Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 379 Conspiracy
On the other side, in the mountain city.

Chen Jian had just received a report from Huang Meng.

The news that "a group of slave traders was wiped out" didn't really stir any emotions in him. After all, in this wasteland world, everything was scarce, but the one thing that was abundant was the human trade.

Especially with monsters blocking transportation between towns, the human trade has become increasingly frequent.

At times, you have to admit that such human trade facilitated the exchange of people in the wasteland to some extent, allowing large towns to develop at a faster pace.

This has also greatly contributed to human survival.
-
Of course, this is not a reason for the existence of human trafficking.

It was merely a "despicable" choice made by humanity under duress.

Chen Jian had no intention of condemning this behavior; he simply coldly ordered its destruction.

However, the incident in Yaxi Town also made him see a new trend.

"The Cult of Machines is losing control of the town."

Chen Jian spoke to He Shuo:

"Especially in the core area of ​​the beast tide impact, and the main transit area."

"Just like Liangxi City before, most of the Mechanical God Cult's forces in various places chose to evacuate immediately."

"They migrated to other large cities, but abandoned the small towns that were actually the foundation of their existence."

"This is our chance."

"If this trend is ultimately confirmed, we could even gain a large population without any major conflict."

"And population is exactly what we need most right now."

"Avoid conflict and gain population."

"Then we can gain influence by working backwards through population."

"So, do you think this route is feasible?"

"of course."

He Shuo nodded without hesitation.

"But the premise is that the information Huang Meng conveys is accurate."

"And, to be honest, we need to wait."

“We need to wait for these people to be converted into slaves—only the population that is converted into slaves is the population we really need.”

"Their beliefs and their ideology will undergo a purge, which will greatly reduce the difficulty of our education."

"Of course, there are risks involved in doing this—mainly the risk of population loss."

Having said that much, Chen Jian understood what He Shuo meant.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke:
"So, just let it be."

"Don't deliberately guide it, and don't deliberately amplify this trend."

"In fact, we should try our best to curb this trend when necessary."

"clear."

He Shuo nodded solemnly, while Chen Jian turned and asked:
"Has Fuxi made any new discoveries in decoding the mountain city database?"

These past few days, he has been busy dealing with the reception of people in the mountain city, urban construction, and subsequent technological development issues. The most important work, theoretically "information decoding," has been temporarily put aside.

But of course, this work has never actually stopped.

It's just that he himself hasn't paid attention yet.

Upon hearing his words, Fuxi's voice immediately rang out in the command center.

"Decoding is 30% complete."

"As previously reported, we have gained control of some telemetry satellites, but have not yet gained control of navigation satellites."

"Based on current information, Chongqing does indeed have a history of using navigation satellites."

"But within three years, the navigation satellite lost contact, possibly due to satellite aging."

"If we want to restore it, we may need to launch a rocket to repair the navigation satellite."

"Then let's forget about it."

Chen Jian shook his head helplessly.

Rocket?

Forget it.

Every rocket launch is a major systemic project, and even in the golden age of humankind, it was not a simple matter.

Now?

How can you launch something when you can't even produce fuel?

What, are you really boiling water to wash coal?
Thinking of this, he continued to ask:

"Any other discoveries?"

"Yes. I've retrieved historical monitoring images from the mountain city remote sensing satellite."

“The image data shows that Chongqing was once subject to global satellite telemetry at a certain period of time, with a focus on key cities in other countries.”

"According to telemetry images, there are signs of human activity in most cities."

"This is consistent with our earlier predictions; it is impossible that we were the only survivors in the world."

of course.

Chen Jian thought to himself.

The cataclysmic disaster three hundred years ago destroyed all civilizations in the world equally, but it also left behind a spark for all civilizations equally.

These sparks will eventually continue; this is a resilience unique to humankind.
-
But here's the problem.

Are the levels of civilization development in other regions similar to ours?

"What I mean is, is the extent to which a civilization can be destroyed related to its physical location?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fuxi's voice rang out.

"Based on telemetry images, the impact and destructive power of a major catastrophe are unrelated to its physical location."

"It has no directionality and does not distinguish between directions."

"Understood"

The lack of directionality is actually a key clue.

With this crucial clue, the possibility of "cosmic rays" can be completely ruled out.

"What is the extent of civilization's recovery?"

Chen Jian continued to ask:

"Is there any civilization that has recovered to a relatively large and advanced level?"

"No."

Fuxi replied:
"We are the fastest."

"In fact, we should be the fastest."

"Because, without strong artificial intelligence and complete disaster recovery facilities, it is almost impossible to restore civilization with limited human resources."

"According to the latest telemetry images from four years ago, most areas with human activity have extremely small human settlements."

"The image analysis results did not reveal any large industrial equipment, long paved roads, or traces of large-scale modern weapon use."

"They are probably still in a very early stage."

"It's even possible that it will remain at this stage permanently."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Jian wanted to ask another question, but Fuxi continued:

"The Circular Facility should be the last joint action of all mankind in the world - the project was launched 20 years after the Great Cataclysm, when all mankind was at its strongest in terms of recovery momentum."

"The industrial facilities are still usable, and the knowledge transmission has not been completely destroyed."

"The original designers of the 'ring' were fundamental physicists who designed the device and broadcast it globally."

“Many other countries and other civilizations responded to their call.”

"But in reality, apart from the three circular facilities in China, there is no other circular facility in the world that has been truly completed – they are all only half-finished products."

"Or to be more precise, it is a kind of auxiliary device that does not have core functions."

"Even so, they still tried to start the device." "The final result is still undecoded."

The message ends here.

Chen Jian let out a heavy breath, then said:
"Then let's continue decoding."

"We need to get the final files before we can decide whether and how to activate the ring."

"This is very important to us."

"clear."

Fuxi gave a brief reply, and then fell silent again.

Chen Jian, meanwhile, looked thoughtfully at his feet.

There, deep underground, lies a device that could potentially change the fate of humanity.

But now, this equipment has been forced into silence.

Nobody knows when it will start up again.

Some even believe that it was humanity's last chance.

But Chen Jian knew that would definitely not be the last time.
On the other side, in Yaxi Town.

After the smoke cleared, all the armed personnel who attempted to resist in Yaxi Town had been killed.

The rest were the wise ones who wisely laid down their weapons and gave up the struggle.

All the slaves in the pen had been released. Huang Meng directed the mercenaries accompanying him to plunder the entire Liangxi Town. Only after opening the warehouses of the slave traders did they finally find enough clothes to distribute to each "slave".

The problem of being unclothed was finally solved, and after putting on clothes, these slaves seemed to have finally gotten rid of their slave status.

Everyone stood up and watched silently as the team appeared as if it had "fallen from the sky."

Perhaps in their minds, what they saw was a "miracle".

Just minutes before, this army, seemingly forged of steel, had swept away the arrogant slave traders with overwhelming force.

The gunfire and smoke rose suddenly and fell just as quickly.

All that remained on the ground were the corpses of the sinners, yet they stood there, without even the slightest "scratches".

That wasn't a battle at all.

It doesn't even qualify as "hunting".

They casually crushed their enemies, then with unparalleled ease, wiped the dust off their shoes.
The gazes of the crowd were filled with reverence, even fanatical fascination.

Huang Meng noticed the crowd's reaction, and his brows furrowed slightly.

He shook his head and turned to Huang Xing, asking:
"What to do with these people?"

"Do you have any men left to send? Send a small team to escort them back to Jinling City?"

"The journey isn't long; it's less than 200 kilometers round trip."

"If all goes well, the people we sent out will be able to return and catch up with us in a few days."

"I'm afraid not."

Huang Xing shook his head and replied:
"Company commander, escorting such a large group won't be easy."

"If we really want to escort them, we need at least 20 people, and all of them must be combat personnel."

“I don’t have that many people available—and even if I could, it wouldn’t be the best option for us.”

"There will be many more settlements like this along our route. Do we have to escort them back and forth every time?"

"The progress will be severely slowed down, which conflicts with our plans."

indeed
Huang Meng nodded thoughtfully.

In fact, according to the original plan, "personnel escort" was not even considered.

According to the plan, the infiltration corps might indeed "liberate" some towns during the march.

However, most of those towns should be fully functional, self-sufficient settlements with a certain degree of migration capability.

But in reality, with the slave trade rampant, such "slave camps" were the mainstream.

The social structure of the entire town has been completely shattered, and the survivors have been deprived of their agency.

They need help.

Let alone long-distance migration, even waiting in one place could lead to the annihilation of these people.

At this moment, Huang Meng truly understood the difficulty of making the decision.

Saving people from suffering is not simply about eliminating evil people.

Even the most wicked person still bears responsibility towards their slaves.

And after the villains are eliminated, this responsibility also falls on their own shoulders.

After a long silence, Huang Meng spoke:
"Then there's only one last option left."

"Take them away."

"If we continue forward, we will reach Xuancheng."

"Leave them in Xuancheng and we'll move on."

Upon hearing Huang Meng's words, Huang Xing's expression changed.

Xuancheng?

Xuancheng is currently still under the control of the Cult of the Machine God.

Is handing these people over to them any different from what the slave traders did?
If the information provided by those slave traders is accurate, these people will most likely be transferred to various locations by the Cult of Mechanics, either to workshops or used as serfs in towns.

Thinking of this, he spoke:
"If all else fails, I'll arrange the escort."

“We cannot hand these people over to the Cult of Machines.”

"This is a one-way street for them, and for us..."

"Do not."

Huang Meng's eyes suddenly lit up.

"We should hand them over to the Cult of Machines."

"This is the choice that maximizes short-term profits, and it's also the only choice that ensures their survival."

"Moreover, this does us no loss."

"why?"

Huang Xing looked at Huang Meng with a puzzled expression, then frowned and asked:
"Didn't we rescue them to expand our own population?"

"We can't exactly tell the Mechanicus of Xuancheng that these people are just temporarily staying in their city, can we?"

"of course."

Huang Meng let out a heavy sigh.

"That's what we'll say."

"These people are just temporarily staying in their city."

"When we return after completing our mission, they will come with us and go back to Jinling New City."

"Captain, do you really think the Cult of Machine God is so easy to talk to?"

Huang Xing was both amused and exasperated.

He originally wanted to say "naive," but judging from Huang Meng's expression, it seemed he wasn't joking.

So he could only swallow the mockery that was about to come out of his mouth and seriously prepared to say a few more words of advice.

But at this moment, Huang Meng raised his hand, indicating that he didn't need to say anything more.

Immediately afterwards, a mysterious smile appeared on Huang Meng's face.

"Since the commander isn't here, we have to use our own brains."

"To be honest, if Commander He Shuo were here, he would probably have already come up with a complete solution."

"I estimate that his proposal will not be much different from mine."

"Didn't you just say that the Cult of the Machine God isn't so easy to talk to?"

"Do you really think my Type 30A tank's howitzer is so easy to talk to?"

(End of this chapter)