luo Chen acting as his lieutenants, guarding the flanks.
Teacher Zhou was only in his early thirties, in the prime of his life.
Before they set out, Teacher Zhou addressed the group of over fifty people in a loud voice:
"I'll say this one more time: when we're driving off the wandering corpses, your personal safety is the number one priority! If you're outmatched, retreat immediately. Don't linger. Do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear!" the crowd roared in unison.
"Good. Let's move out."
Han Ning, Compound Bow in hand and Yin Yi at his side, walked at the head of the column with Teacher Zhou and Luo Chen.
Without firearms, the Compound Bow was the best long-range weapon they had.
The only problem was the limited number of arrows, which had to be retrieved after every use.
"Teacher Zhou," Luo Chen said, rubbing the Compound Bow in his hands, "I heard those dead foreigners had guns. Once we've cleared out the wandering corpses, should we try and see if they left any firearms behind?" He had voiced the very question on Han Ning's mind.
Teacher Zhou replied, "If there's no danger, then of course we can bring the guns back."
The power of firearms was self-evident. Forget automatic rifles; even carrying a pistol would offer a much-needed layer of security when exploring the outside world.
Speaking of firearms, Han Ning asked curiously,
"Hey, by the way, doesn't our School of Engineering have the capability to manufacture firearms? Even if we can't make pistols or automatic rifles, things like muskets or shotguns shouldn't be that hard to produce, right?"
Xia Country had a strict ban on firearms; in a peaceful society, manufacturing or carrying them was naturally illegal.
But now they had been transported to a dangerous wasteland. The School of Engineering, which housed all sorts of technical disciplines, should theoretically have the ability to manufacture firearms.
"We could even make automatic rifles," Teacher Zhou continued with a smile, "but we lack gunpowder and a power source. If we could get our hands on the machine tools from the mechanical engineering labs, we might be able to work something out. The most critical things are the CNC machines and a stable power supply."
CNC machines were massive, easily weighing several tons. Moving them would be incredibly difficult. It would be more feasible to work in the machining center itself.
Just then, Luo Chen suddenly asked, "What about 3D printing? I remember a senior of mine who specialized in that field."
Teacher Zhou shook his head. "Even with 3D printing, you'd still need high-quality steel for parts like the barrel and for the ammunition. So CNC machines are an essential tool we can't get around."
"The machining center..." Luo Chen sighed. "That's at least a kilometer from our dorm, even farther than the bioengineering building. I bet there's no shortage of Soul Beasts living over there." As a mechanical engineering student, he knew its location perfectly.
"Manufacturing guns isn't an immediate possibility, but it's not a distant dream either. Once we deal with the giant python occupying Canteen No. 9, we can start expanding our territory. I doubt there are many Soul Beasts on campus stronger than that python."
"I don't think that day is far off," Han Ning said, full of confidence.
Dean Wu's plan had been quite effective. Now, within a 200-meter radius of the dorm building, there were no powerful Soul Beasts to speak of—only some relatively weak Demon Eye Frogs, Iron-toothed Snakes, and Black-Haired Monster Rats wandering about.
As they talked, the perimeter wall of the School of Engineering's South Gate slowly came into view.
And with the wall came the sight of strange, stiffly moving corpses.
Most of them were dressed in short-sleeved shirts and shorts, with sallow, dark skin and Eastern features. They were tirelessly slamming their bodies against the wall and the iron gate, producing a series of low, dull thuds.
Hearing the constant sounds of impacts and roars carried on the air, the students, who had just been chatting leisurely moments ago, found their expressions instantly turning grim.