Chapter 1395: The Dangerous Mission
The heavy eyelids moved lightly.
Consciousness gradually returned.
Blood Axe opened his eyes, shook his dizzy head, and struggled to get up from the ground. He saw his rifle was on the ground not far away. He stumbled over, picked up the rifle, used it as support, and finally stood up against the wall.
He couldn’t see his fingers in the dark cave. He moved his corner of his cracked lips, then took out a red flare rod from his backpack. After he lit it with a lighter, he threw it forward with force.
The orange-red flame formed a projectile in the air and rolled to the ground. It lit up the entire s.p.a.ce.
Blood Axe used the flas.h.i.+ng firelight, narrowed his eyes, and looked around.
The steep cliff was like a cage that imprisoned him in darkness and despair. From time to time, strands of fine quicksand fell from above. Like a light yarn, it dragged across the dry ground and left a faint line on the ground. Right in front him was a dark cave. The cave seemed like the only way out, and he didn’t know where it led…
“Where the fu*k is this place?” He cursed and opened the EP on his left wrist. Like most survivors, his EP was equipped with a radio mapping chip, which allowed simple surveying and mapping of small-scale terrain even without relying on satellites. However, it was not very useful at this moment. The length of the cave in front of him was obviously longer than one hundred meters and there was darkness at the end of the map
“FU*K!”
He slammed his fist against the rock wall and a trace of despair appeared on his face.
He started to regret…
Just a month ago, he took this task from Zhou Guoping. The Asian promised him that if he found NATO’s nuclear a.r.s.enal, he would be awarded the status of the upper-cla.s.s citizen of NAC, and he would be rewarded with a full box of canned food.
For the mercenaries that served the colony, the status of a legal citizen was everything they dreamt of. Even for a leader among predators, like Blood Axe, not to mention that he would directly become an upper-cla.s.s citizen.
To become an upper-cla.s.s citizen meant never starving to death. Even if he did nothing, he could enjoy necessities. If he worked a little harder and gain merits in the army, it was possible to become an honorable knight.
But now all these dreams were nonsense. If he could not walk out of here alive, what would be the difference between being a knight or a predator?
Blood Axe fixated his sights on the only way out and hesitated for a moment. Then he loaded the automatic rifle, walked forward, and picked up the flare rod from the ground.
It was an inevitable death to stay, and there was only one way in front of him, he could only continue forward.
No matter if the way led to heaven or h.e.l.l, no matter if it was the lair of Death Claws or other mutants, he could only continue.
In the end, the desire to live defeated the fear of darkness and the unknown.
“FU*K! FU*K!”
After he cursed a few times, as if it was a way to cheer himself up, Blood Axe spat on the ground. Determined, he put the rifle under his right arm, held the flare rod like a torch with his left hand, and carefully moved toward the depths of the cave.
…
Black Skull was thrown into the colony’s prison. Based on NAC’s law, he would be sentenced to death. However, Jiang Chen gave him a chance to atone for his sins. If he could confess something useful, it would not be impossible to spare his sinful life.
As for the predators, they were all demoted to slaves. The survivors who had been enlisted at Santa Monica Airport immediately came in handy. They were led by the foreman Han Yue. They pointed their rifles at these predators and watched them work on the construction site.
The two hundred immigrants detained in the colony were all rescued, and together with the more than one thousand survivors from the fallout shelter, they were temporarily placed in the colony’s residence. Before Jiang Chen could determine the reason why the inhabitants of the colony disappeared, he didn’t have much work for them.
He was thinking about a possibility now.
If the disappearance of the inhabitants of the colony was caused by human factors, then now that the NAC had recaptured the colony, would the disaster that happened once happen again?
Out of this concern, Jiang Chen did not immediately disband the mercenaries in the fortress.
A guard who had worked in the logistics department was sent to the warehouse. Jiang Chen gave him the job of counting materials and distributing loot, and then sent a message through the interdimensional communication chip to Sun Jiao. The message was to inform her that the airs.h.i.+ps of the expeditionary force could take off.
In order to restore the operation of the colony as soon as possible, he also instructed Sun Jiao to speak with w.a.n.g Qing and transfer a group of “civil servants” from the logistics department. The military government had considered the size of the talent pool carefully. Despite the drastic change at the colony, a transfer of talents would not impede the operation of the logistics department.
Most of the thirty thousand people who had gone missing were bought slaves, and less than one-tenth of those were immigrants from NAC. The only real pity was the fifty power armors and the five hundred soldiers.
But Jiang Chen felt that they were probably still alive.
Because it was more thirty thousand people. Even if thirty thousand chickens were killed, it was impossible to do so silently.
It was already dark outside the Governor’s Mansion.
“Thank you for saving us from those robbers… Seriously, I thought everything was done for when they pointed their guns against our head. Thanks to you, I really don’t know how to thank you.”
The supervisor of the fallout shelter stood in front of Jiang Chen. He was a white man about forty years old named Matthew Hall. Judging from his manners, temperament, and speech, this supervisor was very similar to the upper-cla.s.s people he has met in Los Angeles in the modern world. However, he seemed quite different from normal politicians and businessmen.
If he had to find a comparison…
He was very similar to those artists who were committed to charity and philanthropy.
“Don’t thank me,” Jiang Chen smiled lightly, “Since you have appeared on NAC’s land, in accordance with NAC law, we must provide you with minimum protection. What’s more, the Black Skull Gang is our enemy.”
Just two hours ago, Matthew had already learned about the world from Zheng Shanhe, who explained the situation to the blue skins. Although Matthew had reservations about the NAC military government, he also had to admit that following the pre-war regime on this wasteland would not work.
Especially since NAC saved them, since they did not have a better place to go, on behalf of all the fallout shelter residents, he agreed to NAC’s invitation and decided to settle in Outpost Town… or rather, the NAC colony in North America.
“Regardless of what you say, I still have to thank you! In addition, there are still some things in the fallout shelter that we have prepared for reconstruction after the war. I want to take a few people back and retrieve the things locked in the warehouse. If it is convenient, I hope I can borrow three trucks because there is a lot of stuff,” Matthew said.
“This is no problem. I will send some mercenaries with you.”
“Thank you!” Matthew said sincerely.
“You’re welcome.”
Jiang Chen waved his hand and said with a smile.
Why so polite?
Anyway, whatever good things you get, they will also be used in my colony.
After Jiang Chen spoke a few words to Zheng Shanhe, he ordered him to send dozens of mercenaries to drive the looted trucks and escort Matthew and several other shelter residents. He then walked to the Governor’s Mansion.