Chapter 396.2: 20 Black Boxes and The Envoy

Unaware of their conversation, the hovering drone continued to the next black box.

"Those are the black boxes sponsored by Champion, let's just call the stimulant a stimulant, it might be somewhat useful to you."

"The variable temperature blue coat is next. Your shelter probably also has, after all, it's the standard equipment for most shelters, nothing much to say about it.”

“As for this... It’s 'Asteroid' brand canned meat. There’s not much to say about it either. Although it’s a good source of protein, the cans contain synthetic meat. Every can tastes the same. Eating too much makes people nauseous, you guys probably won't like it..."

Chu Guang interrupted quickly, “That might not be the case, now that it's the Wasteland Era, getting a bit of meat is not bad, my residents aren't picky." Picking up the manual, Chu Guang flipped through it with interest, the more he flipped, the more surprised he became.

Synthesizes five cans per minute!

With fast enough hands, that's more than 5,000 cans a day! Based on each can's 480g net content, that was daily meat production of...

2,400 kilograms?!

Chu Guang was shocked by the discovery. That was as much meat as 10 cows!

Just one black box, occupying less than ten square meters, perfectly replaces a ranch with an annual output of 3,650 cattle, and encompasses a full industry chain including slaughtering, sterilization, canning, and so on.

Their technology was really something else.

"Hehe, I know what you're thinking, but I still have to remind you, the black box consumes non-renewable Helium-3. Whether it's drawing power from the shelter or from nuclear batteries, the energy is not unlimited. You can use it as a supplement to your food source, but it's best not to rely on it completely, otherwise, you'll find yourselves hungry in the future."

Pausing for a moment, the Mother of Deathclaws continued, "What I want to introduce to you next is this black box... They’re called miracle cookies. They are quite interesting."

Walking to the black box where the drone was hovering, Chu Guang tried to start the machine. Staring at the package lying at the opening, he asked with interest, "What's special about these cookies?"

The Mother of Deathclaws chuckled, "They are very special, you guys can try a piece."

Chu Guang subconsciously looked towards Hyrja.

Without needing his hint, Hyrja curiously walked to the side, picked up a cookie, unwrapped it, and tossed a piece into her mouth.

After chewing for a while, she looked stunned. She quickly tossed another piece in her mouth while muttering, "Strange taste."

Chu Guang slightly raised his eyebrows before stuffing a piece in his mouth. The faint sweetness spread along his taste buds, seemingly just ordinary cane sugar. And for some unknown reason, the cookie wasn't very hard, but it had a very clear grainy texture.

Overall, it was a very strange taste. It was just that he wanted to eat another piece.

"It's just ordinary dessert, right?" Chu Guang gave a brief assessment, stuffing another piece of cookie in his mouth.

"Is that what you tasted?" Hyrja pondered out loud.

Feeling confused by her tone, the Mother of Deathclaws slowly spoke up before Chu Guang could say anything.

"Miracle cookies... It's one of the few luxuries here. Everyone tastes something different."

With a look of interest, Hyrja savored it for a moment more before speaking thoughtfully. "I see, it promotes the secretion of brain pheromones, deceiving the taste, touch, and other organs, making one feel like they're eating their favorite food, right?"

The Mother of Deathclaws spoke. "I'm not too keen to call it deception. But in these hard times, it indeed provided us with quite a bit of solace. Many delicacies that have disappeared can only be remembered this way."

Simulating one's favorite food?

It sounded less like tasting delicacies and more like tasting memories.

Chu Guang looked at Hyrja and frowned. "Speaking of which, what taste did you get?"

Hyrja answered without hesitation. "Liver. It tastes a bit like goose liver, and the realistic texture is unexpected."

Chu Guang frowned. "..."

Goose liver flavored cookies? That's a truly unique preference.

Hyrja suddenly looked at him curiously. "What about you?"

Chu Guang thought seriously about this question for a while before speaking hesitantly, "Um... maybe lollipops?"

Thinking about it, the grainy texture was indeed like that of crushed lollipops.

Hyrja paused.

Seeing her looking at him with a surprised face, Chu Guang growled, "What's the problem?"

Hyrja's gaze drifted to the side. "Nothing... I just thought that, you know, your taste is unexpectedly ordinary... I thought that someone as special as you, I mean, an awakener, would like something different from normal people."

What a strange way to put it.

Chu Guang chuckled and joked. "That shows I'm easy to satisfy. In these difficult times, I think that's a good trait."

"That's true enough. But I haven't seen you eat candy often." Hyrja still looked a bit puzzled.

If she recalled correctly, the shelter was never short of those things. There were so many that he not only sent a bunch of them to the shop to sell to other residents, but he even occasionally gave some to nearby kids, making her wonder if there was a black box producing lollipops hidden somewhere in the shelter.

Facing Hyrja's question, Chu Guang revealed a helpless expression. "Don't ask me! I don't know. If you're curious, just take a few samples back to study."

Those cookies might actually sell well in Ideal City.

A laugh came from the drone nearby. "Hehe, don't worry too much about this. What you liked before might not be what you like now, and the taste you experience when you're in a different mood might not be the same."

"I hope it brings you joy, not confusion, young administrator."

Aside from producing portable reactors, fire extinguishers, blue coats, ‘Champion’ brand coffee beans and stimulants, ‘Asteroid’ brand synthetic meat, and miracle cookies, there were also numerous black boxes producing various daily necessities.

While each item had its place, in Chu Guang's view, the most valuable were undoubtedly the black box producing the Hippopotamus-2 portable reactor and the stimulant.

Nuclear fuel might be difficult to obtain, but Yin Fang could help think of a way. With a portable reactor, the New Alliance would have the hope of independently producing an exoframe!

That wasn’t the end goal either. As long as the fuel issue was resolved, building a nuclear-powered tank was also completely feasible!

Who said electromagnetic cannons couldn’t be mounted on vehicles?

That might just work!

As for the ‘Champion’ stimulant... Chu Guang planned to sell them to his cute little players.

An all-attribute boost that lasts for 12 hours.

If he sold one for 50 silver, it shouldn't be too expensive, right?

As Chu Guang admired his spoils of war, far away in Clearspring City at the southern edge of Linghu Wetland Park, a group of special visitors arrived.

They led mutated camels and there were around 20 of them They were wrapped in long robes, with their heads covered in scarves.

Watching the approaching caravan, the guards at the entrance exchanged glances. One of them stepped forward, addressing the leader. "This is the territory of the New Alliance’s Guards Camp. If you want to go to the commercial street, you need to enter from the north gate."

Removing his scarf, Kariman stepped forward and bowed respectfully. “We are envoys from the Lion Kingdom, from the Sunset Province. I wish to meet with your administrator."

"Envoys from the Lion Kingdom?" The guard named Xu Shun, who was carrying a rifle, stepped in front of the unfamiliar man and scrutinized him for a moment. "Do you have something to prove your identity?"

"This is an appointment letter personally written by our king." Kariman took out a silk scroll from his bosom and handed it to the young guard.

Xu Shun noticed that the material of the scroll was Devil’s Silk, which might even have come from their New Alliance.

But that wasn't the point.

Xu Shun glanced at it briefly after unfurling the scroll.

It essentially stated that the king of the Lion Kingdom decreed that all diplomatic affairs of the Lion Kingdom and Oasis No.9 were fully entrusted to Prince Kariman.

Whether the kingdom still existed or not...

Xu Shun frowned slightly, rolled up the scroll, and returned it to the prince.

"We have not established diplomatic relations with your kingdom, so we cannot verify the authenticity of this appointment letter, but I have already notified the Mayor of Dawn City. He will meet with you later."

"What about your administrator?" Kariman asked anxiously.

Before he arrived, he had heard that the highest leader of the New Alliance was the administrator, not a mayor.

"The administrator naturally has his own affairs to attend to and can't be available to meet guests all the time. However... I will relay your request.” without revealing Chu Guang's itinerary, Xu Shun continued, "For now, please come with me."

Since the establishment of Dawn City, numerous wasteland visitors claiming to represent various powers had come requesting audiences. There were no shortage of swindlers.

Xu Shun didn't fully trust the man, but still reported the matter to the administrator's assistant and settled his escorts at the guard station nearby. He brought Kariman over to the merchants' guild meeting room and had the attendants there serve him a cup of tea.

Sitting restlessly in the meeting room for an hour, Kariman finally met the Mayor of Dawn City, Luca.

Unlike the bureaucrats he had met in the Boulder Town City Hall, the man before him had silver-gray hair and seemed to exude a grounded aura. His hands were covered in calluses and he didn’t look at all like a bureaucrat.

Is he actually a warrior?

While speculating, Kariman rose from his chair and performed a courtly salute of the Lion Kingdom.

"Respected Mayor of Dawn City...”

"There's no need for formalities, please sit down, my friend from afar." After inviting Kariman to sit, Luca sat across from him on the sofa, sizing up the slightly younger man.

"My name is Luca, I am the mayor. Regarding your matter, I have already heard from our guard captain. I also heard that you came from the direction of Boulder Town?"

Kariman nodded. "Yes, that was where we were several days ago.”

Luca’s expression didn’t change as he continued, "Did you meet their mayor?"

Kariman hesitated for a moment, but ultimately shook his head. "No..."

His expression clearly showed he had had a frustrating experience in Boulder Town. However, it was all within Luca's expectations.

The New Alliance had recently established a foreign affairs department, while Boulder Town didn't even have a department handling external affairs and was reluctant to deal with matters beyond the great wall.

If it weren't for the two billion chips loan, if it weren't for the 400mm main cannon with a power comparable to a sub-nuclear weapon, they probably wouldn't even care about the airship that was pretty much in their face.

Luca nodded understandingly in response to Kariman's answer, then continued, "The administrator often teaches us to seek common ground while preserving differences. Although we have different cultures, ideas, and beliefs, I don't think that will be a barrier to our understanding. Can you tell me your purpose in coming here?"

Kariman took a deep breath before giving Luca an earnest look. "The Falcon Kingdom has betrayed the vows they made in front of the Spirit of the Desert. They, supported by the Army, have annexed our neighbors and are attempting to spread the flames of war across the desert..."

"We are powerless to resist the military might of the Army alone. We need your help!"