Chapter 68: Looking Around, Those Jumping Ship Are Everywhere

"Li Nong bows his head to Marshal Lin, wishing you well~"

"Miscellaneous flowers grow on trees, orioles fly in chaos~"

"Now the Hu barbarians and stone bandits harbor treacherous intentions, secretly plotting treacherous schemes~"

"They cast horn iron on the ground to destroy the wheels of the carriages~"

"They gather fire oil and sulfur, intending to burn the carriages~"

"Oxen and horses rush urgently to inform Marshal Lin~"

"Hoping Marshal Lin makes preparations early~"

"This letter cannot fully convey my intent; I briefly state my humble and shallow views, and bow twice in respect~"

"Li Nong bows his head and presents this~ Fifth day of the full moon in the Pomegranate Month of the Yisi Year."

Setting down the brush in his hand, Li Nong carefully checked the letter once through for any errors or omissions.

After confirming there were no mistakes, he blew the ink dry, applied his seal, placed the letter in an envelope, and pressed fire lacquer on it.

He called over the trusted dead soldier waiting outside the door, handed him the letter, and said, "Leave the city immediately and deliver it into the hands of Marshal Qi Huo."

"Remember, absolutely do not let it fall into the hands of the patrols."

"If anything goes wrong, you must burn it to ashes."

The trusted dead soldier immediately knelt and bowed, "This slave will certainly not disgrace the mission!"

Watching the dead soldier leave in urgent haste, Li Nong stood there for a long time without speaking.

After a round of inner struggle, he ultimately decided to abandon the Heavenly King and curry favor with Lin Dao.

In chaotic times, one only seeks to survive.

Li Nong did not know whether the methods Shi Hu had prepared could destroy that invincible God Carriage.

But he had once gone to the Qi Huo Army and personally witnessed the massive amount of supplies Lin Dao provided for the Qi Huo Army.

Take the canned golden peaches that Shi Hu extremely liked, treated as treasures, and only a very few people were ever rewarded with.

On the Qi Huo Army's side, such things were so numerous they piled up like mountains!

Even ordinary soldiers could receive them as rewards if they earned merit.

Even if Shi Hu could destroy one God Carriage, what if that Marshal Lin brought out even more God Carriages — how would they respond then?

One God Carriage came out, but that doesn't mean there is only one!

Following that Marshal Lin's convention of lavish spending, only Pangu knows how many they actually have.

Even without God Carriages, Marshal Lin's nearly inexhaustible various grains and supplies are enough to make one despair.

And this also prompted Li Nong to make his final determination.

It's time to jump ship!

The dead soldier leaving the city encountered no excessive obstruction.

Li Nong himself was responsible for the defense of a section of the city wall, so getting down from the city on this side was very easy.

Although Shi Hu had tightened security, with people's hearts changing, how could it be that easy?

After the dead soldier left the city, in order to find the Qi Huo Army's main camp, he spent quite a lot of time.

After all, Ye City is extremely large, and the Qi Huo Army was also not dispersed in its arrangement.

The letter passed through many hands and finally reached Wang Meng's hands.

Seeing the contents of the letter, he immediately set off to find the Young Lord.

As the steward of the Qi Huo Army, Wang Meng understood the Qi Huo Army's current situation best.

At this time, the Qi Huo Army appeared mighty and gallant, but in reality relied entirely on the Young Lord's support.

One hand holding grain, one hand holding military supplies — that was the cornerstone supporting the Qi Huo Army.

Among the military supplies, the most important right now was the God Carriage.

Crushing the morale of the various Hu — it all depended on this.

"The Young Lord is in seclusion."

Liu Hu, guarding outside a huge warehouse, slowly shook his head, "He sees no one."

Wang Meng understood this matter; every time the Young Lord chose to go into seclusion inside the warehouse, as long as he came out he would bring a large batch of good things.

He simply waited outside.

Modern World, Hai Gang Cheng, Kwun Chung Wharf.

Looking at the warehouse filled with many containers of potatoes, Lin Dao frowned, "Costs are getting higher and higher."

Employees go directly to counties, towns, and villages to purchase; the purchase cost isn't high.

But the transportation all the way — the investment cost keeps climbing step by step.

Lin Dao had also thought about going directly to local warehouses, moving everything to Yonghe Spacetime, thereby saving huge transportation costs.

But the problem is, thousands upon thousands of tons of supplies vanishing from the warehouse without a trace

Reported up layer by layer, investigated all the way down~~~

Better to just spend some money.

Complete all kinds of procedures, transport all the way to the Hai Gang Cheng freight wharf.

Once here, things become much more convenient.

My warehouse, my goods — however I want to handle them is my own business.

"Mr. Lin."

The ship broker in a Western suit enthusiastically introduced the materials to Lin Dao, "Although these cargo ships are all second-hand, they are maintained very well; using them for another ten or twenty years is no problem."

"The recent shipping trend is rising; buying them means profit."

Flipping through the thick materials in his hand, Lin Dao focused on the price.

That long string of numbers gave him a terrible headache.

Even a secondhand cargo ship was extremely expensive.

As cargo demand kept rising, the old tricks couldn't be used anymore; they had to go through official channels.

Lin Dao needed to perfect more cargo transport chains and repair the closed-loop lines.

"I need to find someone to evaluate these ship documents."

"I'll notify you once I have results."

Buying ships, such heavy assets, isn't like buying vegetables at the market.

Long evaluation and review processes are only to be expected.

Lin Dao needed time to raise funds.

At the very least, they had to wait until Ye City was taken, seizing the valuable goods the Qianghu had plundered within the city for years.

After the ship broker left, Lin Dao walked into the container groups filled with potatoes and activated Transmigration.

Yonghe Spacetime, the warehouse.

Lin Dao rubbed his forehead, sitting on the ground to rest.

Transporting too much weight put a heavy burden on his body.

After resting a while, he then got up to greet the people outside to come in and move things.

The armored soldiers brought in a large batch of civilian laborers, who skillfully opened the container doors.

The civilian laborers lined up in single file, hoisting potatoes in mesh bags onto their shoulders and leaving.

Shu Gan held paper and brush, recording on the side, while the armored soldiers watched with tiger-like eyes.

If records were missing, Shu Gan would be unlucky.

If things went missing during transport, the civilian laborers would be unlucky.

The armored soldiers in charge of supervision also had to bear joint responsibility.

No one dared to be negligent.

"Lord."

Wang Meng stepped forward, presenting the letter in his hands, saying in a low voice, "It was delivered from the city."

After reading the letter, Lin Dao frowned slightly. "Shi Hu still wants to cause trouble."

The tires of the Mineral Card Hundred Ton King weren't as simple as ordinary rubber, but a special heavy-duty composite material.

To be usable in harsh mining environments, these tires themselves had high-temperature resistance, cut resistance, and wear resistance.

After all, they were used in mines, with sharp stones everywhere.

But even so, they still had to avoid sharp objects as much as possible.

As for what came after setting them on fire.

"I understand."

Lin Dao walked out, saying, "This matter, I'll think of a way."

Usually, when Lin Dao thought of a way, he pooled ideas from everyone.

After all, the Analects once said, "Among any three people walking, there must be my teacher~"

Posting a bounty thread online, some great expert would surely solve my confusion.

"What's so hard about this? Just add a shovel."

"Attach an eight-character shovel, and whatever it is, you can push it flat."

"What about your rear wheels! I'm asking how you install a shovel on the rear wheels!"

"Putting people in the truck bed—anyone who dares approach gets shot on sight."

"The OP said it's the Cold Weapon Era! You think everyone has a Gatling gun?!"

"Everyone, stop arguing, it's not that complicated. Just switch to solid tires and install multi-layer anti-slip chains."

"What about fire prevention? Fire oil and sulfur both produce toxic gas when they burn."

"Install an external whole-vehicle fire prevention system, and an air purification system in the cockpit."

"The post above is correct."

The netizens' wisdom was truly first-rate, and they soon came up with countermeasures.

Lin Dao soon took the Hundred Ton King, now thoroughly cleaned, back to the modern spacetime for refitting.

Solid tires would increase weight, increase fuel consumption, and have poor shock absorption, but they didn't have to worry about rolling over sharp objects.

At worst, after the war, they could discard all the tires and get new ones.

The automatic fire prevention system had a compact structure and simple composition.

It mainly consisted of flame detectors, medicine bottle groups, spray nozzles, and medicine pipeline routes.

Upon sensing flames, the nearest biodegradable eco-friendly fire extinguishing agent would spray out extinguishing agent to put out the flames.

And the whole thing was made of stainless steel, hard to destroy.

Shi Hu's supposedly brilliant method of defeating the enemy, before modern technology, was so helpless and laughable.

"Lord."

Lin Dao was eating when Qin Lang, with a strange expression, entered to report, "An old acquaintance has come to visit."

"An old acquaintance?"

Lin Dao was surprised. What old acquaintances could he have in Yonghe Spacetime?

"It's Feng Dun."

"Oh~ so it's him."

Feng Dun, Feng the Great Marshal, was nominally the Princess of the Beggar Army of Guangzong County in the past.

Nowadays, when he sees Zhuangzhu Lin Jia again, his status has changed greatly, truly a sigh-inducing thing.

Many people in the camp, Feng Dun knows.

Back when they were in Guangzong County, these people were mostly of low status; even Qin Lang was merely a Zhuangzhu.

But now.

With difficulty composing his emotions, Feng Dun stepped forward and saluted: "Greetings, Great Commander~~~"

"Commander Feng, long time no see." Lin Dao greeted him politely: "We are friends, no need for formalities, please sit."

After Feng Dun sat down, Lin Dao asked: "This time you came..."

Feng Dun pressed his lips and lowered his head slightly: "This time I come as an envoy of Marquis Xihua."

"Marquis Xihua came from the Beggar Army; though forced to serve the bandits, his heart is toward the light and he deeply hates the bandits~~~"

"I do not know, Great Commander, are you willing to take them in?"

There are not a few smart people who can see that this broken ship of Shi Zhao leaks everywhere.

They all want to change to a bigger, steadier ship to live their days.

After all, in this Chaotic Era where such people can all be food, without a great ship to rely on, who knows when they might be served up on the dining table.

"Shi Min... is Ran Min."

"Ran Min..." Sitting in the upper seat, Lin Dao asked with a serious expression: "Is he Shi Hu's Adopted Grandson?"

"To seek self-preservation, there was no choice but to finish it." Feng Dun took a deep breath: "Recognizing the bandit as father, Marquis Xihua has always been deeply ashamed!"

"Marquis Xihua once said, he is willing to take the head of the Stone bandit and present it before the Great Commander's tent!"

Truly worthy of being Ran Min who issued the Kill the Hu Order, indeed ruthless enough.

Adopted Grandfather, saying kill and daring to go kill.

Lin Dao looked toward Wang Meng, only to see him slowly nod.

Militarily speaking, an enemy general holding heavy troops willing to surrender and defect is a good thing.

Not only does it weaken the enemy's strength, but it can also turn around and deal a heavy blow to the enemy army.

This is not as simple as this growing while that diminishes.

Although Zhuangzhu says he will not let the Hu captives go, Ran Min is of Han origin.

His troops under command are mainly Han Army, and do not violate Zhuangzhu's original intention.

The great tent was quiet; everyone was waiting for Lin Dao's decision.

Lin Dao narrowed his eyes: "This matter is not impossible."

"However~"

"Ran Min must capture Shi Hu alive."

"Every one of you needs at least one Hu captive's head as a letter of introduction!"

End of Chapter