Chapter 346: (EDT) Second Part - New Exploration (North)
"Lucian… Looks like your thirst for researching the Seed Crystal Virus is quite a problematic one. Can you assure me that it won't be more deadly than what it already was?" Zhang Qin Feng chuckled.
He had no issue sponsoring them for this project. But before that, Zhang Qin Feng had to make sure that the researcher was not a maniac that would weaponize this Seed Crystal Virus even further.
"As a mere clone of this individual called Lucian Pyke, I have nothing to give assurance on this project. But I am willing to bet on the 2400 former clone's reputation. All of us have been studying and trying to understand the Seed Crystal Virus and its origin." Lucian-2416 placed a fist on his left chest.
This was a gesture used by the people before the apocalypse to obtain the listener's approval. And right now, Zhang Qin Feng had the opportunity to see this once again.
Turning his head towards Valerian, she nodded twice to confirm that Lucian-2416's words were absolute truth. More than 2400 written records and hypotheses describe how far the research on the Seed Crystal Virus was included in his report.
"Alright. You've convinced me. I can approve this research project. But at the same time, I want to propose a second objective for the team to work on. Are you willing to follow my arrangement?" Zhang Qin Feng agreed to the project, but not before he pulled a quick on in between.
"As long the second objective does not take too much manpower from our primary team, I'll be gladly going along with the arrangement." Lucian-2416 nodded. For the sake of this research, he would even sacrifice his sleeping time if Zhang Qin Feng wants it.
"I can see what you're thinking, but relax. I'm someone who values the well-being of my people. Although you might be just a contractor to me right now, that doesn't mean you're excluded from all the employee benefits."
"While you're working on the first objective, I want you to spare some time to improve the current serum quality and research how to produce Grade-F Serum. For more information, you can team up with Valerian as she was our lead researcher back in our previous base."
"I believe her professionalism and skills would be a vital force to the research team." Zhang Qin Feng endorsed Valerian and her skills. But it won't be a problem even if he doesn't. She was already on this topic from the beginning. The only problem here is that she always misses something because the Turbine Town's Facility is inadequate to help her.
She'll need a powerful machine with top-grade computing power to process the workload to produce this result.
And this facility would be the opportunity for Valerian's research to shine. After all, there's a brain inside this facility, and it can be said to be the ancestor of the Shennong AI Zhang Qin Feng introduced back in the modern world.
Although the power required to operate this AI was tremendous, it could easily reach six hundredfold of what Shennong AI could do. Furthermore, computing power was just a fragment of what it could do. This was also why Zhang Qin Feng purposely created this situation while he listened to the presentation.
As long Lucian-2416 nodded, this Shelter No: 213's supercomputer will be available for Valerian to access. There's no doubt that this would be a profitable deal, considering the AI was the only few left of its kind still in operation in this apocalypse.
Zhang Qin Feng left after approving the research program and providing them with 50,000 Duranium Shards as their initial fund.
He wanted to live his life leisurely but didn't have the privilege to linger around without doing anything right now. Ordering his man to access all the nearby islands around them with the fast boats, they collected samples that could benefit the base depending on how they were used.
But this was far from enough.
With the resources he had dwindling each day, Zhang Qin Feng would have to find a way to replenish what he had in hand. After deducting the Duranium Shards needed for two trips back to the modern world, he realized he had not enough for anything else.
If he keeps being passive like now, the Wind Base will be in the same position as Shelter No: 213 before they meet him.
Luckily, the new Assailant-Class Patrol Ship was completed before the end of their third week in the middle of the sea. With a more extended range vessel capable of traveling outwards for at least a week without refueling, Zhang Qin Feng had more options in their searching range.
Instead of going back to the Southwestern direction where they came from, Zhang Qin Feng used this island as the center of his position and sailed further north.
Because there's a lack of commanding officers in his team right now, he had no choice but to pass the responsibility for security to his best man after Alex and Shaun. Marvin, Adam, And Frank will be handling the rest, with Valerian and Victor keeping the people inside the shelter safe.
He could only hope that nothing would go wrong while he was away for a short period. And to make sure that nothing would go out of the way, he even had to request for Hoya-2231's service by promising him twelve dosages of Grade-H Serums.
Captaining the new Assailant-Class Patrol Ship, Zhang Qin Feng ordered the ship to sail towards the north. There's almost nothing on their route except for a few abandoned islands with some remains and trash. Although some helpful thing was found from a few islands, they're nothing much to be happy about.
A week has passed as Zhang Qin Feng almost breakdown and regretted his choice until they finally found a relatively small continent swarming with zombies.
Based on the size of the swarm here, there should be one to two shelters present. But the possibility they're still usable is in question because it's likely contaminated by now.
And without further ado, Zhang Qin Feng ordered his soldiers to start hunting.
"Open fire! Focus on getting rid of all the zombies within a quarter kilometer from me." Zhang Qin Feng said as the Assailant-Class Patrol Ship approached the shipping port.
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