After hearing John talk about Wanguo Island, Ye Fan was determined to establish a new base there.

And he would lead the team to go there first. After gaining a foothold, he would dispatch a larger force to follow.

This process was not easy, as Wanguo Island was very far from Divine Dragon Province, located in the mid-eastern part of the Qin Han Empire, whereas Divine Dragon Province was in the northeast corner, about ten thousand kilometers apart.

Ye Fan had to make a lot of preparations and understand the surrounding conditions.

"Have you figured out the distribution of zombies and humans around Wanguo Island?" Ye Fan asked John.

John nodded: "I've learned part of it. Wanguo Island is at the mouth of the Celestial River, and south of it is the major city Zhonghai of the Qin Han Empire, where the number of zombies is very large, totaling about four to five hundred million."

"The northern cities also have large zombie groups, and these urban clusters have not been conquered by humans; only essential highways between cities have been opened for the survivors' activities."

"As for where humans gather, heading west from Wanguo Island along the Celestial River, about twelve hundred kilometers away, is Jiangzhou Base City."

"The Governor of Jiangzhou Base City should be aware; it was established by Duke Zheng Jinnan, and it's one of the larger base cities in the area."

Ye Fan immediately heard the key point: "You mean there are other base cities around?"

"There should be. On our way to Wanguo Island, we picked up several lucky radio signals, and the closest to Wanguo Island should be the northern Yuanzhou. It seems that there are base cities to the west of Jiangzhou as well, and also, from what people on Wanguo Island say, there are base cities to the south, but we haven't gone that way."

Ye Fan asked again: "Do the populations of these base cities exceed five million?"

"Yes, they all exceed that number. And these base cities are established by the Empire's nobility, Sir. The situation there and in Divine Dragon Province is quite different. The Empire's nobility is quite powerful, and Zheng Jinnan is eager to develop his forces, not just to face the zombies, but also the competition from other nobles, as everyone wants to claim the legitimate title."

Ye Fan lightly tapped his fingers on the desk: "They are all nobles, which means they are not the Royal Family and cannot represent the legitimate authority of the Empire. I wonder if any members of the Royal Family survived?"

"That is unclear for now, but Zheng Jinnan is the only one who can confer honors on others because he seems to possess the Imperial seal; the specific situation is unknown."

At this moment, Wang Hu from the Dawn Army asked: "Battalion Commander John, how about the naval forces over there?"

John replied seriously: "The naval forces there are quite formidable. Zheng Jinnan of Jiangzhou has a fleet, currently consisting of more than twenty small and medium-sized warships. Wanguo Island relies even more on naval forces. Almost every country there builds ships, but compared to pre-apocalyptic times, these warships are quite outdated, still in the stage of moving ship cannons onto big ships to create battleships."

"Oh! Aren't there some missile destroyers? Submarines, perhaps?"

John slightly shook his head: "Naval forces... or rather, naval development is not easy, Sir. You don't know how terrifying the mutant beasts are in the rivers and oceans. Take Wanguo Island, for example. The initial plan was to build a navy, but it later evolved to building riverine forces, as going to sea is too difficult."

"Even developed properties along the coast of Wanguo Island couldn't be sold and became unfinished buildings because sea monsters kept coming ashore to harass. I personally saw an orca come to shore once. Wow, a more than thirty-meter long orca, have you ever seen one? It's simply a monster; bullets can't penetrate it, and it swallowed a car on the shore whole."

Ye Fan was rather curious: "So people don't go to sea anymore?"

"Of course, they want to go to sea, so now everyone is building big ships; small ships are really not useful because there's no missile technology, so battleships are the best choice. As for submarines, forget it, there are too many mutant creatures in the ocean."

Everyone was curious about it, but after thinking about it, it made sense.

There's no reason land animals, humans, and birds would mutate while fish in the ocean wouldn't.

In fact, the number of marine life forms is the highest. If they all mutate, then the ocean becomes the most terrifying place.

Ye Fan was somewhat worried. The ocean has become a forbidden area, and mutated fish are also enemies of humans. Can humans still hope to defeat mutant beasts and zombies?

He must establish a naval force and will inevitably confront these mutant marine creatures sooner or later.

As he thought about mutant marine creatures, Ye Fan suddenly thought of Xiaoba.

Right, Xiaoba must be taken with him this time when heading south.

As spring arrived, Xiaoba could hardly stay in the city, and Ye Fan could sense its yearning for the sea.

In recent days, Ye Fan had allowed Xiaoba relative freedom to swim along the Seven-Star River at will. Fortunately, the river width had expanded, and Xiaoba could swim in deep water, usually avoiding detection.

Sometimes Xiaoba wouldn't stay at the mansion, and Ye Fan didn't care where it went. It would return to the pool for food when it was hungry.

But Ye Fan still had to find a way to take it along.

He inquired of the logistics department: "When will everything in Dawn City be wrapped up?"

Zhang Kunlin immediately replied: "Sir, all matters have entered the track, centering on Dawn City. A total of six sub-bases have been established: Daqing Mountain Prison, Pinggang Town, Qinghe County, Mountain Cave Base, the former Wangbei Army headquarters, and Jiangxue Ferry. Now, electrical work is urgently being repaired and laid. Your main task is to lay railways to all sub-bases. Once that's done, you're basically free to leave."

Ye Fan has much to think about. He thinks there should be a barracks and a tank factory at each sub-base, and larger bases can even have airports built.

But these things can't be placed out of thin air, so Ye Fan decides to produce another base vehicle.

Base vehicles are essential; they are not only useful now but will be indispensable for establishing a base in the south.

Before producing the base vehicle, he again consulted the engineer Huang Jie.

"Mr. Huang, can you make a larger vehicle, fill it with water, and put Xiaoba inside? When I leave Dawn City, I want to take it with me."

Huang Jie pondered: "Alright, this type of vehicle doesn't really have much technical content, it's simply about being big. Actually, it can be transported using a freight carriage of a train, and I don't think the officer needs to take it all the way south. As long as it's brought to the coastal area and released, it can swim there on its own."

Ye Fan immediately thought of Golden City.

The Golden City area is also along the coast. We just need to modify a carriage of the armored train for Xiaoba, transport it to Golden City, and release it there.

"Alright, let's do it that way. Make a freight carriage and modify it so Xiaoba will be comfortable on the journey."

"Understood, I'll get it done before your departure."

After giving instructions, Ye Fan opened the system's vehicle page and produced a base vehicle.

A base vehicle costs five hundred thousand gold; once selected, it takes about two hours to complete.

Ye Fan then held a meeting with the Dawn Army members present, and the base vehicle was also completed.

The base vehicle is different from ordinary vehicles; it has no combat capabilities, so it comes out without any stars.

Once the vehicle was produced, Ye Fan left the city.

He needed to take this base vehicle, and over the next few days, complete the basic construction of all subsidiary bases around Dawn City.

His first stop was the Daqing Mountain Prison, and from Daqing Mountain, he would head north, constructing each base along the way.

Sitting in his own Měngniú off-road RV, Ye Fan was patient as he traveled alongside the base vehicle.

The base vehicle is over thirty meters long and eight meters wide, like a moving iron giant. The only issue is it's slow.

When the base vehicle was originally constructed, it took over a week to travel from Coal City to Dawn City. It's not only slow but also requires good road conditions.

Its massive body means even a slight road blockage can make it impassable; it must take the main roads.

The journey from Dawn City to Daqing Mountain Prison Base, a two-hundred-kilometer distance, took a day and a half.

Upon reaching the vicinity of Daqing Mountain Prison Base, Ye Fan found a location to place the base vehicle, and then began constructing a barracks and tank factory.

After waiting for the two buildings to be completed and placed, he erected a wall around them, essentially creating a temporary military camp for Daqing Mountain.

He then built a train station and planned to construct the railway on his way back.

Once the base vehicle was packed up again, he leisurely headed to the next stop, Pinggang Town Base.

The entire process took nine days total.

Over the nine days, Ye Fan completed the construction of railroads for all subsidiary bases, and the temporary military camps were also finished, giving each base a degree of defensive capability.

Six battalions of the city guard were dispatched, each stationed at a different subsidiary base.

With defensive and alert capabilities established, Dawn City's security became much more stable.

During this time, the four field regiments were also busy at work, continually expanding the safe zone's boundaries.

As Dawn City's safe zone expanded outward, the area of arable land grew as well.

At many border crossings, the Dawn Army established checkpoints, initiating land-taking operations.

Seeing the Dawn Army's actions, several other bases in Divine Dragon Province also began land-taking, but they were careful to avoid the Dawn Army's areas of activity. The Dawn Army had already become the undisputed leader within the province, and no one could shake its position.

Especially the adventurers, who started centering their activities around Dawn City, with a constant influx of survivors choosing to join Dawn City.

When Ye Fan's nine-day mission ended and he returned to Dawn City, he found the city had changed again.

The city's population had officially surpassed one million, and the foundational construction of the Outer City District was nearly complete.

Most of the Outer City District consisted of residential neighborhoods, with buildings ranging from seven to twelve stories, many of which were equipped with elevators.

As neighborhoods were established, commercial districts around them began to improve, with supermarkets, hospitals, markets, and other facilities springing up everywhere.

The city grew increasingly prosperous and affluent, and with many foreigners present, it already resembled an international metropolis.

By this time, it was mid-May.

John had already left to pave the way for Ye Fan.

Ye Fan also planned to leave Dawn City the day after tomorrow and head south.

However, before leaving, he needed to address one issue: Shuang'Er's matter.

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