"… Incredible."

"Is this the same place we came last time?"

Following the guard’s footsteps, the surprised expression never left Liszt’s face from the moment he stepped into the south gate of the Wetland Park.

A straight concrete road below their feet stretched from the south gate of the park to the fort in the forest.

The road looked like it was built recently.

It wasn’t surprising in itself. After all, the work of leveling the ground a little and putting a layer of cement on it could be done by any survivor colony of any size as long as they wanted.

However, for a survivor colony with a population of less than 100, it was somewhat surprising.

Liszt said suddenly, "When was the last time we were here?"

The guard next to Liszt was dazed for a moment, then replied hesitantly, "... It seems to be October."

Winter the year before came very early, and the temperature had been decreasing since October. By November, the road from Boulder Town to the northern suburbs was completely impossible to travel.

Liszt fell into deep thought.

It took those blue coats less than three months to cut down more than one-third of the trees in Linghu Wetland Park.

What are they planning to do?

Just as Liszt was confused, the scene ahead suddenly became clear.

At the end of the cement road, there were rows of houses built with brick and wood. After a rough calculation, there were actually more than a hundred houses.

And that was just the south gate.

Looking to the east, there were another two villages. And the situation in the north was even more spectacular. There was probably a market there. There were rows of busy stalls located on both sides of streets that were bustling with people. Just that place alone seemed to have more than 100 or 200 people.

How is this 100 person survivor settlement?

There are at least 500... no, maybe thousands of people here.

The surprise on Liszt’s face grew stronger.

For a while, he even doubted if he had really been to this place.

Walking with the caravan, an escort with two rifles on his back whispered to a man with a shaved head. "I remember when we were here last time, it seemed to be a bare wooden mound?" 𝘳ÂΝǒВЁ§

"It’s only been one winter, how many houses have they built?"

"Since when did they have so many people here?!"

"And it’s not just the houses... They also repaired the concrete walls, and now more people can stand on that shooting platform."

The original wall made of construction waste had been replaced by a solid concrete wall, and the flat wall had even been painted with a layer of white paint.

In addition, the blue coats had widened the narrow gate.

The narrow road that could only accommodate two ox carts in parallel had now become a wide road that could accommodate 4 carts in parallel.

Dressed in uniform black coats, guards with rifles on their backs stood meticulously on duty at the gate. In front of the gate were residents with different clothes, some wearing fur clothes, some wearing blue coats, and some wearing more avant-garde clothes that they didn’t know how to evaluate except for being weird and beautiful.

It appeared that these shelter residents had adapted to life on the surface, and had taken in quite a few wastelanders in their settlements.

It was probably not too developed. At least, they didn’t see street lights on the streets. But compared to those settlements that would be pitch black at night, this place at least had its own public lighting system half relying on torches and coal lamps.

No one looked sallow, and it was hard to imagine that they had just experienced a harsh winter. Adequate supplies made most people full of hope for their future lives, and everything was orderly.

Liszt suddenly thought of the slums at the gate of Boulder Town.

There were also houses built on the edge of the wall, but both sides were completely different.

"It’s hard to imagine them doing this in just a single winter," gulping, Liszt continued in a surprised tone, "Pang Long, remember the other shelter we went to before? The one that ran out of supplies and had to leave the shelter and build their homes on the surface. Although they also had 500 or 600 people, it looked the same every time we passed there."

Following Liszt, the man whose right arm and right eye were replaced by mechanical prostheses carefully looked around and said in a blunt tone, "Of course I do, sir. But I think it’s also not an easy thing to be able to always stay the same in this world."

He was Liszt’s old partner. He had followed him to many places before, including many survivors’ settlement.

However, there were only a handful of old customers who could do business with them all the time and see them every year.

Many people may have been there in the fall, but when they went back in the spring again, they would probably no longer be there anymore.

Like the old town mayor of Baker Street.

Before the winter was over, he was kicked out of his warm house and driven to Boulder Town.

Actually, he was considered pretty lucky.

The unlucky ones either entered the stomachs of mutant humans, or were thrown into the frying pan by marauders, or even eaten raw by mutants. Things like that would happen every year. It wasn’t even something new.

Therefore, being able to remain the same was indeed a remarkable ability in the wasteland.

"That’s true." Liszt smiled and said, "But as a partner, I still prefer to do business with ambitious people."

If his trading partners didn’t become bigger and stronger, how would he be able to make a fortune?

Liszt still remembered that the last time he did business with people there, the man used 20 kilograms of Blue Umbrella Mushroom and 12 pieces of deerskin to exchange a 10KW Wood powered generator, a set of KV-1 exoskeleton, 4 bolt-action iron-barreled rifles, and 120 rounds of ammunition.

That was the last sale he made after entering the winter.

Although that man was good at negotiation, which made him lose a lot of chips, the profit from that transaction was still a considerable amount.

Later, Liszt used the money he earned to buy 12 slaves from the Red River Town merchant stranded in Boulder Town, and before the heavy snow blocked the road, he sent them to the Camu Tree Plantation, which he ran with a business partner in the south.

Thinking about what happened last time, Liszt’s heart couldn’t help but beat faster.

This time, he brought a lot of goodies.

He didn’t know how much he would be able to make this trip!

The caravan stopped at the south gate.

Some players who handed in missions near the south gate quickly noticed them and cast curious glances over.

"Who are those people?"

"Caravan?"

"Oh damn, I know these people!"

"Hurray! Boss Xia’s weapon store can finally be replenished!"

Just as the players looked at these people, the escorts of the caravan were also watching those blue coats nervously.

"Holy shit... There are actually two ability users here?"

"You sure?!"

"It can’t be wrong! My special ability is to perceive the aura of the ability user... So I’m positive about it!"

Pang Long, who was next to Liszt, also frowned slightly.

Noticing the change in the expressions of his capable subordinate, Liszt glanced at him and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"The strength of these people is probably much stronger than you expect," Pang Long said softly, "amongst those wearing the shelter uniform... I saw at least 4 ability users inside, and at least 15 people showed signs of awakening. Their individual strength may not be as good as mine, but their overall combat effectiveness is stronger than ours."

Liszt looked at Pang Long in surprise. Although it sounded ridiculous, he trusted the judgment of his subordinate. "We have to try to avoid conflict with them… Later, you watch our people closely and don’t let them run around causing trouble."

Pang Long nodded. "Okay."

Liszt then asked Pang Long to wait at the gate with his subordinates, and he followed the guard wearing the exoskeleton into the gate.

No survivor colony would allow a group of outsiders with guns to swagger into their home, even if they were familiar with each other.

However, Liszt still had a certain confidence in his ability to see through people, especially the clients who he had worked with before.

He could tell at a glance which people he could only do one trade with and who he could trade all the time. It was this discerning vision that allowed him to survive for so long in the wasteland.

Liu Ding, who was leading the way, didn’t have much communication with him along the way. He was so quiet as if he was an android.

He took the guest from Boulder Town to the reception room.

Following the instructions of the administrator, Liu Ding poured him a cup of tea and said, "The administrator is still on his way back. It is estimated that it will take half an hour to arrive. You may have to wait for a while."

Completely different from the impatient look when he came here last time, Liszt said politely with a kind smile on his face, "Don’t worry, I have a lot of time. Besides, we didn’t make an appointment in advance, I hope we didn’t disturb you."

Bearing in mind the administrator’s instructions, Liu Ding replied politely, "Not at all, the administrator specifically told me that you are his guest, and I must treat you well."

"If you have any needs, please let me know. I will do my best to get you what you need."

Liszt politely declined. "No, no, I don’t need anything at the moment!"

The two then exchanged some pleasantries for a while.

Liu Ding was not good at dealing with this kind of situation, and there were still other matters for him to deal with, so he didn’t stay for too long. After telling another person to entertain the guest who came from afar, he turned around and left in a hurry.

Time passed minute by minute.

Just as Liszt took out his pocket watch for the sixth time to check the time, he finally heard footsteps coming from outside the door.

The footsteps came very timely and it wasn’t even a second late.

So much so that Liszt couldn’t help wondering if the man was really punctual or he deliberately let him wait.

After the door to the reception room opened, he saw a man wearing a dark blue exoframe striding in from the outside.

Seeing Liszt sitting in the reception room, Chu Guang said to him in a friendly tone with a great smile on his face, "Long time no see, Mr. Liszt!"

"Yeah, I haven’t seen you all winter, and it’s a pleasure to see you again! I hope my rash visit didn’t disturb you." Liszt got up from the chair, and his eyes were drawn to the exoframe on Chu Guang’s body.

The dark blue paint and the streamlined shell gave people a strong sense of security just by looking at it.

Liszt’s eyes couldn’t help but reveal a touch of envy that couldn’t be hidden.

Exoframe!

And it’s a pre-war design!

This stuff is good stuff! It can keep the wearer safe even in the most extreme conditions.

He had been wanting to get a set before, but unfortunately, the exoframe, from the cold fusion battery to the composite armor covering the whole body, was a masterpiece of pre-war technology. The backward industrial capacity on the wasteland simply did not have the conditions to produce treasures like that.

People couldn’t even get their hands on one in Ideal City.