Chapter 219: The Foundation Organization

“How about it, Brother Lin? So many guns. I’ll have my convoy digest them first, and then I’ll get the goods directly from you. Is that okay?”

Lin Xian looked at him meaningfully. “Do you know how much stock I have?”

“Uh…” Hu Lushou’s words caught in his throat. His expression shifted slightly as he looked at Lin Xian. “The more, the better! The more, the better! With such a powerful convoy, you can surely get any kind of supplies!”

Lin Xian’s gaze swept over Hu Lushou and the woman behind him. He said calmly, “So where do I find you when I have stock?”

Hearing this, Hu Lushou’s brow relaxed. He immediately said, “Our camp is at the Hengshan Pass Stadium. Why don’t you come over for a visit now? I’ll treat everyone to hotpot.”

“Really?”

Lin Xian smiled, just looking at Hu Lushou. His gaze made Hu Lushou’s hair stand on end.

“No need. You can go.” Lin Xian’s expression changed, and he directly refused. He could naturally see that this guy had a million reasons to want to slip away. However, he wasn’t here to be a bandit. There was no need to make an enemy of this mobile supply convoy; they might actually be useful in the future.

“Hey, alright! Brother Lin is magnanimous. Then we’ll… take our leave.” Hu Lushou beamed, quickly招呼 (zhāohu – beckoned) his underlings, and the group got into their vehicles and left in a dejected manner.

Vroom~

Watching Hu Lushou’s convoy leave, KIKI landed next to Lin Xian. “A guy like that, you’re just letting him go?”

“What else can we do?” Lin Xian chuckled. “He didn’t force us to buy or sell. We also got a truckload of supplies. What more do you want?”

Chen Sixuan looked at him. “Is he really going to cooperate with us?”

Lin Xian snorted. “What ‘agent for goods’? He means he’ll sell for me, and we shouldn’t care about the price. His real goal is to stop us from shouting prices on the radio to stabilize the prices in this area. That way, he can sell his many Spark-26 fully automatic tactical rifles at a higher price to recoup some costs. But whether we agree or not, his primary goal is to get away first.”

KIKI’s brow relaxed upon hearing this. “Oh,” she said. “That guy is pretty smart.”

Lin Xian took a deep breath. “But he was right about one thing. The monsters in the night are getting stronger. Humans will evolve, and so will the monsters. Maybe even the zombies will become stronger. The value of ordinary weapons will become lower and lower.”

Chen Sixuan nodded. “These survivor convoys have also realized that, which is why they all want heavy weapons.”

Lin Xian turned to the survivors who were still watching. “There are still guns. Do you still want to trade?”

“Yes!!” Cao Hong was the first to shout, his eyes practically bulging. For some reason, seeing Hu Lushou get put in his place gave him a secret thrill. He had thought the good deal he was about to get was going to be ruined, but he hadn’t expected the one before him to be the real big shot!

“Yes, yes, yes.”

The change in the situation instantly energized the group of survivors. This Infinity Convoy was a hidden big shot. The military supplies on the train were enough to equip a regiment. The other convoy members were stunned. When they came to their senses, they quickly gathered around the Infinity to continue the previous transaction.

At this moment, the middle-aged man named Liao Ming, after watching Hu Lushou’s convoy leave, walked over to Lin Xian.

“Brother, don’t believe that guy’s nonsense. He’s very cunning, and his goods weren’t obtained through trade.”

“Oh?” Lin Xian frowned. “What do you mean?”

Liao Ming pointed to a box of military-grade food supplies that his underlings had brought out. “So many standard supplies, how could they have been scrounged from survivors? When we bought from him before, his men boasted that their Fu Lu Shou convoy had a partnership with an official organization. That’s not true.”

His expression changed as he spoke, and he said to Lin Xian and the others in a serious tone, “You know Qingshui Town, right? It’s next to Shijiu Lake. A Federation government Type 095 Dragon-class transport ship crash-landed there a long time ago. It’s said that gold-toothed kid hit the jackpot and got a lot of survival supplies from that transport ship. That’s when he started trading and selling everywhere, recruiting a lot of people, and his convoy grew strong all of a sudden.”

“Wow, a Dragon-class transport ship! A ten-thousand-ton behemoth! His luck is too good,” KIKI gritted her teeth and said angrily, “What a load of dog crap luck.”

Lin Xian’s focus was different. He immediately asked Liao Ming, “Is that transport ship still there?”

“Why?” Liao Ming was taken aback, then smiled. “That thing has been stripped clean by who knows how many people. Qingshui Town is full of zombies now. You still want to go pick up scraps?”

“Just curious.” Lin Xian had a half-smile on his face, but his mind was already racing with ideas.

What he was interested in, of course, was the ten-thousand-ton transport ship itself. For such a large piece of machinery, even if it had crashed, he could scan its systems separately. This was the most important ‘supply’ for him!

Nuclear-powered turbine processors, levitation power engines, engine groups, shipborne radar, shipborne anti-aircraft weapons…

Even if it was just materials, the materials on a flying ship were much better than those of an ordinary train carriage. When he came out of Underground City No. 9, if it weren’t for the encroaching night, he would have salvaged some materials from the crashed Iron Guard Brigade gunships and fighters on Mount Daluo. The thought still filled him with regret.

…

Outside the Hengshan Pass train station, several high-speed armed vehicles rampaged through the overgrown streets, constantly smashing through various zombies.

In one of the vehicles, Hu Lushou sat in the passenger seat with a look of gritted teeth. His deputy, Sun Chang, was driving.

“Damn it, what a huge loss! A Silver Star and a Longshan One, these large train groups, just popped up, and now another Infinity appears? Damn it, these train drivers have so much stuff!”

The powerfully built Sun Chang drove steadily, saying without turning her head, “Their prices are very reasonable. Where’s the loss?”

“What the hell do you know!” Hu Lushou’s expression shifted. He snorted, looked at Sun Chang, and then his tone softened a bit.

“Anyway, you just watch. If we don’t sell these ordinary rifles quickly, they’ll be nothing but fire pokers before long!”

Sun Chang frowned slightly at his words but said nothing.

Vroom, the convoy sped away, attracting a trail of pursuing zombies.

There were many survivor teams in the Hengshan Pass area. Some had built long-term shelters in the city, while others were just passing through, aiming to take the eastern route to Star City, or preparing to take the northern route to the Dawn Center. Convoys and camps of all sizes were stationed in various corners of the city: supermarkets, warehouses, police stations, prisons, and other places with relatively high protective facilities.

The Infinity’s first trade initiated via radio was quite successful. Various living supplies were successively moved onto the train by the team members and stacked in storage carriages No. 7 and No. 6. The survivor convoys, having traded for weapons at a low price, were all in high spirits.

Before long, the convoys that had finished trading drove away one after another, and the Hengshan Pass station gradually quieted down.

Only after all the variously painted convoys had left did Lin Xian notice an armored car parked in a corner. A short-haired woman in a black coat stood in front of the car. It seemed no one had noticed her. She just stood there, her gaze quietly fixed on Lin Xian’s group.

When Lin Xian’s gaze shifted to her, the woman gave him a slight smile, looking like an acquaintance greeting him.

Lin Xian frowned, feeling a bit baffled, as he did not know the woman.

At this time, Chen Sixuan and the others were busy moving supplies and taking inventory on the train. Feeling suspicious, Lin Xian walked straight over.

Seeing Lin Xian approach, a slight smile appeared on the woman’s face.

The woman looked to be in her thirties. She had neat, clean, ear-length short hair. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was pleasant to look at, especially her eyes. Her dark brown pupils gave off a very deep feeling.

“Hello, we meet again,” the woman’s voice was steady as she greeted him first.

Lin Xian was a bit surprised and asked doubtfully, “Have we met?”

“Hua Xiaoling.”

The woman extended her hand and introduced herself. “The Ascension Elevator. It was all thanks to your ‘Traction Plan’.”

Lin Xian realized and shook her hand. “You also came from Yubei City?”

Hua Xiaoling smiled faintly and looked at Lin Xian. “In that environment, you were busy saving the world. You probably didn’t notice me. But that was truly a genius plan.”

“You flatter me.”

Lin Xian looked at the armored car behind Hua Xiaoling. It was a standard combat-grade armored vehicle. From its appearance alone, it didn’t look like a survivor’s vehicle. The black windows made it impossible to see how many people were inside. This seemed to be the special vehicle of some high-level organization. From the looks of it, they weren’t here to buy guns from him.

“Did you hear the radio and come looking for me specifically?” Lin Xian asked.

Hua Xiaoling took out a business card and handed it to Lin Xian. “We are very interested in your mechanical Esper ability, so the Foundation has entrusted me to extend an invitation for cooperation. I wonder if you are interested.”

Hearing “the Foundation,” Lin Xian took the business card in confusion. On it was written:

`SIID Foundation Laboratory, Senior Director, Hua Xiaoling`

“SIID Foundation Laboratory?” Lin Xian frowned. “Are you from the Federation?”

He remembered that after escaping from the Aberration radio, KIKI had shown him a document about the Angel Project, which mentioned a Special Item Investigation Department, referring to SIID. This department was said to specialize in research on forbidden objects.

Hua Xiaoling smiled faintly. “Strictly speaking, the SIID Foundation Laboratory is a large research organization established by the Luo Fei Consortium. Before the dissolution of the Federation government, we had a cooperative relationship with the government. But now, we are a separate organizational system.”

“Separate? What do you mean?”

“It means that whether it’s the Phoenix Society or Dawn City, we maintain a neutral position between them.” Seeing Lin Xian’s confusion, Hua Xiaoling looked at him with a smile. “Ordinary people might find the current organizational structure of the Federation and the Phoenix Society very confusing. This is mainly due to the different philosophies of various factions in the face of civilizational survival. The currently widely recognized official organization is still the Salvation Faction, led by the Phoenix Society. The Phoenix Society has three core organizations: the three major Dawn Cities, the Nightwalker organization, which is specially responsible for the research and development of Esper abilities, recruitment of Espers, and dispatching them on global missions, and finally, the Interstellar Army.”

“As for the Survival Faction, which is mainly focused on the Dawn Project, many survivors still regard the old Federation government as the official one in the current environment.”

“After the first polar night, the original Angel Project was disbanded and split into many parts. The ‘Special Item Investigation Department’ you mentioned is a research group invested in and built by our SIID Foundation, responsible for the research of some special dark night items.”

“And our Foundation’s philosophy is to study the existing civilization system and the dark invasion from a scientific perspective. Simply put, we are looking for an opportunity for human civilization to transform.”

Lin Xian frowned upon hearing this and asked, “Are you the Adventist Faction?”

Hua Xiaoling smiled. “Captain Lin, don’t be nervous. As I said, we are a neutral organization. The Adventist Faction you’re referring to should be those people who fanatically worship the power of darkness and regard the apocalyptic power of world destruction as a creator god.”

She tilted her head slightly as she spoke. “In the eyes of us scientists, these people have problems with their brains.”

“They do have problems.” Lin Xian took a breath and looked at Hua Xiaoling. “So what do you want to cooperate with me on?”

“Mechanical creation.”

Hua Xiaoling got straight to the point. “If we’re talking about the opportunity for civilizational transformation, for us scientists, the most promising fields are naturally artificial intelligence and high technology. This is also the only remaining will of our current civilization. Genetic evolution and Esper abilities are still relatively unfamiliar directions for us. Don’t you think so?”

Lin Xian understood. The other party was interested in his mechanical Esper ability.

This seemed to be the only functional Esper ability in the Esper system that could be linked to human technology.

*Unfortunately, my ability is not an Esper ability…*

Lin Xian sighed inwardly.

“You have a point, but you might be thinking of my ability as too magical.”

It was indeed magical. The R&D center could directly create generation-skipping blueprints. But Lin Xian didn’t want to publicize it. Even just mechanical manufacturing and devouring were already heaven-defying enough in the eyes of ordinary people. Many people in Yubei City already knew. At that time, in a life-and-death situation, he had no choice but to reveal it. But now, in the aftermath, it would definitely attract some people’s attention.

For example, the Phoenix Society.

But what Lin Xian hadn’t expected was that before the Phoenix Society people arrived, the first to approach him was this SIID Foundation Laboratory.

Hearing Lin Xian’s words, Hua Xiaoling just smiled lightly and didn’t discuss it further. Instead, she said to him calmly,

“It’s okay. We have an all-weather laboratory at Shijiu Lake. We have many achievements in the research of the dark night, genetic evolution, and Esper abilities. You are welcome to come and exchange ideas at any time. You might be very interested in your mechanical Esper ability.”

“Alright,” Lin Xian responded.

Hua Xiaoling smiled faintly, then turned and got into the car. The black armored car quickly drove away and soon disappeared at the end of the station.

“The Foundation, Luo Fei Consortium, Angel Project, crashed transport ship…”

Lin Xian looked in the direction the armored car had left, deep in thought.

“Where did this neutral organization suddenly pop out from?”

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