Chapter 303 This is obviously not something a human would do
Chapter 303 This is obviously not something a human would do
If he hadn’t been sure that he had taken the right map, Wu Lun would have thought that he had gone the wrong way.
He was silent for a while and said in an uncertain tone.
”…Is this Xizhou?”
”It should be.” Dimitri nodded and squinted his eyes to look into the distance. “The southern suburbs of Xizhou City, it should have been called Qingshi County before the war.”
The county town is surrounded by mountains on the east and west sides, located under the ridge, surrounded by dense vegetation and trees.
There are no high-rise buildings here, only gardens, townhouses and villas. It can be seen that the people who lived here before the war were quite pursuing the quality of life.
There is a highway and a maglev station in the east, connecting Xizhou and Qingquan, but now these infrastructures have long been arched into a pile of concrete garbage and debris by the wild vegetation.
In the prosperous era with convenient transportation, this was just an inconspicuous small county town, but now it has become the southern gate of Xizhou City.
Obviously, the Ya clan stationed in Xizhou City has also realized this. If they can’t deal with their neighbors in the south, at least they have to take good care of their front teeth.
Looking through the telescope, Uren noticed that there were quite a few looters stationed here, at least one or two thousand-man teams.
Not only that, they also reinforced their positions.
The half-collapsed row houses and villas were sealed with wood and aluminum plates, and concrete buildings above three floors were transformed into bunkers and turrets. The streets were filled with roadblocks made of concrete stones and wooden stakes, and every window seemed to hide a sentry, either visible or hidden.
The whole town has been transformed into a fortress.
I didn’t expect this group of rabble to have this ability.
Dimiter couldn’t help but look at them with admiration.
”How do we contact them?”
”Use this.”
Uren answered briefly, took out the signal gun and fired a shot into the sky.
The red signal flare rose.
Not long after, a dozen figures appeared in front of them.
These people were wearing animal skins, and many were even shirtless, looking uncivilized, but in their hands, without exception, they were holding civilized people’s weapons – automatic or bolt-action rifles.
Looking at the group of soldiers wearing black exoskeletons warily, the leading centurion stared at Uren, who was walking in front, and asked cautiously.
”Who are you?”
Uren took out the iron plate that proved his identity and shook it, answering expressionlessly.
”Torch.”
Torch?
The predators following the centurion were in a commotion, with surprised expressions on their faces, whispering to each other.
The centurion’s face was also full of surprise, but it soon turned into ecstasy.
”Please follow me!”
After the two groups of people joined together, the group continued on their way.
The centurion walked in front and led the way, and soon led Uren, Dimit and his group through the checkpoint at the entrance of the county town.
However, after entering the fortress, Dimit immediately retracted his previous evaluation of these “allies”.
The sanitation here is extremely poor, just like a garbage dump.
The streets are filled with the stench of decay, corpses and excrement are dumped randomly on the streets, and rats as big as fists shuttle freely through the streets, as if they regard this place as their home.
Dimit lowered his voice and whispered in the communication channel.
”The plague may have broken out here.”
Uren’s eyes wandered across the street and he replied softly.
”It’s obvious.”
Noticing Uren’s gaze lingering on the corner, the centurion who led the way smiled flatteringly.
”Don’t worry, it’s just a few rats… We’ll be there soon.”
The headquarters of the Ya clan is located in the Qingshi Department Store on the west side of the county. The five-story cylindrical building looks like a crane among chickens in the entire county.
From the perspective of concealment alone, it is definitely not a good idea to use this as a headquarters. However, the exterior wall of this building uses a lot of steel structure, and there are two underground commercial areas and a garage directly connected to the surface. From a defensive perspective, this is the most suitable choice.
On the first floor of the department store, Uren and Dimit met the highest commander here-Shiya.
”Welcome! Friends who have come from afar! I am Lion Fang, the captain of the Ya clan. You can treat this place as your home.”
Lion Fang came forward with a look of joy, opened his arms and wanted to hug his ally, but when he saw that the other party was indifferent, he changed to a handshake.
Wu Lun stretched out his hand and shook his hand.
”Wulen, the apostle of the Holy Son.”
”I wish the old Holy Son good health. Please give him my regards…” Sensing a hint of hostility from the eyes of the man in front of him, Lion Fang quickly stopped his awkward greetings and coughed to quickly end the topic. “Then, Lord Apostle, may I ask why you have come here from afar?”
Wu Lun did not care about his offense. Now was not the time to make trouble. He said concisely.
”The blue jackets in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City took our things. I need you to help us get them back.”
”Took…your things? From the Coast of Death? That’s really far away.” Lion Fang looked at him in confusion and continued, “Can I ask what it is?”
”A box and a set of power armor. We need the former, as for the latter, you take it.”
Power armor!
Lion Fang’s eyes flashed with greed for a moment, but he soon calmed down.
”Do they have power armor?”
”Yes,” seeing the hesitation in the eyes of the predator in front of him, Uren continued, “Don’t worry, that power armor has no shield, it’s just a living target with stronger defense. If it appears on the battlefield, just leave it to us to deal with it.”
Hearing this, Lion Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief and a comfortable smile appeared on his face.
”That’s great, my friend, although we caught a few monsters and brown bears with the equipment you provided, I’m not sure about power armor.”
”What you need to worry about is not the power armor, but these blue jackets have planes.”
”Plane?!”
Those blue jackets have planes? !
Did the Stone City sell the plane to them?
Shiya’s eyes were filled with surprise, and his face was full of disbelief.
Impossible…
That thing is the same as the power armor. Anything inherited from before the war is a treasure in any survivor settlement.
What’s more, the people in Boulder City took over the equipment from the Post-War Reconstruction Committee.
”That’s right,” Uren almost squeezed out the second half of the sentence from the surprised Lion Fang, “Although it’s just a ridiculous propeller plane, it has two machine guns on it after all, you’d better be careful.”
Lion Fang looked confused.
He didn’t know what a propeller plane was, but if these people were not joking, the group of blue coats in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City might be more difficult than he thought.
”Thank you for your reminder. I will discuss countermeasures with my staff later… How to strengthen our defensive positions.”
”Reinforce the defensive positions? How else do you want to strengthen them? This place is almost like a turtle shell,” Dimiter, who was standing aside, looked at him in surprise, “Are you still planning to continue going south?”
”Of course we think so. This piece of fat meat is already at our fingertips, but we didn’t expect that the situation in Xizhou City would be so difficult.”
With a helpless expression on his face, Lion Fang continued.
”The survivors here are no match for us, but they cunningly hid in the subway and fought guerrilla warfare with us by relying on their familiarity with the terrain. In addition, there has been another outbreak of plague here recently. The rats are gnawing everywhere like crazy. We even have to lock our shoes in the closet when we sleep now… We simply don’t have the extra energy to continue to move south.”
Wu Lun’s face looked a little ugly.
”How long will it take you to settle these troubles?”
Lion Fang said uncertainly.
”It should be possible before this winter.”
”Too long!” Wu Lun shook his head, “We can’t wait that long! Those blue coats are absorbing the refugees nearby. When they gain a foothold in the local area, they will become more and more difficult to deal with! Now it’s your only chance to concentrate all your efforts to eliminate them. You can’t wait until winter.”
Lion Fang’s face showed a trace of displeasure.
After all, they are just allies, not superiors and subordinates. The reason why he respected them so much was because the missionaries of the Torch Church could control alien species, and those charging monsters, brown bears and even death claws helped them solve many difficult opponents.
In exchange, the Bone Chewing Tribe allowed them to preach in their territory and spread their faith to the plunderers in the River Valley Province and even the surrounding areas.
However, this did not mean that he had to obey their command.
Can’t wait until winter?
What a joke.
What’s there to be afraid of a group of refugees.
He admitted that the fighting power of the group of blue coats was indeed not weak, but their number was limited after all.
In just a few months, the plunderers who came to join them had doubled the size of the Ya clan.
By the time autumn came, their tens of thousands of troops would march forward in unison, and a mouthful of spit from each person could drown the group of blue gophers!
”We have our own plans. I can’t take my people to die just because you want to find a broken box. Winter has just passed for a few months, and their wheat has only grown a handful of green seedlings. What will we eat now? Chew the grass?”
”What’s more, the Black Snake has already fallen into their hands. Those people are not something I can deal with alone. If you are in a hurry, just go find our leader. Lord Jin Ya is in the city of Xizhou. It is his order for me to stay here. Only he has the right to command me!”
The negotiation failed.
Lion Fang rejected the Torch Church apostles’ suggestion to go south immediately without hesitation. He would continue to strengthen the fortifications here and build the entire county with his staff.
But the centurion also said that if he received the order from the leader, he would send a team of 100 people to support them.
A team of 100 people…
Uren just smiled after hearing this proposal. What
can a hundred barbarians do?
These people are cannon fodder on the battlefield, and they don’t seem to have this awareness at all.
However, after learning that these people stopped because of the leader’s order, Uren knew that he might have to meet their leader to convince them to take action.
After coming out of the department store, Dimiter glanced at his teammates.
”Are we going to the city now?”
”Well,” Uren nodded, and his index finger drew a line in the air, “It’s only more than 30 kilometers from here to Xizhou. We will move along the corridor under the ridge… If we hurry, we should be there before tomorrow evening.” He raised his foot and stepped on a mouse that slipped to his feet
. Uren rubbed the sole of his shoe in disdain, and his frowning brows squeezed into a ball.
This group of damn rats…
Where on earth did they come from?
…
Where on earth did these rats come from?
Qiangrensuonan was also confused.
He admitted that he might have played a little role as a catalyst, but that was all. To be
honest, there are already many rats and cockroaches in the wasteland, and any corner that hides dirt can become a hotbed for them to reproduce.
Those untreated corpses and the lack of sufficient natural enemies are the source of the plague.
Compared with mutant cockroaches, rats as mammals are slightly inferior in reproductive capacity, but they have the upper hand in both IQ and combat effectiveness, and soon became the real masters of Xizhou City.
They move in groups, gnawing everything they encounter, whether it is on the surface or underground, and predators and survivors have no way to deal with them.
Qiangrensuonan has tried to restrain his men and rectify the discipline of the team, but he found that what he thought was completely ineffective.
First of all, the language is different.
Secondly, rats are cunning by nature and have no loyalty at all.
Even those little brothers who were subdued by him did not always obey his orders, and it was common for them to pretend to obey but secretly disobey.
The wood-burning generator was humming, and the wires beside it had been repaired several times.
These damn mice always gnawed the wires while he was sleeping, electrocuting several of them and not learning their lessons. Fortunately, the radio and the hibernation chamber could not be damaged by gnaws, otherwise it would be a huge loss.
The most loyal ones were the female mice.
With enough food and living space under Qiangrensuan’s “artificial intervention”, the mice lined up to reproduce and madly expanded the size of the population.
However, their affectionate eyes made Qiangrensuan a little scared.
Thank God!
Fortunately, it didn’t have that thing.
This was the first time he had the idea that it would be good without it…
”Respected, respected administrator… The plague in Xizhou City was really not caused by me!”
The nest under the ruins.
Qiangrensuan, who was standing next to the radio, trembled nervously after hearing the administrator’s question.
Although he had been reporting the situation in Xizhou City to the rear, he had selectively concealed the plague, whether on the forum or on the phone.
He was not afraid of other NPCs, but the manager was a manager after all.
This guy had the authority of a GM in the setting, and could impose physical penalties on illegal game behaviors.
Who wouldn’t be panicked?
And who knows what the punishment logic of AI is.
A Guang had emphasized to them more than once on the forum that there were many problems with the server during the closed beta stage. There was no manual appeal channel for the GM to cancel the closed beta qualification, and the recovered closed beta qualification would be inherited by new players. A
serious voice came from the other end of the phone.
”I don’t mean to blame you, I just hope you can tell the truth about the situation there.”
Qiangrensuan knew that he couldn’t hide it after all. After hesitating for a while, he finally chose to tell the truth and tell everything he had concealed before.
After listening to Qiangrensuan’s vivid description, Chu Guang was a little amused for a while.
This guy is really a talent, he can even think of artificial breeding.
No, it should be said that he is a rat talent.
After all, it is not a human thing.
”…Mr. Manager?” Seeing no sound on the other end of the phone, Qiangren Suonan became even more uneasy.
”…Ahem, nothing, I’m just a little surprised, let me think about it for a while.”
Time passed by minute by minute.
For Qiangren Suonan, every second seemed as long as a year.
Finally, the manager on the other end of the phone spoke again.
”…You did a good job. The plague delayed the Ya clan’s southward movement, which bought us precious time for development. But on the other hand, you really failed to restrain your own men. The indiscriminate plague had a serious impact on the resistance movement of local survivors.”
Qiangren Suonan said with a frustrated face.
”You can’t really blame me for this. I tried to restrain them, and they all listened to me on the surface…but they said one thing in front of me and another behind my back.”
”I know, so I didn’t blame you, but I can’t publicly commend you,” Chu Guang paused and continued, “The New Alliance will remember your contribution, but will not recognize your merit. We will reward you in other ways. Do you understand what I mean?”
Oh.
I was scared to death.
That’s it.
Qiangrensuonan heaved a sigh of relief.
It didn’t matter whether he was praised or not, since he couldn’t understand what the NPC said anyway, and it wouldn’t affect the task reward or his ability to show off on the forum.
And it sounded like he had triggered a hidden task?
Qiangrensuonan was not disappointed at all, but excited, and swore in an excited voice.
”Don’t worry, respected administrator, I will keep my mouth shut about what I have done! There must be shadows under the light, and I am willing to be the sharp blade under your cloak! Clear all obstacles that stand in our way for you!”
Chu Guang’s embarrassed toes almost dug through the ground.
But in order to take care of the players’ gaming experience, he finally held back, cooperated with this guy’s performance, and went through this plot seriously.
”…I’m glad you think so. From now on, I need you to find out the intelligence on our way forward, mark the enemy’s ammunition depots, firing points, command posts, garrisons, secret passages and trenches on the map as much as possible, and cooperate with our ground and air forces to eliminate the local looters.”
”Can these things be done?”
Qiangren Suonan said excitedly: “Just leave it to me with confidence! I can still do this little thing!”
”Well, I look forward to your good news!” After explaining these things, Chu Guang hurriedly hung up the phone.
The call ended.
Qiangren Suonan breathed a sigh of relief, and his originally frowning face was now full of happiness.
It has increased!
It must have increased!
Just based on the tone of the manager’s last few words, the favorability must have increased!
The little rat brothers around him chattered for a while. Although they didn’t know what the boss was excited about, his fat belly must be full of bad water.
Turning to face his brothers, Qiangrensuonan, who was eager to show off, stood up straight and shouted in a shrill voice.
”Little ones, call all your brothers.”
”Let’s go and do something with your rat grandfather!”
…
Although rats can’t speak, Qiangrensuonan has his own ways.
Having lived with rats for so long, he has already figured out their living habits and the way they usually communicate information.
These cunning rats may not strictly follow his orders to die, but it is no problem for them to help him scout the enemy.
Dangerous places mean there are many people, and places with a lot of metal mean that weapons or ammunition may be stored. After confirming the approximate location, he will smell the smell and go over to take a look.
Even if he doesn’t find valuable intelligence every time, he can get something at least six times out of ten.
Once he finds a high-value target, he won’t do anything immediately, but mark it on the map with VM and then quietly withdraw. At
this time, alerting the enemy will only make them alert.
When the war starts, the planes and artillery of the new alliance will give these predators a big surprise.
Unaware of what was happening under his feet, Lion Fang was working with his staff officer Bernie to further reinforce the position in Qingshi County.
They hid fixed machine guns on the roofs of buildings, used water tanks, distribution boxes, ventilation ducts and other facilities as shelters, and installed high-power searchlights on some roofs to search nearby airspace and mountainous areas at night.
These ideas were certainly not thought up by Lion Fang himself.
But he had staff officers from the legion in his team.
Although Lion Fang didn’t think those blue coats would dare to come and cause trouble for him, the tragic death of Black Snake taught him a lesson.
Even if there was only a 1% chance, he would kill it in its cradle!
…
Early April.
A full week had passed since the high-level meeting of the Northern Expedition plan.
Dawn City was like a running pump, madly absorbing resources from all directions along the trade routes that had been opened.
Steel and aluminum were the biggest demands.
Not only was it needed to manufacture light and heavy equipment, the railway being laid was a black hole that devoured resources, and it was almost impossible to see the bottom.
One steel mill can no longer meet the development needs of the New Alliance. In order to meet the growing demand for steel in the industrial zone, not only did the No. 81 Steel Plant open a branch, but Chu Guang also signed an administrative document, instructing the Logistics Department to establish the New Alliance’s First Steel Plant.
This is also the first steel plant in the New Alliance that is operated by NPCs and collectively controlled by the Alliance.
Unlike the No. 81 Plant, which mainly produces military equipment. The steel produced by
the First Steel Plant is mainly used to supply infrastructure construction. Part of its equipment is processed by machine tools, and part is purchased from Boulder City. The technicians include professional players and unemployed engineers hired from Boulder City.
As for the A3 aviation aluminum produced by the Bachi Aluminum Plant, most of them are supplied to the “E-Mule” production line, and the remaining production capacity is basically eaten by the Lister Plant for the production of a more sturdy KV-1 exoskeleton improvement.
Before the war began, Chu Guang needed enough trucks to deliver supplies and troops to the front line, and use the KV-1 exoskeleton to ensure the players’ mobility and combat capabilities.
By the end of the month, the number of players will reach 2,500+, but there will be only about 1,500 professional combat players on the front line.
The disadvantage in numbers can only be compensated by mobility and firepower.
In addition to steel and aluminum, the second largest resource in demand for the new alliance is copper and sulfur.
Copper is mainly used to make bullets and lay power grids, which goes without saying.
Artillery shells can be made of steel shells, but bullets are better made of copper. Not only are they easier to preserve, but they also have excellent shooting performance. Compared with steel shell ammunition, they can effectively reduce the jam rate and rifling wear.
As for electricity, it is even more critical. Whether it is exoskeletons, trucks or players’ save points, they all need the support of the power system.
The main use of sulfur is to make sulfuric acid.
This thing is not just about a production line. From steel mills to chemical plants, there are few industrial chains that can leave this thing.
With the start of the war machine, the production capacity of the industrial zone continues to expand, and almost all resource demands are rising.
At this time, the president of the Merchants’ Guild, Old Charlie, brought Chu Guang some bad news…
”Although you may have noticed something from the inventory data, I still have to tell you just in case. The expansion speed of our industrial scale has exceeded expectations. The copper and sulfur mines produced in the surrounding survivor settlements have been bought by us at a higher price.”
In the reception room of the base.
After listening to Old Charlie’s report, Chu Guang thought for a moment and raised his head.
”How much has it increased?”
”The copper price in Honghe Town has increased by 20%, and the sulfur price has increased by at least 30%. This is the latest data.”
Chu Guang nodded thoughtfully.
”It’s similar to what I know.”
Last night, the players discussed this matter in the forum. It’s not just copper and sulfur mines. Some rare metals are simply out of stock.
Chu Guang actually expected this situation before.
The tickets issued by the Honghe Town mine are essentially a futures. This trading model is not only to facilitate them to buy goods from other survivors, but also to facilitate them to coordinate the production capacity of the mine.
In other words, they will not produce a bunch of ore that is not used at all and store it in inventory, but will decide the production of the next quarter based on the coupons issued in the previous quarter.
If someone suddenly needs a large amount of spot goods, it is natural for the price to rise.
However…
the speed of this price increase is really a bit sudden.
The Northern Expedition plan has only been launched for a week. No matter how fast the demand grows, Chu Guang does not believe that the warehouse in Honghe Town does not even have this little reserve.
Chu Guang has reason to suspect that someone may have guessed something through certain information and is playing a trick of hoarding goods and selling them
with reluctance. Old Charlie obviously guessed what might be going on and said cryptically.
”Our resources are controlled by others, and the impact of this problem will become more and more obvious. Either we can open up more trade routes and reduce our dependence on a single raw material production area, or I can have my own raw material production area and solve part of the resource needs myself.”
”I think so too. In fact, one of the purposes of this Northern Expedition is to solve the problem of raw materials.”
Chu Guang nodded and looked at the map on the wall.
”The scientific expedition team of the New Alliance has investigated the data of Qingshi County. The Qingshi Geological Park in the mountainous area to the west was formerly the mining area of the Qingshi Mining Company. The porphyry copper-molybdenum deposits below it are rich in reserves, estimated to be at least one million tons.”
Charlie showed a surprised expression on his face.
”Hasn’t it been mined there?”
”It has been mined, but only a small part has been mined. According to the data, the mine was closed due to cost issues in the early days of the prosperous era, and then it was transformed into a geological park. There is an internship base and a geological research institute next to it.”
Chu Guang smiled faintly and continued.
”In fact, it’s not just the copper-molybdenum deposits. According to the analysis of our scientific expedition team, there are many resources in the surrounding areas that have been explored but not developed. As long as we conquer Xizhou City, the problem of resources will naturally be solved.”
”But what about the current problem? Even if we occupy Qingshi County, it will take time to mine–”
As soon as he said this, a glimmer of enlightenment suddenly appeared in old Charlie’s eyes.
”I see…”
”I think I understand what you mean.”
(End of this chapter)
