Wasteland Commander-Chapter 178: 2.5 Tons of Gold!

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: 2.5 Tons of Gold!
The television featured a female host.
She seemed somewhat familiar; she must have been a TV host before.
Guo Zhun’s capabilities are quite strong; not only can he find former celebrities to perform, but he can also find former hosts to create programs for him.
Achieving this in the apocalypse is not easy.
"Fellow citizens of Divine Dragon Province, this is the Liberation Army!"
"I am the host Xiaomai. I’m very pleased to meet you all again through TV."
"The Liberation Army is based around Jiangbei Airport in Ice City, with a current population of 450,000. Commander-in-Chief Guo Zhun welcomes all survivors to join the ranks of the Liberation Army."
"We have forty thousand armed troops here, with military production also recovering. The troops have begun to chip away at Jiangbei District. It’s expected that after the Lunar New Year, we will have taken the entire Jiangbei Region....."
The scene shifted, and Ye Fan saw a squad in uniform camouflage with yellow stripes, unlike any camouflage he had seen before.
This squad was fighting zombies on the city’s edge, spacing out to slowly draw out the zombies from within the city.
The team comprised about five thousand people, with formidable firepower; they had everything from armored vehicles to tanks.
They even possessed D-66 type rocket launchers.
The task of luring the zombies was handled by two helicopters, flying back and forth to draw wave after wave of zombies out of the city.
"This Liberation Army is very strong!"
Ye Fan thought this situation was not simple; for the Liberation Army to develop to this extent in the Ice City area, there must be a reason.
Though there were many opportunities and resources there, there were also many zombies. Where did their weapons come from?
Clearly, these five thousand people were not their entire force, as another five thousand were shown on TV preparing to head to the frontlines to replace troops who had been fighting for a long time.
Just here are ten thousand; this is still not all.
At this rate, conquering the Jiangbei District of Ice City within two more months is not impossible.
Since most of Ice City’s population is concentrated in the Jiangnan District, Jiangbei District’s population is relatively small. Just cut off the Jiang Bridge, and ten thousand troops could clear it out in a few months.
If they manage to completely reclaim Jiangbei District, the Liberation Army’s power will grow significantly.
"This Guo Zhun certainly has ambitious goals, wanting to take the Jiangbei District in one fell swoop, and meddling in the affairs of Coal City. If he succeeds in assassinating there, he might gain the territory and population of Coal City and Huacheng. If zombies don’t continue to mutate, he might even unify the entire Divine Dragon Province in the future."
Ye Fan asked Zhang Kunlin in the system, "Do you know the background of Ice City’s Guo Zhun?"
Zhang Kunlin had a lot of useful information since survivors come from all directions, making it difficult for news to remain hidden.
He immediately responded to Ye Fan: "Officer, this Guo Zhun is quite mysterious. No one knows what he did before. After establishing himself in Ice City, he quickly amassed some weapons and swiftly gathered a large group, developing rapidly. He knows the important locations in Ice City well and gathers resources quickly."
"Also, this person is very ambitious, having absorbed almost all the surrounding survivor bases by relying on combat and conquest, expanding his power like a snowball. If Huacheng and Coal City weren’t a bit far, and his strategic focus wasn’t currently on Jiangbei District, he might have invaded there by now."
According to the accounts from Ice City, Guo Zhun expanded his army in a ten-to-one manner. They now have a population of 450,000, meaning 45,000 troops, and it’s said that Guo Zhun is never content to lag behind; we have a TV station, and they’re fully restoring TV broadcasts too."
"Over in Oil City, there was a fighter jet that took off, and they are also focusing on developing fighter jets, which should soon yield results."
After hearing Zhang Kunlin’s briefing, Ye Fan thought Guo Zhun likely had some secrets too.
Exactly what those were, Ye Fan couldn’t guess, but surely it wouldn’t overwhelm him.
And with this TV broadcast restoration, he believed Guo Zhun surely had something to say.
Sure enough, after the troop propaganda, the television shifted to promoting the city construction of the Liberation Army.
The standard of living of the Liberation Army is quite decent, though slightly lower than Dawn City, but not by much.
Then Guo Zhun made an appearance.
This was a man about thirty-five years old, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, appearing refined and gentle.
But as an Evolver, Ye Fan could still see from many details that this person was very strong!
Definitely a Level 2 Evolver, and seemed even stronger than some of the Level 2 members of yesterday’s dance troupe.
Guo Zhun ranked first among the top ten experts in Divine Dragon Province.
Guo Zhun said a few polite opening remarks on TV, then got straight to the point.
"I’ve watched the events between Huacheng’s Dawn City and Coal City’s Daqing Mountain unfold on television. Regardless of the cause, I do not wish to see these two parties engage in all-out conflict."
"In the apocalypse, the most important resource is people, and there shouldn’t be large-scale battles between people. Instead, we should unite against the zombies."
"As the largest survivor base in Divine Dragon Province, the Liberation Army does not wish to see internal conflicts among humans occur. Personally, I hope the existing power dynamics between Coal City and Huacheng remain unchanged."
"Therefore, to stabilize the situation at Daqing Mountain, I announce the deployment of a peacekeeping force to Daqing Mountain. ers from the Liberation Army’s TV station will also accompany the troops to monitor and broadcast updates on Daqing Mountain."
"As for the issues between Dawn City and Daqing Mountain, I hope to resolve them through negotiations. The negotiation process will be handled by our representatives along with Leader Yan Zhihuan, engaging in talks with the Dawn Army, with the hope of achieving a peaceful resolution."
Guo Zhun finished with these few words, followed by footage of a troop’s departure.
About five thousand members of the Liberation Army set off from Ice City, heading to the Daqing Mountain Prison Base to establish a defense.
In the name of maintaining local power balance, it was actually to intimidate the Dawn Army.
After all, the Daqing Mountain also has a population of ten thousand. It’s a lucrative piece of meat, and Guo Zhun is dead set on competing with Ye Fan for it.
Then there were various promotional videos by the Liberation Army, clearly showing they had prepared for a long time.
Although the quality of life wasn’t as good as in Dawn City, it was still rather decent, considering the large population of the Liberation Army.
In addition, currently, in Dawn City, they only have temporary housing. Many people there still live in their old apartments, making it look more like a real town compared to Dawn City.
However, when it comes to urban defense, it cannot compare to Dawn City.
There are basically no walls; it’s just simple sandbags piled up, and some wire set up as defense works.
If a large horde of zombies were to attack, the Liberation Army here would be full of vulnerabilities.
However, there are currently no signs of zombies attacking the city, and many people’s mindsets fail to recognize this, which makes the Liberation Army still appear quite appealing.
Having seen enough, Ye Fan turned off the TV.
Inevitably, Daqing Mountain will clash with the Liberation Army sooner or later, but Ye Fan does not plan to start the war now.
The Liberation Army said they were open to negotiations, which is just right.
Daqing Mountain, under Hu Yuan’s leadership, invaded Dawn City, and then, under Yan Zhihuan’s instructions, sent a performing troupe to assassinate him.
These two incidents give the Dawn Army ample reason to deploy troops.
If they don’t want war, they must compensate the Dawn Army sufficiently.
With the Liberation Army supporting them, it shouldn’t be a problem for Daqing Mountain to produce a hefty sum of gold and silver as compensation.
Now Ye Fan is in a financial bind; he has only a few tens of thousands left, and the Crack Generator is still needed to build the walls and expand the city.
There is no money for increasing the troops, so how can they proceed without securing some money?
Ye Fan immediately instructed the TV station to increase the pressure on Daqing Mountain, voicing the willingness to fight if necessary, then negotiate peace terms with them.
Ye Fan’s intention was to extort at least a ton of gold from Daqing Mountain; otherwise, the matter cannot be concluded.
Of course, the more gold, the better; one ton is the baseline.
One ton equals one thousand kilograms, which converts to one million System Money.
Without a guaranteed million, Ye Fan feels it’s not sufficient.
As instructed by Ye Fan, the Dawn Army immediately started to voice their stance on TV.
At first, they didn’t mention negotiations but criticized Daqing Mountain’s crimes.
The Dawn Army then showed a readiness to fight, with tank units beginning frequent maneuvers, as the D-55 model was also produced. Liu Chengjun began directing tank and armored vehicle cooperative drills.
D-66 rocket launchers began field shooting practice, utilizing daily refreshed ammunition, which otherwise would be wasted if unused.
Seeing the strong stance of the Dawn Army, the Liberation Army, unprepared for a full-scale war, became slightly panicked.
Their current strategic focus is to capture the entire Jiangbei Region, not wanting to expend too much energy on Coal City.
Therefore, the Liberation Army began to discuss the importance of negotiations on TV, hoping the Dawn Army would send representatives to Daqing Mountain to propose conditions. As long as they’re not too outrageous, they will persuade Yan Zhihuan of Daqing Mountain to agree.
Ye Fan sent Zhang Kunlin to negotiate outside Daqing Mountain Prison with Yan Zhihuan and others.
Zhang Kunlin’s terms were five tons of gold, plus some fuel and weapons.
The Liberation Army and Daqing Mountain thought it was too much; after two days of bargaining, they reached an agreement.
Daqing Mountain agreed to compensate Dawn City with 2.5 tons of gold, two thousand barrels of diesel, and in return, Dawn City would not pursue action for the two offenses by Daqing Mountain.
On January 5th, both parties signed the agreement outside Daqing Mountain Prison, and Daqing Mountain also delivered the supplies.
The whole process was broadcast on TV, which gave the agreement some binding force.
Both parties got what they needed this time.
Guo Zhun believed they bought time, intending to resolve matters in Huacheng and Coal City after unifying Jiangbei.
On the other hand, Ye Fan gained tangible benefits, with 2.5 tons of gold being transported to Dawn City as agreed.
Ye Fan discovered that much of this gold was brand new jewelry, never worn.
This suggests that the Liberation Army must still have a lot in stock, at least those worn by people weren’t taken off yet.
Ye Fan understood Guo Zhun’s thoughts, but he also needed time.
With the 2.5 tons of gold in hand, amounting to two hundred and fifty thousand System Money,
With this money, Ye Fan’s next plan could be executed.