Dark Ruins Dawn

Chapter 83 Waste
In the evening, two trucks slowly drove into the base.

Hua Xin jumped out of the driver's seat and happened to run into Jetta, who had come to take over.

The moment Jetta saw her, his body tensed up instinctively, and he shrank back, unable to meet her gaze.

It was an instinctive fear that came from the depths of his blood, even though he knew the catwoman in front of him meant no harm.

Watson stood in the middle of the warehouse, a worried look on his face: "This is a bit of a problem, it's piling up more and more."

"so."

Hua Xin scratched her cat ears. "Then starting tomorrow, let's prioritize picking small, high-value items."

Watson thought it was a good idea, and he made the same arrangements with Jetta through the Wasteland Traveler.

"Understood!" Jetta replied respectfully.

On the third day, Zhuang Fan still hadn't woken up.

Hua Xin led his scavenging team out for half a day and encountered "scorched earth".

One member was too far away, and by the time he ran back, his back was severely burned.

Fortunately, Hua Xin brought a nano-medical kit, but it looks like he'll need to rest for several days.

After a busy day, everyone had little to show for their efforts and returned to base dejectedly.

Mao Shanwang's enormous crab truck arrived at the recycling station right on time.

When he saw the junk in the warehouse, shrouded in decaying mist, a hint of unease appeared on his cat-like face.

"These...are worthless."

He fanned himself with a palm leaf fan and smacked his lips: "If it's a lighter kind of stagnant fog, I can bake it with high temperature for three days, but there's nothing I can do about these darker ones."

"Is there really no other way?" Watson was unwilling to give up.

"Unless you use ultraviolet light and a nano-capsule, it would probably take about two months inside and out."

Mao Shanwang spread out his fat claws: "But the cost of cleaning up the decaying fog far exceeds the value of the items themselves."

Watson sighed softly.

Mao Shanwang asked tentatively, "Ahem, I don't mean to pry into any secrets, I'm just curious, doesn't your leader have a way to clear away the decaying fog?"

As a close partner, he had long seen through Zhuang Fan's biggest trump card, and Hua Sheng also knew that this matter could not be kept secret.

"By the way, where is he? I hope nothing bad has happened to him."

"Him, um."

After a moment of silence, Hua Sheng told Zhuang Fan the truth.

After listening, Mao Shanwang remained silent for a long time.

This is going to be troublesome.

Watson then brought up another matter, hoping to purchase ten bottles of All-Purpose Vitamin Liquid from him.

"This stuff is not very popular. I'll go look for it and bring it to you later."

Mao Shanwang readily agreed: "The cost of purchasing each bottle is one thousand gold coins, so I won't make any money off you."

He continued, "As for these scraps, I can't give you much money even if I forcibly take them away. Let's talk about it when your leader wakes up."

Watson was very grateful and bought another batch of defensive materials from Mao Shanwang to repair the walls of the recycling station.

After Mao Shanwang left, the recycling station returned to peace.

Watson sighed again.

With the boss away, many things have become tricky, especially coordinating with the Jetta team.

How do you explain not receiving payment?

It seems that the Jetta team also has conflicts with Tataji's side, and he needs to be extra careful in handling them.

After a moment's thought, he sent a communication request to Jetta through the Wasteland Traveler.

Soon, Jetta appeared on the light screen.

"Greetings, strategist's deputy!"

"Hello, Jetta."

Watson didn't beat around the bush; he lowered his voice to make sure only the two of them could hear.

There's something you need to be aware of.

"Please give me your orders!"

"My strategist, he has some very urgent business to attend to and needs to leave for a while."

"Oh, okay."

The rat head on the other side of the light screen was stunned for a moment, not yet realizing what was going on.

"So, during this period, you should stop scavenging and focus on gathering intelligence. I'll pay you your intelligence fee as usual. Depending on the importance and timeliness of the intelligence, I'll settle accounts with you for anywhere from 200 to 1000 gold coins."

Watson continued, "If you lack supplies, you can contact me directly and I will help you solve the problem."

"Thank you, strategist. You've already helped us a lot. I still have 70,000 in my account, which is enough."

Jetta showed gratitude, suppressing a hint of doubt in his heart and not revealing it.

"However, you must be careful to keep this a secret. No one can know that the strategist is not at the base. This is crucial for both of us."

"understandable!"

Jetta straightened up and said solemnly, "Please rest assured, Jetta is very tight-lipped and will never reveal a single word to any member of the clan!"

"Okay, that's it."

Watson nodded and cut off the communication.

He could only temporarily stabilize the Jetta team; everything would have to wait until the boss woke up before the previous mechanisms could be restored.

On the other side, the ratmen's lair.

Tataji patiently waited for the Iron Tower to connect.

Perhaps they were frightened last time, because this time the Eiffel Tower didn't come in person, but instead used a safer holographic projection.

To enhance the sense of intimidation, the Eiffel Tower's face was covered by a dark mist, making it impossible to discern any expression, yet his tone was cold.

"Tataji, what kind of patriarch are you?"

"what?"

"I received reports from other patriarchs that you stood by and watched from the sidelines while they seized their two Baron's chariots, is that right?"

Tataji was stunned.

It's been so many days since that the Apocalypse Cult's idiots finally realized what happened and started complaining. Their brains must have been completely stunted.

"I'm innocent, Lord Iron Tower!"

Tataji knelt on the ground.

It lowered its posture considerably, its voice filled with obsequiousness and fear, and explained the whole story.

The tower's anger subsided slightly: "Stop talking nonsense, hand over both units."

"Sir, I don't have a single one left."

Tataji dared not conceal the truth and revealed the whereabouts of the two Barons in detail:

One intact machine was sold to a mystery customer, while the other, which was scrapped, was stolen by "Zhuang Fan".

"You mean, those mysterious clients are all human males, bald, and with identical builds and faces?"

"Yes, yes, I remember it very well."

"Do they have codes on the back of their heads?"

Tataji thought for a moment: "There should be some, but it has been washed away and is now blurry."

"It's the Jack tribe."

“Jack?” Tataji had never heard of him.

The iron tower's voice carried a hint of mockery:
"This is a group of social service clones, and also the best-selling 'Jack' model in Zhongdu. Of course, every face is exactly the same."

“Last year we did some tricks to induce them to rebel, so they gradually fled from the human world and eventually gathered in the wilderness to form their own tribe.”

Everyone is called Jack, and they all have the same face, so how can you tell them apart? Tataji thought to himself.

"Does Your Excellency want me to send men to attack the Jack tribe?" Tataji asked tentatively.

"You're an idiot too."

Iron Tower sneered: "In the past year, the Jack tribe's population has increased to over a hundred thousand. You think you can fight them with a rat's head?"

"No, no." Tataji was timid by nature and didn't want to provoke anyone easily.

"How much did the baron sell for?"

Tataji dared not lie: "Uh, one million gold notes, they gave me a gold bar."

"Hand it over."

"Sir, he's gone."

When Eiffel Tower learned that Zhuang Fan had stolen the gold bars and the baron, he was furious.

"I don't care what methods or means you use, you must get that Baron back! And the gold bars too!"
"Tataji, if you dare to delay my infiltration plan, you might as well kill yourself."

In order to attack Linhai City, the higher-ups prepared more than a dozen plans, and the plan assigned to Iron Tower was infiltration and sabotage.

Sensing its anger, Tataji immediately kowtowed: "My lord, Tataji will definitely complete the mission!"

(End of this chapter)