101: Engineers in place

Pan Han was in a very good mood right now, and he found it enjoyable to banter with Cheng Xiao.

Upon reaching the base, he found that Old Third and Old Fourth had returned, bringing someone with them.

This person was emaciated, dressed in tattered clothes, with disheveled and matted hair, looking exactly like a homeless man.

"Lord Pan, you're back," Old Third greeted him, stepping forward.

"Who is this person?" Pan Han asked, pointing at the homeless man.

"This is the engineer you asked us to find before. This guy is a true all-rounder; he claims to have been an academician at the Academy of Sciences before the apocalypse. Engineering machinery, petrochemicals, automotive power—he knows everything, all sorts of things," Old Third reported.

"Oh? There's actually such an all-rounder?" Pan Han felt that these professions had quite a wide span.

"Lord Pan might have forgotten, there were over 600 billion people before the apocalypse. There's no shortage of geniuses here," Old Third reminded Pan Han.

Pan Han thought about it and realized he was right; in his own world, there were also many great figures, who had already graduated with doctorates by their early twenties.

"Very good, where did you find him?"

"These past few days, we went to the surrounding areas to look for gold and found him in a bank building. This guy lived by himself on the top floor of the building."

"Oh? So you guys tied him up?"

"No, he heard that our master was looking for an engineer and volunteered to come along."

"Good, call him over, I want to question him."

"Understood!"

"Wu Disheng, come over, our master wants to see you," Old Third called out to the homeless man.

Goodness, just by his name, he sounded like a formidable person capable of invention.

Pan Han sat steadily on the sofa, with Cheng Xiao standing behind him, holding a pistol, to prevent this guy from acting out.

When Wu Disheng heard Old Third call him, his gaze immediately fixed on Pan Han.

"Come on, hurry up," Old Third saw him dawdling and quickly went over to pull him along.

"You are the base master?" Wu Disheng asked lazily.

"You bastard, why were you fine just now, and now you're acting all high and mighty? Speak properly to our master," Old Fourth couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him hard in the backside.

"Ouch!" Wu Disheng fell face-first.

"Hmph, hmph, still retaining that intellectual air," Pan Han thought to himself.

"I hear you're an engineer?" Pan Han asked first, not waiting for him to speak.

"That's right, anything that can be made, I can tell how to do it just by looking at it," Wu Disheng stood up, rubbing his backside.

"Alright, then stay. I need people right now," Pan Han said, mimicking his lazy tone.

"Is food provided until full?" Wu Disheng rubbed his stomach after rubbing his backside.

"Depends on your performance!"

"Are there experimental facilities?"

"Depends on your performance!"

"Got cigarettes?"

"Depends on your performance!"

The two of them exchanged several sentences like they were playing a guessing game, back and forth.

Wu Disheng saw that Pan Han was unyielding and did not treat him with special courtesy just because he heard he was an all-rounder engineer.

"Alright, then I'll stay," Wu Disheng was a bit disappointed that he didn't get a grand welcome and had to reluctantly agree to stay.

Pan Han thought, "Oh, this kid is trying to challenge me, and he's putting on airs."

"Put a collar on him!" Pan Han nodded to Old Fourth.

"I'm not wearing that thing!" Wu Disheng waved his hands repeatedly; he had seen the power of these things, and many people had died from collar explosions.

"Did I ask you?"

Pan Han suddenly raised his voice, his eyes wide with anger, and roared fiercely at Wu Disheng.

When Old Fourth heard this, he was delighted; he had disliked this guy for a long time, and if it weren't for Pan Han's special request, he would have killed him on the way.

What kind of damn engineer, if he doesn't obey, just bury him!

"Don't move, if you move, I'll kill you," Old Fourth warned him viciously, then took out a slave collar, put it on him, and handed the remote control to Pan Han.

"Now tell me, what exactly can you do?" Pan Han held the remote control and dangled it in front of Wu Disheng's eyes.

"Gulp!" Wu Disheng swallowed, a trace of fear appearing in his eyes.

Pan Han motioned for Cheng Xiao to lean down and whispered something in her ear. Cheng Xiao smiled upon hearing it and turned to leave.

Pan Han didn't continue asking but instead started twirling the remote control.

When he was in school, he had learned to twirl pens, and now twirling the remote control was effortless for him.

"Lord Pan, be careful!" Wu Disheng saw his own life twirling along and felt a bit dizzy.

Pan Han ignored him. Even if this guy wasn't an academician before the apocalypse, he should have been some kind of leader, or a university professor, or perhaps an R&D director of a large company. In short, he was someone of status. After so many years in the apocalypse, he hadn't lost his sense of self-importance. He definitely needed to be properly disciplined, otherwise, he would be trouble in the future.

"Lord Pan, the alarm clock is here," Cheng Xiao returned, handing Pan Han what he had asked for.

Pan Han took the alarm clock, a subtle, mischievous smile playing on his lips.

He wound up the alarm clock.

"You have 1 minute. If you can't say it, your head moves."

Slam! The alarm clock was placed on the table, ticking away.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Lord Pan, I'll tell you, I'll tell you. I can modify vehicles, manufacture explosives, refine gasoline and diesel, and I can also set up power grids, and I'm good at artificial intelligence networks too."

Pan Han wound it up another turn.

"Continue from vehicle modification and gasoline refining."

"Huh?"

"One minute. If you can't say it, your head moves."

"Ah, this, this. Lord Pan, just tell me what you want."

"I want to mass-produce gasoline and diesel," Pan Han gave him a hint.

"Yes, yes, absolutely no problem. I know where there are oil wells, I'll take you. As long as the equipment is usable, I can refine gasoline and diesel for you," Wu Disheng quickly agreed.

"Engineer Wu, you know, we went to great lengths to find you. If you were to deceive us, that wouldn't be appropriate, would it?"

"Not appropriate!" Wu Disheng quickly shook his head.

"And if we provide you with food and drink, and you don't produce anything, that wouldn't be appropriate either, would it?"

"Not appropriate!"

"Good, I'll give you 30 days. Help the base produce the first batch of fuel. Get all the vehicles running," Pan Han stopped talking nonsense and directly issued a strict order.

"Yes, Lord Pan, I, Wu, will resolutely complete the mission. I am willing to sign a military pledge."

"It's not too difficult for you, is it?"

"Not difficult, not difficult. I have a lot of skills, and I was just worried about not having a place to use them."

"He's acting arrogant again, damn it," Old Fourth kicked him from behind again.

"Have you eaten?" Pan Han stopped Old Fourth, feeling that the show of force was enough.

"I ate a little on the way; I hadn't eaten much for four or five days before that."

"Cheng Xiao, get him something to eat."

Cheng Xiao obeyed, turned to the warehouse, got two cans of food, then took two large flatbreads and a large cup of water from the kitchen.

"Eat."

When Wu Disheng saw the food, he quickly squatted down, picked up a flatbread, and bit into it fiercely. In less than 1 minute, one flatbread was down. He suddenly realized there was also canned meat. He picked up the can and ate ravenously.

No one disturbed him; they just watched him eat. After all, everyone except Pan Han had experienced the taste of hunger.

A few minutes later, all the food was down, and Wu Disheng gulped down several mouthfuls of water. Seeing some oil on his hands, he simply licked them clean.

"Full!" Pan Han slowly spoke after he had finished eating everything.

"So delicious, is there more?" Wu Disheng looked at Pan Han with pleading eyes.

"You haven't eaten for a long time; eating too much suddenly isn't good. Take it slow."

"Oh, Lord Pan is right."

At this moment, Pan Han took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to him with a smile.

When Wu Disheng saw it was a cigarette, he immediately took it, held it to his nose, and took a deep sniff.

"Old Fourth," Pan Han gave him a look.

Old Fourth took out a lighter and lit it for Wu Disheng.

...A large smoke ring floated above Wu Disheng's head.

"Lord Pan, this pack of cigarettes alone is worth an oil well. Just wait for good news," Wu Disheng said to Pan Han with determination after finishing one cigarette.

"Old Third and Old Fourth, get him enough manpower. Start working immediately," Pan Han didn't waste any more words.

"Yes!" Old Third and Old Fourth obeyed, leading Wu Disheng out.

"Lord Pan, do you think this person is reliable?" Cheng Xiao asked, looking at Wu Disheng's retreating back.

"It doesn't matter; experience is enough," Pan Han slowly replied.