Chapter 365.1: New Version, Beta 0.3!

"Controllable fusion fuel rods!"

"And they're made by Central Continent Aerospace Ecological Experimental Base, matching the size of the shelter's reactor!"

In the temporary warehouse of the expedition team’s camp.

Looking at the familiar fuel rod placed prominently among the spoils of war, Chu Guang's face briefly flashed with surprise. He hadn't expected to get his hands on something so valuable!

"... We got it from an abandoned Central Continent Aerospace Ecological Experimental Base research institute. We initially went in to search for supplies, but actually found this," Hedin, standing beside Chu Guang and serving as the logistics officer who accompanied the Enterprise’s assault team, said with a smile.

Chu Guang didn't respond but quickly walked up and connected a data cable from his VM to the reactor.

"Little Seven, check how much power is left inside."

A spirited response came through the earpiece. "Hmmm, got it!”

As a stream of data flashed across the VM screen, the remaining energy was quickly displayed in a small interface.

[63%!]

Seeing this number, the look of surprise in Chu Guang's eyes became even more pronounced. On the wasteland, 200 years after the apocalypse, finding a fuel rod with over 50% energy remaining was harder than reaching the heavens.

As for what they could use the fuel rod for... There were just too many to list out!

A few of the more important applications included reactivating abandoned shelters and opening more sub bases. With that, more starter villages for his little minion... Cute little players could be produced!

"It seems you're quite pleased with this," Hedin said with a smile on his face.

Chu Guang collected himself and calmly unplugged the data cable. "37% energy depleted, but still, it's decent."

Hedin almost choked and was about to say something when Chu Guang moved on to another topic. "Are these all exoskeletons?"

Seeing Chu Guang's gaze move past the fuel rod to a pile of junk behind it, Hedin coughed dryly and nodded. "Yes... They were obtained from some marauders."

These exoskeletons were clearly damaged, but not completely beyond repair. They could still be fixed. Those that couldn't be fixed had their valuable parts and advanced electronic components salvaged.

From their appearance and labels, most of these exoskeletons were models ‘Round Shield’ and ‘Flint’.

The former was equipment from the Great Rift Valley, known for its thick, hard armor, while the latter was a lightweight replica made by the Flint Group of the Bugra Free State and designed for mobility.

"Did you encounter people from the Great Rift Valley?" Chu Guang asked, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Hedin shook his head. "Their combat skills were poor, just a group of marauders who happened to have the same equipment. I guess they bought these from the Bugra Free State, a well-known black market in the central region, known for trading everything."

A flicker of interest crossed Chu Guang's eyes. "It seems you're quite familiar with them."

Hedin raised an eyebrow and stated matter-of-factly, "Isn't it common sense to research the local area before setting out? Unfortunately, there's too little information about you all. I heard this was a farm or undeveloped land or something, so I brought some Miner I exoskeletons, but it turns out the actual situation is nothing like I heard."

"This place was indeed a farm half a year ago, and in fact, it still is. Your information isn’t exactly wrong..." Chu Guang said, looking around the warehouse and adding, "I didn’t expect you’d pick up so many good things along the way."

It didn’t look like they were out on a rescue mission. Instead, they looked like they were out treasure hunting.

"Of course, our team's carrying capacity is limited; we wouldn't bring it if it weren't valuable." Hedin quipped, "In fact, besides these exoskeletons, the most common is the rudimentary KV-1... Of course, most of the people we ran into were marauders with iron pipe rifles. But they generally wouldn't come close enough for us to waste our bullets on them. They’d hide far away and wait for us to leave before scavenging the battlefield."

Chu Guang made a rough estimate of the value of these goods. While not as impressive as what they brought from Ideal City, it was still quite good.

They could probably salvage around 30 Round Shields, and 100 Flint units without a problem.

Unlike the Miner series, these exoskeletons were designed for combat. They corresponded to the Vanguard models worn by the soldiers of the Enterprise.

As a local power capable of holding off the Army and the Enterprise, their equipment certainly had notable features worth learning from.

Considering repair costs, Chu Guang valued the items in the warehouse at 1,500,000 silver coins.

In the New Alliance's store, that amount of money could buy 1,500 tons of nutrient paste or 375 tons of corn.

Of course, those were retail prices. Wholesale prices were a different matter.

"Is that it?” Chu Guang asked casually just in case, not expecting there to be more.

"Of course not. We have a special piece of war booty stored in the next warehouse... Come with me." After he spoke, Hedin turned and walked towards the door.

It was an act to raise the suspense, causing Chu Guang to roll his eyes. However, he still followed.

The door to another warehouse opened.

When he saw the iron clump standing in the warehouse, Chu Guang's eyes quickly widened in surprise and then joy.

"Holy shit..."

Exoframe!

It was actually an Exoframe!

The protruding alloy chest plate radiated a chilling brilliance, and on the silver-gray armored shell, faded numbers and digital camouflage paint were barely visible.

There was a neat crack from its left shoulder to its underarm, as if it had been slashed by something.

And on its right shoulder, a word was inscribed.

‘Defeat’

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow.

Shouldn’t people carve the word ‘victorious’ into their armor?

Unaware of the subtle changes in Chu Guang's expression, Hedin proudly introduced,

"This is an OD-10 Exoframe, codename Dragon Cavalry! Standard equipment for the Human Alliance Aerial Orbit Paratroopers. From the name, you should guess what it’s used for."

The Human Alliance's military exoframes mainly fell into two categories. The first was for land combat, and the other was for aerial operations.

The former emphasizes firepower and armor, the latter prioritizes lightness and mobility.

After all, the latter’s role often involves deploying from orbital drop pods to rapidly break through ground fire and secure positions. Excessive size and weight are disadvantages.

The Dragon Cavalry clearly belonged to the latter category.

Compared to the armored T-10 Champion, its lightweight design made it appear less cumbersome. Even so, its thick armor wasn’t something ordinary light weapons could easily penetrate.

At the very least, one would need armor-piercing rounds to take out the exoframe!

After highlighting the advantages, Hedin slowed his speech and volume. "But don't get too excited just yet, like those exoskeletons, this exoframe has a good main structure, micro-reactor, and fusion battery. However, the other parts are either aged or broken.”

"It's okay, as long as the reactor is fine!" Chu Guang said nonchalantly.

Hedin glanced at Chu Guang in surprise, not expecting him to be so knowledgeable.

But then again...

He was the boss figure of the blue coats. He might even be a veteran from 200 years ago. Understanding how exoframes work wasn’t strange.

"... Correct, the most valuable micro-reactor and fusion battery are still functional, the rest can be fixed with some work. Including that tear, just weld a steel plate on, and it’s as good as new."

"Anyway, this thing isn't for soloing tanks. I don’t think you guys will try anything that stupid either."

An exoframe was a generic term for an all-nuclear-powered individual combat gear.

The major difference between exoframe and exoskeletons lay in the power source.

Exoskeletons mostly used chemical batteries, while exoframes used nuclear fusion batteries. As such, exoframes were able to support more robust armor and more powerful weaponry.

That was also why it was considered a mobile tank, or an armored vehicle that could climb buildings.

Even if everything else was broken, it didn’t matter! As long as the most valuable micro-reactor wasn’t broken, and the fusion battery inside was fine, everything was negotiable!

Looks a bit broken?

Can that be called broken?

That's called the marks of history!

All he needed to do was to concoct a convoluted and intriguing story, and it could easily sell for several million silver coins!

Chu Guang didn't plan to use it himself.

His set of azure exoframe better represented his identity as the administrator.

Besides, the protective performance of his police exoframe wasn't bad either, maybe even better against light weapons than the Dragon Cavalry. It might only be lacking in mobility and firepower. However, he wasn’t on the frontlines... Those weren’t his priority.

Moreover, the key point was that his set of exoframe was almost brand new! There wasn’t even a scratch on it! There was no need to swap it out to a second-hand battle-worn skin...

It would be better to leave it for his cute little players...

"Where did you guys pick this thing up?" Returning from his excitement, Chu Guang looked at Hedin and asked.

"That's a long story," Hedin's eyes turned hazy, his tone carrying a bit of complexity, or perhaps sentimentality.

"While searching for information on the Pioneer, we tracked down a distress signal. The person claiming to be a shelter resident had been captured by a group of marauders who demanded he repair the antique they'd scavenged."

"Of course, he couldn't fix it, but he cleverly deceived the marauders and tricked them into helping him collect parts to repair the exoframe. With it, he assembled a radio to broadcast the location of the marauders’ den along with his distress signal.”

"Normally, that wouldn't be very effective, but since we saw it, we couldn't just stand by and watch civilized people be thrown into a boiling pot."

"We were passing by the shelter anyway, and our captain planned to bring that unfortunate guy to you. Dealing with those marauders wielding iron pipe rifles didn't take much effort, but unfortunately... We failed to save him. The exoframe was all we found.”

Hedin revealed a regretful expression as he clicked his tongue. "He was hung at the entrance of the marauders' den, and when we found him, he had been dead for several days. God knows what got the marauders so enraged... You wouldn't want to know what his body turned into... If he had held on for another 2 or 3 days, we really intended to bring him to you."

"..." Chu Guang was rendered speechless, not knowing what to say, but his regret was definite.

Residents of shelters were mostly highly educated, whether they were veterans from 200 years ago or the new generation.

Hyrja and those residents of Shelter 117 were prime examples. Each one of them was an excellent biologist who had made outstanding contributions to the research on Slime Mold.

Allowing a bunch of uncivilized barbarians to command a bunch of residents was a loss for all humanity!