Chapter 54: Growing Big and Strong

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Chen Jian and the other six members of the squad unpacked all the sealed crates, neatly arranging their contents on the ground before moving the empty boxes into the corridor. Only after everything was organized did they return to inspect the first level of the fortification one by one.

Unlike the second and third levels, the first level primarily stored “consumable” supplies.

At a glance, there were various weapons, ammunition, common tools, medicines, and so forth.

Chen Jian examined each item with a mixed expression of relief and concern.

He was pleased because there was a large quantity of supplies, enough to handle most situations.

Yet he worried that after 300 years, many of these items were likely unusable.

Letting out a soft breath, Chen Jian issued an order:

“Shen Yue, first sort out the medicines and see what we have and whether they’re still usable.”

“Understood.”

Shen Yue immediately set to work, counting the medicines on the ground and reporting as she went:

“120 ampoules of adrenaline in constant temperature packaging.”

“But the thermostat boxes have completely failed, the seals are broken, so we can almost be certain they’re no longer effective.”

“A large quantity of naloxone hydrochloride and methylprednisolone, emergency drugs for multi-organ failure, obviously unusable.”

“Radiation antidotes like nilestriol, acetylcysteine, indoleamine—all hormones or amines—also not usable.”

“However, there’s a small amount of sulfur-containing metal chelators, which I think might still work, though we probably won’t need them.”

“After all, so far we haven’t detected any excessive radiation.”

“Most of the rest are common medications—antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, vitamins, trace elements... not much is usable, but I think powdered antibiotics might still be viable.”

“Though it’s best not to take risks—they left us a backup plan.”

“There’s a complete set of paper manuals for vancomycin synthesis, along with fermenters, chromatography purification devices, and drying equipment. The only problem is the lack of raw materials, but the guide also explains how to isolate Streptomyces orientalis from soil.”

“The process is complex, but synthesis is possible.”

“If conditions are limited, first making penicillin from oranges is simpler.”

“That’s about it. The rest are mostly disinfectants for treating wounds and various surgical and bandaging instruments, which are still usable.”

“That’s enough.”

Chen Jian nodded and continued:

“Our most likely challenge is dealing with wounds. If we can manage that, the rest can be solved gradually.”

“Yes, I think that won’t be a big problem.”

Shen Yue put down the bandage and thoughtfully remarked:

“Still, the drug formulation is quite targeted... They were clearly highly suspicious of radiation but paid comparatively less attention to viruses.”

“Lei Jie, have you finished reviewing the data on the computer? What does the information uploaded from Huaxi say?”

Hearing this, Lei Jie, who was studying the preserved data on the terminal nearby, shook his head and said disappointedly:

“Most of the Huaxi uploads are rather routine reports—detailed, but I can’t find any issues.”

“Even if we wanted to analyze it, it’s beyond our level to understand. Finding any clues is extremely difficult.”

“More importantly, it mentions that although patients suffered multi-organ failure, no obvious damage was observed on their skin, no signs of muscle breakdown, nor radiation damage inside bones.”

“Very strange—is this really radiation?”

“Maybe they died too quickly for thorough analysis…”

Chen Jian interrupted, then said:

“Enough for now; let’s look at the weapons directly.”

“What do we have?”

Hearing this, He Shuo, who was organizing the weapons, immediately became lively.

“There’s a lot!”

“Four PBP201 mortars—the same model as the ones we found before, but these have integrated electro-optical aiming systems and are still functional.”

“48 rounds of ammunition, spread across 8 boxes.”

“One QLU-193 sniper grenade launcher, lighter than the QLU-131, with a foldable stock, but the caliber is slightly larger.”

“120 rounds, 5 boxes.”

“Fear of insufficient firepower is really terminal... Twenty more years have passed, and it’s still not cured?”

“If it could be cured, that would be strange.”

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Chen Jian waved his hand and squatted down to take a look. Suddenly, Zeng Yi, standing nearby, asked:

“Is this the gun you used when you took down the mother creature in Chuansha City?”

Chen Jian nodded, replying:

“It’s the same type, but not the exact same one.”

“I see... a very powerful firearm, stronger than some of the artillery used by the Mechanical Church.”

“Artillery?”

Chen Jian laughed softly.

“That thing doesn’t even deserve to be called 'artillery.' If we ever find something like a 155mm howitzer, then you’ll understand what the true God of War is.”

“155mm howitzer…”

Zeng Yi nodded thoughtfully, keeping the name in mind without further comment.

Mentioning the 155mm howitzer seemed to remind Chen Jian of something; he continued:

“What about heavy weapons? Surely it’s not all just individual weapons?”

“There are heavy weapons.”

He Shuo stood up, pointing to the boxes behind him:

“These two boxes contain disassembled QJZ-301 machine guns, 12.7x108 caliber, with 4,000 rounds of ammunition.”

“This box has a titanium alloy QJG-22 heavy machine gun, 14.5 caliber, with 8,000 rounds.”

“The bigger the caliber, the more ammo—what kind of logic is that…”

Chen Jian joked, and He Shuo laughed in response:

“If you fire the heavy machine gun horizontally, 8,000 rounds aren’t actually enough. Don’t be fooled by how easy it seemed to take down that giant bullfrog; it was actually quite dangerous.”

“With these two suppressive weapons, even if the bullets don’t kill it, they can pin it down on the spot.”

“That’s impossible—it must be penetrated.”

Chen Jian shook his head:

“Given the physical strength of a level-three monster, a single burst from a 14.5 caliber heavy machine gun should pulverize it.”

“Still, ammo is insufficient. Even if used liberally, it’s only enough for five or six creatures.”

“That’s somewhat extravagant—there are also grenade launchers for use.”

“DZJ19, the same model you used before, 24 rounds.”

He Shuo grinned and continued:

“All this stuff takes up enough space for an infantry fighting vehicle, and if cleared out, could even fit a Type 99A tank.”

“Not sure why the weapons were configured like this…”

Before Chen Jian could reply, Xie Liu suddenly spoke:

“Maybe those predecessors from the old era… didn’t expect monsters?”

“Or they thought that leaving these things behind, later generations might not even use them?”

Chen Jian was momentarily stunned.

“That’s probably true… but do you know what a Type 99A is?”

“You mentioned it when we entered Hanshui City—I remembered.”

“So that wasn’t a ‘Sacred Elephant,’ it’s… an infantry fighting vehicle?”

Xie Liu asked tentatively.

“No, the Type 99A is a tank; infantry fighting vehicles are something else.”

Chen Jian answered casually, and Xie Liu looked enlightened.

Since stepping into this underground space, she felt as though she had entered a completely different world.

The glory of the old era was concretely embodied in these weapons, equipment, and medicines she couldn’t even name, making her wonder just how powerful that time must have been.

Perhaps if not for the sudden great catastrophe, even the monsters would have been mere ants beneath godlike humans.

No, the Chosen Ones had said—they didn’t believe in gods.

They only believed in themselves.

Because they believed only in themselves, they created such a world?

Xie Liu felt she was drawing closer to the Chosen Ones, though she couldn’t quite say why…

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Meanwhile, Chen Jian hadn’t noticed her subtle change. He had followed He Shuo to the largest pile of weapons.

“There are two automatic grenade launchers, QLZ-24, 30mm caliber. Judging by the mounts below, they should be installed on Meow Meow vehicles. There are 480 rounds of ammo.”

“This is an 82mm recoilless rifle, PBW024. There are 24 rounds—8 armor-piercing, 8 assault, and 8 demolition shells. Overall, not bad.”

“The rest are all rifles—all 7.62 caliber Type 191s, plus four Type 201 machine guns, also 7.62. The ammo count is hard to keep track of; at least 20,000 rounds in about twenty boxes.”

“In the short term, we definitely won’t lack light weapon ammo.”

“But heavy firepower… is seriously lacking.”

“Considering safety, if we compare to the level-three monsters we defeated before, this might be enough to kill about twenty of them?”

“If we encounter level-two monsters, maybe just a few kills?”

“That’s not how it works.”

Hearing He Shuo’s estimate, Zeng Yi interjected:

“If you think these weapons can kill twenty level-three monsters, then for level-two monsters, they might only manage one or two kills, or maybe none at all.”

“Really that exaggerated?”

“Yes.”

Zeng Yi nodded and continued:

“Although level-three monsters are strong, there are quite a few—at least a thousand.”

“Most of the time, they coexist peacefully with humans who don’t invade their territory.”

“At level two and above, monster numbers sharply decrease.”

“Based on current records, southern regions have fewer than forty level-two monsters.”

“As for level-one monsters, the Mechanical Church has encountered two, and the Holy Blood Cathedral has records of four, two of which are the same creature—so only five have been seen.”

“I see…”

Chen Jian frowned, thinking for a moment before adding:

“But the density seems off. Considering the territory of that level-three monster in Hanshui, the whole country couldn’t possibly hold that many, especially with barren zones where food is scarce.”

“There is enough food.”

Zeng Yi explained again:

“Not all monsters are huge. Some level-two monsters are only slightly larger than the mantises you’ve seen—just four or five meters tall.”

“But their combat abilities… are very strong.”

“You’ve seen one?”

Chen Jian asked sharply.

“Yes.”

Zeng Yi took a deep breath:

“In Luling, two years ago, one monster slaughtered over a thousand people overnight, then retreated to the mountains.”

“It hasn’t appeared since.”

“We were sent to scout, but we still don’t know why it killed people or why it left afterward.”

“The only clue is the name given by locals—‘Mountain Demon.’”

Chen Jian glanced at Xie Liu and Li Shi; both nodded in agreement.

It seemed the monster classification wasn’t as precise as he’d thought—it was purely based on whether humans could handle them.

Fortunately, the environment was relatively stable now, so there was no need for undue worry.

With that in mind, Chen Jian said:

“That’s basically all the supplies. Regarding weapons, we’re quite well off now.”

“But before that… we have two issues.”

“Food and shelter.”

“The fort’s emergency reserves have only a small amount of food—not enough to last long.”

“Next, we need to find a way to secure sufficient food and build living quarters.”

“We want to grow strong and large, with frontier construction and a Southern Muddy Bay-style base.”