Chapter 332.2: Even If There Are 20,000 Pigs, It Will Take Some Time To Catch Them All!

Faced with their questions, Andrew spoke quietly, "It's not hard to deduce... Those trains heading to Bluestone County never return empty. You can always find some copper ore slag near the railway tracks. And according to my agents, the quality of the copper ore seems to be quite good."

Upon hearing this, the expressions on their faces changed.

The New Alliance had discovered a copper deposit!

No wonder they suddenly announced a northern campaign!

No wonder the war had been going on for two months, yet the prices of copper and sulfur hadn't fluctuated much!

No wonder Simeon's reaction was so intense, talking about establishing a more centralized organization and rallying the neighboring communities to be vigilant against the rise of the New Alliance.

Thinking about the thousands of tons of copper ore stored in the Horseshoe Merchants Association's warehouse, they couldn't help but mourn for their fellow merchant in their hearts for a brief moment.

It was truly a tragedy.

...

In Red River Town, there was a rift among the Merchants Association leaders and mine owners regarding how to handle their relationship with the New Alliance.

A similar scene unfolded in the council hall of Garbage City.

The council members were in heated debates over whether to establish diplomatic relations with the New Alliance and what kind of diplomatic relations to establish.

Everything happened so suddenly.

Just a month ago, they were still discussing topics like increasing military armaments, how to deal with the crisis of the Bonechewer Clan’s southern advance, and most importantly, how to convince Boulder Town to join the war.

And now, suddenly, someone told them that Gold Fang was dead, and the war was over.

It was certainly good news, undoubtedly... But the formidable war potential displayed by the New Alliance made them feel both joy and unease at the same time...

...

In the outer district of Boulder Town, in the City Hall.

The director frowned as he looked at the reports submitted jointly by several major enterprises from the northern suburbs.

"It seems that the situation in the northern suburbs may exceed our expectations... They are expanding their military capabilities at a rate that is hard to ignore, even if it's for countering the Bonechewer Clan."

His secretary, standing nearby, spoke softly, "Indeed, with aircraft, artillery, and rockets... Although they don't have tactical nuclear bombs, their firepower is not much lower."

Destructive power didn't necessarily require high technology. A pound of iron and a pound of cotton weighed the same. A sufficient quantity of black powder, or even flour, could still produce formidable power.

Of course, he could see that what really concerned the factory owners in the city was not New Alliance's weapons but the expanding productivity in the northern suburbs, which was eating into their profits.

In Boulder Town, the retail price of nutrient cream was 1 to 2 chips per kilogram, wholesale price was 300 to 400 chips per ton, and the production cost was around 450 chips.

But in Dawn City, that number was only 200 silver coins, and even the exchange rate between silver coins and chips was firmly locked at 2:1 by the New Alliance Bank.

Other products aside, nutrient cream was completely devoid of technical content, branding, or quality differences; it was purely animal feed.

Now, almost the entire nutrient cream market in Boulder Town has been taken over by the Ditway brand nutrient cream from New Alliance.

The New Alliance not only manipulated exchange rates but also provided financial subsidies to the industrial sector and trade.

That was what the factory owners in Boulder Town resented the most!

The director of the city hall pondered for a long time before finally speaking, "... We should indeed discuss security matters with them, especially since their war is now over."

The secretary spoke softly, "Our options are quite limited... I suggest reporting this matter to the Mayor."

"Mayor..." The director of the city hall sighed bitterly.

That man didn't care about things like that, unless those blue coats who played by their own rules intervened in the affairs of Clearspring City's downtown region, or if it involved the Enterprise and the Army.

But the likelihood of that was too small...

...

The news of the New Alliance liberating West Continent City stirred up the entire southern part of the River Valley Province.

And at this moment, the man at the center of the storm, following the footsteps of Rock Fang, arrived at Gold Fang's palace.

Actually, it was more like a pigsty in Chu Guang's eyes.

The ruins of a 5 story villa had been reinforced with wood and concrete, and the walls of the surrounding fence and gate were decorated with parts from humans or mutants. Even the front wall of the hall had a Deathclaw's head on display, with a person's head in its jaws.

Even standing there in his exoframe, Chu Guang could still feel his sanity slipping away.

On the other hand, Rock Fang, standing beside him, had no discomfort.

That only strengthened Chu Guang's belief that these marauders were not human.

It might be better not to manage them with conventional methods...

"Gold Fang lives in a place like this?" Chu Guang frowned.

Rock Fang wore a sycophantic smile on his face. "This is his living room, and his treasures are upstairs. Please follow me, sir!"

Saying that, he led Chu Guang and a group of guards towards the villa's upper floor and arrived at a door.

It seemed that to accommodate Gold Fang's size, the door had been widened.

From the moment they crossed the threshold, Chu Guang smelled a pungent odor and couldn't help but furrow his brow.

In front of him was a bed that was at least 5 meters wide, with a dozen or so girls tied to it.

They had beautiful features, well-proportioned bodies, fair skin, and their hair didn't look yellow. They didn't look like survivors in the wasteland, but they also didn't look like shelter residents.

From the bruises and scars on their bodies, and stains on the floor, it wasn't hard to imagine the kind of torment they had been through.

And the plight of the slaves locked in the dungeon was even more imaginable.

As a group of people appeared at the door, a glimmer of fear passed through the girls' eyes. They trembled nervously, causing the iron chains around their ankles to produce a clinking noise.

"... These are all high-quality goods that Gold Fang bought from the Bugra Free State, different from those filthy slaves. Now they all belong to you..." Rock Fang said with a tone of flattery.

However, once he felt the murderous intent from the side, Rock Fang was immediately frightened into silence.

Chu Guang shot him a deep look, but didn't hold him responsible for what Gold Fang did.

Turning to the guards beside him, Chu Guang said, "Get them some clothes."

One of the guards standing by immediately saluted. "Yes!"

After the guard issued a task and brought over a few female players from the vicinity to help, Chu Guang had Rock Fang lead him to continue searching the villa.

According to the information provided by other captives, Gold Fang had acquired 2,000,000 Dinar from the Army before, and the money hadn't all been spent on weapons.

Buying a dozen cloned human slaves wouldn't cost that much money, so Chu Guang wanted to find out what else he had bought.

After reaching the basement of the villa, which had been converted into a warehouse, Chu Guang forcefully pulled the lock off the door and pushed open the half-hanging iron door.

The warehouse wasn't large, only about 50 to 60 square meters, and it was filled with various items.

What surprised Chu Guang, however, was that among those items, there was a device that looked like high-tech equipment.

After studying it for a while and failing to understand what the device was used for, Chu Guang could only take a few pictures and send them to Yin Fang.

"I've found something interesting in West Continent City. I've sent you the photos..."

"Can you take a look and tell me what this thing is?"

...

In the eastern part of West Continent City, on the streets littered with concrete debris and car wrecks.

Under the protection of Third Corps, Ma Ban and other high-ranking members of the resistance organizations slowly emerged from the entrance of the abandoned subway station.

Feeling the sunlight on his face, Wu Chengyi subconsciously raised his hand, his eyes narrowing to mere slits.

Looking at the familiar street in front of him, this man who only wore a serious expression felt his eyes welling up with tears.

Come to think of it, when was the last time he bathed in the sunlight? He couldn't quite remember.

Yang Duo, standing beside him, was in the same state. He even choked when he spoke. "Have... Have those marauders really been driven away?"

Ma Ban replied, "To be precise, they've been captured."

After a long silence, Yang Duo said softly with his head down, "Thank you..."

"Even if you want to thank someone, it shouldn't be to me. Go and find the people who deserve your gratitude... I'm just one of those who were saved by them."

With that, Ma Ban gave him a comforting smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Stop lowering your head. Go tell everyone to come out."

"The war is over."

Yang Duo returned to the subway station.

Not long after, the residents of Hope Town began to walk out of the subway station, carrying their belongings.

Some came out empty-handed, perhaps planning to leave the dark days behind.

Of course, it could also be because they had nothing to take with them.

Seeing the sunlight again, people took deep breaths of fresh air, and many shed tears, hugging each other and crying.

Watching this scene, Ma Ban felt a surge of emotion, but he hadn't forgotten the task that the administrator had given him.

There was still a lot to do, and it was not the time for be sentimental.

After a final headcount and ensuring that no one was left behind, Ma Ban, under the protection of the Third Corps, led the surviving residents to the southern outskirts of West Continent City.

Next to the wreckage of the Elevated Highway bridge, there was a relatively open and flat area. Compared to the rat-infested city district, it was more suitable as a new residential area.

The New Alliance's trenches and positions were not far away, guarded by soldiers from the First Corps.

Although the Fang Clan had been defeated, the threats in the wasteland were far from limited to marauders. One also needed to be vigilant against mutants roaming nearby.

Seeing the New Alliance's flag, the residents of Hope Town immediately swarmed forward, surrounding the sentinel patrolling the position and urgently asking questions.

"What about the people who were captured by the Bonechewer Clan? Are they here?"

"My father was taken by the Fang Clan, probably locked up in the marauder's dungeon... Can I go see him? He's definitely still alive!"

"My wife and I got separated; please let me go to the dungeon and look for her... I beg you!"

The sentinel who was surrounded was at a loss for what to do.

Seeing the chaotic scene, Ma Ban, Wu Chengyi, and the others felt their scalps tingle, wanting to step forward to maintain order. However, the scene was so chaotic that no one could hear their shouts.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Wrench immediately stepped forward, activated the speaker on his helmet, and shouted loudly at the crowd, "Quiet!"

The noisy scene subsided slightly.

People subconsciously stopped talking and looked at the man who was wearing the exoskeleton.

Seeing the Corps Commander come out to take charge, the sentinel who had been surrounded by the residents finally breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed his tense nerves.

After scanning the survivors around him, Wrench continued in a soothing voice, "I know many of you have been separated from your loved ones during the chaos a year ago, and I understand your urgent desire to reunite with your families. But things have to be taken one step at a time."

"The Fang Clan's resistance has basically come to an end, but there are still a few die-hard elements in the city. I believe you don't want to become the target of those thugs' attacks in the last moments before dawn, or even their food."

The survivors' emotions finally stabilized.

Wrench paused for a moment and then continued in a gentler tone, "... As long as your loved ones are alive, they will be back with you soon. What you need to do now is to follow the arrangements, be patient, and build your homes."

"As for how to celebrate the reunion, it's up to you. But before that, you need to prepare a place for yourselves and your families."