626 A Worthless Person in Imposing Attire

310 crystals…

When Jiang Chen saw Xu Weicheng putting the bag of crystals on the table, his mouth twitched and he resisted the urge to laugh.

This was equivalent to a poor man asking a rich man: do you want to make 10 dollars?

Seeing as Jiang Chen had no reaction, Xu Weicheng was silent before he took back the sack of crystals. "Please consider it carefully. If you're willing to help us with this small favor, you'll gain the friendship of the president."

The advisor of the Federation courteously bowed before departing.

Jiang Chen deliberated the words of the advisor before making the decision not to execute Ji Yucheng.

The guy was quite unlucky; he thought the people from the Federation were there to save him, but it wasn't a ransom they brought. Instead, it was money to purchase his coffin. It was also the "President's" executive order.

News of the destruction of the water treatment plant thugs quickly spread.

The local survivors all exercised enough caution toward the mysterious but powerful foreign organization, NAC. It was only when they discovered that NAC had no other motives and just built walls below the airship that they started to loosen up.

The bolder villages sent their men out and attempted to approach the camp. When they confirmed they weren't under attack, the local survivors started to interact with the soldiers in kinetic skeletons.

They had to do that.

Because of the sudden spike in the "tribute," their water supply had been cut for a long time.

While they were close to the Gan River, the water in the wasteland wasn't drinkable. This was due to the greenish-yellow cloud in the air. Without the ability to access purified water from the water treatment plant, they could only hope they had powerful stomachs to supplement the meager amount of distilled water.

"We're hoping you could open the water valve of the water treatment plant. Our village has lost access to water for half a month… Of course, we'll pay." An elder in a grey jacket handed Jiang Chen a bug containing only a few crystals as he carefully asked Jiang Chen.

He was the representative elected by the nearby village, the mayor of Hamster Village.

"What's your name?" Jiang Chen didn't take the stuffed bag. Instead, he looked into the cloudy eyes of the old man.

"Zhu Baojin," the elder replied prudently.

"Okay, Zhu Baojin." Jiang Chen smiled, "Tell your villagers that NAC has occupied the water treatment plant. I don't need your crystals. If you want water, swear your allegiance."

Jiang Chen handed him the NAC economic autonomous policy to him, sent him outside the military outpost and watched him escorted by two men with hunting rifles. While the rural area didn't have a lot of zombies, there were dangerous mutants here, like Death Claws for example. An elder without any combat ability wouldn't have come alone.

Sun Xiaorou stood beside Jiang Chen and asked curiously.

"Will they agree?"

"They have no reason to reject." Jiang Chen laughed. "Our proposed conditions could be described as heaven-sent."

NAC collected no taxes on agricultural products in the economic zone, and the governance of the economic zone was based on a mix of local governance and supervising representative.

"Is it?" With her finger on her lips, Sun Xiaorou smiled. "Speaking of which, brother-in-law, don't forget the primary purpose of this trip."

"Fallout Shelter 071, I know." Jiang Chen tousled Xiaorou's luscious hair.

Sun Xiaorou closed her eyes while enjoying the warmth of his big hand.

"Brother-in-law isn't mad at me, right?"

"Mad at you?"

"..."

"In the morning… I purposely shot that female raider."

"I know." Jiang Chen didn't understand.

"Didn't you feel pity?" Sun Xiaorou tilted her head.

"Pity?"

"She's the leader of a force. Did you not fantasize about humiliating her in front of her subordinates and enjoying the expression on her face?" Sun Xiaorou said all this with an innocent expression.

"… I'm not that monstrous." Jiang Chen facepalmed.

"Eh?" Sun Xiaorou covered her mouth and made a surprised expression.

"…"

"Haha, sorry, I'll make it up to you tonight." Seeing as Jiang Chen didn't say anything, Xiaorou patted him on the shoulder with a grin.

Jiang Chen really couldn't scold her when she had such innocent-looking eyes.

…

While the water treatment plant was abandoned for many years, most of the equipment inside was operating autonomously. However, when Jiang Chen attempted to open the water valve, he discovered the valve was stuck. After conducting an investigation with the drone, they discovered that below the membrane of the tank were the eggs of a Mud Crab.

And the location of the valve happened to be clogged with the corpse of a Mud Crab.

Mud Crabs were extremely difficult to deal with and posed a higher threat than Death Claws in tight quarters. The sharp claws could even sever steel as they had a sturdy shell comparable to steel. With such a natural advantage, they didn't want to eat detritus anymore and began to feast on any living creatures approaching them.

Based on the few bodies in the water, the raiders hadn't purposely hiked the prices; that was their temporary solution because they couldn't deal with the crabs.

Under the command of Wang Zhaowu, ten soldiers in kinetic skeletons entered the water tank, accompanied by two soldiers with flamethrowers and a few Hummingbird drones to engage in fierce battle with the Mud Crabs.

Reality soon proved that the Mud Crabs were far more difficult to deal with compared to the water treatment plant thugs who only bullied civilians. With hard shells, they weren't afraid of bullets and even forced the NAC team to retreat a few times.

Jiang Chen then ordered the soldiers to unload a few combustion missiles from the airship. They stuck aluminum heating agents to them and dropped them with drones.

The gate was shut tight.

With the drones in position, Jiang Chen unleashed the missiles.

What happened was obvious.

When the soldiers broke through the scorching steel gate, the boiling water vapor burst out from the edges of the door and carried the aroma of cooked crabs.

When the temperature cooled down, a few brave ones jumped inside with a net and took out the curled Mud Crabs.

There were thirty in total!

This made the food-loving soldiers particularly ecstatic.

The logistics team on the airship was comprised of a few chefs who worked in the Fishbone cafeteria. Since they killed so many Mud Crabs that couldn't be preserved for long, Jiang Chen ordered the chefs to set up a few giant pots in the middle of the campground, to the cheers of the soldiers. Along with a few boxes of alcohol taken from the water treatment plant, the soldiers enjoyed a nice treat.

Mud Crabs were one of the few delicacies in the wasteland!

While the meat is poisonous, the crab roe is amazing. It smelled great and tasted soft, and it was rumored to make men last longer too…

But the soldiers would have to solve their problems themselves since only Jiang Chen had the opportunity to take care of his needs.

At night, around the giant pot.

Jiang Chen, along with the soldiers of his private forces, ate the crab roe while chatting with Zhao Chaowu.

"What do you think about Federation and Empire?"

"Not much."

"Oh?"

"They dare to call themselves Federation and Empire with such a small plot of land; it seems comical." Wang Zhaowu laughed.

"Haha, I don't disagree with you." Jiang Chen took a swig of the fruit champagne made on Coro Island.

"Why don't we use 'the Hammer of Order' to give them a round? The 100-kilogram bomb could really make them reevaluate themselves," Wang Zhaowu jokingly suggested.

The 100-kilogram bomb was just like a meteor. If a 10-kilogram bomb could take out a vehicle, a 100-kilogram bomb could collapse a building.

Jiang Chen only smiled.

Airship diplomacy was part of diplomacy.

If necessary, he would consider this.

Not far away, Ji Yucheng, who was wanted by the President, also enjoyed some crab roe and alcohol.

But despite the delicacy and booze, there was no smile on his face.

"Buddy, don't waste the booze. How about you give me half?" The soldier beside him finished his drink and patted Ji Yucheng's shoulder with a grin, but Ji Yucheng's eyes were focused on the bowl.

"That's enough! General already said the soldiers patrolling at night and in the morning are only permitted to drink half a bowl. Take it easy." His comrade punched him on the shoulder and reminded him.

The rules of the Third Division were no joke.

"Don't be so stingy. I was just joking." The soldier savored the taste of alcohol in his mouth as he spoke with displeasure.

Ji Yucheng suddenly stood up and pushed the two bowls in front of them.

"You guys can have it."

Then he walked straight to Jiang Chen, leaving the two dumbfounded soldiers behind.