In West Continent City.
Wu Chengyi, who put down the communicator, sat back on the chair with a slightly heavy expression.
Just a few minutes ago, he got in touch with the administrator of the New Alliance through the communication equipment provided by the Burning Corps.
The other party did not go around in circles with him, and straightforwardly stated the position of the New Alliance.
The New Alliance would incorporate West Continent City into the Restored Zone, and build a survivor colony near West Continent Lake to accommodate slaves freed from the marauders and survivors who were willing to join the New Alliance.
It was more like a notification than a negotiation.
Thinking of the man's words earlier, Wu Chengyi looked at the notebook in his hand.
Those scribbled lines of words were what he wrote down just now.
[West Continent City Industrial Area Development Plan, the New Restored Zone, and Survivor Settlement Reconstruction draft]
In his opinion, it was more like empty promises.
It was still not known how long it would take for the war with the Fang Clan to end, but the people of the New Alliance had already begun to imagine the future with them.
However, Wu Chengyi would be deceiving himself if he claimed that what the man said lacked appeal.
"Call my deputy... And other high-level members of the resistance organization." Wu Chengyi threw the notebook on the table and said to his assistant.
The assistant nodded and immediately left the office.
After a while, more than a dozen people entered.
They were Hope Town administrative officials and guerrilla officers.
The people present exchanged glances and whispered in low voices, not understanding why the mayor called them over.
Looking around at the people present, Wu Chengyi said slowly, "10 minutes ago, I got in touch with the administrator of the New Alliance."
This sentence was like a bomb being thrown in the crowd. Everyone who heard it showed astonished expressions.
Wu Chengyi continued without waiting for his subordinates to ask questions. "All in all, the call went smoothly. The New Alliance extended an olive branch to us and promised to provide us with aid materials worth 500,000 silver coins, including food, medicine and even weapons that we urgently need... These supplies will be delivered by airdrop."
He didn't know what the concept of 500,000 silver coins was.
But an automatic rifle cost 200 silver coins, and a kilogram of green wheat only needed 1 or 2 silver coins... That was the reference given to him by the administrator named Chu Guang.
With this aid, they would undoubtedly be able to tide over the current difficulties more smoothly, and the food shortage and disease problems caused by the plague would also be resolved.
At least to some extent.
These conditions were incredibly generous, bordering on unbelievably so. However, it was precisely due to the generosity that it left people feeling uneasy.
"Is it free?" the adjutant standing next to Wu Chengyi asked cautiously.
"Of course not." Wu Chengyi paused for a moment, then continued. "After the war, the New Alliance will include West Continent City in the Restored Zone."
There was a moment of silence in the room.
Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay.
Although they didn't know what the Restored Zone was, from the meaning of this sentence... The New Alliance seemed to be planning to incorporate the city into their territory?
Or to put it a bit more directly, they wanted to annex the survivors.
Wu Chengyi continued. "The New Alliance intends to build West Continent City into their heavy industry base in the future. They promised me that after the war is over, any survivors who are willing to join them will be able to obtain the status of residents of the New Alliance and equal legal rights to the residents of Dawn City... It includes education, participation in the selection of municipal officers, and more. If we are unwilling to join the New Alliance, they will not force us in any way, as long as we do not hinder their work."
The adjutant standing next to him continued to ask, "What about us?"
Wu Chengyi replied. "They recognized the heroism of us guerrillas in resisting the Fang Clan, and if we wish, they will incorporate us into their troops. Of course, if we wish to change our way of life, they will also provide us with a severance package, allowing us to decide whether to stay or leave on our own.”
Hearing this sentence, many high-level guerrillas heaved a sigh of relief, and the expressions on their faces relaxed a little.
The fact that the New Alliance was willing to incorporate them into their troops instead of confiscating their weapons at least showed that the other party regarded them as their own.
And if they didn't want to continue fighting, they could also get a severance package. With this, they could be considered to have fulfilled their responsibilities towards those team members who had risked their lives for them.
However, not everyone was so optimistic.
A high-ranking member of the resistance organization frowned slightly. "It sounds like a handout."
Wu Chengyi smiled. "It is a handout."
In fact, it was not a bad thing for someone to be willing to give alms.
Wu Chengyi was very clear that people like them were no different from beggars now, and it was meaningless to be too entangled in those irrelevant things.
The adjutant looked at him and asked, "What's your decision?"
Wu Chengyi did not speak, but lit a homemade cigarette. "I have not decided yet..." He continued, "I called you here because I want to know what you all think."
At this time, the logistics supervisor who had been silent all this time suddenly spoke. "I don't think it's a bad thing to join the New Alliance ... or rather, it's our only option."
Everyone looked at him, including Wu Chengyi.
The logistics supervisor paused for a moment before mumbling, "There are at least tens of thousands of survivors captured by the Fang Clan... Our compatriots aren’t the only ones, but also the people captured by the marauders from the central part of the River Valley Province. If the New Alliance takes the spoils away after the war, we're probably going to be in a worse situation than we are now."
Huge numbers of starving people.
Plus the raging plague.
If they took over those saved compatriots, they would be overwhelmed by the food crisis.
And if those people were left alone, no matter what reasons they used to explain to the survivors who supported them, they would lose the legitimacy of their political power...
Staring at the burnt cigarette in his hand, Wu Chengyi fell into deep thought.
After a long time, he spoke. "You are right."
Chu Guang originally thought that the guerrilla leader named Wu Chengyi would have to struggle for a week before accepting his proposal.
However, what he didn't expect was that he received a call that night.
"I have a better proposal." After the call was connected, these were Wu Chengyi's first words.
Hearing the voice on the other end of the call, Chu Guang, who was reviewing the documents, stopped what he was doing and raised his eyebrows with interest. "Oh?"
"I have discussed with other members of the resistance organization, and we agree that West Continent City will have a brighter future under the leadership of the New Alliance. You need population and space, and we want to live with dignity. Since you are willing to accept us, why don't we cooperate more thoroughly?"
After a pause, Wu Chengyi said solemnly in a serious tone, "It was our unanimous decision. Please allow us to join your cause!"
Hearing this sentence, Chu Guang was slightly taken aback.
To be honest, he was a little surprised.
Before, he had considered the various problems that might be faced by merging West Continent City by forceful means, so he had come up with a relatively moderate plan. He intended to copy the development model of Dawn City in the past, so that the local survivors would be attracted by the aura of civilization, and volunteered to contribute to the undefeated New Alliance.
But ironically, it turned out that the other party couldn't even wait to join them, and he was too conservative.
Restraining the thought-provoking expression, Chu Guang, who was sitting on the sofa, cleared his throat, and answered the proposal of the leader of the resistance organization with a single word.
West Continent City, in an abandoned underground mall connected to subway tunnels.
Survivors in ragged clothes and numb expressions returned one after another from the secret door of the subway tunnel with shriveled handbags.
Daylight in the West Continent City belonged to the marauders.
Only when it was completely dark could they go out to pick up waste safely.
Before going back to sleep, scavengers needed to go to the material exchange warehouse to exchange the garbage they picked up last night for nutrient cream, or exchange some necessities and medicines with the prey they hunt.
Speaking of which, all the prey they had were rats.
For these scavengers, that was almost the only source of meat.
As for why it was almost...
In special times, it was better not to ask too much.
As usual, today's harvest was poor. With fewer and fewer firefights between the New Alliance and the Bonechewer Clan’s patrols, it was difficult for them to recover the shell casings dropped by both sides.
The marauder's tanks had mostly moved to the frontlines, and with trucks welded with machine guns setting off in a grand procession, the marauders headed south one group after another.
It looked like the battle was about to end.
Under the continuous strategic bombardment of the New Alliance, the Bonechewer Clan was on the verge of its limit, both mentally and physically.
Even the scavengers could feel that those marauders were losing their minds...
However, it was still not easy for the New Alliance to win this war.
The number of those marauders was simply too great.
Discussing when the war would end was the most popular topic in Hope Town. People lined up outside the warehouse were talking about when the New Alliance would drive those marauders away, and what they planned to do after the war was over.
Whenever these matters were mentioned, even the most pessimistic individuals would muster a bit more courage in their hearts to hold on a little longer.
Apart from family members, this was probably the only belief that supported them to continue surviving.
At this moment, the sound of the broadcast suddenly came from above everyone's heads.
"Following the decision of the high-level members of the West Continent City Survivors' Resistance Movement Organization, from the date of this announcement, Hope Town officially merges into the united front for the revival of human civilization and becomes part of the New Alliance collective..."
The content of the announcement was very long.
Including the date of the official handover of management, as well as the residency status of the New Alliance, future arrangements for the guerrillas, and so on.
The mayor spoke for the entire half hour before stopping.
However, the scavengers standing at the door of the warehouse, and the starving residents who huddled in the shacks did not listen to what he said later.
They didn't even have time to digest the amount of information in the first sentence of the broadcast.
People stopped talking and exchanged glances with the expressions of shock, joy, surprise, doubt...and disbelief.
Join the New Alliance?
This... sounds like a great thing.
But this guy isn't joking, is he?!