"...Unbelievable."
"Is this even the same place we visited last time?"
Following in the guard's footsteps from the moment he stepped through the southern entrance of Wetland Park, the look of astonishment never left Liszt's face.
A straight concrete road stretched beneath their feet, running from the park's south gate all the way toward the fortress in the forest.
The road looked like it had been paved very recently.
In itself, that was nothing shocking.
Merely leveling the dirt and smoothing a layer of cement over it was something any survivor settlement of modest size could manage if they set their minds to it.
Yet for a settlement with a population of less than a hundred, this was genuinely astonishing.
Liszt suddenly spoke up. "What month did we come here last time?"
The guard flanking him stared blankly for a second, then hesitated. "...I think it was October."
Winter had arrived early last year. The temperature plunged steadily after October began, and by November, the road from Boulder City to the northern outskirts was completely impassable.
At the thought, Liszt sank into contemplation.
In less than three months, these blue coats had felled over a third of the trees across Ling Lake Wetland Park.
What on earth were they planning to do?
Just as Liszt was puzzling over it, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
At the end of the concrete road stood rows of brick-and-wood buildings—numbering well over a hundred by a rough count.
And that was merely near the south entrance.
Looking east, two villages nestled in the distance. The scene to the north was even more spectacular: what looked like a marketplace bustled with rows of lively stalls, its streets teeming with crowds. Just the people gathered there easily surpassed one or two hundred.
This was nothing like a hundred-person survivor settlement.
At least five hundred... No, there might well be over a thousand people already.
The shock on Liszt's face deepened.
For a moment, he even doubted whether he had ever truly been to this place before.
Walking in the caravan, a guard carrying two rifles on his back whispered to a bald man beside him.
"Didn't this place just have a bunch of bare tree stumps when we came through last time?"
"It's only been one winter. Just how many houses did they build?!"
"Since when were there this many people here?!"
"And it's not just the houses... They've rebuilt the concrete wall too. That firing platform looks like it could hold quite a few people now."
The original wall of piled construction rubble had been replaced by a solid concrete barrier, its smooth surface even coated in a layer of white whitewash.
On top of that, the blue coats had widened the once-narrow gate.
What had been a passage barely wide enough for two ox carts side by side was now a four-lane thoroughfare that could easily accommodate four carts abreast.
Guards in matching black greatcoats with rifles slung over their backs stood duty at the gate with meticulous discipline. Residents in diverse attire filed past the entrance—some clad in furs, some in blue coats, and others dressed in styles so avant-garde that onlookers had no idea how to describe them beyond finding them oddly stylish.
It seemed these vault dwellers had thoroughly adapted to surface life and had taken in plenty of wastelanders into their settlement.
The place could hardly be called advanced—they saw no streetlights along the roads, at least—yet unlike settlements that went pitch-black at night, this one possessed its own public lighting system, half reliant on torches and half on coal lamps.
Not a single face looked gaunt or sallow. It was hard to imagine they had just endured a brutally harsh winter. An ample supply of provisions filled the vast majority with hope for the future, and everything here ran with remarkable order.
Liszt suddenly thought of the shantytown outside the gates of Boulder City.
Both were houses built right against defensive walls, yet the difference between the two could not have been starker.
"It's hard to believe they accomplished all this in a single winter."
Liszt's Adam's apple bobbed as he continued in an amazed tone, "Han Long, remember that vault we visited before? After their supplies ran out, they had no choice but to leave and build a home on the surface. They had five or six hundred people, too, but every year when we passed through, they looked exactly the same."
Beside Liszt, the man whose right arm and right eye had been replaced with mechanical prosthetics observed their surroundings closely, answering in a stiff tone, "Of course I remember, boss. But in my opinion, managing to stay unchanged in this world is a rare skill in itself."
He was Liszt's long-time partner, having traveled far and wide across the wasteland and encountered more survivor settlements than he had fingers to count them on.
Yet old clients who could maintain a steady business relationship and be seen year after year were few and far between.
Plenty of people were there in the autumn, only to vanish without a trace by spring.
Take the old mayor of Bet Street, for instance.
Before winter had even ended, he was kicked right out of his warm home and scurried off to Boulder City in disgrace.
And that was considered fortunate.
Those less lucky either ended up in the belly of a mutant, tossed into a boiling oil pot by marauders, or worse, devoured alive by mutant beasts. Such tragedies played out every year, so routine they hardly qualified as news.
To keep everything unchanged was truly an extraordinary feat on the wasteland.
"That's true," Liszt said with a faint smile. "Still, as business partners go, I naturally prefer dealing with people who have ambition."
How else was he supposed to get rich if his clients didn't grow bigger and stronger?
Liszt still remembered the last deal he had made here. That man had traded twenty kilograms of Blue Parasol mushrooms and twelve deer hides for a ten-kilowatt wood generator, a set of KV-1 exoskeleton, four bolt-action pipe rifles, and a hundred and twenty rounds of ammunition.
That had been the final deal he closed before winter set in.
Though that man's glib tongue had cost Liszt a tidy sum of chips in potential profit, the margin on that trade had still been considerable.
Afterward, Liszt had used the proceeds to buy twelve slaves from a merchant from Red River Town stranded in Boulder City. Before the snow could block the roads, he sent them south to the Cam tree plantation he co-owned with a business partner.
At the memory, heat flared in Liszt's chest.
He had brought plenty of good merchandise this time around.
Who knew how much he could rake in on this trip!
The caravan came to a halt outside the south gate.
A few players turning in quests near the gate quickly spotted them, turning curious gazes toward the group.
"Who are those guys?"
"A caravan?"
"Holy crap, I recognize them!"
"Praise the heavens, Boss Xia's shop can finally restock!"
While the players eyed the newcomers, the caravan's guards were just as tensely observing the blue coats.
"Damn... There are two Awakened in that bunch?"
"Are you sure?!"
"No mistake! My special ability is sensing the presence of Awakened... That aura of power is unmistakable!"
Han Long, standing beside Liszt, furrowed his brow as well.
Noticing the shift in his right-hand man's expression, Liszt glanced at him. "What is it?"
"Their strength is likely far greater than you anticipated," Han Long said in a low voice. "Those people in vault uniforms... I spotted at least four Awakened among them, and at least fifteen more showing signs of awakening. Individually, they might not match me, but their overall combat power is superior to ours."
Liszt looked at Han Long in surprise. Outlandish as it sounded, he trusted his subordinate's judgment.
"We should do our best to avoid conflict with them... Keep a tight leash on our men in a moment. Don't let them wander off."
Han Long nodded. "Understood."
Liszt had Han Long wait at the gate with the men while he followed the guard in the exoskeleton inside.
No survivor settlement would ever allow a group of armed outsiders to swagger into their home, no matter how familiar the parties were with one another.
Still, Liszt had confidence in his ability to read people, especially clients he had dealt with before.
He could tell at a glance who was good for a one-off trade and who could become a long-term partner. It was precisely this sharp eye that had kept him alive until now.
Liu Ding, who led the way, spoke very little along the path, quiet and efficient as a tool.
Upon guiding the guest from Boulder City to the reception room, Liu Ding poured him a cup of tea as the Administrator had instructed, then said, "The Administrator is still on his way back. He's expected to arrive in about half an hour. I'll have to trouble you to wait a short while."
Far from the impatient demeanor he had displayed on his previous visit, Liszt wore an amiable smile and replied courteously, "No rush at all. I have plenty of time. If anything, we came without an appointment and dropped by unannounced—it's us who are troubling you!"
Bearing the Administrator's instructions firmly in mind, Liu Ding answered politely, "Not at all. The Administrator specifically told me that you are an honored guest and that I must treat you well. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll assist you as best as conditions allow."
Liszt politely declined. "No need, no need. You're far too kind!"
The two exchanged pleasantries for a moment.
Liu Ding was not cut out for this sort of socializing, and with matters of the guard team waiting for him, he did not linger. After instructing an attendant to look after the guest from afar, he turned and hurried away.
Minutes ticked by.
Soon, thirty minutes had passed.
Just as Liszt pulled out his pocket watch for the sixth time to check the hour, footsteps finally echoed from outside.
The steps were remarkably prompt, down to the very second.
Liszt couldn't help muttering internally: the man really had arrived right on the dot!
The door of the reception room swung open.
A man clad in deep blue power armor strode in with broad, confident steps.
Spotting Liszt seated in the room, Chu Guang offered a smile as warm as a spring breeze and greeted him cordially. "Long time no see, Mr. Liszt!"
"Indeed, not since before winter! It's an honor to see you again. I hope my unannounced visit hasn't disturbed you."
Rising from his chair, Liszt found his gaze involuntarily drawn to the power armor Chu Guang wore.
A deep blue finish and a streamlined silhouette—just looking at it gave an overwhelming impression of security.
A glimmer of poorly concealed envy rose in Liszt's eyes.
Power armor!
And a pre-war model at that!
That was exceptional gear, capable of safeguarding the wearer under the most extreme conditions.
He had long wanted to get his hands on a set. Unfortunately, from the cold fusion cells providing power to the composite armor covering the entire body, power armor represented the pinnacle of pre-war technology. The rudimentary industrial capacity of the wasteland lacked the means to manufacture it.
Even in Ideal City, such an item was impossible to buy.
The Boulder City militia possessed a small number of power armor suits, but those were strategic reserves; even if broken, they would never be allowed onto the open market. A few larger mercenary corps or private military contractors might own a set or two, but they guarded them like prized treasures.
Noticing the fleeting envy in Liszt's eyes, Chu Guang smiled inwardly, though his face remained placid.
Having played the NPC for so long, coupled with his prior life's experience in sales, he possessed more than enough mastery over his facial expressions.
"Disturbed? How could it? The moment I saw you here, I knew the northern outskirts of Qingquan City were about to get lively again."
Hearing the quip, Liszt laughed. "Not to boast, but our caravan is definitely among the earliest to set out from all of Boulder City! Heading north, at least, we're without question the very first! While our peers are still planning where to strike it rich, we've already scouted the road conditions and packed our goods onto two-headed oxen."
Chu Guang asked with interest, "Oh? What good things did you bring this time?"
Just the question he was waiting for!
Delighted, Liszt calmly pulled out a tablet computer and handed it to Chu Guang with both hands.
"Same as before—here's the manifest! The first five pages list what we brought with us. The marked items on the later pages aren't with the caravan, but as long as you're interested, we can find a way to get them for you!"
Chu Guang took the tablet and swiped his index finger across the screen, browsing through it.
Unlike the previous manifest, which had been dominated by daily necessities, Liszt's caravan had brought mostly weapons and KV-1 exoskeletons this time.
To be frank, aside from the exoskeletons and the solid hydrogen batteries usable as power supplies for exoskeletons and drones, Chu Guang had little interest in the weapons listed.
Assault rifles, grenades, rocket launchers, and the like had long been manufactured independently in the new industrial zone.
Besides, this fellow was slippery as an eel, selling him cheap goods assembled from discarded Boulder City arsenal receivers and barrels.
Nowadays, even new players rarely touched those "authentic" wasteland specialties.
Looking at Liszt's eager expression, Chu Guang felt a stir of inspiration and asked offhandedly, "Why is the list full of weapons? Don't you have anything else?"
Liszt froze.
Chu Guang's reaction defied his expectations.
He had anticipated that the blue coats would be thrilled by his weapons.
After all, on his last visit, he had traded four cheap rifles for twelve prime-quality deer hides.
Yet no matter how he read Chu Guang's expression, it was impossible to associate it with "interest."
"We brought weapons because weapons sell well, of course. With the River Valley Province in turmoil and the Bone Chewer Tribe marauding everywhere, you can smell gunpowder wherever you go. What could be in higher demand than weapons?"
Seeing that Chu Guang still seemed indifferent, Liszt launched into a full-court press. "I sincerely recommend the Hornet X-2 assault rifle on the list! It's the crystallization of the Boulder City weapons factory's small-arms expertise! If it weren't for the inventory that built up over the winter, not even I could have secured so many units.
"As an old customer, I can give you a discount! Only three hundred chips each. With it, you'll possess the most formidable firepower in the entire northern outskirts! If you truly don't know what to pick, buying this is guaranteed to be the right call!"
Hearing Liszt's pitch, Chu Guang nearly burst out laughing.
If he hadn't seen the Enterprise's Black Swan G9 assault rifle before, he might have almost bought the man's nonsense.
Crystallization of expertise, indeed.
Wasn't that thing just a knockoff of the Enterprise's standard-issue weapon?
Granted, his LD series weapons were borrowed from the AK family, but at least he had borrowed from another world; rounding up, that practically counted as independent development.
"Your nose for business seems a little dull," Chu Guang said with an easy smile. "Frankly speaking, before winter, I might have gritted my teeth and bought a couple. But now, we have no use for that sort of thing."
"No use?! How could you have no use for it?!"
Liszt stared at Chu Guang in astonishment, his words pouring out in a rush. "Even without the Bloodhand Clan around, the northern outskirts are far from safe! My friend, you might not know this, but a band of marauders calling themselves the Bone Chewers is pushing toward the northern outskirts of Qingquan City. They're nothing like the Bloodhand Clan—not only did they inherit the Legion's gear, but they also have vast numbers. Do you honestly think you can drive them off with a few pipe rifles?"
Watching Liszt urge the sale so desperately, Chu Guang found it rather amusing.
It seemed Boulder City remained utterly oblivious to what had transpired in the northern outskirts.
Or perhaps it was just Liszt who didn't know.
Lately, Xiao Qi had been monitoring the Voice of Boulder City radio broadcasts, sifting for useful intelligence amidst the host's endless rambling.
All signs suggested they truly had no idea that the thousand-man cohort led by Black Snake had already been routed by his forces.
With that in mind, Chu Guang looked at Liszt and said, "Come with me.
"Once you've seen what we have, you'll understand why I'm not interested in the items on your manifest."
...
At the west gate of the outpost.
With a mix of doubt and curiosity, Liszt followed Chu Guang to the location.
Calling over a nearby guard, Chu Guang took an LD-47 assault rifle from him and handed it to Liszt.
"The LD-47, the Scythe assault rifle, seven-millimeter caliber. We've used this thing against marauders, against mutants, and against slime-mold-covered gnawers, crawlers, and even Tyrants."
Taking the rifle Chu Guang handed over, Liszt examined it for a moment, then looked up at him in surprise. "You made this gun yourselves?"
Chu Guang nodded. "Yes."
Liszt pondered for a moment before offering his appraisal. "The design looks pretty simple, with very few visible parts. The stock is actually made of wood."
Chu Guang remarked casually, "Simple doesn't stop it from being effective. Want to try it?"
Liszt looked at him. "May I?"
Without further words, Chu Guang handed him a fully loaded magazine and made a welcoming gesture. "Be my guest."
Liszt didn't hold back. He slotted the magazine, clicked off the safety, aimed at a target a hundred meters away, and pulled the trigger.
A heavy recoil traveled into his shoulder, jarring his frame.
Still, having roamed the wasteland for so many years, the man had some skill to his name.
He quickly adjusted to the weapon's kick and fired several more rounds with rapid cracks, landing them accurately in the target's seventh and eighth rings.
"Good gun!"
Liszt's eyes lit up, and he swept the rest of the magazine at the target in a burst.
Only after emptying the final round did he reluctantly hand the rifle back to Chu Guang.
"It really is a fine gun!
"The only drawback is that the handling is a bit stiff! But the firepower and stopping power are undeniably fierce. Mercenaries would love this sort of thing.
"Still, you probably don't have many of these weapons, do you?"
Not many?
Chu Guang smiled.
"I couldn't say whether it qualifies as many, but we have piles of rifles like this sitting in our warehouse. What's more, we've designed dedicated interchangeable attachments for it. Swap the barrel and drum magazine, and it's a light machine gun; strip off the long barrel, and it can serve as a submachine gun.
"While this thing isn't high-tech, it is unquestionably reliable. We've buried it in snow, dropped it into mud pits, and soaked it in water—pull it out, and it still fires properly without any drop in performance."
Piles of them in the warehouse?!
Liszt swallowed hard, unable to resist asking, "A warehouse full of them? Have you been building guns all winter?"
Chu Guang smiled faintly. "You've been away for too long. It's only natural that you find the situation here unfamiliar."
Unfamiliar didn't begin to cover it.
Liszt felt as though he had walked into the entirely wrong settlement!
Watching the speechless Liszt, Chu Guang paused before continuing in a casual tone, "The changes across the northern outskirts aren't limited to the patch of ground beneath your feet. Five kilometers north of here is our new industrial zone. The manufactured goods produced there are more than enough to supply the needs of every survivor settlement in the northern outskirts. The rifle in your hands and the bullets you just fired were both manufactured there.
"Aside from the industrial zone, we have an agricultural zone. Another five kilometers north of the industrial zone sits our granary in the northern outskirts! There are tens of thousands of mu of farmland currently being reclaimed, which will become the largest grain production base in the northern outskirts, feeding at least thirty thousand people.
"Mr. Liszt, times have changed. It is now the year 212 of the Wasteland Era. We should learn to look forward, shouldn't we?"
While the speech carried some exaggeration, it wasn't baseless.
After all, that was indeed what Chu Guang intended to build.
In the future, the industrial zone's output would not only supply survivor settlements across the northern outskirts, but would also be sold to far more distant places.
So it wasn't an empty promise.
Chu Guang was merely laying out the blueprint of the future.
Liszt swallowed hard, taking a long time to recover his senses from what Chu Guang had just described.
An industrial zone?
In the northern outskirts?
Built on the backs of illiterate bumpkins?
Liszt simply could not fathom what about the conditions in the northern outskirts could possibly satisfy the requirements for industrial development.
Did they rely on those uneducated refugees of mixed caliber?
Did those people understand what industry was?
Did they know what standardization meant?
Or did they rely on those blue coats who whined endlessly after doing a bit of work and clamored for the return of a two-hour workday?
Still, Liszt had to admit one thing: the blue coats here truly seemed unique. Apart from wearing blue coats, they bore not the slightest resemblance to typical vault dwellers.
Liszt's skeptical expression was entirely within Chu Guang's expectations.
After all, such a claim did sound rather fantastical.
A shrewd merchant like this would never be convinced by mere words alone.
"There's still a bit of time before it gets completely dark. If you're interested, I can take you on a tour."
Hearing Chu Guang's invitation, Liszt hesitated. "Would that... be too intrusive?"
"How could it be?" Chu Guang smiled faintly. "It's not as if we're hiding anything shameful."
Seeing Chu Guang put it that way, Liszt did not hesitate for a second. "Please, do give me a tour!"
If Liszt had arrived here hoping merely to profit from the turmoil in the River Valley Province by offloading cheap, backlogged munitions onto the local squires of the northern outskirts...
Now, he no longer cared for such petty gains.
A young and promising power was rising from this untamed soil! And its leader was not only decisive and exceptionally capable, but also burning with ambition.
Liszt smelled a massive business opportunity!
His instincts told him that if he seized this chance, regardless of whether the man before him ultimately succeeded or failed, he could reap wealth beyond his wildest imagination!
This went far beyond twelve deer hides and a sack of mushrooms!
...
True to his word, Chu Guang soon brought him to the industrial zone five kilometers to the north.
Though night had fallen, the area remained brightly illuminated, and manufacturing was still underway.
Stepping out of the vehicle at the entrance of the industrial zone, Liszt was promptly stunned by what greeted him.
Everything here was far more breathtaking than what he had witnessed at Ling Lake Wetland Park!
Tall smokestacks jutted from the workshop roofs, steadily spewing plumes of thick smoke, while finished goods and raw materials formed miniature mountains in the warehouses.
From time to time, workers wheeled carts along, ferrying goods from one workshop to another, or from one factory to the next.
His shock deepened after touring the workshops producing LD-47 receivers and ammunition.
Stamping machines connected to conveyor belts churned out components one after another, operating with the rhythm of printers.
While such machinery was not unheard of in Boulder City's factories, it was unfathomable that they had built all of this in just one winter.
Had these industrial machines and production methods fallen straight from the sky?!
Liszt suddenly recalled the Pioneer land fortress that had passed through the northern outskirts of Qingquan City earlier.
There was only one explanation.
They had secured the Enterprise's sponsorship!
"...This was originally a stronghold of the Bloodhand Clan, but we dealt with those pests and sent them where they belonged.
"After that, we remodeled the entire facility, smelting scavenged scrap into steel, aluminum, and other alloys, and using them to craft weapons, manufacture machinery, and produce anything that could help us rebuild our home.
"The supporting infrastructure here might not match Boulder City's yet, but we possess things Boulder City lacks—convenient transportation, for instance, and inexpensive labor and raw materials.
"This place will flourish very soon, and it will be second to no survivor settlement in the River Valley Province—Boulder City included! Trust me, right now is the prime window of opportunity to get in on the ground floor. I'm only telling you this as an old friend. Investing in us now is a guaranteed win with zero risk of loss.
"If you miss it, you might have to wait years for another chance."
Looking at that confident expression, Liszt's gut screamed that the man was most likely bluffing him. Yet as if possessed, he spoke up anyway.
"How should I invest?"
Finally, the words he had been waiting for!
A delighted smile spread across Chu Guang's face.
"Very simple. We offer two win-win plans.
"Whether you contribute money or resources—or both—I can assure you that it will be a deal where you make an absolute fortune!"
Chapter 241