Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Supply Crate in the Water
The broadcast continued to play.
"The Burning Corps is a member of the Huacheng Survivor Alliance. Our base is located at Sanjiang Coal Group, and the commander is Mr. Pang Yong."
"Currently, the Huacheng Survivor Alliance has six member bases, with Commander-in-Chief Mr. Zhang Zhiguo of the Wangbei Army."
"The Alliance possesses a strong military force. The total number of survivors in all alliance bases exceeds 100,000, with armed personnel over 10,000, equipped with advanced weapons including armored vehicles, and operates under military management."
"The Alliance hopes all survivors can unite, establish a new order, and restore former civilized society. We will make relentless efforts for this."
"We hope survivors around Huacheng will actively cooperate with the rescue teams, don’t harbor malicious intent, and accept the Alliance’s management. In this apocalypse, unity is the only way out...."
After listening twice, Ye Fan directly turned off the broadcast.
He had already gleaned a lot of information from it.
Huacheng, worthy of being among the top three cities in the province, has much stronger survivor strength compared to Coal City.
However, this Survivor Alliance seems a bit domineering. Combining their forces, they have over 10,000 armed personnel, which Ye Fan did not expect.
It seems the bridge on the Qinghe County side might be the handiwork of one of these alliance families.
As for the weapons like armored vehicles they mentioned, it also puzzled Ye Fan.
From what he knows, almost all the barracks have been hit by meteor strikes.
The areas struck by meteors have a strong acidic smell, and it’s this acid that causes mutation into zombies. Hence, he hasn’t seen any surviving military, so where did they get these weapons?
The broadcast said they will soon search for survivors along the Star River line.
This approach is correct; survivors need to drink water, so they will look for places with water sources. The clear waters of Star River would definitely be the first choice.
Fortunately, he came early to occupy the Star River’s source, or this place might even get snatched later on.
Following the river, they have to pass through Kao Mountain Farm, which means they would go through his territory, wouldn’t they?
Ye Fan stroked his chin in thought, realizing that developing steadily at Kao Mountain wouldn’t be easy. Encounters with other survivor forces could happen soon.
However, with the Red Alert System, Ye Fan wasn’t concerned about other survivor forces.
Just with the combat power of his 500 men, he was confident that, even against 3,000 or 5,000 others, they might not be his match.
If there were more people.....
Ye Fan glanced at the demolition truck he had hidden deep within the base.
He really didn’t want to create any disasters; as long as everyone behaves, the world would be at peace.
********
Occasionally inquiring about the location of the base vehicle, the base was bustling all day.
The main force set out, with more than twenty transport trucks moving simultaneously. Engineers even collected a few bulldozers and excavators nearby.
They were leveling the ground and laying basic roads; the Red Alert System wasn’t almighty, many basic infrastructure tasks still needed to be done by hand.
Sewage pipelines didn’t need separate construction on the inner layer; each Red Alert building internally contained these facilities.
They only dug some drainage ditches inside, and the Star River water flowed through pipelines in various buildings.
Truckloads of building materials were transported from Qinghe, and this route had been traveled many times, making it very safe.
The soldiers were all in action, their operations orderly; military obedience to orders was something many construction teams couldn’t achieve.
Whenever resources piled up enough at the resource recovery station, Ye Fan would begin manufacturing.
One door, two doors.
When the final 30-meter main gate of the inner base was completed, Ye Fan’s construction task was half done.
The final inner base’s main gate was very majestic.
The two large iron doors were 60 centimeters thick, with two small doors in between.
The main gate’s total width reached 30 meters, and the small gate in the middle was 5 meters wide, allowing most vehicles to freely pass through.
Once the main gate was completed, the inner base’s peripheral facilities were basically finished.
Ye Fan’s next task was to construct the partition walls within the inner base.
This didn’t require much money; a 3-meter wall cost only 20 Gold, and with the electric grid on top, it was 25 Gold.
Now, with sufficient materials, costs were reduced by 90%, needing only 2.5 Gold per meter.
The location for the walls was already marked, Ye Fan just needed to produce and place them.
With a rumbling noise, the walls were constructed inside the base.
Here was the power plant, there the barracks.
Here was the reserved location for the Tank Factory, and over there for the Air Command.
The number of buildings increased after system upgrades. Though four square kilometers didn’t look small, placing the buildings filled it quickly.
This wasn’t all; Ye Fan excluded positions for constructing the Nuclear Bomb Launching Well, Super-Space-Time Transmission Device, Weather Control Device, etc.
He didn’t believe Kao Mountain Farm could support him in producing super weapons.
Considering how the system constantly demanded money, he couldn’t imagine what those items’ costs would be.
The last structure constructed was in the rear of the inner base, not too far from the mountain.
This was the official residence spot Ye Fan decided on back then.
The official residence’s walls were built, with a front gate and a back gate left.
Additionally, according to the engineer’s design, defensive weapons were to be placed around Ye Fan’s residence.
For example, Machine Gun Bunkers, Light Prism Towers, and even a missile defense system.
A circle of defensive weapons, with guard patrols and military dogs on alert, and if one day satellites could be launched, one should be placed in space overhead to specifically protect the Commander-in-Chief.
This left Ye Fan speechless; perhaps even foreign presidents didn’t have such strict protection.
With the walls placed, base construction was still in full swing, yet Ye Fan was feeling restless.
Because he still hadn’t found the gold mine he was looking for.
He only knew the gold mine was nearby in the Xing’an Mountain Range, but not in which direction.
Looking through the radar, he found quite a few purple light spots in the mountains behind the base.
Purple light spots indicated Mutant Beasts.
Ye Fan didn’t want to search without knowing the direction, which could cause unnecessary casualties.
Therefore, he decided to find nearby living survivors and ask where the gold mine was.
The base vehicle would arrive tomorrow, so he needed to figure out this intel today.
While he was pondering, suddenly Nana sent a prompt.
"Officer, a supply crate has appeared on the Star River, floating downstream, with a preservation time of 48 hours, and will leave the radar area in five minutes. Please hurry to retrieve it."
Ye Fan was initially stunned, then recalled the concept of supply crates in water.
In the Red Alert game, sometimes supply crates appeared in water, requiring ships or Navy SEALs for retrieval.
But those were stationary, whereas in the real world, it’s different.
The water of Star River flows, so the wooden crate would float downstream.
Chasing it downstream along the riverbank was necessary, but the terrain was loose; wheeled vehicles might sink, and tracked vehicles were too slow.
Ye Fan made a quick decision to produce a motorcycle with a sidecar.
He also called Zhuge Yunxue, since chasing the supply crate would only need two people.
The two jogged out of the base, and the motorcycle was produced.
Looking at the radar, the supply crate was just on the edge, five kilometers away, and was swiftly moving downstream; the Star River’s current was quite brisk.
"Get on, chase!"
Zhuge Yunxue took the role of the driver, while Ye Fan sat in the sidecar position, driving the motorcycle outward in pursuit.
The motorcycle bumped and leaped on the riverbank.
Sometimes encountering fallen trees and other obstacles that required detours, the chase speed wasn’t swift.
They pursued for over twenty kilometers, nearing the direction of Baoshan Town, finally getting close to the supply crate.
Ye Fan was a bit excited: "A supply crate in the water, I wonder what’s inside? If it turned out to be an aircraft carrier stranded here, it would be quite a headache."
Zhuge Yunxue, while driving, asked, "Officer, will you go into the water to get it, or should I?"
Ye Fan thought for a moment, "Even though my past ocean battles left me prone to leg cramps, the little river shouldn’t be difficult for me."
"No, Officer, your health is important; I’ll go in. As a Scout, swimming is a basic skill."
Ye Fan nodded, "Alright, don’t get your clothes wet; hand them over to me before you go in, I’ll keep them for you."
"Officer, you’re really nice to your subordinates."
"It’s just a small favor, no need to thank me."
After chasing another five kilometers or so, the supply crate got stuck by a branch spanning the water.