In the center of the Pinecone Wood Farm estate stood a magnificent mansion.
Standing in the study of the estate, the farm owner, Zhao Tiangan, held a telescope in his hand, intently staring out the window. His gaze passed over densely packed houses and landed on the trade station by the enclosing wall.
Six trucks were parked there, surrounded by the guards and rcenaries of the team, alongside a circle of fully ard soldiers.
Wu Wen Zhou, who had just alighted from a truck, was conversing with an interrogating officer. Soon, several soldiers carrying LD-47 assault rifles stepped forward and dragged several wooden crates off the truck.
One soldier advanced, prying open those boxes one by one, revealing gleaming bullets and neatly stacked rifles inside.
That was exactly what he needed.
Seeing this, a bright smile finally appeared on Zhao Tiangan’s face as he placed the telescope on the table beside him.
Almost simultaneously, there was a knock on the door from behind him.
In a good mood, Zhao Tiangan said casually,
"Please, co in."
The door opened.
His butler walked in.
"Mr. Yang He’s comrcial team has returned. Per your instructions, he exchanged the silver coins earned for weapons..."
Ma Zhongxian respectfully reported, his gaze involuntarily falling on the table beside his master and the open window.
He understood.
Before he had reported, the master had already seen.
A proud smile was on Zhao Tiangan’s face as he spoke deliberately.
"I knew it. Mr. Yang is a clever man. He was just delayed on the road for a bit. We nearly wronged a good man."
Ma Zhongxian gave a slight nod.
"There is another matter regarding Mr. Zhang Zhengyang, the Apostle."
Zhao Tiangan imdiately asked,
"Is there news?"
Ma Zhongxian nodded silently, then continued.
"After your instructions, I had the security team send a few scouts to Dusty Town to investigate. The result...the place has been destroyed."
"Destroyed?!" Zhao Tiangan’s eyes widened as he anxiously asked, "And... the Apostle?"
A bitter expression crossed Ma Zhongxian’s face as he shook his head.
"I don’t know. The entire town was scorched clean, but no bodies were seen. Our n searched around the town but found no trace of Apostle Zhang. However, they did find a pile of bodies in a grave to the north... Our militian sent to assist Mr. Zhang were also among them."
Zhao Tiangan clenched his fists.
He was not so much grieved over the 41 militian; the farm had plenty of serfs and never lacked for people or livestock.
What made him anxious was the disappearance of Zhang Zhengyang.
If before he could afford to disregard the Torch Church, not caring about offending those fanatics, now he dared not.
Ever since "curing" his chronic lung issue through Nago, he had beco reliant on the "blessings" of the Saint Heir.
"Was Apostle Zhang’s body there?"
Ma Zhongxian said respectfully,
"Our n searched carefully, it’s not in that grave."
Zhao Tiangan breathed a sigh of relief, muttering to himself,
"At least he is still alive."
Watching his master, Ma Zhongxian hesitated for a mont, then continued,
"Afterward, our people continued to explore nearby, trying to trace the Apostle... But as they moved about ten kiloters south, they discovered traces of mutant activity."
At this statent, a look of astonishnt crossed Zhao Tiangan’s face.
"...Mutants?"
"Yes, master, and at least a hundred of them," Ma Zhongxian nodded, his voice grave, "There are signs of a battle nearby, all indicating... it was those mutants who destroyed Dusty Town."
"And after that, they went to Town of Hope!"
Zhao Tiangan looked blankly out the window.
He could understand going to Dusty Town; the Qi Tribe in the city area was an ally of the Torch Church, and it was natural to help an ally in trouble.
But why go to Town of Hope?
Wasn’t that a district of the Torch Church?
He rembered that the Apostle had personally promised him, as long as they embraced the strange faith of the torch, they would be spared from mutant harassnt.
And this was one of the reasons he had converted.
Intuition told him that sothing he did not understand was happening on this land, and it was very possible that he had already been drawn into it...
After pondering for a long ti, he gritted his teeth and said,
"Let the pastor co see ."
He must speak with the Bishop!
Ma Zhongxian nodded slightly.
"As you command."
While Zhao Tiangan paced back and forth in his study, a group of players stood at the entrance of the Pinecone Wood Farm, curiously observing their surroundings.
Although it was called a farm, its appearance was more akin to a classical city, with granite walls enclosing brick and wood buildings, and orchards and farmlands outside.
If one disregarded the trees covered in pustules and the farmlands covered with green fungal patches, the area almost resembled a bucolic pastoral scene.
Xiaoyu looked around uneasily.
Noticing Xiaoyu’s reaction, Falling Feather softly asked over the communication channel.
"What’s wrong? Do you feel uncomfortable?"
Xiaoyu whispered back.
"Eey...um..."
There was an offensive odor here.
Sothing filthy was nearby.
This feeling was like standing next to excrent; although the trash posed no threat to it, its spores instinctively felt displeased.
"Just bear with it a little longer, we’ll soon leave," hearing the discomfort in that "Eey...um," Falling Feather whispered reassurances through the communication channel.
Xiaoyu murmured understandingly.
"Eey...um..."
anwhile, standing beside the leading truck, Wu Wen Zhou offered a cigarette to the pot-bellied middle-aged military officer.
The officer skillfully accepted it, moved closer to his lighter to light the cigarette, and spoke while puffing clouds of smoke.
"That Mr. Yang, how co he didn’t return this ti?"
Wu Wen Zhou respectfully replied,
"Mr. Yang He is dealing with so business matters..."
The middle-aged officer grinned and said,
"Doesn’t he want to spend ti with his beloved daughter?"
"Being busy is just temporary; he’ll reunite with his family afterwards," Wu Wen Zhou smiled and glanced around, "Speaking of which, there have been significant changes here."
"That’s for sure," the officer chuckled, then continued expansively, "Ever since the Old Master introduced so new crops from the south, life has gradually improved."
"The new crops are..."
"Erald trees, those ones over there."
The officer extended his cigarette-holding hand, pointing towards the orchard outside the wall. He smiled mysteriously and continued,
"Not only do they fetch a good price, but they also have other uses... isn’t that great?"
"That’s... really wonderful," Wu Wen Zhou smiled, but internally he sighed softly.
He had read about "Nago" in the Survivor’s Daily and had seen the analysis results from the Alliance Biological Research Institute about this special crop.
According to the Alliance Biological Research Institute, this special crop was actually a type of fungus similar to mushrooms; any animal or person who consud it eventually beca its bait.
Introducing that thing here.
This settlent was basically dood.
"If only we could sell this stuff to the north," the officer continued dreaming, squinting towards the north.
"That might be difficult; the survivors up north... may not accept such unconventional things."
"Solutions are made by people," looking back from the distance, the officer patted Wu Wen Zhou’s shoulder, grinned, and said, "Just let them get a taste, and they’ll never leave us."
As long as the factory owners in the north got addicted to Nago, the position of Brocade River Province would beco important again.
Watching the daydrear, Wu Wen Zhou obligingly smiled.
Unleavable, indeed...
If that day ever ca, with the Alliance’s style, they would likely co physically eliminate the problem.
While the soldiers at the farm inspected the cargo on the trucks, Night Ten quietly sized up the people.
"Goodness... The soldiers here use LD-47?"
Just looking at the weapons in these guys’ hands gave him a sense of returning ho.
Fang Chang glanced at the soldiers’ rifles and said.
"They seem to be using the export version."
Night Ten looked at him curiously and asked,
"Is there a difference?"
"In simple terms, both the power and the recoil have been substantially reduced. The 7mm full-power cartridge has been replaced with an interdiate-power cartridge, and theoretically, it shouldn’t be able to penetrate the frontal armor of the K-10 ’Iron Wall’ and the Type 6 ’Heavy Cavalry’ exoskeleton at a distance of a hundred ters."
As he spoke, Fang Chang surveyed the surroundings, gauging the ard strength of the area while noting the distribution of several firepower points at the entrance.
Like most farm-style settlents in the Brocade River Province, Pinecone Wood Farm virtually lacked independent industrial capacity, with most weapons coming from Giant Stone City or the Army factories of the Alliance.
The most common here were weapons phased out by the Alliance.
Machine guns mainly included the Maxim I type, rifles were primarily LD-47s and "Hornet" assault rifles, exoskeletons were mostly KV series with a few ’Miner’ retrofit versions, and there were so 20mm quadruple anti-aircraft guns among other support weapons.
Furthermore, he also saw so RPGs and recoilless guns, carried by the most elite soldiers or mounted on fixed stands behind sandbag walls.
This place was essentially an enhanced version of an African plantation, filled with serfs and private soldiers drafted from those serfs, starkly different from the predominantly free residents of Town of Hope.
From an equipnt perspective, this settlent was hardly worth ntioning, but what was noteworthy was indeed the abundance of soldiers.
A settlent of fifty thousand people actually maintained three thousand teams!
According to an NPC nad Wu Wen Zhou, a farm owner nad Zhao Tiangan had long intended to embark on a venture, aiming to consolidate all the farms around Brocade River City. Hence, he had never scrimped on military expenditures.
Besides these visible light weapons, it was said that they’d bought so odd and ancient devices from even farther places.
However, Fang Chang still didn’t take it to heart.
What a joke.
The group beside him had even cut through Falcon City, why would he fear this bunch of neophytes whose equipnt was all hodgepodge acquisitions?
At this mont, Wu Wen Zhou, who had just completed the goods handover, approached them and lowered his voice,
"I’ve spoken with the commanders of these guards. I’ve told them that you are from the Fla rcenary Corps, famous around West State City... They’ve never been to such remote places, don’t even know where West State City is, but that doesn’t stop them from wanting to curry favor with you."
Fang Chang raised his eyebrows.
"What do you an?"
"They’d like to invite you to dinner, likely hoping to woo you and discuss your opinions... The venue is at the Xinglong Hotel on the farm."
Night Ten was surprised.
"There’s a hotel here?"
If he rembered correctly, wasn’t Pinecone Wood Farm not open to the public?
Moreover, the survivors here were primarily serfs, basically the landlord’s private property – let alone no wages, this place probably didn’t even have its own currency.
A hotel just for show?
Noticing his puzzled look, Wu Wen Zhou coughed lightly and explained,
"Of course, there is one. Although Pinecone Wood Farm isn’t open to the public, its officers and administrators are salaried, generally paid in dinars. They can’t just spend dinars on als; they need entertainnt as well, can’t always go to the neighboring town for spending. Moreover, this place occasionally needs to host so distinguished guests... Overall, the environnt at that restaurant is quite nice. The chefs there and those at Old Master Zhao’s estate are from the sa batch."
Not particularly concerned with those trivial details, Fang Chang directly asked,
"How far is that place from the farm owner’s mansion?"
Wu Wen Zhou thought for a mont and said,
"Just across a street... about six or seven hundred ters."
"Six hundred ters, huh..." Fang Chang stroked his chin and nodded, "No problem."
Through another person nad Kong Lingkai, he had sowhat understood the suspicious and fearful nature of the farm owners here. He expected that they would place them at or even outside the enclosing wall and also have them closely followed.
And this would probably be their only chance to get close to the central mansion of the settlent.
After all, they were rcenaries who were officially here to work for money; no one could guarantee that they’d just take on one job.
From the soldiers around, it was not hard to see that the farm owner didn’t really trust his subordinate who was always outside handling transactions for him.
This invitation to dinner probably had an exploratory motive, and those fellows might even attempt to bribe them during the event.
Watching the flickering eyes of Fang Chang, Wu Wen Zhou quietly asked,
"What are you planning to do?"
During the journey here, he had been probing for information, trying to extract any details from these people, but they had been unwilling to disclose anything.
Personally, he was more inclined toward these people using the previously seen flathrower-equipped plane to burst in and directly abduct the targets.
However, upon seeing those quadruple anti-aircraft guns on the wall, he reasoned it might not be easy for the plane to fly in.
While gazing at the cautious Mr. Wu, Fang Chang smiled lightly.
"It’s not sothing that can be explained in just a few words."
His smile was inscrutable.
Wu Wen Zhou couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
"My family..."
"Don’t worry, just have them stay at ho. Leave the rest to us."
Fang Chang patted his shoulder and gave him a reassuring look.
However, seeing the pleasant smile on this man’s face, Wu Wen Zhou couldn’t feel reassured at all, his heart pounding incessantly.
But now, it seed too late to get off this pirate ship.
He could only stick to this path until the end.
Seeing that the officer was continuously looking this way, Wu Wen Zhou swallowed and nodded.
"Okay."
After saying that, he turned around and walked back, conveying the ssage that they agreed to attend the banquet to the officer. A pleasant smile appeared on the officer’s face as he turned to report to his superior.
Watching the man leave, Fang Chang pressed on his headset.
"The opportunity has co... Old White, the support matter is up to you."
After the noisy static, Old White’s voice ca through the communication channel.
"No problem! We are already prepared!"
...
Weapons were not allowed at the Pine Cone Wood Farm.
Besides Falling Feather and Xiaoyu, who stayed at the entrance, all players from the Burning Corps left their equipnt at the entrance of the residential area.
"Please take good care of the equipnt."
Taking the rifle from Fang Chang’s hands, Falling Feather hesitated and said,
"Is it really okay for you to go in like this?"
"No problem," Fang Chang smiled and replied, "After all, whatever we need, Old White and the others will bring it to us."
Falling Feather nodded earnestly.
"Take it easy... Don’t ss up my mission."
"Don’t worry, that’s absolutely impossible!" Fang Chang laughed heartily, waved his hand, and followed the man leading them to the banquet.
The Xinglong Hotel was located in the core area of the Pine Cone Wood Farm.
This was probably the cleanest and most prosperous street in the entire residential area.
Most shops on the street were industries operated by the farm owner himself, including stores, restaurants, and so establishnts that were not obviously by their exteriors.
Whether it was one type of shop or another, the facades were all quite luxurious and tasteful.
Walking here felt completely different from the outside; it hardly seed like a plantation, but more like a comrcial street typical in any residential area.
However, incongruously, these shops were all deserted, without any custors, rather like landscape plants on the roadside.
The person accompanying the players to the hotel was the chief guard of the North Gate, nad Liu Lei, a very chatty middle-aged man.
Under his lead, the ten players from the Burning Corps effortlessly passed through the multiple defenses of the farm and arrived at the street closest to the central farm.
All the way there, the NPC kept busy talking, introducing them to the staple industry of Pine Cone Wood Farm, Nago.
It was as if they weren’t rcenaries but rchants here for an inspection.
Fang Chang feigned interest, occasionally giving responses, though internally he was dismissive.
He knew what the sche of the man behind this NPC was.
It was nothing but an attempt to market this location’s "specialty" to the Alliance through his "capable rcenary group."
However, this NPC could probably never imagine just what kind of person he was describing his master’s business plans to.
Finally, they reached their destination, where a formally dressed, high-ranking officer who seed to hold an eminent position was already waiting for them.
Seeing the approaching group, the officer’s eyes brightened, and with a radiant smile, he stepped forward, extending his right hand.
"Welco! Friends from afar! I am Luo Feihui, the chief here, and the old master asked specifically to thank you for helping us transport this valuable cache of arms from the north!"
Fang Chang was surprised to find that the dinner companion was the chief; he made a face of delighted surprise, shook hands with him, and said with a laugh,
"It’s nothing! We are just rcenaries working for money."
The chief nad Luo Feihui laughed and said,
"You don’t seem like rcenaries."
Fang Chang maintained his smile and asked,
"Why do you say that?"
Luo Feihui withdrew his hand, continuing with a smile,
"I’ve dealt with quite a few rcenaries; most of them are rough in speech and ill-mannered, rarely disciplined. But you’re different, not only courteous but with not a single callus on your hands... Forgive my bluntness, but you hardly seem like a weather-beaten Wasteland Wanderer, instead, you resemble—"
He intentionally paused mid-sentence.
"More like a resident of a shelter."
At that mont, apart from Fang Chang, who stood in front of him, the other players involuntarily twitched their eyebrows, a hint of surprise flashing in their eyes.
Good lord.
Had they been exposed?
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