Chapter 1420 - Expedition: Panama

Jiang Chen did not have time to chat with Zhuo Guoping. There was still a lot of things he had to review.

After the USS Obama sunk, the radio communication between Pan-Asia and the West Coast of North America had returned to normal.

After he arrived in the command post, he immediately held a combat meeting. All officers above the rank of the expeditionary battalion commander appeared in the meeting room. Even Han Junhua, who was far away at the General Staff Headquarters, attended the meeting through holographic imaging.

“Based on the intelligence that Governor Zhou brought back, our people were sent to Panama as slaves. Although our enemies have been destroyed by the weather weapon, our compatriots are still waiting for us to take them home!” Jiang Chen’s right hand clenched into a tight fist as he smashed down hard against the table. In an authoritative and fierce voice, he ordered, “Li Wang, on my order.”

“YES, GENERAL!” Li Wang stood up; his eyes gazed straight forward.

“Bring our compatriots home with two thousand expeditionary troops!”

“ROGER!”

A sonorous and powerful answer responded to Jiang Chen’s call.

“Lu Hai.”

“YES, GENERAL!” A burly man stood up straight.

“The Third Battalion of the Hunter Corps to set off immediately to assist Captain Li to complete the mission!”

“ROGER!”

“You have to formulate the specific military operation plan, I will not interfere,” Jiang Chen looked around the officers present, then continued. “I’ll only provide you with the direction, you can follow this direction to create the plan.”

The commander of the Expeditionary Force, Li Wang, stood up first to express his thoughts. He said respectfully.

“General, please give us your command.”

“Infiltrate from the inside and then destroy from the outside. The execution must be fast! And it must be steady!” Jiang Chen stared at Li Wang, then looked at the holographic image of Han Junhua next to him, “We must ensure that our colonists can return home safely.”

The meeting lasted for the entire afternoon.

With the help of Han Junhua, every small detail of the military operation plan was carefully drafted. Everything was done to achieve one purpose, that was, the key objective Jiang Chen stated at the start of the meeting – bring back every detained NAC citizen from the USN concentration camp.

Early the next morning, Li Wang bid farewell to Jiang Chen with two thousand soldiers, then boarded the AS Order.

In the next two days, AS Order would head south along the California peninsula towards Panama. This time Jiang Chen did not make the trip, but instead delegated the task of rescuing the captured colonists to Li Wang.

From the intelligence given by Zhou Guoping, only a small number of USN soldiers were stationed in Panama. Although the force had been expanded several times, the size was less than a brigade, and many of the soldiers were new recruits.

…

In the laboratory, Lilith used a cutter and fumbled with the wreckage of F-79.

When the weather strike arrived, many F-79s that did not have time to take off were all parked in the hangar. And these wreckages in front of Lilith were all salvaged by Beluga Station from the waters where USS Obama sunk.

Of course, for NAC, this salvage service was not free.

These piles of scrap copper and iron costed Jiang Chen 10,000 credits.

However, it was worth the price. The precious pre-war technology was priceless to NAC, or at least for Celestial Trade in the other world. Besides, for NAC, these credits were merely just a dozen boxes of canned food.

There were still many treasures left on the bottom of the ocean floor that Beluga Station was still salvaging. As to what could be salvaged, he was looking forward to finding out.

But now, NAC’s scientific research mission was clear. Jiang Chen gave orders to Fallout Shelter 027 in Wanghai and the field researchers who had arrived in North America with the Expeditionary Force. They had to crack the technology in NS-90 and F-79.

The NS-90 project was carried out in an orderly manner. With the help of employees from the Masonte Military Industry Group in Fallout Shelter U17, NAC’s fighter research and development capabilities took a giant leap forward. On the F-79 side, with Lilith’s help, things were progressing smoothly.

For Jiang Chen, a boss who had no knowledge in this field, all he could do now was waiting.

“…There is nothing wrong with the AI. The design of the sensor system and processor chip are somewhat interesting.” Lilith nodded thoughtfully while she fiddled with the parts spread out on the table, “Wait until I have completely understood the technology. I plan to upgrade the parts on my body.”

“These things have value to you?” Jiang Chen glanced at the pile of parts unexpectedly.

“Of course,” Lilith said without hesitation, “In terms of programming, I am omnipotent, but in terms of hardware, my knowledge depends entirely on your research. This is the first time I have seen this design, so there is a lot of value. Let’s not talk about this anymore, when do you plan to return to that world?”

“You want to go back?”

“A little bit.” Lilith nodded.

For an AI whose virtual world was larger than the real world, the apocalypse without the Internet was equivalent to a barren desert. Since she learned from Jiang Chen about that world, she had long yearned for it.

Of course, he didn’t rule out the possibility that she just wanted to go back for another raid…

“Wait until the matter here is finished,” Jiang Chen patted her head, and said with a smile, “If you want to go back soon, finish this quickly. When your work is done, I will send you back first.”

Although Jiang Chen did make a promise, this kind of incentive measure didn’t seem effective for an AI. She had used 100% efficiency from the very start, so the expressionless face and the movement of the cutter in her hand still looked the same.

Jiang Chen did not stay here to disturb her work. He headed to the port.

Just now, the cargo ship at the Beluga Station dragged a batch of cargo back from the sea where the USS Obama sank.

And this shipment was a bit unique.

It was not something worthy of recycling but living people.

“Fifty credits per person! I can’t go lower, or we will lose money.” When the owner of the cargo ship saw that NAC was not interested in the “shipwreck” survivors they scooped up, he started to feel anxious as he desperately tried to explain to the staff at the port, “Think about it. Those who can get on the submersible must have a good status on the aircraft carrier! They are either scientists, officers, or politicians. You must be able to get some information out of them…”

“Scientist? In that case, how many scientists do you think can get on the submersible and escape in that situation? Don’t try to fool us.” The person in charge of accepting the cargo said with a smile, “Not to mention that the war is over. What use is this group of prisoners to us? Either you keep them yourself, or you sell them to us for ten credits per person, and we can keep them as slaves.”

While the captain of Beluga Station argued, Jiang Chen, who received the call, had already arrived at the port.

Just as he was about to ask someone in charge what was going on, he saw an interesting figure among the group of prisoners, and from the corner of his mouth turned up, the grin was full of mischievousness…