There was no precision at all. The a.s.sault rifle shook wildly in his hand as it wasn't held against his shoulder to help with the recoil, nor was it guided with the other hand. The mutant cat was only hit because of its size. Its stronger hide, and its powerful muscles absorbed a lot of the bullets energy, reducing the damage they could cause.

Because the bullets were spread over a wide area, they didn't injure the beast enough to significantly weaken it. And even with a broken limb, the beast was quite fast as most of its running power came from its hind legs, which were mostly intact. So, within seconds, the beast fled, jumping through a window and into a building to get out of sight.

"f.u.c.k!" Lius.h.i.+ cursed while lowering his arm.

Then he dropped the a.s.sault rifle at his feet and hissed, holding his wrist.

"Ow! That hurt!" he complained while ma.s.saging it.

"Yeah" she said in a flat tone, refraining to comment on his poor shooting stance. "You should close the door, zombies are coming."

"Haa?"

He looked around, and saw several humanoid figures rus.h.i.+ng toward them while growling. The brief battle had attracted them. He looked at them, then back at where the mutant cat had gone, and cursed under his breath before closing the door. Lu stepped on the gas right after, running over the zombies in front of them, and they continued their trip back to their temporary base.

"That f.u.c.ker!" he nearly shouted after a few seconds.

"Why are you so angry? You can easily repair it" Lu asked, confused.

"I know! It's just that, it was a brand new turret with our most powerful gun. I was proud of the thing, you know. And not only did it get broken on its first ride, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who did got away!"

"Ah, I understand" she replied with a small smile.

"And I wanted his core as well. If not for my injuries and the lack of protection gear, I would have gone after it, incoming zombies be d.a.m.ned!"

He loudly sighted after his little rant and calmed down. Lu understood his indignation, yet couldn't help but be amused by his reaction, and smiled a little more.

"Well, it's a good thing you din't forget the risks in your anger. You better make some new protective gear as well. Thinking about it, what are you going to make?"

She was really interested in that topic, as she had decided she would always follow him on any expeditions on foot.

"I've had a few ideas. I don't want zombies or beasts to easily grab onto my clothes, or have them caught into something while I'm moving, so something form-fitting. A blade-proof bodysuit would be good enough against zombies, like the bike gear did for me before reaching your hometown, but not against beasts. So on top of that, I need some armor. What kind? I don't know. I have to chose between agility and defense. There are several choices for head gear as well, and I have to take into consideration hostile people."

"It looks more complicated than I though..."

She recalled something he mentioned that struck her.

"Something form-fitting eh" she said, and a glint of mischief entered her eyes. "Like a catsuit? Do you think I would look good in one?"

Lius.h.i.+ glanced at her, his eyes quickly going from the top of her head to her chest, and down to her hips. She wasn't a great beauty but she was attractive. She had a fine body, and he did want to see it in something s.e.xy.

"Yeah, you would look good in one" he answered while averting his eyes.

Lu had kept her eyes on the road, with a light blush on her face, and the small smile she had grew a bit larger. She wanted to tease him because of his reaction in the morning, but she was also curious about what he though of her. She was aware of the way he glanced at her, and with his answer, she was quite pleased.

"Then make me something nice. In red and black" she added, the light blush still on her face.

"Eh, sure" he said, slightly stunned by her response.

She nodded and focused on driving. She didn't ask to tease this time. Everyone has seen some things on TV, in books or the internet that they wanted to try. Things they are willing to share with others, or things they would rather keep to themselves. It was a good occasion for her to try some of them, share it with someone who would appreciate it and look good at the same time.

Once they got back to the camp, Lius.h.i.+ had a look at the turret while Lu related to her sister what happened. It didn't suffer much damage contrary to what the noise he heard made him believe. It was just the weapons mounted on it along with the sensor system that got destroyed. He though about what he did wrong with it.

When he made the turret to deal with mutant beasts, he was only thinking about the mutant beasts he had encountered before. They hadn't been very smart, so he unconsciously a.s.sumed all other beasts would be similar. He though that they would easily get shot with the first burst of fire. He hadn't expected a beast to realise the danger the machine gun represented before even firing it. He hadn't though he would encounter such a fast and agile beast so soon.

In short, he didn't use the full potential of the materials available to him when he made it. He was reminded of the defense system used by s.h.i.+ps to defend against missiles and aircrafts. The CIWS. Not only was it good at tracking fast moving targets, it also antic.i.p.ated where they would be. Armed with explosing rounds, it could even protect from incoming artillery sh.e.l.ls.

'I'm going to rebuild it even better than before. No mutant beast is going to get close without paying dearly for it.'

However much he wanted to start working on the turret, he was much more eager to reach Nanjing. It was already nearing 3pm, and Lius.h.i.+ had already lost 2 half-days of travels. He didn't want to waste an afternoon as well. He put an a.s.sault rifle and a grenade launcher in the Doomtrooper for Lu in case they met another mutant beast. He also activated the private communication channel between the 2 vehicles.

After a final check, they left. They made a small stop at the gas station to completly fill their fuel tanks. The Doomsday Ride was at the front, and the Doomtrooper was following, towing the double trailer. Lius.h.i.+ had asked Xiaotian to drive faster than usual to make up for lost time, and the plow was put to good use, blasting abandonned vehicles out of the way.

While the girls were driving, Lius.h.i.+ was designing items with the Sta.r.s.eed. He started with the protective gear, he wanted them ready for when they would reach Zhuying's appartment. Thinking about skin-tight bodysuits, he was reminded of Gantz. Not only did it look good on girls, he also though some of its features could be replicated in the future.

The fabric was made of 3 layers. The inner layer was for general comfort, 0.5mm thin, made of polymers. The middle layer was 1.5mm thin, for shock absorption, using semi-rigide fibers and a special liquid. That liquid was one of the component of stargla.s.s and starskin, and contained in a dense network of tubes less than 1mm thick. It was of course inspired from Gantz. The outer layer was 1mm thin, made of stargla.s.s and starskin fibers with small scales made of starcore giving it a snake skin look.

Overall the fabric was 3mm thick, double thickness for the middle and outer layer along the spine, with some stretching capacity for joints and muscle contraction. The protective bodysuit had to be custom-made for the user. Thankfully, with the Sta.r.s.eed, having the perfect measurement of someone was easy. The Sta.r.s.eed had all the physical measurement of Xiaotian and Lu, and could easily make a 3D virtual model of their nude bodies. So when he finished designing Lu's catsuit, he couldn't help but have a look at those models.

Satisfied and slightly guilty after half-minute of oggling, he ordered the factory to make the bodysuits. While the factory was working on the suits, he designed some gloves and boots with in-built wrist and ankle protectors, an open face helmet with in-built flashlights and communication system, knee and elbow pads, harnesses to secure tools and weapons, and a white coat with gloves for medical use.

He also prepared some new weapons. The first weapon he prepared was the new gun for the Doomtrooper. Instead of the single barrel 12mm machine gun from the tank, he made a 3 barrels 12mm minigun. The second was a semi-automatic shotgun with shortened canon and a recoil-absorption system build in the stock. It was designed to be usable with one hand, and deal with nasty surprises in-door.

Firearms were nice, but couldn't always be used even with sound suppressors. He made a dull hatchet-like weapon to break bones without the risk of the weapons getting stuck in the body of the victim, an improved machete, and an electroshock baton.

Night was falling when he was done and added the new items to the production list of the factory. He joined Xiaotian in the driving c.o.c.kpit. They could see some lights in the city and the surroundings, indicating that power was still available.

"How long until we reach Nanjing?"

"30 to 45 minutes. I'm avoiding the main roads. If it was anything like in Jiangbei, they must be so full of zombies and abandonned vehicles that we probably won't be able to force our way through."

"Slow down then. We are going to attract too much attention with the lights and sounds. We are going to sneak in. Lu, you there?"

"Yes, brother Jiang" her voice came from the speakers.

"Turn off the lights. You're going to have to rely on the monitor and night vision cameras of the Doomtrooper. We're swithcing to full electric, we won't be moving faster than 10km/h."

"Okay""Alright" the sisters replied.