If he hadn't been sure that he had taken the right map, Wulun 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, squinting his eyes and looking 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 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 of 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 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 full of 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.
Dimitri couldn't help but look at them with a higher eye.
"How do we contact them?"
"Use this."
Uren answered briefly and took out a signal gun and fired a shot into the sky.
The red flare rose.
Not long after, a dozen figures appeared in front of them.
These people were wearing animal skins, and many of them were even shirtless, looking uncivilized, but in their hands, without exception, they were holding civilized weapons - automatic or bolt-action rifles.
Watching the group of soldiers wearing black exoskeletons with vigilance, 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 looters 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 met, the group continued on their way.
The centurion walked in front to lead 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, Dimiter immediately retracted his previous evaluation of these "allies".
The sanitation here is extremely poor, just like a garbage dump.
The street is filled with the stench of decay, corpses and excrement are dumped randomly on the street, and rats as big as fists shuttle freely through the street, as if they regard this place as their home.
Dimiter lowered his voice and whispered in the communication channel.
"The plague may have broken out here."
Uren's eyes roamed the street and replied softly.
"This is obvious."
The centurion who led the way smiled flatteringly after noticing Uren's eyes lingering on the corner of the wall.
"Don't worry, it's just a few rats... We will 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 outstanding in the entire county.
From the perspective of concealment, it is definitely not a good idea to use this place 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 the perspective of defense, this is the most suitable choice.
On the first floor of the department store, Uren and Dimiter met the highest commander here-Lion Fang.
"Welcome! Friends from afar! I am Lion Fang, the centurion of the Fang clan. You can treat this place as your home."
Lion Fang came up with a look of surprise, opened his arms and wanted to hug his ally, but after seeing that the other party was indifferent, he changed to a handshake.
Uren stretched out his hand and shook his hand.
"Uren, the apostle of the Holy Son."
"I wish the old man good health. Please say hello to him for me..." Feeling a hint of hostility from the eyes of the man in front of him, Lion Fang quickly stopped his awkward greetings and coughed to end the topic quickly, "Then, Lord Apostle, may I ask why you have come here from afar?"
Not caring about his offense, now is not the time to make trouble, Wuren said concisely.
"The blue jacket in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City took our things, I need you to help us get them back."
"Took...your things? From the Death Coast? 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 live target with a stronger defense. If it appears on the battlefield, just let us deal with it."
Hearing this, Lion Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief and a comfortable smile appeared on his face.
"Great, my friend, although we caught a few monsters and brown bears with the equipment you provided, but when it comes to power armor... I'm really not sure."
"What you need to worry about is not the power armor, but these blue coats have planes."
"Plane?!"
The group of blue coats have planes? !
Did Boulder City sell them the planes?
Lion Fang's eyes were full of 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 his teeth, looking at 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 that 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 a plague outbreak here recently. The rats are gnawing everywhere like crazy. We even have to put our shoes in the closet when we sleep now... We don't have the extra energy to continue to go south."
Uren'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!" Uren shook his head, "We can't wait that long! Those blue coats are absorbing the refugees nearby. Once 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 predators 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?
Joke.
What's there to be afraid of a group of refugees.
He admitted that the fighting power of the wolf coats was indeed not weak, but their number was limited after all.
In just a few months, the predators who came to surrender to them had doubled the size of the Fang Clan.
When autumn comes, their tens of thousands of troops will march together, and a mouthful of spit from each person can 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? Eat grass?"
"What's more, the black snake has been planted in their hands. Those people are not something I can deal with alone. If you are anxious, just go to our leader. Lord Jin Ya is in the city of Xizhou. It is his order that I am stationed here. Only he has the right to command me!"
The negotiation failed.
Lion Fang rejected the suggestion of the Torch Church apostles to go south immediately without hesitation. He will 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 orders in their hands, Uren knew that he might have to meet their leader to convince them to continue to move south.
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 made a virtual stroke 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 are fast, we should be there before tomorrow evening."
Raising his foot to step on a rat that slipped to his feet, Uren rubbed the sole of his shoe in disgust, and frowned.
This group of damn rats...
Where did they come from?
...
Where did these rats come from?
He 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 many rats and cockroaches in the wasteland, and any corner that hides dirt can become a breeding ground for them.
The unattended corpses and the lack of sufficient natural enemies are the root causes of the plague.
Compared with the mutant cockroaches, mice, as mammals, are slightly inferior in reproduction, but they have the upper hand in both intelligence and combat power, and soon became the real masters of Xizhou City.
They move in groups, gnawing everything they encounter, whether on the surface or underground, and the predators and survivors have no way to deal with them.
It is not that he has not tried to restrain his subordinates and rectify the discipline of the team, but he found that what he thought was completely unworkable.
First of all, the language is different.
Secondly, mice are cunning by nature and have no loyalty at all.
Even those brothers who were defeated by him did not always listen to his orders, and it was common for them to disobey his orders in secret.
The wood-burning generator was humming, and the thread ends next to it had been repaired several times.
These damn mice always gnaw on the wires while he's sleeping. Several of them were electrocuted to death, but they didn't learn their lesson. Fortunately, the radio and the hibernation chamber couldn't be damaged, otherwise it would have been a huge loss.
The most loyal ones are the female rats.
With enough food and living space under the "artificial intervention" of Qiangrensuan, the rats lined up to reproduce and expand the size of the population crazily.
But their affectionate eyes made Qiangrensuan a little scared.
Thank God!
It doesn't have that thing yet.
This is the first time he has thought that it's good to be without it...
"Respected, respected administrator... The plague in Xizhou City is 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 has been reporting the situation in Xizhou City to the rear, he selectively concealed the plague whether on the forum or on the phone.
He is not afraid of other NPCs, but the administrator is the administrator after all.
This guy has the authority of GM in the setting and can impose physical penalties on illegal game behaviors.
Who wouldn't be panicked?
And who knows what the punishment logic of AI is.
A Guang emphasized to them more than once on the forum that there are many problems with the server in the closed beta stage. There is no manual appeal channel for the GM to cancel the closed beta qualification, and the recovered closed beta qualification will 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."
Qiangren Suonan 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 Qiangren Suonan's vivid description, Chu Guang was a little bit amused.
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.
"...Administrator?" Seeing that there was no sound on the other end of the phone, Qiangren Suonan's heart became 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 felt like 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 did not restrain your subordinates. The indiscriminate plague had a serious impact on the resistance movement of local survivors."
Qiangren Suonan said with a frustrated look.
"You can't blame me for this. I tried to make an appointment with them. 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?"
Ugh.
I was scared to death.
That's it.
Qiangren Suonan breathed a sigh of relief.
It didn't matter whether he was praised or not. He couldn't understand what the NPC said anyway, so it didn't affect the task reward or his pretense on the forum.
And it sounded like he had triggered a hidden task?
He didn't feel disappointed at all, but became excited instead, and swore excitedly.
"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!"
Chu Guang's embarrassed toes almost dug through the ground.
But in order to take care of the game experience of the players, he finally held back, cooperated with this guy's performance, and finished 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 predators."
"Can these things be done?"
Qiang Ren Su Nan 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.
Qiang Ren Su Nan breathed a sigh of relief, and his originally frowning face was now full of happiness.
It has increased!
It has definitely increased!
Just based on the tone of the manager's last few words, the favorability must have increased!
The 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, Qiangrensunan, 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, Qiangrensunan has his own way.
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, alarming the enemy will only alert them.
When the war begins, the planes and artillery of the New Alliance will give these predators a big surprise.
Unaware of what is happening under his feet, Lion Fang is further reinforcing the position of Qingshi County with the cooperation of staff officer Bernie.
They hid the fixed machine guns on the roof of the building, 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 has staff officers from the Legion in his team.
Although Lion Fang did not think that those blue coats would dare to come and cause trouble for him, the tragic death of Black Snake made him learn a lesson thoroughly.
Even if there is only a 1% chance, he will strangle it in the cradle!
...
Early April.
A full week has passed since the high-level meeting of the Northern Expedition plan.
Dawn City is like a running pump, absorbing resources from all directions along the trade routes.
Steel and aluminum are the biggest needs.
Not only are they needed to manufacture light and heavy equipment, but the railway being laid is a black hole that devours resources, and it is almost impossible to see the bottom.
One steel plant 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 and instructed the Logistics Department to establish the First Steel Plant of the New Alliance.
This is also the first steel plant in the New Alliance that is operated by NPCs and collectively controlled by the Alliance.
It is different from the No. 81 Plant, which mainly produces military equipment.
The steel produced by the First Steel Plant is mainly for infrastructure construction. Some of its equipment is processed by machine tools, and some is purchased from Giant Stone City. The technical personnel include professional life players and unemployed engineers hired from Giant Stone City.
As for the A3 aviation aluminum produced by Bachi Aluminum Factory, most of them are supplied to the production line of "E-Mule", and the remaining production capacity is basically taken up by List Factory for the production of a more sturdy KV-1 exoskeleton improvement.
Before the war begins, Chu Guang needs enough trucks to deliver supplies and troops to the front line, and use KV-1 exoskeleton to ensure the mobility and combat capability of players.
Before the end of the month, the number of players can reach 2500+, but there are only about 1500 professional combat players who really go to 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 electric 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 related to more than just one production line. From steel mills to chemical plants, few industrial chains 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.
Just at this time, the president of the Merchants' Union, Old Charlie, brought bad news to Chu Guang...
"Although you may have noticed something from the inventory data, I still have to tell you just in case that 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."
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 price of copper in Honghe Town has increased by 20%, and the price of sulfur 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 out of stock.
Chu Guang had actually expected this situation before.
The tickets issued by the Honghe Town Mine are essentially futures. This trading model is not only for their convenience to buy goods from other survivors, but also for their own coordination of the mine's production capacity.
In other words, they will not produce a bunch of ores that are not used at all and store them in inventory, but will decide the production of the next quarter based on the tickets issued in the previous quarter.
If someone suddenly needs a large amount of spot goods, the price will increase naturally.
However...
The speed of this price increase is really a bit sudden.
The Northern Expedition plan has only been launched for a week. Even if the demand grows faster, Chu Guang doesn't believe that the warehouse in Honghe Town doesn't even have this little reserve.
Chu Guang has reason to suspect that someone probably guessed something through some information and played a hoarding game with him.
Old Charlie obviously guessed what might be going on and said obscurely.
"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 own 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 information of Qingshi County. The Qingshi Geological Park in the mountainous area on the west side was formerly the mining area of Qingshi Mining Company. The porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit below it is rich in reserves, estimated to be at least one million tons."
Charlie showed a surprised expression on his face.
"Has it never been mined there?"
"It has been mined, but only a small part has been mined. According to the information, 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, with an internship base and a geological research institute next to it."
Smiling faintly, Chu Guang 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 resource problem 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."