657 Victorious (1/2)
”Finally going home.”
On top of AS Order's steel deck, gazing at the rising sun from the edge of the apocalypse, Jiang Chen was eager to return.
He had been away for two and a half months, which was far longer than the originally-planned one month journey due to various troublesome problems. Of course, the rewards from this journey were incredible. Based on valuations from Sixth Street Bank analysts, this battle contributed at least five million credit points to NAC's economy.
But he didn't want to think about the losses and gains; he only wanted to enjoy this beautiful view.
”The weather is quite nice today.” Sun Xiaorou came up from behind him. She gently tucked her messy wind-swept hair behind her ears. ”There's no radiation dust; we just see pure blue and white… this is the sky's original color.”
The rolling clouds were like fresh-picked cotton. Like waves, they swirled around the mountain range. The Order sailing between them was just like a small boat.
In contrast with the pristine blue sky, below the steel airship were ruins and shambles, broken highways and tree-covered skyscrapers, as well as occasional flames…
”How big is our territory now?” Glancing down from the edge of the airship, Jiang Chen abruptly asked.
”From the Sixth Street to Hucheng Federation, we have around 110 thousand square kilometers of area under control,” Sun Xiaorou gently said.
Because Sun Xiaorou often helped her sister with taking care of affairs, she knew bits and pieces of information. There were lots of NAC inspection stations in Suhang Province, and some NAC outposts were also established to provide supplies and protect traveling merchants and local survivors.
On the other hand, Jiang Chen, the boss, didn't know how big his territory was at all.
”Just that much?” Jiang Chen muttered.
In almost two years, they only occupied around one-hundredth of the Huxia Region, not to mention the entire Pac Pacific Area.
Sun Xiaorou rolled her eyes at his greedy comment and started to giggle.
”We're doing very well. Even with 110 thousand square kilometers of land, only less than 10 thousand square kilometers are developed; zombies and mutants are present in the other areas. Civilizing the land is far harder than invasion.”
”That's true…” Jiang Chen sighed.
Limited population growth was always the shackle limiting NAC's growth. Even with an expansive territory, invading the land was futile without enough people to build on it.
But without utilizing the strengths of both worlds, when the Harmony invaded, he didn't think he would have any odds of winning. One hundred years meant a lifetime for normal people; it meant the entire world to them. But for a civilization, one hundred years was just a tiny slice of time.
Jiang Chen took out the thumb-sized glass bottle and carefully examined it between his fingers.
The serum with an orange hue cast an irregular sheen. This genetic password that would make all the great powers envious was like a poison…
Sun Xiaorou got closer to Jiang Chen and gently whispered into his ear.
”Don't feel so rushed.”
”Feel so rushed?”
”About your hometown.”
Jiang Chen took a second to process that before a smile emerged on his face. He tousled Sun Xiaorou's head.
”You're like the bug in my stomach.”