Apocalypse Rebirth: 3000 million won at the beginning

Chapter 2148 New Tungsten Mine Discovered!

Bangdang—— Bangdang——

The small carts on the underground tracks make noise as they pass by.

The echo reverberated through the deep passageway.

On each small cart sat planting workers, like Zhang Qian, returning to the headquarters base after their work.

Some carts had three or four people sitting on them, while others had only one person sitting on them.

Zhang Qian looked at a cart ahead of him where several people were chatting. He was wearing headphones and listening to music, so he couldn't hear their conversation, but from their lip movements, he could roughly guess that they were going to get some drinks later.
He doesn't like drinking or socializing.

Before the apocalypse, he was a very independent person; he didn't like going out, going to the supermarket, or going to the park.
He likes to be alone, quietly.

For over forty years, even in the end times, he remained the same.

It takes about half an hour to return to the headquarters from the plantation outside City 1 by trolley in the underground passage.

This half hour is his most relaxing time because no one bothers him during this time.

Listening to the songs on his MP3 player, time flew by, and half an hour later, he arrived at the exit of Edge City Station.

The exit of the passageway looked just like a subway exit before the apocalypse. He jumped off the stroller and patted the mud off his pants.

Following the flow of people up the steps, we emerged from the underground passage.

As soon as I stepped out of the underground passage, the surrounding environment became noisy, and the commercial district of the buffer city in the distance was brightly lit.

Although the sky was darkening, the dim yellow streetlights at the exit of the station lit up.

He lowered his head and remained silent, then took out a pack of cigarettes produced by the Dazhangshu Cigarette Factory from his pocket, lit one, and walked towards the bus stop.

On the way, he heard people talking behind him.

"Hey, I heard our leader went to the oil city, and he even took the train there."

"I'd really like to visit the oil city, but I've been too busy lately."

"I wonder when those fortresses around the headquarters will be finished. When I passed Fortress 7 just now, the dust there was so bad it choked me to death."

The twelve fortresses surrounding the headquarters are located about ten kilometers away from the headquarters in the camphor tree.

Their workplace was located 15 kilometers northwest of the headquarters, and on their way back to the headquarters, they happened to pass by Fortress No. 7.

All twelve fortresses need to be connected underground to the headquarters base.

To save on underground construction costs, the designers shared the already excavated underground tunnels of Plantations 1, 2, and 3 outside the city with the five fortresses. In this way, half of the construction work for the twelve fortresses could be saved.

However, since the fortress is not yet completed, every time we pass through that section of the road, we encounter construction teams transporting materials, which inevitably causes some dust.

Although Zhang Qian was wearing headphones, he could still hear the conversation of the people behind him, which was quite loud.

But he wasn't interested in what his colleagues behind him were talking about.

After walking two hundred meters, I arrived at the bus stop.

A gentle evening breeze was blowing, and perhaps because of the approaching sea fog, the temperature hadn't been as hot as before.

The temperature at night can reach 26 or 27 degrees Celsius, which is just right, neither too hot nor too cold.

He stood in the waiting area of ​​the platform smoking, and soon the No. 67 bus, with its red light flashing, pulled up in front of the platform.

Quickly throw the cigarette butt on the ground and stomp it out.

They lined up and boarded the bus.

Drop~
He swiped his points card and 0.02 points were deducted.

As a mid-level agronomist and a level 4 staff member in the Dazhangshu Agricultural Department, he earns 300 points per month.

Their agricultural workers are different from the construction workers; the agricultural workers are scattered, so they are not provided with meals.

Therefore, they will receive more points.

He currently lives in a four-person room in Zone B, which is the second tier. The rent is 9 points per month, and he spends 1.5 points per day on food, for a total of 45 points per month.

A month's worth of commuting costs 1.2 points, and water and electricity costs 2 points.

Some miscellaneous expenses are worth about 30 points, such as occasionally buying a couple of clothes, taking a bath at the public bathhouse, or eating something nice.
On average, he spends about 90 points per month and can save 210 points per month.

Having lived in the big camphor tree for several years, he has now accumulated more than 3300 points on his points card.

His salary wasn't this high before. It was only after he leveled up this year, and with the recent increase in salaries at the camphor tree, that he was able to earn 10 points a day.

3300 points.

Even if he resigns from his job at the Ministry of Agriculture now and maintains his current comfortable standard of living, he could live comfortably for three years without doing anything.

If he were frugal and ate only tortillas every day, living in the worst level 3 housing, 3300 points would be enough for him to live comfortably for ten years.

Zhang Qian was single and didn't have to support a family. He didn't gamble, didn't like drinking, and didn't have many expenses. He just smoked occasionally, so he lived a very comfortable life and was able to accumulate quite a few points.

“Not bad.” He stepped into the electric bus and saw that there were still seats available.

I quickly grabbed an empty seat, one by the window.

He likes to sit by the window, listening to music and watching the scenery outside, which makes him feel free.

"Are you coming up? Hurry up!" The bus driver urged, seeing several people still smoking on the platform.

The people on the platform quickly threw away their cigarette butts and ran up.

After seeing them get on, the driver complained irritably:

"If you delay again next time, I'm just driving off. I need to meet my deadline, and it's rush hour now."

The plantation workers repeatedly clasped their hands in apology.

Click~
The driver pressed a button, and the electric bus doors slowly closed.

start up.

The vehicle swayed and bumped, and after driving less than two kilometers, it stopped again.

This time, the workers who came up were from the Edge City Industrial Zone. There were some factory workers and some construction workers wearing construction work clothes.

The border city industrial zone covers a vast area, reaching 10,000 mu.

Construction has been ongoing for the past few months. Some heavy industrial factories in the buffer city are gradually relocating here, while others, although not relocating, are opening branch plants here to increase their production capacity.

The factories here have been under construction for a long time, and the completed factories have been put into use one after another, which is why you can see factory workers and construction workers boarding buses at the same time.

After this group of people got on, the No. 67 bus became much more crowded.

The air was filled with various smells of sweat, as well as the odor of synthetic fibers.

The various smells mingled together, and the crowded atmosphere made Zhang Qian stick his head out the window.

But the sounds from the bus still came through:

"Your steel mill is producing quite fast lately. Have you introduced any new equipment?"

"Yes, a batch of new equipment has been introduced recently. It's not just our steel plant; many other factories have also introduced new equipment. Hasn't your factory acquired any?"

"We've also added some, but they've all gone to the No. 1 factory in the buffer city. We haven't had our turn yet."

"Then just wait and see. I heard that a new tungsten mine has recently been discovered, and they're currently hiring with pretty good pay. Do you want to switch jobs?"

"Forget it, I'm doing just fine at my current factory. Besides, it's too much trouble to go to work outside the city and only be able to come back every week."

"alright."

Ganzhou's terrain is mountainous and hilly. Before the apocalypse, Ganzhou was the place with the world's largest production and reserves of rare earth minerals.

This area produces various non-ferrous metal ores, with tungsten ore production being particularly staggering.

Before the end of the world, Ganzhou was known as the "World Tungsten Capital," forming a complete industrial chain from mining to cemented carbide production.

Furthermore, Jiangxi Province accounts for 70% of China's tungsten reserves and 60% of the world's. Recently, mutated zombies discovered during the sea fog disaster, including King Kong zombies, have been found to be quite effective against these mutated zombies, according to practical tests conducted by Xiao Jun and the Judge.

Before the apocalypse, most bullets were ordinary lead bullets, and the bullets produced by the camphor tree were also ordinary lead bullets.

Tungsten steel lead bullets failed to gain widespread use due to their high cost.

However, after Xiao Jun and his team discovered that tungsten steel bullets had an effect on mutated zombies, Dazhangshu focused on finding tungsten mines and vigorously developed the tungsten steel industry.

The discovery of the tungsten mine has eliminated any worries about the production of tungsten steel bullets in Dazhangshu.

This also prepares for the subsequent sea fog disaster and the attack of the base by sea zombies.

Zhang Qian changed buses at one stop in the edge city, and then after entering the buffer city, he switched to line H36, which took him directly to the commercial district.

By the time he got off the bus and walked to the entertainment center in the commercial district, it was already 7:30.

It took him a full hour to finally arrive at his usual restaurant from the plantation outside City 1.

As usual, he walked to a seat near the window in the fast food noodle shop and looked at the bustling crowd outside.

"A bowl of vegetarian noodles, with a poached egg," he said to the approaching clerk.

The clerk, holding a card reader, politely said:
"A large bowl costs 3 points, a small bowl costs 2 points. Would you like a large bowl or a small bowl?"

"A large bowl," Zhang Qian replied.

"Okay, a large bowl of plain noodles is three points, and a fried egg is three points, for a total of six points."

One fried egg costs as much as 12 tortillas.

luxury!

Zhang Qian took out a points card from his pocket and handed it to him. The clerk skillfully inserted the card into the card reader.

"Please enter your password."

Zhang Qian assists with input.

drip~
A slip of paper was printed out of the card reader, and the clerk returned the slip of paper and the points card to Zhang Qian.

"Please wait a moment. It is currently the evening rush hour for dining, and you may need to wait for 15 minutes."

"Ah."

Zhang Qian put the points number card back into his pocket and then put the MP3 earphones into his ears.

However, after switching to a different song, he realized he had heard it countless times.

He switched to another song, one he had heard before.

He listened to several songs in succession.

He sighed helplessly, "Looks like I'll have to go to the electronics building to download new songs again."

Suddenly, he saw someone on the street holding a cell phone and wearing headphones, just like him.

He looked at the phone in the man's hand and felt a little tempted.

Over the past six months, a large-scale search operation has been carried out, resulting in the collection of a vast amount of various supplies, including a large number of electronic products, from various bases.

Before the apocalypse, electronic products were ubiquitous.

After the apocalypse, most survivors were not interested in electronic products that could not be turned on. They could neither eat nor use them, and there was no way to charge them, so no one looked for such things.

So after launching the large-scale search operation, a great many electronic products were found.

99% of the electronic products are unusable, but some of the components in some of these products are still functional.

A massive influx of electronic waste products into the facility.
In addition, all bases of the Great Camphor Tree faction have electricity, and the price of electricity is relatively cheap.

Furthermore, with the development of the big camphor tree area, the living standards of many people there have improved.

Entertainment options are incredibly limited compared to before the apocalypse.

As a result, the demand for electronic products has surged.
Ever since.
There are many electronics repair shops in the oil city, the headquarters base of the camphor tree, and even in the northern border.

They specialize in disassembling unusable electronic products and assembling the useful parts into a usable electronic product.

Due to the influx of electronic products into the Dazhangshu commercial district, the prices of electronic products throughout Dazhangshu are getting lower and lower.

He bought the MP3 player in his hand two years ago. He had saved up points for a long time and spent a full 20 points to buy it, but at that time there weren't many electronic products in the headquarters, so it was relatively expensive.

Now, you can buy an MP3 player at the headquarters in Dazhangshu for just 7 points.

Even a regular mobile phone only requires 100 points.

However, a laptop is quite expensive, requiring 500 points.

He saved up 3300 points over four years. Taking out 100 points to buy a mobile phone seems like a good idea.
Seeing the person outside listening to music on their phone, he became even more tempted.

If he buys an assembled phone, even one with only 128GB of memory, he can store dozens of movies, thousands of songs, or several TV series.

He doesn't like taking baths, going to brothels, or drinking.

Before the apocalypse, he enjoyed listening to music, reading novels, or watching TV series and movies.

He just couldn't afford a cell phone before, so he could only afford an MP3 player to listen to music.

Now I suddenly realize that I've accumulated so many points. It seems pretty good to use some of them to do something that makes me happy.

Thinking about this, his desire to buy a mobile phone grew even stronger.

They even started calculating how many points they would need to download some novels and movies from the electronic archive later.

Downloading movies and novels from the electronic archives at the headquarters in Dazhangshu costs money.

He was sometimes amazed that the Big Camphor Tree Archives could preserve so much electronic data.

That's very comprehensive.

Just as he was lost in thought, the shop assistant came over with a bowl of noodles.

Your noodles are here!

Zhang Qian snapped out of his daze and looked at the bowl of plain noodles on the table. A few specks of oil floated on the noodles, along with a little bit of scallion and a sugar-coated poached egg.

The aroma of the poached eggs is irresistible.

Gululu~
His stomach growled.

So hungry.

He quickly picked up his chopsticks, took a mouthful of plain noodles, and stuffed it into his mouth.

The aroma of oil and noodles made him close his eyes in satisfaction.

He took another small bite of the fried egg, and sizzled...
It smells so good!
Those of them living in the end times are most lacking in resources.

The corn tortillas, which are about the size of your face, are filling, but not very filling.

Because there is too little oil and water in the stomach.

He's reluctant to buy meat, but he can afford to eat a fried egg occasionally.

Indulge.

Today's meal was a kind of indulgence for him; it cost six points and a large portion of his salary for the day.

If this happened before the apocalypse, it would be equivalent to an ordinary wage earner.

Earning 200 yuan a day, after get off work I would go to a small restaurant, order two side dishes, and drink a bottle of Niulanshan liquor. That would be about it.

Indulge in a little luxury.

(End of this chapter)