The First Order - Chapter 381

Chapter 381: 381

Chapter 381 Fortress 178!

When Ren Xiaosu saw Stronghold 178 from afar, he was in awe .

This stronghold was utterly different from any of the other strongholds he had seen . The towering and ancient stronghold was marred with “scars,” and there were even large areas of patched up scrapes . It looked like the stronghold had been through multiple collapses and reconstructions . Over and over again, bad luck came and went, but it remained standing nonetheless .

Even though the strongholds Ren Xiaosu came across in the past had shown signs of aging, their walls had never taken such serious damage before . Comparatively, they looked to be in really good condition .

But the walls of Stronghold 178 were different . At first sight, Ren Xiaosu got the feeling that this wall seemed to have tenacity built into it .

He suddenly understood why people referred to Stronghold 178 as a fortress .

This was a fortress-type stronghold that was truly built for war . There was far more attention put into the building of its defenses than any other strongholds that Ren Xiaosu had been to .

Zhou Yinglong said proudly, “We all call this Fortress 178 . It’s totally different from those weak strongholds out there!”

Ren Xiaosu stood under the towering walls of Fortress 178, while the soldiers on the tall walls were on alert . But as they had arrived with Zhang Jinglin, the soldiers on the walls did not issue any warnings to stop them .

According to Xu Xianchu, a stranger would find it very difficult to get close to this stronghold . Without Ren Xiaosu’s recommendation letter, it would also have been impossible for him to get in .

Ren Xiaosu suddenly asked, “I wrote a few recommendation letters for others as well . Did they come to Fortress 178?”

Xu Xianchu shook his head . “No . ”

“Something must’ve happened to them then . ” Ren Xiaosu sighed .

Then Ren Xiaosu dug a bullet out of the wall . “Why’re there bullets lodged in the walls?”

Fortress 178 was naturally constructed to defend against enemies . But from what Ren Xiaosu remembered, everyone had said that Fortress 178 was built to defend against wild animals .

Everyone said there were fewer wild animals in the interior because humans had chased them to the outer perimeter of the stronghold ring . Meanwhile, Fortress 178 towered over the Northwest to prevent a large number of terrifying wild animals from invading inland .

But how could bullets lodged in the wall be explained? It was obviously left behind by an enemy who had fired at the walls . And only humans knew how to use firearms .

Xu Xianchu smiled and said, “You’ll understand in the future . In this era of firearms and explosives, the only true enemies of humans are humans themselves . ”

These words sounded somewhat familiar to Ren Xiaosu . A librarian named An Yuqian had said something similar before .

However, An Yuqian was referring to how science was uncontrollable and that humans would create a power so massive they could not control it in the end .

But Xu Xianchu was more straightforward, stating the enemies of Fortress 178 were also humans .

The thick and heavy gate of Fortress 178 slowly lifted . The rumble sounded like an enormous dragon roaring .

As the group walked in, everyone was surprised to find that although Fortress 178 looked old, it was unusually clean and tidy .

Ren Xiaosu had thought this place where burly men from the Northwest lived would be very dirty and messy, but that was not the case .

After passing through the gate, they ended up on a very long street . At the end of the street, a gigantic copper bell hung high above in a tower .

Xu Xianchu described to Ren Xiaosu, “This bell is a little different from the one at our previous stronghold . While the ones at the other strongholds are used for telling the time, the bells here at Fortress 178 only ring in warning . When the bell rings, everyone in the military prepares to fight to their deaths . ”

“When was the last time it rang?” Ren Xiaosu asked .

“Sixteen years ago . ” Xu Xianchu lamented, “It sucks that I wasn’t here to see that sight . Many people in the interior don’t even know there was a war here . Fortress 178 is like a barrier that holds all of the dangers and darkness on the outside . ”

There were many common folk on the streets, and they were all dressed in cloth clothing . Neon signs were rarely seen outside the shops, and there were barely any private cars driving on the road . Occasionally, the military would pass by in an off-road vehicle .

Curious, Wang Shengyin said, “This place looks really primitive . ”

Xu Xianchu said, “We don’t have enough electricity . The new power plant at the outer perimeter is still being built . However, there isn’t enough manpower in Fortress 178, so the construction process is very slow . We used to have a very large power station, but that was destroyed in the war . ”

“I don’t think there’s enough resources either . ” Wang Shengyin said, “The Northwest is quite suitable for planting cotton . There’s a good amount of light, and water from the snow mountains and groundwater are also abundant . Why didn’t you all grow more cotton?”

Xu Xianchu looked at her and said, “We have to make sure we can fill our stomachs first . ”

Ren Xiaosu looked at the sights around Fortress 178 . To be honest, it was a little dingy . But for some reason, he found this place much more comfortable than any of the other strongholds .

When the pedestrians saw Zhang Jinglin’s convoy passing through the streets, they did not deliberately fawn upon him . Instead, they greeted him as though they were old friends before getting back to their own business .

Xu Xianchu gave Ren Xiaosu a look . “Xiaosu, can that black medicine of yours be mass produced? We have some people here who got frostbite during the winter and can’t seem to heal . Furthermore, we’ve always had a lack of medicine for our battles . If we had your black medicine, that would be great news for our Fortress 178 . ”

Xu Xianchu had heard about Ren Xiaosu being a doctor in town, and Zhang Jinglin also knew about this .

Ren Xiaosu shook his head . “There’s no way to mass produce it . ”

Xu Xianchu was a little disappointed . “That’s alright . When the trade routes are opened, we can start buying medicine from the Central Plains . ”

Fortress 178 lacked not only medicine, but also clothes, food, and so on . For Zhang Jinglin, who had just returned to Fortress 178, reopening the trade routes was an extremely urgent matter .

Zhang Jinglin had spent several months eliminating the turmoil in Fortress 178 . Now it was time to consider the development of the fortress .

Xu Xianchu arranged for Ren Xiaosu and the others to stay in a small building . “This is where we entertain our guests . Please don’t mind if it’s a little bare . ”

Ren Xiaosu shook his head . “It’s already quite nice . ”

Wang Shengzhi, Wang Shengyin, and the others might not have stayed in such a dilapidated place before, but since Ren Xiaosu had even lived in a shack before, there was no way he would mind it .

A little embarrassed, Xu Xianchu replied, “Xiaosu, your wound hasn’t healed yet . I’ll go to the Supply Division to apply for some medicine for you . However, we’re missing a lot of drugs in the fortress, so I might not be able to get any… . ”

Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I still have some black medicine with me . ”

“That’s good, that’s good . ” Xu Xianchu rubbed his hands together and said with a laugh, “Then would you have any to spare…”

Xu Xianchu was a little embarrassed to say this out loud . One of the soldiers under him had gotten injured during his training, and his wound still hadn’t healed . In fact, the Supply Division had run out of medicine, so he could only live with the injury . Now that Ren Xiaosu had come, rather than taking good care of him, he even ended up asking him for something . What the hell was he thinking?

But Ren Xiaosu stuffed a small porcelain bottle into Xu Xianchu’s hands . “Don’t mention it . ”

In the past, even when Xu Xianchu was at his lowest, he was still willing to give away the remaining half of his cornbread to Ren Xiaosu . In that case, Ren Xiaosu could not be petty towards Xu Xianchu .

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc . . ), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible .

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .