CHAPTER 374: CHAPTER 175: THE FIRST HANDSHAKE (PART 2)

Looking at the scattered lights inside the city, he spoke to Zhou Qin, who was cleaning the wound on his left arm:

"The city has changed..."

"We’ve changed..."

"Haven’t you noticed?"

"I noticed."

Zhou Qin nodded, wrapping the bandage in circles, then stopped as if he remembered something.

"I heard from the doctors over at the Huaxia Army that it’s not always necessary to wrap a bandage after an injury, it could lead to ’anaerobic bacteria infection’.

"Anyway, that’s probably the term they used — we never heard of such things before."

"But, they might be right... they’ve saved far more people than us."

"Indeed."

Li Xian sighed deeply, then said:

"This might be the first time we truly set aside our prejudices to sit together."

"I never thought that one day, the Holy Blood Temple and the Mechanical God Church would cooperate in such a way."

"Actually, we aren’t all that different at our core, right?"

"... That’s my question too."

Zhou Qin raised his head thoughtfully, then said:

"What really caused the rift between us? I keep wondering, is it really impossible for the pursuits of the Holy Blood Temple and the Mechanical God Sect to be compatible?"

"Now I understand, it’s not incompatibility, it’s the limited resources that forced us to choose one over the other."

"The Huaxia Army seems to be changing all of this... although that wasn’t their original goal, indeed..."

"They’ve made us more united."

"Yes."

Li Xian nodded slowly.

"Anyway, we’ve overcome the first round of crisis."

"But the battle is not over yet."

"Come on, the battlefield is right before us."

Saying this, Li Xian extended his hand towards Zhou Qin.

The two hands clasped together, marking the first sincere handshake between the Holy Blood practitioner and the Mechanical God Sect priest.

....

Inside Base 011.

The Mosquito Bomber returned smoothly and landed, and Lei Jie, struggling out of the cockpit, complained while stretching his limbs:

"This plane is terrible!"

"The wing structure isn’t firmly riveted, it trembles during high G-load flights, lucky it didn’t break apart."

"No air conditioning system is too uncomfortable, damn, I was freezing solid!"

"The engine coordination is off, flight controls aren’t adjusted properly, the four-engine power output is uneven, which makes control difficult."

"Hydraulic system response is sluggish, it needs some adjustment."

"The landing gear is too stiff, it’s barely manageable now, but if it’s a heavy landing, it might break through the cabin structure."

"All problems, all problems."

"Can the next one be modified in time? Modify it now if possible."

"It’s too late."

Chen Jian met him, responded:

"It’s already entered production procedure, the next one then."

"I just want to know if this thing can fly? Can it barely be used?"

"That’s a bit too makeshift..."

Lei Jie clicked his tongue and said:

"To be fair, from the most basic functional point, it still meets the requirements."

"After all, what we need is just something that can fly and drop bombs..."

"I’ve tested, in extreme conditions, it can carry more weight, up to three 250kg-class bombs."

"But then, it has no maneuverability to speak of, flying shaky."

"This is an extreme strategy, not to be used unless necessary."

"Understand, that’s enough."

Chen Jian nodded satisfactorily, then asked;

"So, how is the situation over at Han Shui City?"

"It’s resolved."

Speaking of this, Lei Jie finally felt a bit better from the troubles caused by this "half-finished bomber".

"A tier-three monster didn’t withstand a single hit — but it was a direct hit."

"If it’s near a blast, I estimate one or two hits would be needed."

"Within 150 meters, a tier-four monster falls with one hit, though not rapidly fatal, it’s definitely disabled."

"If we extrapolate at this efficiency, with a dozen bombers we could clear the world."

"The only problem is, we’re short on bombs."

"That’s not much of an issue."

Chen Jian, leading Lei Jie towards the main passage of the 011 structure, answered:

"The first barrel of ammonia has been produced, nitric acid is just a few days away."

"With nitric acid, making some high-performance explosives is simple."

"What’s the tech content of iron bombs? If the Ring Chamber of Commerce doesn’t have them, we’ll just make our own."

"Sure, make more, get some cluster bombs...."

The two were at ease, this "effortless" victory greatly boosted their confidence in the development of the air force, and they even started planning to manufacture a more "advanced" ground attack aircraft.

They were still not satisfied with the existing military power, but comparatively, Jin Zhong, who saw Lei Jie walk down from the plane with his own eyes, was at a loss for words, utterly shocked by this incredible scene.

He silently watched the plane, watched the Huaxia Army and ordinary residents gathering around the plane to watch the spectacle in the 011 base.

He wanted to go over to touch it, look at it too, but he was restrained by his identity, refusing to show his curiosity about this marvelous creation.

So, he could only stand at a distance, gazing far off.

As Chen Jian and the others passed in front of him, Chen Jian astutely noticed his expression.

"What’s up?"

Chen Jian asked:

"Want to take a look? Your team might also want to take a look, right?"

"Don’t be shy — just don’t break it."

"I...."

Jin Zhong was speechless for a moment.

"No, it’s okay."

"You’re not interested?"

Chen Jian stopped, curiously asked.

"No...."

Jin Zhong hesitated but finally sighed and instead asked:

"The crisis in Han Shui City... it’s been resolved?"

"Resolved."

Chen Jian nodded, answered:

"There was only one tier-three monster and three tier-four monsters there, we took down three of them, the remaining one was dealt with by the Han Shui City garrison."

"In the short term, they probably won’t face any major issues, but it’s uncertain."

"But in any case, now we have planes that can fly long distances."

"This means that with Jinling New City at the center, all human settlements within a 500-kilometer radius are roughly safe."

"If similar monster attacks occur, we can respond quickly and organize rescue."

As the words fell, Jin Zhong’s expression changed from "confusion" to "shock".

He looked at Chen Jian, incredulously asked:

"With just one... one plane?"

"Of course not."

Chen Jian waved his hand, replied:

"We will produce more planes."

"However, pilots are a problem — if your teammates are interested, they can also participate in pilot selection."

"We need many pilots; everyone can participate."

"We? We can too??"

Jin Zhong was dumbfounded.

He couldn’t understand Chen Jian’s "generosity", after all, if it were within the Mechanical God Sect, such a "terrifying" piece of equipment would never be allowed in the hands of others.

How can you guarantee that those controlling it won’t turn against you?

Clearly, either these Huaxia Army are hopelessly naïve, or they have no such concerns at all.

They certainly couldn’t be naïve, so the answer must be the latter.

Which means their actual strength is far from as simple as it appears...

Jin Zhong let out a long sigh.

At this moment, he was immensely grateful that he made the right suggestion during that meeting.

If at this time, the Mechanical God Sect and the Huaxia Army were still in a state of hostility...

Then the "Divine Punishment" carried by this "aircraft" would surely descend upon Jinling City...

Seeing Chen Jian nod, Jin Zhong slowly spoke:

"Understood, I’ll inform my brothers."

"That’s good, don’t be restrained."

Chen Jian smiled slightly.

From Jin Zhong’s eyes, he saw deeper hesitation.

The wall in his heart was about to be breached.

Only, it still needed a better opportunity...

No one knows when that opportunity will come.

But Chen Jian could feel, it wasn’t far off...