As early summer approached, the Federation—which had languished in bleak desolation under the grip of severe cold for over half a year—finally welcomed long-awaited sunshine and warm breezes.
With the melting of ice and snow, the wasteland presented a scene of thriving prosperity. A spectacle of vibrant vitality and flourishing competition unfolded before everyone's eyes... except in Haizhou.
Haizhou was practically baking to death!
The coldest stretch of winter each year was reasonably pleasant for Haizhou, but once winter passed, the tyrannical sun and terrifying heat struck without mercy.
Humid, stifling air filled every inch of space. Carried by the sea breeze, midsummer's cruelty manifested anew, and the temperature continued to climb ever higher.
Summer had barely begun, yet many areas had already exceeded thirty degrees. According to experts on television, temperatures this year might break new records, and they urged residents across the board to take precautions against sunburn.
Of course, "residents" in this context specifically referred to the "city folk" who lived in the cities with running water, electricity, and internet access—those who could afford peak-hour electric bills and lounge at home basking in air conditioning.
As for out in the wasteland beyond the city walls...
Haha, scavengers enjoying air conditioning? Who on earth would dream such an unrealistic dream?
"One! Two! Three!!!"
"One! Two! Three!!!"
Deep in the wasteland, outside a settlement beside a swamp, dust swirled as resounding shouts rang out.
Under the blazing sun, scorching heat steamed upward. The air was thick with the stench of rot and foul water from the swamp, enough to make anyone cover their nose. Beneath sunshine terrible enough to bake a dog alive, a group of bare-chested men strained like competitors in a tug-of-war. Sunburnt skin stretched taut over flexing muscle as they gripped the steel cable with all their might.
Young and old, sinewy, emaciated, or plump—there were even several kids tagging along at the back pretending to pull, happy just to be part of it.
And so, through this clamorous, sweat-drenched heave, they took the place of a crane, slowly hoisting the dozens-of-meters-long turbine blade upward inch by inch. Finally, guided by the sharp blasts of a director's whistle, it mated into place with the steel tower that had long stood erect upon the earth.
Instantly, several people with ropes tied around their waists leaped across to fasten and reinforce the joint.
The moment they let go, everyone collapsed onto the ground. Bloody gashes from the cable's chafing marked some men's palms, yet they merely wiped them indifferently against their trousers, dug loose tobacco out of their pockets, and rolled cigarettes.
"That piece of junk should've been replaced ages ago."
In the shade nearby, Lu Feng wore sunglasses as he kicked the decommissioned crane beside him—a rusted relic decades older than himself. "What a goddamn hassle. How much time did we waste on this? Wouldn't it be easier to just buy a new one? We'd even give you a discount."
"Patch it up and it still works, it still works," said the man keeping him company—the settlement's leader, a scrawny, dark-skinned old man. He pulled an unopened pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered it over. "Care for one, boss?"
Lu Feng instinctively reached out, then hesitated. As if recalling his mother's mop handle, he shook his head, sighed, and popped two pieces of chewing gum into his mouth.
"Forget it. I quit."
"Quitting is good, quitting is good." The leader offered an ingratiating smile and kept fishing for conversation with Lu Feng.
Soon, cheers erupted not far away.
"It's spinning! It's spinning!!!"
"Fuck, we finally got electricity!"
"Damn, that was fast!"
As the massive generator kicked to life beneath the revolving blades, one flickering bulb after another lit up once more in the sea breeze.
Even if, compared to ordinary wind turbines, it looked utterly shabby...
Aside from the nacelle at the top delivered from Xinquan, the soaring tower was built entirely of poured concrete, and the rebar inside was scrap hauled over from Quancheng.
As for the blades, they were simply heaps of scrap metal crudely welded together, covered in scars and patches. Even a passing rat would have wept tears of pity. It was a masterclass in the scavengers' stingy ethos: make do whenever possible, and never replace what isn't dead.
The only component in the entire turbine with any real technical merit was likely the stripped-down nacelle and bootleg generator produced by Haian Industries in Xinquan. Corrosion-resistant and heat-resistant, they operated reliably in Haizhou's climate of relentless sea winds and moisture decay. Rugged, durable, easy to repair, and simple to maintain, anyone who could read a little could solve problems on their own after skimming the maintenance manual for ten minutes.
And the price was dirt cheap.
Tailor-made specifically for their precious scavenger clientele.
Now, turbines like this sprouted like a forest across the entire Haizhou wasteland, reaching even tiny settlements of just over a hundred people.
In barely over a month, they had already replaced the bizarre, jerry-rigged contraptions hand-crafted by settlement tech bosses in the past. With their stability, durability, and above all, their unbeatable price... they were universally praised.
"That'll do. The output is a bit low, not enough to power heavy machinery, but it's at least enough for you folks to run your ACs."
Lu Feng spat his finished gum onto the ground without a shred of civic mindedness and waved a hand at the babbling old man. "Go enjoy yourself, old-timer."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
Seeing the settlement's colossal, hand-built outdoor air conditioner unit rumble to life with a deafening roar, the old man beamed with delight, clutching Lu Feng's hand and refusing to let go.
"Save your thanks. We signed a contract—just do your work honestly."
Lu Feng shook off his hand and shot him a sideways glance. "When future installments are due, I won't have to come chasing after you, will I?"
"No need, no need at all!" The old man waved toward the side, and someone immediately hurried over with a small pouch. The leader said obsequiously, "I know your company's customs. Here's the first installment—ah, and the interest is included as well. Please check it over, sir."
Lu Feng cast a suspicious glance at him and untied the pouch.
Inside lay only a few coarse ore rocks and a handful of metal fragments that looked like sandy gravel... The only difference between them and ordinary dirt or pebbles was that they gleamed with a thoroughly pleasant golden luster.
Gold. All of it was gold.
Several naturally formed nuggets of raw ore, plus a generous fistful of placer gold.
After glancing at it, Lu Feng handed it to a subordinate. Someone brought out testing equipment on the spot and quickly calculated the purity and value. It closely matched the first installment agreed upon in the contract, even exceeding it by a tiny fraction.
"Good enough. No fake stuff."
Lu Feng rubbed the stubble on his chin and nodded. "You're a clever old bastard."
The old man's tense expression finally relaxed, as if a great weight had been lifted. He grinned with heartfelt sincerity. "Who'd dare play dirty with Haian's debts?"
Lu Feng didn't smile. He merely glanced at the ostensibly honest and simple leader, then patted his shoulder. "Well informed, aren't you?"
At the very least, the man knew the consequences of reneging on a debt...
"All right, pack it up and let's roll."
Lu Feng checked the sun, waved his hand, opened the truck door, and hopped in.
The old man trailed closely behind, oozing hospitality. "Won't you stay for a meal? Chicken—free-range chicken, already slaughtered and cleaned!"
"Mine's already slaughtered at home too. I'm eating at home. Stop dawdling, everybody hustle!"
Lu Feng couldn't be bothered with such worldly flattery. Partly out of laziness, partly because there was no need—scavengers' smiles were always cheap. In the wasteland, simplicity and stupidity were two peas in a pod, just as cleverness and malice sprang from the same source.
At the very last moment, the old man produced yet another pouch, which looked quite hefty.
Bowing his head with utmost reverence and careful deference, he pleaded:
"Please give my regards to Mr. Ji."
Behind the truck window, Lu Feng cast him one final, meaningful glance and suddenly chuckled softly.
"Rest assured. He hears you."
The window rolled up, and the engine roared to life.
With heavy rumbles, three large trucks drove out through the settlement gates, kicking up trails of dust as they sped into the distance.
Along the way lay only the usual wasteland scenery. In the cool breeze of the cabin AC, workers who had toiled for half the day smoked, traded crude jokes and gossip, and planned visits for foot massages or bathhouse scrubs, sharing tacit chuckles with knowing looks.
Now and then, when their eyes wandered out the window, there would be a hint of searching in their gaze.
More and more towering steel structures entered their view, their blades turning silently in the sea breeze. Whenever they saw them, a sense of familiarity and a faint, pleasant thrill of accomplishment crept into their eyes.
In just a few months, radiating outward from Xinquan Town as their starting point, Haian Industries' wind turbines had spread across all of Haizhou, practically becoming landmarks for traveling convoys to navigate by.
Whenever people saw those turbines of every odd shape and size—cobbled together like Frankenstein's monsters yet miraculously spinning—they knew they had entered Haizhou.
Thanks to low selling prices and maintenance costs, Haian Industries basically charged only negligible margins over raw materials and labor. Compared to major brands, their profits were pitifully small, and their total production cost could be cut in half and then bargained down even further; customers who only bought the nacelle and generator could get it even cheaper. Now, following their three-wheeled trikes, Haian Industries had gained another flagship product.
On top of that, there were the motorcycles that had recently hit the market...
On the outskirts of the former site of Quancheng, Haian Industries—officially established barely a few months ago—had become an outright scrap titan of the wasteland.
Consequently, all of "Xinquan Town," built upon the Quancheng Ruins, was transforming with each passing day. A far cry from what it once was, it had even fully restored running water last week following the return of electrical power.
Price-wise, it was fifty percent more expensive than inside the cities, but its virtue lay in steady supply and reliable quality. And for those who weren't satisfied, Haian Industries sold water purification systems alongside their wind turbines...
The petty margins that city enterprises looked down upon were all swept up by Haian Industries, and the technical products that wasteland scavengers couldn't salvage or manufacture on their own were shamelessly bootlegged by Haian Industries.
From vehicles to water and power, Haian Industries was establishing its influence across the wasteland at a terrifying pace and with an irresistible momentum.
Winding past a twisting mountain road, as the expanding settlement in the distance came into view, the first thing to meet the eye was the steel giant squatting outside the settlement gates, standing over ten meters tall.
As though deep in slumber, it was covered in traces of rust, looking like a toy cobbled together from junk.
And yet, the instant anyone walked past the giant and stepped through the gate, everything seemed completely different.
The mottled red rust across the iron giant's fists acted like some miraculous purifying agent.
In an instant, the wasteland's cutthroat hostility and savagery vanished into thin air. Every deceitful scheme and covetous desire disappeared without a trace. In their place, the eyes and smiles on every scavenger's face became as pure and innocent as college students'.
Radiating simplicity and warmth.
Each vied to appear more harmless and wholesome than the next.
Though their vulgar conversational interjections were hard to suppress on short notice, their tempers swiftly turned gentle and refined, and even their formerly sticky fingers grew impeccably well-behaved.
In the vast, bustling market, folks from various settlements who had rented stalls peddled local specialties, vegetables, and minerals...
Amid the clamor, order reigned supreme.
Farther off, at the end of the market where two thoroughfares broad enough for several large trucks to drive abreast met, stood an archway completely devoid of gates or fences. A proportional enlargement of the founder's casually scrawled, chicken-scratch "calligraphy" hung high above the arch:
—[Haian Industries]—
"Finally back."
Lu Feng sighed and glanced down at his watch.
He wondered if he could still make it in time.
Chapter 390