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

Chapter 42 Battery
With Xu Lie as the tour guide, Chen Jian and his team members participated in the celebration in accordance with local customs. The purpose was certainly not to have a carnival, but to deepen their understanding of Han Shui City and the conditions of human society in this post-apocalyptic era through this large-scale event.

He had seen many celebrations, and to be fair, this celebration, which took place in a post-apocalyptic human settlement, was not much different from other celebrations he had seen.

Cheering crowds, lit lights, unprecedentedly prosperous trade, and a variety of entertainment activities.
If there is any difference, it is mainly in the content.

There are no activities like hitting balloons or throwing rings here. What there are are wild boars surrounded by fences on a spacious ground. As long as you pay two kilograms of rice or a bullet, you can go into the fence and show off your skills.

The reward for the person who catches the pig is not a pig, but double the tickets returned by the boss.

After a few people watched for a few minutes, Chen Jian discovered that the return rate of this thing was quite high.

On average, one out of every two or three people can knock down the pig within the specified time and take away their reward.

The boss won’t lose money, but he won’t make much either. Apparently, even the difficulty has been “carefully adjusted”.

Xu Lie beside him was eager to try, and turned to Chen Jian and asked:
"God's Chosen One, don't you want to give it a try?"

"The wild boars here are all domesticated, not real wild boars. With your physical strength, it is more than enough to deal with them."

"Forget it."

Chen Jian waved his hand and said:
"Just take a look. I'm a little curious, where did this activity come from?"

"north."

Xu Lie replied:
"There is a city in the northern snowfield called Liaodong. The people there mainly eat wild boar and deer as their main meat."

"They hold similar hunting events every year to specifically hunt wild boars."

"The one who has accumulated the most wild boar skins is called the First Baturu. Not only can he receive various rewards, but he will also be qualified to serve as the city lord."

"The boss here is from Liaodong. He was in Jinling four years ago, and came to Hanshui two years ago. He also brought his games here."

Wow, he’s the No. 1 Baturu.

When put together with the term "wild boar skin", it has a bit of the meaning of being close to the face and big.

However, on the other hand, it can also be seen that the social ecology of this land has indeed regressed to a very primitive level, and the importance of fishing and hunting as the main means of obtaining food has also increased significantly.

So much so that the "game" itself is filled with a barbaric and martial atmosphere.

So what exactly is the reason that leads to this setback?
Judging from Chen Jian's current communication with everyone else, no one can explain this issue clearly.

They only remember that about two hundred or three hundred years ago, a catastrophe almost completely destroyed civilization and almost wiped out the human race.

No one remembers the cause of the destruction, and no one even knows how the survivors began to reproduce again and re-establish a relatively primitive civilization.

If you want to know the truth
Perhaps we can only go to the real urban area of Hanshui and to official institutions to look for clues with written records.

Chen Jian was thinking about the focus of the subsequent reconnaissance in Hanshui City. Seeing that he looked uninterested, Xu Lie spoke up;
"In fact, I already knew that you wouldn't be interested in such a celebration, but that's not the point."

"The point is, every time there is a celebration like this, there are a lot of new products on the market."

"Including the members of the Mechanicus, they will take out their treasures and try to sell them for a good price."

"So, do you want to go and have a look?"

"of course."

Chen Jian nodded immediately.

Enough of looking, it’s time to get down to business.

So, a group of eight people, each holding a cup of sweet rice wine in a bamboo tube, walked through the crowd and squeezed into the depths of the market. Different from the market Chen Jian had seen during the day, the "night market" here was more chaotic and the types of goods were more complicated.

The calcium carbide lamp hanging overhead emitted a dim, cold light, casting a dim shadow on the goods on the ground, making it difficult to see clearly.

Several people looked at the items one by one and indeed found quite a few interesting things.

LED light strips that can still glow, old hand-cranked generators, bulk black powder, kerosene lighters and matching kerosene
and many more.

This thing shouldn't be kerosene, right?
Looking at the small amount of kerosene that the stall owner lit for demonstration, Chen Jian suddenly understood what the Mechanicus was going to do with recycled plastic bottles.

Wow, the oil industry hasn’t even figured it out, and you’ve figured out the hydrocracking process?

Yes, polyethylene plastic takes a long time to degrade, the hydrocracking process is not difficult, and the recovery rate can reach more than 60%. It is indeed a good way to refine oil from waste soil.

However, Chen Jian never expected that this thing could be sold.

It is possible that the Mechanicus' research in this area has reached a relatively mature level.

"Buy some."

Chen Jian signaled Xu Lie to negotiate the price, and finally bought it. Less than 50 ml of kerosene cost 10 grams of gold, which was an alarmingly high price.

Fortunately.

Chen Jian breathed a sigh of relief.

It's not that he doesn't want the technology to develop, it's mainly because the Mechanicus are too abstract. If this technology is in their hands, Chen Jian is really afraid that they will come up with something weird.
Looking all the way, Chen Jian didn't find anything particularly worth buying.

Most of the things that seemed magical and valuable to the indigenous people were nothing more than children's toys and had no practical use in the eyes of this four-member team.

He was ready to go back empty-handed, but when he had almost walked through the entire market and reached the last few stalls, Chen Jian's eyes suddenly lit up.

He saw something good.

The launcher for the hidden arrow and a few micro missiles that looked good.

"We want this."

Chen Jian spoke decisively, and Xu Lie didn't waste any more words and started bargaining aggressively.

The stall owner's identity was obviously not ordinary. He even knew Xu Lie's name, and knew that it was the team led by him that destroyed the nearby Blood Skeleton's nest.

In the end, the stall owner made a deal with Xu Lie at a very favorable price, and after the deal was made, he continued:
"Actually, I have some other good stuff here, but you may not need them."

"Hey, where are your friends? Do they need anything?"

Xu Lie turned around and looked at Chen Jian. Chen Jian nodded and replied:

"You can take a look."

The stall owner smiled happily and lifted the canvas behind him, revealing the things that were originally covered.

The moment he saw the pile of things, Lei Jie's eyes changed.

He took a step closer to Chen Jian and spoke in a low voice:
"Battery!"

"Lithium-air battery!"

(End of this chapter)