It's none of my business. I'm just a lunch box seller.

Although the amount of gold in the mint was far less than what they claimed, the more than 40 tons of gold made the "Poor Agents" duo suddenly feel a little bit of the pleasure of suddenly becoming rich.

"You two should split it equally." Boss Cheng shrugged. "There's too little gold. I'm not very interested."

"I haven't finished processing my gold yet." Rogers shrugged, "Too much money is also a problem."

The captain and the boss were not being modest, but they really had no interest in the "only" few dozen tons of gold. Moreover, the two found better loot in the mint, which turned out to be a commemorative coin that had not yet been issued before the war - the Great War Armistice Commemoration: 2066-2077!

Boss Cheng picked up a commemorative coin with a pattern on only one side from the stamping machine assembly line and threw it to Rogers.

"You know what? Once the history behind this half coin is made public, the pre-war history that is most widely circulated in the wasteland is likely to be completely overturned. They did not always have a huge advantage in the war as circulated in the wasteland history, nor did they continue to fight until the second before the nuclear war broke out. Otherwise, the name of this commemorative coin should not be "Armistice Commemoration", but "Victory Day Commemoration."

"Haha, the political game is always full of truth and falsehood." Rogers flicked the coin into the air and caught it as it fell. "After all, someone has to take the blame, and a scapegoat is indispensable. Didn't your political textbook also say that history always serves the ruling class?"

"Can you please stop reading nonsense? Your current thoughts are very dangerous, do you know that? Captain America is showing signs of becoming a communist! Aren't you afraid that you will be assassinated by some mysterious organization after being exposed?"

Barton and Natasha, who were carrying gold bars nearby, shouted at the two men, "Please, we heard it all. Besides, even if you two don't want the gold, can you come over and give me a hand?"

With the help of two "abnormal humans" Boss Cheng and Rogers, Natasha and Patton's speed in moving gold suddenly increased.

But since it was a favor, of course it would be good to give and take. So Boss Cheng asked Natasha and Barton to help him tinker with the stamping machine in the mint, hoping to stamp the pattern on the back half of the commemorative coin.

After all, stamping a coin requires many steps. A sincere boss and a team leader who can't operate the machine can't finish stamping the pattern on the back of the commemorative coin even if they work until late at night.

As for the process of stamping the coins, I won't go into detail here. It was just that they worked hard for several hours and finally stamped out less than 300 commemorative coins that were barely qualified.

"Okay, that's all. I think this is the biggest gain after a busy day today!"

But Natasha didn't understand why Boss Cheng was so obsessed with these coins that had lost all their value.

However, Boss Cheng insisted that the value of these coins was far higher than the 30 tons of gold in the mint, and even higher than the hundreds of tons he picked up in the Federal Reserve Bank!

"Because this coin is enough to prove that two groups of the smartest people in the world once tried their best to save the world from being destroyed by nuclear weapons."

0215 From Captain to Vehicle Commander

Many people probably want to know what happened to Lao Zhao and his friends after they returned to their motherland. You might think that the seven of them would be regarded as national heroes by the people and would give speeches around the country like other heroes.

Although after the seven people finished their work report, the military leaders of Xin Chang'an held a grander and more solemn welcome ceremony for them. But in fact, the news of their return was always limited to a very small military and political circle, and their heroic deeds were never publicized.

This is not someone trying to suppress their achievements, or intend to suppress or persecute them. On the contrary, the high-level management of Xin Changan made such a low-key arrangement precisely to protect these seven people and prevent them from being harassed or even persecuted by extreme anti-nuclear forces in the private sector!

It has been two hundred years since the nuclear war, and the times have completely changed. Nuclear weapons are no longer useful. Although people are not opposed to nuclear technology, they are extremely opposed to the weaponization of nuclear technology.

Besides, one kind of rice feeds a hundred kinds of people. Moreover, many people cannot even have enough food every day! Some extreme anti-nuclear activists even believe that if there were no nuclear weapons, the world would never be what it is today. Therefore, nuclear technology is the devil's technology, and nuclear weapons are the devil's weapons.

Anyone who has participated in, or even launched, a nuclear bomb is the embodiment of the devil.

However, these people only saw the world destroyed by nuclear bombs, but did not remember that under the influence of nuclear balance, the world had maintained a relatively peaceful period of about a hundred years. If there had not been a nuclear balance established after the 20s, then humans would have certainly beaten all of humanity into dog heads by the end of the 50s.

As a result, the news of the heroes' return was covered up. They returned silently, retired silently, and took the train to the old Iron Dome underground city silently.

No one forced them. Lao Zhao and his friends took the initiative to apply for retirement at the celebration banquet. Their reason was simple: the army of this era was no longer suitable for old antiques like them. Rather than staying in the army and being idle and a burden, it would be better to retire and return to the local area to continue to contribute to local construction.

After all, their original intention is to return to the motherland and build the motherland.

Although the situation of the motherland is "a little bit" better than they expected, it does not mean that the motherland no longer needs construction.

Even though they took off the old military uniforms that they had worn for more than 200 years, their original intentions have never changed!

In the underground city of the old iron dome, in the railway staff canteen, there was a long line in front of a window called "Pre-war Taste". Feng Baolai, wearing a clean white chef's uniform, stood in front of the stove, shaking the simple ingredients in the wok high. Another corpse ghost stood behind the meal window, asking the railway staff in the long line which dish they wanted.

The remaining six people on the Yangtze River 031 submarine were sitting in a compartment at the edge of the cafeteria, entertaining the two distinguished guests who had taken them home.

"No, I'm just asking!" Boss Cheng pointed at the small window where Feng Baolai was cooking and asked, "Why do I feel like his sales method is suspected of plagiarism?"

Cheng Guodong, the former first mate and now chief steward, smiled and told Boss Cheng: "It was after seeing your restaurant that Feng Dabo applied to open a new window in the cafeteria to sell boxed lunches."

Wang Kangmei, a former chief engineer and current on-board mechanic, added: "Because he is the only chef in the entire Iron Dome who has lived from before the war to the present, everyone wants to taste what the dishes before the nuclear war tasted like, so his business is so good."

"As long as he doesn't fry the chili peppers," complained Wang Kangmei's deputy Wang Baoxiu.

Hong Guosheng, who used to be a sonar operator and now works as a safety officer, said, "But last time when we were eating chili peppers, you took the most."

Zhao Dezhu, a former radar operator who switched to onboard communications, joked: "He is a sonar operator. It doesn't matter whether he has eyes or not, right?"

"Can someone with poor eyesight be a safety officer?" Boss Cheng glanced at Hong Guosheng, then at Zhao Weiguo, "I think your job arrangement is a bit hasty!"

"Don't listen to their nonsense!" Zhao Weiguo, former captain of the Yangtze River 031 strategic nuclear submarine and current train conductor, laughed and said, "These guys have become more and more unbridled since they retired from the army. But Hong Guosheng's eyesight is still very reliable, after all, he is not blind yet!"

"Hey! Captain!"

Hong Guosheng hit his boss with a stick.

That’s right, except for Feng Dabo, the six people who have depended on each other on the submarine for more than 200 years are still together.

In fact, Feng Dabo could also join them, but he would only move with Zhao Weiguo's train when they were running passenger trains. After all, when running freight trains, there was no need for a cook on the train.

Moreover, Feng Da Naotou, like Boss Cheng, is a person who pursues cooking. Although he wants to continue to advance and retreat together with his old brothers, Lao Zhao tells him to follow his true wishes and do what he wants to do. As a result, a lunch box window named "Pre-War Taste" was added to the railway staff canteen of Lao Tieqiong.

"Oh? Why do you want to come to Old Iron Dome?"

Lao Zhao leaned his back against the soft chair in the compartment, choosing a sitting position that made him as relaxed as possible. He smiled and said to Zhou Zhezhi who asked the question, "Because the commander assured us that in the whole country, only here in the old Iron Dome will we, the zombies, not be looked down upon or discriminated against."

Zhou Zhezhi could tell that when Lao Zhao said "I won't be looked down upon or discriminated against", his tone was full of helplessness and lamentation.

Indeed, discrimination against ghouls does not only exist in the wasteland across the Pacific. Here, discrimination against ghouls also exists. The only difference is that the ghouls living here will not be dragged into the streets and shot by looters or gangsters.

Even though the underground cities have never admitted to the problem of discrimination against ghouls, this problem is just like the solar crisis in 2024, which is unrecognized but real.

Only in the old Iron Dome and the new Iron Dome, as well as the dungeons in the northern regions, there is basically no discrimination against ghouls. In particular, there is no systematic discrimination!

Because in the old Iron Dome, every corpse ghost may be a model worker with all kinds of honors. And behind these model workers, there is a history that represents the hard work and tenacious struggle of the old Iron Dome and the people!

95% of the zombies here have been transformed from normal humans into ugly zombies due to excessive radiation damage caused by working in the radiation zone.

Countless workers were turned into piles of rotten flesh with bones broken into pieces due to radiation sickness before they were transformed into ghouls. Many ghouls were also degenerated into crazy ghouls after being exposed to excessive radiation for a long time. Only a few lucky ones were "fortunate" enough to keep their sanity intact after being transformed into ghouls.

But it was precisely because of the struggles and risks these people had taken that the Iron Dome became the first underground city to resume industrial production after the nuclear war. And this recovery cycle took less than 30 years!

In less than 30 years, a complete system of basic industries was rebuilt on the contaminated land after the nuclear war! The sacrifices involved were so great that it is hard for outsiders to imagine.

Later, the old iron dome was connected with the underground cities in Tongliao, Fuxin, Anshan, Liaoyuan, Songyuan, Jixi, Hegang, Hulin and other places. All the underground cities worked together and it took only 20 years to restore the railway network in Northeast China! Complete the transportation network between the underground cities

Just like 150 years ago, these underground cities once again began to support the reconstruction and resumption of production in underground cities across the country. Fortunately, the old Iron Dome did not decline this time, and even became more prosperous because of the absence of the so-called "financial regulation" and the demand for heavy industrial products in underground cities everywhere.

"We are not treated differently here." Old Zhao became happier and happier as he spoke. His ugly face was gradually replaced by a full smile. "But if you insist that there is no difference, that's impossible. At least in the selection of train crew members, we ghouls have more priority than normal people!"

"Because the train needs to pass through a heavy radiation area?" asked Boss Cheng, who guessed the answer.

"That's right. The train needs to pass through many areas where radiation exceeds the standard." Wang Kangmei, the on-board mechanic, explained: "Although the train's outer shell has been treated with radiation protection, if the train breaks down in the wilderness, we can only rely on us, the zombies who are not afraid of radiation, to put on radiation protection suits and crawl under the wheels full of radiation to move forward."

"But! We didn't catch up when the working conditions were so bad!"

"Yes, the radioactive contamination in the heavily polluted areas along the railway has been neutralized!"

"It can even stop the half-life of atoms. This technology is even more exciting than before the war!"

"It's just expensive. Apart from controlling farmland pollution, this kind of treatment is only available along the railway line."

Boss Cheng saw these people talking to each other, and it was very lively. The boss also smiled and asked them: "You know a lot. It seems that the 200 years in the submarine has not degraded your social skills."

"Because there is a labor skills training school for retired soldiers here." Lao Zhao told Boss Cheng: "In order to ensure that the wages we have saved for more than 200 years can be paid normally, we must go to the training school to receive work skills training after work."

"Only if you successfully pass the training assessment."

"Our 200 years of wages and retirement benefits."

“Only then can it be distributed smoothly!”

"By then, we can get three and a half times the salary of others every month!"

"One is the salary for working in the train crew."

"Both were issued from 200 years of savings."

"The other half is our retirement allowance."

"Oh, I never expected that!" Boss Cheng looked at the six people at the table and joked, "I never thought that seven big landlords and capitalists would gather together at a small dining table!"

"Hey hey hey! Here comes the real dish!"

At this time, Feng Baolai, who had been busy in the kitchen for a long time, finally showed up, holding a plate of strange black, olive-shaped rapeseed in his hand.

"Come, come, come, try the famous nutritious dish of Lao Tieqiong - fried female cockroaches with seeds!"

Zhou Zhezhi glared at Boss Cheng viciously.

Boss Cheng tried in vain to explain: "I really don't know anything!"

0216 The boss's luck

"What the hell! Today is the beginning of winter? This is called November?"

November 2024, 11, Thursday. Jiachen Year of the Dragon, October 7, Beginning of Winter. Mostly sunny from day to night, southeast wind, wind force 3 to 4. Highest temperature 21 degrees Celsius, lowest temperature 5 degrees Celsius.

To sum it up in one sentence: In the middle of winter, the people in Hualin are numbed by the heat!

The heating company in Hualin City almost shut down the boiler.

Fortunately, Boss Cheng's restaurant and school are self-heated, so the temperature outside the window is not over 20 degrees and inside the window is not over 30 degrees.

Boss Cheng, who was only wearing a single shirt and pants, had to open the main door of the store in the rainy town of Poxiao, so that the cold current that the Rain Country was suffering from could be poured into the restaurant. The temperature in the store dropped from nearly 30 degrees to less than 10 degrees.

"Close the door! It's cold!" yelled Denise, shivering in the cold wind.

After finally cooling down, Boss Cheng decisively closed the shop and moved back to the main entrance of Hualin City, letting the sunshine of Hualin City warm up the shop. Then the boss returned to the kitchen and complained while cutting vegetables: "They say global warming, global warming, but this winter in Hualin City is too warm!"

"Didn't Zhou Er say a few days ago that the sun was a little brighter than last year?"

"I remember it was 3 in 100,000, right?" said Denise, who was peeling an eggplant.

"That boss, I don't quite understand. Why is the sun getting brighter and brighter when it's almost burned out?"

Boss Cheng thought about it and told Brother Biao: "Just think of the sun as a person. Before a person dies, he must have a last burst of life and burn out the last of his life. In fact, the sun is similar, but now it is just a sign before the last burst of life."

Although Mr. Cheng's explanation is very popular, the facts are similar to Mr. Cheng's explanation. As the amount of hydrogen available for fusion in the sun decreases, the core of the star will slowly collapse and heat up. Nuclear fusion begins to occur in the hydrogen-rich gas layer outside the core of the star. This is why the temperature on the surface of the sun is getting higher and higher.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the outward migration of solar nuclear fusion has just begun. In addition, countries around the world are trying their best to mislead the causes of global climate anomalies. Scholars and experts who are aware of the situation have also been ordered to keep silent, so ordinary people have not yet linked global warming with the heat of the sun.

"But what if it gets warmer by another 0.4 parts per 100,000 next year? How long can we keep it a secret over the years? Five years or ten years?"

"What happens if you can't keep it secret anymore?" Denise asked, "What happens if you can't keep it secret anymore?"

"If they can no longer hide it, the five gangsters will suppress the whole world. Then a civil war will break out among the five gangsters. After the civil war, the United Earth Government will probably be established."

"You are right. After suppressing the whole world, the five major member states may indeed have a civil war. But this civil war may be a political war, a public opinion war, or even an information war, but it will definitely not be a hot war."

Zhou Zhe walked into the restaurant from the back door and continued as he walked towards the cold drink display cabinet, "The teacher just sent a message saying that the five major council members have signed an internal agreement. From now on, there will be basically no chance of a large-scale conflict between the five gangsters."

After saying that, he added: "At least...it is true for the top three people."

"This should be considered good news, right?" asked Boss Cheng.

"It should be considered." Zhou Zhe answered directly: "As long as the three constants can't fight, the world can basically not be destroyed."

"In other words, the five gangsters are ready to push forward the plan with all their strength?"

"That's right. We will go all out starting next year. After all..." Zhou Zhe looked out the window at the clear, bright autumn sky and sighed, "A 300,000th increase in intensity is already scary. People who know the news are afraid that we will be roasted to death by the sun before we set out to escape... I mean, why don't you have any salt soda in your refrigerator?"

"Nonsense, who drinks salty soda in the middle of winter!"

But Zhou Zhezhi pointed to the sunny day outside and asked Boss Cheng very seriously: "You call this winter?"

Afterwards, everyone in the restaurant laughed and the restaurant was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

Looking at the worlds that the hotel leads to, only the temperature in Hualin City is abnormal. Mondstadt is like spring all year round, so it is naturally not included in the statistics of "abnormal climate". Boss Cheng also plans to go to the forest in Mondstadt to pick some free fruits after cutting vegetables. After all, the free "wax apples" that appear from time to time are also a small feature of the Hedian Hotel.

The Rain Country was being hit by a cold wave, and not a single person could be seen in the town. In 2012, pedestrians on the streets of Manhattan were already wearing thick windbreakers.

It was already snowing lightly in Hogsmeade in the Scottish Highlands, but because business in this place was so bad, even if it turned into a snowstorm, it would have nothing to do with Boss Cheng.

Boston's latitude is similar to Tianjin's, and the climate is similar, so the Boston wasteland in November is just like Tianjin, with cold wind blowing into people's collars.

After the UNSC got the blueprints of the dungeon, the pit outside Boss Cheng's door suddenly became a valuable technology verification site. Engineers have already used the original dungeon map and combined it with the super load-bearing structure of the apocalyptic world. They are preparing to use steel instead of hard titanium alloy to build a super-small dungeon for technology verification in the pit in front of Boss Cheng's store.

Anyway, in the past week or so, the pit outside the store has been solidifying the ground, welding steel frames, and pouring sloppy concrete. But because it is a technical verification project, the construction is always on and off, and there is no trace of any "infrastructure maniac" at all.

When it was noon, the workers in the pit returned to Boss Cheng for lunch. The East Coast Brotherhood of Steel delegation also came to Boss Cheng on the "Flying Bird". However, the leader of the Brotherhood delegation was not Elder Maxson, but the "Wasteland Legend" Long Wande.

However, Long Wande is no longer lonely or wandering, and after receiving the armistice commemorative coin from Boss Cheng, he has a clear goal to strive for. So now everyone prefers to call him Little James, or his nickname - Dalmatian.

It is said that 300 years ago there was an animated film called "101 Dalmatians", and the "101" in the title corresponds to the 101 shelter where little James was. The so-called "dalmatians" are large dogs covered with black spots, and their breed name is "Dalmatians".