NABC Chapter 067 A Great Harvest!
Chapter 067 A Great Harvest!
Lu Chen once heard someone say: When you encounter a major change, it's best not to be idle.
As long as you keep your hands busy and don't have time to think, you can temporarily shift your attention.
At this moment, Lu Chen was in a similar state.
—The hibernation chamber was chained up, and Yu made hand gestures towards the edge of the deep pit.
Once the winch of the traction machine started turning, the hibernation chamber was pulled slightly, and Lu Chen bent down to check it.
Every now and then, they would use an entrenching tool to turn over the soil.
Then the chains were removed, and another hibernation chamber was attached. He gestured to the jade, bent down, and examined it…
Repeatedly.
I was busy until dawn before I finally made some progress.
—After moving several hibernation chambers around the edge of the pit, Lu Chen finally dug out the obviously smaller hibernation chamber from the soil.
How high is its recognition rate?
A typical hibernation chamber is generally over 2 meters long and nearly 1 meter wide.
The thickness is generally 0.6 meters, reaching above a person's knees.
Although the exact weight cannot be determined, it is impossible for two or three people to move it; it must weigh at least several hundred kilograms.
This small hibernation pod, however, is unmistakably 'delicate'.
Less than 1.5 meters long – Lu Chen measured it by hand, less than seven bundles, about 1.4 meters in length.
It is less than three spans wide, about 0.6 meters.
Even the thickness is visibly thinner, around 0.5 meters.
The weight is particularly noticeable.
—Lu Chen tried to lift a corner, and surprisingly, he could move it!
Although it was only a slight movement, it was enough to show that the weight of this small hibernation pod should not exceed 200 kilograms.
Having achieved his goal, Lu Chen didn't linger at the bottom of the pit.
The small hibernation chamber is tied to the end of the chain, and then Yu lowers the rope and pulls it up.
Seeing that the three corpses beside the campfire had disappeared, Lu Chen took a deep breath and cast a grateful glance at Yu.
"Take inventory of supplies."
"There are at most 45 minutes until dawn."
"We have to leave within 15 minutes."
Yu remained decisive and serious.
Lu Chen was also inspired by this efficient style and quickly followed Yu's lead, pushing the six sets of wheel bridges to the side of the deep pit.
Next, the two discussed their return route according to the original plan.
However, there was a slight difference from the plan: due to the choice of return route, the supplies that the two had "seized" became a matter that needed to be reconsidered.
"We'll pick the best one of their three cars and take it with us."
"They also took away weapons such as steel pipes, spiked clubs, and grenades, as well as their tools such as binoculars, chisels, and shovels."
"As for the hibernation pod—the small one is very light and can be directly loaded into the rear cargo box."
"Use the wheel bridge to bring back two more regular hibernation pods."
Although her expression was serious, her eyes also revealed genuine joy.
—A bumper harvest!
There were three hibernation pods (two large and one small), plus a pickup truck, as well as numerous weapons and tools.
There is a very high probability that the total profit earned by the two will exceed 10 years!
This doesn't even include the potential additional benefits from the small hibernation pod entrusted by Commission No. 9529.
However, this attitude is slightly different from that of Yu, who wanted "all of it" and "bring as much as he could".
Lu Chen frowned slightly, then inexplicably changed the subject, talking about the return route.
"Going back the way we came is no longer safe."
"—In the next few days, scavengers from the city will come out of the south gate, and scavengers from here will take the hibernation pods back, all via this route."
"The probability and frequency of encounters between them will be very high, and the probability of conflict will be extremely high."
"Especially since we also brought three hibernation pods."
Lu Chen's words calmed Yu down a little, who was immersed in joy.
After a moment's thought, he nodded slightly.
"really."
"Going back the way we came is indeed very risky."
"So you mean...?"
"detour?"
As she spoke, Yu spread the map out on the hood of the pickup truck and drew a large arc starting from the hibernation pod area, moving away from the city wall.
"First head southeast, away from the city walls, make a large loop, and then take the paved road back to the city..."
Before he could finish speaking, Lu Chen shook his head slightly.
He stepped forward and tapped his finger on the map as well.
The route drawn next did not stray far from the city wall.
Instead, go left first and slide to the city wall.
Then, under Yu's astonished gaze, he slid up the east city wall.
Swipe to the corner of the city, then swipe left; swipe to the corner again, then swipe down.
Finally, swipe right from the third corner of the city until you reach the black dot marked "South Gate".
"A bypass?"
Yu asked in surprise, and Lu Chen nodded emphatically: "Around the city."
"With this dormant storage area around, the route from the south gate to the east will be very congested."
"Scavengers will take this route to the hibernation silo area, or from the hibernation silo area back to the South Gate."
"Of course, there will also be 'smart people' who guard this route and try to snatch the hibernation pods from the scavengers who pass by."
...
"The east side of the south gate will become a battlefield."
"The west side will then enter a long period of 'vacuum'."
"Let alone robbing hibernation pods on the road—even when people are just going out to scavenge, very few people go to this area."
"No one would have thought that after we made some gains in the hibernation pod area, we would choose to take the same route that is nearly 700 kilometers long."
"So this route is very safe."
Lu Chen's words caused Yu to fall into a brief period of contemplation.
Ring road around the city.
If we were to describe Lu Chen's travel plan using the concept of 2025, it would be like someone wanting to travel from Kyoto to Shanghai.
The shortest route, of course, is south.
However, this person chose to head north and reached the border first.
Then, circling the border counter-clockwise, it finally arrives in Shanghai...
"Walk along the city wall..."
"Sunlight can't penetrate the sandstorm belt, so we can't charge our devices."
Yu hesitated for a moment, but Lu Chen simply shook his head.
"Then let's take it with us along with the wind and sand."
"It's just a matter of walking a little over a hundred kilometers more."
...
Yu remained silent for a long time afterward.
—Returning directly along the original route, from the hibernation pod area to the south gate, is at most 300 kilometers away.
As long as the pickup truck is fully charged, it can travel non-stop all the way to the South Gate.
However, going around the city in the opposite direction increases the distance from less than 300 kilometers to nearly 1,000 kilometers!
...
If you go directly back, that means heading west from the hibernation pod area.
Walk dozens of kilometers to the sandstorm zone, then walk another 40 kilometers to the east city wall;
Continue south along the city wall for 40 kilometers to reach the corner of the city, then turn west and walk a full 100 kilometers to reach the South Gate.
Last time, when they brought the hibernation pod number 9529 back to the city, the two of them took this route.
...
However, if Lu Chen's plan were followed, the two of them should be heading north right now.
After walking nearly 100 kilometers, we arrived at the northeast corner of the sandstorm belt;
Turn west; travel 280 kilometers to reach the northwest corner of the sandstorm belt;
Then turn south and travel 280 kilometers to reach the southwest corner of the sandstorm belt;
Then, turn east and travel 140 kilometers to reach the intersection of the asphalt road and the sandstorm zone, 40 kilometers south of the South Gate.
Finally, we drove 40 kilometers north along the asphalt road back to the South Gate...
The total distance is 840 kilometers.
It is almost three times the length of the shortest route.