With half a month to go before the New Year, a gloomy cloud covered Liuding.
The survivors living on the deck of Bohai Aircraft Carrier felt a great deal of unease from the wandering destroyer. They'd maintained a certain degree of superiority over the land survivors because were no zombies, mutants, predators or mutated humans on the aircraft carrier. They didn't have to struggle to survive on land.
However, the situation seemed to be reversed now.
The threat from the sea made them feel a fear they'd never experienced.
Fortunately, Jiang Chen honored the defense pact and NAC sent troops!Construction of the Hengsha Island fortifications had been completed. The island was equipped with a "Fireball-1" rocket cluster system, 2,000 rockets, and fifty-one J-type electromagnetic pulse cannons. Under the leadership of Cheng Weiguo, a 1,000-strong reinforcement camp was stationed there.
NAC had no navy - not even a few ships. But it didn't matter. NAC possessed the top artillery in all of Pan-Asia. Just a few days ago, their rockets filled the sky, cleansed Hengsha Island of soldiers then annihilated two mutant nests.
The whole process was easier than sweeping the floor.
Perhaps it was because of NAC's strong forces that the destroyer cruising around Wanghai City was calculated and reserved.
At least they weren't opposed to communication unlike before.
...
On the shore of Hengsha Island, a spherical submersible device surfaced. From its appearance, this submersible and Jiang Chen's "Droplet No.1" seemed similar, except that the smooth cone on the back was missing.After a visual exchange, the five soldiers inside the bunker stood up and carefully surrounded it. The door at the top of the submersible opened and a man in a light blue jumpsuit walked out. Faced with five black weapons, he raised his hands calmly.
"I'm not a threat. I'm hoping to meet your leader."
"You're the ambassador from the destroyer?" The leader of the five soldiers stared into the man's eyes.
"Yes." The man nodded.
The captain turned his head and ordered the soldier beside him.
"Make a request to the higher-ups."
"Yes!"
When news of the arrival of the destroyer's ambassador reached Jiang Chen's desk, he immediately sent someone to bring him to Fishbone base and meet the messenger.
Upon seeing his blue costume, Jiang Chen initially thought the clothing belonged to an underwater fallout shelter. After a closer look at the work unit's ID, he realized this wasn't the case.
The Beluga Whale Submarine Observation Station appeared to be a harmless organization.
He just didn't explain why they had a destroyer.
When Wu Yue met Jiang Chen, he demonstrated respect then reached out his right hand and shook Jiang Chen's hand.
"I'm Wu Yue, the vice-captain of the Seagull."
"Jiang Chen, the general of the NAC military government." Jiang Chen released his hand and looked into his eyes then he asked, "I don't think anyone would feel good about a warship at their front door. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, please explain your intentions."
"We absolutely have peace in mind. You can rest assured," Wu Yue said sincerely.
"Is that so? Why did you not come to greet us until now?" Jiang Chen said with a smile.
It wasn't until NAC made a big move on Hengsha Island that the Seagull finally sent an ambassador. Jiang Chen didn't believe they intended to communicate from the very beginning,
Wu Yue sighed when he heard Jiang Chen's question.
"To be completely honest, even if I personally oppose the war, not everyone is peace-loving. There will be no real peace between the giants and dwarves. Only two giants on equal footing can truly negotiate... Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes." Jiang Chen nodded, giving him an interested glance. "But what you said surprised me. It seems that even though you remain at sea, you are still in touch with the happenings of the apocalypse?"
"We're not completely living in isolation." Wu Yue opened his hands. "We're different from the fallout shelters. When the nuclear war broke out, we only had a month's worth of supplies. We stretched that to three months. Ultimately, we still had to think of ways to survive above sea level."
"Very good. It seems that you intend to trade with us?" Jiang Chen said with a smile. "But I still have a question. I don't know if it's inconvenient for you to answer me, but how do you actually live in the deep sea without being attacked by mutants?"
"Mutants? There are occasional aggressive mutants such as mutated sharks or mutated killer whales that may pose a threat to our production and life. However, we developed a sonar ten years ago that drove away a school of mutated fish. Although the mutants are scary, they are no longer a threat to us."
Wu Yue paused for a moment and looked at Jiang Chen.
"What about you? Are you interested in trading with us?"
"What do you need?" Jiang Chen asked.
"We need any resources! Food, steel, ores, and energy!" said Wu Yue.
Food wasn't so urgent as seaweed was the best source of nutrients, and some fish that weren't highly mutated were also edible. However, energy was the basis for submarine observation stations. Without energy, they couldn't even get the oxygen they needed to survive.
Unfortunately, although many marine behemoths were huge in size, they didn't have enough crystals for their size. Considering the ammunition required for killing, it clearly wasn't worth wasting the number of crystals needed, so they only had two methods of obtaining energy.
One was to plunder, and the other was to trade.
Jiang Chen smiled when he heard what Wu Yue said.
"Well, what can you give me?"
"It depends what you need. We're good at underwater construction, deepwater maintenance, and we can also escort your trade fleet," Wu Yue said.
Jiang Chen nodded.
The first two were useless. There were so many resources on land. He currently had no plans to expand to the bottom of the sea; providing escorts for the trade fleet would certainly interest the merchants on the Sixth Street, however. Without the threat of major mutant species in the deep sea, ocean trade was far more secure than traversing on land routes.
"Your proposal is acceptable. Regarding the trade fleet escorts, I can arrange for you to talk to the council on the Sixth Street. The merchants there should be very interested."
If the Beluga Whale Submarine Observation Station could really freely navigate the deep sea, NAC's trade fleets would be able to spread through the land and sea to Southeast Asia, Japan and other regions, and even farther away. As long as the price was reasonable, working with them was definitely an option that outweighed any disadvantages.
However, when it came to the deep sea, Jiang Chen suddenly remembered one thing.
After signing the trade agreement, Jiang Chen asked Wu Yue.
"Since you traverse the deep sea... Can you tell me about the circumstances surrounding the Pan Asia Corporation's space elevators?"
