CHAPTER 339: CHAPTER 154: SELLING GUNS (PART 2)

These days, as long as you’re a trader active in the wastelands, you somewhat know a bit about weapons.

But when he actually held the gun in his hand, the light and airy feel made him even more skeptical about the gun’s performance.

"The bullets are already loaded, try firing it."

"Don’t worry, we won’t charge you for test-firing the bullets."

"Thank you, thank you!"

The trader, still skeptical, followed Huang Yu to the edge of the field, held the handguard as instructed, and pressed the gun against his waist.

Then, he pulled the trigger.

"Bang bang bang bang bang----"

Bullets poured out like a torrential rain, and the enormous recoil almost knocked him over.

Luckily, he quickly released the trigger, preventing the bullets from flying where they shouldn’t.

"Powerful!!"

The trader’s eyes lit up.

He took a deep breath, changed to a slightly forward stance and once again gripped the handguard, estimating to aim at the tree ahead.

"Bang bang bang bang bang----"

This time, he emptied the whole bullet chamber in one go.

Right after that, he eagerly ran to the tree to check the damage, and upon seeing the shattered trunk, he almost immediately said:

"I’ll take this one!"

Chen Jian had a slight smile on his face, just about to speak, when the trader’s eyes shifted as he suddenly said:

"But, the performance of this gun... it’s not as good as the rifle the adults use, right?"

"So the price... perhaps should be a bit discounted?"

"50 grams of gold, bulk purchases have discounts."

"That’s a bit too expensive... 40 grams?"

The trader tentatively suggested.

"Deal!"

Chen Jian decisively agreed, afraid that the other party would change his mind.

grams!

The manufacturing cost of this item, when converted into gold, is only around 3 grams, selling at 40 grams is already a huge profit.

Of course, right now he is just using this batch of guns as a counteroffer.

If future production can keep up and it needs to be used as a dumping product, the price can still be pressed down further.

As long as Jinling City has enough steel for trade, the production line for this gun will never shut down.

Seeing Chen Jian’s expression, the trader immediately realized he had quoted too high a price.

He wanted to backtrack, but upon reconsidering, this is only the first transaction, and there’s still ample room for negotiating prices in the future.

So, he didn’t dwell on it further and instead said with a smiling face:

"In that case, let’s go ahead with the deal."

"Sir, I’m heading back to Jinling today, can I take the gun with me today?"

"I’m afraid you can’t take it."

Chen Jian shook his head and replied:

"The gun hasn’t been made yet."

"Huh?!"

The trader was dumbfounded.

"Sir... this gun... is it made by you?! "

"Not excavated from a treasure vault in the ruins?!"

"Of course not."

Chen Jian gestured for the trader to follow him, then walked straight towards a nearby "armory" which hadn’t had time to have its brick walls built yet, only simply covered with a few wooden poles and waterproof fabric.

As the curtain lifted, the roaring punch machines were instantly exposed to the trader.

The trader’s eyes widened.

He had actually already noticed the "shed" at the edge of the square that was rumbling loudly.

Unlike the steel mill whose function was immediately obvious, or the coking plant that wasn’t entirely clear in function but roughly known to process products using coal, this shed was too small and too rudimentary, he even initially thought it was a forge meant for hammering materials.

But upon seeing the giant hammers mold various parts like flowing water, and then being conveyed to several workers assembling them one by one, he was dumbstruck.

A gun... can be made this way?!

Indeed, the Mechanical God Sect had long formed the concepts of specialized roles and assembly lines, but when compared to this, he suddenly realized that the Mechanical God Sect’s so-called "efficiency" and "cooperation" were essentially a joke.

He saw with his own eyes the female Holy Blood member sitting at the very front swiftly assembled a gun from various parts in less than 20 seconds, then without looking back threw the gun into the enormous wooden box behind her.

As if she were tossing just a plain iron rod.

That was a gun.

A semi-automatic, firepower intense rifle!

The trader’s lips quivered slightly, then he asked:

"Sir... how many of these guns can you produce in a day?"

"Around 500 to 600."

Chen Jian replied casually:

"Currently, production is mainly limited by iron raw materials, so in the future, if you have steel, just transport it directly to us."

"Giving it to those pretentious ones of the Mechanical God Sect is a waste, don’t you think?"

"Yes, yes...."

The merchant nodded repeatedly and then quickly said:

"Sir, can I stay here for a night?"

"Tomorrow morning, if the guns are finished, I’ll take them back!"

"Of course you can."

Chen Jian nodded gently and said:

"I’ve prepared special rooms for you and your caravan."

"Perhaps you can take a good look around and see what kind of world this really is...."

....

Two hours later.

Inside the 011 facility, in the living area, within a separately divided resting cabin.

The merchant named "Li Chen" was savoring the juice from a canned peach while sighing continuously:

"If there really is a heaven, it must be here..."

After he spoke, the merchants around him nodded in agreement.

They certainly didn’t know the saying "Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden," but their experiences after entering the 011 facility and their reactions vividly illustrated the saying.

They had never bathed in a shower that automatically sprayed hot water.

They had never seen robots serving them meals.

They didn’t know why the lights automatically turned on.

They couldn’t understand the melodious music resonating in the living area.

But, they were immensely curious about everything here.

"Before this, I only knew that the Huaxia Army had excessively strong combat power."

"Now, it seems they might not be of the same world as us."

"No wonder even the Saint calls them ’Angels’..."

"Perhaps, they are indeed Angels."

"Otherwise, the Mechanical God Sect has excavated so many ruins, yet they’ve never found a place like this?"

"It’s very likely these treasuries were meant for Angels, and if Angels hadn’t arrived, the treasuries in the ruins wouldn’t have revealed their true forms....."

Li Chen continued to strategize, while others nodded in agreement.

"Very reasonable."

"Indeed it is."

"So perhaps, going forward, should our trade focus...really shift to here?"

"Of course!"

Li Chen naturally said:

"The gentlemen of the Huaxia Army already have everything; the only thing they lack now is food."

"But today, they’ve bought so many seeds."

"By this autumn, they’ll become the largest farmers on this land!"

"Don’t think they can’t do it; they can do anything!"

"The fire has already started, and in a few days, they’ll begin planting."

"Once these seeds are sown...this world may also start to change slowly...."

As the words fell silent, everyone simultaneously slipped into silence.

At this moment, they were still immersed in the shock brought to them by the 011 facility.

But they didn’t yet know that the seeds Chen Jian was about to sow weren’t limited to growing in the soil....

...

Elsewhere, in the combat command room.

Chen Jian and several others were sitting together, discussing the next steps while observing the reactions of several merchants through the camera.

"...from their reactions, it seems our strategy has fully succeeded."

"I believe very soon, they’ll spread the news about this place far and wide."

"By then, our difficulties in commerce will be perfectly resolved."

"Perhaps in the next step, we can select a portion of these merchants for training?"

"They are mobile propaganda machines; if we can spread our ideas through them...our subsequent unification plans should be much easier, right?"

When Chen Jian finished speaking, Lei Jie asked:

"Why not approach the Ring Chamber of Commerce? Our collaboration with them is actually more stable, isn’t it?"

"Don’t approach them."

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

"They aren’t pure merchants; it’s hard for us to control them."

"But since you mentioned it...I do have one thing I’d like them to handle."

"Bring Wang Lizhi here tomorrow; he’s been active around Jinling recently, and I need to talk to him."

"Talk about what?"

Lei Jie asked curiously.

"What else could it be?"

"Of course, it’s about having them find the rocket fuel you want!"

"They haven’t done anything for us in a long time; it’s time to put some pressure on them...."