Chapter 174: Out of stock?

Translator: _Min_  Editor: Rundi

If the power armor were the full body armor of the knight, then the kinetic skeleton would be an infantry’s chainmail.

The entire mass was less than ten kgs. The supermolecular polyethylene could guard 7-12 rounds of point-blank shots from a 7.62 mm assault. If it were an assault rifle from the modern world, it would not even make a dent in the armor.

Afer equipping, the maximum weight carried by a single soldier would increase to 300 kilograms.

The power source was two pieces of battery the size of a fist and was placed above the pelvis area. After a complete charge, it would allow the equipped person to run at a speed of 12 km/hour carrying the 300 kilograms for one hour. Or, it could operate in normal combat conditions for 12 hours. The power could be charged through solar cells, or it could instantly be replenished with crystals.

It was fair to say, other than the aerospace technology that has yet to see results, a significant factor that Jiang Chen considered when recruiting Jiang Lin was the kinetic skeleton technology of the Fake Leg Specialty store. Although he didn’t manage to continue the family business, being forced by his father, he still learned the essential skills.

When he personally experienced the power of Model K1 Kinetic Skeleton, Jiang Chen immediately proposed the feasibility of mass equipping the force.

“Equipping the force?” Jiang Lin was confused when he heard Jiang Chen’s question, but then an odd expression appeared on his face. “Do you know the time and cost to produce a set of kinetic skeleton like this?”

“How much?” Jiang Chen asked carelessly.

“Based on the official price in the Sixth Street, the current set you are wearing cost around 900 crystals. 900 crystals could purchase more than ten slaves if you give them rifles. Regardless of what kind of super soldier, they can’t beat ten something rifles.” Jiang Lin let out a sigh as he started to calculate the economics for Jiang Chen.

“But the Sixth Street no longer sells population.”

Jiang Chen pressed the button on his neck as the faint static noise rose again and he took off the kinetic skeleton.

“The Sixth Street doesn’t sell population, but other places do. For example Su City. They have the biggest slave market in Suhang province. They’ll come to the Sixth Street next spring-” Jiang Lin tried to convince his boss.

“But we can’t wait till next spring.” Jiang Chen, with a smile, carried the kinetic skeleton in his hands. “When the snow melts next year, the mutated human will invade from 7th area to Qingpu. We are the only force that’s capable of putting up a defense. Therefore we will face the most pressure from them.”

Hearing that, Jiang Lin’s face immediately turned white.

He has never heard about this before. If he had heard about it, he would not have come to work here even if they beat him to death. The reason why he tried to convince the boss to give up the idea of mass production of the kinetic skeleton was the fact that he was worried his own research time for the rocket would be limited.

“Do you regret coming here?” Jiang Chen smiled.

Jiang Lin gulped as he looked away, dishearted. “No.”

“Don’t be afraid. Your heart beat already told me you are regretting it.” Jiang Chen smiled as he patted him on the shoulder without criticising his fear. “It is okay to be afraid. People fear death for a reason. Since you are afraid, then follow what I have said.”

“I heard that there are a few thousand mutated humans in the Seventh Area,” Jiang Lin strugglingly said.

“To be exact, there are three thousand. Perhaps a bit more than that, but it’s not something you need to worry about. Kinetic skeleton must be mass produced. Regardless how many crystals we spend, you must manufacture 50 sets before next year January,” Jiang Chen used an irrefutable voice.

Even with a cost of 900 crystals per set, 50 sets would only be 45,000 crystals. Fishbone base didn’t lack money. It was time to convert the wealth accumulated in the early phases into power.

Jiang Lin gulped again as he saw the seriousness in the boss’ eyes as he nodded arduously.

“I’ll try my best… But it can’t be done with just me. I need help.”

“Just tell me how much assistance you need.”

“Let me think… The hand crafted metal skeleton would require ten people, welding the microchips would take 4, drawing the circuit board would need 8, as well as modifying the power system… Based on my estimation, I would require 40 workers to be able to complete a streamlined process. In this case, I could probably manage to complete 50 sets of kinetic skeletons before January.” Jiang Lin had a troubled smile.

There was a total of 200 people in the base. Everyone had their own duties and responsibilities, it was impossible to assemble a team of 40.

But Jiang Chen’s following words shocked him.

“I’ll give you 80 people. Could you double the production?”

“Sure, but is there enough people in the base?” Jiang Lin had to ask.

“You don’t have to worry about it. We’ll have plenty of people soon. Right now, you only need to figure out how to design the production line, how to train your team, and what materials must be purchased. The production force will be ready in 5 days.” Jiang Chen laughed.

The Fishbone base didn’t have the people, but Shenxiang Town had them.

The seven hundred survivors captured by the mutated humans. He just needed to bring them back.

As to whether they would be obedient or not?

On the wasteland, there was no inherent difference between being captured and being saved.

If they wanted to continue to live, they must be obedient.

…

After coming out of Jiang Lin’s lab, Jiang Chen headed to the community center to find the warehouse keeper Wang Qin.

When Jiang Chen came to the office, the girl with freckles was going through her books as usual. When she saw Jiang Chen, her eyes lit up, as she stopped what she was doing, and got up to greet him.

“I am just here to check the status of the supplies in the base. Don’t be so anxious,” Jiang Chen gently smiled as he joked.

Wang Qin’s face blushed shyly. She pushed her glasses up as she took out the tablet terminal and began to display the data to Jiang Chen.

First, it was crystals.

After the accumulation of several trades, the crystals stored in the Fishbone base had reached a frightening number of 790 thousand. Because of the addition of several production lines, the crystals spent last month reached 30 thousand. This included the purchase of raw materials, as well as direct consumption for fuel in industrial production.

Jiang Chen asked Wang Qin to save half a million crystals as liquid assets to purchase shares of the about to be established Sixth Street bank.The rest of the 290 thousand crystals would be used as production spending. Even with the addition of a kinetic skeleton line, the current amount of stored crystals was more than sufficient.

Then, it would be the firearms storage.

There were two hundred thousand rounds of ammo stored in the base, with sixty percent directly manufactured by the base. After they acquired Huizhong Mercenaries’ ammo production line, Fishbone base began to work towards producing its own firearms.

Then, it would be the 5kg bombs. This is the standard ammo for the electromagnetic cannon.

Following the completion of the Tiger, the military factory’s production has been shifting towards bombs. The current stock was two hundred rounds, with fifty being produced each day.

After a period of consumption, as well as the large quantity of replenishment since the last time he returned, the base currently stored 8 tons of rice, 2 tons of potato, and easy to store vegetables like cabbage and carrot totaled 5 tons. Sausage, marinated meat, and other preserved food added up to 2 tons. After Jiang Chen realized it was cheaper to purchase fresh food than canned food, Fishbone Base’s cafeteria no longer provided canned food. All cans were only sold, or as an award to survivors that contributed to the base.

With the assumption of one pound of rice per day per person, this food would last the group of two hundred two years. But considering the addition of seven hundred survivors soon, the rate of food consumption would undoubtedly increase. Even with an increase in survivors, the current storage of food would last at least half a year.

“Also, the base is preparing to add a new kinetic skeleton production line. Jiang Lin will send the list of purchases over in a bit. Send someone to purchase it from the Sixth Street.”

“Mhmm.” Wang Qin nodded and then wrote Jiang Chen’s words in the tablet. Following the increased quantity of supplies, one warehouse keeper was not enough. After asking for Wang Qin’s opinion, Jiang Chen added a logistics department to the base’s administration, responsible for managing warehouse supplies, daily consumption, and trade related tasks. Trade was previously the responsibility of Sun Jiao, but she seemed to get a headache with “small tasks” containing minuscule details, so she threw the duties to the logistics department.

The logistics department was of course led by Wang Qin. The department increased to five people, managing a total of six warehouses.

“I said you don’t have to be so anxious.” Seeing how the girl was taking notes seriously, Jiang Chen couldn’t stop laughing.

Although she had matured compared to when she just got to the base, the trait of blushing did not change at all.

“Also, what’s the status of Zhou Guoping’s bar in the Sixth Street?”

After recollecting her previous calmness, Wang Qin pushed her glasses up and said in a focused tone, “4000 cans of beer were consumed in October resulting in a total profit of 40,000 crystals.”

Hearing the news, Jiang Chen nodded.

He didn’t care about the profitability of the bar. He was more keen on using the traffic generated to bring him intelligence. The beers were only a few bucks in the modern world which was nothing.

But of course, as the saying goes, although mosquitoes were small, meat was still meat, and the income from the beers was quite good.

“Also, there is something else,” Wang Qin saw that Jiang Chen was in a good mood, but she hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

“Mhmm?”

“The raw material used to produce the automatic rifles and hummingbird drone, the Carm Tree sap, is out of stock.”

“Out of stock?” Jiang Chen frowned.

It was a big problem.

The threat of mutated human was approaching fast, the Fishbone base was working around the clock to produce firearms, and now Carm tree sap was out of stock?

“The plantation that provided us with Carm tree sap terminated the contract, and paid us 1000 crystals as the penalty,” Wang Qin said helplessly.

“Reason?”

“Following the increase in production on the Sixth Street, the price of Carm tree sap rose by 20%, which is much higher compared to the price signed on the contract. They also signed a large quantity long term deal with other companies. Therefore, they shamelessly terminated our contract.” Wang Qin said in anger.

“So how much is left in the base?” Jiang Chen said in a serious tone.

“2 tons left. Enough to maintain production for one more month.”

“Mhmm, I’ll take care of this.” Jiang Chen nodded.

[If the Sixth Street can’t supply it, the Fishbone base can just produce it on our own.]

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