“Best of luck to us.”
Jiang Chen shook Lin Chaoen’s hand.
Just as Lin Chaoen said, if the mutated humans passed through Qingpu, there was a large probability that a battle would erupt. Hoping that the mutated humans wouldn’t discover Fishbone Base was as unreliable as leaving a sheep farm open while praying the wolf pack wouldn’t attack.
From the mutated humans’ perspective, every “ancient human” was a stubborn coward, while normal people viewed these “neo-humans” as ugly and di*kless. From the start, the two sides had no chance of negotiating.
The two exchanged communication channels for both camps, and Lin Chaoen, in a show of sincerity, agreed that if the mutated humans from Area Seven showed signs of movement, the Defenders would notify Fishbone Base immediately. At the same time, they signed a defense pact against the mutated humans. Once the mutated humans started their march towards Wanghai City, both parties would send their forces to intervene.
For a common interest.
Lin Chaoen left right away as soon as they finished business to return to Jia City and report their status. Jiang Chen rested for a bit before a bitter smile appeared on his face.
“Mutated humans. Fu*k, why is there trouble after trouble.”
He had to speed up his armed force development.
But winter was approaching. Maybe under the harsh conditions, the mutated humans would choose to march to Wanghai City in the coming spring?
[Hopefully, the snow is thick enough.]
He shook his head and walked towards the Fake Legs Specialty Store. On the way, he happened to meet Zhou Guoping who was chatting with the construction worker.
Seeing his boss, Zhou Guoping immediately sent the construction worker away and walked up to fawn on Jiang Chen. “Boss, need me for anything?”
As soon as he and Zhou Guoping entered the room, he closed the door and got straight to the point. “If I want to purchase heavy weapons, how do I go about doing this?”
Zhou Guoping paused and began to give it serious thought.
“If it’s in Wanghai City, Sixth Street could produce it, but the Group of Ten Council has restrictions in place to prevent heavy weapons from entering the external market. Other than Sixth Street, the Beer Can Company in the north specializes in heavy weaponry production without any restrictions. Due to the long distance and limited production capability, however, they don’t have a representative here accepting orders.”
“What about outside of Wanghai City?”
“There is a heavy weaponry factory in Su City, but due to high prices, not many can afford them. It’s been a while since I saw them,” Zhou Guoping said hesitantly.
“Expensive? How expensive?”
“Very.” Zhou Guoping forced a smile. “They only sell giant weapons. Based on my understanding, the 85mm tank cannon is priced at seven thousand crystals. Also, as long as you can afford it, they even sell tanks.”
Tanks? Jiang Chen’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Pay attention. When they’re here, immediately notify me. I’ll head back to Fishbone Base after this, so you’ll take care of the tasks here.” Jiang Chen patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, “Do a good job. I have faith in you.”
Ignoring how the ecstatic Zhou Guoping tried to suck up to him, he left a few hundred crystals as an initial fund to start the store before he left. It was already the start of October, and the plan for the apocalypse was about to start. He had to go back and make some preparations.
…
After leaving Sixth Street, Jiang Chen headed for the sewerage entrance guarded by the Zhao Corporation.
Following the surge in trade between Fishbone Base and Zhao Corporation, the sewerage had been upgraded. The mold and dirt on the road were cleaned away, and the confusing intersections were locked off. The wall corners were even installed with light-activated cold lamps.
He took the elevator back to the surface where a soldier guarding the elevator saluted. With a nod of acknowledgment, Jiang Chen followed the closed-off concrete walkway to the inside of Fishbone Base.
At the shooting range outside of the wall, Jiang Chen found Zhao Gang.
“How do you feel?” Jiang Chen smiled.
“Not bad.” Zhao Gang nodded. After that terrible incident, the audacious man had become reticent.
“Ten for ten, damn, how is this not bad?” Cheng Weiguo carried the rifle and spoke while laughing.
Jiang Chen looked at Zhao Gang with surprise and nodded appreciatively.
“I have a mission for you.”
“Mhmm.” Zhao Gang agreed without asking for the details.
Jiang Chen took out the computer pen and marked Area Seven on the map.
“I need you to head for Area Seven and find out as much information as you can about the mutated humans. Their camp spot, combat power, number of people… the more specific, the better.”
The more he knew about the enemy, the higher the chances of winning against them. The mutated humans were stationed in Area Seven, and Fishbone Base had no information on them at all. Based on the crossfire from last time, however, mutated humans were not to be underestimated even with armor or firepower.
Jiang Chen also didn’t completely trust Lin Chaoen’s words. It was far more reliable to send his own men.
“Understood. When should I leave?”
“Tomorrow. Take some time to prepare. If you need any equipment, just let Chen Weiguo know and take it directly from the armory.”
“Ten nutrient supplies, as well as this rifle.” Zhao Gang shook his head. “In terms of scouting, the probability of engaging in combat is low.”
Although the base had compressed crackers, in terms of convenience, it could not match the nutrient supply that could replenish both energy and water.
“That’s fair. Then I’ll count on you. Be quick,” Jiang Chen patted him on the shoulder as he said seriously.
“Mhmm.” As expected, he nodded without any arguments against the mission.
…
Returning to the mansion, Jiang Chen happened to bump into Lin Lin who came out of shower humming.
Seeing her so happy, he couldn’t resist the temptation to make fun of her.
“You don’t short circuit?”
Lin Lin’s eyebrows traveled all the way up, but as she was about to give a rebuttal, she thought about how she was under his control and froze in place.
Jiang Chen was surprised to see her hold her tongue.
“Oh, what’s the progress on the mission I gave you?”
“Do you think scientific research is like masturbation? It will come out after rubbing a little?” Finally, Lin Lin couldn’t resist the temptation to curse.
Jiang Chen looked at her oddly. He couldn’t connect the vulgar words with the elf-like looks of this girl.
“Although I haven’t done research before, have you masturbated?”
Lin Lin’s face turned red, and cursed under her breath, “Pervert.” She ran away with her head buried.
[It’s so fun teasing this girl.]
Seeing Lin Lin flee the scene, Jiang Chen laughed malevolently.
But first things first.
He shook his head and put Lin Lin’s matter aside to go up to the second floor and find Sun Jiao.
“You’re back?” Sun Jiao eyes brightened when she saw him. She dropped the items in her hands and with upturned lips, greeted him delightfully.
“Mhmm.” Jiang Chen hugged the passionate Sun Jiao and asked, “How’s the bank mission doing?”
“We’ve shipped the gold back. It’s around fifteen tons. The marks have been sanded off, and right now, it’s piled up in the pool,” she said intimately. Sun Jiao looked deeply into Jiang Chen’s eyes.
“Thank you.” He touched her soft hair and returned her gaze.
“Of course. I’m so tired.” She stretched and was pleased to hear the light gulping nose. Smirking, she continued, “How are you planning on rewarding me?”
“Ahem, let’s talk about this tonight.” Jiang Chen touched his nose, looking away shyly.
He caught sight of something strange beside the bed.
[That is… a towel?]
“Eh? What is this?” Jiang Chen craned his neck to look curiously at the strange item.
Sun Jiao’s face immediately turned red. She dashed to the bedside and hid the unknown item under the blankets.
“What? What are you talking about?” Her eyes began to wander. It was rare for her to play dumb.
Curious!
Jiang Chen was unable to control his interest and began to ask energetically, “The thing you just hid….”
“No! What did I just hide?” Sun Jiao’s eyebrows rose as she said fiercely.
“No, no, no, I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Illusion! It must be an illusion!” Vehemently denying it, Sun Jiao blushed and pushed at Jiang Chen who tried to leap over to see. She then slammed the door shut.
“Phew—”
Sun Jiao sat on the bed and exhaled.
Her heart was beating so fast.
“Ahhhhh, this is too embarrassing. It’s not like me!”
Sun Jiao’s hands patted her burning-red face as she dove into the bed. She reached for the blanket and covered herself like an ostrich.
The treasure hidden under the blanket was exposed; it was an old magazine. Based on the publication date, it was printed before the war.
“How to capture your boyfriend’s heart – weave a scarf for him in the cold winter”
“Attached: Simple weaving technique”
Sun Jiao, who had been born in a survival base and lived wandering the wasteland, didn’t know what love was. It was something she had never learned before. She picked up this magazine from the bank, unaware of what scarves were, but she was intrigued by the printed words on the front page.
Could a scarf be this magical? Sun Jiao didn’t really understand.
But if Jiang Chen came from before the war, then it had to be useful for him.
She firmly believed this.
…
Standing by the poolside, Jiang Chen observed the lustrous gold. In the apocalypse, this gold was worth less than dirt.
He took a deep breath and submerged his conscious into the storage dimension.
Compared to before, the storage dimension seemed to have expanded by a lot—from one cubic meter to five cubic meters now. But Jiang Chen was still clueless on how the interdimensional bracelet evolved. Charging it repeatedly seemed to be useful, but otherwise, it was not obvious.
The overload from last time seemed to have increased the size of the storage dimensional by quite a lot, but Jiang Chen didn’t dare to do anything so dangerous again. Instead of overloading it, it could potentially “fry” the bracelet.
Putting the gold into the storage dimension, Jiang Chen was prepared to return to the modern world, but he suddenly remembered the “promise” he made with Sun Jiao. A smirk appeared on his face.
[I’ll go back tomorrow morning.]