CHAPTER 562: CHAPTER 287: LET’S EAT FIRST

"Actually, it’s still the classic American way."

"But you have to admit, in special situations, this kind of plan is really effective."

"However, the premise is that we must be certain that we are right."

"So my idea is that this kind of plan is limited to Jinling City, and only this time."

"As long as it’s not an intense ideological conflict, it’s better not to use this method later on."

"Once path dependency forms... our team will quickly deteriorate."

Chen Jian nodded upon hearing this, then said:

"As long as you know it yourself."

"What worries me the most is what you mentioned, path dependency."

"I admit, the pressure we are facing now is immense, but in the end, we still need to have a bottom line."

"Understood."

He Shuo replied solemnly:

"Don’t worry, I have a bottom line."

The two exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

By this time, the sun was gradually rising.

The Mountain City was still shrouded in thick fog.

But perhaps due to the population, such fog no longer seemed gloomy...

...

On the other side, Jinling.

Under the leadership of Huang Meng, the Penetration Company had completed the final preparations before departure.

All transport equipment was loaded onto flatbed trailers, and the engineering vehicles were all set to go.

To avoid unnecessary troubles due to signal interruptions, they even selected several "professional" drivers to accompany the team this time.

Their goal this time was simple.

To completely open the transport route from Base 011 to Guangshen, forming a north-south main artery.

This is part of the Net Road Plan and one of the essential conditions for the Tinder Plan.

In form, this task was not complicated.

It’s merely clearing, paving, reaching, and transporting these four parts.

However, the long duration of the task brought significant uncertainty to it.

No one could predict what would happen in the next two months, nor could anyone guarantee a hundred percent how much loss this large team would suffer if they encountered powerful monsters without prior detection.

They could only rely on themselves and the weapons and equipment in their hands.

Huang Meng checked the tracks of the 30A tank one last time, confirming that all connections were intact, normal, and the wear was within a controllable range, before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

And as he stood up, Wang Lizhi, the representative from Guangshen, or more precisely from the Ring Chamber of Commerce, spoke in a timely manner.

"This time, we will also contribute forces to assist you in opening up the passage and provide escort along the route."

"Although it takes a bit long, the problem should not be significant."

"After all, we have also traveled this route for business in the past, the route is mature, but it still falls short of your ’channel’ requirement."

"Quite a bit?"

Huang Meng couldn’t help but find it amusing.

If he was still the inexperienced rookie from a few months ago, he probably would have thought this was just a simple task and really believed this to be a "mature" route.

But clearly, in the past few months with the Huaxia Army, he had learned a lot.

He had developed his own judgment and gained an understanding of large-scale infrastructure projects.

So he knew this task was definitely not as simple as Wang Lizhi assumed.

Thinking about this, he said:

"Actually, you really don’t need to interfere."

"Those mercenaries equipped only with small arms aren’t even a joke to us; the only thing they might handle is guarding against small monsters, or attacks from Blood Skull or bandits."

"Moreover, we will need to spend energy managing them."

"They might slow down our overall progress."

With these words, Wang Lizhi was left speechless.

He wanted to call Huang Meng arrogant, but when he turned and saw the massive collection of equipment and weapons behind him, he had to admit the other did have the capital to be arrogant.

He felt resentful of being looked down upon, but considering his own forces, he knew what the other said was indeed true.

Were those mercenaries really useful?

If they were, then when Huadu was gathering these mercenaries to attack Yellow Stone City, they wouldn’t have been repelled by the fresh, practically untrained "militia" lacking equipment support.

It’s natural that Huang Meng looked down on these mercenaries; after all, they had been defeated by him before.

On the other hand, as he mentioned, these profit-driven mercenaries might indeed cause management issues for the Huaxia Army.

It’s important to know that this mission wasn’t just a simple "transport task."

Huaxia Army intended to use the road-opening process to gather all the scattered residents from the surrounding area.

The nature of such a mission was indeed not suitable for too many "morally low" mercenaries to be involved.

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Lizhi said:

"At least they can act as porters, right?"

"... If you think that way, there’s nothing wrong with it."

Huang Meng shrugged and then said:

"Anyway, let’s proceed as planned."

"We are ready to set off, are you ready?"

"Ready."

Wang Lizhi replied:

"We can set off at any time."

"Then let’s go."

At Huang Meng’s command, all the members of the Penetration Company, along with the equipment and machinery they carried, started to move.

This was an unprecedented large-scale mobilization; even during the Beast Tide period, they hadn’t carried so much heavy equipment.

Under the eyes of everyone at Base 011, the team slowly moved forward, disappearing along the already opened road.

When the road-clearing bulldozers finally drove onto the vegetated, unpaved routes, their mission officially began.

Amidst the roaring of machinery, thickets of trees fell one after another.

The bulldozers uprooted the underground roots, then leveled and compacted the ground again.

The soil turned from loose to firm, and the mixed gravel made it even stronger.

Clearing the path while advancing, the team made slow progress.

From their departure at 10 a.m. to resting at 5 p.m., the team covered less than 30 kilometers in total.

But this had already exceeded Huang Meng’s expectations.

Frankly, he initially thought advancing 15 kilometers in a day would be good enough.

Clearly, Fu Xi’s prediction and calculation of the route provided a considerable boost for this mission.

As night fell, the team began their first rest.

Before resting, Huang Meng ordered the warriors of the Penetration Company to thoroughly clear the surrounding area.

The sound of gunfire disturbed the birds and beasts in the forest, as wandering monsters and Blood Skull fell dead before the muzzles.

When the "hunting" soldiers returned to the temporary camp, Huang Meng suddenly noticed that they were followed by some "newcomers."

"Who are these people?"

Huang Meng asked.

"Refugees from Baima Town."

The team leader responded:

"Baima Town has been destroyed — they had nowhere to go and were hiding in caves."

"We found them while clearing the area, so we brought them back."

"Captain, how should we settle them?"

Settle?

Huang Meng took a deep breath, glanced over the shoulders of his team, and looked at the ragged refugees behind them.

The mission had begun, and so had his responsibility.

He couldn’t just let these people walk back to Base 011 along the newly cleared path.

Even though the path was smooth, it was not yet entirely safe.

Even a small monster could ensure that none of them would return alive.

Thinking this, he said:

"We will take them with us."

"After reaching the next town, we will drop them off, and the follow-up support team will organize their relocation and settlement."

"For now..."

"It’s too late."

"No matter what, let’s eat first."