Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Innovation and Explosives
After buying the flowers, the two started walking back to the office.
"Hey Tianci, your other personality hasn't appeared for a few days now, hasn't it?"
"Yeah... I hope it disappears forever." Tianci sighed.
As the two were about to open the house's front door, Xiaoyun suddenly realized something.
"Where can I hide this? I can't just give this to her today. Her birthday is tomorrow."
"How about the backyard?" Tianci suggested.
"Right, the backyard." Xiaoyun created a bag in his hand and gently put the flower inside.
As Xiaoyun opened the door, Leyan walked over for a hug.
"Hey honey, you're back so early today. Where's Yuqi and the other two?" Leyan asked as she reached out to carry the bag for Xiaoyun.
"They are still working in the office. I'm just coming back to drop some documents off." Xiaoyun moved the bag just slightly out of reach for Leyan.
"Sure..." Leyan stared at the bag suspiciously as Xiaoyun carried it to the backyard and left it in a corner.
"Don't open it, okay? It's very important." Xiaoyun reminded Leyan again.
"Fine, I won't open it." Leyan got even more curious about what was inside.
---
The next day...
Xiaoyun and Tianci went to the command center to plan the following week's route for the regiments, as all the nearby settlements had been moved to Xiaoyun's base.
After discussing the plan with the ten Major and Yezi, Xiaoyun was freed for the rest of the day.
It was still only ten in the morning, with nothing to do.
"Now, where do I go? Yuqi and Yueyue are probably still busy with so many people moving in... Leyan's birthday party doesn't start until the afternoon."
Xiaoyun wondered as he stood outside the command center with Tianci behind him.
"Tianci, you want to go anywhere?" Xiaoyun looked over to Tianci.
Tianci shook her head.
"Hm, let's go visit the arms factory. I wonder what they have been doing recently."
After walking for ten minutes, the two finally arrived at the factory.
Just as the two walked past the security and inside, they saw Kate standing with a clipboard.
"Hey, long time no see." Kate noticed Xiaoyun as the two walked closer.
"Yeah, it has been a while. How is it going?" Xiaoyun asked as they walked to the side to hear each other over the loud machine sounds.
"It's going pretty fine. Just expanding more and repeating. Although we had been slowing down production since there isn't much demand and the stockpile is getting full." Kate responded in perfect Chinese.
"Damn, your Chinese is so good now." Xiaoyun was impressed by Kate's speaking skills, almost sounding like a native.
"Not that hard when you already learn multiple foreign languages. Anna and the three Russians had also been trying their hardest to learn."
After Kate finished replying, her pen accidentally rolled out of her clipboard.
Xiaoyun just couldn't control his eyes as Kate bent down to pick up her pen, which revealed her voluptuous thighs being fully enhanced by her tight jeans.
Tianci pushed Xiaoyun in the elbow, and Xiaoyun quickly snapped back to his senses.
"Ahem, how's Anna and the three Russians doing?" Xiaoyun awkwardly looked to the other side as Kate got back up.
"They are doing fine. Anna has been trying to build an APC, but it has been problematic since you know she isn't a car mechanic.
And for the three Russians, I think they had been working with Yezi on something. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with finishing the RPG."
"I see... Can you bring me to them? I want to check it out." Xiaoyun got a little curious.
"No problem." Kate started walking further inside the factory.
As they walked past the workers, Xiaoyun could hear them talking with each other.
"Is that Miss Kate talking to someone?" A woman in her twenties asked.
"Yeah, I don't know who that person is, though." The older woman responded.
"Just me, or does that person look similar to someone in front of the parade a few weeks back?" A young man chimed in.
"Now you're talking about it. It does look like him." The first woman replied.
Xiaoyun couldn't hear the rest of their conversation as they entered a new, separate room.
It was a large warehouse almost the same size as the factory that Xiaoyun had just walked past.
"What is that?" Tianci curiously asked as she pointed at the bare frame of some vehicle with a mixture of wheels and tracks simultaneously.
"It's an APC, or Armoured personnel carrier... wait, Anna, when did you add those tracks?" Kate asked as she walked over to Anna standing by the table.
"We don't have tires, but we got a lot of metals, so I'm replacing some of them with tracks." Anna still didn't look up as she was too busy writing on the paper.
"I see... but wouldn't it be harder to work with?"
"Yeah, obviously, but what other option do we have? You know replacement tires are hard to come by, especially for ones that can handle this much weight." Anna finally turned around to see Kate, only to notice Xiaoyun and Tianci were standing behind Kate.
"Oh hey, Xiaoyun." Anna waved.
"Hello, Anna. I want to say this APC looks very innovative." Xiaoyun complimented Anna.
"Not innovating. I'm just copying an old tank design I saw from my friend before."
"What era is this from then?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
"What do you think?" Anna rolled her eyes as if Xiaoyun just asked a stupid question.
"Um... I'm not a military expert, and that looked very barebone to tell what it is." Xiaoyun made a little excuse for himself.
"It's a Sd.Kfz. 251, a WW2 car. So, what do you think it is from?" Anna looked Xiaoyun in the eyes.
"Oh... well, I don't care what era it's from. As long as it can help us... Anyway, can this thing drive?" Xiaoyun quickly changed the topic.
"I haven't tested yet. But it probably shouldn't be able to. I only have a few mechanics to hook up every part. But it still is too heavy to drive." Anna complained.
"Make sense. I wouldn't expect this clunk of metal to move," Kate commented.
Xiaoyun thought for a second, then gave Anna a suggestion.
"Why not make these plates thinner? There's no need for so thick since it's only going to be used against zombies, and not to mention most enemy we'll face probably doesn't have that high of a caliber to penetrate this."
"Hm, I never thought of that... I'll try that later." Anna thanks Xiaoyun for the help.
"No problem."
After watching Anna modify the car, the three left to see what the three Russians had been working on.
As they walked inside the other factory and further inside, Xiaoyun noticed the smoke coming from the room leading up to a warehouse door.
Kate carefully opened it and looked inside.
After seeing it was safe, the three walked inside.
"Hey, Mr.Xiaoyun!" The three Russians noticed Xiaoyun and waved.
"Hey!" Xiaoyun waved back.
"How often have I told you not to test this stuff inside the building?" Kate complained as she walked closer to the three Russians.
"S-SOrry, we got a little excited." One of them apologized.
"Whatever, from now on, no more explosives inside the warehouse," Kate warned.
"Yes, ma'am." The three Russians nodded in agreement.
"Can I see what you guys are holding?' Xiaoyun asked as he walked closer to the three.
"Of course, sir." One of them handed the rocket launcher.
"This is your guy's design of the one-time use RPG-7?" Xiaoyun asked as he noticed the rocket itself was gone.
"Yes, yes, only one-time use." The second one spoke up.
"How effective do you think this would be against the mutant?" Xiaoyun decided to ask.
The three looked confused as they turned to each other and discussed.
After a bit, the three turned back around.
"Depends, no more than two." The third one spoke up this time.
"That's great news to hear." Xiaoyun could still feel the heat near the entrance of the RPG.
"Well, I got to go now. If you guys need anything, call me." Xiaoyun noticed lunchtime was already over, and it was approaching three.
"See ya." The four of them waved goodbye as the two left the factory.
As the two walked back home, Xiaoyun decided to ask Tianci something.
"So what do you think?"
"Those weapons look very strong and intimidating," Tianci replied.
"I'm not asking about them. I'm asking about what you think about them as a person." Xiaoyun clarified.
"Oh, um... they look very nice people," Tianci replied.
As Tianci finished replying back, Xiaoyun noticed Tianci's eye was starting to turn red again.
"Tianci, your eyes!"
"I——" Before Tianci could speak, she lost control over her body.
Just as Tianci was about to fall to the ground, Xiaoyun lifted Tianci up and carried her to a nearby public restroom.