Technology without limitation was dangerous; its danger exceeded the danger posed by zombies and mutants. On the planet surrounded by radioactive dust, Jiang Chen had all the reason to believe that malformed seeds had sprouted not only in Wanghai.
Mutated humans, cannibals, raiders, zombies, mutants, artificial intelligence without restriction…
The root of the problem was that all these monsters were the result of technological exploration without restriction that led to mutated species.
This had to be fixed.
The iron fleet of NAC would eliminate all heresy.This slogan was printed on the gates of the Sixth Street, observed by all businessmen entering and leaving the street.
At the conclusion of large-scale mutant elimination warfare, the Sixth Street became the place the survivors from the province of Suhang and PAC territory longed most for. Merchants and travelers took NAC's story and flag to distant places; this powerful and stable force was attempting to complete the feat the World Alliance Organization never managed to complete –
Restore order.
"… They can't do it. It's not because they don't have the ability; it's just that they lack the will to take responsibility and face reality. If you think about it from another perspective, are you more willing to face a world completely blown into chaos or go to a new world and start again? There isn't much difference between the two - it's just that the latter is easier for people to accept." In the General office at the Sixth Street council building, Jiang Chen knocked his cigarette against an ashtray and leaned back to chat with Zhao Chenwu who was sitting across from him.
"Very unique perspective." Zhao Chenwu shrugged, took a sip of his tea and exclaimed, "Great tea. Speaking of which, did Mr. General invite me here just for a tea party?"
"Of course not!" Jiang Chen laughed. "You're the director of the council. I want to use you to send a message to the council."
"What signal?" Zhao Chenwu put down the teacup and sat up straight."Wanghai's situation is gradually being stabilized. In the next while, NAC will not consider military action so it will be a great opportunity to develop Sixth Street."
"So the arms contract from NAC will decrease?" Zhao Chenwu's reaction wasn't too enthusiastic since he already left the firearms business and sold the military factory to NAC half a year ago.
"Of course, but this wasn't what I wanted to say." Jiang Chen paused. "I want you to use the influence you built when you conducted business outside of NAC territory to collect pre-war technical files, research equipment, and high precision pieces of apparatus scattered outside of Wanghai. We'll acquire the recollected goods at a reasonable price."
For most of the small to medium sized survival groups, technology and equipment were worthless. Even if a village with thirty-something people acquired the design blueprints for an electromagnetic pulse cannon, it would be impossible for them to actually produce a single cannon without 3D printing equipment or production tools.
Many ignorant survivors even mixed precious literature and abandoned books together to use as winter fuel. They removed parts such as sensors and graphene circuit boards from the quantum computer and used them on self-controlled sentry guns.
What Jiang Chen needed merchants across the wasteland to do was collect the "precious goods" mixed in with the garbage. It was best for merchants to do this since their movements wouldn't alarm local survivors and they could communicate with locals much more easily compared to NAC soldiers with guns.
"Of course. I'll inform my colleagues and keep an eye out when doing business outside the province… Do I need to inform council members too? A lot of Sixth Street commerce chambers are doing business outside the province - the merchant fleets from Hang City for example," Zhao Chenwu asked.
"No need to inform them; the merchant fleets from Hang are outsiders. As for the smaller commerce chambers, there are too many of them to control effectively and that would just disrupt more than help." Jiang Chen shook his head. "This task is extremely important. NAC needs this technology to rebuild the ruins, so I'm giving you the task."
"Thank you for your confidence in us; we won't disappoint you." Zhao Chenwu nodded, raised his head, and smiled. "What exactly is this technology? Or, what kind of technology is NAC willing to pay such a high price for?"
The focus of merchants was always maximizing profits. The number of credits NAC was willing to pay directly correlated with the energy the merchants had for the technology recollection work. Jiang Chen knew this point too well.
"More advanced 3D printing equipment or related technical documents, commercial or experimental quantum computers, and any equipment and papers related to aerospace technology. This is the current focus of our collection. As for the other technologies, we'll offer a reasonable price based on their practical value." Jiang Chen smiled.
Zhao Chenwu nodded.
"I understand. Is that all?"
"There's one more thing. I heard that Zhao Corporation imported a batch of production drones from Wu City?" Jiang Chen asked.
"That's right. It was the 'Ant drone.' Nothing can escape your eyes," Zhao Chenwu joked. "What about them?"
"Are they useful?"
"They're great. They can be used to harvest crops, collect tree sap, and even replace simple streamline work. All in all, the drones are very interesting little equipment," Zhao Chenwu said.
Followed the increase in average income at Sixth Street, aside from slaves and refugees who were willing to perform farming and planting work, most survivors would rather "collect garbage" than do low-paying farm work. In order to alleviate the labor shortages, Zhao Chenwu purchased a batch of Ant drones from Wu City to replace human labor.
"Could you provide a few samples for us? We'll pay, of course."
"No problem. They don't cost a lot to begin with - I can even gift you a few," Zhao Chenwu generously offered. "If you successfully decipher their technology, remember to sell us some units."
"Thank you then." Jiang Chen smiled. "On the other hand, what's the strength of the survivors in Wu City?"
"The strength? How should I put it... the survivors south of Yangtze River are mainly farmers and Wu City is also similar. It's located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River plains, so survivor groups are distributed around the fertile suburban soil. Perhaps because they inherited part of the pre-war production technology that in general, their mechanical manufacturing capacity is pretty good.
They are similar to how Wanghai was two years ago - local survivors are under constant disruptions from mutated humans and raiders, so their population density isn't high. Their economy mostly relies on the exports of Bullet Shell Grain, Carm Tree Sap, and mutated fruit. They occasionally pitch their hand-made robots and drones to passing merchants. Is there a problem?"
"No, I was just asking. Also, I have another task for you." Jiang Chen smiled.
"Oh?" Zhao Chenwu looked at him.
"When you're doing business, remember to keep an eye out for information related to the local survivors. For example, their population, economic condition, military power, and force distribution."
"Didn't you say that NAC has no military operations on their agenda?"
"That doesn't mean we only collect information when there is a military operation." Jiang Chen crossed his fingers and clasped them on his knee. "In times of peace, we can conduct research on where we will have to fight."
