Chapter 126 Collecting Protection Fees
The straight-line distance from Huangshi to Jinling is actually only 400 kilometers.

Even taking into account the detours caused by traveling along paved roads as much as possible, the total route length will not exceed 800 kilometers.

The fuel carried by Chen Jian’s team of eight was enough for the two vehicles to travel 8 kilometers, and there was a lot of fuel left, so he did not intend to follow a straight route.

He planned to pass through all the known settlements as much as possible and connect them all with an S-shaped route.

On the one hand, it was to “explore” the map as much as possible, and on the other hand, it was to operate the simple trade routes during the journey, constantly collecting the supplies needed for Yellowstone City, so that they could pack them all up and bring them all back at once when returning.

Therefore, they did not choose the fastest water route, but instead made their first stop at Caohe Town, 35 kilometers away from Huangshi City.

According to the information that Zhao He had learned in Wuxue Town before, although Caohe Town was a small town, it was rich in a scarce resource and its prosperity was not much lower than that of Wuxue Town.

And this resource is plastic.

They would tie the plastic into rafts and transport them along the Ji River to Wuxue Town, then cross the woods north of Wuxue Town and carry the necessary supplies back to Caohe River by manpower.

Such back-and-forth trade often brings them returns that are not generous but definitely worthwhile, and also supports the more than 300 residents living there.

Logically speaking, their lives should be quite comfortable.

But the actual situation that Chen Jian saw was not the case.

A large number of rafts made of plastic were piled up in the river, people were working on the rafts numbly, but not a single raft left along the river.

Chen Jian could see obvious signs of hunger on the faces of the residents here. All of them were extremely skinny, and even some of the young children had slight swelling in their lower limbs.

This is a sign of lack of food.

And the food shortage situation must have lasted for a long time.

When they saw Chen Jian’s strange team approaching, everyone stood up subconsciously.

Their eyes were full of curiosity, mixed with a bit of hope, but more of it was fear.

Chen Jian calmly parked the car at the edge and sent Zeng Yi into the town to communicate, while he stayed there with Shen Yue and others and set up a simple guard post.

While observing the surrounding environment, Shen Yue said:
“The situation in Caohe Town is a little unusual. Why are they so hungry?”

“As a waterfront town, Yellowstone City is in much better shape than them, right?”

“If it weren’t for the huge amount of resources consumed by the Mechanicus in their attempt to tame monsters, the people of Yellowstone City could have completely relied on fishery resources to have enough to eat.”

“The natural endowments here are not much different from those in Yellowstone, but why do they seem to be able to survive only on the plastic trade?”

“Is the path dependent to this extent? Not really, right?”

“It shouldn’t be simply path dependence.”

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

“The ecology of the entire Ji River has been almost completely destroyed. If you get close and smell it, you can smell a foul odor.”

“The river’s water flow is not large to begin with, and its self-purification capacity is limited. These residents dump a lot of garbage into the river, and use the river water directly to filter the plastic they dug out.”

“I don’t know how many toxic and harmful substances have been deposited in the river. There should be no fish in the river any longer.”

“really.”

Shen Yue nodded thoughtfully, and then said:

“We should bring in some scavengers. They eat everything.”

“.You are really a living devil. The scavengers can survive, but will you eat the survivors?”

“What can’t you eat when you’re starving?”

Shen Yue asked back:
“You haven’t eaten before during training?”

“.Stop talking, I want to vomit.”

Chen Jian waved his hand, and Lei Jie on the side continued:
“Water pollution is not the main reason. After all, this has been going on for a long time.”

“I think the reason why they are like this is still related to the Flower City.”

“The monsters trained by Huadu near Wushan Lake have blocked their land trade routes. Even if the plastic can be transported to Wuxue Town, it will be difficult to transport the resources they want back.”

“Plus what Zeng Yi said before, Wuxue Town is often harassed by water ghosts. It can be imagined that this section of the Yangtze River should also be occupied by water ghosts.”

“Both routes are difficult to navigate, so it’s no wonder that so much plastic is piled up and can’t be shipped out.”

“Fortunately, both obstacles have been cleared now. Otherwise, in two months, the people here would have starved to death.”

“really.”

Chen Jian sighed:
“The humans in the wasteland are so fragile. Just a monster that barely reached level 4, plus some water ghosts with little combat power, almost destroyed a town.”

“You can imagine how difficult it was for them to face these monsters when humans hadn’t really gathered together yet.”

“Did you just find out today?”

As soon as Chen Jian finished speaking, Ji Xing, who was standing next to him, spoke.

As soon as she finished speaking, Xie Liu glared at her in dissatisfaction, but Ji Xing glared back at her without fear and continued:
“In the wasteland, the weaker the people, the harder it is to survive, and the stronger the people, the more resources they can possess.”

“You did clear out the water ghosts in this section of the river, and you did kill the monster, but don’t think you can save the 300 people here.”

“They are already extremely weak. The Mechanicus will quickly move in and seize the resources here.”

“Most of the people here may survive, but they will all become slaves of the Mechanicus. This result is not much better than dying here.”

“why?”

Chen Jian asked curiously:

“In this environment, are there still people who would waste human resources at will?”

“Didn’t you also say that? Population is a resource, and resources are tools.”

“Is there anyone in this world who would cherish a tool?”

“It’s just that after squeezing out all the value, it’s just thrown away.”

“Perhaps their bodies will become fertilizer for the so-called ecological cocoon in Hanshui City.”

“.That’s really tragic.”

Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully, and then said:

“But what you said won’t happen.”

“Because this is already our territory.”

“Your territory?”

Ji Xing looked at Chen Jian in astonishment, while Xie Liu, who had long been unable to contain himself, smiled sarcastically and said:
“Yellowstone City has reached a peace agreement with the Mechanicus – to be precise, it is their surrender agreement.”

“From the day the agreement was reached, all towns centered on Yellowstone City have been incorporated into our territory.”

“Of course, including Caohe Town.”

“You mean the Mechanicus Church can enter here? They have to dare to come.”

“If they violate the agreement, we will not hesitate to retaliate.”

“By then, what they will lose will not just be these 300 people.”

“There is such an agreement?”

Ji Xing was stunned.

On the way from Huadu to Wuxue Town, she did hear the legend about Huangshi City.

For example, they defeated the joint attack of the Mechanicus and the Holy Blood Temple, destroyed an entire Templar Guard Brigade, and killed several monsters in succession.
Etc., etc.

In her opinion, these legends are most likely true.

But being real does not mean that there is no adulteration.

The Adeptus Mechanicus and the Basilica of the Sacred Blood are not invincible, and they also make various mistakes.

The defeat of Yellowstone City was also a mistake, is that all?
Why would the Mechanicus willingly pay such a high price for a mistake? This is totally irrational.
Looking at her expression, Xie Liu couldn’t help but feel a little confused.

She asked:
“Haven’t you heard the legend of the ‘Sun of Yellowstone’?”

“.No.”

Ji Xing shook his head slowly and replied:

“I have been on the steamship of the Mechanicus before, and the flow of information is not smooth.”

“After landing in Wuxue Town, I didn’t have time to find out.”

“I only know that the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Holy Blood Temple suffered at your hands, but I don’t know the details of what happened.”

“You’ve missed a great story.”

Xie Liu didn’t want to explain anything more, so he just said:
“If you want to know, go to Caohe Town and ask.”

“They must have seen the rising sun. Ask them and you will know why the Mechanicus bowed to us.”

Ji Xing looked at Xie Liu’s confident expression with doubt. From his performance, she suddenly realized her own stupidity.

Yes, the person who can make the three Holy Bloods willingly and obediently follow their orders is definitely not a simple person.

What you see may just be the tip of the iceberg.

And their true strength should be much more terrifying.

She hesitated for a moment, and finally said:
“I’ll be back as soon as I go!”

After saying that, she rushed into the town in one step. At the same time, Zeng Yi, who had already communicated with the townspeople, returned to the team.

The information he brought back was basically similar to what Chen Jian and others had speculated. The only difference was that he also brought back a new piece of information.

The reason why Caohe Town has fallen into its current state is not only because of that monster or the water ghost, but more importantly, it is because of a blood skeleton demon camp that moved to the nearby area a few months ago.

Those terrifying demons blocked almost all land routes, and the attacks day and night made the small town exhausted.

“.It is said that the day before yesterday, when we attacked the camp in Huadu, the Terror Demon also attacked Caohe Town.”

“They killed more than a dozen people, then at night they propped up the skeletons of the bodies with wood and sent them back to Caohe Town, where they stuck them in the ground like scarecrows.”

“The people here are almost driven crazy. They asked for help from the Mechanicus and the Holy Blood Basilica, but have not received a response until now.”

“Should we consider clearing out the Terror Demon Camp as well? I mean, since this group of Terror Demons migrated here six months ago, maybe they are related to the Terror Demons in the Anqing Ruins.”

“Even if there is nothing, we have to clear it.”

Chen Jian spoke decisively:

“You continue to communicate with them, tell them that the waterway has been cleaned up, and ask them to transport all the stockpiled plastics to Wuxue for trading. We will keep 80% of the profits.”

“In exchange, we help them clear out the Terror Demon Camp.”

“Isn’t this protection money?”

Shen Yue interrupted with amusement.

Chen Jian waved his hand and continued:

“At least if you pay us protection fees, we will really protect you – don’t interrupt me, where is the specific location?”

Zeng Yi heard this and replied:
“Not far, less than 3 kilometers as the crow flies. According to them, we’ll be there soon if we follow this road.”

“Then you go and communicate, we’ll go first.”

Chen Jian climbed onto the cat cart, and the others followed suit.

Without any extra instructions, Shen Yue had already launched the drone. After a brief reconnaissance, the location of the demon camp was quickly locked.

The two cat cars drove side by side, speeding along the direction Zeng Yi pointed.

Although the road conditions are not very good, according to the map, it is a provincial highway after all.

After bypassing several roads covered by jungle, Chen Jian was able to see the demon camp ahead.

It was almost identical to the camp he had seen near the Han River.

A simple, low house, bloodstains all over the floor, the stench of rotting corpses, and skeletons made into totems.
Several demons were playing a killing game in the middle of the camp. A woman who had probably just been captured from Caohe Town two days ago was stripped naked and tied to a wooden frame.

And every hole in her body had been pierced by rusty metal.

It’s already impossible to survive.

Chen Jian sighed heavily, but at the same time let go of all his concerns.

Before the Terror Demon discovered the team, he spoke to the team members beside him:

“Li Shi, put on your armor and helmet, carry your 301, and charge forward.”

“He Shuo, you are responsible for the follow-up shot.”

“Xie Liu, follow behind Li Shi and provide cover and clean up.”

“Let’s go, let’s fight quickly!”

“understand!”

20 minutes later, Ji Xing walked out of the residential area of Caohe Town with a heavy heart.

Her mind was still swirling with what she had just heard.

The rising sun, the violent explosions, the strong winds that almost set the roof on fire, the terrifying earthquake-like shaking, the Guards Brigade that “evaporated” rather than disappeared, the endless mountain fires.
These things were so unbelievable to her that she even wondered if the residents of Caohe Town just happened to have the same nightmare.

But obviously, this is impossible.
If these Chinese troops in Huangshi City really have this strength, then wouldn’t they be able to kill even level one monsters?
If they can kill the level one monster, doesn’t that mean they might actually be able to enter the mountain city?
At this moment, the slight resentment in my heart disappeared.

Ji Xing suddenly felt that decisively kidnapping Bai Xu and joining the Huaxia Army was the most correct decision he had ever made in his life.
She raised her head and looked outside the town. The Yellowstone people whom she regarded as “killer gods” were still there.

But what was strange was that two of the Holy Blood Ones had some blood on their bodies.

Ji Xing approached with doubt, and then asked:
“You guys, what happened?”

“I did something.”

Chen Jian answered casually, and Zeng Yi, who happened to be returning from the town, asked:
“Has it been resolved?”

“Solved. There are only about twenty Terror Demons in total, which is not a lot.”

“Li Shi made rapid progress and hardly wasted any bullets.”

“Xie Liu also found some new clues – the terrifying demons here are indeed related to Huadu and Anqing.”

“I’ll synchronize this for you on the way.”

“no problem.”

Zeng Yi nodded and continued:

“The deal has already been concluded with Caohe Town. They will leave in the afternoon. If possible, they would also like to trade directly with us later.”

Chen Jian waved his hand and replied:
“No problem, it’s a small matter. Contact Huang Yu and let him arrange it.”

“I understand. Then I will.”

“and many more!”

Ji Xing interrupted Zeng Yi and asked in surprise:
“You cleared out a terror camp?”

“I’m the only one who’s in for a while?”

Chen Jian nodded and asked as a matter of course:

“Yeah, what’s the problem?”

“It’s just something that happens”

(End of this chapter)