binnovel Chapter 218 Participating in the Conference
Chapter 218 Participating in the Conference
On August 1st, Dawn City and the Dawnbreaker Army held a grand ceremony to celebrate a new Army Day. Another military parade was held, and although the number of soldiers participating was smaller than the previous parade, the number of different military branches increased significantly. The Dawn City Air Force and Rocket Force, which had achieved initial success in their training, also participated in the parade. Li Chenglong delivered a concluding speech, stating that the Dawnbreaker Army would continue its efforts to protect Dawn City and its people, and do its utmost to defeat this apocalypse.
In the afternoon, at the invitation of General Chen Guoqiang, the main leaders of the Provisional Military Commission of China watched a recorded broadcast of the military parade in Shuguang City. General Fu Sen said, "We are still struggling to survive here, and I never expected that Shuguang City and the Dawn Army have developed to such a level. I took a closer look, and they now have missile units, information support units, and even an air force composed of aircraft that we have never seen before. It is truly remarkable that they have achieved such success under these circumstances."
General Yao Fang also said, "Dawn City and the Dawn Army have not only developed rapidly, but they have also provided us with Level 3 virus protection agents and vaccine formulas free of charge. They have also sent crystal generators and Dawn Rice multiple times, solving our urgent needs. It can be said that they have made outstanding contributions to China." General Meng Zitao smiled and said, "I think that if we want to solve the zombie problem, we still have to rely on Dawn City and the Dawn Army as our sharpest weapon. We and some weaker bases alone cannot do much."
After a long discussion, the group of more than twenty people reached a consensus: they should attach great importance to Dawn City and the Dawn Army, and take them as role models for the entire army and the whole of China, encouraging other bases and armies to learn from Dawn City and the Dawn Army.
The following day, the Northwest Military Region convened a meeting of the Provisional Military Commission of China and a meeting of the Provisional General Affairs Council of China. The meetings proposed taking advantage of the period when the zombies were shrinking to convene a general assembly of representatives from all bases across China at the Central Military Region. The assembly aimed to summarize the lessons learned from the past year or so of the apocalypse, discuss and decide on future strategies and policies, and commend individuals and groups who had performed exceptionally well during the apocalypse. All large and medium-sized bases in the military regions were required to send key representatives to the assembly.
Immediately after the meeting concluded on August 5th, Chen Guoqiang personally contacted the top leaders of several large and medium-sized bases, including Li Chenglong. Upon receiving the invitation to the conference, Li Chenglong immediately notified the key leaders of the Dawn Army and Shuguang City, followed by a brief meeting in the VIP conference room on the 8th floor of the Shuguang Building. After discussion, it was decided that attendance at the meeting was mandatory, and Shuguang City would send a capable and efficient delegation.
The meeting concluded with the selection of the main delegation members: Li Chenglong, Feng Tian, Ma Tiancheng, and Zhao Liying. Ten other members would be selected from the special forces to provide protection along the route. Immediately after the meeting, Li Chenglong received messages from the four major bases of the Eastern Military Region: Qianyun Base, Feiyun Base, Heijincheng Base, and Qingshui Base. They expressed their desire to bring their representatives to Shuguang City for the meeting, and then proceed together to the meeting location. Li Chenglong readily agreed.
General Sun Tianlong led the delegation from Qianyun Base to the meeting, while Feiyun Base sent Xu Qingming and Wei Huasheng as their plenipotentiary representatives. Qingshui Base was led by Gao Shixin, and Black Gold City was personally led by its city lord, Shangguan Jingyun. Of the bases Li Chenglong knew of, only Black Gold City had a female leader. Shangguan Jingyun was 45 years old and reportedly a level 9 Awakened, possessing immense strength. Li Chenglong had only seen her once before in a video conference and had never met her in person.
To facilitate everyone's participation in this conference, the venue has been set up in Anxi City, Shaanxi Province. Anxi City is an ancient capital of several dynasties, with a rich cultural heritage. It is one of the world's famous historical cities, boasting numerous historical and cultural attractions, several key national universities, and a wide variety of delicious food. It is also the location of the Anxi Base, the main base of the Central Military Region.
On August 8th, representatives from the four major bases gathered in Dawn City, where Li Chenglong hosted a grand banquet for them. Following the banquet, they held a joint meeting to discuss the itinerary and details of their upcoming conference, reaffirming their strategic alliance. Xu Qingming even proposed a united front, suggesting that Li Chenglong take the lead in attending the conference, but Li Chenglong politely declined. Finally, after discussion, it was unanimously decided that General Sun Tianlong, the oldest and most prestigious general before the apocalypse, would serve as the highest representative of the Eastern Military Region.
On the morning of August 10th, Li Chenglong bid farewell to Yun Lan, Zheng Yong, Shen Menghua, Yun Qian, and others, and led the delegation on their journey. The delegation from the five bases totaled 100 people. They would be escorted by troops from Shuguang City and Heijin City along the way. They would first travel from Shuguang City to Heijin City, and then westward from Heijin City to Anxi City, a journey of approximately 1000 kilometers, expected to arrive by the afternoon of the 12th. Shuguang City is approximately 500 kilometers from Heijin City, and they would rest there that night.
This trip was Li Chenglong's longest since the apocalypse. He reluctantly spent 20 blue crystals to exchange for an all-terrain tactical command vehicle at the main control computer in the central computer room. This vehicle was 15 meters long, 3.5 meters wide, and 4 meters high. It was fully covered in alloy armor, powered by crystals, and was fully intelligent, requiring only one driver to command it.
The tactical command vehicle is equipped with two crystal computers, a crystal communicator, and a large electronic screen. It can receive signals from other communication vehicles and display them on the screen in real time. Anxi City, where they are currently traveling, is 1000 kilometers from Dawn City, exceeding the coverage area of Dawn City's crystal network. With this crystal communicator, real-time communication with Dawn City can be achieved from Anxi City. Actually, the coverage area of Dawn City's crystal network could be further improved, but that would require 20 level 9 pink crystals, which Li Chenglong simply cannot produce right now.
The main leaders of the five bases were all in the command vehicle, discussing recent events. Besides the equipment, the command vehicle had 20 seats and various supporting facilities such as built-in air conditioning, making it quite comfortable. Li Chenglong took out some watermelon for everyone to cool off and quench their thirst, then took out small boxes, each containing an energy pistol. This was also specially prepared by him; four pistols were to be sent to each of the four friendly bases.
Another advantage of the energy pistol is that it comes in women's and men's versions, with slight differences in appearance, size, and color, making it convenient to use. Xu Qingming excitedly said, "After the meeting yesterday, I noticed that some leaders in Dawn City and officers above the battalion commander level in the Dawn Army all have the new-style sidearms. I asked to borrow them to take a look, but they all treated them like treasures and wouldn't let me see them. Today I have one too, haha." After saying that, he started playing with it with great affection.
After Zhao Liying finished distributing the weapons, Li Chenglong played a video on the big screen showing the test of the crystal rifle and the instructions on how to use them. Finally, he said, "These weapons are too expensive to manufacture, so I can only send four to each base. Don't think it's too few. However, if you want to get more, you can buy them. I can sell them at a price slightly higher than the cost price, or you can exchange them for other materials."
Li Chenglong would never have done this before. While El had given him plenty of materials, he needed them for Dawn City and wouldn't have used them to manufacture weapons for others. However, a few days ago, while studying the space factory, he discovered that its production lines could also produce those materials, as long as the raw materials were available. The materials were relatively simple: steel, some other metals, and materials extracted from crude oil—enough to manufacture the materials needed for energy weapons. Upon discovering this, he excitedly spun Yunlan around dozens of times, leaving her bewildered. Now that the raw material problem was largely solved, as long as there were crystals, energy rifles and energy pistols could be produced in abundance.
The leaders of the various bases, who were fiddling with their energy pistols, brightened up upon hearing Li Chenglong's words. Shangguan Jingyun spoke first: "Lord Li, what's the price of those energy rifles shown on the big screen?" Everyone looked at Li Chenglong curiously. Li Chenglong didn't hide anything: "Each energy rifle requires one cyan crystal plus some other materials. We can produce those materials now. The cost of the materials is 20 green crystals, plus the original cyan crystal. If you want to buy them, I'll charge 1 cyan crystal plus 45 green crystals per rifle."
He continued, "As for the energy pistols, each one requires 10 green crystals, and the cost of the manufacturing materials is 5 green crystals. If you need them, the selling price of each energy pistol in Dawn City is 20 green crystals."
The base leaders were taken aback upon hearing this, not expecting the price to be so high. After a while, Sun Tianlong spoke first: "Our Qianyun base will order 150 energy rifles and 300 energy pistols." Zhao Liying took out her crystal phone to record the order, intending to hand it over to Li Chenglong later. Xu Qingming and Wei Huasheng exchanged a few words, and Wei Huasheng stood up and said, "Brother Li, our Feiyun base will order 200 energy rifles and 300 pistols."
Gao Shixin from the Qingshui base smiled and said, "Although it's a bit expensive, it's good as long as it works. Our Qingshui base will order 200 energy rifles and 400 pistols. In addition, we would like to order 15 crystal generators." Shangguan Jingyun concluded, "Our Black Gold City will order 30 crystal generators, 300 energy rifles, and 500 pistols. We also need one of those crystal sword manufacturing machines. The amount of crystals is not a problem."
With the emergence of the crystal sword manufacturing machine, the original super alloy sword manufacturing machines were rarely used in these bases anymore. Li Chenglong sold these things to some small bases and earned a lot of crystals.
Li Chenglong saw that Zhao Liying had finished recording: "Okay, I will start making them according to the order as soon as I return to Dawn City. We will ensure that every weapon we provide to you is up to standard, so please rest assured."