Chapter 561 Slave Owners and Mutants
Chapter 561 Slave Owners and Mutants
Pine Cone Farm.
The wall made of stone bricks and wooden piles is towering and encloses a large piece of land. On one side of the wall are densely packed houses, and on the other side are fields with roads and orchards decorated with broken snow.
Rather than saying that this is a farm, it is better to say that it is a city in the classical era.
There are 10,000 to 20,000 people living inside the wall. A settlement is formed with the market as the core. There are officials, craftsmen, soldiers and their families living there. There are 30,000 to 40,000 people living outside the wall, most of whom are farmers, and more than half of them are serfs who have lost their freedom, and the other half are tenants who rent land and have not yet gone bankrupt.
Everything here is the property of the farmer.
Whether it is land or people.
If the Boulder City is an extreme product of industrialization coordinated by the Production Department of the War Construction Committee, then this farm is another extreme that has emerged after the free growth of the survivors’ settlement.
There is no sign of industrialization here.
Although the city of the near future is not far away, there is no trace of inheritance here, not even a specious thing.
As for the reason, it is actually very simple.
It is impossible for a boat to move by itself when it is parked there. Either there is wind or someone is rowing.
For the ship of Pine Cone Farm, these two elements are obviously not available. They are not in the plan of the War Construction Committee, and they have no motivation to develop industry.
The farmers here did buy a few machines from Boulder City, but the effect was not very ideal. Over time, they were left in the warehouse to gather dust.
To put it bluntly, whether it is a bankrupt serf or a tenant farmer on the verge of bankruptcy, they can be regarded as the private property of the farmer.
Even if those poor ghosts are given new clothes, for the farmers here, it is just a new wallet for the money in their pockets, which is completely unnecessary.
But even so, Pine Cone Farm is much better than most of the survivor settlements that are still in the “tribal period”. At least
some predator tribes are not their opponents at all, and the agricultural products here can be sold as far as the river valley province in the north.
Directly exchanging abundant agricultural products and cash crops for industrial products from Boulder City has been the economic lifeline of this farm in the past century.
It is no exaggeration to say that without the big landlords in Boulder City, there would be no small landlords of all sizes in Jinchuan Province.
Most of the farmers here will cooperate with the merchants in Boulder City, or simply raise a few loyal servants as interest representatives.
Songguomu Farm is no exception, and the owner here, Zhao Tiangan, is more ambitious than any other farmer on this land.
His parents have accumulated enough wealth for him, and a small settlement is not enough to satisfy his appetite.
He wants to build a huge and permanent kingdom on this wild land like the royal family of Luoxia Province!
In order to realize this ambition, he showed an open-minded and learning attitude towards the talents and technologies in the wasteland, and used the savings from the grain trade to recruit soldiers and stockpile weapons.
However, just when he was full of confidence and was about to do a big job, a piece of bad news suddenly came from the north.
A revolution broke out in Boulder City. The Boulder Building collapsed overnight. The nobles in the inner city were either exiled or sent to the Alliance’s prisoner-of-war camps for reform.
And his sponsors basically fell in that revolution.
The news he heard on the radio at that time scared him so much that he broke out in a cold sweat and couldn’t sleep for several days.
If he wanted to build a huge agricultural empire in the south, the support of the northern industrialists was indispensable. After all, he couldn’t expect a group of ignorant farmers to learn to operate machines, and knowledge happened to be something he couldn’t give to those people anyway.
However, now, his biggest partner has turned to the Alliance.
Although the Alliance is also his trading partner, since the war in the west ended and the railway from Luoxia Province to the south of the River Valley Province was opened, the food from Luoxia Province has almost completely replaced them.
This is almost fatal to the slave owners in Jinchuan Province.
With fertilizers and high-yield seeds, one acre of land can even feed two or three people. Without the achievements of industry and primitive farming technology, three acres of land can only feed one person.
When the profits from exporting agricultural products cannot be exchanged for enough means of production and weapons to protect them, the virtuous cycle will be broken, and their good days will be over.
Although they will not go bankrupt immediately, the decline of production activities has almost become inevitable.
If there is no external interference, they will probably completely exhaust the social wealth accumulated by trade with Boulder City in the past hundred years in twenty or forty years, until they enter a new cycle and stabilize again.
And their prosperity at this moment will also be transferred to oases in the desert along the built railway.
Pine Cone Farm is better. After all, the family background is sufficient. Even if the settlement of more than 50,000 people is left alone, a group of carpenters, blacksmiths, weavers, alchemists and other craftsmen will automatically emerge.
However, other small farmers are unlucky. Looking at the Camu rotten in the forest, they have gradually tasted the bitter fruit of losing their sponsors.
Fortunately, the church forces from further south have reached out to the locals in time.
Since planting ordinary crops is no longer profitable,
then plant some naguo.
The land planted with Naguo is no longer suitable for the growth of general crops, but the crops eroded by Naguo will grow particularly strong.
The survivors who ate Naguo are not only immune to all diseases, but also humble and docile, as hardworking and well-behaved as puppets on strings.
From another perspective, they don’t need fertilizers that much, and even herbicides are no longer needed. All their material needs will be met.
Under the emerald green halo, man and nature will be perfectly integrated, realizing the true “I am nature”.
In order to gain the support of the Southern Church, Songguomu Farm also introduced Naguo.
And the effect of Naguo did not disappoint Zhao Tiangan at all.
After eating Naguo, his serfs no longer slacked off, and no one complained anymore. Everyone was as docile and obedient as sheep.
They may not be excellent soldiers, nor can they be competent for expert positions, but they are definitely the best farmers and laborers. It is
also simple to need them as cannon fodder. It is enough to give them an injection of “holy water”. The Torch Church has a potion that can resist addiction symptoms.
The withdrawal reaction can be a rope to tie them down. No one dares to be lazy anymore. In order to listen to the gospel of the Son of God, they will work harder when they are sober.
However, unlike those farmers who have given up, Zhao Tiangan is still worried about those charlatans.
The royal physician he hired told him that the serfs who ate the Naguo were not truly invulnerable to all poisons, but that their body functions had completely given up on resisting viruses and bacteria. Similarly, viruses and bacteria also lost their aggressiveness and formed a symbiotic relationship with the infected under the action of a special mycelium.
This caused the serfs to become a hotbed for breeding germs. Some normal people who did not eat the Naguo would be infected with strange infectious diseases almost by approaching them.
Some tenants who were not forced to ration the Naguo were also forced to eat the Naguo due to the lack of sufficient antibiotics and other medicines.
At first, Zhao Tiangan planned to let 20% of the residents receive the baptism of the “holy fruit”, but when he came to his senses, the entire settlement had become believers of the Torch Church.
It seemed too late to stop…
In the magnificent manor house, a group of children were laughing and playing on the lush lawn.
In the main building not far away, Zhao Tiangan stood by the window and looked at the settlement with smoke outside the window, and a trace of worry appeared on his frowning brow.
He had never been so worried about the future of this settlement, nor had he ever been so confused about the future. However, at this moment, the feeling of not knowing where to go became stronger. The
fruits and beliefs brought by the believers solved most of the problems he faced, but the biggest problem was that he didn’t know where those people would take him.
His throat was slightly itchy, and Zhao Tiangan couldn’t help coughing into the handkerchief.
He moved the handkerchief away from his mouth, and a faint trace of blood came into his eyes, which made his heart tighten involuntarily.
”Damn it!”
He cursed a few words, hurriedly took out a box of pills from his pocket, knocked out two pills in his palm and threw them into his mouth, grabbed the cup on the table and drank them with warm water.
After a while, he slowly breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little better.
Recently, for some reason, his lungs had a little problem. At first, he took some medicine and it was fine, but the disease came back again and again, and now he coughed up blood.
He didn’t know why this happened, but coughing up blood was not a good sign.
At this time, there was a knock at the door.
Zhao Tiangan cleared his throat and put the handkerchief in his pocket.
”Come in.”
The door opened.
An old man with gray hair came in. His name was Ma Zhongxian, the housekeeper of Songguomu Farm and also the confidant of the owner.
Looking at Zhao Tiangan standing by the window, the old man nodded slightly and saluted, and said respectfully.
”Sir.”
Without much nonsense, Zhao Tiangan spoke immediately.
”Is there any news from Yanghe?”
Ma Zhongxian nodded.
”Just now he reported to me that they have purchased the weapons on the list, and the transport convoy is heading in our direction… But because of the snow on the mountain road, they were delayed for some time at the junction of the two provinces. I’m afraid it will take more days to arrive.”
Zhao Tian said irritably.
”Tell him to hurry up.”
Ma Zhongxian nodded respectfully.
”Yes.”
Zhao Tiangan glanced at the children playing outside the window, looked at the little girl sitting next to his daughter, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
In the beginning of December in previous years, Yang He, who went to Qingquanshui to sell autumn crops, should have returned, but this year he was more than a month late.
However, he was not worried that the merchant would run away with the money.
The guy’s precious daughter was still a hostage in his hands.
I believe he will make the right judgment and know what to take and what not to take.
Seeing that the old housekeeper had no intention of leaving, Zhao Tiangan continued to ask.
”Is there anything else?”
”Yes, there is one more thing…”
”Tell me.”
Ma Zhongxian hesitated for a moment and whispered.
”The apostle who went to Chen’ai Town to preach has not been heard from for three days, and the 41 militiamen he took with him have not returned.”
Zhao Tiangan frowned.
”Why did he take so long?”
Three days.
It’s enough to go back and forth twice.
Ma Zhongxian smiled bitterly and shook his head.
”I don’t know… My suggestion is that we’d better send someone over to see what the situation is over there.”
Clicking his tongue, Zhao Tiangan waved his hand impatiently.
”You go and arrange it.”
He didn’t like those charlatans very much.
But it was also a fact that he had to rely on those guys at the moment.
”As you command.”
Ma Zhongxian bowed slightly, and as he stepped out of the door, he closed it behind him.
Seeing the door close again, Zhao Tiangan, who could no longer hold back, covered his mouth with his right hand and coughed twice.
His palm felt hot, and his heart sank slightly. When he moved his hand away from his mouth, he saw a trace of dark red blood in his palm.
No matter how calm he was, he couldn’t help but feel a little flustered when he saw the blood.
Although he had supreme power in this settlement, he was only a mortal after all, and he couldn’t escape birth, aging, sickness and death.
”Tsk… Is it still not working?”
After hesitating for a while, he hurried back to his desk, opened the drawer, and took out a silver box.
When he opened the box, three emerald-colored fruits lay quietly inside.
These three fruits were gifts from the apostle named Zhang Zhengyang. They were said to be the purest “holy fruits” produced in the holy land, which could completely get rid of all the diseases in the world.
Of course, he didn’t believe the guy’s nonsense.
The remaining rationality told him that this was not a good thing.
Although the holy water could keep him awake, it also meant that his mind and even his life would be in the hands of others.
If it were normal, he would never eat this thing.
But at this moment, his physical condition seemed to no longer allow him to hesitate.
He was in his prime, how could he look tired like an old man.
This settlement – and even the entire wasteland – needed his strength. He still had a lot of things to do, so he couldn’t fall down here!
”If it’s just one…”
Zhao Tiangan comforted himself in his heart, took out the smallest emerald fruit, and carefully put it into his mouth.
The moment his lips and teeth touched, the sweetness flowed into his throat along the taste buds, and the honey wine that seemed to be poured into the depths of his soul made his mind dazed.
The comfort that followed instantly dispelled all the pain.
In his body, no matter what form of life it was, it reached a reconciliation under the influence of some unknown force.
More than that –
he felt healthier and stronger than ever before.
Hugging his shoulders with both hands, Zhao Tiangan suddenly laughed out loud.
”Hehe… Hahaha!”
The laughter became louder and louder, so much so that it was a little crazy.
So that’s it.
At this moment, he finally understood why those people couldn’t stop…
…
About 100 or 200 kilometers away from Jinhe City, six modified trucks broke down on the side of the road, and the top of the slope not far away was flashing orange-yellow gun flames.
More than 20 predators lay on the top of the slope, firing their automatic rifles, pouring fire from top to bottom.
The caravan guards were caught off guard and dodged away from the truck in a panic, rolling and crawling behind large rocks, and fighting back on the slope with limited cover.
Bullet shells fell to the ground with a clang clang clang. The predator, with a bullet belt wrapped around his shoulder and holding a machine gun in both hands, shouted excitedly to the leader next to him.
”Haha! We are going to get rich, boss!”
”Take it easy! Don’t damage the goods in the truck!”
Wang Youhu, wearing a fur hat, was excited and flushed. His two green bean-sized eyes stared at the convoy that was stranded on the roadside, with greed flashing in his eyes.
The goods on the six trucks were at least hundreds of guns and hundreds of thousands of bullets!
With this batch of arms, let alone those small villages, he dared to rob even Boss Zhao’s pine wood farm! It was no longer a dream for them, the “Hill Wolf” gang, to become bigger and stronger!
However–
they obviously picked the wrong opponent.
Just when they were shooting happily, a team of soldiers wearing black exoskeletons had already touched the hillside on their side. With
a short gunshot of “bang”, a string of blood mist exploded on the head of the predator holding the machine gun, and he lay on the ground without a sound.
Seeing this, the predator next to him was about to take over the machine gun. As soon as he stuck his head out of the bunker, another shot came at him.
Two people died in an instant.
The predator lying on the top of the slope finally came to his senses and turned his gun to look at the hillside on the flank. However, at the same time, a hail of bullets whizzed in, pressing them behind the bunker, unable to raise their heads.
He caught a glimpse of the shiny black exoskeleton, and a flash of fear flashed in Wang Youhu’s eyes. The greed in his heart disappeared, and he looked at his brothers and screamed.
”Damn it, retreat!”
K-10 “Iron Wall” heavy exoskeleton!
Why did the regular army of Boulder City come here? !
Without time to think about this question, he quickly abandoned the bunker and fled down the hillside behind him.
Seeing that the boss had run away, the younger brothers also abandoned their positions and fled into the forest like birds and beasts, leaving behind the precious machine gun.
The battle is over.
Seeing that the looters had all run away, Luo Yu did not chase them into the forest at the foot of the mountain, but walked to the side of the machine gun.
He kicked away the corpse lying on it, stared at the machine gun, and suddenly a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
”Wow, even the bandits are using Maxim.”
This thing looks a bit old.
It is probably the armament eliminated after the last wave.
After several equipment upgrades, the Alliance Army basically no longer uses this bulky water-cooled machine gun. Even the Maxim-II of Goblin Technology uses an air-cooled structure that imitates the MG42, and the caliber is increased from 7mm to 10mm.
As for this early Maxim-I, most of them were dealt with by the merchants in the wasteland.
Some less developed survivor settlements are still very interested in this small-caliber machine gun with cheap bullets, high rate of fire, and strong suppression effect.
As for how it got into the hands of the looters, it is unknown.
Maybe they robbed it themselves, or maybe a merchant sold it to them.
Seeing Luo Yu carrying a machine gun and a box of machine gun ammunition back to the convoy, a man in a leather jacket immediately came up and asked with concern.
”Are you okay?”
The name of this NPC is Wu Wenzhou, the leader of the caravan and also the subordinate of the commissioned employer.
”I’m fine, those people have already run away… Oh, right.”
Luo Yu threw the ammunition box and the Maxim in front of the NPC, and continued to speak concisely.
”Do you want to keep this thing?”
Wu Wenzhou was stunned when he heard this, obviously not keeping up with the thinking of the man in front of him.
Seeing that this person didn’t seem to be joking, he squatted down and fiddled with the machine gun for a while, then looked at the ammunition box again, and said hesitantly.
”It’s a little lacking in maintenance, but it can still be used… How about 600 silver coins?”
If he remembered correctly, the market price of the Maxim-II model was about 1,000 to 1,200 silver coins.
But this Maxim-I model has been discontinued, and the price on the black market may not be as high as the box of 7mm full-power bullets next to it.
Under normal circumstances, he couldn’t offer such a high price, 400 silver coins at most. But this guy just saved their lives, so he didn’t feel embarrassed to be stingy.
Hearing this offer, Luo Yu was delighted.
Six hundred!
Good guy!
This is more generous than a mosquito!
Being a mercenary is so profitable!
Inviting his men to throw the machine gun onto the truck, Wu Wenzhou shouted to his men behind him.
”Hurry up, everyone get ready to go!”
”After crossing the forest and hills in front, we can see the destination!”
”If you don’t want to spend the night outside, we’d better hurry up and get to Hope Town before dark. Otherwise, when it gets dark, those guys will be everywhere around!” After
quickly cleaning up the battlefield, the group continued on their way.
Looking at the forest shrouded in mist in the distance, thinking that Jinchuan Province was under his feet, Luo Yu’s heart surged.
I didn’t expect that one day, I would also stand at the forefront of the version.
Unable to resist the curiosity in his heart, he looked at the NPC next to him and asked.
”What kind of place is that pine cone farm?”
Wu Wenzhou, who was sitting next to him, said with a smile.
”It’s a big settlement… but it may not have as many buildings as Boulder City.”
”An ancient town?”
”A small town… that’s not the case.”
When he said this, Luo Yu clearly felt that the NPC’s eyes were a little complicated, and he seemed reluctant to talk about that place.
Even though it was his hometown.
”… It’s only a day or two away anyway, you’ll know when you get there.”
…
At the last moment when dusk fell completely, the convoy heading to the Pinewood Farm finally reached the edge of Hope Town.
At the same time, dozens of kilometers away in Jinhe City, a Viper transport plane dragged a light blue arc and quietly approached a quiet urban area.
The city seemed to be dead, and the quiet streets had no vitality. Every building was like a cemetery, and every window was like a standing grave.
Like Qingquan City, there are a large number of alien species active in the urban area here, but the difference is that there are no deadly mutant slime molds and mother nests, nor are there annual waves.
The Viper transport plane moved along the edge of the ruins of the high-rise building, moving forward silently, and finally stopped on the roof of an abandoned building.
Ye Shi, wearing a power armor, jumped out of the cabin and stepped on the dry concrete floor.
With the LD-50 carbine in his hand, he carefully checked every corner of the roof. After confirming that it was safe, he changed to the Gauss sniper rifle on his back, walked to the edge of the building, and crawled on the guardrail.
The landmark name of the mission coordinates on the pre-war map was the “Champion” Biopharmaceutical Research Institute.
This company seemed to be quite famous before the war. The “Champion” injection was their masterpiece, and the T-10 “Champion” power armor of the People’s Alliance Army before the war was also suspected to have an unclear relationship with this company.
The entire facility is divided into two floors, above ground and underground.
There are four hundred-story buildings on the ground, and each building has an entrance to the underground.
According to the intelligence of the academy, the 1,000 cubic meters of liquid helium-3 is in the backup power supply of the underground research facility, stored in 1L high-pressure gas cylinders. All
they had to do was sneak in and empty all the gas cylinders there.
The only problem was that the underground security facilities were still in operation, and there was no information about the underground facilities.
They didn’t know what was being studied there, nor did they know the security level there, or even whether any competitors had set their sights on the things there.
”We have arrived at the location. The mission coordinates are about 700 meters away from me. We are confirming the target situation…”
After skillfully attaching the helmet eyepiece to the sight, Ye Shi glanced at the building in the distance, and his face suddenly changed slightly.
”Fuck!”
The communication screen flashed with a hissing sound of electricity.
After a while, Lao Bai’s voice came.
”Ye Shi, what’s the situation over there?”
”Mutants! And not just one or two… There are at least hundreds of them that can be seen outside!”
The sight searched along the wall of the building, looking at the bunkers reinforced with concrete and iron sheets, Ye Shi cursed and said.
”Damn, these guys have built a nest up there!”
As the voice fell, the mutterings of teammates spread across the communication channel.
”Mutants?! What do those greenskins need helium-3 for?”
”Do they know how to do nuclear fusion?”
”Actually, there’s no need to know. As long as there’s a remaining nuclear fusion device… isn’t that what we did?”
At this time, Fang Chang’s voice came from the communication channel, interrupting everyone’s conversation.
”Team B has arrived at the location… There are unexpectedly a lot of people here. Although our firepower should have the upper hand, this place is too close to that ‘Qi’ tribe.”
”It’s not a good idea to let them know that we are targeting the same target. No matter what they are looking for here, it looks like they haven’t succeeded yet… Otherwise, they wouldn’t be patrolling here.”
Lao Bai: “Yeah, that makes sense.”
Looking at the green head in the center of the crosshairs, Ye Shi rubbed the trigger with his index finger and said unwillingly.
”Are we going to let it go today?”
Fang Chang said patiently.
”We don’t have enough manpower. Even if we force an attack, we need at least one group of people to help us contain the enemy’s reinforcements, or launch a feint attack on their lair.”
”Otherwise, even if we get in, those mutants will block the way out, and we will be dumbfounded.”
Lao Bai agreed with his point of view.
”At least the things we want are probably still inside, and there are suspected to be other things in addition to nuclear fuel… Anyway, let’s report to the manager first.”
”Okay…”
After taking a last look at the green head and the ugly face like a devil, Ye Shi resisted the urge to shoot and reluctantly put the gun away.
You’re lucky!
The mutant drooled at the corner of his mouth, and he snorted and didn’t know what he was thinking. He didn’t realize that he had walked through the gates of hell.
Turning back to the Viper helicopter, Ye Shi had just stepped into the cabin and was about to stand on it when a gunshot suddenly came from a distance, completely tearing the silence of the night.
Hearing that sound, he was immediately shocked.
What the hell? !
Didn’t we agree not to fight?!
(End of this chapter)
