Chapter 1386: Clue
A week ago, the NAC cargo s.h.i.+p docked at the port, but unexpectedly, it was not their compatriots who went to North America first that welcomed them, but a group of bandits with guns.
There were indeed many weapons on the cargo s.h.i.+p, but the firepower was still far inferior compared to the predators. These predators quickly attacked the deck and captured the wounded soldiers and colonists on the s.h.i.+p. Based on Han Yue’s narration, he jumped into the sea in order to escape the predators.
“How many of them were there?” Jiang Chen asked after he thought for a moment.
“I don’t know. The situation was chaotic. There were bullets and explosions everywhere. About a hundred people? Maybe more than two hundred. In short, their firepower was very fierce, not just heavy machine guns and rocket launchers, but even drones and a few armored vehicles.”
It was impossible for a few armored vehicles to take down the NAC colony in North America, and even with fifty more armored vehicles, it was still impossible. There were fifty power armors in the colony, which could already make up a quarter of the power armor brigade, plus 450 sets of kinetic skeletons. While Jiang Chen was not arrogant to the point where he believed that he could sweep the West Coast with these weapons, it was more than sufficient to defend their base, especially with so many stationary weapons built into the fortress.
“How many people escaped besides you?” Jiang Chen then asked.
“I don’t know… there may be one or two more. I saw someone falling in the water, but I couldn’t tell whether it was a corpse or a living person…” At this point, the expression on Han Yue’s face was a little ashamed. After all, he chose to escape.
“It’s okay, you’re not a soldier. It’s not shameful to run away.” Jiang Chen seemed to read what he was thinking, patted him on the shoulder, then said, “Were there any signs on those predators? Or something like a flag? Things like that?”
While he spoke, Jiang Chen took a rag that was stained and painted with a red airplane.
It was the symbol of the Airport Gang. The “indigenous people” in North America seemed to like to engage in performance art. When Jiang Chen went downstairs, he saw this rag in the center of the airport’s second-floor lobby. It annoyed him, so he tore it down.
When Han Yue saw this flag, he searched deep in his memory for a while, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said, “I remember. All of them wore black masks with the same symbol painted in white paint.”
“What symbol?”
“A skeleton!”
A white skull?
Jiang Chen touched his chin.
Based on this clue, he could deduct that it was probably the Skeleton Gang or the White Skeleton Gang that occupied the colony. However, Jiang Chen still was not convinced by the fact that a gang of predators could take out his colony.
While Zhou Guoping’s character was questionable at times, his intelligence was fine. Otherwise, Jiang Chen would not have entrusted the North American colony to him. Maybe Jessica and Hardy, who are both predators, would know something, and maybe Chinatown could also give him some advice.
After he gathered all the evidence in his mind, Jiang Chen asked one last question.
“One last question, how did you get here?”
The Santa Monica Airport and the port were a little far apart. The straight-line distance from the map was two kilometers.
“I heard from the sailor on the s.h.i.+p that there was a Chinatown near Santa Monica, and the place has established a good relations.h.i.+p with the colony. Therefore, I planned to ask them to borrow a radio station and send the information to w.a.n.ghai.” A wry smile then appeared on Han Yue’s face. “However, the sailor didn’t tell me where Chinatown was. When I pa.s.sed by the airport, I wondered if there would be a map of Los Angeles here, so I decided to come in. However, I got caught in their trap as soon as I came in.”
Chinatown in Santa Monica?
Jiang Chen’s eyebrows twitched involuntarily.
If he recalled correctly, Chinatown in Los Angeles should be in the city center.
But after he thought about it, it seemed to make sense. After all, there was still a big difference between the historical trends of the modern world and the apocalypse. Even an airport appeared in Santa Monica, so it did not seem too strange that Chinatown was nearby.
For safety reasons, Jiang Chen still verified his ident.i.ty.
The ident.i.ty information of all NAC citizens was bounded to fingerprints and irises and collected in the database of the logistics department. As the general, he naturally could check the database at will. Although traditional communication methods could not currently connect with w.a.n.ghai’s server, Jiang Chen’s watch was equipped with the interdimensional communication chip designed by Lin Lin.
It looked like he just performed magic when he took out a scanning gun that looked like a razor from the storage dimension. He scanned his eyes and retrieved his personal information.
[Han Yue, male, 25 years old, pre-war occupation: bank security officer. Obtained lower cla.s.s citizens.h.i.+p of NAC in January 2019, registered as a colonist on September 10, 2020, and volunteered to travel to North America.]
“Give him a gun,” Jiang Chen pointed to Han Yue, and said to Zheng Shanhe, “We have our candidate for the foreman. You try to clear the runway by tomorrow night. I will take some people to Chinatown.”
“Or should I go?” Zheng Shanhe hesitated and said.
“No, I need to understand the situation in North America. It’s better to go there in person. Since Chinatown and the North American colony have a good relations.h.i.+p, they will probably help us.” After Jiang Chen finished this sentence, he walked out of the lobby.
Without insisting further, Zheng Shanhe nodded, took a rifle, and threw it over. He then looked at Han Yue, who hurriedly caught the rifle. He stepped forward and patted his shoulder, “From now on, you are a soldier of NAC. I hope you can adapt to your new ident.i.ty as soon as possible and perform well. I’m optimistic about what you can do.”
“Me? What should I do?” With the rifle in his arms, Han Yue seemed a bit out of sorts, “Clean up the airport? I…”
“Cleaning the airport is not your job. We will tell the predators how to do it. You are an overseer, and you are responsible for helping us watch them work. If they are not obedient, you can ask them to have bullets for dinner. It’s that simple. Don’t tell me you haven’t killed anyone after living for so long.”
“I had been a caravan guard for a few months…” Han Yue derided himself.
Of course, he killed people before, and he’d even killed a few. However, he still had not fully adapted to his new ident.i.ty.
“Then it will be easy,” Zheng Shanhe pointed to the slaves behind him who looked timid. “These guys probably don’t understand Mandarin. Since you signed up for North America, I hope you can at least speak English. You can pick a few who can communicate with as your helpers, and I will give them a pistol and a few bullets to help you manage them.”
When Han Yue saw that Zheng Shanhe in the power armor was about to leave, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked.
“Can I ask who you are? I mean, is it the Expeditionary Force or the First Division…I have no other intention, I just want to ask where I’m enlisted now.”
Zheng Shanhe had to process the information for a moment, and then he had a strangely smug look on his face. He raised his thumb and pointed at the gate of the lobby.
“Do you know who the one who spoke to you just now was?”
Han Yue swallowed down his saliva, then asked cautiously.
“If I may… who is he?”
“His ident.i.ty will probably scare you to death.” Zheng Shanhe grinned.