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墨書 Inktalez
After a nice hot shower and wandering around the Hope Gathering Place for a couple of rounds, Zheng Yifan finally relaxed. The war had just ended, and they were still in the midst of Post-War Reconstruction, but that was no longer Zheng Yifan's concern. The repairs and reconstruction of the city walls were matters for the logistics departments of other Superpowered Individuals within the Gathering Place.
The Superpowered Individuals who participated in the war were busy enhancing their abilities, while Zheng Yifan had no such worries. What he needed now was Zombie Crystal s, and he was getting close to his goal. Although he still needed three hundred thousand more, the Zombie Crystal s in the Gathering Place were still being sorted. Moreover, if he counted the Zombie Crystal s above Second Tier, he actually had enough.
However, Zheng Yifan was reluctant to spend such precious Third-Stage Soul Crystals on upgrading. He could gather them in a short time, so there was no need to waste those Zombie Crystal s for such a brief period.
All the Third-Stage Soul Crystals would be used in the next production at the Superpower Weapon Factory; increasing two production lines would be sufficient.
What excited Zheng Yifan even more was that the laboratory had come up with new ideas and was planning to establish a new Superpowered Weapon factory to explore and implement new Superpowered Weapons through different methods.
In Zheng Yifan's eyes, this was simply a losing business. The existing Psychic Weapons were not even fully equipped at higher levels, yet they were already preparing to develop new types of weapons.
However, this proposal passed unanimously except for Zheng Yifan's dissenting opinion. He could only pretend he had no objections and gritted his teeth as it went through.
Another money pit—who knew how many resources would be poured into this factory and how long it would take to achieve real success?
Anyway, since the proposal had been decided, Zheng Yifan stopped dwelling on it. He found wandering around the Gathering Place too tedious. After bidding farewell to the busy higher-ups of the Gathering Place, he walked to its outskirts, where the Explorer Center was located.
The Hope Gathering Place Explorer Alliance had become a significant department within the Hope Gathering Place. The number of explorers inside was increasing daily; although most were First-Level Espers, there were also quite a few ordinary people. The sheer number was impressive—almost half of the members in the Gathering Place took on explorer duties part-time. They all had their primary jobs but would venture out with their teams during their free time for business or exploration, earning extra income along the way.
In this post-apocalyptic world, people were not afraid of resource shortages; they feared being unable to cope when challenges arose in the future.
Having experienced the disaster of the apocalypse, they felt an urgent need to acquire resources.
Of course, many sought to live better lives within the Gathering Place. Hope Gathering Place offered plenty of opportunities for wealthy individuals to spend their money, and it seemed like a lifetime's worth of effort could be put into it—especially for items used by Superpowered Individuals.
Essence was what every explorer aimed to exchange first. Some even suffered from acne because they refused to drink a bottle of A-Level Essence just to save up for S-Class Essence. That was something special; using it would significantly expand one's future growth potential.
No one considered any Superpower worthless; however, there were distinctions among them. Each person's Superpower could even represent their social status in this post-apocalyptic society. Naturally, what everyone pursued was precious.
The Essence at the Hope Gathering Place has even started to be limited in purchase. The crowd behaves like vultures, eager to break through the threshold as soon as sales of Essence begin at the start of each month. Countless people rush in, hoping to buy a bottle of Essence to take home, either for personal use or for their families.
The wealthy have already indulged in Essence long ago.
But that’s fine. They still have an endless pursuit ahead of them: custom-made Psychic Weapons.
These things are akin to the luxurious private yachts from before the apocalypse; you could easily spend more than on an Aircraft Carrier. To them, Psychic Weapons seem even more unattainable than Aircraft Carriers in a post-apocalyptic world.
Psychic Weapons offer almost limitless potential for enhancement; it’s a bottomless pit where there is no best, only better. After pouring countless amounts of money into it, one might find that even if they become broke, there is still room for improvement in their Psychic Weapons.
This has become the primary pursuit of those who have gotten rich first; they have invested untold fortunes into it, and the business of Factory One is thriving more than ever.
With the trade routes at Hope Gathering Place open, everyone has begun a frenzied accumulation of wealth.
Just like now, when Zheng Yifan wants to enter the Hope Gathering Place's Explorer Guild. A large group of bicycles rushes down the road ahead like locusts, followed by dozens of trucks loaded with supplies.
It’s not that they don’t want to take a vehicle; it’s just that all the trucks in the Gathering Place are rented out solely for transporting goods, and each use comes at a hefty price. Yet they still choose to rent them because the profits are too great.
Tenfold profits? That’s just selling to safe places. If they cross the river, profits can reach a hundredfold—drugs, food, weapons—those are all targets others chase after.
Bicycles are remnants discarded by the Two Major Legions, which have now fully transitioned to motorcycles.
A large number of military vehicles meet the strategic mobility needs of the Two Major Legions, but they still lack the capability for coordinated aerial operations. After all, flying is incredibly difficult; even using a Glide parachute like Zheng Yifan requires a certain level of courage and skill. The skies are currently devoid of birds due to a harsh winter; in reality, they haven’t disappeared. The future skies will still belong to them, and there’s a long way to go before one can hope to battle against them.
Zheng Yifan cannot see them now; he can only watch as the dark mass of bicycles slowly fades from view, followed by another group preparing to set off. The Gathering Place is gradually approaching calmness; there’s no need to worry too much about zombies on the Jiangdong side since the entire river acts as a moat, allowing passage only through Jiang Grand Bridge. They have ample time to return for support.
There’s no need to fear that a trip outside might result in returning home to find nothing left.
Zheng Yifan walks slowly, carefully observing the expressions on people’s faces around him and listening to their conversations. These are his achievements—the people he has fought for up until now.
Everything is aimed at allowing humanity to go further and live longer.
The existence of the Hope Gathering Place owes much to Zheng Yifan, who has supported it wholeheartedly from the very beginning. Some policies have even turned out to be a loss-making venture. Yet, Zheng Yifan has persisted in promoting them, hoping that the people of the Hope Gathering Place can lead prosperous lives.
It doesn't matter how others feel; as long as his people are prosperous, filled with pride and unity, that is enough.
Every word he hears is filled with a sense of belonging to the Hope Gathering Place, and everyone takes pride in being a member of it.
That is sufficient.
Upon reaching the president's office on the third floor, the secretary outside did not stop Zheng Yifan and allowed him to enter directly.
Sun Zi Wu needed to be tested; the sudden visit from the leader of the Gathering Place could certainly be considered a surprise attack. However, Sun Zi Wu clearly was not intimidated by such an intrusion. He was intently studying the reports before him, which detailed the total income and net income of the Hope Gathering Place Explorer Alliance over the past month, along with the number of tasks issued and completed.
These were fundamental data and also the most crucial part. With this information, one could truly grasp control over the entire Hope Gathering Place Explorer Alliance.
Zheng Yifan stood behind Sun Zi Wu for over ten minutes while Sun Zi Wu meticulously examined the reports, even slowly making annotations on them. Zheng Yifan knew he lacked such patience; he delegated all his tasks to his subordinates. His only responsibility was to ensure his combat readiness.
Now, it seemed that a surprise was just around the corner—if only he had enough Zombie Crystal s, he could level up. And with those two hundred thousand, Zheng Yifan thought of the Explorer Alliance.
Although every month the Explorer Alliance submitted Zombie Crystal s and Essence Fruits, their stockpile was still substantial. Zheng Yifan would not believe that the entire Explorer Alliance did not have a reserve of at least a million Zombie Crystal s because each task submitted yielded a vast amount. Many people would rather take losses to accumulate Zombie Crystal s as their trading currency.
This was because Zombie Crystal s in the Gathering Place provided certain discounts when ordering weapons from the Superpower Weapon Factory.
Not much. Really not much. It was even less than one percent, but when that one percent translated into large quantities of Psychic Weapons, it was not insignificant.
It was akin to how people in a post-apocalyptic world buy houses and cars; a villa could cost tens of millions. One percent still amounted to a considerable sum.
“Ahem!” Zheng Yifan could no longer wait. This fellow seemed utterly engrossed in these dizzying figures as if they were some unparalleled beauty, completely ignoring even the charming secretary outside the glass door, who looked as sweet as a ripe red apple.
Thinking of this, Zheng Yifan couldn't help but tighten his legs together, feeling an inexplicable chill.
This Fellow can't be bent, can he?
"Oh, Leader, you're here!" Sun Zi Wu quickly finished reading the last half of the report in his hands before pressing the button on the desk.
The secretary at the door respectfully took the documents and gently closed the door behind him.
Zheng Yifan and Sun Zi Wu exchanged smiles, a rare moment of relaxation after a long time. The curtains were drawn, so there was no need to be so formal.
"Leader, what brings you here? Our Gathering Place has a whole pile of troubles waiting for you to handle," Sun Zi Wu said, stretching lazily while looking at Zheng Yifan with a hint of teasing in his eyes.
He had heard the rumors this morning; last night, their leader had made quite a stir, causing the entire Ecological Sphere to feel like spring had arrived. Almost everyone had heard about that earth-shattering battle.
It was even more intense than fighting Fourth-Stage Zombies.
"Go away! What nonsense are you thinking? Put aside those inappropriate thoughts. I'm here to collect money! Hand over all your Zombie Crystal s," Zheng Yifan said, spreading his hands as if he was ready to shamelessly demand them.
"Leader, my dear Rich Tycoon, I heard about your Zombie Crystal s yesterday. You filled an entire vault and almost couldn't fit it all in! You don't have any Zombie Crystal s? Who would believe that? This is for the Explorer Guild's missions. Now those slackers have their eyes on the prospects of Zombie Crystal s; they don't want cash anymore for their missions. They all want to pay with Zombie Crystal s. It's just that daily life still requires our Currency, which is why it hasn't depreciated," Sun Zi Wu said with a frown.
Since ancient times, subordinates have complained to their leaders and requested funding. Yet here was their leader directly asking for money. He was so brazen about it that it felt like he wanted to take the Explorer Guild's treasury away entirely.
Sun Zi Wu felt like crying without tears. The Explorer Guild needed to be managed too; it was like a State-Owned Enterprise. Although all the assets belonged to the state, they still needed to leave some capital for operations. What kind of nonsense was it to take away all the assets?
"I'm not asking for much, really not much. Just a portion will do," Zheng Yifan said with a broad smile, looking at Sun Zi Wu as if he could pinch his cheeks.
"You want several thousand!" Sun Zi Wu replied with a righteous expression as if he were making a great sacrifice.
Zheng Yifan immediately exploded in anger. Several thousand? Was he joking? Some large mission rewards were worth more than that! Moreover, there were hundreds of thousands of explorers executing missions; the consumption of Zombie Crystal s was absolutely terrifying.
“Damn it! You give me a few thousand, I want 10 million Zombie Crystal s, no bargaining!” Zheng Yifan declared, stating the quantity he needed. This total of 10 million Zombie Crystal s was nearly exhausting the liquid funds in the Gathering Place; advancing to the Fifth Level was proving to be that difficult.
As for the First Level? That required 100 million. Such a number could rival that of a large provincial capital city. The next level demanded one billion, which equated to the total population of a province, and by the time one reached the Eighth Level, it would require 10 billion. It would almost necessitate Zheng Yifan to clear out all the Zombies in Huaguo and eliminate some from other countries just to meet that target.
As for what came next, don’t even dream about it. Conquering the whole world?
Regardless, Zheng Yifan was on the verge of taking that next step, entering the critical moment of evolving to the Fifth Level. He only needed those last 10 million Zombie Crystal s.
Sun Zi Wu finally breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, Zheng Yifan wasn’t asking for an outrageous amount. He didn’t want Zheng Yifan to take too many Zombie Crystal s either. The Explorer Alliance was in a stabilizing phase, and if the economy collapsed, it could easily lead to a systemic breakdown—such a crisis would be catastrophic.
“200,000, right? No more additions! I’ll have someone get them for you right now! Once you have them, hurry up and leave; don’t show your face in front of me again. I always have this inexplicable feeling of dread when you’re around; it’s probably because I sense you’re about to ask for something outrageous,” Sun Zi Wu quickly agreed, urging his secretary to bring the Zombie Crystal s.
Zheng Yifan thought to himself that his feeling was merely a subconscious resistance triggered by his earlier tension.
Unfortunately, he would never come out; otherwise, Sun Zi Wu would surely fight him to the end. (To be continued)
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