Chen Jian anticipated that before the negotiations with the Mechanical God Sect began, someone in Jinling City would surely come to visit.
But he did not expect that the first to arrive would actually be the Ring Chamber of Commerce.
The goods entrusted to them for escorting had already arrived in Jinling long ago, but due to continuous warfare, even an organization as well-connected as the Ring Chamber of Commerce had no courage to cross the forbidden zones to deliver the items to the Jinling Ruins, so they waited until Chen Jian and others entered Jinling City before finally delivering them.
This was obviously too late.
However, fortunately, the items ended up not being used.
So, when Wang Lizhi entered the manor with the goods and expressed his sincere apologies to Chen Jian, Chen Jian just casually waved his hand and said:
"Anyway, for us now, this stuff isn’t urgent----we have something better."
"Indeed something better...."
Wang Lizhi casually glanced back at the 30A parked in the manor, then said:
"You were actually able to find a tank that can still be used... this proves that you must have already opened the treasure vault inside Jinling Ruins, right?"
"You know this is a tank?"
Chen Jian was slightly surprised, and the latter frankly said:
"I only know the name, as for the exact function and method of use, they are actually lost."
"Actually, I should not mention this, even the Mechanical God Sect’s upper echelon probably knows the name ’tank’."
"But for various reasons, they won’t spread this knowledge publicly, preferring to establish a ritualistic image to consolidate their rule."
"This is common in the wasteland----just as before we confirmed that you had tanks, we would definitely not proactively mention this name."
After Wang Lizhi finished speaking, Chen Jian frowned.
Then, he asked directly:
"I am very curious, what level is your knowledge heritage?"
"We have conducted tests on you, but the results were not satisfactory."
"So, is it disguise, or the truth?"
Wang Lizhi answered without hesitation:
"All the knowledge from before the Cataclysm on the wasteland is fragmented and scattered."
"We can find some records of so-called ’forbidden knowledge’ from various books and texts, but it’s impossible to fully understand them."
"Just like the Ring Chamber of Commerce has provided the Mechanical God Sect with knowledge about internal combustion engines and electricity, but even we can’t figure out what methods exactly should be used to manufacture these devices."
"It’s not that we don’t want to, but rather... we truly cannot."
Chen Jian looked at Wang Lizhi’s expression with interest, then said:
"Your attitude today is particularly friendly----to be honest, I actually appreciated your previous defiant attitude more."
Upon hearing his words, a bitter smile appeared on Wang Lizhi’s face.
"Do we still have the capital to be defiant?"
"You have moved too fast, far beyond our expectations, frankly speaking, the series of plans we made against you have all failed."
"We are used to the confrontation of intellect, always believing that we can manipulate most things in this world with our strategies and plans."
"But now it seems... you just used the simplest method to completely shatter our plans."
"So, we need not maintain our pride anymore."
"The reason I came here today is to seek further cooperation with you."
"Do we still need cooperation?"
If previously he still needed the Ring Chamber of Commerce to provide the Huaxia Army with more advanced weapons and equipment supplies, and more convenient trade routes and freight, now at this point, the role of the Ring Chamber of Commerce has been severely diminished.
In terms of high-tech weapons, nothing they can bring out is likely stronger than the unmanned combat group stored in 011.
Regarding industrial equipment, 011 stores a complete facility capable of rebuilding industry from scratch.
The Ring Chamber of Commerce has already become dispensable, and in the long term, it will continue to be dispensable.
The possibility of cooperation, in Chen Jian’s view, has dwindled to an almost invisible level.
However, Wang Lizhi’s expression remained calm.
"We will open the Level 1 control list to you."
"Including information and equipment, and supplies."
"Trust me, you will definitely need these things."
"No matter how large a treasury you have uncovered, no matter how much seemingly ’incredible’ equipment you have mastered, what we possess is still irreplaceable."
"Moreover, even if we set aside all these things, the information we hold is also irreplaceably valuable."
"Information? What information do you still have?"
Chen Jian’s tone was slightly casual.
In fact, after deciphering Fu Xi’s secret and understanding the basic situation of this project, he already had a basic judgment about the so-called "great secret" in Mountain City.
That is probably an AI city maintaining autonomous operations, although the specific situation inside is unknown, based on the information already obtained, most of the information can be inferred.
So, Chen Jian was really not that eager for the information from Wang Lizhi and the Ring Chamber of Commerce he represented.