Purchasing Supplies and Recruiting Hands

What left Li Ye feeling even more helpless was that he had less than 100 Crystal Coins in total.

Crystal Coins were the universal currency used across the wasteland. They looked like translucent, pale-blue coins.

One Crystal Coin could buy a small bag of coarse food.

Three Crystal Coins could buy an old chair.

Ten Crystal Coins could be exchanged for a liter of gasoline, or a small bag of vegetables and fruit.

The few Crystal Coins Li Ye had on hand were nowhere near enough to purchase many supplies.

When he inadvertently turned around and spotted the Water Tower on Tomorrow, an idea suddenly struck him.

"Do you need Freshwater? I don't have many Crystal Coins, but I can trade Freshwater for supplies."

To his surprise, Wilderness Town happened to be facing a shortage of Freshwater. Over the past few days, several people had been injured or even killed while searching for it.

Tomorrow's arrival had solved Wilderness Town's urgent problem.

Before long, a crowd had gathered in front of Li Ye.

After some bargaining, Li Ye paid a total of 1,000 units of Freshwater, while the supplies he received piled up before him like a small mountain.

82 units of fuel and 126 units of coal.

Those were all the resources Li Ye could trade for after searching through the entire market.

As the fuel and coal were loaded in one after another, Tomorrow's energy rose from 11% to 27%.

Though it had not returned to the safe threshold of 60%, getting this much was already pretty good.

Besides that, Li Ye had also traded for more than three hundred Buns, two sacks of potatoes and corn, a bag of flour, and over a dozen packs of homemade biscuits. As for candles, he bought two boxes.

The only regret was that Li Ye had failed to buy any Saltpeter, so he could not make cannon shells.

After telling Old Zhou and the others to carry the supplies back onto Tomorrow, Li Ye rubbed his hands together and began his recruitment plan.

Just as he had expected, Wilderness Town had none of the skilled professionals he wanted, such as gunners or mechanics.

However, three people did respond to his call for Normal Residents.

After all, for survivors, living in a Mobile City was far better than staying in a town with few defensive measures. At the very least, it was much safer.

"Just this few people? It's nowhere near enough." Li Ye sighed.

He then patiently explained to the three of them what work they would need to do every day, as well as how many supplies they would be allotted daily.

During this, one of them asked curiously.

"Is your Tomorrow short on slaves?"

Li Ye frowned slightly at those words.

Having once lived as a slave, and having risked his life alongside his brothers to resist their rulers, he found the word somewhat grating.

"No, I'm not asking you to become slaves." His voice was low. "I promise you that you will become part of Tomorrow, and you will not be subjected to any inhuman enslavement or treatment."

The crowd stirred at his words, and several more people stepped forward.

After another round of discussion, Li Ye recruited six more people.

Just as he was about to lead these nine people back to Tomorrow, a calm voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"I think I can fill the mechanic position on Tomorrow."

Li Ye turned around in surprise and saw the speaker.

He was an ordinary-looking young man with black hair and glasses, sitting in a wheelchair. His face had an unhealthy pallor.

It seemed that not only were his legs disabled, but he was also plagued by illness.

A little girl around eight or nine years old stood behind him, pushing his wheelchair. She looked timid, as though she were his younger sister.

"You're a mechanic?" Li Ye asked in surprise.

The bespectacled young man gently shook his head.

"No, I've never worked on a Mobile City. But I've read many books about mechanics, and I believe the practical work should not be difficult either."

He answered.

"That said, compared with a Normal Resident, a mechanic should receive better treatment, right?"

"I hope to bring this little girl with me. She must receive a fixed daily supply of resources and not be required to work on the Mobile City."

"Besides that, I need you to assign someone to assist me with Tomorrow's daily maintenance work."

Before he could finish, Li Ye slowly shook his head.

"Sorry, I can't agree to that."

In truth, even if the bespectacled young man was not a real mechanic, Li Ye would have been willing to give him a chance.

After all, talents like mechanics were hard to find in the wasteland. Tomorrow had only just started and could offer limited benefits, so he would have considered himself lucky to recruit even an apprentice.

But the man was disabled and sickly. Not only did he want to bring a little girl aboard, but he also wanted someone assigned to assist him.

That meant Li Ye would have to provide enough Food and Fresh Water for two people every day, while also giving up one worker.

The bespectacled young man considered it for a moment before speaking again.

"I can also serve as a helmsman."

Li Ye froze upon hearing that, then looked at him with delight.

If this bespectacled young man could truly serve as both mechanic and helmsman, then he could indeed offer him those terms.

Perhaps noticing Li Ye's thoughts, the young man added another sentence.

"I've never served as a helmsman either, but I've read many books on operating Mobile Cities. I believe the practical work should not be difficult either."

"..."

After hesitating for a long while, Li Ye nodded.

Tomorrow had only just begun and was desperately short of all kinds of talent. Besides, with the treatment Tomorrow could offer, experienced mechanics and helmsmen might not be willing to come anyway. Having someone usable was already quite good.

"Fine." He sighed helplessly. "By the way, what's your name?"

The bespectacled young man adjusted his glasses.

"Lin Wu."

After carefully studying Li Ye, he spoke softly.

"Mr. Li, if I'm not mistaken, were you once a slave?"

Li Ye was taken aback.

"Why?" he asked.

"Judging from your expression when you heard the word 'slave,' you seem to detest that identity, along with the promise you made earlier. But those two points alone cannot confirm my guess."

"The main reason is that, when you were walking just now, you kept reaching back to tug at the clothes on your back. When you were a slave, your back was likely often whipped by lords and thugs, leaving many scars."

"Although you just changed into new clothes, so no marks can be seen on your back, those wounds probably have not healed yet. When your clothes touch them, they itch and hurt."

Li Ye slowly nodded. He had not expected Lin Wu's powers of observation to be so sharp.

"Fine. Pack your things and come with me." He waved his hand.

Lin Wu nodded.

"Thank you, Mr. Li."

Li Ye waved a hand, cutting him off, then gestured again.

"Call me Lord. You're already one of Tomorrow's people."

After taking the Lifting Platform onto Tomorrow, Lin Wu let out a soft breath and felt somewhat more at ease.

His legs were already inconvenient, he was plagued by illness, and he had a child with him. Life had been especially difficult.

What was worse, living in Wilderness Town gave him no sense of security each day.

Monsters were everywhere in the wasteland. Wilderness Town had neither Heavy Machine Guns nor artillery, and its defensive fortifications were weak. If a corpse horde attacked, it would certainly fall.

When Li Ye began recruiting, Lin Wu had only come to try his luck. He had not expected to actually succeed.

That was why many survivors in the wasteland would rather become slaves just to enter a Mobile City. At least Mobile Cities were far safer than towns and were often equipped with artillery and machine guns.

Though they were slaves, some Mobile Cities still offered paths for advancement.

"I'll meet every condition you proposed, but if you can't handle your work, I really will throw you and the little girl off Tomorrow." Li Ye said blandly from behind him.

Lin Wu nodded.

"Don't worry. I'll prove my worth." As he spoke, he gently stroked the head of the little girl pushing his wheelchair. "Also, we aren't siblings."

"What?"

"Her name is Xiao Yao. She's my friend's younger sister."

Lin Wu spoke softly. At that moment, a light breeze tousled his bangs, making it impossible to see his lowered eyes.

"My friend always took care of me. In the end, he died saving me. Before he died, he entrusted his sister to me and asked me to take good care of her."

Lin Wu and the other newcomers who had just joined Tomorrow were each assigned their own rooms, along with their allotted Freshwater and food.

When they saw the rooms before them, delight appeared in the newcomers' eyes.

At first, they had thought they were coming to Tomorrow as slaves, and they had prepared themselves to endure it. After all, compared with being residents in a poorly defended town, being slaves in a Mobile City was at least safer.

But the treatment Li Ye offered far exceeded their expectations. Not only did everyone have their own room, but they had food and drink every day, and the work assigned to them was not too tiring.

At this moment, Li Ye was frowning in the cockpit.

"There still aren't enough people."

This time, he had only recruited eleven newcomers. They needed to tend the fields, gather resources in the wilderness, and handle Tomorrow's daily cleaning. Lin Wu was only responsible for Tomorrow's daily maintenance, while his friend's younger sister would not work, which effectively meant two fewer workers.

Furthermore, Li Ye had meant what he said when recruiting people in Wilderness Town.

In this world, it was common for Mobile Cities to have slaves, and many newcomers joining a Mobile City had already resigned themselves to becoming slaves.

But what he wanted to recruit were not slaves, but residents.

Slaves would only work mindlessly, while residents would feel a sense of belonging to their Mobile City and be more willing to work and contribute for it.

A Mobile City was like a lonely boat traveling across land. Only when everyone aboard worked together could it go farther.

He then brought up the system and looked at the intelligence panel expectantly.

The System Cooldown had finished.

2 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds until the next intelligence refresh

Number of intelligence reports: 6

This intelligence refresh period was much longer than the last one, taking a full three days.

Correspondingly, there was one more intelligence report this time, and its value would surely be much greater. Perhaps an Epic Intelligence Report would appear again, just like the first time.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Li Ye stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"I can't sit idle these next few days. I still need to find a way to gather resources."

As the number of people aboard Tomorrow increased, daily consumption of Food and Fresh Water had risen considerably. Combined with the city's daily energy consumption, if they gained nothing in a day, it would be wasted for nothing.

Just then, Old Zhou's voice came from outside.

"A-Li, come out here. Something's happened!"

Li Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he hurried out of the Production Workshop.

"What is it?" he asked. "Are enemies attacking?"

Old Zhou shook his head and quickly gave him a brief explanation.

It turned out that the lookout had discovered a Mine about 800 meters northwest of Tomorrow.

Li Ye waved his hand.

"Come on, let's go up to the Watchtower and take a look."