Chapter 531 – Railroad!
Translated by: Kun
Unedited
“Anything else?” Yue Zhong kept the vial in his storage ring, before asking Ou Ming. He was very certain that this genius in front of him had more surprises in store.
Ou Ming revealed a proud smile as he handed a green vial: “This is my new creation: the Ou Ming Ver. 3 Evolving Liquid. Administering this will cause a normal person to instantly become an Evolver. The main component is still the Snake Birth Fruit, but one single pink fruit mixed with other Mutant Plants’ sap can produce 20 such vials.
“Amazing!!” When Yue Zhong heard Ou Ming’s words, his eyes lit up and he could not help but praise Ou Ming.
Yue Zhong had established communications with Long Hai City for some time. When he left, the Snake Birth Fruit Tree had been consuming a large number of zombie corpses, and plenty flowers had already born fruit. Over a hundred green Snake Birth Fruits had also mutated to the pink variant.
The impact of this Ver 3 Evolving Liquid would play a huge part in strengthening the troops. As long as Yue Zhong could transport the 100 pink fruits over, there would be 2,000 such vials, allowing 2,000 people to become Evolvers.
Evolvers were not invincible, but compared to Enhancers, they had large advantages. Many Enhancers hoped to become Evolvers.
Ou Ming continued excitedly: “Furthermore, I’ve discovered that if a naturally awakened Evolver were to consume the Snake Birth Fruit, it would awaken a 2nd evolved attribute, gaining a huge boost. Naturally awakened Evolvers are truly the favored of the heavens.”
“Oh!” Yue Zhong’s heart skipped a beat. If this was the case, then he could make use of the fruit to give rise to more dual-attribute Evolvers.
The occurrence of natural Evolvers was extremely rare, a mere 1 in 10,000. Even Yue Zhong was not a natural Evolver. Those who awakened naturally were truly favored by the heavens and they would become good at what they do easily. They also had more potential to evolve compared to others.
Ou Ming took out a gold case and handed it to Yue Zhong: “These are 500 vials of the Ver 3. Enough to produce 500 Evolvers.
This time, when Ji Qing Wu and her party came, they had brought 25 Snake Birth Fruits, fully utilized in Ou Ming’s research. In the end, he produced 500 such vials.
Yue Zhong’s mood was greatly elevated, and he viewed Ou Ming more favorably: “Great! Ou Ming, you have done well this time. What would you like?”
Ou Ming’s face flashed with a feverish pa.s.sion: “I need the corpse of a Type 3 Mutant Beast, fresh blood, blood essence, brains. The bodies of those new L4s, L3s, and Devourers as well. The best would be to include new or recent samples of any Mutant Plants, for our lab to have priority over them.
Since Yue Zhong had established 3 major bases, he naturally had research labs in all 3 as well. Each of these labs was running their own research into the Mutant Plants, Mutant Beasts, and zombies. Ou Ming was expressly requesting for first priority over the samples.
Yue Zhong nodded and promised: “Fine!”
Ou Ming had shown ample results to Yue Zhong, he naturally would adhere to this talent’s requests.
Ou Ming regained his calm and waved Yue Zhong away somewhat impatiently: “Alright! You can go now. I still have experiments to get back to.”
Yue Zhong was speechless towards Ou Ming’s att.i.tude. As the leader of Gui Ning City, Yan Zhou, and Bin Qi City, many people would clamor to speak to him. Ou Ming was actually disinterested. He was not to be blamed anyway since he was like this from the start.
Before the apocalypse, people of the research world viewed their field as the utmost priority, and most were crude or blunt. If it wasn’t for the right backer, even with his talents, Ou Ming might not have been able to exercise his abilities, due to his poor communication style.
Yue Zhong chuckled lightly and shook his head before leaving.
Even with the weather forecast Liu Xiao Cha, after going through intense battles, Yue Zhong’s army could not afford to launch another expansion mission.
Hence, over at the Guang Xi region, Yue Zhong tried to ramp up the production of ammunition, while deploying small troops out to clear the zombies in the surrounding areas.
Yue Zhong had only managed to deal with the zombies in those 3 cities, but in truth, there were over 4 million zombies still scattered around the 3 cities in the various settlements.
At the same time, after Yue Zhong had obtained the Ver. 3 Evolving Liquid, he could focus on establis.h.i.+ng a form of economy and currency like that of Long Hai City. A dollar would be able to exchange for 1 jin of maize. Since he had conquered the 3 cities, Yue Zhong had obtained a huge amount of resources. He could take them out to sell, and drive the economy again.
Killing an ordinary zombie and bringing the corpse back to exchange gets one 1 dollar. Killing a Type 1 zombie would net 50 dollars. Type 2 zombies went for 500 dollars and Type 3 zombies were at 5,000 dollars. The exchange rate for a Type 4 zombie was 50,000 dollars.
The exchange rate for nucleus went for the following: Ordinary at 10 dollars. Type 2 at 1,000 dollars, Type 3 at 100,000 dollars, Type 4 at 1 million dollars. Type 5 Nuclei were worth a 10 million dollars.
Furthermore, Ou Ming Ver. 2 and Ver. 3 Evolving Liquids and Type 3 Mutant Beasts packed into cans were put up for sale. A Ver. 2 would require 500,000 dollars, and a Ver.3 required 10 million dollars. Type 3 Mutant Beast meat went for 1 million a can.
When the survivors in Yue Zhong’s cities saw the items placed for sale, everyone went crazy. A few teams were formed, intending to take risks. Many became hunters, killing zombies and Mutants Beasts in exchange for cash.
What were Evolvers after all? They were the favored of the heavens and were experts at the pinnacle. The moment one became an Evolver, as long as the person wasn’t trash, and the evolved attribute wasn’t weak, it would be harder for them to lose in their fights. Furthermore, the person could learn a new skill during evolution and gained a huge amount of enhancements to their const.i.tutions. Everyone wanted to become an Evolver, transforming into the doted children of the heavens.
Under the enticement of the prices, the various hunting teams went on a rampage, clearing plenty of zombies and Mutant Beasts, bringing the corpses back. This ensured a steady stream of nuclei and corpses landing in Yue Zhong’s hands.
The Central Dollars that Yue Zhong issued soon became the recognized currency that everyone used. Military and government personnel also stopped doing barter trades and began dealing in the Central Dollar.
The Guang Xi region could be said to have finally embarked on some sign of society again. The bartering stage had been popular because n.o.body could trust the previous forms of government until Yue Zhong came into the picture.
If it had been earlier, not many would have accepted the new currency. People would just take it as toilet paper. However, since he had already conquered 3 cities, and obtained a huge amount of resources, his reputation and prestige were at an all-time high. Coupled with the allure of the Ver. 2 and Ver. 3 Evolving Liquids as well as Type 3 Beast Meat being priced with the currency, everyone would definitely take up the currency.
There was an additional point, which was that compared to barter, the survivors were more used to having a fixed price on items. Due to circ.u.mstances, they had no choice but to barter. Who would use the useless money from prior to the apocalypse anyway?
After issuing the currency and having stabilized the situation in Guang Xi, the region began to recover swiftly. The survivors were not as hopeless as before, and their eyes were filled with an expectant look for the future.
Yue Zhong continued to be at Guang Xi for a while longer, ensuring that things were truly in order, before taking a company of elite soldiers from the 2nd Brigade as they boarded the train back to Long Hai City.
On the rail tracks, a train chugged along, within, many soldiers dressed in the [Raven] combat uniform and Type 2 Mutant Beast hides sat.
At the front carriage, Yue Zhong, Ji Qing Wu, and Yao Yao were together.
Yao Yao was holding a handheld device as she played games, while Ji Qing Wu was reading a book.
Traveling on the tracks was risky, with unknown dangers, hence the train could only proceed at 20km/hour. There was the danger of getting derailed. Furthermore, there might be Mutant Beasts and high-level zombies along the way. It was a sort of exploration for Yue Zhong, to determine the potential problems.
Yue Zhong eyed Ji Qing Wu reading her book quietly, and her quiet but elegant aura caused a stir in his heart: “If I had known, I would have brought Yu Xin out.”
For safety’s sake, the speed of 20km/hour was a sort of torture to people like Yue Zhong who could not sit still. Plus, there was no form of entertainment on the train, and he was regretting not bringing Xin Jia Rou or Ning Yu Xin and the rest.
Ji Qing Wu was extremely beautiful, but she and Yue Zhong had not gotten past that barrier, and he could only look at this absolute beauty in front of him but not being able to do anything.
After hesitating, Yue Zhong took the initiative to strike up a conversation: “What’re you reading?”
A slight smile appeared on Ji Qing Wu’s lips as she replied: “Qiong Yao’s Plum Blossom Scar”.