Chapter 123: Level 3 Controlled Equipment

Chapter 123: Tier‑Three Control Equipment

After leaving Wuxue Town, Chen Jian's squad swiftly returned to Huangshi City.

When they arrived, the representative of the Ring Merchants, Wang Lizi, was already waiting in the city.

It must be said, their reaction was swift.

This is likely why they are renowned as the strongest information dealers in the wasteland.

Without excess chatter, Chen Jian, as agreed, supplied them with intelligence on the monsters of Huadu and Wuxue, yet deliberately concealed the crucial details of “controlling monsters with drugs” and the exact composition of those drugs.

He had assumed they would be keenly interested and hoped to sell those two critical bits for a good price.

But when they talked, hey, they didn’t care at all.

Chen Jian wasn’t sure whether they failed to grasp the importance of those two points or simply had no need for such fine‑grained data.

In the end, after the discussion, they merely increased, on top of their original expectations, the quantity of tier‑three control technology and equipment from one item to two.

And Chen Jian had no need for their so‑called technology.

The terminal at 7025 held half a national library; had the situation not still been unsettled, he would have already mobilized Huangshi’s citizens to start climbing the tech tree.

Thus he decisively converted all that “technology” into equipment.

In other words, he could now select four pieces of equipment from the Ring Merchants’ stock.

Having made that decision, Wang Lizi’s eyes flickered with a hint of regret.

He probably thought Chen Jian’s choice was overly short‑sighted.

Still, given Huangshi’s present circumstances, he could at least understand it.

Accordingly, he kept his promise and showed Chen Jian the list, allowing him to pick equipment from it.

When Wang Lizi handed over that thin sheet of paper, Chen Jian froze.

“Just this much?”

He had imagined their stockpile to be enormous—even if it couldn’t match the twenty‑plus major reserve depots of the interior, he expected it to at least rival 7025’s level.

In reality, the equipment listed on that page numbered fewer than fifty items—not even a fraction of what 7025 possessed.

Faced with his doubt, Wang Lizi answered candidly:

“This is merely a portion of the tier‑three control gear, and it’s what we can hand over to you right away.”

“We certainly couldn’t reveal the entire list at once, for the information itself holds value.”

“But you can rest assured; this list is the result of our careful screening, and I guarantee that the vast majority of it will be useful to you.”

“However, you will need to make some choices.”

“I suggest you prioritize”

“I’ll have a look myself.”

Chen Jian cut Wang Lizi off, then lowered his gaze to the list in his hand.

Though the list is short, the items are scattered: firearms and rocket launchers, simple generators and steam engines as production tools, plus a modest amount of materials, including metal and fuel.

Chen Jian examined each item one by one, frowning slightly as he said:

“Not bad, there are automatic weapons—but none of them list a model, so how am I to choose?”

“The model isn’t important; you can tell them apart by the ammunition.”

Wang Lizi replied offhandedly.

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

“The difference in models can be huge—take these, both are 7.62 mm caliber with thirty‑round magazines, yet the Type 191 and the Bayi bar are hardly the same.”

“Next time, you’d do best to bring us straight to your warehouse so we can pick what we need.”

“These items ought to be everything you’re carrying on this trading run; you must have stored them in Jiujiang or Wuxue, right?”

“Yes, the goods are in Jiujiang; if you find that more convenient, we can ship them straight to Huangshi City next time.”

Wang Lizi agreed readily; Chen Jian nodded in satisfaction and then turned his attention back to the list.

After a quick run‑through, discarding most of the weapons he didn’t presently need and the gear already present in 7025’s fortifications, Chen Jian began to focus on the unnamed items whose functions were listed— the “unspecified equipment.”

“Water‑purification tools, but with a short lifespan—probably the activated carbon in the filter is spent; this thing is utterly useless.”

“The portable lighting device likely refers to a flashlight or the like; it’s rather feckless and not useful for now.”

“Protective suits against toxic gas? Not much use.”

“These items might be handy for others, but they’re of no use to us right now.”

“Next time could we choose for ourselves? We’ll state our needs and you can match them to your stock.”

“That way you wouldn’t have to haul stuff that’s unlikely to sell, benefiting both of us.”

“Certainly.”

Wang Lizi nodded again, then said:

“I admit, our preparation this time was indeed hasty.”

“The reason is simple: before we confirmed cooperation with you, the caravan had already set out from Guang‑Shen.”

“But the goods we offer are absolutely not worthless; if you have no interest in other items, you can convert the payment entirely into ammunition.”

“This shipment contains over ten thousand 7.62 mm rounds, matching the weapons you use.”

“That works too.”

Chen Jian pondered briefly, then replied:

“Let’s exchange it all for bullets.”

“At least we can still use them.”

Having said that, he paused a moment, then added as if recalling something:

“By the way, give us this as well.”

“This batch of metal piping—how much is there in total?”

Wang Lizi looked at the item Chen Jian pointed to, thought a moment, then replied:

“In various sizes, there are several dozen pieces, and they’re quite heavy.”

“This batch of metal pipe was originally destined for Jinling, an order from the Machine God Cult; they intend to melt it down and recast it into cannons.”

“If you need it, we can also delay their order.” “Then give it to us.”

Chen Jian stated decisively:

“Even though it’s of little use to us, I don’t want to give them anything the Machine God Cult desires.”

“Certainly.”

A faint smile crossed Wang Lizi’s face; he gave a slight shake of his head and then said:

“It seems you’re still quite meticulous in certain respects.”

“Our deal this time can be considered completed—about twelve thousand rounds of ammunition, all left for you.”

“Plus these metal pipes.”

“No problem, pleasant cooperation.”

Chen Jian reached out and shook Wang Lizi's hand; the latter promised to have everything delivered within two days, then turned and led his people away from Huangshi.

After he left, Lei Jie approached Chen Jian and said softly:

“I thought you hadn’t noticed.”

Chen Jian laughed heartily and replied:

“How could I have missed it? I just couldn’t make it too obvious.”

“You see, by putting what you truly want last as a bargaining chip, the other side won’t haggle.”

“No matter what, we’ve got this batch of pipes in hand.”

“If they’re just ordinary steel pipes, using them as material isn’t a loss.”

“But if they contain thick-walled seamless steel pipes, then we’ve struck it rich.”

“For a long time to come we won’t have the capability to process seamless steel pipe, but with this shipment we might be able to fabricate a 105mm gun ourselves using the mother machine.”

“Although the caliber isn’t large, a ten‑kilometer range is enough to outclass every faction in this wasteland.”

“So what other materials are we still missing?”

“Primarily ammunition materials.”

Lei Jie ticked off items on his fingers:

“Mercury fulminate for the primer, nitrocellulose‑based propellant, CL‑20 explosive, the springs used to make fuses—actually the fuse problem isn’t hard to solve; we could just use a simple fuse, like the Russian K‑2 or HE‑3.”

“These two fuse types aren’t complicated to make; I can knock them out myself, but the only problem is that relying on me alone makes standardized production difficult, so we can’t mass‑produce them in the short term.”

“You don’t think we’ll be able to mass‑produce a 105mm gun in the short term, do you?”

Chen Jian chuckled and said:

“Never mind the 105mm gun—we can’t even mass‑produce ammunition; why else would I be swapping rounds? This is an urgent matter.”

“Making our own weapons is a long‑term goal; right now we haven’t even laid the industrial foundation, so talk of self‑production is premature.”

“The immediate priority is to get the power and drive systems up and running in Huangshi as soon as possible.”

“Afterward, whether it’s food production, basic construction, or industrial manufacturing, everything will need to rest on those two systems.”

“In short, we’re about to set off for Jinling right away.”

“On this trip we’ll bring all our gold bars and try to buy whatever we can.”

“If something can’t be bought, we’ll have to find a way to obtain it!”

“Understood.”

Lei Jie nodded and then said:

“Basic training for the city’s combat personnel has already begun; I’ve also taught Huang Yu how to use a computer and monitor, and for the follow‑up training we’ll have them learn from videos first.”

“Our round‑trip won’t take too long; when we return we’ll give their training any needed corrections.”

“All right. Is the work plan set?”

“It’s set.”

Shen Yue, standing nearby, interjected:

“Winter is coming up soon, so agricultural work will basically have to stop; as you said before, the residents of Huangshi will mainly be engaged in reconstruction over the next few months.”

“So our plan basically consists of stockpiling firewood, fishing, building houses, and constructing water and sanitation facilities.”

“The relevant materials are already below; they’re very detailed texts—just follow them and there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

“By the time we get back, this town should have a rough outline.”

“After that, our subsequent ‘industrial upgrade’ work can get underway.”

“No problem.”

Chen Jian let out a long breath and gave a slight nod.

Since that siege battle, nearly a week has passed, and Huangshi is finally getting back on track.

This is a good omen.

After all, no matter what, the four of them in the squad simply can’t devote too much energy to so‑called “farming” and “management”; doing that would be an absolute loss for the whole force.

Therefore, the initiative of Huangshi’s residents is extremely important.

They must be able to run the city themselves; the squad’s four members just need to provide direction, technology, and resource support on the key issues.

And as things stand now, they’re doing a pretty good job.

Chen Jian stepped out of the activity hall, looked at Huangshi bathed in sunlight, and couldn’t help but feel moved.

What a burst of life, all things thriving!

The advantage is ours!

A satisfied smile spread across his face, but just then he noticed two dark silhouettes appear on the far shore of the lake.

They were people.

And they weren’t from the Ring Trade Association.

Chen Jian frowned slightly, raised his binoculars to look, and then discovered with surprise that it was a man and a woman.

The man had been tied up.

And in the woman’s hand

she was holding a white flag.

(End of chapter)