Zhang Xiaoqiang thought of the sentry tower at the back of the mountain. It had a clear line of sight, and he could see the entire armory and the lakeside. He had Huang Quan organize the ammunition, and he ran out of the armory to the top of the hill. As soon as he got up, he saw two members of the sentry tower looking into the distance with their rifle scopes.
"What did you see? Tell me from the beginning …"
After Zhang Xiaoqiang went up to the sentry tower, he saw the Great Blackbird circling in the distance. The surface of the lake shimmered under the moonlight. More than ten iron ships were docked by the lake, and the Great Blackbird was circling not far from the iron ships. There was no trace of the troublemaker Mutant Water Snake. It had obviously gone into hiding.
"At first, the Great Blackbird was above us, but we don't know how it got to the lakeside. We thought our brothers by the lakeside had been discovered, but then we saw the Great Blackbird diving into the middle of the lake …"
The team members didn't notice the Mutant Water Snake at first. They only saw the Great Blackbird diving into the lake. By the time the Mutant Water Snake was discovered, the Great Blackbird had already extended its claws to grab it. The Great Blackbird seemed to be a natural snake hunter, and it grabbed the Mutant Water Snake by seven inches. It flapped its wings in an attempt to fly, but the Mutant Water Snake's body had already exceeded the Great Blackbird's weight.
Unable to fly for a moment, the Mutant Water Snake shrieked in pain as it was attacked. It curled its tail and whipped the Great Blackbird's body. As the Great Blackbird's feathers scattered, the Mutant Water Snake struggled free and sank into the water, never to be seen again. In the eyes of the team members, it had become a battle between the Great Blackbird and the Mutant Water Snake.
"I remember there's a bird called the Snake Eagle that loves to eat snakes. I suspect that the Great Blackbird is a Snake Eagle …"
One of the team members thought of something and guessed the origin of the Great Blackbird. Zhang Xiaoqiang nodded. He wanted to ask about the Snake Eagle's habits, but from the corner of his eye, he saw a slender shadow moving quickly on the open ground. Seeing that thing, Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't know what to feel. It was the Mutant Water Snake that the Great Blackbird had been looking for for a long time, Blackie.
The big black bird was still cruising above the lake, as if it couldn't forget the snake delicacy in its memory. As for the mutated water snake, it used its usual wretched and cowardly behavior to carefully climb onto the shore and follow Zhang Xiao Qiang.
At this time, the door of the armory was covered with a black cloth, and it was brightly lit inside. The Great Blackbird had left its nest, and all transportation work had stopped. Taking advantage of this free time, Zhang Xiaoqiang led the team to sort out the supplies in the armory, moving out the ammunition that they needed.
The first thing they needed to look for were the 7.62mm bullets and the 12.7mm armor-piercing incendiary bullets. These two types of ammunition were the most abundant in the armory. There were about 30 million rounds of various types of bullets, two-thirds of which were Type-56 rifle bullets. There were also about 5 million anti-aircraft machine gun bullets of various calibers, and the rest were light and heavy machine gun bullets.
With a goal in mind, everyone moved out the boxes of ammunition and placed them at the exit. Zhang Xiaoqiang didn't work with them, but instead kicked the Mutant Water Snake, making it curl up and try to make room for the others to place the ammunition.
Not long after, from the bottom of the slope to the door, there were all kinds of ammunition boxes. Zhang Xiaoqiang stood beside the Mutant Water Snake, greedily looking at the seemingly endless armory. Most of the ammunition here were not bullets, but various types of artillery shells: 82mm mortar shells, 57mm anti-aircraft shells, 37mm anti-aircraft shells, 57mm automatic anti-aircraft shells, and 152mm grenades that were even taller than the calf.
These artillery shells took up three-quarters of the armory, making Zhang Xiaoqiang very envious. Unfortunately, these things were not of use to him at the moment. He took a strong flashlight and walked among the artillery shells. Zhang Xiaoqiang found unexpected equipment, grenades.
There were four types of grenades here, Type-541 offensive grenades, Type-542 defensive grenades, Type-63 wooden handle grenades, and Type-67 wooden handle grenades. Among them, the last type was the most numerous. The wooden boxes containing the grenades even had the slogan "self-defense counterattack" on them. It was obvious that they were leftovers from the self-defense counterattack.
Other than the grenades, Zhang Xiaoqiang saw more landmines. There were anti-infantry mines that looked like water meters, bouncing mines that looked like canned food, and rectangular directional mines.
Both of them were good stuff, but from the looks of it, the grenades were better than the landmines, especially the offensive grenades, which were very useful for the team to kill the zombies.
"Zhang Xiaoqiang … the brothers outside have reported that the big bird has returned to its nest …"
When Zhang Xiaoqiang heard Huang Quan's report, he was obviously stunned. He was completely attracted by the endless surprises in the ammunition, and he actually forgot about the Great Blackbird outside.
"Let the guard tower be on alert, and put all of our attention in the direction of the bird's nest. Everyone move, and speed up the moving. We need to retreat before 5 AM."
The team members and militia members were nervously moving all kinds of ammunition. Zhang Xiaoqiang pulled the mutated water snake outside. It was unknown when a thin layer of clouds had formed in the sky, but at the same time, it also brought along a night breeze. The night breeze came out of nowhere, and when it blew on Zhang Xiaoqiang's body, it made him feel comfortable and a trace of coolness.
The originally quiet night also became lively because of the wind. The dried leaves and weeds rustled in the wind, and the wind carried all kinds of sounds to the surroundings, drowning the bird's nest. In the midst of the wind, the big bird could no longer hear the rustling sounds of the thieves below.
At this time, at the entrance of the ammunition warehouse, it was both lively and dull. No one dared to speak, and no one dared to make a sound. Everything was carried out in silence. Dozens of men were stacking and turning, and with the slight sound of the wind, it formed a silent old-fashioned movie.
The dual-mount anti-aircraft gun that Zhang Xiaoqiang had dragged over was still in place. Although it was not used, it made Zhang Xiaoqiang want to bring it back. The 062 frigate that they had brought back from the Yangtze River had a mobile turret. With just a slight change, Wang Le could modify the dual-mount anti-aircraft machine gun to the front deck of the Explorer 001. This way, the heavy firepower of the search boat would be strengthened.
As soon as he thought of it, Zhang Xiaoqiang pulled the dual-mount anti-aircraft gun and walked out. Just as he walked out of the wall, Zhang Xiaoqiang felt that the 500-kilogram dual-mount anti-aircraft machine gun had become much lighter. It seemed like he could easily drag it with one hand. While he was puzzled, Zhang Xiaoqiang saw a long tail wrapped around the traction rod behind his hand, pulling with him.
Zhang Xiaoqiang saw this and was overjoyed. The mutated water snake was actually helping him drag things. Although a snake's tail was also a part of its body, it was dispensable to the mutated water snake. Relying on its front half, it effortlessly dragged something that weighed more than a thousand kilograms. Of course, the Type 58 dual-mount 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun itself had wheels, which was also a major factor.