Wasteland Hideout: Upgrading from the Sewers

Chapter 288: Carmen's Lingering Fear, Simple Signal Detector, Yu Yuan's Persecution Complex

"Commander Carmen, the defensive fortifications are ready..."

"Good, have the brothers check everything one more time, I'll be there shortly..."

Carmen smiled as he sent the thugs away and returned to his room.

The moment the door closed, his forced composure finally shattered.

Carmen leaned back against the door, gasping for breath, his eyes filled with terror.

He had really almost died just now.

He could feel it—if he had said one wrong word at that moment, Hogg would have truly taken action.

So much so that even after leaving Hogg's office, he hadn't dared to relax the tense nerve in his mind.

Because he kept feeling that behind him, there was a pair of unseen eyes watching him, waiting for him to show a flaw and... his disguise.

In Carmen's consciousness, Yu Yuan had never left, and ever since Carmen left Hogg's office, he hadn't said a word.Because Yu Yuan understood all too well how dangerous the situation had just been; he couldn't make any move that might disturb Carmen.

The slightest misstep, or even a minor abnormality from Carmen, could have drawn Hogg's attention.

Now, sensing the release of Carmen's emotions, Yu Yuan also knew they were temporarily safe.

However, he still didn't speak.

He quietly waited for Carmen to vent his nervous tension and for Carmen to self-adjust his own mental and emotional state...

A long time passed...

Carmen's breathing finally settled completely. After a few deep breaths in succession, he finally left the door and sat down in a chair.

*Click—*

He lit a cigarette.

As the warm smoke was drawn into his mouth, then entered his lungs, dopamine secreted in his brain under the influence of nicotine, quickly soothing Carmen's emotions.

"It should be fine now! Hogg believes me for the time being." Carmen's voice sounded in his mind.

"It seems the deaths of Lao Ke and Cold Crow and the other three really did shock Hogg, making him feel a great sense of crisis!"

Yu Yuan said calmly.

"But I didn't expect you to think of using the Blood Slave's Teeth to break the deadlock."

Carmen exhaled a puff of smoke, leaned his body back against the chair, and rested his head against the wall.

"Just a desperate attempt to save a hopeless situation!" At this point, he chuckled lightly.

"I didn't expect him to value that blood slave so much."

A thoughtful expression appeared on Carmen's face as he continued:

"However, although I've temporarily calmed Hogg down, I can feel he doesn't truly trust me..."

"It's fine, I've already made arrangements for the Aurora Animal Assistance Association. When the time comes, Hogg will be the first target...."

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When Yu Yuan's consciousness detached from Carmen's body and returned to the shelter, he also breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed Hogg really did feel the crisis.

"Today is day 45. Counting the time, tomorrow is the day the Ceasefire Token expires. I wonder if Moss Cottage will come..."

Yu Yuan checked in again with Mona, Hans, and Zhou Yuan about their respective situations.

Mona was assisting Miller with the aftermath, while Hans had received Victor's orders and was heading to the Feed Factory to investigate the incident involving the combat there.

Yu Yuan told Hans about the possibility that the Humpback Whale might have stopped at the Feed Factory, advising him to be cautious.

As for Zhou Yuan, he indicated he was still waiting for information from the Humpback Whale side, and all their personnel were currently drawn to the big battle in District 11, collecting intelligence.

Actually, Zhou Yuan and the President of the Black Rock Caravan already knew about this intelligence, but they still needed to put on a show for the other factions.

"Now we're just missing intel from the Humpback Whale side. Once the people from the Black Rock Caravan return, we should know."

After handling these matters, Masier knocked on the door to his Rest Area.

"Investor, I've finished the signal detector you wanted. Come take a look quickly!"

Yu Yuan stood up and pushed open the door to see Masier holding a very ugly-looking thing in her hand.

Hmm~~~

Although Yu Yuan really didn't want to admit it, it was truly ugly.

It looked like something cobbled together from junk.

It was a modified shell of a high-intensity flashlight, with a whip antenna extending from the head. There were switches and knobs on the side, and an LED light on the other side.

The most eyesore was that whip antenna—it was actually a section of copper wire soldered onto the antenna port of an RF module, then fixed onto a telescopic fishing rod tip, exuding a strong wasteland vibe.

The corner of Yu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly as he looked at Masier incredulously.

"Are you sure this thing... works?"

Masier noticed Yu Yuan's expression, clearly doubting her achievement. She pushed her goggles up on her head and pouted her little mouth.

"Mr. Investor, I am very unhappy with your attitude!"

As she spoke, Masier picked up that ugly monstrosity in her hand and began introducing it.

"Look, this is the sensitivity knob... this is the power switch... this is the buzzer... this is the frequency band knob..."

Seeing Masier's serious expression, Yu Yuan also smiled.

"Alright, alright! In that case, you'd better operate it for me personally!"

With that, Yu Yuan took Masier to the Starry Sky Observatory.

The Starry Sky Observatory was no longer its former self; all the space was now completely filled with supplies. Even the area under the platform where the Starry Sky Mirror was set up was piled high with goods.

Seeing the mountain of supplies piled up inside the Starry Sky Observatory, Masier was utterly dumbfounded.

Yu Yuan pointed at these supplies and said:

"Alright, Miss Artisan, I suspect there might be trackers or signal transmitters among these. It's up to you now."

Hearing Yu Yuan's words, Masier snapped back to reality, her face lighting up with excitement.

"So that's it. Don't worry, Investor!"

As she spoke, Masier put her goggles back on properly.

"Here we go!"

She gently bit her lip, her face full of excitement as she began operating the simple, homemade signal detector in her hands.

Yu Yuan stood behind her, watching Masier go through a series of operations, aiming the whip antenna at the supplies in front of her.

She pressed the switch in her hand, then slowly turned the frequency band knob.

Yu Yuan only heard a sudden faint buzzing sound from the detector, and the LED light flashed once.

It had detected an abnormal signal.

"Wow, success! Investor, did you see that!" Masier showed an excited expression.

Without waiting for Yu Yuan to speak, Masier turned the detector in her hand, starting to search for the real location of the signal transmitter.

*Beep beep beep...*

As Masier adjusted the angle, the buzzing sound from the detector became increasingly rapid and loud.

Finally, Masier arrived amidst the pile of supplies, pointed at a spot, and looked at Yu Yuan.

"Mr. Investor, it's right here!"

Yu Yuan had already stepped forward. Following Masier's indication, he indeed found a miniature signal transmitter with a blinking light inside a box.

Looking at the signal transmitter in his hand, Yu Yuan shook his head slightly.

"I knew these major factions were all crafty old coins. It's exactly as I expected!"

Yu Yuan couldn't help but recall the Iron Anchor Shipping Company, which hadn't shown its face for a long time.

It really was thanks to them giving Yu Yuan a lesson before!

So much so that Yu Yuan had kept this matter in mind ever since.

He was almost developing a persecution complex!

"Masier, continue!"