You were supposed to hoard supplies, why the heck did you hoard zombies!

Zhang Meng was first taken aback, then burst into laughter, "Satisfied, more than satisfied, haha! Little brother, you always bring me some good stuff every time you come!"

Peng Yue just smiled and didn't speak, his gaze quietly stealing another glance at the few hidden figures outside.

The Security Bureau hadn't fully withdrawn after all, leaving a few lookouts outside.

Li Rong would quickly learn that the two had talked.

And apparently, they seemed to be on good terms.

That was enough.

He patted the cigarette ash that had accidentally fallen onto his leg and stood up, smiling at Zhang Meng again, "As long as Director Zhang is satisfied, we shouldn't delay. Shall we go outside now and discuss how to move the goods and settle the price?"

Seeing this, Zhang Meng understood that the other party probably didn't want to reveal where these materials came from.

He didn't press the issue any further and stood up to follow him out.

They went to the front of the truck fleet.

There were seven trucks in total, but only three were actually carrying the goods for the trade. The remaining four were for transporting people.

After all, for the caravans of the present time, safety came first.

And his company's fleet was no exception.

Especially since there was Zhang Ye.

Gao Feng and Peng Yue's escorts appeared to be protecting the cargo, but they were actually there to protect him, with the caravan serving merely as a cover for Zhang Ye's identity.

A mere three trucks of supplies were nothing to the company at that point.

The breeding department's rats had a breeding capability that was downright terrifying.

They could provide at least a thousand rats each day.

These Mutant Rats, after several rounds of artificial selection, were producing offspring that were increasingly resembling the domestic pigs of old—docile in temperament, fast-growing, and not fussy eaters.

The main materials used to feed the rat population initially were food that had gone bad or expired and was no longer edible.

But now, they had been replaced by scraps from the factories.

Such as bones, offcuts of meat, rotten fruit, etc.

Or even leftover trash.

Basically, they would eat anything.

Not to mention the fruits from the orchards.

Over thousands of acres of land, the workers of the Jiangbei District Base harvested various kinds of fruits that amounted to hundreds of tons, and every day, fruits would fall to the soil and rot because they were not picked in time.

The harvested fruits were all delivered to the company's fourth district canning factory for processing.

Because of this, the production line for other meat cans was even temporarily halted.

All to avoid wasting ingredients as much as possible.

Some of the canned fruits produced were sold directly to the company's safety zone and Jiangbei Base, while the rest were stored in specially cleared warehouses.

Now, the production of instant noodles and bread was slowly facing difficulties, since there were only so many raw materials to be found in the industrial zone.

Besides that, there was another type of supply that was urgently needed.

And that was salt.

As a necessity in every person's life from ancient times to the present, its importance in the apocalypse had become even more evident.

It was vitally important for both daily consumption and wound treatment.

It was even as crucial as food and water.

Once this substance was missing, the human body would become swollen and puffy like a leavened bun, limbs weakening, and in extreme cases, lack of salt could even lead to heat cramps and pose a threat of death.

Zhang Ye, too, had initially overlooked this, but fortunately, Ai Bing reminded him in time for a speedy response.

So he hurriedly instructed his subordinates to bring back any salt they encountered outside.

But the amount acquired was not very significant.

It might suffice for a year and a half, but to rely on the salt currently on hand for three to five years was wishful thinking.

After all, the city's supply of materials had been completely cut off long ago.

Everyone was facing the predicament of consuming all their resources.

To solve this problem, one must either acquire a large amount of salt at once or find a way to produce salt, such as locating salt fields, and resolve the issue at the source.

However, since ancient times, the power to produce salt in Shen Zhou had been in the hands of the government, and this was no exception even in modern times.

Every well-known salt-producing factory was a state-run enterprise.

And there were no salt factories in Sanjiang City.

There was only one distributor, affiliated with the Shenzhou Salt Industry Group, located in an industrial area in the northern part of Jiangbei District.

The salt brought in from other regions would first be transported to the warehouse, then provided by the distributor to the various supermarkets and shops within the city, and only then would it be sold to the general public.

Therefore, Zhang Ye had long considered what to exchange for these canned goods and flatbreads.

That would be salt and other industrial raw materials.

Including but not limited to rice, flour, grains, and oil.

And all kinds of metals.

"Salt?"

But when Zhang Meng heard this condition, he frowned.

"Little brother, are you sure?"

"This stuff isn't worth much, how about I help you find Wu Yue to exchange for some guns instead?"

"Guns?"

Peng Yue suddenly laughed.

He stretched out his hand, and a Hunter next to him understood and immediately placed his large-caliber revolver in his hand.@@novelbin@@

The roughly twenty-centimeter-long gun barrel was entirely made of alloy.

The muzzle was as thick as a finger, looking exceedingly rugged and brawny.

Zhang Meng had initially been somewhat dismissive, although he had already noticed when he came in that the people under Peng Yue were all armed with guns. However, he had thought they were just homemade, manually polished, crude firearms.

But the revolver before his eyes was clearly not made by hand.

Because one could clearly see the rifling within the barrel.

That was a trace of industrial manufacturing.

In other words, this gun was machined with a professional lathe.

Furthermore, its design was somewhat different from common homemade guns.

It featured a revolving cylinder.

This mechanical structure, although old, demonstrated extraordinary durability and maintainability in over a century of combat abroad, constituting a very excellent firearm design.

If this had been before the disaster, Zhang Meng certainly wouldn't have thought it anything special.

However, the current situation was clearly different.

Because this was the apocalypse.

In the social environment of Shen Zhou, someone who could craft a musket by hand was already considered skilled, let alone a revolver like this.

Moreover, this revolver was clearly different from those seen on television.

Its body was bigger and heavier; the barrel was thicker.

What did this imply?

Larger caliber bullets and more powerful, in other words, more effective against those thick-skinned Mutant Beasts.

And such guns were clearly not limited to one; nearly everyone in the room had one, and some even carried rifles on their backs.

They looked like shotguns.

But with thicker and longer barrels, the firepower was naturally greater.

Zhang Meng understood the implication upon seeing this.

They did not lack guns.

"Heh, Brother Peng, not seen in a few months."

"Bird guns have turned into cannons, huh?"

"Impressive."

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on Peng Yue, as if trying to read something from the other man's expression.

But in the end, he showed a somewhat disappointed look.

Peng Yue was still just smiling.

"I only want salt, and rice and wheat flour." Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

"Don't need anything else for now."

"What do you think?"