Tang Yu hummed a tune while he reminisced about the days back in the territory, which were utterly delightful. He almost became as lazy as a salted fish, ready to slack off.
Fortunately, the lack of money gave him the motivation to keep moving forward.
He took out a USB flash drive loaded with a lot of materials he had downloaded from Lindong.
This included blueprints for numerous firearms.
Firearms, though ineffective against the most powerful Demonized Beasts, were still formidable against the common ones. Most importantly, they were cheap.
Of course, this was referring to the firearms from before the apocalypse.
Manufacturing a basic rune weapon, although now relatively inexpensive, still cost ten units of Source Crystal.
Five units were used to create the rune, and the other five were for integrating the rune into the weapon equipment.
In comparison, firearms were much cheaper. As long as there was a sufficient supply of iron materials, they could be produced continuously.
Tang Yu entered the data from the USB flash drive into the research institute's database.
Many of these firearm blueprints were not detailed and lacked crucial size data, but to Tang Yu, they were all the same. Even without blueprints, as long as he had the actual firearms, he could deduce the relevant blueprints from the research.
After perfecting these blueprints and converting them into the corresponding formats, they could be used for workshop production.
He had specifically sought these out to reduce costs.
Tang Yu operated the control panel on the side, first converting these blueprints into a style that suited the workshop.
"Ding! Consumed 1.5 units of Source Crystal to generate the Barrett Sniper Rifle blueprint."
"Ding! Consumed 50 units of Source Crystal to deduce and generate the Enhancement Type One Barrett Sniper Rifle blueprint."
"Ding! Consumed 2 units of Source Crystal to generate the Gatling blueprint."
"Ding! Consumed 80 units of Source Crystal to deduce and generate the Enhancement Type One Gatling blueprint."
Tang Yu watched as the new blueprints were generated, revealing a satisfied smile.
The next day, everything was ready except for the final component.
The members of the Patrol Team, upon receiving news of a big task that day, were already too excited to contain themselves.
As requested, they assembled at the side gate of the holiday resort.
Ma Jiafeng held a sizable two-handed Iron Hammer studded with spikes, which he swung fiercely.
His brother wielded two smaller hammers, also thrashing about with great enthusiasm.
These were their custom-ordered weapons; in exchange, they had not received the basic weapons distributed to the Patrol Team and had also accrued a significant number of debt points.
The Iron Hammer Brothers, however, were very satisfied.
Using this large Iron Hammer was indeed handy, especially with its sharp spikes. If it hit an enemy in the face, it would create a brand-new hornet's nest.
With this hammer, his strength would increase significantly. Against a common third-layer awakened Demonized Beast, he was confident he could smash the opponent into a pulp.
Ma Jiafeng was even more eager for the upcoming task. He was desperate to earn enough contribution points during this mission… There was no choice; the debt in contribution points was accumulating interest.
At that time, a heavy truck drove up and stopped beside them.
The door opened, revealing Captain Luo clad in black armor, jumping down from the driver's seat.
With a thud, it seemed as though the ground itself trembled.
Ma Jiafeng sneaked a peek at the driver's seat, unable to determine if it had been flattened.
After getting out of the truck, Captain Luo pointed to the back of the vehicle, "There are some things inside; go and move those things down."
The Patrol Team members did as commanded.
Ma Jiafeng climbed into the cargo compartment and saw it was filled with metal boxes.
He cradled one of the boxes in his arms, stepped out of the car, and placed the box on the ground.
It felt a bit heavy; looking at the others, he could see that some with only a First Layer Awakening struggled to lift these boxes.
"Captain Luo, what's in these boxes? Why are they so heavy?"
"Open it up and take a look. It's nothing much, just some firearms," Luo Zhe said.
Ma Jiafeng was puzzled.
To them, firearms were not uncommon; after joining the Patrol Team, each member received an automatic rifle. However, for the brothers, they were not accustomed to using them.
Such rifles had their uses against human powerhouses, but when it came to Demonized Beasts at the Third or Fourth Layer, they were not nearly as effective as the huge iron hammer he wielded in his own hands.
The larger the size of the weapon, the better it could display a man's charm.
With curiosity, Ma Jiafeng pried open one of the boxes.
His eyes widened in shock.
Indeed, there were firearms inside, but they were not the rifles or submachine guns he had envisioned, but rather heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, individual rocket launchers, even entire boxes of ammunition and grenades.
This was enough to wage a small-scale war.
Where on earth did the Sanctuary get all these munitions?
The Iron Hammer Brothers couldn't help but swallow.
Ordinary firearms might lack the power to kill Demonized Beasts effectively, but weapons like rocket launchers and heavy machine guns were different: a single shot could mow down a swath of enemies and even cause substantial damage to Demonized Beasts at the Third and Fourth Layers!
In other Sanctuaries, not to speak of such heavy weaponry, even ordinary firearms and ammunition had to be used sparingly. In those Sanctuaries, defense forces like the Patrol Team, most members could not possess firearms.
How different it was in Green Shadow Sanctuary; originally, every person had a rifle, a treatment that was already envy-inducing—let alone now, these firearms were distributed like wholesale inventory.
Ma Jiafeng thought they all looked brand new; perhaps they really were wholesale.
Looking again at Luo Zhe, who seemed indifferent, as if these firearms were mere toys.
But what Luo Zhe knew but others didn't was that to him, who had recovered to the Seventh Layer Awakening and was beginning to rebuild his body, these firearms, at most, were advanced toys. Luo Zhe believed that not to mention these firearms couldn't hit him, even if they did, they would at best cause him a minor injury.
They presented no significant threat.
"These weapons will be used for today's mission. We'll take them out when we get there," Luo Zhe said.
The box was closed shut.
The Patrol Team members grew more curious about today's mission, sensing that these firearms had been specially prepared for it.
They looked around, seeing that all the Patrol Team members had arrived, so why hadn't they departed?
"Director Tang has arrived."
Suddenly, they heard Luo Zhe say this.
Turning their heads, they saw shadows approaching slowly from the vacation villa.
Leading them was a young man who didn't seem particularly formidable.
For many Patrol Team members seeing Tang Yu for the first time, he wasn't what they had imagined.
They had expected Director Tang to possess a mysterious aura, emitting a powerful presence, capable of intimidating someone to death with a single glance.
But at first glance, he was a rather ordinary person.
Besides Director Tang, two individuals in blue and white armor, whose faces were obscured, followed closely and appeared even more mysterious than Director Tang.
There was also Winnie, with her luxuriantly curly hair, wearing a wide Magic Robe, which even its loose fabric couldn't hide her generous bosom.
The group walked slowly toward them.
The Patrol Team members gaped in astonishment.
Was Director Tang actually going to join them on this mission?!