The Scavengers

Chapter 142: 147|The evening of November 15th

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Qian Yunkai curled his lips and asked everyone to be quiet.

"You two, tell me, what did you encounter in the capital? What did you see along the way? Why didn't Lei Bing come back with you?"

Once they heard that it was business, everyone calmed down and found a place to stand or sit.

Xiao Mo coughed, put down his tea cup, and finished explaining his affairs in just a few words: "We encountered a big storm not long after we arrived in the capital. I was taken into the aircraft by Bao Yiyong and the mercenaries of a foreign company. Xiaohong followed and rescued me. , then the aircraft fell down in the storm, Xiaohong and I survived, but everyone else died. Lei Bing was separated from us in the capital, has he not come back yet? "

"No." Qian Yunkai shook his head, "After you left, the information was cut off. Lei Bing did not come back, and the supplies promised to us by the capital were nowhere to be found. So you don't know the current situation in the capital?"

Xiao Mo, "We also rushed all the way back. Who is responsible for collecting information now? Tell us about the current situation at the base."

"It's me." Cheng Zai raised his hand, "In this way, I will take the lead and everyone will add."

According to Cheng Zai, first of all, now all the people in Zhongshan Base are soldiers. Except for the really old, weak, sick and disabled, everyone needs to obey the command and dispatch of the base. Ordinary people without special powers like Cheng Zai all join the army, either responsible for the supply of artillery shells, Either they are responsible for laying bricks and building infrastructure, or they are responsible for digging traps and farming underground. They are all hard work.

Secondly, although the base received advance warning and most of the people fled into underground air raid shelters, the total population still lost one-third. Many of these people were stranded outside and never came back.

"Two days later, we dared to come out of the air-raid shelter, but it was too cold outside. At first, everyone couldn't adapt, and several people froze to death. After everyone was prepared, they started looking for people nearby to find food, but the situation was very bad." Wang into supplement.

"Everything was buried under the heavy snow. People in several nearby villages either died in the big storm or died in the low temperature. We searched around and found only a dozen alive. Those crops that were about to mature were destroyed by the heavy snow. The storm destroyed them all, and not a single plant was confiscated. As for the food stored in the base... If the data General Qiu told our team is true, even if we tighten our belts and eat slowly, it will only be enough to last about half a year. When will the sun come out? , No one knows whether the ground is still suitable for growing crops." Wang Cheng said with a sad look on his face.

Others also sighed.

"Now the superiors are considering whether to gather all the food in the entire base and distribute it uniformly." Qian Yunkai said.

When everyone in the car heard this, their expressions were not very good. Although they don't know what the inventory of other mercenary teams is like, everyone in the scavenging team knows that their food reserves are quite abundant. Even if the dozen of them don't work and eat with open stomachs, it will not be a problem for three years in a row.

Usually when they work outside, they eat working meals from the base canteen. It doesn’t matter if it tastes bad or not enough, because they can make up for it when they come back. But if Qiu Feng really asked everyone to hand over all their food reserves, they would never have such a good life again.

Although they are not too selfish people, how many of them are really willing to let themselves and their families tighten their belts and give up all the food they have at home to others

Xue Lihong knocked on the table to signal everyone to come back to their senses, "As long as Qiu Feng's mind is normal, he will not carry out this order. Otherwise, no matter how bad the weather outside is, a group of superpowers will be lost, and the best and most powerful ones will be lost." One batch.”

Qian Yunkai pushed up his glasses and said, "That's true. For example, we have Green Master and the base vehicle, so we can survive anywhere, not to mention the two of you are back. So although some people proposed to collect grain and distribute it uniformly, General Qiu did not agree. "

"What happened to the troll?" Xiao Mo asked.

"Did you see it? The troll has been here for four days and is almost killing us." Cheng Zai lay weakly on the table. It's pity that he, a former communications soldier, now does most of the hard work. He comes back every day as tired as a dog, no, the dogs are better than him.

After that, everyone talked about the current situation of the base. Finally, everyone concluded that in addition to the catastrophic problem of the power system not being able to be used, the base now has four major problems that need to be solved urgently.

First, trolls, mutated creatures, and alien monsters harass the base.

Second, there is an extreme shortage of heating materials, that is, a lack of carbon and coal.

Third, food sources involve future food cultivation and meat acquisition.

Fourth, without electricity, many things cannot be reproduced. What is most needed is medicine and ammunition, and... toilet paper.

Qian Yunkai added: "In fact, clean water sources are also a problem. Today's water sources contain excessive amounts of metals, including the snow. However, at least the filtering device can filter out some, and it can barely be maintained. And the old man of the institute Scientists all say that complete isolation from the outside environment is not suitable for long-term survival. If the quality of water sources cannot change naturally in the future, then humans must actively adapt to the current water and food. Maybe our generation and the next generation will suffer deeply from it, but the mother body is The best breeding ground for improvement is that after three generations, humans should naturally adapt to the current environment.”

Xiao Mo rubbed his forehead, "If the lightning clouds disappear, the sun comes out, and the electricity can continue to be used, at least half of these four problems can be solved, and maybe the temperature will rise. But..."

But what follows is the paradox that he and Xue Lihong once discussed, but this is not suitable to be told to everyone in the team for the time being.

"So, General Qiu Feng is still the top manager of the base?" Xiao Mo abruptly changed the topic.

"Yes." Cheng Zai nodded.

"What will General Qiu do to you after we leave?"

Everyone looked at each other, and finally Qian Yunkai answered: "It can be regarded as taking care of us. The mercenary team also relies on us. He did not hide the inventory of food, medicine and certain supplies from us. He even intended to let me and Wang Successfully enter the base management."

Xiao Mo was not surprised by this. Qian and Wang were both very capable people, and it was normal for Qiu Feng to want to recruit them.

"Just one thing, he asked us two days ago if we could transfer some people to Eleven Taibao Mountain, saying that they would pay the rent. I think you should have seen the slightly taller buildings in the base when you came back. They were all destroyed. The buildings on Eleven Taibao Mountain were the best preserved. Because of Xiaolu’s quick actions, the military family members who originally lived on the mountain basically survived. However, because the temperature dropped too fast, these people have all turned around. Go into the underground air raid shelter.”

Cheng Zai waited for Qian Yunkai to finish and then interjected: "But the space in the air-raid shelter is limited. When there are more people, down there... it's really not a place where you can live a good life. If the temperature is not too low, even people with super powers cannot bear it. There are many people Figure it all out.”

"It's not necessarily impossible to bear it." Qian Yunkai said rationally: "It's just that I can't adapt. Human beings live in places with sixty degrees below zero, but now it's only more than forty degrees below zero. The main thing is to have time to adapt. And there are It’s too dangerous to live outside. Some flying beasts are very fast and can catch people and run away. You can’t hit them with a gun.”

When Xiao Mo heard this, he already knew what was going on. He patted the table and said, "Eat first. After dinner, Xiaohong and I will go find General Qiu."

*

Underground bomb shelter.

Qiu Feng, who was eating with candles, heard the guard coming to report and thought he heard wrongly, "What did you say? Captain Xiao? Which Captain Xiao?"

With a smile in his eyes, the guard loudly replied excitedly: "It's Captain Xiao from Super Nanny!"

Qiu Feng stood up and said, "Let them in quickly! These two brats, I know they will be fine!"

Qiu Feng made a gesture of pumping his fist, and even stopped eating, looking at the office door eagerly.

Xiao Mo and Xue Lihong came in quickly, and the guard saluted them and then closed the door.

Qiu Feng pointed at the two of them and nodded hard, "Very good! Where is my Lei Bing? Where did you throw him?"

The greeting that Xiao Mo was about to say was suppressed.

Xue Lihong pulled her boss behind her, "He hasn't come back yet? I'm about to settle the score with him. Your Lei Bing patronized the feast and asked Bao Yiyong to take my boss out. If it hadn't been for a big storm, now I don’t know where my boss has been smuggled.”

Qiu Feng was defeated, not to mention the Lei soldiers - he believed that the boy would definitely not die, so he waved his hand and said, "Come and sit here."

Xiao Mo dragged over two folding chairs and sat down with Xue Lihong across from Qiu Feng's desk.

Qiu Feng sat behind the table and picked up his chopsticks, "Have you eaten? Do you want some?"

Xiao Mo watched Qiu Feng's dinner and once again felt that it was right for him to come back. General Qiu didn't say that he shared the joys and sorrows with the common people, but he could still eat enough. The food he ate was basically the same as in the base canteen, which was corn tortillas, gruel, and some pickled radish.

Qian Yunkai said that all meat in the base is supplied to soldiers, doctors and scientists fighting on the front line, while dairy products are only supplied to pregnant women and infants under five years old. The higher-ups of the base cannot open another canteen. If you want to eat meat, you can find a way to eat it yourself. You can either spend energy to buy it, or you can hunt it yourself or hire people. Anyone who wants to use their status to dominate can get away.

Probably it was because of Qiu Feng's iron-bloodedness and practicality in showing off that the base was able to stand up tenaciously despite being severely traumatized several times. The base did not have the lifelessness and despair that followed a major disaster.

Xiao Mo and Xue Lihong walked along the tunnel. Although they saw that most people's lives were not easy, they didn't see many people's eyes filled with despair or anger and injustice.

The underground air-raid shelter is not big. Oil lamps and candles are lit all the way inside. It is very stuffy, but it is orderly. Hundreds of thousands of people live below, but there is only bustle but no mess. The survivors have sad faces, but their clothes are still the same. Consider it clean.

"We ate here." Xiao Mo expressed his thanks and let General Qiu do what he wanted.

Qiu Feng was not polite to them. He picked up the bowl and drank half of the porridge. He put it down and wiped his mouth. "I know your team has delicious food, but you don't like me. Hehe."

Xiao Mo did not deny it and smiled: "I'll ask Old Wu to send two boxes of canned meat tomorrow."

"Send it to the military canteen, just in time to give them extra meals tomorrow. There are many of them, so you'd better send a few more boxes, just six boxes."

"Okay." Xiao Mo agreed.

Qiu Feng is not the kind of leader who kills people wantonly. It is not easy for anyone these days. Xiao Mo and the others' food reserves are not brought by strong winds. He is very satisfied with a few boxes of autumn wind.

Xiao Mo also understood that Qiu Feng's request for canned food from him was more of an expression of intimacy than a sign of love. "Why are you eating now? Are you busy?"

"I'm busy, I'm almost crazy. It's really good to see you two back, so good." Qiu Feng sighed, and then asked: "When did you come back? Did you encounter any danger on the road? How are your health? ?Can you tolerate it?"

"It's okay. What? Are there any serious injuries?" Xiao Mo knew that Qiu Feng had a mission as soon as he heard Qiu Feng's question.

Qiu Feng nodded hurriedly and said with a grimace: "Yes, there are many. Some ordinary doctors can't cure them, and our base has no other healers except you. Alas, only now do we realize that our Chinese doctors are the best. Western doctors can even diagnose the condition without using instruments." No, I don’t even dare to undergo major surgery.”

Qiu Feng's words were a bit biased, maybe because he had been hit too much during this period.

"The field doctors and guards trained in the army are still very capable." Xiao Mo comforted him.

Qiu Feng shook his head, "It's a pity that we don't have many experienced Han doctors. There are several soldiers in the ward waiting to die. Can you go and see them later?"

"certainly."

"I won't say thank you anymore, that's pointless. Come on, if you still have some time, tell me what you saw in the capital and on the road. Now the news from outside has been cut off, and no one knows the situation in other bases. Outside now How's it going?"

When Xiao Mo heard this, he recounted their experiences in the capital and on the road in some detail.

After Qiu Feng heard this, he put down his chopsticks and couldn't eat the rest of the meal. He looked at Xue Lihong and forced a smile, "Boy, you have changed a lot. Have you taken any elixir?"

"Does my boss count?" Xue Lihong raised her eyebrows.

Qiu Feng laughed, "Forget it, of course it does. If I hadn't known that eating the flesh of a person with superpowers would not produce superpowers, Xiao Xiao would have eaten all his bones."

Xiao Mo raised his hand as if begging for mercy, then looked at Xue Lihong and asked him with his eyes.

Xue Lihong nodded. It would be better to leave such a great thing as saving the earth to the authorities.

Qiu Feng saw the two of them flirting and couldn't stand it and said: "Is there anything else? Tell me, even if you tell me that aliens are going to invade the earth at this time, I won't be surprised. The earth is like this anyway."

Xiao Mo laughed and said, "I told you right, aliens are indeed coming."

Qiu Feng: "...what?"

Xiao Mo nodded vigorously, "Really, I won't lie to you."

Then he developed the earth by aliens, turned the earth into a playground, released alien monsters, transformed the earth's environment, discovered mysterious light spots of life... and so on.

Qiu Feng: "..." The amount of information is too much, and he seems a little unable to accept it

Forget it, he'd better eat. Maybe once he's full, everything will be settled.

Silence fell in the office.

Qiu Feng slapped the table and shouted loudly, asking the orderly to help clear the table, and then asked the security guard to quickly notify the management to come to his office for a meeting.

After the orderly cleared the table, he also brought a large teapot filled with boiling water and a set of cups.

Base management arrived quickly.

The base management who could be summoned by Qiu Feng at this time were all his confidants, and they were also acquaintances with Xiao Mo and the others. There were six people in total, namely: Director Zhang who managed the mercenary station, the two corps commanders, Shan Jun, the captain of the Second Special Forces Team, Cai Jinhua, the head of the research institute, and Jin Shan, the famous businessman and CEO of Fengrui Group, Qiu Feng’s brother-in-law.

Xiao Mo also went out and brought in Qian Yunkai, Wang Cheng and Cheng Zai who were waiting outside, so as to save him from having to explain twice when he returned home.

Ten minutes later, a secret meeting was held in Qiu Feng's office in the underground air raid shelter.

Because of its importance, this meeting was later recorded in the annals of history, and was even known as the Dawn Meeting. It became one of the must-answer questions in modern history. However, no one expected it to be so far away at this time, and the people who came to the meeting looked very relaxed. —They knew that there must be important things being called here so late, but who would have thought that this meeting would be related to the future of the earth and even the entire human race

There were twelve people in total, almost filling the small underground office.

Qiu Feng was very distressed and asked someone to bring some gasoline lamps. The gasoline lamps were brighter than kerosene lamps.

Xiao Mo repeated the important things he had said to Qiu Feng before.

Everyone's expressions were almost the same as Qiu Feng's before. Some even burst into laughter, but the laughter disappeared after they smiled.

Everyone knew that it was impossible for Xiao Mo to tell them a science fiction story on such an occasion.

Qiu Feng walked around the office, and finally stood next to Xiao Xue and the others, leaning on the desk and saying: "So the biggest problem for all mankind now is the lightning cloud above our heads and those from outer space... what? Aliens from the bullshit galaxy?”

"It's the Helushe galaxy." Xiao Mo said clearly.

"Why?" Mr. Jin, who is in charge of the base's business transactions, couldn't help but ask: "It's not that I don't believe what you said, but... Then why do the evil developers of the Helushe Galaxy want to develop the earth? Just to transform the earth into amusement park Field? Compared to the huge cost of development and voyages, how much benefit can they get on earth?"

Xiao Mo opened his mouth, but Mr. Jin interrupted him and asked: "If the developer just wants to develop the earth's minerals, various creatures, and various elements they need, then I can understand it, but with such development, is it possible? Shouldn't it be done quietly? Anyway, I can't figure it out. Why do they have to spend a lot of money to develop the earth into a playground? Everyone knows that game developers make money, but they definitely don't make as much as energy and mining companies, right? ?”

"This is just the opinion of you earthlings." A cold young voice suddenly sounded in the conference room.

Everyone looked up in surprise. The muscles of a warrior like Shan Jun immediately tensed up. He didn't even notice the thirteenth person.

Xiao Mo was about to introduce His Majesty when he heard the young man's voice continue: "Developers develop the earth into a playground, naturally because the playground can bring them greater benefits. If they just develop the earth and excavate the earth, If we sell the earth’s minerals and special products other than humans, sooner or later the minerals will be mined out. If we sell humans on earth as slaves, there is a risk of being discovered by the interstellar police. What’s more, based solely on the fertility methods and maturation time of earth people, Just not a good choice for slave breeding."

"This is it?" Qiu Feng asked Xiao Mo in a low voice.

Xiao Mo asked him to wait and listen to His Majesty System's words first.

The system continued: "The developers of the Helusher galaxy have already had many mature and successful experiences on how to maximize the benefits of newly discovered planets, and amusement park development is just one of them. Maybe you will feel that it is better to invest upfront. It's big, but the difference between this investment and sending people to the earth to mine, manage and develop, etc. is not big.

Once the amusement park is built and word of mouth spreads, players can continuously create a lot of benefits for the developers. As for why players choose Earth, it’s just like how you like to buy lottery tickets. They all have a speculative mentality and always feel that they can make big gains with small things. The most important thing is that in your opinion, aliens occupy the earth for minerals and energy, but you have ignored the point that is most likely to bring benefits to players. "

"What is it?" Xiao Mo asked on behalf of everyone.

The system said seriously: "It is civilization. Systematic, epoch-free, and complete civilization."

Everyone was stunned.

"Then why did the developer..."

"If you take out one or even several complete civilizations of alien creatures at once, it may cause a burst of enthusiasm in the interstellar, but it will only be for a while. But what if it is not taken out all at once? Instead, someone slowly flows out from various channels intermittently. A civilization item that is completely different from the known civilization in the Helusher galaxy, such as a painting, a calligraphy, a broken book, a statue, a crystal ball... Mystery, a small amount, is the main point that arouses people's greatest interest. For example, Atlantis on your earth, or the Mayan civilization.

Then after the items of these mysterious civilizations were leaked, some people used examples to prove that they had been to the location of this civilization and obtained some very affordable treasures. Even their long-awaited superpowers and combat capabilities had been broken through there. Of course, such a treasure land must also be full of dangers. Danger represents excitement and greater wealth that is not easily accessible to ordinary people. Think about it, how crazy people in the Helusher system will be in the Earth Playground when this news spreads. "

"Damn it! Are these alien developers too good at playing games?" Mr. Jin cursed, but as an authentic businessman, he had to admit that this kind of development method can maximize profits.

If he thought about it in his shoes, he might do the same thing. But now it is the earth that is being exploited, and it is the people on Earth who are being consumed, so the hatred is irreconcilable.

Others have almost the same idea as Mr. Jin: Only win-win cooperation can make friendship last forever, and unilateral exploitation will only cause resistance. And a certain developer in the Helushe galaxy is no longer stepping on the bottom line of the people on earth, but wants to drive all people on earth to death - after all, the price of a destroyed mysterious civilization and a living and complete civilization are not the same in the market!