Mobile City Farming Guide

Chapter 7: Procuring Supplies and Recruiting Soldiers

What made Li Ye even more helpless was that he had less than 100 crystal coins on hand.

Crystal coins are the common currency used in the wasteland; they appear as translucent light blue coins.

One crystal coin can buy a small bag of coarse food.

Three crystal coins can buy an old chair.

Ten crystal coins could be exchanged for a liter of gasoline, or a small bag of vegetables and fruit.

With the few crystals Li Ye had, he couldn't purchase many supplies at all.

After glancing back unintentionally at the water tower on the Tomorrow, he suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"Do you need fresh water? I don't have many crystal coins on hand, but I can exchange fresh water for supplies with you."

To his surprise, Yuanye Town was facing a severe shortage of fresh water. In the past few days, several people had been injured or even died while searching for fresh water.

The arrival of Tomorrow has relieved the immediate crisis in Wilderness Town.

Before long, Li Ye was surrounded by people.

After some haggling, Li Ye paid a total of 1000 units of fresh water, and in return, the supplies piled up like a small mountain in front of him.

82 units of fuel, 126 units of coal.

These are the resources that can be obtained by leaving the wilderness after exploring the entire market.

As fuel and coal were gradually added, Tomorrow's energy content rose from 11% to 27%.

Although we didn't make it back to the 60% safety line, getting to this point is still pretty good.

In addition, he also obtained over three hundred steamed buns, two sacks of potatoes and corn, a bag of flour, and more than a dozen packs of homemade biscuits. As for candles, he bought two boxes.

The only regret was that Li Ye couldn't buy saltpeter, so he couldn't make cannonballs.

After instructing Lao Zhou and the others to take the supplies back to the Tomorrow, Li Ye rubbed his hands together and began his plan to recruit manpower.

Just as he expected, there were no gunners, mechanics, or other professionals he needed in Wilderness Town.

As for becoming an ordinary resident, three people responded.

After all, for the survivors, it's better to move into a mobile city than to stay in a town with little protection, where their safety would be greatly increased.

"This number of people is simply not enough," Li Ye sighed.

He then patiently explained to the three men their daily work and how much supplies they were given each day.

During this time, someone asked out of curiosity.

"Is your Tomorrow ship in dire need of slaves?"

Li Ye frowned slightly upon hearing this.

For him, who had experienced slavery and risked his life with his brothers to rebel against rule, this word was somewhat jarring.

“No, I don’t want you to be slaves,” he said in a deep voice. “I assure you that you will be part of the Tomorrow and will not be subjected to any inhuman enslavement or treatment.”

Upon hearing this, the crowd stirred, and several more people stepped forward.

After some discussion, Li Ye recruited six more people.

As he prepared to lead the nine people back to the Tomorrow, a calm voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"I think I'm capable of being the mechanic on the Tomorrow."

Li Ye turned his head in surprise and saw the speaker's appearance.

He was a black-haired young man with glasses who was in a wheelchair. He looked very ordinary, but his face was unhealthy and pale.

It seems that he is not only disabled in his legs, but also suffers from various illnesses.

A little girl, about eight or nine years old, was pushing his wheelchair behind him. She looked timid and seemed to be his younger sister.

"You're a mechanic?" Li Ye asked in surprise.

The bespectacled young man shook his head slightly upon hearing this.

"No, I've never worked in a mobile city. But I've read a lot of books about mechanics, so I believe it shouldn't be too difficult to put into practice."

He replied.

"On another note, mechanics should receive more preferential treatment than ordinary residents, right?"

“I hope to bring this little girl with me. She needs to receive a fixed amount of supplies every day and not need to work in the mobile city.”

"In addition, I need you to assign me one person to facilitate my daily maintenance work on the mobile city."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Ye slowly shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I can't agree to that."

In fact, even if the bespectacled youth wasn't a real mechanic, he would still be willing to give him a chance.

After all, it's hard to find mechanics in the wasteland. Tomorrow is just starting out, and the compensation they can offer is limited. They're lucky to have even managed to recruit an intern.

However, the other party was disabled and suffering from various illnesses, so not only did they have to bring a little girl in, but they also had to assign one person to him.

This means that Li Ye has to allocate two portions of food and fresh water to them every day, and also has to provide one person with labor.

The bespectacled young man pondered for a moment, then spoke again.

"I can also serve as the helmsman."

Upon hearing this, Li Ye was stunned and looked at him with delight.

If this bespectacled young man can truly serve as both mechanic and helmsman, then he deserves this treatment.

Seemingly sensing Li Ye's thoughts, the bespectacled youth added another sentence.

“I have never been a helmsman, but I have read a lot of books about driving a moving city, so I believe it won’t be difficult to do in practice.”

"."

After hesitating for a long time, Li Ye nodded.

After all, Tomorrow is just starting out and is in dire need of all kinds of talent. Moreover, given the current compensation on Tomorrow, experienced mechanics and helmsmen might not be willing to come. Having enough staff is already considered quite good.

"Alright then." He sighed helplessly. "By the way, what's your name?" The bespectacled young man adjusted his glasses.

"Lin Wu".

After carefully examining Li Ye, he spoke softly.

"Mr. Li, if I'm not mistaken, were you once a slave?"

Li Ye was immediately taken aback.

"Why?" he asked.

"Judging from your expression when you heard the word 'slave,' you seem to be very disgusted with this identity, coupled with the promises you made before. But these two points alone are not enough to confirm my guess."

"The main reason is that you kept reaching up to tug at the back of your clothes while you were walking. This is probably because when you were a slave, your back was often whipped by the lord and his henchmen, leaving many scars."

"Although you just changed into new clothes, you can't see the marks on your back. But these marks probably haven't healed yet, so they will itch and hurt when they touch your clothes."

Li Ye nodded slowly, surprised that Lin Wu's observation skills were so good.

"Alright, pack your things and come with me." He waved his hand.

Lin Wu nodded.

Thank you, Mr. Li.

Li Ye waved his hand to interrupt him, then waved his hand again.

"Call me Lord. You are now a member of the Tomorrow."

After boarding the Tomorrow on the elevator platform, Lin Wu breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little more at ease.

He already had difficulty walking and was plagued by illnesses, and with a child to take care of, his life was especially difficult.

What's worse, there's a constant feeling of insecurity living in Wilderness Town.

Monsters roam the wasteland, and Wilderness Town lacks heavy machine guns and artillery, with weak fortifications. It is certain to fall if a horde of zombies attacks.

When he was recruiting for the Liye recruitment program, he came with a tentative mindset, but he didn't expect it to be a success.

This is why many survivors in the wasteland would rather be slaves than not enter mobile cities. At least mobile cities are much safer than towns, and they are often equipped with artillery and machine guns.

Although they were slaves, some mobile cities still had channels for promotion.

"I will fulfill all your requests, but if you are not competent in your job, I really will throw you and your brother off the Tomorrow," Li Ye said calmly behind him.

Lin Wu nodded.

"Don't worry, I will prove my worth." He then gently patted the head of the little girl pushing the wheelchair. "Also, we are not siblings."

"what?"

"Her name is Xiaoyao, and she is my friend's younger sister."

Lin Wu spoke softly, when a gentle breeze ruffled his bangs, obscuring his downcast eyes.

“My best friend had been taking care of me all along, and in the end, he died trying to save me. Before he died, he entrusted his sister to me and asked me to take good care of her.”

Lin Wu and the other newcomers who had just joined the Tomorrow were assigned their own rooms and given fresh water and food.

Upon seeing the room before them, the newlyweds' eyes lit up with joy.

They initially thought they had come aboard the Tomorrow to be slaves, and were prepared to endure it. After all, being a slave in a mobile city was at least safer than being a resident in a poorly protected town.

But the treatment offered by Liye far exceeded their expectations. Not only did each person have their own room, but they also had food and drink every day, and the assigned work was not too tiring.

At this moment, Li Ye was frowning in the driver's seat.

"We still don't have enough people."

He only managed to recruit 11 new people this time. These new people were not only responsible for tending the fields and mining resources in the wild, but also for the daily cleaning of the Tomorrow. Lin Wu was only responsible for the daily maintenance of the Tomorrow, and his friend's sister did not participate in the work, which meant that there were two fewer people.

Furthermore, Li Ye was telling the truth when he was recruiting in the Wilderness Town.

In this world, it is common for slaves to exist in mobile cities, and many newcomers are prepared to become slaves when they join a mobile city.

But what he wanted to recruit were residents, not slaves.

Slaves work aimlessly, while residents feel a sense of belonging to their mobile city and are more willing to contribute to it.

A mobile city is like a lone boat sailing on land; only when everyone on board works together can it go further.

He then brought up the system and looked at the intelligence panel with great anticipation.

The system CD has now finished spinning.

[There are 2 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds left until the next intelligence update]

[Number of intelligence reports: 6]

This time, the intelligence update time is much longer than the last time, taking a full three days.

Correspondingly, this time there is an extra piece of intelligence, so its value will definitely increase significantly. It might even be an epic piece of intelligence like the first time.

Suppressing his excitement, Li Ye stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"We can't be idle these next few days; we still need to find a way to collect resources."

With the increase in the number of people on the Tomorrow, the daily consumption of food and fresh water has also increased significantly. Coupled with the daily energy consumption of the city, if there is no harvest at the end of the day, it is equivalent to a complete waste.

Just then, Old Zhou's voice came from outside.

"Ah Li, come out here for a second, something's happened!"

Li Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly walked out of the production workshop.

"What is it?" he asked. "Is the enemy attacking?"

Old Zhou shook his head and then quickly explained the situation to him.

It turned out that the lookout had discovered a mine, about 800 meters northwest of the Tomorrow.

Li Ye then waved his hand.

"Let's go up to the watchtower and take a look."

(End of this chapter)