Volume 1, Chapter 45: Brother Lei of the West Side

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Lin Qianying immediately reported the news to her superior.
Whether it could be accepted was a matter for her superior to consider, but she was certain she had to report it.
After Lin Qianying finished her report, everyone took a short rest. Their bodies weren’t tired, but their spirits needed recovery.
In the afternoon, Zhang Wei took Lin Qianying and Zhang Tao out of the villa district for a stroll.
But their gains were nearly nonexistent.
The entire Chuan City was quiet and peaceful. No mechanical creatures dared to show themselves; even the mechanical birds stayed hidden, and humans were too scared to come out flaunting themselves.
This left Zhang Wei feeling helpless. Without any monsters to kill, how could he improve himself?
Lin Qianying clearly recognized this problem: “Zhang Wei, if there aren’t many monsters, where are we supposed to get a large amount of metal scraps? Besides, mechanical creatures will eventually be wiped out, right?”
Zhang Wei shook his head at Lin Qianying’s words: “No way they’ll be wiped out. Mechanical creatures reproduce, and their reproduction rate is extremely fast.”
“Mechanical creatures can reproduce? I don’t believe it.” Although Lin Qianying was young, she understood how animals reproduce.
If they’ve all become mechanical creatures, how do they reproduce offspring?
Two steel monsters rubbing against each other might spark a flame, but can they produce offspring?
“They really can reproduce. Take mechanical rats, for example. Once an individual mechanical rat accumulates enough combat power internally, it can spend only a little energy to reproduce smaller mechanical rats, without even needing a normal biological gestation period.”
This was the main reason mechanical creatures could not be exterminated, none other. In the previous world, even in the tenth year of the apocalypse, mechanical creatures were still as numerous as before, showing no sign of extinction.
“Is that so?” Lin Qianying was astonished.
If that were true, wouldn’t humanity be doomed to endless turmoil?
“Big brother, big sister, now is not the time to study this. Let’s focus on how to obtain source crystals.” Zhang Tao spoke somewhat dejectedly. Half the afternoon had already passed, yet they had barely seen any mechanical creatures.
How was this supposed to work?
Zhang Tao also wanted to undergo a second evolution and obtain a top-tier core module.
“The mechanical creatures are scared of getting killed and probably won’t come out soon. Let’s head back first. By the way, let’s have our people keep an eye on those initial source crystals; there should still be some that haven’t been found.”
Zhang Wei said to Zhang Tao.
Zhang Tao understood what Zhang Wei meant by initial source crystals—those crystals that had fallen from the sky at the beginning of the apocalypse.

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Actually, Zhang Tao had been sending people to monitor them. Zhang Wei’s floating cannon had come from one of those initial source crystals. Having seen the floating cannon’s capabilities, Zhang Tao wanted one too.
“Big brother, almost no initial source crystals are left in the city. They’ve all been taken or eaten by mechanical creatures. If we want to find some, we must go outside the city.”
“Outside the city? That’s not impossible.” Zhang Wei nodded silently.
Now Zhang Wei had almost 1,100 points of combat power, so going outside the city was not very dangerous. Zhang Tao was right — away from the urban area, there must be more initial source crystals.
Besides initial source crystals, there were also many mechanical creatures.
For example, those transformed from field mice and frogs, mechanical creatures often appeared in groups.
Moreover, although Chuan City lacked large wild animals, it did have a river.
The mechanical creatures in the river far outnumbered those on land.
“Here’s the plan: you two stay in Chuan City. With your current combat power, self-protection is no problem. I’ll go outside the city.”
“Big brother, aren’t you taking me with you?” Zhang Tao immediately showed discontent. He wanted to explore outside the city; killing a few rats and cats inside was no fun.
“It’s too dangerous for you outside the city. I’ll go alone.”
Zhang Wei had already made up his mind and would not change it lightly.
“Alright.” Zhang Tao resignedly nodded.
Lin Qianying spoke with concern: “Be careful, will you be back by night?”
“Not sure, depends on the situation.” Zhang Wei replied casually.
Zhang Tao looked at Zhang Wei with envy. It was so fast—less than two days, and big brother was about to win over Lin Qianying, such a beautiful lady.
Before the apocalypse, it would have taken three to five days of spending money to win over a beauty like Lin Qianying, right?
Still, Zhang Tao understood that jealousy wouldn’t help; if he were a woman, he would choose Zhang Wei too.
Then, before the sun set, Zhang Wei left Chuan City. He did not choose the direction toward New Wind Mountain but went the opposite way, following the river.
Yet, on the way, Zhang Wei encountered no mechanical creatures.
The mechanical creatures outside the city were more cautious because enemies lurked everywhere in the wild.
Mechanical creatures could devour each other to increase their combat power, so except for their own kind, everyone else was an enemy. Only when they encountered human mechs could they possibly unite, as human mechs were a greater threat to them.

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As Zhang Wei left Chuan City, within a large gang in the west of the city, Han Xu was speaking in front of a twelve-meter mech.
Chuan City, as a second-tier city nationwide, was large in area and population, with various factions intertwined. Though it was only the second day of the apocalypse, numerous gangs had already formed.
The gang Han Xu belonged to was the largest in the west of the city, bar none.
The gang leader was known as Brother Lei.
Brother Lei had originally been a trucker captain, running several logistics companies and commanding a group of truck drivers. He personally owned dozens of large trucks.
These trucks and his truck drivers formed the core strength behind his dominance in the west of the city.
“Brother Lei, I’m telling you the truth. That Zhang Tao has many valuable things, and the kid’s arrogant, looking down on others. He only confiscates mechs under his name, not other subordinates. If we go after him, he’ll definitely back down.”
Han Xu pleaded with Brother Lei.
Relying on himself to get revenge was hopeless in the short term. Han Xu had originally planned to keep a low profile and only confront Zhang Wei when stronger.
But after joining Brother Lei’s gang, a new idea arose.
Brother Lei commanded three to four hundred mechs. In Han Xu’s eyes, just one of those mechs kicking Zhang Wei could kill him outright.
Having others do the revenge for him was still revenge. Han Xu was not picky.
“Zhang Tao? I know him. We’ve helped him with many jobs. He is indeed quite arrogant, but since we operate in the west, there’s no need to provoke him, right?”
Brother Lei was a prominent figure in Chuan City, connected in both lawful and underworld circles, and naturally knew Zhang Tao.
If unnecessary, Brother Lei preferred not to make trouble with Zhang Tao.
Though he had several hundred mechs, most were forcibly recruited and lacked cohesion.
If a real fight broke out, those mechs might be of little use.
Instead of wasting time picking fights with Zhang Tao, it was better to find those hiding mechs in the west.
According to Brother Lei’s estimate, at least a thousand mech owners could still be found in the west.
If other small gangs could be absorbed, gathering two or three thousand mechs would be no problem.