binnovel Chapter 73 Seeking Development and Survival
Chapter 73 Seeking Development and Survival
On the morning of May 20th, under the watchful eyes of Yunlan, Li Xue, Han Xiaoling, and others, Li Chenglong gradually awoke. He slowly opened his eyes and extended his right hand. Yunlan quickly grasped his hand with both of hers, tears streaming down her face: "You're finally awake!" Han Xiaoling and Cao Yuechan cheered, "Yay! Brother Li is awake! I'll go tell everyone!" They ran out after saying this. Li Chenglong nodded slowly, then, with Yunlan's help, sat up against the blankets behind him: "These past few days, I felt like I was being sucked into a black hole, unable to get out, unable to scream. But yesterday, a blue light guided me, finally leading me home." Li Xue happily said, "Brother, it's so good you're awake! You don't know how worried everyone was while you were unconscious, especially your sister-in-law."
Li Chenglong looked at Li Xue, then at Yun Lan, and reached out to wipe away the tears from the corners of Yun Lan's eyes: "Alright, I'm awake now, so don't be sad anymore." Yun Lan pressed her face against Li Chenglong's large hand: "It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone out to fight with them that day, you wouldn't have been left all alone." Li Chenglong shook his head: "How can you blame yourself? You never knew when a horde of alien beasts would attack us. Besides, it's because I'm too weak." As the group was still chatting, Zheng Yong, Wu Gang, and more than thirty others walked in noisily and saw Li Chenglong sitting on the bed chatting with Yun Lan.
Seeing everyone arrive, Li Chenglong prepared to get out of bed to greet them, but Zheng Yong quickly came over to stop him, saying, "You've just recovered from a serious injury, you should rest more. We're all brothers, no need for such formalities." Yun Qian and Shen Menghua each carried some things. Shen Menghua said, "This is some snacks and lunch that Yun Qian, Chen Xiaoke, and I made together. Chen Xiaoke originally wanted to come, but the logistics department can't be without someone in charge, so we didn't ask her to come." Li Chenglong nodded, "Thank you all, I'm ashamed." Then many people exchanged pleasantries with Li Chenglong, and half an hour later, some people left early due to work reasons.
Li Chenglong said, "Zheng Yong, what are our losses this time? This is something I've been concerned about." Zheng Yong shook his head: "The losses are considerable. Hao Dahai's battalion lost more than half its men, and Battalion Commander Qi Guoan's battalion also lost more than 150 men. After counting, the Dawn Army, which originally numbered 2850, now only has a little over 2,000 left." Yang Liu also quickly reported: "Ten brothers from the special forces team have also sacrificed their lives." Li Chenglong frowned: "How many superhumans were killed in total?" Yun Qian took out a table and handed it to Li Chenglong: "In this battle, a total of 55 level-one superhumans, 30 level-two superhumans, 15 level-three superhumans, and 1 level-four superhuman were killed." Li Chenglong sighed: "This loss is truly too heavy."
Zheng Yong also looked somewhat somber, then said, "We held a memorial ceremony for all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives the day before yesterday. We also provided supplies to the families of all the martyrs, with our specialists personally delivering them to them. We will continue to distribute supplies weekly according to regulations. We will provide more assistance to the families of all minors, and have also arranged jobs for many family members." Li Chenglong nodded, "This is what we should do. Thank you for your help." Zheng Yong smiled, "This is what I should do. Let's not be so polite with each other."
Afterwards, Ma Tiancheng, Yun Qian, Shen Menghua, and several others told Li Chenglong about some recent events. Li Chenglong took out paper and pen and made notes. After listening to their report, Li Chenglong said seriously, "We suffered heavy losses in this battle. We must learn from this painful experience. We are still too weak. Therefore, in the future, Dawn City should keep a low profile, focus on development, and only consider the next step after we survive."
Zheng Yong took out a booklet: "Our Dawn City is too big now. I feel that a combat battalion of only 500 men is not enough for the city wall which is dozens of kilometers in circumference. Otherwise, we can have two combat battalions patrolling the city defenses each time, rotating every two weeks. We have already sent out recruitment notices. Let's temporarily fill the gaps left by the men we lost in each battalion this time." Li Chenglong immediately said without thinking, "That would be best."
Yun Qian then said, "Our Logistics Department One and Sister Shen's Logistics Department Two have been working together for the past few days, and we've started trying to sow seeds on those dozens of hectares of land on our northwest side. We've also been patrolling. We've recently taken stock of our supplies and reported any shortages to the supply search team to see if they can be found. Yesterday, the Huaxing base to our south bartered with us, which helped us replenish some of our supplies." Shen Menghua added after Yun Qian finished speaking, "With everyone arriving, our factory area has started full-scale production. However, our Sea Lion plant is short of steel and some chemical materials. We can manage to produce bullets, but if we're producing artillery shells, we probably won't be able to keep up with the raw materials for long." Li Chenglong was also a little worried: "Chemical plants need a lot of raw materials and equipment. Shuguang City has the equipment, but we're really short of various ores and chemicals. We need to think of a solution."
Ma Tiancheng briefly recounted the recent daily operations in Shuguang City. To Li Chenglong's delight, although Shuguang City had suffered a severe blow, no unrest had broken out within the city. Seeing that it was already noon, Zheng Yong and the others took their leave, leaving only Qi Guoan, Qin Fangyu, Yun Lan, Li Xue, and Han Xiaoling—their family members. Han Xiaoling brought out a large table and several chairs from the storage room, while Li Xue helped set the lunchboxes that Shen Menghua and Yun Qian had brought onto the table.
With Yunlan's help, Li Chenglong got out of bed. He smiled and said, "I'm not crippled, you don't need to do this. Let me do it myself." After a few minutes of adjusting, he quickly washed up in the bathroom. He hadn't showered for seven or eight days, and although Yunlan had taken care of him and he was relatively clean, he didn't feel the same refreshment as after a shower. Qi Guoan sat down in a chair: "Chenglong has survived this ordeal; he's bound to have good fortune. From now on, both our family and Shuguang City will definitely develop in a better direction." Qin Fangyu pulled Yunlan: "Daughter, eat more today. You've really lost a lot of weight these past few days; you look so haggard." Yunlan smiled and said, "It's okay, Mom. As long as he wakes up, I won't have to worry anymore."
Five minutes later, the group sat down around the table to eat. During the meal, Li Chenglong asked Qi Guoan and Qin Fangyu about the military situation. Qin Fangyu said, "Although we suffered heavy losses in this battle, we also gained a large amount of crystals. Now, 60% of our troops are equipped with super-alloy battle swords." Qi Guoan added, "After this battle, many ability users have leveled up. Currently, we have over a dozen level five users and over sixty level four users. Moreover, Xiaoxue is already level six." Li Chenglong hadn't noticed before, but upon closer inspection, he saw that Li Xue had indeed reached level six. Li Chenglong happily said, "Well done!" He then pinched Li Xue's cheek.
Han Xiaoling happily raised her hand, "Brother, I passed Level 4 too!" This news surprised Li Chenglong even more; he hadn't expected Xiaoling to pass Level 4 so quickly. Li Chenglong picked up a piece of exotic beast chicken for her, "Not bad, keep up the good work." Finally, Li Chenglong hugged Yunlan on his right, "Thank you for your hard work these past few days, thank you for your company." Yunlan's eyes were slightly red, "Why are you thanking me between us?" Qi Guoan, seeing the somewhat sentimental atmosphere, immediately laughed heartily and raised his drink, "Let's raise a glass to celebrate Chenglong's recovery!" Everyone raised their glasses, and lunch was spent in a joyful atmosphere.