Chapter 154.2: Friends Forever

... After opening his visor, Lu Yang looked at Chu Guang and said in a sincere tone, "Brother, thank you. If you hadn't come to help us, I'm afraid this battle would not have ended so smoothly."

"We are allies, we should take care of each other. Besides, they killed our people, we must personally take this revenge." After a pause, Chu Guang looked at him and continued, "How are your casualties?"

Speaking of casualties, Lu Yang said in a low voice with a heavy expression, "Three died, four were seriously injured..."

The total number of crew members on the Pioneer was less than 100, and the death of three was already a serious attrition.

The last time there were such serious casualties was when they fought against a mutant human tribe when they just left the Among Clouds Province.

No one expected that the leader of that mutant human group was a super mutant human. It took them two tactical nuclear bombs to finally kill it.

Taking a deep breath of the cold air, Lu Yang stared at Chu Guang and asked, "What about you?"

"117 dead, and we haven't gotten the number for those who are seriously injured."

Hearing this number, Lu Yang's heart skipped a beat. The only little bit of joy from their victory that could have been regarded as consolation was also blown away by this heavy number.

He didn't know how many people were in Shelter 404, but he estimated that there should be no more than a thousand.

Such a heavy loss was almost a devastating blow to some small- and medium-sized survivor strongholds.

Lu Yang couldn't imagine what kind of pressure the man in front of him was under at this moment, and how he would face the families of the deceased residents in the future.

Behind this number, it meant 117 families...

"We will do our best to treat the injured... I, I am sorry for the dead."

Chu Guang did not speak.

To be honest, he almost felt sorry for fooling this guy.

If an NPC died, he would probably feel sad for a while, but if it was a player... they would respawn after 3 days.

Those players didn't feel sad at all. In fact, when they searched for the loot, they were so excited that they almost sang songs.

However, the guy in front of him was very serious, obviously thinking it was real.

"Before they came here, they were already prepared. Before leaving, I asked them to bring their guns and woven bags. If they can't bag the enemy's corpse, then it will be themselves in those bags."

After a pause, Chu Guang continued, "So don't feel sorry for us. People will die eventually. Before coming here, they already knew what would happen."

Chu Guang's original intention of saying this was to comfort this righteous partner.

However, what Chu Guang didn't expect was that after he finished saying this, the dude's expression became even heavier, even a little sad.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Yang calmed down and looked at Chu Guang.

"I want to ask your opinion on something."

Chu Guang looked at him and asked, "What is it?"

Lu Yang said seriously, "I plan to submit an application to the board of directors of Silver Wing Corporate Group to grant you the title of 'Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner'... This is not just my idea, but also the consensus of ??all members on Pioneer."

Chu Guang was stunned for a moment, then slightly hesitating, he asked, "What does this Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner mean?"

Lu Yang explained, "It's a proof and an acceptance... Of course, this requires your opinion."

Opinion?

Of course Chu Guang had no problem.

Although separated by thousands of kilometers, who would not like having more allies?

Without hesitation, Chu Guang readily accepted Captain Lu's proposal.

"I have no problem. You have been our partners since the moment you helped us solve the mutant human tribe."

Hearing this, Lu Yang's face finally revealed a sincere smile.

"I'm glad you think so."

"But this title doesn't just have a symbolic meaning, but it also provides something more substantial... Let me tell you more about it."

...

Five trucks were slowly moving forward in the wilderness.

An off-road vehicle with a snow shovel and a machine gun welded on top was driving ahead, escorting their allies back to the outpost with their loot.

Although the Pioneer crews hated running fieldwork, when Li De walked up to them and asked them if anyone was willing to send their heros home almost all of them stood up to volunteer and expressed that they were willing to participate in this task.

Even the injured marines were also the same.

In this battle, these shelter residents used their bravery to win the respect of the entire crew of the Pioneer.

They may be poor and backward, but they were by no means weak.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

They were a group of warriors who defended their dignity with weapons in their hands!

Such people were worthy of respect wherever they were.

Without returning to the outpost immediately, Chu Guang first followed Lu Yang to the operation camp, where he met Li De who had been waiting for a long time.

The two had always communicated through holographic images, and when they met face to face again after many days, Chu Guang unexpectedly felt a little cordial for a while.

Of course, what surprised Chu Guang even more was the sharp change of Li De's attitude.

When he came here before, this guy didn't even come down to say hello to him; he just told his subordinates to entertain him.

But now, this division chief actually took the initiative to meet him and held his hand.

"I'm sorry for my previous mistrust and prejudice. You are a group of true warriors, and your bravery is really admirable. Thank you for everything you have done for us. If it weren't for you, the outcome of this battle would have been unpredictable."

Because Li De had watched the battle situation through the images captured by the drone, he had a completely different evaluation of the battle situation at that time. In his opinion, if the Army surrounded his armored units, it would probably be Lu Yang and his team who got divided and encircled.

It would be hard to say how many of the light infantry, who only had the protection of the exoskeleton, would survive, unless the exoframes could fight a bloody way out.

This battle also made him determined to prepare more than double the reserve of artillery shells and design a light fixed wing with a larger bomb load.

If they continued westward, sooner or later, they would encounter the Army again.

Shaking his hand and releasing it, Chu Guang nodded.

"I will pass on your praise to my residents later. Right now, I want to know some specific information about the title Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner."

Knowing that Chu Guang would ask this, Li De nodded and made a gesture, signaling him to follow him.

"I was just planning to discuss this matter with you, let's go inside and talk."

...

In the barracks.

According to Li De's description, Chu Guang had a general understanding of the title "Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner."

The so-called "Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner" was equivalent to an enhanced version of the "trade whitelist."

As known by many people, although Enterprise was located in the distant Among Clouds Province, their territory of trade was far more than a small place like the Among Clouds Province. Even on the west coast of the Central Continent, people doing business under their banner could still be seen.

If there was a dispute, the Enterprise wouldn't be able to fly over thousands of kilometers to get revenge.

So in order to prevent problems before they could happen, the people at Enterprise launched a "trade whitelist" system.

When trading with survivor settlements on the whitelist, if the merchants were plundered by local survivors, the insurance company would pay for the loss of the caravan after sending a salesman to investigate the situation. For cases outside the whitelist, no compensation would be given.

As a result, the vast majority of caravans from Enterprise, especially those with real goodies, would be more inclined to do business with those "whitelisted" survivor strongholds. Only a small number of small caravans would take the risk to make purchases with those survivor strongholds outside the list. For example, Boulder City was also on the trade whitelist.

Enterprise caravans have been trading in Boulder City for decades, and their legal rights were guaranteed, so they would trade those high-tech products.

For Bett Street and Brown Farms, only the slave traders in Red River Town and the third- and fourth-tier caravans in Boulder City would want to do business with them. The caravans from Enterprise would not consider trading with them at all, nor would they stop at their strongholds.

After all, if something went wrong, the insurance they bought would not cover it!

To enter the whitelist, employees with Rank A or above would need to apply to the Enterprise headquarters and guarantee it with their own credit scores.

In addition, an inspection report of more than 30 pages and a stay in the local area for at least 60 days were required to ensure the accuracy of the investigation.

Enterprise had employees who specialized in this kind of investigation, and their income was usually not low. If they successfully developed a market for Enterprise, in the next ten years, Enterprise would give them a commission based on the transaction volume and award outstanding employees with Outstanding Contributor Award, and even include them in management.

At the same time, secured survivor settlements would be recognized as civilized settlements by the Enterprise, and more caravans would incorporate them into trade routes.

Many caravans, even if they were not part of Enterprise, would refer to this list to some extent to determine whether the transaction party was trustworthy.

After all, no one wanted to get into a marauder's cage or test other's moral bottom line with the goods in their pockets.

It was easier to do business with low-risk survivor strongholds and borrow money from the bank.

As for the title "Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner," its significance was extraordinary. Both in terms of influence and difficulty of obtaining, it was far beyond the "trade whitelist" guaranteed by Rank A employees.

First of all, the individual making the application must at least be a senior executive of the branch, or a shareholder, or even the chairman of the branch.

Secondly, this branch cannot be a small company that had no sense of existence in "Enterprise," it must have at least one seat on the board of directors in the headquarters!

If the trade whitelist was only to guarantee the credit and safety of the transaction party, then the title "Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner" was more like a strong recommendation such as:

[This is an excellent client we met outside, and we recommend them to you. They gave us a helping hand in times of distress, so they are completely trustworthy. You can stay on their territory with confidence, and they will provide you with food and shelter.]

[At the same time, Enterprise-owned caravans are prohibited from taking hostile actions against them, and armed mercenary companies are prohibited from targeting them. The restrictions of Class F and E technology and related trading varieties can be lifted.]

Boulder City and Enterprise had been trading for decades, but they could only be on the whitelist. There was no survivor stronghold in the entire Qingquan City that could get the title of "Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner."

It was really hard after all.

In principle, the Pioneer, which was a "scientific expeditionary force," had no right to apply for such a title for a survivor's stronghold far away from the Among Clouds Province.

But the lineup of this "scientific expedition team" was simply too powerful.

Even the drivers of the water trucks were Rank C employees of Enterprise, and there were many Rank B and Rank A employees on duty in the office. Li De, who was the division chief, and Lu Yang, the captain of the Marine Corps, were also high level members of the Silver Wing Corporate Group.

In general, even the leaders of those caravans that went to other provinces to do business were only Rank B, only a few who could achieve Rank A were willing to leave Ideal City and go out into the wild.

With the influence of the Pioneer crew members, they were indeed qualified to submit this application, but they still needed to go through the regular procedure.

Chu Guang was very interested in the last point that Li De said.

"What exactly are the Class E and F technologies? Do they include exoframes?"

Chu Guang didn't hold out much hope, but he didn't expect that Li De would actually nod.

"Of course... but I don't recommend it. The exoframes with class E technology are powered by a chemical battery, which is actually an enhanced version of the exoskeleton. Few caravans would carry something that heavy, most survivor strongholds prefer to buy a power source and process it themselves."

After a pause, Li De continued, "I really want to help you get this title. Enterprise has thousands of caravans passing through River Valley Province every year, and one of the two corridors leading to the west is in the northern suburb of Qingquan City. This will help you a lot.

"But there is a big problem. Your settlement is really weak and it still needs a lot of improvement. Later I will let someone help you repair that machine tool, but even so... I'm afraid that it is still difficult for you to come up with something that other caravans will be interested in. Even if you become an Enterprise's Permanent Strategic Partner, I can't guarantee that your settlement will be more attractive than the survivor strongholds on the 'trade whitelist.'"

To put it bluntly, the machine tool is more like a "magic wand." Its power does not depend on itself, but on the "source" of the spell and user.

However, after listening to Li De's words, Chu Guang did not take this issue to heart but became more interested.

"It's okay, they can invest and set up factories here! Those Class E and F products can be produced here and sold to other places in Qingquan City.

“We have an abundance of raw materials and wads of unrecycled waste waiting to be handled here. We also have quality labor, and we can even provide logistical security for their transactions in the province... It’s definitely better and easier than them bringing their products from the East Coast!"

After listening to Chu Guang's words, Li De was obviously stunned.

Ah...

It can even be traded this way?