Chapter 364.2: Being Cheap Is One Of Our Advantages!

Some buildings appeared to be on the verge of collapse, as if a single push would bring them down, but in reality, they could withstand two 100 kilograms aerial bombs and remain unscathed.

Also... In the players’ perspective, in Wasteland Online, bombed buildings didn’t disappear into ash like in other RTS games. The debris would probably form a giant wall.

Large pieces of building debris simply couldn’t be moved and had to be broken into smaller pieces to be transported away.

This is also why both Dawn City and Daybreak City were built in less densely built-up suburban areas.

According to the planned blueprints, the first phase of Camp 101 would cover an area of 30 acres, spreading outwards from the old site of the West Continent University Library.

Once all 3 phases were completed, the camp would essentially cover the core area of the original West Continent University, spanning an impressive 500 acres.

Although the leader of their camp, Horn, expressed mixed feelings, saying they didn’t need that much space, Chu Guang still generously gave him the outline.

Not needed?

He knew well that this small village of just 200 to 300 people didn’t need so much land, but he and Horn were considering different issues.

In Chu Guang’s view, they were the New Alliance’s future ‘National University’. They would become a sacred place for academic exchange and technical research.

A mere 500 acres... Chu Guang even felt that it was too small! However, to eat an elephant, they would have to do it 1 bite at a time.

For now, the number of students that Camp 101 could accommodate was limited to 300 to 500. The 30 acres planned for the first phase were completely sufficient. Just 2 buildings that were probably 5 stories or so would be more than sufficient to house them all.

After nearly a week of construction, this new camp was beginning to take shape.

Although the educational buildings were not yet visible, rows of neat and square barracks had already been erected on the open space.

The space above land was much more spacious than underground; they didn’t need to cram all the buildings together and they could even have a significant portion of private land at the entrance.

Children were laughing and playing in the camp, chasing each other as they ran.

Nearby, the construction site was bustling. A and a concrete building of unknown purpose was already half-completed.

To prevent weird monsters from breaking into the camp, a series of barbed wire fences were pulled up around it. Steel bars were also driven into the ground.

Standing at the entrance of the new camp, Pai gazed at what had been built astonishment. Her mouth was open so wide it could fit an egg.

It had been less than 2 weeks since she left home, and everyone had already moved from underground to the surface!

It was just way too fast!

"Pai?" Seeing the little girl at the camp entrance, Tris smiled warmly, "You’re back?"

Hearing the gatekeeper’s voice, Pai immediately snapped out of her astonishment. She showed a proud expression as she puffed out her chest and said, "Yeah! Mission accomplished!"

Though her face was full of pride, she couldn’t help but look around with her huge eyes. Eventually, she muttered, "Is this our new home?"

Tris nodded and explained, "Yeah, originally we planned to take 2 months to move from underground, but progress was smoother than expected. Thanks to those kind people, we managed to do so much in just a week."

Of course, the thanks were also for defeating those bloodthirsty marauders.

No one liked to live underground, enduring the damp and dark food. For him, there was nothing more pleasing than seeing the children running in the sunlight.

Speaking of which, Tris saw the 30 young people behind Pai and asked with a smile, "You must be the students from the New Alliance?"

Xia Yan, who was leading the group, nodded crisply and said, "Yes, the administrator asked us to report to a teacher named Evan, can you tell us where he is?"

Although that was what she said, she didn’t look like a student. Instead, she was dressed like a wasteland mercenary. Wearing a shirt with a durable leather jacket over it, her pockets stuffed with bulging magazines, and an LD 47 assault rifle hanging on her back... She looked like she was about to raid the school...

Tris didn’t mind. Often dealing with wastelanders, he wasn't surprised at all and still wore that gentle expression. "Evan is still underground organizing documents in the library, and it will probably take a few more days before he can come up. He’s Pai’s teacher; I think Pai should be able to lead you to him."

Pai nodded energetically, giving Xia Yan and Xiaoyu a reassuring look. "Yeah! Leave it to me! I was just about to go underground!"

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

She hadn’t forgotten her agreement with Chu Guang to negotiate with the administrator of Shelter 101 about borrowing the VM.

Tris nodded and smiled. "Then I’ll leave it to you."

"... But before you go underground, why not sort out the luggage you brought first?"

"We’ve prepared dormitories for you, right next to the camp school...Please follow me."

...

Less than 2 weeks into the start of construction at Camp 101, although it was already habitable, the conditions were still somewhat basic.

However, even so, the local residents still prepared 2-people barracks as dormitories for the students from the New Alliance.

The relationship between both sides was still in its honeymoon phase. The New Alliance was not stingy with their aid, and they naturally weren’t stingy with the manageable level of care.

While Xia Yan and her group were busy sorting out their luggage, Chu Guang was also busy back in Dawn City.

First, there was the matter of new production lines for ammunition, weapons, and accessories.

Although that was primarily the responsibility of the workers and the officials of the Industrial Department, introducing the Assault Team’s logistics personnel to them and arranging work always took time.

After completing these tasks, Chu Guang then took Yun Song to the shooting range to showcase the New Alliance's weapons.

That included the LD series assault rifles and 20mm light cavalry rifles and 37mm heavy cavalry rifles, and 60mm mortars.

Of course, there was also the easy-to-carry and versatile RPG rocket launcher!

The RPGs were actually the star of the show. Although it struggled against heavy vehicles and lacked automatic tracking and laser guidance, relying only on visual aiming, it was completely sufficient for dealing with light and medium armor and vehicles at medium and close range!

If they swapped the payload to fragmentation high-explosive grenades, it was perfect for dealing with unarmored light infantry!

After a few test shots, Yun Song immediately purchased 120 launchers with joy, along with 500 armor-piercing rounds and 700 high-explosive grenades!

Although the penetration of armor-piercing rounds was far less than that of plasma rounds and railguns, they weren’t always facing opponents worth using such powerful ammunition on.

And as Chu Guang said, sufficient quantity was also a form of advantage.

With the new batch of weapons, a company of his light infantry could instantly transform into an anti-tank assault company!

With the help of exoskeletons, carrying a few more high-explosive grenades was no problem at all!

Of course, the biggest reason that prompted Yun Song to order so readily was that those weapons were priced in silver coins, and his logistics officer had negotiated a good price using the goods they brought.

When he made the purchase, he didn’t even feel his wallet itch.

Looking at the smoking launch tube and the targets blasted to pieces in the distance, Yun Song said with a delighted expression, "100 silver coins each, are you sure that’s okay? Isn’t that too cheap?"

Chu Guang was the first to encounter someone who thought his wares were too cheap, and he couldn’t help but laugh, "Being inexpensive is one of the advantages of our weapons."

Seeing his friend finally appreciate the charm of Goblin Technology, Chu Guang was sincerely happy for him. The large stockpile of weapons produced for the Northern Expedition was finally being digested by someone.

But speaking of which...

For someone wearing high-tech powered armor yet carrying an antique rocket launcher on his shoulder... The combination seemed quite peculiar.

Looking at the launch tube on his shoulder, Chu Guang said somewhat regretfully, "It’s a pity we don’t have uranium or plutonium... Otherwise, we could have made some more powerful tactical nuclear weapons."

Powered armor paired with a portable nuclear launcher!

That would make much more sense!

However, the fellow carrying the launch tube wasn’t thinking so much.

Compared to the style of the weapon, he cared more about how effective it would be in battle. Obviously, the weapon was quite to his liking.

"Haha, no need for that! For most threats, the power of conventional weapons is enough," looking at Chu Guang, Yun Song said with a smile, "Thanks, brother! I really like your weapons!"

"Don’t mention it, we’ve also gained a lot," Chu Guang smiled and said.

He purchased 100 sets of metal hydrogen batteries with a retail price 4000CR for the Miner Type I exoskeletons, along with their installation.

Not just that, but also 200 kilograms of metal hydrogen batteries, which were very effective whether used for energy storage or as explosives.

Purchasing these goods, Chu Guang spent less than 1,000,000 silver coins in total.

And with the value of these goods, even if they were transported to Boulder Town, their worth was far beyond 1 million chips!

Besides regular equipment like that, there were also a bunch of not so easy to obtain items.

For example, a bionic kidney produced by Ideal City. That item alone could sell for 500,000 chips in Boulder Town!

Chu Guang had negotiated the trade price at 270,000 silver coins with Hedin, and officially purchased 5 units directly as Shelter 404.

Although he didn’t particularly need them, as goods he would be able to resell to merchants coming from Boulder Town, they were more than satisfactory.

Besides the goods from Ideal City, there were also the spoils of war seized by the soldiers along the way.

Honestly, Chu Guang hadn’t held much hope for those spoils initially.

After all, the situation in the eastern provinces wasn’t much better than them. How good could their goods be? However, reality struck him speechless.