Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Supply Recycling Center
Ye Fan was taken aback: "Resource Recycling Station? Weren’t there no more virtual buildings unlocked after the Tank Factory?"
This is also a building unit that didn’t exist in the original game, not very familiar with it.
"Commander, there are indeed no more virtual buildings unlocked, but this isn’t a virtual building, it’s a physical one that only appears when base construction begins. It’s also the only system building that can be constructed without deploying a base vehicle."
"So, what is its purpose?"
"Commander, the Resource Recycling Station is an important part of the new Red Alert System. This building will save you a vast amount of funds in the future, allowing you to allocate funds to more critical areas."
"Now the Resource Recycling Station has appeared on the Red Alert System’s building page, please check it, Commander."
Ye Fan immediately opened the Red Alert page, and sure enough, there was a Resource Recycling Station on the building page.
Resource Recycling Station, cost: 30,000 Gold!
From the image, this recycling station looks like a materials transit center.
In front, there is a massive conveyor belt, gently rotating, capable of delivering a large quantity of materials internally.
While he was inspecting it, Nana provided a commentary for him.
"Commander, the primary function of the Resource Recycling Station is to centrally store all the materials you gather. When you need to construct, these existing materials will be included in your construction costs.
For example, when building the Wall, if you can procure a large amount of rebar, cement, sand, and other materials, you can send them to the Resource Recycling Station. Once your materials are sufficient, construction costs will be reduced by 90%. For example, a five-meter-high wall costing 100 Gold per meter would only require you to provide 10 Gold in construction fees and basic materials."
Ye Fan’s eyes lit up as he listened.
Something this good exists.
He had also thought about using survivors or Engineers to build the Wall, but now that it’s already October and the northern winter is approaching, constructing these tens of thousands of meters of a five-meter high, 1.5-meter thick wall might run into the next year. With this, as long as materials are provided, it can be completed instantly.
"Can I recycle my Wall?" Ye Fan thought of an idea; if a Wall built with only 10 Gold in construction costs could be sold, it would provide another way to earn money.
"The recycling price is half of what you spent, 10 Gold built would be recycled for 5 Gold."
Nana shattered Ye Fan’s dream of cheating.
"If I manage to get a lot of steel, precious metals, and special materials, can the cost of building tanks and combat vehicles also be reduced?"
"Commander, the Resource Recycling Station belongs to the basic construction buildings. The military construction you mentioned does not belong to this series, but I suggest you stockpile steel."
Hearing Nana’s words, Ye Fan began to think.
Although the Resource Recycling Station is expensive, it’s well worth it from a long-term perspective, saving him a large sum in construction costs.
He immediately spent 30,000 Gold to build the Resource Recycling Station and then called the Engineer to study where to place it.
After a round of discussions, they finally decided to install an iron gate inside the inner Wall.
Opening the iron gate revealed the receiving entrance of the Resource Recycling Station.
Not all things could be done by the army in the future. Survivors could do their part too, such as collecting materials.
Exchanging materials collected by survivors for some items is also an approach that can significantly improve efficiency.
The Engineer quickly designated a location within the already determined inner Wall, leaving an area for the Resource Recycling Station.
Once the area was designated, the troops began to take action.
What the troops needed to do now was to level the ground.
Looking at the area taken up by the Resource Recycling Station, they first focused on clearing this small section. The "Red Alert" buildings did not have high requirements for the land; as long as it was flat and not prone to collapse was good enough, as the building itself came with a foundation of sorts.
Although there weren’t any professional Engineers right now, many hands make light work. With some makeshift wooden tools, they managed to clear a plot of around 500 square meters in a matter of hours.
After waiting for about another hour, the Resource Recycling Station was completed.
Ye Fan clicked and placed it.
If there were survivors around, they would have been shocked by such a scene.
With a loud boom, the enormous building was already completed!
Ye Fan almost dropped his jaw.
This feels completely different from placing buildings while playing games!
A giant building eight meters high, more than thirty meters long, and nearly fifteen meters wide appeared.
Ye Fan felt it looked somewhat like a security check machine, but a giant version of it.
Right in front is a massive dark entrance, with a conveyor belt below. It wouldn’t even show a trace if a few heavy-duty trucks were driven straight in.
Although the conveyor belt was not running, Nana provided an explanation.
"Commander, the Resource Recycling Station can be powered through the base’s Power Plant. Currently, without a physical Power Plant, it has a built-in generator that requires diesel to start. You can add diesel to make it work."
"We still have some diesel, so do I need to feed collected materials into this entrance?"
"Yes, you can deliver anything like rebar, cement, sand, timber, wire mesh, construction bricks, etc., to this entrance. The recycling station will automatically store it for you. You can check your accumulated resources through the virtual Resource Recycling Station building page for building production, which can save construction costs."
Ye Fan understood, and he immediately gathered the troops.
Currently, besides some diesel and food, he had nothing else.
He ordered the second platoon to drive all the heavy-duty trucks and start collecting materials from today.
Bring back anything that looks useful, especially materials for the Wall; this is a top priority. The goal is to have the internal Wall completed by the time the base vehicle is constructed.
The closest town to Kao Mountain Farm is Kao Mountain Town, but it doesn’t have many resources. For more, they need to venture farther out.
Nearby, there’s Qinghe Town, which will be a major target for Ye Fan in the future.
This small town, however, is not part of Mei City but belongs to Huacheng City.
Huacheng City is one of the top three cities in the province, with a population of over 90 million, much larger than Mei City.
Ye Fan wasn’t considering Huacheng City for now; he wanted to secure the town first and then start infiltrating the small town.
Ye Fan first had Shen Ruihui scout the situation outside.
The mission was to figure out the status of Qinghe Town, 80 kilometers from here, examine the distribution of zombies, see if there were any survivor factions, and locate Qinghe’s construction materials market.
Scouts had high-power binoculars and night-vision equipment, so scouting without entering dangerous areas shouldn’t be a problem.
Shen Ruihui left, and Ye Fan led the guard platoon to camp on-site, setting up simple field tents.
Second platoon’s mission was to sweep Kao Mountain Town clean within three days, while also training the troops, aiming for everyone to reach the Three-Star level.
.....
Three days passed quickly.
Nothing unexpected happened at Kao Mountain Town, a small town not much larger than Chengguan Town, with only a few Mutated Zombies, which the platoon cleared in three days.
The over 70,000 Gold that Ye Fan had was replenished to 100,000 during the sweep.
However, their material collection wasn’t too extensive, as town resources were still limited, and the collected resources were only enough to produce a kilometer of Wall.
Ye Fan was still primarily counting on Qinghe’s construction materials.
On the third day, Shen Ruihui returned.
He looked road-weary, but his face was excited.
"Why did it take you so long to return? Did you get the situation in Qinghe sorted out?"
"Yes, Commander, it’s a major discovery!"
"Oh, what’s the major discovery?"
"Not only is there a large construction materials market in Qinghe, but I also discovered a jewelry store!"
"A jewelry store? Shouldn’t that be in the city center?"
"It is, but this one’s by the river. A bridge over that river seems to have been blown up by someone, so a lot of the zombies can’t get across. On this side, the number of zombies isn’t too high; we definitely have an opportunity!"
Ye Fan’s eyes lit up instantly. If there’s indeed a chance to take over a jewelry store, it would be really useful for him now.
Shen Ruihui continued: "Commander, I observed from a distance. There are many female zombies inside, all of whom used to be young, pretty, fashion-loving women. If you want to act, you’ll need to do so quickly....."
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhuge Yunxue, Xiao Jing, and He Xiaoting, three female soldiers who were preparing to give Ye Fan a health check in the tent, froze there.
Seeing Ye Fan look over, they quietly retreated with an expression of having heard nothing.