Chapter 26: Picking Up a Bargain

A few minutes later, on the steamship.

By trading a small portion of their resources and concealing their equipment packs, the group successfully boarded the vessel and secured a cabin at the stern.

From the conversation between Xu Lie and the ship's owner, Chen Jian gained a new perspective on the conflict between the two major factions: the Mechanicus Church and the Hall of Holy Blood. It was clear that they were not in a state of total opposition. On the contrary, these two forces operated in a parallel state of cooperation and competition; while there were frictions, they had not yet escalated to the point of irreconcilable, large-scale warfare. Among the lower and middle ranks, relations were, in fact, quite harmonious.

This explained why Xu Lie had previously mentioned he could send his pistol to the Mechanicus Church to "soothe the machine spirit," and why they were able to travel thousands of miles from Jinling to Chuansha just to take down a Level 4 monster. They were not limited to traveling on foot; there were transport ships on the rivers and steam trucks on the roads belonging to the Mechanicus Church. Although these were rare, they could always be caught with proper planning.

The world was shattered, yet a powerful vitality drove it forward, stumbling along with an astonishing resilience. As the steam whistle echoed across the river, which had flowed for ten thousand years, Chen Jian felt as if he were hearing a hymn.

No, it wasn't "as if."

The crew of the Mechanicus Church were truly singing.

"In the name of the Holy Power, proclaim the name of the Trinity in a loud voice! All glory to the God of All Machines!"
"May the faithful gears never rust, may the holy gunpowder never decay!"
"Whistle once! Push the levers, start the pistons and pumps!"
"Whistle twice! Turn the helm, ignite the engines, inject life!"
"Whistle thrice! Sing in unison, praise the God of All Machines!"
"From confusion and ignorance, Most Holy Trinity, save us!"
"From the desolation of ruins, Iron and Steel, protect us!"
"From the claws and fangs of monsters, Gunpowder, shield us!"
"From the temptation of mutation, Steam, purify us!"
"From this rotting cage of life, God of Machines, set us free!"
"Trinity! Trinity!"
"We praise the name of the Saint!"
...

The more Chen Jian listened, the more something felt off. He turned to Shen Yue beside him and asked, "That 'Trinity' they are singing about—it wouldn't be the 'Trinity' I'm thinking of, would it?"

Shen Yue was fiddling with a single-shot rifled gun they had seized from the residents of Xia-Ma Town. He clicked his tongue twice and said, "I suspect it is exactly that Trinity."

"Tell me, why don't they sing about Xu Gong? Why not Sany? Are they not prestigious enough?"

"Likely because they haven't seen them..." Chen Jian rubbed his forehead, lost in thought, and continued, "It’s highly probable that the founder of the Mechanicus Church saw a Sany Heavy Industry gantry crane somewhere and was awestruck by such massive machinery. Or perhaps this group had some connection to Sany in the beginning, and as it was passed down through generations, what was once just a common name slowly took on a religious nature."

"It’s quite comical... Tell me, the Saint of the Hall of Holy Blood, wouldn't happen to be named Tan Jiazhen, would he?"

Lei Jie, sitting opposite them, smiled mysteriously and interjected, "By their logic, I think he should be named Dolly."

"A cloned sheep? That's abstract."

Chen Jian turned to look at Xu Lie nearby and asked, "Hey, does your Hall of Holy Blood have a Saint?"

"Certainly not," Xu Lie replied immediately. "Didn't I say? We are a sect that strives for progress. We don't view those ancient powerhouses as saints. We will only become stronger than them!"

"Good, that's the spirit!" Chen Jian gave him a thumbs-up. Xu Lie, thinking he was genuinely being praised, immediately broke into a smile. "Of course it's the spirit. Our Hall of Holy Blood is the true beacon in the wasteland, we..."

*Knock, knock, knock!*

Before he could finish, a knock sounded at the cabin door. Chen Jian instinctively reached for the pistol hidden beneath his clothes, but Xu Lie gestured for him to stay calm.

"It should be someone looking to trade. We aren't the only passengers on this ship; some civilians hitch rides as well..."

As he spoke, Xu Lie opened the door. Sure enough, it was just a man with a little girl. The man appeared respectful, bowing his head immediately upon seeing Xu Lie, and said, "Respected master, we heard you have food to trade. I have some high-quality metal and gears; I wonder if you would be willing to trade with us?"

Xu Lie didn't answer immediately. "Let me see what you have first."

The man quickly pulled a bag from behind him and carefully took out the contents: a pile of gears, shimmering stainless steel, a small amount of brass, and a few scraps of aluminum. At a glance, it looked like a pile of junk, even to a local like Xu Lie.

"We don't need any of these," Xu Lie said. "But if you need food, we can spare some—remember, this is a gift from the Hall of Holy Blood!"

"Praise the Hall of Holy Blood!" The man beamed, while the girl hiding behind him blinked, looking at Xu Lie with curiosity. She had heard of the Hall of Holy Blood, of course, but perhaps she was still too young to understand the meaning of the name.

Xu Lie took several portions of dry rations made from wheat flour—the same ones Chen Jian had eaten earlier—and handed them to the girl. He gently patted her head, playing the part of "God loves the world" to perfection. Chen Jian found it amusing but didn't tease him. After all, these were the rules of this land, and as an outsider, what right did he have to question them?

The man, having secured the food, prepared to leave with the girl. But just as the girl turned, Chen Jian noticed she was fiddling with something in her hand. It was a pure black metal cube with an LCD screen on the front. Every time the girl pressed the single button on the side, a string of characters appeared briefly on the screen.

Chen Jian couldn't see the specific information, but he instinctively felt that this object was not simple.

"Wait a moment!" Chen Jian called out to them. "Little one, can you let me see your toy?"

The girl looked at her father. Only after he nodded did she hesitantly hand the item over to Chen Jian. Chen Jian took it, glanced at it, and decided immediately: "We want this. Name your price."

The man was stunned. He seemed to realize the item's value and wanted to raise the price, but after glancing at the threatening gazes of Xu Lie and the others, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"It's just a little toy... If you want it, just take it."

Chen Jian nodded and said to Xu Lie, "Give him some gold. Deduct it from my bounty."

"How much?" Xu Lie asked without hesitation.

"About the value of a few dozen pistol rounds. You decide."

"Understood." Xu Lie immediately took some gold grains from his pocket, picked out one of appropriate size, and handed it to the man.

The man was overjoyed. He probably never imagined he could sell this thing for such a high price without even having to haggle. The gold grain Xu Lie gave him weighed at least 40 grams, enough to buy him food for two months... He took the gold, bowed repeatedly, and left.

After they had gone, Xu Lie leaned in and asked, "What is that thing? Why is it worth so much?"

Chen Jian calmly put the item away and replied, "It's a ballistic calculator. It can calculate the trajectory of firearms and is used to calibrate guns."

"I see..." Xu Lie realized, then walked away, bored. He didn't need such things; the battles of the Holy Blood were close-quarters brawls. Perhaps only the Mechanicus Church and these "Chosen Ones" would need such a thing.

But what he didn't know was that after he turned away, Chen Jian, with his back to him, quietly made a few hand gestures. Combined with his lip movements, it was the simplest form of sign language.

And the meaning of those signs was...

"Code device."

"A code device with coordinates!"