When the last rocket ascended, it was already midnight.
The 20,000 napalm rockets were all launched.
The blazing fire covered everything from the rural areas to the city center and vanquished all life in the vicinity.
When the concentration of zombies and mutants dropped below a certain threshold, the mutant flood would stop. The zombies and mutants in the western half of the city would meet this condition.
“Will the fire be extinguished by tomorrow?” Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the thick smoke and light of the flames.
“It should stop,” Cheng Weiguo said. “Wanghai was struck by nuclear warheads before, so most of the materials should’ve burned already. Once the rocket fuel is completely consumed along with the zombie fat and lipid, the fire should stop then.”
The armored force was mobilized in the morning to clear out the road from Shenxiang to Fishbone base. They should’ve arrived by now. Once Jiang Chen took care of all the necessary things, it would be time to return to the base.
Jiang Chen nodded and threw away the cigarette in his hand.
“Mhmm, you can head back now.”
Cheng Weiguo saluted and turned around.
Jiang Chen kneeled down as he stared at the dry soil. He seemed to be searching for something.
An ant caught his attention.
It waved its tentacles, searching the ground for something. At the same time, a finger stopped in front of it. Its two tentacles touched it before the ant vanished from this world.
The next second, the ant reappeared again, but it was no longer moving.
“It still can’t transport any live creatures?” Jiang Chen looked at the dead ant on his fingertips, deep in thought.
Jiang Chen shook his head and dusted off his hand before he headed to Shenxiang.
When he returned, Cheng Weiguo came over with a phone, looking helpless.
Jiang Chen took the phone and opened the hologram screen.
“Hello?”
“General, the next time you want to do something dramatic like this, could you let us know first?” When the communications came through, Chu Nan’s wry voice came from the other side.
“Haha, I just wanted to give you a surprise.” Jiang Chen laughed, completely oblivious.
“It was quite a surprise.” Chu Nan sighed as he continued to speak with the same wryness: “It would’ve been better if we could’ve brought the weapon out earlier. We only needed to launch a few into the city without the need to burn half of the city…”
“Because I didn’t have it at the time, or I hadn’t transported them into Wanghai. Umm, was that it?” Jiang Chen changed the topic.
“No, it has to do with the crystals.” Chu Nan paused for a second before he continued, “According to the rules of the wasteland, the crystals of the mutants belong to whoever killed it. But we clearly don’t have the capability to collect crystals from half the city.”
“Then they will belong to whoever picks them up,” Jiang Chen said nonchalantly.
When Chu Nan heard Jiang Chen’s words, he took a moment to process them.
“Is there a problem?” Jiang Chen spoke since Chu Nan didn’t respond.
“No, I just feel like… General, you’re very generous.” Chu Nan facepalmed.
“Rather than letting outsiders who heard the news pick up the crystals, it’s better to let the survivors who fought together with us pick them up. All of Sixth Street is mine – do I care whose pockets the crystals are in? How about this: from Sixth Street to the outskirts of the city center, the crystals will belong to whoever picks them up.” Jiang Chen was extremely generous.
“Okay, but I think it’s better to tax the crystals a certain percentage since you killed all the mutants yourself. I don’t think the survivors would disagree. Without a tax, it’s not good for a large number of crystals to suddenly appear on the market,” Chu Nan suggested.
“Then we’ll follow your plan. I give you full authority to handle this.”
“Roger that.” Chu Nan nodded.
After hanging up the phone, just as Jiang Chen was going to return the phone to Cheng Weiguo, the phone rang again.
Seeing the “Office of the General” on the hologram screen, Jiang Chen didn’t need to think before he realized it was Han Junhua.
“Did you fire the rockets?” Just as the call went through, Han Junhua immediately spoke.
“That’s right, are you surprised?” Jiang Chen laughed.
“Why didn’t you use it earlier…”
She had the same question as Chu Nan.
Jiang Chen let out a sigh. “That’s enough, don’t be greedy. I had to leave the base before being able to obtain them. What’s the status at the base?”
“Your rockets greatly alleviated the pressure. The areas five hundred meters out were all suppressed by the rockets. After the mutants behind the wall were cleared out, the soldiers on the wall watched some fireworks with protective masks on,” Han Junhua reported concisely.
“Is that so?” Jiang Chen laughed, delighted.
The feeling of crushing his opponents was too delightful.
…
At dusk the next day, at the rural area west of Wanghai:
The broken limbs were visible on the wide road and the pungent smell of burnt flesh filled the streets. The broken ruins were stained with daunting darkness; it would take more than several drops of rain to wash it all away. It wasn’t until they approached Fishbone base when the scenes from hell began to fade.
Four bulldozers modified from trucks were working outside the wall as they pushed the corpses with crystals already extracted 1000 meters away to be burned.
With the First Corps force appearing at the end of the street, the survivors working outside the wall began to cheer. They whistled and waved at the victors.
On top of the Tiger II cannon, Jiang Chen carefully listened to the cheering from the crowd as he responded by waving back.
The gates opened and allowed the First Division to storm in.
When Jiang Chen arrived, he didn’t immediately head to his office. Instead, he chose to go home.
After being gone for so long, Sun Jiao and the others must be worried.
As Jiang Chen thought to himself, he couldn’t help but smile.
When he entered the mansion, he opened his arms to welcome Sun Jiao, who jumped toward him. After they kissed, he picked up the cute Yao Yao and pecked her adorable face.
Her pale skin was colored red as Yao Yao lowered her head in embarrassment and said in a timid voice:
“D-do you want to shower together?”
When she reminisced the last time they showered together, her heart began to pump uncontrollably.
But Sun Jiao authoritatively declared possession of Jiang Chen and spoke to Yao Yao with a smirk:
“That’s not okay, your Brother Jiang Chen will have to wash with me.”
Yao Yao made a face like she was wronged as she replied in a feeble voice:
“Wha-what about tomorrow…”
“How about the four of us shower together?” Sun Xiaorou hugged Yao Yao. “We can also teach Yao Yao the adult stuff…”
“I-I’m not a kid anymore! I’m older than all of you!” Yao Yao protested as her cherry-like mouth pouted with displeasure.
With arms crossed, Lin Lin interrupted on the side.
“The time spent in the hibernation chambers does not count toward age. That was the rule in any country before the war.”
Yao Yao’s face turned red as she looked away.
Only Lin Lin and she were born before the war.
“Does Lin Lin want to come too? The five of us together?” With a little devil’s smirk, Sun Xiaorou invited herself.
Lin Lin blushed. Her mouth opened and closed for a while before finally squeezing out half a sentence:
“Wh-who wants to do it together…”
With her face completely flushed, Lin Lin walked out hastily.
Sun Jiao gave her sister a harsh stare. “Xiaorou!”
Sun Xiaorou blew out her tongue and innocently hid behind Jiang Chen’s back while pretending to be sad. “Brother-in-law, sister is bullying me…”
As she said this, she hugged Jiang Chen’s arm and began to shake him in front of her chest.
Although it was a tempting proposal, Jiang Chen’s conscience told him that if they showered together, something out of his realm of control could potentially occur.
Jiang Chen gulped and acted like nothing happened.
“Ahem, why don’t you three shower together? I’ll go after you’re done…”
Leaving before the girls could react, Jiang Chen slipped out of the living room.