Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

Soon, a silver-white aluminum box on the wall caught his attention.

Gu Lang grabbed a hoe from the warehouse next door and smashed it down hard.

The poor wall-mounted key box was smashed in two on the spot, and various keys were scattered all over the ground.

Gu Lang picked out a key with the "XCMG" logo on the back and returned to the driver's seat.

Insert the key into the ignition switch and turn it to the "ON" position.

All indicator lights on the instrument panel illuminated during a self-test.

A few seconds later, the preheating indicator went out.

He pressed the pedal all the way down and turned the key to the "START" position without letting go.

After a burst of mechanical noise, the engine failed to start.

Gu Lang quickly turned the key back to the "OFF" position and waited for 30 seconds.

The steps were repeated, and with a jolt, the engine was successfully started this time.

Release your right hand, and the key automatically springs back to the "ON" position.

He excitedly observed the water temperature gauge and oil pressure gauge on the instrument panel.

The engine needs to idle for 5 to 10 minutes under no-load conditions.

Wait for the engine oil and hydraulic oil to heat up, then circulate them to all components.

While the machine was warming up, Gu Lang adjusted his seat and rearview mirrors and fastened his seatbelt.

The preheating indicator light went out again, and the engine ran smoothly.

"Let me think, what did the tutorial say again?"

Before the disaster, there were already many excavator instruction videos online.

As for the difficulty of operation, to be honest, it's not as difficult as most people imagine.

There are even quite a few excavator operators who have filmed short videos of themselves operating excavators while their young sons sit in their laps.

No boy can resist the temptation of driving an excavator.

After all, this is the vehicle that most ordinary people can drive that is closest to a mecha.

There is an operating handle in each hand, and two long pedals under the feet.

Gu Lang pulled up the red safety lock lever below the left handle.

At this point, the excavator is ready to operate.

Then gently pull back the right handle, and the excavator's boom rises.

The bucket also left the ground.

He pressed both feet forward on the pedals at the same time, and the excavator slowly drove forward out of the warehouse.

The two pedals on the left and right control the two tracks on the left and right respectively.

Seeing that he needed to turn right ahead, Gu Lang released his right foot.

At this moment, the right track stopped rotating, and with the push of the left track, the excavator immediately turned right.

When you need to reverse, simply press the pedal backwards simultaneously.

Moving the excavator forward, backward, left, and right is quite simple and intuitive.

According to traffic regulations, tracked excavators are not allowed to drive directly onto highways; they must be transported to the site by flatbed truck before they can begin construction.

However, there were no traffic police around to deal with this at that time.

Gu Lang drove his excavator directly to a location four kilometers away.

Upon arriving at the landslide site, fortunately, the aftershocks from last night did not cause a secondary landslide.

The light truck is currently safely parked on the viewing platform.

However, the danger has not yet been eliminated, and time is running out for Gu Lang.

He immediately began digging an escape route.

The excavation work is a bit more complicated, requiring the simultaneous operation of two handles.

The controller has four dimensions: front, back, left, and right.

First, the left handle.

Extending forward means extending your forearm, and retracting backward means retracting your forearm.

Moving to the left controls the upper part of the vehicle to rotate to the left, while moving to the right controls it to rotate to the right.

The right handle controls the bucket and boom.

Moving forward lowers the arm, while moving backward raises the upper arm.

To the left is to retract the bucket, and to the right is to tilt the bucket outward.

Gu Lang drove the excavator to the front of the mound and pushed the right handle to the front left.

As the boom pressed down, the bucket retracted.

The first bucket of earth was successfully dug out.

After more than ten minutes of hands-on practice, Gu Lang quickly became familiar with how to use it.

The movements gradually became smooth and powerful, changing from stiff and jerky at the beginning.

He drove the excavator like a steel ant, carrying out the arduous task of clearing obstacles.

They kept clearing until noon, but only managed to dig out half a narrow passage.

Fortunately, it was enough for the light truck to drive off the viewing platform.

Gu Lang then drove his light truck back to the highway maintenance team.

After having a meal and resting for a while, he collected the useful supplies.

After filling the water tank, the car was driven into the construction machinery warehouse.

This time he climbed into the bulldozer's cab, and the startup process was basically the same as that of an excavator.

However, the machine was running low on fuel, so he quickly took diesel fuel from the light truck and poured it into the fuel tank.

Bulldozers are simpler to operate than excavators, requiring only one brake pedal.

The left handle controls the bulldozer's movement and requires shifting into gear.

The gear shift is shaped like the Chinese character "王" (king), with neutral in the middle, allowing for turning left and right while stationary.

Pushing forward engages the forward gear, while pulling back engages the reverse gear.

There are also two buttons on the left handlebar, which can be used to adjust the vehicle speed.

The right handle controls the bulldozer's bucket.

Moving forward lowers the bucket, while moving backward raises it.

By turning the handle left and right, the angle of the bucket can also be adjusted.

With two machines, even if he's working alone, the efficiency of clearing obstacles has increased several times.

Gu Lang first used a bucket to loosen and move the larger stones, and then used a bulldozer to push away the loose mounds of earth.

This is a massive and dangerous project.

He must remain constantly vigilant about the loosening of the mountainside overhead and the frequent aftershocks.

Fortunately, he didn't need to completely clear away the soil and rocks; excavating enough space on the outermost side for a light truck to pass through was sufficient.

After a day of hard work, the landslide in front of the viewing platform was finally cleared, creating a corridor.

Gu Lang drove back and forth, and both pieces of construction machinery passed through the landslide area.

He then walked back to the construction machinery warehouse four kilometers away and drove the light truck back.

Three vehicles were lined up in a long queue on the highway.

At 7 p.m., night fell again in the mountains.

After a day of intense work, Gu Lang was exhausted and could no longer resist the urge to sleep.

Despite two landslides at the front and back, isolating it from the outside world.

But just to be on the safe side, he still deployed infrared alarm equipment.

He then returned to his car and fell fast asleep.

While I was sleeping, I could still hear aftershocks outside.

Fortunately, the magnitude wasn't high, and Gu Lang was too lazy to get up.

He was so tired; his physical and mental strength had reached their limits.

The next morning, Gu Lang, who had slept for more than ten hours, finally recovered some of his energy.

They quickly started the excavator.

There are two more landslide sites to come, and both require significant work.

They had to clear the road and break through the encirclement before the engineering equipment malfunctioned.

The two collapse sites to the south are 15 kilometers and 20 kilometers away from the viewing platform, respectively.

Gu Lang had no choice but to drive the two machines all the way, despite the huge fuel consumption.

Upon arriving at the second landslide site, the extent of the landslide was even more severe than the previous one, requiring the removal of an even larger volume of earth.

Having become much more skilled, he managed to clear the second landslide site in about half a day.