Chapter 17: I Want an Explanation
About 100 kilometers north of the Wasteland Society, one enters the territory of the High Wall Ruins.
This area was a core city before the disaster era and has now become a ruin. Waste energy storms, mutant monsters, green-skinned orcs… both the environment and the creatures living there pose enormous threats to humans.
However, the large-scale urban ruins also conceal treasures from the pre-war era.
Garbage Town is right next to the High Wall Ruins.
Initially, scavengers established this gathering point as a supply and trading hub for their expeditions and excavations in the High Wall Ruins.
Over time, this place developed and eventually grew into a sizable town.
Garbage Town has no central government or ruler; instead, it is controlled by merchants known as ‘Agents’, forming a societal structure of Agents-Caravan-Adventurers and Mercenaries-Scavengers.
Armed adventurers secure and guard resource points, scavengers excavate resources, caravans purchase and sell resources, and Agents control everything from behind the scenes, monopolizing the business.
The garbage scavenged by the scavengers undergoes preliminary processing into various raw materials, primarily metals, which is one of Garbage Town’s main outputs.
Another major output is energy.
Here, we must mention the ‘Waste Energy Storm’, one of the most terrifying disasters on Fury Owl.
The so-called Waste Energy Storm is a massive scar left from the war.
The sweeping winds stir up high-density waste energy—the residual energy impact after a psychic energy burst.
This energy is unusable in its conventional state and instead causes fatal damage to humans, machinery, and electronic devices.
Humans cannot survive in such an environment, and even the mutant monsters born from the waste energy dare not move in the storm’s core during its most intense moments.
The High Wall Ruins are one of the most frequent and intense areas for waste energy storms.
However, after the storm, some legacy remains.
The violent waste energy combines with certain minerals, occasionally producing something called ‘Hot Ash Stone’.
This stuff is not the same as high-density energy crystals, but once ignited, it can continuously generate high temperatures.
This can be used for power generation.
Raw materials and Hot Ash Stone are the two main outputs of Garbage Town.
Gu Hang remembered that in the past, the Wasteland Society sold their produced ore almost exclusively to Garbage Town.
They had also wanted to sell it to the nearer Revival City, but Revival City didn’t accept raw ores.
The nearest place with raw material preliminary processing capabilities was Garbage Town.
The low prices given by Garbage Town were one of the main reasons why the Wasteland Society used to struggle for food.
Past grievances aside, Gu Hang was concerned about the Wasteland Society’s current connection with Garbage Town.
Gu Hang decided to have Patel contact Garbage Town.
His direct territory needed sufficient raw materials and energy support to continue developing.
As for what to trade, he had already thought about it.
Food.
Garbage Town does not produce food; they usually import it from Revival City.
Gu Hang’s plan was to produce alloyed plastic steel in the Wasteland Society and potentially other industrial products in the future, to sell to Revival City; purchase food from Revival City and sell it to Garbage Town; and buy raw materials from Garbage Town to expand production.
A perfect cycle!
The 100 tons of food he had obtained from Revival City this time would play a role in this.
Besides supporting the governor’s territory, he planned to sell a batch to Garbage Town.
This batch of supplies would arrive in eight days, and Gu Hang patiently waited.
During these eight days, two pieces of news arrived, one good and one bad.
The good news was that the fixed monthly grace income rapidly increased as the Wasteland Society began large-scale production of alloyed plastic steel.
[Current Grace Points: 1]
[Fixed Monthly Income: 12]
[Governor’s Camp: 8/Terra Month]
[Wasteland Society: 4/Terra Month]
It had doubled!
Neither territory had increased its population significantly.
The main change during this period was the enhancement of alloyed plastic steel production capacity.
The Wasteland Society’s increase from 1 to 4 should be a reflection of this production capacity.
Similarly, the Governor’s Camp’s increase should also be a reflection of enhanced production capacity.
The difference was that the Wasteland Society relied on the two erected smelting furnaces, while the Governor’s Camp relied on two black box manufacturing machines.
Although the alloyed plastic steel output was less than that of the Wasteland Society, the quality was much higher, and they had also produced two smelting furnaces.
In short, expanding production was undoubtedly beneficial.
The produced items aside, the increase in fixed monthly income within the system was equally valuable.
Gu Hang hoped to raise the fixed monthly income as much as possible before this month’s grace points were distributed.
He considered increasing the population, establishing trade routes, and expanding production during these days, apart from inspecting the soldiers’ training.
However, on the seventh day, he received bad news:
…
“My goods were stolen?”
Gu Hang asked the man in front of him, his face dark and menacing.
The man complained, “Yes, we had thirty carts of supplies, left Revival City, and when we were almost there, we decided to take a break. Everyone was sitting on the ground, singing songs, and then hundreds of raiders jumped out and robbed us!”
Why not have a hot pot while you’re at it?
Gu Hang sneered, “Not a single item left, not a single casualty, and now the wasteland raiders are so merciful?”
“It’s not like there weren’t any casualties! Governor, look at my nose! They smashed my nose bridge with a rifle butt!”
The man continued, but seeing the governor’s face growing darker, his voice grew smaller. He began to feel an overwhelming sense of pressure, as if a mountain was about to crush him.
He struggled to speak again, “We surrendered. The robbers didn’t seem like ordinary bandits or wasteland raiders; I recognized two of them. They seemed to be mercenaries who hang around the outskirts of Revival City. At first, we were very scared, but after we surrendered, they didn’t kill any of us. They just took the ox carts.”
He paused, then continued, “I suspect that someone saw us transporting the supplies when we left. Those mercenaries, driven by greed, didn’t dare to attack near Revival City, so they followed us all the way…”
Gu Hang interrupted him, “You said you were robbed fifteen kilometers from my camp?”
“Yes.”
“You had few people, not enough guns, and after they surrounded you, you surrendered. Then the raiders didn’t kill you, just took the goods?”
“Yes.”
“Alright.”
Gu Hang couldn’t be bothered to say more to this man.
He left the temporary quarters where the transport team members who had fled in disarray were housed, summoned Yan Fangxu, and ordered him to take the twenty-plus marines in the camp, along with the newly trained Wasteland Company, to investigate the scene and try to track down the raiders.
As for himself, he returned to his quarters and instructed his aide Zhang Chao to connect him to Revival City Council Head Hodgson.
“My goods were stolen, and I want an explanation from you.”