Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
“I thought you stepped down from intelligence work.”
“Kutpov is responsible for this task. I’m only responsible for helping him contact Celestial Trade. The coordinates of Arrow have been exposed. If everything goes smoothly, he will fly to Finland tomorrow.”
“Hah, that old man. I know—very interesting guy.”
“Interesting? I don’t see anything interesting on his face with as many knife-scars as wrinkles…”
In a villa on the outskirts of Moscow, an old man and a young woman sat across from each other and enjoyed a not-so-family dinner. However, Nikolaev was very content. Since the death of Marina, his family was fragmented. The cold war between the daughter and father had continued till now. The last time they had dinner together was in the distant past.
Both sides knew that this wasn’t each other’s fault but they couldn’t forgive each other. Regardless of what Marina did, she was Natasha’s mother, and she died in Georgia because of his orders. He didn’t expect Natasha to forgive him, even if he believed she could understand him…
Nikolaev looked at his daughter deeply. Natasha stopped moving her fork and touched her face with a frown.
“Is there anything on my face?”
“There are a lot of things, lots of reminders of Marina… Sorry, I shouldn’t mention her name.”
“It’s okay, I know she died. You’re in more pain than me.” Natasha was nonchalant.
Nikolaev forced a smile, pinched his eyebrows, hesitated for a while, and finally spoke the words that had been brewing for a long time.
“Listen, I heard he has many women.”
“Are you not the same?” Natasha sneered.
“This…this isn’t exactly the same…” Nikolaev touched his nose awkwardly after his daughter revealed his private life. “I just hope that you can take care of yourself—”
“I will.”
Nikolaev opened his mouth, but his vocabulary seemed to have disappeared, as nothing came out in the end. He spread his hands and said, “…I hope so.”
This was her own life, and he had no right to interfere too much, even if he was her father. She was already an adult. But if possible, he wanted to see Jiang Chen again. This time, he swore that he would grab Jiang Chen’s neck and beat the wicked and lucky boy.
Looking at her father’s expression, Natasha knew what he was thinking and couldn’t help but sigh.
After a moment of silence, she slowly said, “After some time, I will be there.”
“Oh,” Nikolaev responded with his nasal voice as if he didn’t seem to mind
“Although I have no plans to forgive you… I remember the things you’ve done for me.”
After a pause, Natasha stared at the steak on her plate and said in a casual but forced tone, “Anyway, thank you.”
However, from her slightly trembling voice, she wasn’t calm.
“Thank you…”
The old man smiled and touched his chin full of grease.
He had previously made up his mind that he must beat that guy, but he suddenly changed his mind.
Drinking two bottles of vodka with him didn’t seem like a bad choice either.
“Achoo!”
Jiang Chen’s nose was a little itchy, and he couldn’t help but sneeze.
Perhaps someone was thinking about him, but it was the second time he sneezed in the last few minutes. If it wasn’t for the fact that he knew his body was immunized against most colds, he would wonder if he caught a cold.
Sitting across from Jiang Chen, Chu Nan joked with a smirk while drinking tea.
“Got a cold from last night?”
“It’s just that my nose is a little itchy… Where were we again?” Jiang Chen said as he rubbed his nose.
Chu Nan sighed. “Did you really listen to what I said about the Northern Alliance Area?”
“Indeed.” Jiang Chen waved his hand and motioned for him to continue.
To the NAC who had rekindled civilized fire, the Northern Alliance Area was like nomads. Because of the climate problem, they targeted the relatively rich area of Wanghai, and they tried to take away this “prosperous” land from the NAC with equipment inherited from the Pan-Asia Cooperation.
Especially the three Gardens of Eden. Half of the decision to choose Wanghai as the destination was because of the three gardens.
However, the NAC wasn’t an easy opponent. The offensive attack from last winter ended in the defeat of the Northern Alliance Area. Their strongest Wanderer tank was simply incomparable against the advanced pre-war Particle Cannon.
With the Particle Cannon as their trump card, even if the Northern Alliance Area wanted to attack, there would be no opportunity to advance a step further. However, Jiang Chen was facing the same issue.
Jiang Chen, Han Junhua, and other high-level NAC executives certainly discussed a conquest of the Northern Alliance Area. It wasn’t impossible to execute, but a very real problem was placed in front of them. It was the problem of profits.
Regardless if they won or lost, even if the NAC managed to maintain a thousand-kilometer supply line through countless zombies, mutants, and raiders on the wasteland, even if they won, there would be no substantial benefit to the NAC.
The “gap between the rich and the poor” was too great. Other than weapons, the Northern Alliance Area had nothing Jiang Chen envied. The only thing he was curious about was a launch center, but he was only curious. Since it was based on the Sectarian Guardians, there was nothing left there.
Since it was the worst choice for both sides, there was only one option left.
“You mean they’re going to trade with me?” Jiang Chen laughed and sipped on his tea. “We have a lot of good stuff here, but what can they trade?”
Chu Nan didn’t speak, but he also smiled. He took a graphene card from his pocket, wagged it with his fingers, and placed it on the coffee table between them. He then gently pushed it in front of Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen picked up the graphene card and rubbed the switch, then a list of goods appeared in front of him.
“Mutant fur, Steel Tooth Tiger teeth, Blood Vine, crystal… how come I don’t understand some of things on here?” Jiang Chen furrowed.
“In addition to the crystals and industrial-use Blood Vine, the others are luxury goods. They’re only available in the northwest area of the mainland. They can be used to produce coats, jewelry, or other items. These luxury goods are in high demand on the wealthy Sixth Street, the southern area, and overseas. What do you think? Interested?” Chu Nan asked.
When Jiang Chen heard the word “luxury,” he almost burst out laughing.
Sure enough, the pursuit of a high quality of life was part of human nature. Without a need to worry about food, people begin searching for other things, but this was also part of the path toward civilization. A civilization without luxury couldn’t ever be truly prosperous.
“What do you think?” Jiang Chen tossed the card back on the table and didn’t directly answer his question, but instead, he asked Chu Nan for his opinion.
“If trade can feed them, at least they can control their own hands. I think this is a good thing. But we have to consider what can be sold and what can’t be sold.” Chu Nan said, with a shrewd light piercing out from his eyes.
