Chapter 363: Wild Speculation, Nothing Special

Chapter 363 -220: Wild Speculation, Nothing Special

“Could they have found an offshore oil field?” the staff officer beside Bao Mu speculated, his brow furrowed.

Bao Mu immediately shook his head. “Impossible. Even if Dragon Country managed to preserve some floating drilling platforms, they wouldn’t be able to operate now. The sea level has risen far too much!”

“What if the original drilling platforms were damaged and crude oil is leaking out on its own?” the staff officer continued.

“That’s not very likely either. Collecting crude oil from the vast, open sea would be incredibly difficult!” Bao Mu shook his head again.

“If it’s neither of those, then it must be that Dragon Country has vast fuel reserves!” the staff officer said finally.

“But no matter how large their reserves are, they still need space to store it all. We have just as many ships of all kinds as Dragon Country does!” Bao Mu was getting a headache.

Dragon Country’s three aircraft carrier fleets had even traveled thousands of miles to jointly attack Lvzhi Country’s forces. Theoretically, their fuel consumption should have been even greater than his own. But now, it seemed the Aircraft Carrier Base was in no short supply of fuel.

The staff officer was baffled as well.

Bao Mu sighed and said, “We still need to set up the ambush. As long as we can capture one of their ships, we’ll find out what’s going on!”

“Understood. I’ll make the arrangements right away!” The staff officer turned and left.

Meanwhile, Long Zhan was explaining the attack on the transport convoy to Wang Jun.

“So they were ambushed, just as we expected?” Wang Jun’s brow furrowed slightly as he received Long Zhan’s message.

“Yes, but thankfully we were prepared. It was a close call, but no real harm done!” Long Zhan replied. “Their speedboats are loaded with medicinal herbs, so I didn’t have them linger. They’re continuing on to the Aircraft Carrier Base.”

Wang Jun nodded slightly. “We’re in desperate need of those herbs here. We can’t afford any delays!”

“Exactly. Once this batch of herbs arrives, the situation should improve a bit. We can deal with the forces from Xi’an Base on our way back!” Ji Yizhi agreed.

“I get it, Old Ji. I know how to prioritize,” Long Zhan replied with a smile. “How are things over at the Aircraft Carrier Base?”

“The situation is more or less under control. Everyone knows there’s a medicine that can treat the disease, so they’ve all settled down,” Ji Yizhi said in a solemn tone.

“That’s good. It seems the debt we owe Peach Blossom Base is one we’ll probably never be able to repay!” Long Zhan said with a laugh.

Wang Jun nodded. “That’s right. If not for the herbs from Peach Blossom Base, a lot of people would have died.”

“In any case, we just need to make sure we hold on tight to Peach Blossom Base. No need to overthink the rest!” Ji Yizhi said.

“Well now, that’s a rare thing to hear coming from you, Old Ji!” Long Zhan said, a little surprised. “Are you only saying that because you heard I sent you some of Peach Blossom Base’s meat skewers?”

“Am I as shallow as you?” Ji Yizhi retorted, pursing his lips.

“Yes!” Long Zhan said with absolute certainty.

Ji Yizhi rolled his eyes and didn’t reply.

Long Zhan continued, “Any signs of the virus concentration in the rainwater decreasing?”

Wang Jun shook his head. “No. In fact, it’s increased slightly!”

“And the toxin concentration from before?” Long Zhan’s brow furrowed.

“It’s already very low,” Wang Jun replied.

“I guess that’s good news in a way. At least the virus and the toxins aren’t hitting us at the same time!” Long Zhan remarked.

Just then, Ji Yizhi suddenly spoke up. “It just occurred to me, is it possible Peach Blossom Base doesn’t have any researchers or scientific equipment?”

Long Zhan was taken aback. “How is that possible? Without them, how could he create those evolved plants and solve so many difficult problems?”

But Wang Jun nodded slightly. “It’s actually a real possibility. When I shared information with Taoyuan Yang before—about the toxins, the temperature, and so on—it was obvious he didn’t know any of it. If he really had his own research team and equipment, he should have been able to detect those things himself!”

“If they really don’t have any of that, doesn’t that make Peach Blossom Base even more impressive?” Long Zhan was even more astonished.

Wang Jun nodded. “Exactly. That’s why Old Ji is right. We absolutely have to hold on tight to Peach Blossom Base!”

The other two couldn’t agree more.

“How are things at Dawn Base now?” Wang Jun asked.

“No major issues on my end. The plague is under control. Now we’re just waiting for the raw materials to be shipped from Peach Blossom Base, and then we can hire workers and start production!” Long Zhan replied.

Wang Jun nodded. “We’ll be relying on your base from now on. It’s too wasteful to haul the raw materials all the way to the Aircraft Carrier Base. It would be better to manufacture the final product at your location and just transport that over!”

“It’s no trouble at all. I heard from Taoyuan Yang that the fuel production process is very simple, and it doesn’t seem like heavy labor. We can handle it. It’ll be good to give the survivors some work to do!” Long Zhan said with a wave of his hand.

“Don’t forget to set aside a small amount of the raw materials for the lab to study!” Ji Yizhi reminded him.

“Study what? It’s not like they figured anything out from the evolved plants we gave them last time, did they?” Long Zhan sounded exasperated.

“That doesn’t mean we should give up on researching it completely!” Ji Yizhi countered.

“Fine, I’ll save you some samples!” Long Zhan agreed with a sigh of resignation.

In truth, it wasn’t just the researchers who were curious. Long Zhan was incredibly curious himself. He had never seen different kinds of engine-usable fuel being pressed directly from the fruit of a plant!

When the freighters returned from Peach Blossom Base, he was determined to see it with his own eyes.

The three of them chatted for a little while longer before ending the call.

Long Zhan picked up another barbecue skewer and started eating, muttering to himself, “I can’t even imagine how extravagant Taoyuan Yang’s life must be!”