Chapter 61: Go Get Some Coal

Liu Mu naturally did not see Yang Shuo at the Urban Base, and even Xing Tianyang only briefly asked her if there had been any changes to her body recently.

That the Urban Base was going to undergo major renovations was within her expectations, but Xing Tianyang calculating the food she brought as Contribution Value and taking it directly left Liu Mu with quite a few opinions.

"The Barrier's initial economic regulations will be promulgated soon, just you wait; Contribution Value will have great use, I won't take your things for nothing."

To run up a tab so righteously—Liu Mu decided to trust him once.

Upon returning to the Scrap Station, she heard the news brought by Xu Xiaoxia.

Li Gang, however, raised his own doubts,

"We've only been away from there for a few days, how do they plan to build?"

Liu Fugui, who was lined up doing push-ups with Liu Mu, had trembling arms, "Right, there are no building materials, could it be they are transporting them from that Secret General Command?"

Unlike him, He Qizheng just did them with his head down, his muscles rippling, with no intention of joining the discussion at all.

Zhang Xiaoyong was also doing them, and he was even doing them more standardly than Liu Fugui, "No wood, fifty-five! No cement either, fifty-six! Bricks aren't sturdy, fifty-seven! No steel bars either, fifty... ah, I'm only resting for ten seconds!"

The child couldn't hold on, collapsed onto the ground, and got a mouthful of dust.

Except for Xu Xiaofeng, who was busy in the kitchen, and the disabled Li Gang, only Liu Mu was rising and falling continuously at a steady pace, like a perpetual motion machine.

"Cement calcination requires a high temperature of 1600°C; as it stands, the Black Rain does not have the effect of decomposing it, so there should be large stocks at various cement plants."

Liu Mu's breathing was not as rapid as the others; she did one repetition per breath, the muscles in her arms twitching slightly with the rhythmic movement.

That was a sense of power that made Li Gang somewhat envious; he had it too before he suffered the gunshot wound.

"We aren't doing interior decoration, so timber isn't a necessity. Bricks can be dismantled from existing buildings..."

Her words stopped there; Liu Fugui's arms went soft, and he also collapsed, though he landed with his face to the side,

"Phew... so the most sought-after things right now are steel and coal?"

"Correct," Liu Mu also ended her stance, but she used force in her arms and stood straight up, amidst the envious gazes of the others.

"Do you have any information regarding coal?"

She didn't mention steel.

Liu Fugui only assumed that things related to the national lifeline were difficult for them to get their hands on.

Li Gang, however, knew the reason, but, "I heard before that there was some in the mountainous areas of Longshan, just don't know if it's easy to enter the mountains now."

"It's possible to enter!"

Liu Fugui wiped his sweat and pointed at He Qizheng, who was the only one still doing push-ups, "A Zheng is from Longshan, he is especially familiar with the roads there. Right, A Zheng?"

His arms had already started to tremble, but He Qizheng gritted his teeth and persisted, "Yes, I, know, where one can go!"

Seeing him looking like he was about to train himself to ruin, Liu Mu walked over and grabbed the back of his T-shirt collar, actually lifting the muscular man up with ease.

"Stop for now, I have a road map here; let's discuss it and make a trip tomorrow."

Upon hearing they were going to the mountainous area, Li Gang hurriedly begged, "Boss, take me along. Although I have limited mobility, helping to guard the truck will do. By the way, my marksmanship is truly good!"

Liu Mu didn't reject him, only saying to look at the route first before deciding who would go.

The map was spread out on the first-floor floor; it was actually a massive 2-meter by 2-meter map of highways, railways, water systems, and topography.

Seeing this map, Li Gang immediately let out a loud laugh, "Boss, you are truly no ordinary person; this map is almost as detailed as our combat maps, truly awesome!"

Liu Mu raised an eyebrow, "This is nothing, just basic operations, not worth mentioning."

Although they knew she was bragging, not a single person felt there was a problem with it.

With He Qizheng's super-strong memory of the routes, Liu Mu determined two routes into the mountains, the targets naturally being the coal yards in her memory most likely to be found unburned.

"But, even if we go and find a coal mine, our two trucks running non-stop won't be able to haul much."

Born in the north, Li Gang still had some understanding of coal; in his memory, the big factories in his hometown used trains to transport coal.

"That stuff, once the steel factory fires up the furnace, the coal burned can't even be calculated in detail; a mountain-like pile would be finished in a few days."

During the time of the motherland's great construction, his area was a standard heavy industrial base; it was truly a beautiful scene of prosperity.

If Liu Mu went alone, she could use her space to get a bit more, but the problem was that the space was currently occupied by steel and couldn't be cleared out.

The little adult Zhang Xiaoyong raised his hand, "We bring back as much as a small mountain; the yard is empty, it can fit!"

"You kid," Liu Mu touched his head, her nose catching the scent of meat pies, "Let's go first; we'll get as much as we can, it's better than bringing nothing back."

"That's the truth," Liu Fugui was the first to echo; as a merchant, the biggest taboo was to be timid and indecisive, thinking without acting.

The next day, carrying the meat pies Xu Xiaofeng had prepared, the two trucks drove out of the Scrap Station.

This time, only the siblings Xu Xiaofeng were left at the Scrap Station.

Niu Boyi, wearing a giant raincoat, ran in front, constantly stepping in puddles, and was successfully slapped on the head by Liu Mu.

With He Qizheng recognizing the way and Niu Boyi scouting, they actually traveled quite smoothly.

After clearing two rockfalls along the way, they entered the mountainous area.

It must have been for the convenience of coal transport; the roads here were sturdier than most places in Haicheng. Although the road surface was narrower, the roadbed was thick, and since there weren't many buildings along the way, the damage was actually quite minimal.

Plus, after such a long time of being washed by the Black Rain, there wasn't much left of the ashes from the original vegetation burning.

Liu Mu was driving the truck behind; she gripped the steering wheel, her body rising and falling with the seat. Ever since they bypassed a section of the mountain road, she felt something was wrong.

Just at this moment, the vehicle in front slowed down.

Liu Mu turned on the walkie-talkie to ask about the situation, and He Qizheng said he had discovered some animal carcasses.

Some?

"Let Niu Boyi go take a look first," after giving the order, Liu Mu pressed the car window down and whistled twice toward the front.

Niu Boyi responded with a sound, took a running start, easily jumped over a seven or eight-meter-wide deep ditch by the roadside, and ran toward the hillside over there.

Liu Mu didn't get out of the car; she took a pair of binoculars and looked over there.

On the hillside mixed with black and yellow mud, there were some carcasses of mutated birds.

The bird carcasses were not too large; what had mutated was their slick skin, as well as the varying numbers of wings and claws.

Liu Mu twitched her nose, but she didn't smell any rot.

Niu Boyi was seen circling back and forth on the hillside, appearing somewhat disappointed, before turning his head to call out in this direction.

The meaning was that those birds were dead, and there were traces of animal activity in the vicinity, but not much.

This indicated that those animals had already left a long time ago.

What Niu Boyi was dissatisfied with was that these bird carcasses were already infested with worms and could not be eaten.

"You walk along the mountain, keep an eye on the surroundings."

Liu Mu shouted, and Niu Boyi nodded his large head from far away.

The other three no longer found this scene strange; ever since they learned that after his Mutation, Niu Boyi possessed the intelligence level of a human teenager, they were no longer surprised by anything.

After advancing another few kilometers, Niu Boyi suddenly let out a long howl toward the sky, raising his head just like a wolf.

Liu Mu slammed on the brakes and cursed, "You all stay in the car; unless there is a problem with the road surface, stay where you are. No matter what you see in a moment, do not come out!"

She then shouldered a submachine gun and stepped through the mud at extreme speed, rushing toward Niu Boyi's direction.

The slipperiness and heavy rain still slowed her down, and by the time she rushed up the not-so-high ridge, Niu Boyi was already 'fighting' with the opponent.

And that...

Liu Mu narrowed her eyes slightly, raised her gun, and unleashed a burst of gunfire.

What was attacking Niu Boyi was not a Mutated Animal, but a plant!