Chapter 257 Expedition to Honghe Town! (1/2)

It's nine o'clock sharp.

The caravan set off on time.

Black smoke spewed out from the steep exhaust pipes, and ten tracked trucks loaded with munitions started at once, heading towards the eastern wasteland.

According to the plan, after leaving the long-term farm, the caravan will travel eastward along the inter-provincial highway, pass the abandoned highway town and battery factory, change its route to the southeast, draw a V-shaped fold line on the map, and bypass In the area controlled by the Bone Chewing Tribe, after arriving at the Garbage City area, head north to Red River Town.

Since the truck was loaded with goods, people could only walk beside the truck.

But there's really no difference.

Even if there were seats in the car, no one wanted to sit there.

After getting off the inter-provincial highway, going eastward, you can't find a complete road at all. Even if the off-road performance of the crawler tracks is good, it can't stand up to the roughness of the road itself.

In addition, the trucks were all carrying munitions. The drivers did not dare to drive too fast, so they crawled on the ground in low gear.

Even if these shells are safe under normal circumstances, who can guarantee that every bump will be normal?

If you don't want to cause big problems, you can only be careful.

In addition to the bumps on the road, the biggest threat is the birds, beasts, insects and snakes lurking in the forests and mire.

Whether it is a burly monster or a multi-legged beast that runs fast on the ground, it can pose a substantial threat to the caravan guards who mainly use light weapons.

In addition to these "dangerous species", there are also flies as big as a basin and mosquitoes with long arms. These mutated creatures that seem to have little fighting power should not be taken lightly.

Some red-headed and green-headed flies have even evolved the ability to attack from a distance - they can spray white eggs as thick as a thumb. This kind of insect eggs usually carry a large number of germs. Although the direct damage is not high, if it happens to hit a wound, the wound may become inflamed or maggots may develop in the wound. If not treated in time, it is easy to lose your life.

Only God knows how many dangers are hidden in this wasteland.

"...After passing the snowy field in front, there is an uninhabited wilderness." Walking beside the convoy, Mole picked up the telescope and looked southeast. "It was probably a small town before, but The houses there were basically turned into concrete waste, and only a half-collapsed opera house remained... We encountered a death claw there before, and there were bones on the ground that were not sure whether they were predators or mercenaries. "

The snow has almost melted, leaving only a thin layer on the ground.

Many places have simply turned into puddles, and a few green shoots have emerged from the mud.

Life on this planet is far more tenacious than people imagine.

"Will we meet?" Elf King Fugui said eagerly.

"How could we encounter it? We are going to deliver goods, not hunting." Mole put down the telescope. "We will avoid that place in a while, unless the beast comes looking for it actively, but this possibility is very small."

The Death Claw's IQ is much stronger than that of monsters, and its sense of danger is much stronger than that of ordinary aliens.

A deathclaw rarely picks out a large group of enemies unless it is trespassing on its territory.

There is a high probability that both sides will get along well.

Within a kilometer radius of the Deathclaw lair, there is a high probability that you will not encounter particularly dangerous carnivorous alien species.

After hearing that they would not meet, several nearby players had expressions of regret on their faces.

Irena: "Speaking of which, I haven't eaten Death Claw meat yet... Of course, it's not that I want to eat it, I'm just curious about what it tastes like."

The big-eyed debtor smiled: "Shi Chui, the wasteland gourmet, is indeed Lao Na!"

Irena: "Get out of here."

Debt looked at the sky with big eyes, looked at the moving clouds in the sky, and sighed.

"One hundred kilometers...how long does it take to walk?"

Is there no such thing as a portal?

Or you can rush on your way with just one click.

Mole opened the VM and looked at the map, thought for a while and said.

"If we didn't have to take a detour, we might have arrived in two or three days. After this detour, it would probably take us five or six days."

The boy at the construction site protested with Brick: "Why don't we just kill him? I think it's absolutely fine!"

Debt-eyed: "+1, they are just a group of defeated generals."

Glancing at the two confident people, they couldn't help but complain.

"Okay, we are here to deliver the goods, not to deliver the heads."

There was not just one thousand-man team on the opposite side, but three in total. The total number was probably five or six thousand. Even if there were five to six thousand chickens standing in a row, it would still take a while to kill them, not to mention those five to six thousand bandits with guns.

These marauders came all the way from the central part of the River Valley Province, and they may not have awakened ten-captains, let alone legion commanders. If these people don't reveal their flaws, the survivors of Red River Town may still have to defend their territory. Somewhat difficult.

A flash of excitement flashed in Edge Padishui's eyes.

A close fight?

good.

It's on fire!

The big-eyed debtor and the construction site boy looked at each other, and the expressions on their faces suddenly became a little subtle.

"Are you panicking?"

"I wasn't panicking at first, but now I'm a little worried."

"By the way, if we die and go back... wouldn't this journey be in vain?"

"Damn it! Is it too late to change teams now?"

"How about... you go ask Mole if they want anyone else?"

Edge paddling: "???"

…

It was just after noon.

Less than four hours after the caravan to Honghe Town set out, the caravan returning from Boulder City arrived at the south gate of the outpost.

Just after returning from a mission, seeing Kuangfeng and Yeshi with bandages on their bodies, Quitting Smoking showed a surprised expression on his face.

"Oh my god, how did you two get injured?"

Lao Bai smiled and said, "We were targeted by looters when we came back. There were about 20 of them, but it's not a big problem."

Although Lao Bai said it was not a big problem, looking at the expressions on the faces of several other NPCs in the caravan, it was obviously not as relaxed as he said.

The leader named Qian Lai still had a lingering fear on his face.

And the guard next to him was even more injured. Quitting Smoking remembered that before he set out, he had a bandage on his arm, and now the other arm was also wrapped.

Quitting Smoking's face was full of weirdness: "Damn, those looters can still ambush you?"

Fang Chang said.

"It can't be considered an ambush. We found them a long time ago. They obviously knew it and followed us all the way. We couldn't move fast with the goods and couldn't get rid of them. They might not be sure of our strength and didn't dare to get too close. They didn't make a move and just followed us to find an opportunity."

"When we reached the edge of the Fourth Ring Road, they might have felt that they would have no chance if they didn't make a move. Finally, they couldn't help but make a move. Then we had a real fight in the alley."

Quit smoking excitedly.

"Exciting! How many did you kill?"

"Half, they ran away halfway through the fight," Lao Bai smiled and raised his chin, pointing to the back of the team, "Look, we caught two more."

Next to a two-headed bull, two depressed men wearing animal skins had their hands tied with iron chains and hung on the two-headed bull.

On another bull not far away, there were captured equipment. In addition to the iron barrel rifles that the newbies didn't use, there were actually two assault rifles and a grenade launcher.

Two caravan guards watched from the side, monitoring their actions.

Ye Shi, with a bandage on his shoulder, cursed.

"MMP, I suspect there are looters in the slums! As soon as I went out, I felt that way!"

Kuang Feng said calmly.

"Don't doubt it. If I were a person in the slums, watching a group of fat merchants passing by every day, I would definitely find a way to get some money from them."

Unlike Ye Shi, he was shot in the thigh, but the other party used a steel core bullet, which went directly through his leg, so it was not a big problem.

Fang Chang nodded in agreement with the two teammates' statements.

"Indeed, those looters are likely to have come out of the slums. I can even boldly guess that they might have already targeted us when we went in."

Where did the looters in Qingquan City come from?

It's impossible that they jumped out of the cracks in the rocks.

As the largest survivor settlement in the southern part of the entire River Valley Province, Boulder City absorbs people from the entire province and even neighboring provinces.

It is impossible for so many people to all rush into the city. There is not enough space in the city to accommodate so many people, let alone so many jobs.

Most people can only build a shed outside the city and do some work that the city people are unwilling to do. Over time, slums are formed.

The huge slums are a hotbed for chaos and crime. There are not only mercenaries, cannon fodder and scavengers, but also looters.

I heard that the gangs in the slums even have the business of helping looters sell stolen goods. The black market there can always buy some things that are not common in the city. Helping to keep an eye on some fat sheep that look easy to bully is naturally no problem for those people.

Why doesn't Boulder City care?

This question is very overall, but it is a bit out of touch with the world.

From the perspective of Boulder City, we can also ask the same question -

Why should we care?

"Anyway, we finally arrived safely," Lao Bai looked at Ye Shi, "You and Kuang Feng should save the game in the shelter first. His injury is not bad, but you still need to go to the infirmary for a small operation."

The incubator has the effect of accelerating recovery. Generally, small wounds with small wounds, even those of intelligence type, will heal after lying down for a few hours, which is just the time to save a game.

As for some serious injuries that are not disabling, they usually only need to lie down for one or two days. If it exceeds three days, most players will choose to save the game first and then heal themselves.

A mere shot is nothing, just take out the bullet.

At first, Lao Bai planned to use alcohol to disinfect Ye Shi, and learn from those NPCs to help him take out the bullet.

But unfortunately, the position of this bullet was stuck on the subscapular joint.

Lao Bai pulled it with tweezers, but failed to get it off. He didn't dare to use too much force to turn a small problem into a big problem, so he wrapped it with a bandage.

It was those ignorant NPCs who were surprised by the behavior of the two.

But it's no wonder.

One of them was fumbling around with tweezers on the wound, while the other was impatiently urging them to hurry up. The key point was that they hadn't used anesthetic yet.

Such cruel behavior was somewhat outrageous even for an awakened person. Until now, the caravan guards looked at the two of them with some admiration.

Ye Shi nodded.

"Okay, what about you and Fang Chang?"

Lao Bai said with a smile.

"We still have to deliver the things everyone ordered, and we have to go to the warehouse manager to hand in a task later."

Thanks to the hot sales of Teng Teng's products in Boulder City, they did not make a wasted trip this time, and they also made a lot of money.

After some discussion, they did not exchange the 2,000 chips they earned for exoskeletons, but bought a second-hand hydraulic crusher at the auction house.

This thing can be used to process the coarse materials of cement, and it can also be used to crush concrete block waste. If you order it at the factory, you will need at least 5,000 chips. It can be considered a bargain to buy it with 2,000 chips.

Although there is a magnetic confinement plasma cutting machine tool, it can produce some precision instruments, but the inert gas used as cutting medium and the fusion battery used for energy supply are not cheap after all, and some heavy equipment outposts are still scarce.

Exchanging chips for goods and shipping them back to sell to other players is a one-time deal, and at most you can make a profit from the price difference, but if you purchase production equipment and ship it back, it will be a steady stream of income!

At present, the demand for building materials in the outpost has skyrocketed, and the answer to what is the version is obvious.

After discussing with the Niu Ma team, several people immediately decided to add a cement production line on the basis of the original brick production line, and produce recycled cement bricks made of concrete waste at the same time.

I heard that the raw materials used by the cement factory in Boulder City are the concrete waste slag that can be found everywhere on the wasteland. They have already mastered the reuse technology of construction waste.

The next time I go to Boulder City, Lao Bai plans to look for it in the talent market to see if he can find a leak and hire a person who knows cement aggregate recycling technology.

It is said that the office can now entrust recruitment, and you can apply for it from Luca or the warehouse manager. The salary can be settled with silver coins, which is very convenient.

In addition to the things they bought themselves, there are about two thousand chips from other players. Some of the chips have been exchanged for things for them, and some have been left over.

For example, the share that belongs to the rich woman Teng Teng.

It includes a 220-kilogram sewing machine with its own power box and intelligent components, and 21 chips.

"Delivering goods to Teng Teng's hut?" Ye Shi's eyes lit up, and he laughed, "Take me with you, I'll help too."

"You can't help me," Kuang Feng rolled his eyes, "Look at how swollen your arm is."

Ye Shi: "Fuck! It doesn't matter in the game, it doesn't hurt anyway!"

As they were talking, Teng Teng had already arrived at the south gate.

Seeing the caravan parked next to the unloading point, she walked up to ask if the goods she ordered had arrived, and then she saw the bandages wrapped around Kuang Feng and Ye Shi, and couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"Are you all okay?"

Before Kuang Feng could speak, Ye Shi next to him called out.

"Wow, it's not good at all. I got shot in the shoulder. It hurts so much."

Teng Teng: "Ah?! Then, let's go to the infirmary quickly..."

"Okay, stop pretending," Lao Bai rolled his eyes at Ye Shi, looked at the bewildered Teng Teng, took out 21 chips from his pocket and handed them over, "Your things are on the back of a two-headed ox. It's more than 200 kilograms. You can't move it. We'll help you deliver it later."

"Thank you! It's a great help!"

Teng Teng nodded gratefully, but was embarrassed to take the chips. She glanced at Kuang Feng and Ye Shi next to her and whispered.

"I don't want the remaining chips... just consider them as medical expenses."

"Take them."

Lao Bai stuffed them into her hand without saying anything, and said with a hearty smile.

"Don't listen to those two guys yelling, getting hurt in this game doesn't hurt at all. Besides, we should be the ones to say thank you, if it weren't for your artwork, we wouldn't be able to afford the big machine behind us."

"But..."

"We have received the agreed payment, it's what it is," Lao Bai shook his head and said, "We don't do such unethical things as charging extra."

Hearing what he said, Teng Teng no longer insisted, whispered a thank you, and silently accepted the 21 chips.

However...

All the bullshit was done by Lao Bai alone, and Ye Shi was immediately unhappy.

"Gan! What do you mean it doesn't hurt at all! It's also a little bit of feeling, okay?!"

Kuang Feng followed up with a blank expression.

"I have an objection, only Ye Shi is pretending to be in pain, I didn't yell."

Lao Bai smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, this... I didn't pay much attention. It's mainly because Ye Shi's acting is too exaggerated. I'm too upright to watch him bully a little girl."

Ye Shi: "Get lost! I think you just want to show off! Bah!"

Kuangfeng: "+1"

Lao Bai: "???"

Secretly watching the three noisy people, Teng Teng's cheeks were slightly hot.

I always feel...

They seem to have a very good relationship.

Bumped!

Not noticing the unnatural expression on Teng Teng's face, Fang Chang saw that she changed into a light leather armor and asked curiously.

"Are you going out?"

Hearing the voice from the side, Teng Teng, who exclaimed "Ah", came back to her senses from her mind, nodded with a red face, and said shyly.

"Well, I plan to go to Boulder City to have a look!"

"Mission?"

"I guess so, but it's mainly to investigate the market!" At this point, Teng Teng's eyes lit up and she continued excitedly, "The cultural characteristics and clothing styles of Boulder City are different from any country in reality. Some things can't be seen from photos alone. I plan to see it with my own eyes!"

Fang Chang nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, the content that can be written in the guide is limited after all. No matter how many guides you read, it is better to play it yourself... But, how do you plan to go?"

The road to Boulder City is not easy.

On the way back, in addition to the predators, they were also targeted by a group of burrowing beasts hiding in the sewers.

Although it won't turn over, it is still a tough battle.

Before Teng Teng could answer, a flexible figure sprang out from behind her.

"The mercenary tail is here!"

Sisi, who was wearing a body armor and a steel helmet, also walked over from the side and pushed up the steel helmet that covered his eyes.

"Oh! And Sisi!"

Looking at the two energetic people, Fang Chang was stunned for a moment.

"You also went to inspect the market?"

"That's right! Tails wants to be a mercenary!"

At this point, Taiwei sighed arrogantly, shook his head and said, "Damn it, it's all because the spring water is useless, all my luck was used for the lottery! I didn't go to Chenghonghe Town, I'm so angry!"

Sis glanced at her.

"But thinking about it from another perspective, could it be because we lowered the team's score?"

Tails immediately retorted.

"How is that possible! Tails is also an awakener, isn't he?"

The two of them woke up half a month ago.

After all, it has been some time since I joined the game, my development speed is quite satisfactory, my strength is not weak, and I can be considered a T2 player if I work hard.

but……

Fang Chang looked at the girl with cat ears next to him.

This should be a newcomer, right?

"The same to you?"

The cat ears on the top of his head swayed slightly, and Aoao Sesame Paste, who was staring at the ears, nodded sheepishly.

"I, I haven't awakened... I'm still not close."

"I'm not asking this. Awakening or not is not actually the key. What I mean is, do you plan to go with them?" Fang Chang reminded kindly, "The road to Boulder City is still quite dangerous. Look at that By the way, those two idiots were already in their teens, and they still hurt themselves."

Aoao Sesame Paste nodded vigorously.

"It doesn't matter! I, I am also a person who has been on the battlefield!"

Although I just went offline to report to everyone, it also played a key role!

At least, she is confident that she will not panic.

Seeing the determination in his eyes, Fang Chang smiled, nodded, and said approvingly.

"Yeah! Not bad, very energetic! Come on girl!"

It's a game.

Just be happy, no need to think too much.

Even if he died, it would only be after three days of being on the forum OB, so it's not a big problem. Everyone has come from the stage of being a newbie.

Besides, the manager didn’t say that the newcomer couldn’t do the tasks, right?

As long as they have that determination, anyone can contribute to the great cause of the Awami League's rejuvenation.

"Wait a minute, Teng Teng, is it really okay for you to bring only this little bodyguard?" Ye Shi said nervously, "How about I go too? I can be an eye on you at least."

Teng Teng waved his hands and declined.

"No, no, no need to go to such trouble. You should take good care of your injuries. We have people with sensory abilities in our team."

Just when Ye Shi was about to ask who it was, the sharp voice with a hint of dullness came from the side along with the sonorous and powerful sound of steel clashing.

"That's right!!"

Everyone looked there and saw an "iron can" covered with steel plates, striding over here with meteor strides.

"Humph, the perception system is level 12, and the awakened Crow Crow is here! Looking at my equipment, who dares to say that I can only pick mushrooms! Huh?"

The four members of the cattle and horse team looked confused. The caravan guards and guards not far away were also stunned by her exaggerated appearance.

This plate armor...

At least more than three hundred kilograms, right?

Tails eyes sparkle.

"Oh! So awesome! Si, we won!"

Sisi was stunned for a moment, silent for a while, and muttered something in a voice that only she could hear.

"...It will be very troublesome to recycle the VM."

Lao Bai swallowed his saliva and asked cautiously.

"Is this... KV-1? Or Miner I?"

You can't tell it from the outside at all!

"KV-1!" Crow Crow proudly said with his angular breastplate straight out, "It cost me a lot of silver coins to build this plate armor! How about it, isn't it awesome?"

Lao Bai's expression was a little subtle and he was too embarrassed to speak.

Fang Chang coughed dryly and said.

"I blindly guessed it was a mosquito. Only that idiot would do this. Didn't he remind you... of the battery life issue?"

Crow Crow blinked.

"Battery life? What is that."

Fang Chang: "..."

Lao Bai: "..."

Kuangfeng: "..."

Ye Shi said anxiously.

"The battery! Have you ever driven a new energy vehicle? The original battery life of the naked KV-1 exoskeleton is only about one day, but you directly load it with a load of 300 kilograms! Can your battery last until the afternoon?"

To put it bluntly, this tortoise shell is even worse than the one the manager used before!

Don’t these people play games without thinking of their own?

Learn how to use a hammer with NPC!

"No problem! I'm fully charged!" Crow Crow said confidently, "It's only twenty kilometers, and this distance can still be maintained!"

"I think you should not be too optimistic about the twenty kilometers," Fang Chang said tactfully. "Twenty kilometers is a straight-line distance. The actual distance cannot be calculated at all."

Lao Bai nodded and agreed with this sentence.

"Indeed, you can't fly there. Anyway, I feel that the distance from here to Boulder City is no less than that to Yuanxi Town. You can feel it for yourself."

"Ah?!" Crow Crow was stunned for a moment, and the expression on his face became less confident. He whispered, "Is it so far?"

"Well," Lao Bai nodded silently, "That's why I don't even wear an exoskeleton."

Crow Crow was stunned for a moment and said anxiously.

"Then...what should we do?"

Lao Bai: "If you are a power system, it is not a problem to walk directly wearing 300 kilograms of heavy armor. After all, most of the weight is on the exoskeleton. When you need mobility, just turn on the power. If you are from other systems ...I don’t know, but I don’t recommend it.”

Tails looked at her: "Why don't you give Si some clothes? She is a physique type!"

Sis glanced at her sideways.

"I don't wear anything like that."

It's too late to temporarily change the equipment now.

After unloading the pot camel machine, the caravan at the door will set off again in two hours at the latest.

but……

Crow Crow didn't give up.

Everyone also agreed that boss Xia should be able to rescue him.

Watching the group of people walking towards the base, Ye Shi couldn't help but look at Lao Bai.

"Can they do it?"

Lao Bai was silent for a while and shrugged.

"I have no idea."

Ye Shi said hesitantly.

"How about... I'd better follow you?"

Guang Feng glanced sideways at him.

"You're not my father, why do you care so much?"

"But--"

Fang Chang patted Ye Shi on the shoulder.

"Don't worry too much, there are three awakened people, it's not a big problem."

It doesn’t matter if the problem is big.

Just three days.

When this hand touched the bandage on his shoulder, Ye Shi's whole body trembled.

"Gan! Don't touch me so much, my arms are almost swollen!"

Lao Bai rolled his eyes.

"Then why don't you go do the surgery quickly?"

"If you keep dragging it on until your arm becomes useless, I'll have to patch you up then!"