Armor-Piercing Munition: Face Me, Carbon-Based Monster!
Chapter 240 - 97 Expansion!

Chapter 240: Chapter 97 Expansion!

At ten in the morning, there were still 6 hours left until the last deadline set by Chen Jian for the "Pope" Jin Cheng.

He wasn’t eager to get a reply from the other party, as he knew that the three conditions he set weren’t easily achievable.

The reason for setting such a strict deadline was actually to give sufficient pressure to the other party.

If they showed a positive attitude, then a slight delay wouldn’t matter.

But if they tried to throw a tantrum or act shamelessly, the one negotiating with them next wouldn’t be him, but War Skull.

After all, the entire Jinling City was within the coverage of the network, and also within the alert range of Fu Xi and War Skull. Even if the other side planned to break ties and fired heavy artillery at the manor, the drones in the sky would be able to kill everyone in Jinling City before they reloaded their ammunition.

So, while he couldn’t move freely within Jinling City for security reasons before the negotiation started and the agreement was drafted, he still appeared calm.

In fact, he even managed to arrange a new meeting during the gap.

A meeting with representatives from the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

In truth, one of their important goals in coming to Jinling was to find the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce, to reach a cooperation with them, and open trade routes to solve the resource issues of Yellow Stone City.

But due to the high density of their combat operations and the successive discovery of new important clues earlier, this goal was sidelined.

Now that a major operation phase had finally concluded, Chen Jian restarted this mission and, after the representatives arrived, began negotiations with them with high efficiency.

Guided by Fu Xi, Chen Jian provided a list to the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

The list included a series of materials such as food, steel, rare metals, minerals, and coal. The main purpose of obtaining these items was to lay the foundation for the initial stage of industrialization and to stockpile resources in advance.

Chen Jian thought it would be easy to get these things, but he overlooked one issue:

In an era where equipment was acquired through grave digging and steel was smelted by dismantling houses, even the largest Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce couldn’t understand what they needed exactly.

Food, steel, saltpeter, and coal were understandable, but to them, the names of other minerals were basically gibberish.

What’s pyrite?

What’s a phosphate rock?

What’s lithium ore?

What are rare earths?

What on earth are you talking about??

Why would anyone be interested in these inexplicable things?

The representative of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was full of questions, so Chen Jian had to promise to provide a detailed list later, explaining the characteristics of each item to facilitate their procurement or collection.

And until their business was familiar enough and they couldn’t smoothly complete resource collection tasks, the focus would remain on food, steel, saltpeter, and coal.

The representative expressed his gratitude to Chen Jian for his generosity, as if he was blessed with a great favor rather than negotiating a business deal with Chen Jian.

Chen Jian found his reaction amusing yet couldn’t say anything.

"Damn it, if you’re so grateful, why not give a little on the price!"

"You say so many nice words, but when it comes to prices, they’re as stubborn as a mule and won’t back down an inch."

Haggling for over an hour and when it seemed impossible to reduce the prices further, after confirming market prices with Zeng Yi and others, Chen Jian finally relented and reached a preliminary cooperation framework.

After seeing the representative off, Chen Jian couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

"Damn, negotiating with these businessmen is even more exhausting than fighting a war..."

"That’s why people say business is like war, right?"

Lei Jie, on the side, was rummaging through the gifts brought by the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce representative and continued to speak:

"Actually, it’s quite normal. What we need is too strange and massive, and in this world’s environment, acquiring them isn’t easy."

"His reluctance to lower prices is normal; it’s not like in our times where inventory and production capacity needed to be reduced casually."

"Rebuilding an industry isn’t easy... By the way, have you thought about how far we need to go?"

Upon hearing Lei Jie’s words, Chen Jian paused briefly before answering:

"According to Fu Xi’s calculations, relying on the equipment and resources in Fortification 011, we have several directions to choose from."

"The first is to follow the historical timeline of several industrial revolutions, prioritizing the restoration of all major post-First Industrial Revolution technologies."

"Including steam engine technology, coke steelmaking, standardized parts, etc."

"After these industries form a self-circulating system, we proceed to complete the Second and Third Industrial Revolutions sequentially, leading to a push toward information industry."

"Theoretically, this is the most secure plan."

"But the problem is that this plan requires a ridiculously long time. Even with artificial intelligence support, with insufficient industrial workers and inadequate education levels, it would take over a century to roll out."

"And if we follow the second plan, skipping the First Industrial Revolution and starting from the Second Industrial Revolution, although the process shortens, it’s not by much."

"Education is a confinement that will firmly lock the pace of industrial development."

"So, to quickly restore industrial production, we actually only have one choice."

"That is, to directly skip all prerequisites and hard tackle intelligent industry."

"This way, we can limit our focus to a relatively small scope."

"Or more precisely, the industrial equipment we need to build in the short term can be limited to fewer quantities."

"For instance, we don’t need to establish large-scale mines, chemical plants, and the like."

"On the contrary, we build what we need, when we need it."

"If we need weapons, we build an armory; if we need vehicles, we build an automobile assembly line."

"In summary, it’s about using limited resources as much as possible, especially intelligent equipment and smart chip resources, to solve pressing issues."

"If we encounter resource shortages, or lack of industry matching during the process, we resolve that through continued activation of disaster preparedness fortifications and more grave digging."

"This fits with our initial big strategy, and also adapts to the basic environment of this world."

"The only problem might be.... this is an expansionary route."

"Once we commit to this path, the battles are unlikely to cease."

"Understood."

Lei Jie seemed to ponder for a moment before responding:

"The essence of this route is to condense that superpower we used to be into a miniature small country, and then develop through continuous external expansion, right?"

"Yes."

Chen Jian nodded solemnly, and Lei Jie immediately raised his hand:

"Then I support this path."

"History has taught us that when faced with a strong foreign enemy, the path of peaceful development doesn’t work."

"We still have to dare to show our swords---besides, our swords are quite sharp."

"I think so too."

Chen Jian smiled slightly and then said:

"Another benefit of this route is that it maintains our technological gap with other powers to the maximum extent."

"This aspect is beneficial both for our safety and for subsequent ’unification’."

"Whereas the challenging part is that the cold start is genuinely too difficult."

"The balance is quite fragile; if we cannot maintain the momentum of expansion, and if resource acquisition stalls, then it would be... beyond salvation."

"Therefore, we need a powerful army."

Lei Jie blinked and suddenly said:

"Why do I feel like this sounds familiar? It feels somewhat dazzling suddenly..."

"Oh, cut it out!"

Chen Jian couldn’t help but laugh as he glared at Lei Jie and then said:

"This is a choice out of necessity, and it’s our best choice."

"After all, time is limited; once Fortification 011 is activated, the lifespan of the equipment is also limited."

"During the limited lifespan, we still have to try our best to accomplish significant things...."

"Indeed."

Lei Jie no longer spoke; at that moment, he understood Chen Jian’s intentions.

He didn’t want to be the sun on the wasteland.

However, in the absence of options, there are steps that must be taken.

He lowered his head and continued to try to find something useful from the pile of gifts, and it was at this moment that the room’s door suddenly knocked.

Everyone simultaneously looked up, and Huang Yu, who was guarding the door, confirmed it was safe before opening it. Standing outside was the representative of the Mechanical God Sect in charge of reception.

The latter slightly bowed, first bowing, then spoke respectfully:

"Ladies and gentlemen."

"The commander of the Holy Temple Guard Brigade 15th Brigade is outside."

"He said he wanted to meet you..."