The patrol team sent by the Gopher Man was very vigilant, and the six of them left almost no blind spots for surveillance.
Sumo waited patiently for more than two hours before the first batch of changing workers came to the sewer port.
Three people in total.
Since he's not wearing an exoskeleton, it looks like the equipment needs to be replaced.
"Number Zero, record the conversation between them and give me real-time feedback."
"Okay master, we are already under targeted monitoring."
As long as it has sufficient power, the detection function of Zero is extremely easy to use.
The other party is like a fighter plane exposed to radar monitoring, with no privacy at all.
However, these people were also careful and did not communicate at all during the process of putting on and taking off the mechanical exoskeleton. They were terrifyingly calm throughout the process.
It wasn't until the shift was completed that the man who was the first to come out whispered.
"According to the usual agreed time, they should have come by now."
"The administrator asked us to wait here stupidly. If we encounter the group of desperate mutant lunatics the day before yesterday, I'm afraid we will lose a lot of ammunition."
"There is no way." The man who was talking to him moved his stiff shoulders and comforted: "This heavy fog came out of nowhere. We in Qinggang City have not seen it in hundreds of years. They have been delayed, and we should understand
.”
"Besides, if they really can't come." The man looked around and continued to lower his voice: "The administrator said that if there are not enough supplies to last until the next time the foundation's merchant ship arrives, we will throw some away from the base.
People are left to fend for themselves, and the people you don’t want to throw out are your women.”
"Merchant ship? Oh my God, it will take at least two months, right?"
The man muttered a complaint and finally resisted the idea of continuing.
According to the previous patrol position, he walked over honestly and continued on duty.
The three people who were replaced disappeared on the ground through the sewer opening.
From the beginning to the end, no one noticed that a stranger was looking at them not far away, and no one knew that their conversation had been exposed.
Standing in the corner of the ruins of the building, Sumo was thoughtful and took out the notebook on his chest to record the information.
"It seems that the information from the Desolate Wolf is not mixed. There are indeed transactions between these gopher guys in Qinggang City, and they have some good things left over from before the war. The energy source is constantly producing valuable products.
trading items.”
The Steppenwolf group of cockroaches who can only wander around the corners of the city looking for food are naturally not qualified to trade with the Gopher Man, but this does not mean that they have not obtained good things produced in the bunker.
Those machines that relied on intelligence to drive production in the pre-war era were well preserved by the Gopher Man.
With the help of high-energy bio-battery conversion devices, the unbridled growth of moss is the best power source, and the energy source continuously provides enough power for production.
The favorite trading items among predators are also produced by Gopher Man.
It can be exchanged for food, supplies, weapons, slaves, women, and intelligence.
Somo has yet to figure out what the transaction items of the group in front of him are, but based on the exposed information, he can already roughly guess that they have high-value items in their hands.
Cotton? Exoskeleton? Biomass battery?
If they really have the ability to produce these things, they are really hard currency in the wasteland.
As for the issue they just exchanged.
For the time being, we will name this underground fortress the Western Suburbs Bunker.
According to the information analysis just now, they should have reached an agreement with forces in other parts of Qinggang City, and they will trade once every time at this time to buy enough supplies to support the arrival of the so-called "Foundation Merchant Ship".
This time, it may be due to the influence of heavy fog, or it may be due to other factors.
Not to mention that the group of forces that were supposed to arrive as scheduled were late, the blood stains left behind should also be from their encounter with mutants who survived the radiation.
Faced with these lunatics wandering around the city and almost losing their minds, the western suburbs bunker should logically stay out of the spotlight.
But the reason why I'm still here is patrolling back and forth.
The western suburbs bunker must be in short supply?!
Coming to this conclusion, Sumo suddenly had a whim.
"Since we can't get inside them in a short time, is a transaction feasible?"
As long as we can find out what the transaction between them is, or simply there is an accident with the group of people trading in the western suburbs bunker and they can't come here as promised.
In this case, what if the territory can become their trading object?
The most important thing in the wasteland must be the population, and it can only be the population. If any force wants to operate, it must ensure that the internal personnel structure is stable and there will be no major changes.
Since the manager in their mouth said that when necessary, some people should be thrown out to fend for themselves.
At this time, Tianyuan Territory happened to appear and provide them with some things they needed.
"There should be a large population in the Western Suburbs Bunker, and the pressure on all aspects of material needs is high. Trading materials must be replenished regularly to meet the needs. And according to the so-called manager's speech analysis, since some people have to be thrown out to reduce expenses, then they lack
It should be related to food supplies."
"Having an exoskeleton, he can basically crush the surrounding areas, but he still does not participate in external plunder under material pressure, which is in line with the character of the Gopher Man."
"It is easy for them to be wary if they appear rashly and propose a trade in food supplies."
"Maybe we can start from another direction."
After writing this information in his notes, Sumo put it in his arms and put it away.
The gopher guys from the Free State tend to be lawful and neutral in character, and their reputation among wanderers like Wild Wolf is not bad. They are a force that will not be targeted as long as they don't take the initiative to provoke them.
They didn't believe anyone, they only followed the rules set in the bunker and never exceeded them.
And this is also the biggest reason why this group of people was able to form a force before the war.
If you decide to contact or even trade with them, simply asking them is the stupidest choice.
The best way is to let the other party come to you and try to cooperate, so that there is room for maneuver.
"How can we get them to come to the door on their own?"
Just as Sumo was thinking and analyzing this most important issue, a group of people finally came hurriedly not far away.
This group of people wore close-fitting black armor, even their heads were covered under it, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed.
The outside of the black armor is covered with blood-vessel-like lines, and each inhalation and exhalation is looming in the mist.
Behind them were two creatures that were similar to oxen.
But just like the two armored black dogs seen on the fifth floor area before, these two cows have also changed. Not only have their bodies become taller and burlier, their four legs are as thick as pillars, but their tails have also changed.
Like a whip, it was dragged out on the ground for more than three meters.
"Is the trader here?"
Based on the information provided by Wild Wolf, Sumo quickly found out the general information about the cow.
Whip the bull.
With its docile personality and strong carrying capacity, it was one of the most useful tools for short-distance transportation after the war.
At the same time, its whip also has a certain power and can be used as a pioneer to rush out at critical moments and forcibly destroy the opponent's encirclement.
The two whip oxen were loaded with cargo boxes, so it looked like they had delivered a lot of supplies.
"Why did you come just now? It's one day behind the agreed time!"
The leader on duty breathed a sigh of relief, and while sending someone to deliver the information, he walked up with a slightly complaining tone.
"Haha, Captain Liu Lu, you are lucky that we can still abide by the agreement." The leading man in black armor took off his mask, revealing a face full of scars.
His voice was like two pieces of iron rubbing against each other, hoarse and harsh, making those who listened frowned.
But the next sentence made Liu Lu's expression change drastically.
"After this transaction, the agreement between us will be invalidated. Everything will have to wait until the fog clears."
"Voided? Captain Garu, your Harbor Shelter has received the deposit for supplies from our Pingtan Shelter in advance. As witnessed by Qinggang Shelter, you will have to pay liquidated damages if you cancel it unilaterally!"
"Of course, didn't I bring it with me?" He patted the whip ox behind him and looked at Liu Lu's face becoming more and more ugly. The black-armored man Garu laughed.
"Pingtan Shelter is really far away from the harbor. It seems that we still don't know what happened in Qinggang City for so long."
"what happened?"
Liu Lu asked subconsciously, but the next second, he regretted it.
In the eyes of outsiders, there are more than a dozen Free State sanctuaries in the huge city of Qinggang. The two are attacking and defending each other. This is a more reliable alliance than any other cooperation. The relationship between them is extremely good.
But only the people in the bunker know that this relationship relies on "transactions."
In Qinggang City, everything has a price tag.
The cooperation between them can only be achieved by paying a mutually satisfactory price.
Now that he is so eager for information, he shows that the shelter really does not know what is going on.
I'll let the manager know later.
As a matter of fact, he will not be able to distribute a lot of supplies next time.
"Go ahead and make a price."
After a pause, Liu Lu glanced behind him, and finally gritted his teeth.
"readily!"
"I need this." Pointing to a grenade hanging on Liu Lu's waist, Garu raised his eyebrows.
The value of information depends on its scarcity and urgency.
It's just a grenade, of course it can't be replaced.
But Liu Lu's current intention was not to exchange, just to prevent him from "accidentally" leaking the details of the conversation between the two.
"What a greedy thing."
After muttering something softly, Liu Lu untied the grenade from his waist and threw it away in pain.
Among all the shelters in the Free State, the Harbor Shelter is the one with the weakest foundation and basically does not have much industrial production capacity.
But the location they chose was so good that every refuge had to regularly trade fish caught from the harbor with them to meet their material needs.
These greedy things are always looking for ways to steal money from their trading partners.
If there was no choice, the Foundation's merchant ships would only come once every six months. Who would want to trade with these damn jackals?
But seeing the other party catching it in a hurry, Liu Lu felt a little more comfortable.
He carefully arranged his words and then cautiously reached out his hand: "Bring it here, this time's cargo list."
"Go and get the cargo list to our Captain Liu."
Patting the bull's head, Garu's smile became even stronger.
Combined with the ravaged scars on his face, it looked like a mushroom corroded by mold, with creepy little sarcomas everywhere.
Liu Lu stared at it suspiciously, then looked away as if nothing had happened.
Soon, two pieces of yellow paper that looked like they were soaked in sweat were handed over.
"Don't you look at it?"
"I don't want to read it." Liu Lu quickly shook his head, turned around and wanted to go to the wellhead with the list.
Just one more word, and you paid the price of a grenade.
Even though he was now curious about the price changes on the goods list, he decided to stop his impulse.
but
"Let's see, the price this time is very different from before."
"And I promise, I won't use this to blackmail you."
A devilish whisper of temptation sounded behind him.
Liu Lu took two steps forward bravely, and finally couldn't help but glance at the top line of the list.
According to the usual transactions between the two parties, what is recorded here must be the largest catch.
The price is not high.
“Damn it, are your harbor crazy??”
Liu Lu was stunned when he glanced at the number that was ten times higher than usual.
"You want to exchange five pounds of fish for a commercial coupon, why don't you grab it?"
Commercial securities.
The currency issued by the Foundation is used throughout the post-war world.
Only by holding this thing can you purchase goods from merchant ships that come once every six months or traveling merchants that come from time to time.
Its face value is divided into 1, 5, 10, 50, and 100.
Usually, a coupon with a face value of "1" can buy more than fifty pounds of fish.
Now purchasing power has plummeted, with less than one-tenth left?
Is the manager of this harbor shelter crazy? Does he think anyone will trade at this price?
"Don't worry, just take your time and look down."
Garu still kept his smile, as if he didn't hear the question just now.
Following his words, Liu Lu looked down.
At this sight, his face turned even more livid.
Sure enough, among the basic materials on the first sheet, not only did the price of fish catches increase tenfold, but the prices of things produced in other harbor shelters also increased to a certain extent, on average they were at least five times higher than before.
And in the second picture they collected and made things from outside
For the first time, Liu Luxian saw the signature and seal at the bottom.
Is that the sign of the giant city's shelter?
"Hey, what did you do, kid? I asked you to get the cargo bill for the Pingtan Shelter. How did you take out the cargo delivery bill for the Jucheng Shelter?" Seeing Liu Lu's face changing, Garu
He quickly slapped the little brother behind him on the head.
"Go, hurry up and get a new one."
"Yes." The little boy in black armor received the beating. His facial expression could not be seen, but his tone seemed quite cheerful.
This shows no sign of any awareness of doing something wrong, it was clearly done on purpose.
"Brother Liu Lu, you have also seen that it is not the Pingtan Shelter Family and I that charge such a high price now. It is because of the great changes in our Qinggang City that the prices have increased."
"When you go to report to the manager, don't forget to mention it."
Taking out the grenade that had not been warmed just now, Garu threw it forward with a smile.
Liu Lu caught it, said no more, and nodded silently.
In the confrontation just now, he lost completely.
The other party picked him up without paying any price.
Taking off his exoskeleton, Liu Lu quickly went down the ladder at the entrance of the well.
It wasn't until he stood on the ground at the bottom and looked at the heavy iron gate that he sighed slightly in his heart: