Li Qingyu delved into the forest where the rebels were hiding. By a distinctive tree, surrounded by stones, he stopped to give a coded signal.
The partisans were on edge – the PDF special forces were conducting raids, and the entire forest was teeming with secrets and patrols.
If he had tried to pass silently, they would have shot him without a word. He had to shout from a safe distance.
What signal? He had to imitate the cry of a local bird with a specific rhythm.
Leaning against the tree, Li took a deep breath and yelled:
"Goo-goo-ga-ga! Goo-goo-ga-ga? Goo-goo-ga-ga-a-a!!"
He fell silent, and a rustling was heard in the bushes ahead. Two rebels emerged from behind them, holding him at gunpoint, wary, ready to shoot.
Li placed his autogun at the feet of their commander and took out two full magazines.
"As agreed. I brought the weapon, plus three magazines and sixty rounds on top. Is my grain ready?"
The commander took the weapon, habitually disassembled it, and checked the parts and rifling. Assured that everything was in order, he grumbled,
"I asked for a standard PDF autogun, and you brought a homemade one."
Li ignored the complaint, took three test tubes with white powder from his pocket.
"This is highly purified antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. One test tube is enough for about twenty people."
"As a celebration of our first deal, I'm giving these three test tubes as a gift. In the future – a ton of grain for each."
The commander's eyes lit up. They were in dire straits with medicine, especially antiseptics.
Many fighters died not from wounds, but from gangrene and blood poisoning.
This powder could save lives, and the price – just a ton of food!
The commander accepted the gift, and his wariness turned into gratitude.
"Thank you, scavenger. Whatever happens, these medicines will save my brothers."
A system notification immediately chimed in Li's head.
*Ding!* Quest completed. Relations with contact "Rebel Leader Old Sen" increased from level 0 to 1. Unlocked goods: Food... Tools... Materials...
A contact trading basic resources was good. But Li was more interested in the name.
"Listen, we've known each other for a long time, and I haven't heard your name."
Li squinted, studying the old man.
"Everyone calls me Old Sen," he replied. "You can call me that too."
Li took a deep breath, a meaningful smirk flashing across his face.
Rudolfson had said that the target of his liquidation was the leader of the camp named Old Sen. So this was what he looked like...
Noticing the change in Li's expression, Sen frowned.
"What is it? Heard of me?"
Li smiled and shook his head.
"No, first time hearing it. Take me to the grain and give me people to deliver it to my territory."
Sen still looked suspicious, but the deal was made. He led Li to the warehouse.
There lay woven sacks, packed with potatoes – each weighing about forty kilograms. For one gun, Li had negotiated seventy-five such sacks.
The rebels brought five carts and began loading.
While the work was underway, Sen gave his guest a small tour of the camp.
Li saw well-tended beds, pens with domestic poultry. At the sight of live food, he involuntarily licked his lips.
Sen, noticing this, ordered three sacks of greens to be picked for him and a dozen local chickens – the very ones that cried "goo-goo-ga-ga" – to be caught.
He handed all of this to Li as a gift.
"Take it. We are country folk, we don't have special treats for lords from the Hive – only what we grow ourselves."
Li accepted the gifts without hesitation.
"Ha! If you only knew... Your vegetables and meat are no less in quality than the Planetary Governor's table."
Sen didn't believe it.
"It can't be! The Governor has dishes made of gold, his one meal costs more than a hundred of our lives!"
"The dishes might be gold," Li nodded, "but they are the same as what grows in your garden."
"Of course, prepared more exquisitely, seasoned with expensive spices, but the essence is the same."
Sen frowned, pondering what he had heard.
"If our products are so valuable... Maybe if we sold them to an industrial world, we could escape poverty?"
Li nodded.
"Good idea, but impossible."
"Interplanetary logistics is hell. A ship can fly for months, even years, and all through the Warp. And you might enter and not come out."
In the Imperium of Man, there are no conventional faster-than-light engines. To shorten the journey, you have to dive into the Immaterium.
But the Warp is home to demons. If you try to cut corners, they will devour the ship whole.
The Imperium owns a million worlds, but without communication, it resembles a giant zombie: alive, yet dead.
Even if Sen had ships to transport grain to a forge world, out of ten, maybe eight would arrive. And that would be lucky.
And if you run into demons, xenos, pirates, or imperial officials who decide to "confiscate" the cargo – no one will return.