The Orange Cat Matters Most

Central desert oasis, new steel city

The beast tide won't just attack one place. The reason why the car city is the main target is because it's too close to the metropolitan area, allowing them to easily storm the radioactive beasts' stronghold.

But besides the Auto City, there are three other oases that are within the range of this beast tide's attack.

Once these four oases are breached, the next wave of beasts will target the eight surrounding oases, and the next wave will target the entire central desert.

Just like the spread of cancer cells, if it can be stopped in the early stages, a life can be saved. But if it can't be stopped, it becomes very difficult to save a life in the late stages.

If they were to acquire such a large genetic territory as the Central Region, needless to say, those two A-level radiation beasts would inevitably be upgraded to S-level.

At that point, our Major General Xiao Tong will have no choice but to flee by plane, just like in the normal timeline.

What sets Xin Gangcheng apart from other oases is that while other oases are simply place names, at most with the addition of landmark buildings, Xin Gangcheng is a proper city.

It is not a hastily constructed complex printed using 3D printing technology, but a small steel fortress dating back to the civilized era.

This fortress is a legacy of the empire, and within it lies the empire's arsenal.

In front of a helipad at the fortress, Dong Li and a group of Oasis officials were waiting, each with a complex expression.

At this moment, a nuclear-powered helicopter is slowly landing on the helipad.

As the cabin doors slowly opened, a man and two women emerged. The man exuded a powerful aura, and his gaze swept across the room, making everyone feel as if they were being watched by some monstrous beast, as if their lives were in imminent danger.

The last time they felt this way was with The Mountain.

Dong Li greeted him with a complicated expression, "Welcome to our inspection, Advisor."

That's right, Senior Engineer has been promoted again. He jumped from an ordinary military advisor to a special military advisor, skipping the intermediate and senior levels, and was promoted directly to the rank of brigadier general.

To put it simply, the position that Moshan held back then is the same as the position that the senior engineer holds now.

"Chief of Staff Dong, we meet again," the senior engineer said, politely pulling the girl with the ponytail down from her seat.

"Yes, it's great to see you again," Dong Li said with a touch of emotion.

As the saying goes, "A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation," and the other party perfectly exemplified this.

At their first meeting, he thought the other person was a greenhorn; at their second meeting, he realized the other person had potential; and at their third meeting, the other person was parachuted in as his boss.

The senior engineer smiled and pushed Du Zhaodi forward. "From now on, Director Du will be my full representative. She will be in charge of all defense work in the new steel city, including military production."

Du Zhaodi also said bluntly, "I will transfer some technical experts from the Equipment Research Institute to help. I have to say, compared to the factory, your production efficiency is really too low."

Dong Li was taken aback. It was not surprising that a new official would send someone to supervise his work.

But judging from what he said, he doesn't plan to stay here?

Seemingly sensing what the other party was thinking, the senior engineer said directly, "I'm going to inspect another oasis in a little while, and I don't have time to stay in one place for a long time."

"What, you have a problem with that?"

No, I wouldn't dare.

What followed was a series of inspections. Du Zhaodi's gaze was ruthless, and she went all out. Not to mention making any underhanded moves, even when asked many technical questions, these middle and senior managers gradually couldn't answer them.

As one of the few oases with weapons production capabilities, New Steel City inherited the imperial military industry. However, the standards of this military industry are not the same as the current weapons standards, which caused many machines to stop working directly, resulting in a huge waste of machinery.

Dong Li's expression gradually turned grim.

According to Director Du, even if it's just a matter of putting in more effort to reuse these devices, production capacity could be increased by at least double.

That's so stupid!

Dong Li completely ignored the fact that he himself was also part of the stupidity, and the biggest part of it at that.

Seeing the managers being scolded like grandsons by Du Zhaodi, the senior engineer quietly pulled Chief of Staff Dong aside, and the two went to a quiet place to talk.

"Commander Dong, how are those two new pieces of equipment going?"

"Very good," even though his senses were complex, Dong Li was full of praise for the [Open Version Virtual Projection] and [Manual Neural Disruptor].

"I have quite a bit of this type of equipment data. Have you considered collaborating?" The senior engineer paused, "I mean, are you interested in collaborating privately?"

Dong Li immediately perked up and said, "Interested, very interested, please tell me in detail."

Working for someone else is nothing compared to being your own boss.

The reason why military production in Xin Steel City was so poor was twofold: firstly, the management personnel were indeed incompetent, and secondly, this Commander Dong was busy making money for his own company and basically did not manage it at all.

The senior engineer has a lot of high-quality blueprints, such as [quadruped robot], [microcomputer brass knuckles], and [hand sensory nerve facilitator]. These types of weapons and equipment are gradually falling behind his pace.

There is another type of equipment with a unique art style, such as the "Happy Shaker," the "Advanced Neuro-Massage Chair," and the "Human Pleasure Manipulation Device."

Don't be fooled by their strange names; they're actually quite technologically advanced, and if you can sell these items in the City That Never Sleeps, you can make more money than you would with the weapon blueprints.

No matter how large the weapons market is, it's still a niche market. Nobody likes to be at war every day. The LSP market is the way to go.

The senior engineer plans to outsource these retired and unconventional pieces of equipment, using the profits to develop high-tech products.

After all, even if you get high-level blueprints, you can't build it without the corresponding advanced equipment and production lines.

In his view, Xin Gangcheng was a very good outsourcing partner.

As for sales channels, he plans to use the dark web.

As a philosopher once said, the world of martial arts is not about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and social interactions.

When Dong Li and the senior engineer returned together, Commander Dong was basking in the spring breeze, his steps were light, and his mood was pleasant. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he had just gone to a massage parlor.

His attitude towards the senior engineer changed again. He was no longer wary and fearful, but overly attentive, like a lapdog.

This surprised the other senior executives, who knew that Director Dong was a man with a temper and was known for his strictness.

Du Zhaodi didn't notice the strange behavior of the two men. She was completely different from her usual indifferent self, chatting amiably with an old worker.

Judging from his appearance, this mechanic is at least 60 years old. His right hand is an old-fashioned mechanical hand without fingers, replaced by a dozen or so precision machining tools.

These must have been workers from the Imperial era, as much of the precision machining in the factory has been replaced by unmanned robotic arms.

Judging from Du Zhaodi's attitude, this old worker must be highly skilled.

The old worker stood upright, neither humble nor arrogant, possessing a very special civilized demeanor.

This kind of temperament is rare in the frenzied and cruel radiation zone.

"It's that old stubborn guy again. If only they knew how to manipulate those old folks, we would have fired them long ago," a manager complained.

"Are there many stubborn old men like this?" Senior Engineer stroked his chin, suddenly becoming very interested.

"The consultant isn't trying to recruit them, is he?" the middle manager exclaimed in surprise. "These guys are all stubborn and arrogant because they have some skills. Even we can't persuade them."

"Is that so?"

If ordinary people can't be convinced, then what about someone like himself, a "descendant of the empire"?

Given the lineage of the late emperor and his determination to restore the country, it's plausible that he recruited technical personnel to accomplish this great undertaking.

What was the late emperor's name?

Time was short, so the senior engineer only did a quick inspection before preparing to leave.

The real work still needs to be done by the girl with the ponytail.

On the tarmac, the senior engineer looked at Du Zhaodi, then at Daisy, and said very seriously, "Protect her well."

"Unless I die first!" Daisy said in a deep voice.

The nuclear-powered helicopter quickly became a small black dot in mid-air.

Du Zhaodi, with a dashing air, rolled up her sleeves.

"Let's go, Daisy, it's time to get to work."

The senior engineer's next target is an oasis called "Entertainment City," a name that sounds inappropriate for children. Its predecessor was a red-light district in the civilized era.

Just like in the new steel city, the senior engineer only inspected it once and left. He did not stay to learn foreign languages, but instead requisitioned a large amount of simulation equipment.

These devices will be sent to where he is going.

This place is not the Horse Ranch Oasis. As a rare oasis where scavenger tribes and mechanical hunters can coexist harmoniously, Gao Gong felt that sending a tribal elder like Xiao Furen would be more convincing.

Cowboy Ap will help her; he's the son of a big rancher on a horse farm and is quite famous in the area.

Their job is simple: recruit soldiers.

Fighting the beast tide is one thing, but the senior engineer is more concerned with expanding his team under the guise of fighting the beast tide.

Soon, the senior engineer arrived at his destination.

It was an unremarkable motel, surrounded by a wire fence about the size of five football fields. There was a gas station in front and a flea market behind.

Five dirty trucks were parked in the parking space at the entrance, with bloodstains on their tires.

These oases are usually contracted out by the providers of military power. Better ones have weapon shops, bars, and cybernetic modification workshops, while the last one is jokingly referred to as a "hair salon" by the mechanical hunters.

Those that are less desirable only offer food and drink services.

The Wilder Motel is a mid-range establishment with a car repair shop and a weapons store, but no entertainment facilities whatsoever.

The only unusual thing is that since the start of the war, this place has been filled with the corpses and remains of a large number of radioactive beasts.

Those crazed biological warriors were also transported here after the war.

This includes members of the Biological Mutation Society, who arrived even earlier than the senior engineer.

Oh, right, there's also a big orange cat.

Big Orange is even fatter than when we last met.

Ever since the news broke that the senior engineer had killed the Demon Mountain, Da Ju felt like the sky was falling.

How did a perfectly good nouveau riche turn into a traitor?

He hasn't paid yet!!

Feeling hopeless, she channeled her grief into food, eating and drinking excessively, and gained over ten pounds in just a few days.

It wobbled and swayed, its fat jiggling, as it walked up to the senior engineer. A thousand words were left unsaid, but in the end, they all boiled down to a single word.

Meow~~