Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle-Chapter 603: Travis’ Black Gold Outpost

Travis may not have a huge distillation tower like the one in Shane's Eclipse Domain, but they also have small devices to obtain kerosene from the crude oil.

As Shane observed the Oil Fields, he then confirmed from Travis that the workers were also foreign survivors like them, recruited people from the stones, and even some scavengers before.

Thankfully, Travis obtained a blueprint for their project by completing a special Clan Mission.

Because of that, the vats of boiling oil could be turned into kerosene and synthetic lubricants.

"Who's that? He looked strong…" Shane muttered after seeing the commander of the Oil Fields wearing a safety helmet and commanding some workers. It felt as if he would feet as a warrior instead of a foreman.

"That's Briggs… That guy has Rare-Grade Alchemist Talent…" Travis said. "He could turn piss into fuel if he had to."

Travis said with a chuckle.

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Shane could only nod at this. He found it quite interesting that this muscled figure, who seemed to be capable of splitting rocks with his bare hands, was an Alchemist.

After visiting the Oil Fields, Travis then brought Shane back to the shelter.

Travis brought him to what seemed like a bazaar where he saw several merchant stalls. These merchants were also quite similar to those who had visited Shane's shelters.

They were all brought here as the Shelter Owner and many Survivors with high reputations gathered in this place.

For some reason, no matter where you built your Shelter, if your reputation was high enough, the system could somehow arrange a Merchant Caravan to pass through your location, even in the desert!

At this time, Shane watched as the vendors hawked everything from salvaged pre-war tech to even some livestock!

'Interesting… The merchants here could bring those?' Shane felt interested in the livestock though he soon realized how expensive they were. It was no wonder they weren't being sold out.

Shane also noticed a vendor selling crude but effective firearms as he even tried demonstrating how to use the self-made muskets.

There was even a vendor selling Zombie Virus Suppressants. However, they had questionable efficacy. After all, the vendor couldn't guarantee its effectiveness. He could only say that it would be effective if the virus that had affected your body wasn't a strong variant or just a small amount.

As for testing its effectiveness, no one dared to try it at all. Nonetheless, there were several people who would buy from this merchant, just in case they got into a situation where they had to use it.

'I should sell the vaccine once I can mass produce them.' Shane muttered as he had already found a way to suppress the Zombie Virus with all the information he had collected in the research facility.

To be exact, the Super Soldier Serum that he obtained was actually a way to suppress the Zombie Virus. Although it wasn't the best method since the Super Soldier Serum would alter someone's physique, it was still a sure-fire method.

He could try to reproduce it with all of his resources and sell them for a huge price but he could also try to build a group of researchers with enough talent and skills to make a better version of it that was also less aggressive in the body.

"Ohh…"

After walking for a few moments, Shane noticed some merchants auctioning off a still-functional solar generator.

It was quite an interesting sight… Furthermore, Shane also noticed some products of his shelter being sold by Travis' traders.

Travis noticed Shane's gaze and immediately smiled.

"This is where half your supplies end up," Travis admitted.

"We sell your bullets, your medkits—hell, even your damn soap—for triple what you charge us."

Shane raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought we were friends."

Travis laughed. "Business is business. We are mostly consumers here… We could barely produce anything. The only thing we're good at is killing Zombies."

That was indeed the case as they had a large amount of Zombie Cores and other loots from the Zombies but in the end, they had to rely on the Marketplace, Merchant Trade, and other transactions to bring food to their table.

After all, even the System's Survivor Store couldn't provide them with enough food.

"That's true… I won't be raising our prices, don't worry." Shane replied.

In any case, Shane's bullets mostly came from the Ivory Gear Shelter under Lord Kang Zhen. With their established connection or portal, Shane was able to obtain bullets, explosives, and many other mechanical products for a cheaper price.

The Ivory Gear Shelter was truly an important ally for them. They already had a massive production line that could supply them with such resources without any issues.

Lastly, when he was selling those items to Travis, they were already marked up prices, so he was also earning quite a lot. Then, if Travis would resell them, it would indeed be a steep price, and he could only pity his customers.

"We're here…" Travis muttered as he looked at the barracks and the training grounds.

Indeed, the final stop was the barracks, where Travis's warriors trained.

"Ohhh…" Shane was quite surprised after seeing the warriors.

Unlike Shane's squads, composed of Super Soldiers, Knights, Elves, and many others, the ones in front of them seemed more like brawlers, not soldiers.

Travis even enthusiastically introduced them.

"They all have interesting talents… Look at that guy…" Travis started as he gestured at the bare-chested man with Stonehide Talent.

Soon, Shane saw as he tanked a shotgun blast to the gut and he was even laughing!

"Stonehide Talent… That's a nice talent to have." Shane muttered.

Then, Travis pointed at the teenage girl with Embervein Talent and spat fire at a training dummy, setting it ablaze. It seemed that she was training to have more range in her fire breath.

"They're tough…" Shane observed. "But they don't have good equipment. They would die in a real war."

Travis shrugged. "They all have Exceptional or Master-Grade Armors. As for other equipment or weapons, they had to procure on their own."

Shane gently nodded at this as he believed that armor was indeed the most important piece of equipment. After all, even if you have Stonehide Talent that could block bullets, it still uses Spirit Points. Even if the teenage girl could breathe fire, if she didn't have enough Spirit Points anymore, she would become pretty useless.

Because of that, they should have reliable defensive items to escape in case their Spirit Points were depleted.

As the tour ended, Shane decided to discuss the real reason for coming here... "Travis, we need more… I think you can double the crude shipments."

Travis crossed his arms. "And what do I get?"

Shane smiled at this, before giving a reply. "We're developing a powerful energy source… Think of it as a portable fusion reactor. Even if it is small, it is more than enough to power a district. The development will still take quite some time but I guarantee you that it will happen and you will be our first priority when it's made. I will give you a huge discount for that."

Indeed, this was Shane's proposal as he had already decided to fully maximize his Otherworldly Mechanic Talent and the Anima Store. He actually planned to use this reactor for Mech Frames, similar to what he had seen in the A.I. Rebellion but it would be too difficult. For now, he just planned to create those reactors and give some life to the shelters.

Travis's eyes gleamed at this as he didn't doubt Shane's words at all. "Done. I'll be buying more recruitment stones to get more workers.."

***

After the two's transaction, Travis was called away to handle some dispute between refinery workers…

Well, unlike Shane, with Territory Talent that forcefully adds loyalty points to the residents, Travis had to deal or engage more with the residents to increase their loyalty.

Even if Travis was only sending his Clones from time to time, it was still a great way to maintain the resident's loyalty points, knowing that their Shelter Owner was always there whatever problem arose.

Soon, Shane found himself free to wander in the shelter alone.

"Ohh… Let's see their products…" Shane muttered as he walked into The Gold's Den, the most popular or perhaps, largest tavern in Black Gold Outpost.

As soon as he entered, Shane immediately smelled the scent of stale beer, burnt meat, and unwashed bodies.

He saw a few oil-stained workers, while a battered jukebox played a scratchy pre-war tune in the corner.

'That jukebox… I think that's also being sold by the Ivory Gear Shelter.' Shane mused.

Soon, he took a seat at the bar, where a woman with a cybernetic arm looked at him.

It seemed that she was one of Lysandra's customers since the prosthetics had very similar aspects found in the Ivory Gear Shelter as well.

"What'll it be, stranger?"

"Whatever passes for drinkable here," Shane said, not really knowing what to order.