Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 68 Blazing
Linhai City, headquarters of the Fengmang Mercenary Group, interrogation room.

As soon as Chu Ningyan and her group returned to Linhai City, the investigation began immediately.

She heard Harry's father roar angrily at the board meeting, saying that he must catch the mysterious killer.

Qiu Shan argued that Xunlong's people were behind the scheme, causing Fengmang to suffer a major blow.

The metal instrument was pressed against her temple. She pulled herself together, closed her eyes, and let the faint electric current probe into the depths of her memory.

The results came back quickly: investigators found nothing unusual in her memory.

She really didn't know anything.

She simply found cat meat disgusting and didn't want to participate in the so-called victory celebration banquet, so she returned to Linhai City ahead of schedule.

Therefore, Chu Ningyan was cleared of suspicion.

As she walked out of the interrogation room, she could still hear Captain Qiu Shan slamming his fist on the table next door.

"I know nothing! Use your brains! If I really wanted him dead, would I choose this time? I have far more methods than you can imagine!"
"I didn't say I wanted him dead, I was just hypothesizing, hypothesizing, understand? I'm not agitated, I'm furious! You damn censors!"

……

The next day, Zhuang Fan and Hua Xin did not go out to scavenge, but stayed at the base to recuperate.

Mao Shanwang arrived at the recycling station right on time, pulling a huge convoy.

"The business outside the city is finally finished."

He jumped off the giant house crab, his round body causing the ground to tremble slightly.

"I will come in person every three days from now on. I hope you have prepared enough goods."

He suddenly stopped talking.

The entire basement was piled high with equipment.

Especially the Baron in the middle, which made his round belly sway slightly.

"This is a baron? Where did you dig him up from?!" King Maoshan stared wide-eyed at Zhuang Fan.

"Never mind, it's not for sale anyway."

"What, you're not selling?"

Mao Shanwang scoffed, "Do you know how much this one would sell for on the black market?"

"The core is broken."

"It's broken? It's broken."

Mao Shanwang felt it was a pity.

"It's not that it can't be sold for money; a few hundred thousand is still possible. We can find some unfortunate people to take over."

"We won't sell it anymore. We'll just tinker with it ourselves and make sure it's usable."

Mao Shanwang did not try to persuade him further.

He glanced around at the goods and clicked his tongue in amazement: "How did your efficiency become so high?"

Zhuang Fan smiled. A large part of the credit for this goes to the Jetta team.

Mao Shanwang summoned more than a dozen masked men in black and three huge warehouse trucks via communicator.

The men in black all wore masks to cover their faces, and they smelled strongly of floral perfume.

Hua Xin's cat nose twitched, and she instantly understood that they were also cat people, probably from out of town.

The inventory process lasted for nearly an hour.

"A total of 80,000 gold coins." King Maoshan handed over a heavy money bag.

Zhuang Fan's savings instantly reached 90,000.

Without the slightest hesitation, he began a large-scale purchase.

Ten ultrafiltration reverse osmosis membranes, used for filtering purified water, each costing two hundred gold coins, totaling two thousand.

Sixty fog lights, each costing one hundred and fifty gold coins, totaling nine thousand.

A 1000kW diesel generator, plus 1000 liters of diesel fuel, totaling 13,000 gold coins.

There are still 66,000 gold coins left.

After purchasing a large quantity of bullets, food, and raw materials, he had only 50,000 gold coins left.

"Old Cat, I'm short-staffed here. Can you recommend someone reliable and trustworthy?"

"If they're reliable, then slaves are definitely the most reliable."

Mao Shanwang fanned himself with a palm leaf fan, saying, "There's a collar around my neck that keeps me from betraying you, but it'll cost a bit more."

Gage couldn't help but touch his neck.

"No slaves."

"Oh, then let me look into it for you." Mao Shanwang's tone was somewhat perfunctory.

Zhuang Fan was speechless: "In that case, I will give you a thousand gold coins for every person you recommend."

"Hey, this whole mess is messed up, I'll take care of it."

After the Maoshanwang caravan left, Zhuang Fan took stock of the existing funds.

He needs to set aside 20,000 for the Jetta team, leaving him with 30,000 in cash.

He then took out another ten thousand gold coins and distributed them directly to Watson and his sister: "These are yours."

Hua Sheng refused on the spot: "There are many places where money is needed in the early stages. I have no worries about food and clothing now, so I really don't need it."

Hua Xin's attitude was also very firm, shaking her head vigorously.

Ultimately, at Zhuang Fan's insistence, the brother and sister each received one thousand gold coins.

Gage shared the same sentiment: "Boss, ensuring my material supply is more important than giving me money."

Zhuang Fan also gave him a thousand gold coins as a phased dividend.

In fact, they had all seen all of Zhuang Fan's efforts.

Since the recycling station upgraded its equipment, it has no worries about electricity, and its food and clothing are above standard, resulting in a significant improvement in living standards. However, all of this is difficult to achieve simply by scavenging garbage; it also relies on Zhuang Fan's ability to remove the rotten fog to fetch a good price.

Therefore, clinging to Zhuang Fan's coattails and living with dignity in the wasteland is far more worthwhile than worrying about money.

After several days of effort, Gage began to strengthen the base's defenses.

On each of the two watchtowers stands a cyborg holding a rifle, standing guard 24 hours a day.

Two modified automatic machine guns have been added at the entrance, forming a preliminary crossfire network.

However, the repair progress of "Baron" remains slow.

Gage's radical modification strategy was to completely dismantle the core, remove the AI-assisted module, and replace it with manual operation, which would save a lot of maintenance costs.

Zhuang Fan agreed.

Afterwards, Gage presented a long list of purchases, filled with complex parts, which made Zhuang Fan frown.
Gyroscope stabilizer, plasma manifold, tungsten carbide servo motor, cryogenic coolant circulation pump, fourth-generation neural interface...

"Hey, wait."

Zhuang Fan's gaze slid to the end of the list, a puzzled look on his face: "Why is there a cherry blossom pink coating?"

Gage didn't say anything, but just glanced at Hua Xin.

The latter, however, had eyes that gleamed:

"Brother Ya, I picked it myself! Cherry blossom pink is sure to be beautiful, trust me!"

"."

After thinking it over for a while, Zhuang Fan decisively deleted the color and changed it to metallic gray.

"rustic"

Zhuang Fan ignored the cat's complaint and sent the list to Mao Shanwang.

He saw Chu Ningyan's contact information, hesitated for a moment, and then sent a string of Chinese characters: How is the situation?

There was no response from the other end.

After a while, the panel vibrated, and Mao Shanwang sent a quote, totaling 30,000 gold coins.

Zhuang Fan felt a pang of heartache for a few seconds, but still gritted his teeth and placed the order.

This money has to be spent.

He then explained the Jetta team to everyone.

"It's a very simple partnership. They're responsible for picking up the trash, we're responsible for selling it, and then we split the profits proportionally. You'll get used to it."

Hua Xin was a little puzzled: "I noticed that some of the mice are afraid of me and tremble when they see me."

"Isn't this normal?"

Zhuang Fan picked up a crowbar and other tools and put them into the warehouse truck: "Put away the cat tail, we're about to leave."

Watson also came along this time, making the scavenging team officially three people, while Gage was responsible for guarding the house.

He passed the trust test of the three people completely.

This time, Zhuang Fan chose a more remote suburb, as far away from the city as possible.

If it weren't for the fact that Mao Shanwang's trade route was nearby, he would have even considered moving the recycling station to a more remote location.

It was early summer, and the heat was unbearable; every breath taken outdoors felt scorching.

Watson wiped the sweat from his face and couldn't help but complain, "This damn weather is weird."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhuang Fan noticed something was wrong.

It's not hot.

It is a strange change in the surrounding environment.

The smog and eerie fog that shrouded the sky seemed to have been wiped away by an invisible giant hand, disappearing without warning.

The gray clouds vanished without a trace.

The fog in the wild had thinned to its lowest point, and the world had never been so clear.

A blazing sun hangs high in the sky, pouring down its most scorching rays without reservation, and the earth begins to scorch.

Warning bells rang in Zhuang Fan's mind.

He turned his head sharply and looked at the plain in the distance.

Those small pools of acid rain were now hissing and bubbling as they evaporated at a visible rate.

Several mutated giant rats suddenly froze, their fur curled up and charred black, then their skin tore open and smoke rose from their wounds.

"squeak--!"

They let out short, pitiful cries, frantically digging at the ground as they darted into underground burrows.

Almost simultaneously, the Wasteland Traveler on Zhuang Fan and his group's wrists emitted a sharp and piercing alarm.

The thermometer on the screen climbed from 60 degrees to 90 degrees, and finally easily broke through the 100-degree mark.

The three rushed toward a ruin and hid in the shadow of a huge broken wall.

On the horizon, the air was violently distorted, and the light and heat from afar formed a giant wall that was sweeping in at the speed of a sandstorm.

Wherever the giant wall passed, the ground was scorched red, and everything was burning. In some areas with intense light, the temperature even reached a terrifying 180 degrees Celsius.

The outdoor scenery is like an oven.

The skin of the homeless people scavenging turned bright red within seconds and quickly blistered and burst.

They cried out and searched for shelter.

In just over ten seconds, many people collapsed, their bodies convulsing on the scalding ground, before finally becoming motionless.

Hua Sheng stared intently at the wilderness scene, forcing out a few words through clenched teeth:

"The scorched earth has arrived."

(End of this chapter)