Chapter 323 - 247: Rocket Jump

Chapter 323: Chapter 247: Rocket Jump

...

The open-air mess hall in front of the construction site’s main building had long since cleared out, the boisterous energy of the crowd dissipating as the night deepened.

The LED spotlights positioned high above continued to drive away the darkness. Bathed in their light, most of the survivors had already returned to the unfinished concrete buildings, which resembled massive honeycombs.

With no doors or windows to block the view, one could see a few scattered night lights placed inside the buildings, emitting a soft, yellow glow.

Some survivors had simply laid out cardboard or sleeping bags, while others had pitched camping tents.

Fortunately, the August night was pleasantly cool. The summer heat that had baked into the concrete during the sunny afternoon had dissipated, and a night breeze drifted through the building’s framework, bringing a comfortable current of air that was neither too hot nor too cold.

Suddenly, a loud "BANG" shattered the tranquil atmosphere from a corner of the construction site.

It sounded like a heavy object hitting the ground.

The sound instantly put the patrolling sentries on high alert. Several powerful flashlight beams swept over as five guards—two armed with rifles and three with spears—crouched low and advanced quickly.

"Who’s there?!"

"It’s me."

Lin Fan straightened up from the cloud of dust he had raised, patting the dirt from his clothes.

Recognizing the familiar figure, the sentries’ tense shoulders instantly relaxed, replaced by a sense of reverence and relief.

"Brother Lin!"

"Good work. Carry on with your patrol."

Lin Fan waved a hand, signaling them not to worry, then strode toward the main building.

Even the professional soldiers, Chu Zhaotian and Xu Qian, were posted in pairs as hidden lookouts in the secure buildings around the construction site. The patrol itself consisted of Tan Wei’s former militiamen and the spearmen from Xingfu Li.

Having received word, Liu Bin had already called several people over. They were waiting in the cleared-out space in front of the main building, and upon seeing Lin Fan emerge from the darkness, Liu Bin hurried to greet him.

"Brother Lin, what do you need Wu to do? We’ll get everything ready," Liu Bin said, handing him a bottle of water.

"Wu, take a look at this spear."

Lin Fan didn’t waste any words, directly handing the crumpled blueprint to Wu Haitao, who was pulling on a pair of gloves beside him.

"I need your help with this. Don’t worry about strength, don’t worry about the details, and don’t even worry about how the welds look. Just cut me a template... you know what I mean."

Wu Haitao took the blueprint and glanced at it under the light.

"’Don’t worry about strength, don’t worry about details, just cut a template...’ I get it."

Looking at the "spear" on the blueprint, the old welder’s eye twitched. He wore an expression that said, ’You don’t have to say another word. I understand completely.’

He’d been fabricating blades for Lin Fan for the past two days, so he was already intimately familiar with the process. Each time, he was asked to cut a useless piece of scrap metal or a rebar rod that only vaguely resembled the shape. Then, in the blink of an eye, the piece of junk would transform into an exquisitely crafted, legendary weapon. Of course he understood.

"Let’s go move the equipment. Wang..."

Tucking the blueprint under his arm, he wasted no time and spoke to the two men who had followed him, then turned to Wang Yuanhua, who had come over to watch the excitement.

"We’ll need a bundle of rebar and a few long steel pipes. Let’s work on the road. The ground here is all muddy, it’s not convenient."

With that, he turned and led the men toward the truck where the equipment was stored.

"You got it, Brother Lin! I’ll go get the rebar!"

Wang Yuanhua, who had come to watch, was now a porter, but he didn’t complain in the slightest. He gave Lin Fan a confident pat on the chest and turned toward the corner where the metal materials were piled up.

A short while later, the sounds of metal being dragged and the sparks from a gas cutter once again broke the construction site’s tranquility. The noise from the cutting and welding didn’t travel far, so they didn’t have to worry about the work attracting distant zombies.

"Li Wan took Yiyi back to sleep, and Zhaozhao is asleep too. Her injuries hadn’t fully healed, and she was exhausted from killing so many zombies in the battle on the bridge..."

Su Qing walked to Lin Fan’s side, watching the sparks shower the ground. She asked with some curiosity,

"Did you figure it out already?"

"Yeah, Ye Qingzhou came up with two designs. They’re making a new spear."

Lin Fan smiled and took Su Qing’s hand. The bandages on her arm were gone, and the once-injured limb now only had a few red marks on the skin. He saw her health had recovered to [513/684]—an unusually fast recovery speed.

He then briefly explained the "Justice From Above" plan to Su Qing.

Hearing words like "rocket," "fifty-meter fall," and "meteorite," Su Qing’s brow twitched slightly. Her gaze flickered between worry and anticipation a few times before she finally just sighed.

"Oh, right, hang on a second..."

As if remembering something, Su Qing ran to the RV. She pulled a stained metal object from a side storage compartment and handed it to him.

The object was dented and twisted out of shape, with several noticeable depressions. Dried, blackened blood was caked onto its surface, giving it a rather miserable appearance.

"And this... can you fix it?"

Lin Fan took it and felt it in his hands. It was the shield, now twisted beyond recognition.

[Modular Item "Pot Lid"]

[Durability: 42/100]

[Crystal Interface 1: Empty]...

’I can’t believe this shield is so bent out of shape and still has almost half its durability left.’

Lin Fan’s gaze softened as he looked at the deformed shield. He knew that every mark on it represented an attack Su Qing had blocked for the others while he was away.

"Mhm."

His fingers gently brushed across the shield’s surface, and a blue halo flashed.

The dried blood flaked off and fell to the ground. The dents bulged out and smoothed over, and the curled edges became sharp and straight again. Even the internally damaged structure was realigned and reinforced at an atomic level.

In the blink of an eye, it was as good as new.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, the spear that had accompanied him for so long appeared in his hand.

An [Impact Crystal] was embedded in this spear’s module.

And now, to create the new "Powered Yue-axe" and "Skyrocket Spear," this crystal had to be removed.

’But if I dismantle the module... I’ll just lose an intermediate interface module. I just wonder if it will affect the spear itself.’

Lin Fan thought the command and initiated the removal.

[Dismantle Interface Module]

VMMMM—

The spear trembled, and the feeling of it being a connected extension of his own body instantly vanished.

[Module structure of "Unnamed" item has been stripped.]

[Crystal within the interface has been reclaimed to storage space.]

That connected feeling was gone. It was as if the "divine weapon" had instantly turned into a mundane piece of iron.

Lin Fan gripped the now-unfamiliar spear, then suddenly flicked his wrist, plunging the tip downward.

SCREEE—

A piercing, sharp sound rang out.

The hard concrete pavement was sliced open as easily as tofu, sending stone chips and sparks flying.

He looked at the deep gash, and his brow relaxed.

Although it had lost the convenience of the system, he could feel that the spear’s physical properties hadn’t changed.

Its tip was still sharp enough to cut through metal as if it were mud. Aside from being unable to store it in his inventory or repair it with a blueprint, it was still a top-tier weapon.

"Take it."

Lin Fan offered the newly "retired" spear to Su Qing.

"Really? For me?" Su Qing was stunned.

"Yeah. I just can’t store it away anymore, so you’ll have to carry it yourself," Lin Fan explained in a serious tone. "It’s a good weapon."

Su Qing’s original spear, which was just a spearhead welded to a steel pipe, had been destroyed in a previous battle. So, without refusing, she reached out and gripped the cold, heavy shaft.

The moment her hand closed around it, the solid feel gave her an instant boost of confidence.

"Okay." She nodded solemnly, swinging the spear—which was twice as heavy as her old one—to get used to the feel.

"Use this set for now. When there’s a chance later, I’ll have Ye Qingzhou design a new set of weapons for you."

Lin Fan saw the glimmer in her eyes, like a child with a new toy, and couldn’t help but tease,

"I’ve always felt you’re better suited to a more wide-open, sweeping style of combat anyway..."