Chapter 113 (1/2)

Translator: _Min_ Editor: Lis_

Jiang Chen was lying on a chair beside the swimming pool, enjoying the last rays of the summer afternoon.

Although he was eager to return to the other side to tell Sun Jiao that he was safe, the interdimensional bracelet was on cool down; there was nothing he could do about it, so he rested.

The weather was becoming chillier, and it wouldn’t be long before fall arrived.

Thinking about it now, it had to be close to winter time in the apocalypse.

Because of the radiation dust, winter in the apocalypse world came earlier than it did in the modern world. Going by what Sun Jiao said, usually by mid-October, winter would come to w.a.n.ghai City—and it would rightly be called a nightmare.

In one month’s time, the temperatures would drastically drop to subzero with unnatural snow coating the city in an unhealthy white. Despite this, compared to the first few years, it was getting better. Based on doc.u.mentations, during the initial years after the nuclear war, the entire world remained frozen in a state of nuclear winter. Only winter, no summer.

During that time, the mutants chose to hibernate or migrate to warmer areas such as abandoned nuclear facilities or geothermal wells.

The only ones unaffected by the harsh temperatures were zombies. Their bodies did not possess enough water to be frozen, but due to the reduced sunlight, their sleep times were also lengthened.

Jiang Chen was deep in thought as he stared at the chilled orange juice placed on the table.

It was necessary to have enough food, clothing, and fuel for the winter, but these were not difficult for him to procure. The coming season would not be too bad for the Fishbone Base.

There was obviously enough food, and winter clothing more effective than down clothes were sold in Sixth Street. Fuel could be subst.i.tuted by electricity, but overall, the levels of power generated and consumed would decrease in the winter since with the outside temperature already at subzero, the fridge system in the bas.e.m.e.nt could be shut down.

What worried him most was the combat power of the base.

From what he gathered during the battle with the mutated humans, the weakness of the Fishbone Base was finally exposed.

Ample money, but still too weak.

With their power armors, they could steamroll through most survivor groups, but if they wished to expand, their opponents were not limited to small groups. w.a.n.ghai City had so many forces to begin with—what about outside of the city? In the country? And what about the unknown mutants?

If they didn’t have the support of heavy weaponry, they would instantly be at a disadvantage upon encountering a military force of mutated humans.

Even more detrimental was the fact that there was no way to replace power armors. This time, four of them had been busted while the remaining were damaged. Despite eliminating the mutated humans, in the end, it was a terrible trade for Fishbone Base.

He did not expect a group of mutated humans to appear out of nowhere. After realizing the Huizhong Mercenaries were in trouble, he had been ready to take advantage of the situation. But upon finis.h.i.+ng off the mercenary group, the new opponents were not friendly and immediately opened fire.

From the start, there had been no chance of a peaceful resolution between normal humans and mutated humans. He grasped the gla.s.s of juice and chewed on the straw, deliberating as he gazed at Ayesha’s body floating in the water.

They lacked heavy weapons.

Fishbone Base was too dependent on Sixth Street who was likely unwilling to sell heavy weaponry to them. At most, they would offer a heavy machine gun or rocket launcher. The only reason they sold them the high-energy vacuum bombs was because they were ineffective in most situations—useless against zombies and easily intercepted by laser weapons.

These items were limited to begin with since the production facilities were all but destroyed during the war. Weapons like tactical nukes and concentrated laser bombs were all raided from battlefields and half-destroyed military warehouses. Typically, possessing these sort of super weapons reflected the force of a survival camp.

While it was important for Fishbone Base to possess its own firearm production line, they had to also think of ways to develop heavy weaponry. What gave Jiang Chen a headache was that he possessed the technology but not the production capability.

Excluding production equipment, the two limiting factors to Fishbone Base’s growth were raw materials and population size.

Mining was impractical in the apocalypse. All of the sources near the surface were emptied. The major mining hubs on small sub-planets and moons had been blown into debris.

And though they did purchase some construction materials from Sixth Street, after this crusade, their own production supplies would have become scarce, so who would be willing to sell to him?

If he wanted to develop the industry, he had to improve waste recycling first.

Because of the rapid advancement in material science, refining matter with page-long names was no mean feat. Jiang Chen knew little about the subject, but he did hear from Zhao Chenwu that 35% of Sixth Street’s industrial production was based on “waste recycling” because although organic materials could solve some needs, bullets, bombs, and armors all depended on metal.

As for the matter of population….

Even if they didn’t have a complete production line, if they modified some equipment, they could partially create it by hand. This, however, required an excessive amount of labor. The spider tank, for example, required tens of thousands of parts to be a.s.sembled. And to use the small population of Fishbone Base to develop military tech…. Zhao Chenwu’s military factory alone had more workers.

Could he produce some of the less complex parts in the modern world before moving them to the apocalypse? They had plenty of mining resources, and even if they didn’t have the best skills, he could at least acquire some simple production equipment….

Think about it, Jiang Chen wryly smiled and shook his head to give up on the idea. It was too dangerous.

It was not practical in this country. Even if the workers didn’t understand the purpose behind the spare parts, a factory without a stated purpose would very soon catch someone’s attention. And if anyone happened to find out that he possessed military technology….

The scenario was simply too beautiful to imagine.

Perhaps overseas? Except Jiang Chen was of the mind that all crows in the world were of the same color. If they chose to follow their const.i.tutions and laws, there was a chance that the country would not take action. But if it involved a giant of the military technology field—a ma.s.sive conglomerate that came into prominence after World War II—they would not pa.s.s this opportunity. At this time, the country was willing to keep one eye open, but that was only until the military technology was on the brink of falling into the hands of “their people.”

It was such a waste if he could not utilize the rich resources of the modern world.

At that moment, Ayesha burst from the water. Shaking her wet hair, she cast a pleasant smile in Jiang Chen’s direction.

Instantly, his eyes light up.

[Urg, it was not because of that….]

Island!

“Fu*k, why didn’t I think of it before?” Jiang Chen slapped his head with a humorless smile. The only thing the apocalypse lacked was food, but in this world, it could be obtained almost anywhere. And if work was hard to do domestically, then the situation would be different on a small, developing island.

If he could simultaneously have a base in the modern world, it would greatly benefit the development in the apocalypse! There was no need to worry about resources and labor in the modern world so long as he could control a small neutral country far from international regulations.

His heart began to pump at the thought.

For a long time now, he had been searching for an option to fall back on.