Wasteland Commander

The words spoken by Ye Fan were resolute and definitive. After he finished, the room fell into a deathly silence.

Wang Jiucheng and the others remained silent, as it was the first time they had heard of this situation.

"Is what Leader Ye said true?"

Ye Fan waved his hand, and immediately someone brought over a USB drive.

Although the internet was down, computers could still be used, and the USB drive could play videos.

"Here is a document that records many things, including survivor accounts, confessions of undercover agents in Ice City, proofs by Hai Shan Wei people, and the situation of our sisters being detained in Hai Shan Wei. Reporter Wang can take your time reviewing it."

Holding the USB drive, Wang Jiucheng didn't need to check; he knew Ye Fan wouldn't lie to him.

After a while, Wang Jiucheng instinctively shook his head: "No way, no way, Leader Ye is overthinking. Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan is a good person; he wouldn't bestow honors rashly. If Guo Zhun was really as Leader Ye described, he certainly wouldn't agree."

Ye Fan smiled: "Does Reporter Wang know your Grand Duke well?"

"I know a bit about him. The Grand Duke is known for his loyalty and sincerity. He even rescued an orphan girl of a survivor, nurturing her with care, investing vast resources to cultivate her, and eventually transforming her into a Level 3 Mutant. Such a person must be full of affection."

"Oh! A Level 3 Mutant?"

Upon hearing this news, Ye Fan was taken aback as well.

He was a Level 2 Mutant, and even the heroic units in the Dawn Army were peak Level 2 Mutants.

But Level 2 Mutants were basically the pinnacle; he had never heard of Level 3 Mutants.

Level 1 Crystal Cores are extracted from the brains of King Kong Zombies, Crawlers, and some large Mutant Beasts.

Level 2 Crystal Cores are produced in the brains of Tyrannosaurus Zombies, Lickers, and some king-level Mutant Beasts.

Getting hold of a Level 2 Crystal Core is extremely difficult; even when Little One led an attack on a city, they only managed to pull out a group of Tyrannosaurus-like zombies, and Tyrannosaurus counts as a Level 3 Zombie, but they've never seen a Level 4 Zombie.

Even Ye Fan didn't know what a Level 4 Zombie looked like.

Wang Jiucheng nodded: "Yes, a Level 3 Mutant. It is said that a vast amount of resources were spent to cultivate her, and many people sacrificed their lives for her successful cultivation, something even the Duke said was almost impossible to replicate."

Ye Fan heard a few sentences from him, but since they didn't touch on crucial points, he knew Wang Jiucheng didn't understand much, either.

Ye Fan simply gave up pursuing more questions and continued: "It seems that Reporter Wang has a lot of faith in your Grand Duke. Let's wait and see, then. You can take your time with the document when you return. Since you've come from afar, it's my obligation to be a good host. Waiter, serve the dishes, please. Today, we drink until we're absolutely plastered."

Soon, the waiter brought out one dish after another.

There was all sorts of Mutant Beast meat and fresh river fish fished from a hole cut into the ice of the Seven-Star River.

There were fresh vegetables grown in a greenhouse in the Outer City District, including cabbage, spinach, leeks, and other northern specialties. The vibrant green hues made everyone's mouths water.

Since leaving the south, they haven't eaten fresh vegetables for several months, and to see green vegetables in this dead of winter was unexpected.

The wine served was white liquor, all of it high-end from before the apocalypse.

Even in Jiangzhou, Wang Jiucheng and his companions had never attended such a high-class banquet, their mouths watering uncontrollably.

With the camera still rolling, they began eating.

At Ye Fan's suggestion, everyone toasted with a shot of white liquor before they devoured the food.

Bites of Mutant Beast meat went down, making them feel physically stronger.

They aggressively gobbled up the green vegetables with chopsticks, abandoning any sense of decorum.

Ye Fan didn't eat in such a hurry. Instead, he had the waiter turn on the television.

Now in Divine Dragon Province, not many TV programs could be received. The Daqing Mountain Prison Base and Ice City had merged, and Hai Shan Wei had been flattened, leaving just the Liberation Army, Dawn Army, and Oil City over there.

After flipping through a few channels, at exactly noon, the Liberation Army's midday news broadcast began.

"Greetings to all viewers in Divine Dragon Province! Good noon!"

"Here's some good news to share: beyond our Divine Dragon Province, Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan of the Empire has established a huge Base City, Jiangzhou Base City!"

"The revival of humanity is on the horizon, and the Empire's legitimacy remains unbroken!"

"At this moment of universal celebration, our Liberation Army's leader journeyed a long way to Jiangzhou Base City, met with Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan, and presented our promotional film to him."

"After watching the promotional film, Grand Duke Zheng Jinnan expressed high praise for Leader Guo Zhun's outstanding achievements and granted him an honor on the spot, bestowing upon him the title of Imperial Count!"

"From now on, Count Guo Zhun will represent the Empire's legitimacy, overseeing all affairs in Divine Dragon Province!"

"Furthermore, Count Guo Zhun calls on all the people in the province to come to Ice City for unified management, and in three days, the newest currency issued by the Empire post-apocalypse, named New Coin, will be officially released."

"Now, please watch Count Guo Zhun's conferral ceremony!"

The TV showed an enormous hall.

As Guo Zhun walked step by step from the bottom to the stage, he received an honor from an old man in his fifties amidst the applause of the crowd.

The old man may have seemed to be in his fifties, but in reality, he was probably close to seventy. Zheng Jinnan had been quite famous in the Empire before.

He was the tutor of the Empire's second prince, and if the second prince were to inherit the throne, he would become the National Preceptor.

Since the end of the world, seeing him again, he seemed a lot younger, probably due to the effects of mutations.

Standing behind Zheng Jinnan was a tall, graceful girl.

Even while standing silently behind, she drew everyone's gaze.

There are many beauties in the world, and not few are eye-catching; the key is this girl wore a black semi-metallic mask, covering most of her face, revealing only her jade-like chin and small red lips.

But everyone wasn't blind; her figure, her skin, her lips, her facial form, and those sparkling peach blossom eyes were not features a shabby girl could possess.

In a simple black dress, quietly standing there, she silently attracted the majority's attention.

Upon seeing her, Wang Jiucheng got quite excited, "That's Hua Wushuang, the only Level 3 Mutant not just in Jiangzhou, but possibly nationwide! The top expert!"

Ye Fan was taken aback, he hadn't seen that this girl was a Level 3 Mutant.

Could it be that Level 3 Mutation has reached the point of restraining one's aura and returning to simplicity?

Moreover, her behavior of not showing her full face made Ye Fan's heart itch.

But now was not the time to ogle at beautiful women, Ye Fan's eyes once again fell on Wang Jiucheng.

"Reporter Wang, it seems I have to disappoint you, your Grand Duke has chosen Guo Zhun, as for accepting the leadership of Jiangzhou, or rather, Guo Zhun's leadership, I can only say sorry."

Wang Jiucheng also snapped out of his excitement from seeing Hua Wushuang, his expression became extremely awkward.

"It shouldn't be this way, it must be that the Grand Duke hasn't fully understood the situation, after all, Jiangzhou and Divine Dragon Province are separated by mountains and rivers, he must have been deceived by Guo Zhun!"

At this point, Wang Jiucheng couldn't continue eating.

"Leader Ye, there must be some misunderstanding in this matter, I must hurry back to Jiangzhou, I will compile this journey's experiences into a documentary for the Duke to see, I believe that after he sees it, he will know who is truly suitable to lead Divine Dragon Province."

After speaking, he was too embarrassed to eat, turned around, and left with a few people.

Ye Fan stood up symbolically to see them off, then sat back down.

He didn't believe that Wang Jiucheng could succeed this time, but at least he had to show that he tried, so that even if they turned hostile one day, there wouldn't be any criticism.

As for the subsequent matters, he didn't need to meddle much, although Guo Zhun had become an Imperial Count, he didn't intend to compromise on anything.

After all, the Dawn Army did not accept the Liberation Army's leadership, and if Guo Zhun wanted to issue currency, he would not cooperate.

The bank in Dawn City was already prepared, and since it had come to this, there was no need to hold back anymore.

"Notify them to have the bank ready, we will issue our currency in three days."

The communicator immediately sent the notification, and before long, Logistics Officer Zhang Kunlin and Chief of Staff Zhongjing arrived.

"Sir, are we finally going to issue currency?"

"Exactly, you came at the right time, have some food and let's discuss how to issue it."

The two sat down, and soon Zhang Kunlin reported.

"Sir, the bank has come up with two solutions, one is to continue the previous monetary system, with the smallest denomination being one dime, and the largest denomination being one hundred yuan."

"The second plan is to add two denominations, five hundred yuan and one thousand yuan. Which one to adopt requires your decision."

Ye Fan gently tapped his fingers on the table: "Smallest denomination is one dime? What about a penny?"

Zhang Kunlin immediately replied, "Before the apocalypse, sub-coins were not really circulated, too little purchasing power, so we didn't plan to consider sub-coins this time."

Ye Fan lightly shook his finger: "No, canceling sub-coins will lead to price increases, our new currency must have sub-coins in circulation, not only circulating, but sub-coins must also have purchasing power."

"Notify the bank to include sub-coins, and use the five hundred yuan and one thousand yuan as well, we need to make our new currency, the one with the strongest purchasing power, but also the most convenient to carry, at least in the conversion ratio with the New Coin, I want our currency to exchange one yuan for ten New Coins."

Zhang Kunlin couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva: "That's not going to be easy to achieve."

"Whether a currency's purchasing power is strong depends on our capital reserves and material reserves. Our Dawn City now brings in a fortune every day, already has the foundation to issue currency, even if there are five hundred and one thousand yuan notes, it will not lead to inflation, as long as we manage the issuance well, there will be no problem, rest assured."

"Then... what about the gold and silver exchange ratio for the currency?"

"Just stick to... one dime for one gram of silver, ten yuan for one gram of gold, jewels and jade will be evaluated separately, and the market goods must also be properly appraised, for now, luxury goods are not allowed, ensuring livelihood is the priority."

"Okay sir, what about the previous contribution points?"

"Also exchange them according to the ratio, then establish a pricing bureau, responsible for market regulation within the city, all industries' prices must be supervised, absolute no raise or oppress prices' behavior allowed."

With each order Ye Fan issued, someone immediately went to handle it.

Finally, Zhang Kunlin asked: "Sir, could you decide the name and design of our currency?"

Ye Fan quickly began to determine the currency designs.

One penny features the image of a military dog.

Two pennies feature the image of a War Hawk.

Five pennies feature the image of a War Bear.

One dime features the image of a rifle-carrying private.

Two dimes feature the image of an Army Soldier carrying a machine gun.

Five dimes feature the image of a Scout.

One yuan features the image of a Sniper.

Two yuan features the image of a bazooka.

Five yuan features the image of Special Forces.

Ten yuan features the image of a dual anti-aircraft machine gun.

Twenty yuan features the image of an armored vehicle.

Fifty yuan features the image of a cannon.

One hundred yuan features the image of a heavy tank.

Two hundred yuan features the image of a helicopter.

Five hundred yuan features the image of a fighter jet.

One thousand yuan features the image of an aircraft carrier.

These are the front images, and the back has the insignia of the Dawn Army's flag.

"The patterns, colors, anti-counterfeiting marks, you do them yourself, absolutely must not be replicated, and as for the name of the currency, let's call it the Light Yuan, our Dawn Army's own currency."