Not only is there no map to guide the waterway to the Mineral Island Alliance, but even the distance is unclear.
Maybe three hundred kilometers, maybe five hundred kilometers, eight hundred kilometers.
The only way for survivors to measure the distance can only be through their own foot strength multiplied by the time they traveled. However, many times the paths they took were different. Some people were lucky enough to take shortcuts, while others were unlucky enough to take long detours.
After half a day, this also resulted in the information collected being extremely mixed, and in the end we could only draw a general direction of progress.
But what is certain is that the mine island wrapped by the tributary of the Dragon Immortal River can be reached by water.
The two frigates went upstream in the northeast direction, looking for and questioning some survivors they encountered along the way.
At first it was all useless information, but as we headed further northeast and spent some trivial food, we finally got reliable location information from the survivors.
The straight-line distance from the Mine Island Alliance to the Mengyue Territory is only about 550 kilometers.
But considering that we may have to detour through a swamp along the way, it will probably be around 700 kilometers.
If you take the water route, the distance can be shortened a lot.
Through two connected tributaries, it only takes about 450 kilometers to reach the outermost mining island.
Calculated based on the frigate’s cruising speed of sixty kilometers.
Depart at eight in the morning and arrive at early three in the afternoon.
After driving through a narrow tributary and rejoining the branch of Xianjiang River, the lookout on the ship quickly discovered the target of this trip.
Between the water and the sky, a series of islands are scattered like pearls, some large and some small, with different shapes. These islands are cleverly divided by the river, and each one has its own unique scenery and landforms.
Contrary to imagination, not all Mineral Islands Alliance is Mineral Islands.
The island at the entrance is relatively large and covered with dense vegetation. The lush trees and grass that have been yellowed by the frost constitute a peculiar picture.
The soil on these islands is not half as poor as on land, and the terrain is relatively flat, making them a good place for human survival and development.
It is conceivable that if someone settles and survives here, the quality of life will not be much worse than on land.
Other smaller islands appear more desolate, but they are covered by rich mineral deposits. The entire island is like a huge open-pit mine.
The landforms of these islands are unique, the mountains and rocks are unusually rugged, and the mineral deposits are explosively rich.
Looking from a distance, you can clearly see large areas of ore exposed on the surface, shining with an attractive metallic luster under direct sunlight.
"Damn it, who would have thought that there is such a place hidden in the Southern Fire Territory Plate, how much mineral deposits are there??!" Spicy Iron Hammer's face turned red, and his eyes were fixed on those nearby mines.
Island!
Although the information collected from the survivors shows that the ore reserves of the Mineral Island Alliance are terrifying.
Even if tens of thousands of people mine it at the same time, it will take several years to mine it all.
However, Spicy Iron Hammer still habitually believes that the reason for this statement is that the miners are not efficient. Most survivors can only use the most primitive manual mining methods, which means that it takes several years to complete the mining.
But now, everything in front of me seems to be a slap in the face.
There is a high mountain in Tianyuan territory that is entirely made of iron mines, but it is an island on the water made of ores.
The difference between this is directly several times, or even ten times.
And it’s not just one island, there are more than ten metal islands that we can see now.
Iron ore island, copper ore island, aluminum ore island, lead ore island, zinc ore island
"Hey, aren't those silver mines?"
The apocalyptic madman stood on the front of the deck, looking at an island not far away surrounded by dark white ore, and he was completely stunned.
From a distance, there are many people moving around on the Silver Mine Island at this time, densely packed like ants.
This is also amazing.
How much silver ore can be mined from a whole island of silver ore?
At this moment, ripples suddenly appeared in the calm water, and nearly ten small boats suddenly sailed out from the islands in all directions, quickly approaching and surrounding them in a tacit understanding.
Different from the standard sampans used by the survivors along the way, these ten small boats actually use energy devices.
Boom boom boom.
The roar of the engine echoed on the water, and black smoke spurted out from behind the boat, forming thick plumes of smoke.
This kind of behavior that can arouse the anger of environmentalists is indeed a testament to the strength of a gathering place at the moment.
There were a bunch of people standing on each boat, holding various weapons of different lengths.
However, according to common sense, such a group of people in this scene should be aggressive and full of hostility. However, facing a frigate with a captain of fifteen meters, this group of people is really not at all aggressive.
Just about a hundred meters away from the frigate, the nine frigates stopped, and only one slowly drove up. In the process, it kept picking up the red and white flags and waving them alternately, using the common flag language on earth to express peaceful communication.
"There are crossbows and pistols, well, they are just ordinary guns!" The apocalyptic madman picked up the binoculars and carefully observed the approaching small boat. He noticed that most of the weapons held by the people on the boat were homemade.
Firearms immediately made me feel at ease.
The quality and advancement of weapons can often reflect the strength and technological level of a gathering place.
Seeing these relatively backward local guns, the doomsday madman judged that the technological and industrial level of this mining island alliance should not be too high, but he did not rule out the possibility that this group of people were deliberately pretending.
After all, in this apocalyptic world, any negligence may lead to irreparable consequences.
Pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger is often a useful little trick.
Soon, when the distance between the small boat and the frigate narrowed to only fifteen meters, the driver on the small boat obviously became cautious and did not dare to take another step easily.
This is not because of timidity or cowardice, but because the disparity between the two ships is too obvious!
They were driving a five-meter-long small guerrilla boat made entirely of wood. Although it was light and flexible, it was completely useless in front of the opponent's sturdy iron ship.
In this strong contrast, the people driving the iron boats did not even need to use any weapons. The huge size and strong hull alone were enough to pose a huge threat to them.
Of course, I don’t know what the other party would think if they knew that the frigate is not made of iron but is made entirely of special alloys and high-plastic materials.
"Who are you? Where do you come from? What do you want to do?"
The loudspeaker was taken out, and a black man with a thick beard stepped out of the boat.
"We are Chinese, from the Mengyue Territory. I heard from the surrounding survivors that you sell metal ore here, so I came here to see the details!" Spicy Iron Hammer stood on the bow deck and also took out the loudspeaker.
reply.
But this is not a handmade trumpet on a small boat. The sound is all made by shouting.
The loudspeaker module in the electric horn can easily amplify the sound ten times, ensuring that everyone on the boat and even several ships in the distance can hear it clearly.
"Hey, Hu, it's you Chinese people, so come over and communicate." The black man couldn't understand what the other party said, so he had to look at the Chinese people in the cabin with envy and gave up the opportunity to communicate.
The Chinese Hu Xiaolin who was called out suddenly felt like he was falling from the sky, and he quickly stepped forward to answer:
"Hello friends, I am Hu Xiaolin from the Third Security Team of the Mineral Island Alliance. You are very welcome to come to our Mineral Island Alliance as a guest. However, this is already within the control range we have set. Your iron boats cannot go inside anymore.
It’s over!”
"Is that so? Is there a place where we can park? Sorry, it's our first time here too."
"Easy to say, this is our mining area, and outsiders are generally not allowed to enter. But the residential area on the other side is open to all survivors. You follow our ship, and we will take you to the dock where the ship is parked."
After a simple communication, the No. 1 frigate began to follow the boat to the entrance to the island, a larger residential island.
The No. 2 frigate used for the response received the message and entered the tributary about 80 kilometers from the entrance to the island to hide.
I'm not worried that the other party will be malicious. After all, as long as anyone with a brain sees a frigate, they won't think that owning such a ship's territory is something they can afford to offend.
And as long as the Mine Island Alliance wants to develop in this area, it will definitely need some trading partners.
It took half an hour. Under the command of the small boat, the frigate stopped steadily at the dock.
Speaking of which, the dock here is much more luxurious than the temporary dock built in Mengyue territory. The area close to the shore has been built with bluestone, forming a spacious and platform platform.
More than a dozen floats are used under the platform to differentiate different docking areas according to the size of the ship.
At the edge of the pier, thick mooring piles are also set up to secure passing ships.
There are no too many complicated decorations, and every design reveals the spirit of pragmatism.
And in terms of the number of ships, there are no less than a hundred large and small sampans in this area alone.
It is enough to prove that the ores on the surrounding islands are indeed of great help to the development speed of the Mine Island Alliance.
However, the frigate, which is far larger than other small boats, is still too eye-catching at this dock.
When we stopped before and after, hundreds of survivors had gathered not far away, all casting curious glances.
Hu Xiaolin, who was in charge of leading the way, was already waving at the dock. As soon as Spicy Iron Hammer and Doomsday Maniac got off the boat, he rushed forward excitedly and asked quickly:
"Brother, this iron boat of yours is so awesome. When we saw it just now, we thought we were just being dazzled. Good guy, how did you build such a big boat? Do you already have a shipyard in your territory? Ah, now
With such a boat, it can even walk sideways on the water!"
Hu Xiaolin's words were full of envy, and he could not take his eyes away from the frigate from the beginning to the end.
Obviously he understood very well what having such a ship now represented.
"Haha, thank you. We were lucky enough to find many brothers working in shipyards on Earth, so we were able to build it."
Spicy Iron Hammer did not lie. The 600 workers at Tianyuan Shipyard are all in ship-related industries on earth.
Otherwise, even if there are finished drawings, it will take at least half a month for ordinary people to understand the drawings.
"Hey, there really is a shipyard."
Hu Xiaolin took a breath, and his face became more respectful: "How do you call me, Hu Xiaolin, I am a member of the third security team of the Mineral Island Alliance. My elder brother Hu Shulin is the deputy captain of the second security team. I have asked someone to
I've notified him and he'll be here soon."
"Shu Yao."
"Zhuang Lun." Neither of them used their first names for a long time. Spicy Iron Hammer was better. Blue Star people would always call him Factory Director Shu when they came to cooperate, and the workers below would also learn to call him that way from time to time.
But the apocalyptic madmen more often hear of Brother Kuangren, Ah Kuang, and Director Kuang, so now they are still a little hesitant when naming their names.
This small detail was noticed by Hu Xiaolin instantly, but he didn't care, and the pseudonym was just a pseudonym.
When walking in the world, anyone who is not careful will die long ago. There is no problem in being cautious.
"Brother Shu, Brother Zhuang." Hu Xiaolin made a clasped fist gesture: "You just said you came here after hearing that our Mine Island Alliance sells metal ore to other countries. Do you want to buy ore?"
"Yes, there is only one underground iron mine in our territory. It is difficult to mine, not to mention the reserves are small, so I want to go to the surrounding areas to have a look and trade some back." Spicy Iron Hammer nodded and subconsciously took out a pack from his pocket.
Cigarette boxes without packaging nameplates.
The stuff inside is really good, all tobacco grown in the greenhouse.
Due to the severe cooling, the output is very scarce.
Most of them run out of stock after making less than 2,000 packages. Now the price of one package has been as high as eight copper coins by gopher guys in the city!
"Here, want to eat one of the newly grown tobacco?" Spicy Iron Hammer shook out one and handed it over.
However, what was surprising was that although Hu Xiaolin licked the corner of his mouth temptingly, he refused without hesitation.
"I'm sorry, Brother Shu, we have rules in our territory and we cannot accept items from outsiders rashly."
"Ah, I didn't ask you to take it away, so I just had a cigarette."
"That's not okay, it's a dead rule. If I, a member of the security team, break the rules, I will be fined even more!" Hu Xiaolin shook his head repeatedly and took half a step back.
It can be seen that this is not polite humility, but really abiding by the so-called rules.
"What about bread, how many slices would you like?"
"No, just ask if you have anything you want to ask. Although we are poor, we are poor and have backbone. Don't worry that we will tell lies because there is no benefit." Hu Xiaolin shook his head again.
This reaction immediately shocked the two of them. They had never seen or heard of such a situation in the wasteland.
I don’t want any gifts that come to my door, I will reject them decisively because of a rule.
Except for your own territory, even those super territories with tens of millions of people are not to this extent, right?
