C13 Another Harvest
Lin Chen could confidently assert that his conscience was clear as he prepared to take possession of the two military supply points.
In his past life, Oldlight Base had coveted these supplies after merging three divisions. They mounted three assaults, each ending in defeat and ultimately abandoning the plan, leaving the supplies to decay in an underground warehouse.
In this life, Oldlight Base would surely send scouts to reconnoiter before launching an attack on the supply points. They'd quickly find the sites empty, rendering any attack plans moot.
By removing these supplies, Lin Chen was, in effect, saving the lives of over two hundred thousand soldiers.
Even in a post-apocalyptic world where a soldier's loyalty could be bought with a mere morsel of food, making them cheap, they were still citizens of Hiekith!
Why wouldn't Lin Chen repurpose these supplies to aid in the fight against the end times?
This action could easily lead the authorities to draw a connection with the petrochemical factory incident and launch an investigation.
But it was of no consequence. Whether it's one sheep or two, the outcome is the same.
At 4:45 p.m., Lin Chen arrived on a street to the north of the city center.
The street was sparsely populated, ending in an unassuming old building with a sign that read "Military and Civilian Alliance Center."
Lin Chen knew of this location because Yaya, in his previous life, had been part of a team that scouted military supply points and had shared the details with him.
A quick search on Google hinted at the building's clandestine significance.
Though the building housed only a handful of people, it was flanked by a police station just tens of meters to the left and a special police force headquarters a hundred meters to the right, with six more police stations scattered within a two-kilometer radius.
None of this concerned Lin Chen.
His keen senses led him to silently commend the construction: Truly worthy of the Great Sky Dynasty's military might! While the surface structures were dormant, at least a third of the underground still buzzed with electricity. This suggested that other military facilities were likely just as resilient. Indeed, in the early stages of the apocalypse, the military was a formidable force, to be befriended, not antagonized.
In the absence of any oversight, the military supply point stood no chance against Lin Chen's incursion.
Lin Chen expended just a bit more time and energy to secure all the operational generators, monitoring computers, and surveillance probes. These intact military electronics were precious commodities in the years leading up to the apocalypse.
It was as if Lin Chen was at home as he effortlessly cleared out the supply point. The central pivot's strategy called for arming at least four hundred thousand soldiers at such a facility, which meant Lin Chen's haul was immense.
Inventory included over half a million light and heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, and a staggering six hundred million rounds of ammunition, averaging over a thousand rounds per weapon.
In the years of Hiekith's hardship, a deluge of light arms was produced with the intent of arming the entire populace, ready to deploy a "human wave" tactic. Now, the mountains were littered with these weapons and ammunition; six hundred million rounds here was hardly a surprise.
The arsenal was vast: grenades, rockets, rocket launchers, cluster bombs, and countless mortars. There were two million stick grenades, two million "melon" grenades, and over a hundred tons of high explosives.
Most astonishing were the artillery pieces: 100 units of 122mm self-propelled howitzers, 20 units of 155mm self-propelled howitzers, and 4 units of 203mm self-propelled howitzers, all with ample ammunition—twenty times the basic load. There were also 100 units of avant-garde shoulder-launched missile launchers, each supplied with 60 missiles capable of precision strikes against helicopters, cruise missiles, and supersonic targets.
The vehicle count was equally impressive: 800 troop transport trucks, 2,000 military motorcycles, 600 heavy construction vehicles, 80 wheeled armored vehicles, 30 tracked armored vehicles, 40 Type 88 tanks, and 10 Type 98 tanks.
Of particular note were four specialized command vehicles, 10 Zhi-8 helicopters, and 10 Zhi-9 helicopters, along with four missile trucks, each equipped with twenty missiles boasting a 400-kilometer range for both surface-to-surface and surface-to-air engagements.
Lin Chen was astounded by the sheer magnitude of the firepower at his disposal. He longed to proclaim the might of the Great Heavenly Empire!
Regrettably, the heavy weapons and vehicles among the munitions had to remain hidden, as they were all cataloged. Using them would certainly reveal their origins.
Even the firearms required their serial numbers to be removed before use.
The only items Lin Chen didn't have to fret over were the various bullets, ready to be used at a moment's notice. The slim chance of the serial numbers on the bullet casings revealing secrets was negligible.
Lin Chen's spirits were lifted by the bounty of supplies beyond the arsenal.
On hand were over two million sets of military uniforms in various models, 600,000 sets of military protective gear, countless military tents, backpacks, quilts, kettles, bayonets, and boots.
Additionally, there were two thousand tons of frozen meats, an endless supply of compressed biscuits, two hundred tons of dehydrated vegetables, eight million cans of assorted foods, over a hundred tons of spices, and an abundance of cigarettes, alcohol, and tea.
Every conceivable daily necessity was present, amassing into mountains. Moreover, there were twenty thousand tons of fuel.
After his sweep, Lin Chen gazed upon the barren underground base with nothing but profound admiration for the engineers of Hiekith.
At 5:50 AM, Lin Chen reached the military supply point southwest of the city center.
It was ostensibly a dilapidated armed police training facility.
With his prior experience, Lin Chen wrapped up his looting in roughly forty minutes, the haul comparable to the last base.
By 6:40 AM, Lin Chen was at Janville's most renowned commercial pedestrian street, frantically plundering luxury items, with a particular focus on women's clothing, handbags, jewelry, and lingerie.
His intention was clear: even in a post-apocalyptic world, he was determined to provide Yaya with nothing but the finest.
His mental powers surged as he teleported from store to store, averaging just seven to eight seconds to empty each one, not sparing even the shelving units.
Naturally, he steered clear of the food, unwilling to steal the lifeline of other survivors.
Come 7:00 AM, after raiding roughly two hundred high-end stores, the energy expended caused Seeds World to shrink by another square kilometer, much to its protest.
But Lin Chen had bigger concerns at that moment.
As he set his sights on the next location, he reckoned he had gathered enough women's products to last Yaya for over ten generations.
By 7:06 AM, Lin Chen had made his way to the International Convention Center, where he claimed one hundred and twenty-two of the world's most prestigious cars, encompassing a wide array of models.
At 7:10 AM, Lin Chen made his way into the public car factory's finished goods warehouse and commandeered two thousand compact cars.
By 7:20 AM, he had infiltrated the Western Wind car factory's finished goods warehouse, absconding with 600 Western Wind trucks and a thousand various construction vehicles.
Between 7:25 and 7:30 AM, he hit two renowned 4S stores, acquiring a customized Hummer, a modified large RV, and over twenty other specialty modified vehicles, along with a collection of more than a hundred original luxury cars.
At 7:35 AM, Lin Chen entered the Macy Long international chain's storage center, claiming nearly all of the alcohol, cigarettes, tea, and half of the stockpile of food, purified water, beverages, ready-to-eat meals, and fruits.
He took 90% of the frozen meats, intentionally leaving behind 10%.
His actions weren't about competing for resources, but rather about saving lives.
The area was teeming with people who would soon be overwhelmed by the onslaught of the undead.
The food was like a tantalizing carrot dangled before a donkey, luring survivors to their doom and bolstering the ranks of the undead.
By removing half of the food supply, Lin Chen aimed to deplete the resources before the area became a complete death trap, thereby reducing its allure and indirectly saving lives.
The remaining 10% of meat was left for survivors to claim before it spoiled, assuming they had the bravery to venture in within the next two to three days.
Should no one retrieve the meat within that timeframe, Lin Chen's good intentions would be wasted. It would have been more practical to take all the meat, given that his storage space could preserve it indefinitely.
He left only a small quantity of other household items in the warehouse, taking the rest for himself.
At 7:44 AM, Lin Chen reached his final destination: the New Energy Research and Development Center in Janville City. He secured over three thousand solar power generators and more than a thousand wind power generators.
These generators, lacking high-precision integrated chips and not being operational at the time, were in pristine condition.
Acknowledging the potential benefit of these generators for the survivors, Lin Chen decided to take only half of the inventory.
Following his planned route, the manufacturing center was situated in the northern suburbs, conveniently close to East China University. Having completed his mission, Lin Chen could now make the quickest return to his hotel.
At 7:48 p.m., Lin Chen stowed away the third motorcycle in a street corner just outside the school gates. He unleashed his full mental energy to scan the surrounding area, then teleported repeatedly until he was back in his hotel room by 7:50 p.m.
With that, his plans were flawlessly executed! He lacked for nothing now.
The resources at his disposal now surpassed those of many small countries combined! And that's without even considering the endless supply of premium food from the Seeds World!
Lin Chen wasted no time entering the Seeds World, where amidst the seeds' murmuring complaints, he grabbed a quick bite before sitting down to meditate, focusing on restoring his mental and physical energy.
Energy could be replenished with energy liquids, but the drain on his mind and body was tangible. He had to remain vigilant against operational surveillance cameras and the potential for the Awakened to track him down, keeping him perpetually on edge. The stress was suffocating.
After about an hour of recuperation in the Seeds World, Lin Chen felt sufficiently revitalized and returned to the primary world.
It was now 7:57 p.m. Yaya was nearly awake, and the world itself was on the brink of awakening.
But upon waking, sixty percent of humanity would transform into merciless monsters, driven by the virus to inflict harm on those still in their normal state.
The brutal reality of the apocalypse was about to unveil its true face!
Lin Chen lay in bed, pulling the covers over himself, feigning sleep as he awaited Yaya's call to rouse him.
A wry smile crossed his mind. How much longer must I keep up this charade of playing the fool before Yaya? Damn it all! It's only because my power is still too limited, and this world, too perilous. But one day, I will stand unafraid, creating a worry-free haven for my loved ones! Then, I'll no longer need to conceal anything from my family.
