Chapter 1388: Strange
This is the guy whose nuts got kicked by Jessica…
The way he looked at Smith Zhao was a bit weird, but he quickly realized that it was disrespectful and so he concealed the strange look in his eyes with a dry cough.
“My name is Zheng Shanhe, they are my people,” Jiang Chen opened the armor mask out of courtesy. Then, he borrowed Zheng Shanhe’s name, pointed to the six guards in power armors behind him, and made up some information.” We are from w.a.n.ghai, and we are part of the NAC First Division.”
Despite the expansion of the NAC colony, some people on the West Coast of North America have heard of the t.i.tle “NAC General”, but fortunately no one placed his portraits everywhere. At least General Zhao did not recognize his ident.i.ty.
“w.a.n.ghai? First Division? I’ve heard of this name,” Smith Zhao said with some suspicion and examined him from head to toe. “Then, for safety’s sake, let me ask one more question… As members of the First Division, why are you here in Chinatown in Los Angeles?”
Obviously, he didn’t believe Jiang Chen’s remarks, at least he didn’t let his guard down.
“We are not malicious, otherwise we would not save your people,” Jiang Chen pointed to the young man named w.a.n.g Ping next to him, and said, “We are here to understand the situation at our outpost.”
Colony was the term NAC referred to for its colonies. Of course, this term was not used outside of the colonies. NAC used the word outpost to refer to these colonies, and most of the survivors in North America referred to that area as “outpost”, “outpost town” and so on… It was the information Jiang Chen collected from Jessica.
When Smith Zhao heard the word outpost, the alertness in his tone was suddenly replaced by a hint of surprise.
“Outpost Town? Wait, are you here for the outpost?”
“Is there a problem?” Jiang Chen asked.
“I thought you left the unfinished building there and returned home. After all, there was really nothing good to remember here in North America.” Smith Zhao stared at Jiang Chen with wide eyes and his surprised expression didn’t seem to be faked. “If I remember correctly, it should be the Black Skull, a demon in the Nevada desert, who lives there now.”
“Is he called Black Skull? No matter if they are demons or not, thank you for your information.” Jiang Chen nodded, paused for a moment, and said, “In fact, we did not evacuate from North America, and even sent new immigrants not long ago…but the situation here surprised us. The entire outpost disappeared. There was no signal. We don’t even know what happened here.”
“…Strange.” Smith Zhao was also caught by surprise and he said, “You… haven’t received any news?”
“Yes.” Jiang Chen nodded.
“That’s really strange… Anyway, don’t stand at the door, come to my place.” After he murmured “strange” several times, Smith Zhao waved his hand behind him and motioned the Asian-looking soldiers to put away their weapons.
General Zhao’s name was Smith Zhao. Although he claimed to be a Chinese immigrant from the Rongcheng area, he obviously couldn’t even find the place on the map.
However, it didn’t matter where his ancestors were. The more important fact was that General Zhao’s att.i.tude towards the colony was quite friendly. After he confirmed that Jiang Chen really came from the NAC across the Pacific, his att.i.tude was obviously much more enthusiastic, and he did not conceal that trace of longing for the other side of the Pacific.
In his eyes, North America was now a place full of ruins, and Asia would definitely be much better. After all, he had never heard of any survivor force on the West Coast that ended up in Pan-Asia, it was always NAC cargo s.h.i.+ps that sailed here one after another.
During the conversation with General Zhao, Jiang Chen learned that Chinatown and the colony were very close with each other, and the merchants of the two sides often traded, until the colony was “abandoned”, General Zhao and the merchants at the Sixth Street even finalized a blockbuster deal worth 50,000 crystals.
After Jiang Chen learned about General Zhao’s distress, he immediately stated that he would perform the contract on behalf of the merchant, and pay for the goods with canned food instead of caps in the name of the military government, provided that he can produce relevant certificates. After General Zhao received Jiang Chen’s promise, General Zhao even happily regarded him as a friend, and almost swore to become brothers for life.
“Thank you so much! My friend! I really don’t know what to do without you. The furs of those long-tailed guinea pigs are very troublesome to deal with, and they are very difficult to find. You may not be fully aware of this from the other side of the ocean. Here, no one wants these things at all.” General Zhao ordered his man to pour a gla.s.s of ale for Jiang Chen, as he looked at Jiang Chen eagerly while he sat on the sofa.
To be precise, there was no demand for such flashy things anywhere except for the Sixth Street.
For survivors, filling their stomachs was the foremost and most crucial need, followed by a series of physiological needs. As for luxury goods and other things that promote social prosperity, they were only in demand after the concept of society was widely established.
The best-selling products in the North American wasteland were always powerful and reliable machineries and fierce weapons. Although canned food, tea, and tobacco could be considered a luxury, they were consumables after all, as well as comforting products, therefore, the demand would never shrink.
But for products like guinea pig furs that could only be used as decorations, even if the rich in Liberty City were interested, they would never buy back furs worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of bottle caps like NAC merchants. It was far more economical to hire a few hunters than to spend bottle caps, and the coats or carpets made by the furs could be used for a long time without breaking.
“We can talk about guinea pig furs later, I’m not here to discuss business,” Jiang Chen continued, focused on General Zhao, “You will receive your cans once the port at Outpost Town is back in our hands. You should understand what I mean. .”
“Do you want us to help you regain Outpost Town?” Smith Zhao processed the information, then shook his head and smiled bitterly, “I’m sorry I can’t do you this favor. The Black Skull’s firepower is too powerful. I’m already thanking G.o.d that he is not seeking trouble here. I must be responsible to my people.”
“It’s not difficult for us to destroy them without your help.” Jiang Chen shook his head and said to dispel the concern in Smith Zhao’s mind, “The key to the problem now is that I must figure out what happened in Outpost Town.”
“Is there anything we can help with?” Smith Zhao asked.
Although he was unwilling to take risks for NAC’s territory, he was still willing to sell this favor to NAC without threatening his own safety. Disregard the big deal worth 50,000 crystals, he was willing to help out of the love for his compatriots.
While the situation was not common in other settlements, it was quite common in the North American Chinese survivors to help others with favors. After all, they were marginalized people who were excluded from mainstream society before the war. They were almost imprisoned in concentration camps during the war, and things did not get better after the war either.
Helping each other had become a tradition in this group. If the words they did not help their compatriots got out, people would judge them harshly.
“If it is convenient, I hope you can help me find out what happened to the outpost. In addition, I need some people, not a lot, two or three should be enough. I’ll pay them a reasonable price. Finally, I want to exchange some of our supplies for bottle caps…”