Chapter 26 Picking Up Missed Opportunities

A few minutes later, on the steamship.

With the limited resources they had in hand for trade, the group successfully boarded the ship after hiding their equipment and secured a cabin at the stern.

From the chat between Xu Lie and the ship owner, Chen Jian gained new insights into the Mechanical God Sect and the Holy Blood Temple's two major factions' conflicts.

Obviously, they weren't completely opposing forces.

On the contrary, these two forces operated in both cooperation and confrontation, although there were conflicts, they had not yet escalated to the point of having to launch a large-scale war.

Especially among the lower and middle members, relations were even quite harmonious.

This explains why Xu Lie previously mentioned he could take his handgun to the Mechanical God Sect to "soothe the Mechanical Soul," and it also explains how they traveled so far from Jinling to Chuansha just to take down a Level 4 Monster.

They didn't have to rely solely on their legs; the Mechanical God Sect had transport ships on the river and steam trucks on the ground. Although scarce, with proper planning, they always managed to catch them.

The world was already fractured beyond repair, yet it still stumbled along with an astonishing resilience driven by a powerful life force.

When the steam whistle sounded on the river channel that had flowed for millennia, Chen Jian seemed to hear a hymn.

----It was not a figment of his imagination.

The crew of the Mechanical God Sect had indeed started singing.

"In the name of the Holy Power, loudly praise the name of the Trinity Supreme, all glory to the God of All Mechanisms!"

"May the loyal gears never rust, may the sacred powders never decay!"

"Sound the whistle once! Push the lever, start the pistons and pumps!"

"Sound the whistle twice! Turn the rudder, start the engine, infuse life!"

"Sound the whistle three times! Sing in unison, praise the God of All Mechanisms!"

"From the confusion and ignorance, Trinity Supreme saves us!"

"From the desolation of the ruins, steel protects us!"

"From the claws of monsters, the powder protects us!"

"From the temptation of mutations, steam purifies us!"

"From this rotting prison of life, Mechanical God, set us free!"

"Trinity! Trinity!"

"We praise the name of the Saint!"

...

The more Chen Jian listened, the more uneasy he felt. He turned to Shen Yue and asked:

"The 'Trinity' they are singing about, it wouldn't be the one I'm thinking of, right?"

Shen Yue was fiddling with a single-shot rifle taken from the residents of Xia Ma Town and clicked his tongue twice:

"I reckon it's exactly that Trinity."

"Then why don't they sing about Xugong, why not about Sany Heavy Industry? Are the two not worthy?"

"Probably just haven't seen them....."

Chen Jian pondered, holding his forehead, and continued:

"It's likely that the founder of the Mechanical God Sect saw a gantry crane from Sany Heavy Industry somewhere and was awed by the massive machinery."

"Or perhaps this group had some ties with Sany to begin with, and over the generations, a simple name evolved into something religious."

"That's rather amusing... You think the Saint of the Holy Blood Temple wouldn't be called Tan Jiazhen, would it?"

Opposite, Lei Jie smiled mysteriously and chimed in:

"Going by their logic, I'd think it's Dolly."

"...Clone sheep, huh? Abstract."

Chen Jian turned to Xu Lie in the distance and asked:

"Hey, does your Holy Blood Temple have a Saint?"

"Of course not."

Xu Lie immediately replied:

"Haven't I told you? We are a progressive sect, we won't worship those ancient powers as Saints."

"We will only be stronger than them!"

"Great, very spirited!"

Chen Jian gave him a thumbs-up, and Xu Lie, thinking he was genuinely being praised, beamed with a smile.

"Of course, we are spirited! Our Holy Blood Temple is truly a guiding light in the wasteland, we..."

"Knock knock knock!"

His words were abruptly interrupted by a knock at the cabin door.

Chen Jian cautiously reached for the handgun hidden under his clothes, while Xu Lie gestured to signal that he needn't be overly tense.

"It's probably someone here for a trade."

"This ship carries more than just us, some civilians also ride along..."

As he spoke, Xu Lie opened the door.

And indeed, it was just a man with a little girl.

With a respectful demeanor, upon seeing Xu Lie, he immediately bowed and said:

"Honored Sir, we heard you have food available for exchange."

"I have some fine metal and gears, would you be interested in trading with us?"

Xu Lie did not answer immediately; instead, he said:

"Let me first see what you have."

The man hurriedly pulled out a bag from behind him and carefully took its contents out.

A heap of gears, stainless steel glimmering with silver, small amounts of brass, and a few aluminum pieces.

At first glance, just a pile of junk, even for someone local like Xu Lie.

"We don't need these things."

"But if you need food, we can spare some for you----remember, this is a gift from the Holy Blood Temple!"

"Praise the Holy Blood Temple!"

The man beamed with joy, while the girl hiding behind him blinked her eyes, curiously eyeing Xu Lie.

She had certainly heard the name Holy Blood Temple, but perhaps she couldn't yet grasp its significance.

Xu Lie took a few pieces of dry food made from wheat flour that Chen Jian had eaten before from his bag and handed them to the girl, affectionately patting her head, perfectly playing the role of "god loves all."

Chen Jian found it amusing but didn't ridicule.

After all, these were the rules of this land, and as an outsider, he had no ground to question them, did he?

The man, having acquired food, intended to leave with the girl, but just as the girl turned, Chen Jian noticed she was playing with something in her hand.

It was a pure black metal cube with an LCD screen on the front.

Every time the girl pressed the single button on the side, the screen briefly displayed a string of characters.

Chen Jian couldn't see the characters' specific details, but instinctively felt the object was unusual.

"Wait a moment!"

He called out to them, then asked:

"Little one, could you let uncle have a look at your toy?"

The girl glanced up at her father, who nodded, then she hesitantly handed the object to Chen Jian.

Chen Jian took it and decisively said:

"We want this, name your price."

The man paused, seemingly realizing the item's worth and intending to raise the price, but a glance at the watchful Xu Lie and the others made him swallow his words.

"It's just a toy... If you want it, take it."

Chen Jian nodded and said to Xu Lie:

"Give him some gold and deduct it from my bounty."

"How much?"

Xu Lie didn't hesitate and promptly complied.

"Equivalent to the value of a few dozen pistol rounds, give as you see fit."

"Understood."

Xu Lie took out dozens of gold grains from his pocket, selected an appropriately sized one, and handed it to the man.

The man, surprised and thrilled, perhaps couldn't believe he could sell the item for such a high price without raising his own.

The piece of gold Xu Lie offered him was at least over 40 grams, enough to buy him food for two months...

He hurriedly accepted the gold, expressing gratitude before leaving.

And after he left, Xu Lie immediately approached, asking:

"What is that thing? Why is it worth so much?"

Chen Jian calmly pocketed the item and replied:

"It's a ballistic calculator, used to calculate the trajectory of firearms for calibrating them."

"I see..."

Xu Lie seemed enlightened and then wandered away in boredom.

----He didn't need such things; the Holy Blood usually fought in hand-to-hand combat, perhaps only the Mechanical God Sect and those chosen by the gods would require this sort of device.

What he didn't know was, after he turned away, Chen Jian discreetly made a few gestures behind his back.

Accompanied by mouthed words, it was the simplest of hand signals.

And the meaning of that hand signal was...

"Encryption device."

"An encryption device with coordinates!"