Armor-piercing bullets don't believe in carbon-based monsters

Chapter 204 Underground Great Wall
The news of Jincheng's death swept across the entire Jinling City like a tide.

After his death, Zhang Tao naturally took over his position.

Of course, at this time he was not yet a so-called "saint", at most he could be called the "acting city lord".

But there is no doubt that he is now the popular choice.

The judge chosen by the God of All Things, the most loyal comrade of the angels, the hero who ended the rebellion of the unjust, and the benevolent master who forgave the deceived followers.
There are so many titles given to him that even people cannot tell them all when spreading the heroic stories about him.

Apart from him, who else deserves the title of "saint"?

Perhaps those "adults" of the Most Holy Bayi deserve it.

But obviously, that's not their goal.

Sitting on the throne in the center of the church, Zhang Tao let out a long sigh.

There was still fresh blood on his armor from other innocent Crusaders.

They were just victims in this conspiracy.
-
But who is not a victim?
Zhang Tao smiled bitterly and shook his head, and at this moment, a figure in heavy armor suddenly walked into the gate of the temple.

Zhang Tao stood up and said calmly:
"You came."

"I guessed you would come, but I didn't expect you to take so long."

The person who came was Jin Zhong, the commander of the 4th Brigade of the Temple Guards Brigade, and his face was full of shock, anger, and heartache.

He was disarmed before entering the sanctuary.

But it was not difficult to tell from his clenched fists that he was ready to fight Zhang Tao to the death with his bare hands.

As the other party finished speaking, he took a few steps to the front of the Holy Throne and asked sternly:

"This is your conspiracy!"

"You already knew that the Chinese army needed an agent, so you went to meet them immediately after entering the city!"

"You were the one who leaked the news!"

"What is this about controlling the beast tide, what is this about the saint's tricks?"

"and many more."

Zhang Tao interrupted Jin Zhong and asked with a little confusion:

"What beast tide?"

Jin Zhong was stunned.

From Zhang Tao's expression, he could clearly see that the other party knew nothing about the so-called "beast tide".

This kind of expression and reaction cannot be faked. Although the other party is very good at disguising himself, Jin Zhong has grown up with him after all. In this regard, Jin Zhong is confident that he will not be deceived.

Jin Zhong was instantly overwhelmed by doubts. He asked in disbelief:

"You don't know about the beast tide?!"

"I do not know."

Zhang Tao shook his head slowly, then asked:
"Why do I feel like you know more than me?"

After saying this, Jin Zhong's expression suddenly changed.

He finally understood that both himself and Zhang Tao were just pawns of the Chinese army.

They used themselves to obtain the most critical information, and then used Zhang Tao to kill the saint who posed the greatest threat to them.
From beginning to end, there was no communication between the two chess pieces.

Jin Zhong took a breath.

He always believed that in terms of "strategy", the only one that could be compared with the Mechanicus was the extremely mysterious Circle Chamber of Commerce.

But now he suddenly discovered that the so-called "strategy" of the Mechanicus was like a child playing house in front of those Chinese troops.

They didn't take it to heart at all
How exactly did they do it?
Why do they know everything?

Jin Zhong's expression changed drastically, but Zhang Tao on the opposite side had already understood.

"So, you're part of their plan, right?"

Zhang Tao smiled helplessly and said:

"Let me guess. They must have obtained the key information from you to support this entire operation, right?"

Jin Zhong nodded silently.

After seeing his reaction, Zhang Tao said with relief:
"fair enough."

"I was still thinking about how I should explain it to you."

"But now it's fine, there's no need to explain."

"We are already in the same boat."

"Next, we need to work together well."

"Especially in front of the Chinese Army, we must cooperate well."

"Otherwise, it would be hard for them to feel at ease, right?"

".right."

Jin Zhong let out a long breath.

“They want stability.”

“They can’t tolerate new instability.”

Jin Zhong loosened his clenched fists, and the angry expression on his face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a strong sense of self-mockery.

"I thought I could stop you."

"I understand your dissatisfaction, but I think we can achieve this in a gentler way."

"Unfortunately, I didn't do it."

"wrong."

Zhang Tao shook his head and corrected:

"I've thought about it carefully."

“This is the softest way.”

"There is no other way to achieve such amazing results at such a small cost."

"The rotten flesh that had long been corrupted has been completely removed, and the Mechanicus will be reborn."

“This is actually the best outcome, isn’t it?”

"Maybe so."

Jin Zhong slowly raised his head and said:

"If you make the right choice, this is the best outcome."

“But if you’re not.”

"If I wasn't, they would have you take my place."

Zhang Tao interrupted Jin Zhong and continued:

“That would be a better outcome.”

On the other side, inside fortification 011.

Chen Jian has received the news that Jincheng has been "cleared" and the social order in Jinling City has been restored.

This made him, who had been waiting in the office, in a good mood.

Seeing that it was already past 12 o'clock, he walked out of the fortification gate as usual, greeted the few new recruits who were standing as punishment, then went straight to the stove and served himself a bowl of hot meat porridge.

"It's the same thing every day. Fuxi, let's try something different tomorrow."

"Roger that, Commander. How about replacing the chicken porridge with pork porridge?"

Does it make a difference?
Chen Jian said helplessly:
".Can your robot knead dough? It can make steamed buns."

"In theory, yes, but it does not conform to the efficiency priority you set."

There seemed to be a hint of gloating mockery hidden in Fuxi's voice:
"Have you forgotten? The principle you set for me is to execute with optimal efficiency, and cooking food into meat porridge is also a part of ensuring efficiency."

"Of course, I will also make some changes to avoid the damage to the human digestive system caused by long-term consumption of liquid food."

“Will it be changed to rice?”

"No, I'll cook it thicker."

".Let's change the subject."

Chen Jian swallowed the bowl of meat porridge helplessly, and when he raised his eyes, he was surprised to find that there were lights on near the tents built by refugees in the distance. "What are they doing?"

"They are making bricks. Comrade Ji Xing is with them."

Ji Xing?

Chen Jian walked towards the tent curiously, and after crossing a low slope, he immediately saw the refugees making bricks with the help of the not-so-bright light.

"You're still doing it this late?"

Chen Jian suddenly spoke, and Ji Xing, who was supervising, turned around and nodded:
"Yes, we must hurry."

"Today, Fuxi has controlled the robots to help make most of the molds, but those robots have other tasks and cannot come directly to make bricks."

"So, we have to hurry up and build the brick kiln first."

"It's almost done now. Fuxi has checked it and there are no major problems."

"After drying in the shade and baking with fire, we can use these two brick kilns to make refractory bricks."

"The day after tomorrow. I'll try my best to make sure it can be activated the day after tomorrow."

"There's no need to be so anxious."

Chen Jian glanced at the time and then said:

"It's 12 o'clock. You can't squeeze them to this extent. Let them eat and then rest."

"I see. It was almost over."

Ji Xing let out a long sigh, turned around and gave orders to the refugees who were still working. Then they put down the bricks in their hands, walked around Chen Jian and the other man a little timidly, and walked towards the stove in the distance that was serving meat porridge.

Looking at their backs, Chen Jian suddenly asked:
"Have you figured out the rationing system? I heard Fuxi say he has already taught you."

"I have taught you, and I have also processed a batch of work point chips. They are enough for now."

Ji Xing replied:
"I distributed 24 chips today, which correspond to 24 man-days of food rations. So far, it seems to be very effective. These refugees are working very hard."

"However, my credit has not yet been established. Today I even got back 20 chips - all of which I exchanged for food."

Ji Xing's expression was somewhat dissatisfied, while Chen Jian spoke casually:

"It's normal. Once they get used to exchanging chips for food, they will gradually believe in the purchasing power of chips."

"When you were a guard, you traveled all over the country with the caravan. You are relatively familiar with these things. When you have time in the future, you should help establish the price system."

“The clearer the price system is, the higher the credibility of the chips will be.”

“When the chip-dominated rationing system can develop into a monetary system, our management will be much easier.”

"clear."

Ji Xing nodded again, but then said:
"However, I plan to put these things aside for now."

"Although the problems in Jinling City have been solved, we still have great difficulties in the future."

"The most important thing to do now is to build the 'coking furnace' you mentioned. I will do my best to help wherever I can."

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Chen Jian asked doubtfully:

"I mean, you're acting a lot more anxious than other people."

"Why are you in a hurry? Isn't the purpose of building that 'coking furnace' to manufacture weapons and resist the beast tide?"

".You could say that."

Chen Jian answered casually, and then asked:

"Is the beast tide terrible? Do you understand the beast tide?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have bothered you to go to so much trouble to collect information."

Ji Xing sighed and replied:

"I don't know about the beast tide, but I have really seen a level one monster."

"By the way, I was planning to update the information about the first-level monsters on the computer, but I don't know how to operate it yet."

"It's just right. Now, I can tell you everything I know."

"Then sit down and talk."

Chen Jian sat down on the slope. Ji Xing hesitated for a moment and sat down next to him, slightly below him.

After a moment of silent recollection and organizing his words, Ji Xing spoke:
"Like I told you before, a level one monster is something... completely different from all other monsters."

"Even when I think back sometimes, I feel that it is no longer a 'monster', but a kind of 'concept'."

"Concept? Give an example?"

"Just like this monster in the Jinling Ruins."

Ji Xing replied:
"Captain, don't you think this monster has some conceptual characteristics?"

"For example, its main body is not actually the most threatening part. On the contrary, the environment it affects and the series of small monsters that coexist around it are the most dangerous things."

"Level 1 monsters are like this. It's hard for me to describe what the monster I saw on the edge of the mountain city looked like and what abilities it had."

“Because I really didn’t see it clearly.”

“But after seeing the Level 2 monster in Jinling City, I am sure that it is the same kind of thing, but it will be more powerful.”

"It seems to control an entire 'realm'."

"And anyone who enters that area will be reduced to ashes in an instant."

"Reduced to ashes? Is this a metaphor or..."

"This is a description, literally reduced to ashes."

Ji Xing answered word by word.

"It's a bit counterintuitive. It's hard to believe that something like this could exist on Earth."

"I find it hard to believe. I have no idea how that monster did it."

Ji Xing sighed and then said:
"So, my fear of the beast tide is far greater than yours."

"If a level one monster really appears in the beast tide, how should we fight it?"

"I know we are strong."

"But, with current weapons, it might be really difficult to defeat a monster like that."

"It's ok."

Chen Jian comforted:
"We have more powerful weapons."

"You mean. The sun? The nuclear bomb."

"Yes."

Chen Jian nodded slowly, then said:
"You are one of us now, so there is no need to hide it from you."

"Our key weapons against the beast tide are not the weapons we have now."

"Competition at the same level has never been our goal."

"If the beast tide is strong, then we will use weapons stronger than theirs."

"Only in this way can we ensure our safety."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ji Xing's expression instantly relaxed.

She showed a slightly awkward smile on her face, and then said:
"I thought you no longer had that kind of weapon."

"Not at the moment."

Chen Jian laughed and replied:
"But I know where it is."

"After the problems in Jinling City are resolved, we will spend some time heading to your hometown, which is the imperial capital where the Holy Blood Temple is located."

"There, we have what we are looking for."

"What is it?"

Ji Xing asked curiously, and Chen Jian replied:

"001 fortification."

"And the entrance to the underground nuclear wall!"

(End of this chapter)