Chapter 321 Unexpected Gains!
Chapter 321 Unexpected harvest!
Next to the warehouse.
The survivors carrying handbags looked at each other, exchanging surprise and confusion in each other’s eyes.
”Join the new alliance?”
”…Are they serious?”
”The mayor doesn’t sound drunk.”
”Shh…Don’t say this casually, be careful that those with guns hear it.”
No one hated this decision.
It’s just a little bit unbelievable.
The new alliance is willing to take in these scavengers who pick up garbage?
This sounds too magical!
After thinking about it, they found that there was nothing worth those people’s attention in Xizhou City.
There was only a grave-like concrete ruin and the Xizhou Lake, which was flooded all year round. The lake water not only turned the entire east coast into a swamp, but also backflowed into the low-lying urban area, making it difficult to find a piece of land for farming.
As for the trade value, it was almost zero.
Ordinary merchants would not come here at all. The River Valley Province only had two plains in the north and south, with either mountains or rivers in the middle. Even if there were no looters, few people would come here. Until last year, they had lived in near isolation from the world.
”Do you think this is a pie in the sky that the mayor has painted for us?” a skinny middle-aged man muttered in a low voice.
”…It’s very likely,” the shorter old man swallowed, “Anyway, if I were the leader of the New Alliance, I would definitely not recruit a group of beggars into my home.”
Although Wu Chengyi spoke seriously on the radio, almost no survivors believed what he said.
However, unlike those survivors, the guerrilla soldiers knew very well that their leader never joked.
Especially on such serious issues.
”So…from now on, we are considered soldiers of the New Alliance?”
At the entrance of the settlement, the guerrilla soldiers on duty listened to the broadcast from beginning to end, with a strange expression on their faces.
His name is Liao Feng. Before joining the guerrillas, he came from a survivor settlement called Good Weather Cooperative.
When the Bone Chewing Tribe attacked Xizhou City, they were the first to fall. Only less than fifty people escaped alive from a village of thousands of people.
He instinctively felt distrust of those from the outside world. Whether it was the looters of the Bone Chewing Tribe or that alliance.
”… probably?” The man with a hunting bow on his back also listened to the broadcast and answered in an uncertain tone.
His name was Hunting Bow. Like Liao Feng, he was a member of the resistance organization in Xizhou City, but he was not from the Good Weather Cooperative, but from other survivors’ settlements.
In the broadcast a few minutes ago, Wu Chengyi seemed to have mentioned something about the guerrillas.
Later, the New Alliance would send officers to train them and provide them with new equipment.
And their status would also be officially changed from a miscellaneous force to the Third Corps of the New Alliance, and they would participate in the final battle with the Bone Chewing Tribe…
”Do you think joining that alliance is really a good thing?” Liao Feng looked at him and said.
Hunting Bow was silent for a while, shook his head and said.
”I don’t know, but I think… it won’t be a bad thing.” How
bad could it be?
Not to mention weapons and equipment, they were so poor that they couldn’t even get nutritional paste.
Before, the guerrilla soldiers could get sheep’s horn potatoes and green wheat porridge, and occasionally eat a few bites of meat, but now everyone is uniformly rationed with nutritional paste.
The logistics situation can be seen.
At this time, a man wearing hyena leather boots and a beard walked towards this side.
Seeing their immediate superior, the two stopped talking immediately.
”I need someone to take our allies around here,” Wang Sijie stopped at the entrance of the settlement and looked around at the people on guard, “Is there anyone who is willing to go? Step out of the line.”
Everyone looked at each other.
No one moved.
They knew nothing about this ally who suddenly appeared. They didn’t know the temperament of those people, nor did they understand their taboos.
Those who could fight those predators in the city were undoubtedly ruthless.
What if they offended them?
No one wanted to be the first to come out.
Wang Sijie saw that no one stepped out of the line and was about to call the roll.
At this time, Liegong stood up.
”Let me do it.”
Liao Feng, who was standing aside, glanced at him in surprise. He didn’t expect that this guy was so courageous that he took the initiative to take over this thankless job.
Wang Sijie nodded with satisfaction and gestured.
”Follow me.”
…
A relatively clean single room.
Old White, lying flat on the bed, opened his eyes without warning and sat up from the bed.
It was six o’clock in the evening.
After confirming the current time through the VM, Old White was about to meet up with his teammates when he suddenly found a long list of small windows on the screen.
[Task 1: Inspect Hope Town, carry VM and camera equipment to complete the full map search. ]
[Task 2 (side quest): Write a 200-word report, describing the situation of local survivors from multiple aspects such as economy, culture, politics, and education. ]
[Task 3 (side quest): Find NPCs with special talents or special identities]
[Task 4 (side quest): …]
The rewards for the tasks are very generous, not only giving silver coins and contribution points, but also giving regional reputation for the new map.
Looking at the long list of tasks on the VM, Old White’s face was full of confusion, and he couldn’t help but feel a little weird.
Especially the second task.
Good guy, even the map introduction was thrown to the players to write by themselves.
Shouldn’t this kind of thing be the work of the planner!
This is too lazy!
But this task is actually easy. Fang Chang loves to do this, so he should be happy to take on this job.
As for the third one…
Lao Bai stared at the task interface for a long time, but couldn’t figure out any clues. Finally, he shook his head in giving up.
”Forget it… Never mind.”
There are only more than 5,000 people in this survivor settlement.
Anyway, trigger more conversations, maybe you can find clues.
After simply organizing his equipment, Lao Bai pushed open the door, walked through the narrow corridor, and went to the lobby of the rest area to meet up with his teammates.
The environment here is very simple and the air quality is very bad, but even so, this is already the best room in Hope Town.
Most of the survivors are crowded in the shops or even the aisles of the underground commercial complex, separated from each other by curtains, or simply squeezed together.
Not to mention a separate room, there is not even a decent bed.
Since yesterday morning, after tracking the little boy and discovering the hiding place of the survivors in Xizhou City, the Niu Ma team has lived here.
Compared to sleeping in the ruins, it is undoubtedly much safer to go offline here, at least there is no need to arrange people to take turns to go online to “guard the body”.
Frightened by the strength of the new alliance, the survivors of these resistance organizations are very respectful and even cautious to them.
Unless the predators find this place, there is no need to worry about safety issues when going offline here.
When Lao Bai came to the lobby of the rest area, Fang Chang, Ye Shi, and Kuang Feng had been here for a while.
Looking around, Lao Bai found that not only his good brother was here, but also two unfamiliar NPCs were standing here.
”…I am Wang Sijie, the leader of the guerrillas of the resistance organization in Xizhou City. The one next to me is Liegong, a soldier under my command. During the time you stay in Hope Town, he will serve as your guide.” Seeing that all four people were present, Wang Sijie made a brief self-introduction and introduced the guerrilla soldier standing next to him to everyone.
Seeing that the commander introduced himself, the man with a bow on his back immediately took over.
”Welcome, friends from Dawn City… You can find me if you encounter any problems here, and I will do my best to help you solve them.”
Fang Chang smiled and said.
”Don’t be so polite, just take us around.”
”I have another mission later, so I won’t bother you.” Patting Liegong on the shoulder, Wang Sijie left a sentence “I’ll leave it to you” and turned to leave the hall.
Watching the guerrilla leader leave, Ye Shi whispered.
”I thought they would arrange a young lady as a guide for us.”
Kuangfeng glanced at him.
”Analyze rationally. Even if you are arranged with a young lady in this kind of survivor settlement with a low standard of living, the possibility that she will meet your aesthetic standards is about equal to-”
Ye Shi immediately covered his mouth.
”Okay, I don’t want to listen to your nonsense.”
Kuangfeng: “…”
Liegong looked at the two people whispering with a blank face, not understanding what they were saying.
Fortunately, the commander had explained the language problem to him before, so he reacted calmly and said in a serious tone.
”I will take you around here… Please follow me.”
After saying that, Liegong was about to walk in front to lead the way, but at this moment, the man who was also carrying a bow on his back called him.
”Wait a minute,” Fang Chang took out a bag of wheat cakes from his pocket and handed it to him, “This is your reward.”
The bag of wheat cakes weighed half a pound.
Liegong was stunned at first after taking the paper bag, but soon he realized what it was, and an ecstatic expression immediately appeared on his face.
”We don’t need rewards…” Although he said so, he had no intention of returning the things.
Fang Chang looked at him and smiled and said.
”You’re welcome. We won’t let people work for us for free.”
In Dawn City, one silver coin can buy two such wheat cakes, not to mention that the supplies delivered by airdrop are free to buy.
Only a small reward is needed to gain the loyalty of a guide, and it can also make the idea of ”working for the people of the New Alliance can be paid” take root in the hearts of the locals.
This deal is simply too cost-effective!
With a grateful look on his face, Liegong put the paper package away and carefully put it in the inner pocket of his clothes, intending to take it home after the work is finished and share it with his family.
He took a deep breath and looked at Fang Chang.
”Thank you for your generosity!”
Fang Chang nodded.
”Take us around, our manager wants to know the situation here.”
Liegong said immediately.
”No problem, please follow me!”
Because of the green wheat cake, the guide named Liegong was obviously much more enthusiastic.
After learning that Fang Chang and his party wanted to understand the most real living conditions of the residents of Hope Town, they immediately led them through several corridors and went to the residential area on the B1 floor of the commercial complex.
As soon as he stepped into this area, Lao Bai felt an unpleasant smell coming towards him.
The narrow corridors and stairs were almost filled with messy garbage. There were six or seven hundred people lying in a space of less than 500 square meters. The ceiling of the corridor was crawling with crooked ventilation ducts like centipedes, and cockroaches and rats had already built nests in them.
And this is just a corner of this “town”.
The sanitation here is very bad, although the problem here is far more than just sanitation. Because of the lack of nutrition, fuel and warm equipment, people faint from hunger every day, or even starve to death.
As for those corpses…
there is a high probability that they will be dragged to the nutrient paste synthesis device and made into a green paste together with other plant fibers and animal and insect corpses.
A group of pale and thin faces are hidden in the darkness, and people are huddled on a garbage dump that is even simpler than a shack, like rats in a sewer.
With curious eyes, they carefully observed these strangers who were out of tune with them and the surroundings, and whispered about their identities.
”They… are the people from the New Alliance?”
”Is the mayor kidding?”
”Thank God… we are finally saved.”
The voice spread like waves.
Just as the local residents were looking at the group of people behind the bow hunter, the cattle and horse team were also looking at them.
Walking behind the strong wind, Ye Shi couldn’t help but hold his breath.
Not only because of the suffocating smell, but also because of the shocking scenes in front of him.
This place is simply hell…
The last time I saw such a tragic scene was in the dungeon of Qingshi County.
”… those damn bandits.” Ye Shi couldn’t help but curse in a low voice, “Go to hell.”
Fang Chang and Kuang Feng didn’t speak. One of them treated this place as a game, and the other was a man of few words. The old white who walked in front was in a heavy mood, as if thinking about something.
Noticing the expressions on everyone’s faces, Liegong explained.
”This is the area where ordinary residents live. We are short of supplies and it is already very difficult to maintain the status quo… My superior doesn’t want me to bring you here. He asked me to avoid the B1 floor as much as possible and show more of our beautiful side. But if you want to know the most real situation here, there is no place more real than here.”
Fang Chang looked at him and asked.
”Bringing us here won’t cause you any trouble, right?”
Liegong smiled embarrassedly.
”How could it be? Please don’t worry about me. Our superior told me to obey your orders. If he asks about this, I will say that you insisted on coming.”
Lao Bai looked around and said in a stumbling human language.
”You have gathered so many people here. Won’t the looters find this place?”
Liegong continued.
”Don’t worry about that. The entrance on the surface has collapsed. We have completely blocked the entrance from the subway station. There is only one way to come in from the outside, which is the secret door hidden in the subway tunnel.”
At this time, Lao Bai suddenly had an idea and whispered to Fang Chang about the task on the VM.
Fang Chang was slightly stunned and immediately looked at Liegong and asked.
”Speaking of which, do you have any people with special talents here?”
”Special talents?” Liegong was stunned. “What kind of talents are you talking about?” Fang Chang
tried to ask, “Technical aspects, whether it is blacksmithing or handwork, in short, those who have a skill!” Liegong
was stunned and replied.
”Just a skill… that threshold is too low. Most of the survivors from the Lagrange Building are craftsmen. Many people who used to live in the TV station can sing and blacksmith. Many people in the survivors’ settlement in the Sixin District are good at fishing and stealing crab eggs…”
Fang Chang silently wrote down the information and asked.
”What about others? For example, residents of the shelter?”
”Residents of the shelter? There is a shelter in Xizhou City, but the Ya Clan just came here and they closed the door…”
Fang Chang was delighted and asked immediately.
”What is the number of the shelter? Do you know the exact location?”
”I remember it was 101? The exact location is unclear, but I do remember the camp they built on the surface, it seems to be…” Liegong scratched the back of his head and told Fang Chang the address.
However, at this moment, a disheveled man suddenly rushed out from the side and fell to the feet of everyone.
Everyone was stunned and didn’t understand what happened. The man looked at everyone with pleading eyes and said.
”You are from the New Alliance, right? Please, help me!”
”What are you doing?! Take your hands away–” Liegong was about to drive him away, but was stopped by Lao Bai.
Reaching out to lift the disheveled man from the ground, Lao Bai looked at him and asked.
”Get up first and tell me your name.”
”My name is… Wang Zhong.” The man said incoherently.
”Okay, Wang Zhong… What trouble are you in?”
The man who had just calmed down his breathing suddenly became excited again.
”My wife is seriously ill. Without antibiotics, she may not be able to hold on for long… Please, can you give me some medicine and food?”
Looking at the miserable appearance of this man, Lao Bai couldn’t bear it and wanted to help. Fang Chang, who was standing aside, instantly guessed what he was going to do and immediately stopped him from reaching for his backpack.
”Everyone here needs medicine and food. If you help him, there will be a second and a third person soon.”
Lao Bai looked at Fang Chang.
”Are we just going to leave him alone?”
Fang Chang said calmly.
”Of course not, we will report the situation here to the manager truthfully, and he will decide on the assistance to the local survivors.”
After a pause, he looked at Lao Bai and continued.
”There are more than 5,000 people here. With only the supplies we have, we can’t help them at all.”
Lao Bai fell into silence.
Reason told him that what Fang Chang said was right, but psychologically it was difficult for him to accept it.
The only thing to blame is that the game is too realistic.
At this time, the man named Wang Zhong suddenly spoke.
”I won’t take your things for nothing… I just heard on the radio that you plan to build a survivor settlement here, right?”
Lao Bai was still reading the translation on the VM.
Fang Chang, who understood this, immediately looked at the man.
”Yes, do you have any good ideas?”
Seeing that there was a chance, Wang Zhong swallowed his saliva and continued, “No, but I know… there is a spare controlled fusion reactor hidden underground in Xizhou City.”
The moment the voice fell, the expression on Fang Chang’s face immediately became serious, staring into the man’s eyes and asked.
”Are you serious?”
Wang Zhong nodded vigorously and swore.
”I can guarantee it with my life! Those blue coats… the residents of Shelter 101 said it themselves. The reactor was a civil defense facility built during the Human Union era, specially prepared for the underground transportation network, and it is said that the output power can reach the GM level. They tried to repair the reactor, and they have successfully repaired half of it!”
Fang Chang asked after barely understanding what he said with the help of a translation tool.
”Why do you know this?”
Wang Zhong said immediately.
”Because I am a resident of Camp 101! They hired some locals in the camp to help them pick up garbage, build houses, move things, take care of their daily lives… In short, do some work they don’t want to do. I am the cook in the cafeteria. They talked about this while eating, and they joked that when they repaired the reactor, the survivors in the entire Xizhou City would not have to worry about electricity.”
If this reactor really exists, then this sentence is indeed not a joke.
GM-level power generation, compared horizontally with reality, the output power of this reactor alone can instantly kill the total power of many small country power grids!
It was more than enough to meet the electricity needs of tens of thousands of survivors.
Fang Chang looked at Liegong standing beside him excitedly.
Although the latter was confused by what Wang Zhong said, he nodded after hesitating for a moment.
”He’s telling the truth… Camp 101 did hire some wastelanders living nearby and let them live in their camp. But I don’t quite understand that reactor…”
Controlled fusion reactor!
Everyone exchanged glances, and their faces showed excitement at the same time.
Although the New Alliance currently has high-end energy storage methods such as solid hydrogen, its power generation methods are still backward and even primitive.
If this controlled fusion reactor can be mastered, the impact on the New Alliance’s industry will undoubtedly be huge!
Fang Chang restrained the excitement in his voice and looked at the man and asked.
”Do you know the location of that reactor?”
Wang Zhong nodded nervously.
”I can take you there… but you have to cure my wife. And… I need food, food that can keep our family alive.”
Fang Chang said with a smile.
”Don’t worry about this! A batch of supplies will be delivered here tonight. Whether it’s food or medicine, your reasonable demands will be met!”
Leaving this sentence, Fang Chang looked at Liegong standing beside him and said in front of Wang Zhong.
”The information he has is very important. I need you to ensure the safety of him and his family.”
Hope Town has been incorporated into the New Alliance.
I believe that as long as the members of the resistance organization are not stupid, they will carefully consider the weight of his words.
Sure enough, after he said this, the expression on Liegong’s face immediately became serious and he said seriously.
”No problem, leave it to me!”
Fang Chang nodded and continued.
”In addition, please spread the word for us in the town. If you have similar intelligence, no matter how big or small it is, please let us know!”
”Once the value of the intelligence is confirmed, the alliance will definitely reward you handsomely!”
–
(Thanks to the leader of the “boastful fat man” for the reward!!)
(End of this chapter)
