[C.G] Ch 40: Just a Thousand Tons of Gold (Patreon)

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"Here!"

"The blue ones are the virus, the green ones are the antidote serum."

That was clearly explained by the Umbrella Corporation employee when they opened the third crate.

But even though Veyron knew a fair bit about the Resident Evil universe, he couldn't be 100% sure that the intel he had would still be accurate—especially with all the new variables in play.

So, when it came to the 44 spiral glass tubes in the first two boxes, his advice lined up with the rest of the group:

'If someone really gets bitten by an infected, of course the serum should be used.'

'But if you're totally fine? Then don't go injecting yourself with stuff for no reason.'

"…Unless it's absolutely necessary, who'd be dumb enough to mess around with their life after going through all this?"

Takagi Yuriko gave a wry smile as she replied to the group's caution.

"There's one more thing."

Veyron pointed at the three crates. "Would it be okay if I take one virus and one antidote serum from each of the first two crates, and also make a copy of the virus-related research data in the third?"

"I've got a friend who's really good at pharmaceutical stuff… We're not sure if we'll ever come back to this world after we leave, but just in case?"

"Ooh! Feel free to help yourself."

Yuriko nodded without hesitation.

So, Veyron took one T-virus and one T-virus antidote serum from the first crate, then one undead virus and one undead serum from the second crate (made by the Umbrella Corporation). As for the third crate…

"Miss Merlin, can I trouble you for a favor?"

He turned to Merlin.

"No problem."

With a snap of her fingers, Merlin used magic to instantly replicate all the data from the third crate.

"Chi-neesan, are you guys leaving soon?"

Maresato Alice, who had grown pretty close to Fujiwara Chika over the past few days, looked at the pink-haired older girl with concern.

"We'll probably stay a few more days."

Chika pulled up the chat interface, briefly discussed things with the others, and answered, "We've already brought you guys a good amount of supplies, but like Mr. Veyron said—we can't guarantee we'll get another shot at coming back."

"So before we go, we want to make sure you're all set up."

...

And so, for the next ten days or so, Europa and North America were visited by a crew.

Items that could handle the freezing cold were shipped straight to Antarctica, and things that might get damaged by the extreme weather were sealed up locally to slow down deterioration.

By the time they were ready to leave, the South Pole—centered around the Amundsen-Scott base—had been stocked with enough resources to keep those nine survivors comfortable till the end of time.

...

『Ordinary Person: Everyone ready?』

『Earth's Cancer: All good~』

『Lady Avalon: +1』

『Ghost Spider: Ready, ready. I miss my music, my games, and my warm bed…』

『Catwoman: And my designer bags and jewelry~』

『Hellish Blizzard: …』

『Snake Empress: Um… can I ask something? Would it be okay to take some stuff from this world back with me?』

『Ghost Spider: Why not? Hancock, If you want to take something, go ahead.』

『Ghost Spider: The group system disinfects everything during transfer, so no worries about spreading infection to our worlds.』

『Ghost Spider: Besides, you think we split up during the last few days of scavenging for no reason? We were all grabbing some "extras." The survivors were even kind of in on it with us.』

『Snake Empress: It's just that… the thing I want to take is kinda big…』

『Catwoman: ???』

『Catwoman: How big? Spill it.』

『Snake Empress: I want to take a ship… more accurately, a warship.』

『Catwoman: Uh… no offense, but...』

『Catwoman: Didn't you say before that the tech in your world and this one run on completely different tracks?』

『Catwoman: As far as I know, even with some basic understanding, handling a modern warship isn't exactly easy. You'd have to start learning from scratch, even the language.』

『Catwoman: Plus, ship maintenance, fuel… even if you could somehow manage all that, these warships wouldn't stand a chance against the top-tier monsters in your world unless they had nukes onboard, right?』

『Snake Empress: I've thought all that through.』

『Snake Empress: Against those legendary monsters Granny talked about—ones who could destroy islands with a single hit—these ships wouldn't last.』

『Snake Empress: But compared to our wooden sailboats, these steel warships are leaps ahead in every way. Only ships made from the Treasure Tree Adam might compete in some aspects.』

『Snake Empress: As for operation and maintenance… I've seen a Devil Fruit guide in Granny's collection. A few fruits listed in there could handle all that.』

『Catwoman: Well, since you've planned everything out, forget what I said.』

『Catwoman: Got any particular ship in mind? Want some suggestions?』

『Snake Empress: I'm thinking an ironclad battleship.』

『Snake Empress: Sure, aircraft carriers and ballistic subs dominate modern naval warfare here, but like you said—different worlds, different rules. And—』

[System Notice: 『Ordinary Person』 has sent a private red packet to 『Snake Empress』]

『Snake Empress: ???』

Before she could finish explaining her reason for picking a battleship, a private red packet popped up in the chat. Confused, Hancock sent a question mark.

『Ordinary Person: I happened to put together three carrier strike groups over in America. I was gonna keep them as a souvenir, but since you need one, I'll give you a full set—comes with weapons, ammo, and fuel.』

『Ghost Spider: A carrier strike group???』

『Ordinary Person: Yep. One group includes an aircraft carrier, two cruisers, six destroyers, a frigate, two nuclear attack subs, and three supply ships…』

Too bad this world's timeline is a bit early—the Ford-class carriers haven't even had their keels laid yet. So all three groups use Nimitz-class nuclear carriers.

Still, the Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier isn't just a ship—it's a floating city of war. Powered by twin nuclear reactors, it can sail around the world without ever refueling, launch over 60 aircraft at a time, and carry more firepower than some small countries. It's 100,000 tons of steel dominance with enough tech and manpower to rewrite the balance of a battlefield.

Glancing at the goodies he'd listed in the group shop as visible only to himself, Veyron casually asked:

『Ordinary Person: Anyone else want one? I can spare another.』

『Earth's Cancer: Nah, I can't afford the upkeep…』

『Ghost Spider: Same here… way too expensive.』

『Ordinary Person: Alright then, let's go with something more modest—to celebrate our first mission's perfect finish.』

[System Notice: 『Ordinary Person』 has sent a random red packet]

[The random red packet was claimed in 1 second!]

『Earth's Cancer: You call 210+ tons of gold "modest"? Seriously???』

『Earth's Cancer: And the craziest part? I didn't even get the best share!』

『Ordinary Person: Compared to a carrier strike group, that's pretty reasonable, right?』

『Earth's Cancer: …』

『Lady Avalon: It wasn't that big of a gap—I only got two tons more than you. If I had to guess, Veyron gave out about a thousand tons in total.』

『Ordinary Person: Yep. Nailed it.』

『Earth's Cancer: So… Veyron, what exactly have you been up to these past few days?? (facepalm.jpg)』

『Ordinary Person: Oh, nothing much. Just visited the US Federal Reserve and Fort Knox. Still, I didn't milk America dry...』

『Ordinary Person: What about you guys?』

『Earth's Cancer: …』

『Catwoman: Don't even ask… (facepalm.jpg)』

After receiving over a hundred tons of gold from Veyron, she couldn't help but feel like everything she'd done over the past few days had been a complete waste of time.

No, even the things she did in her world (DC).

Did she need to be the Catwoman anymore?

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