187: Chapter 187 Combat readiness upgrade, stronghold upgraded (2)

Leng Feng stood opposite the nautical chart table—his gaze shifted from the sixth fluctuation source toward the center of the triangle. After shifting it over, he tapped the center of the triangle with his hand.

"The main hub is at a depth of 2,500 zhang. The Haiyuan Clan is prying it open layer by layer from the outside—the cover, the Lock Core, and the Connection Node. Once all three are activated, the main hub will be forcibly opened from the outside."

He moved his hand away from the nautical chart—then pulled another recorded Jade Slip from the lining of his armor plates. This Jade Slip recorded the changes in the number of patrol squads he had observed during his most recent reconnaissance—the number of patrols around the altar had increased from thirty to at least fifty. Shift changes were now completely random—there was no fixed interval; sometimes they changed in less than half a stick of incense, and sometimes it took nearly three sticks of incense before they changed. The contraction speed of the patterns on the altar stone surface was accelerating—three months ago, it had contracted by about half an inch, but in the last three days, it had contracted by nearly two fen. The speed had nearly doubled.

"They are in a hurry," Leng Feng said, placing the recorded Jade Slip on the nautical chart table. "Much more so than three months ago."

On the other side of the nautical chart table, Su Qingli spread out the standard list issued by the military department. She checked the four defensive conditions on the list one by one against the actual situation on Blue Moon Island—after checking them, she used an array pen to draw a checkmark behind each one. All four were checked. Then, she flipped the list over—the back was blank, a full sheet of blank animal skin paper. She picked up the array pen—and began to draw on the blank side.

She drew a straight line extending from the mouth of the Dragon Burial Trench toward Blue Moon Island. At the farthest end of the line, she marked the location of the sixth fluctuation source—about 120 li away. In the middle of the line, she marked the boundary of the outer warning line of the Ring Reef—about 30 li away. At the near end of the line, she marked the coverage area of the Geng Metal Sword Intent Killing Array—about 3 li outward from the reef wall. Beside each marked line, she wrote the corresponding reaction time—from the sixth fluctuation source to the boundary of the warning line: at the normal advance speed of a Haiyuan Clan battle group, about two hours. From the warning line to the range of the Killing Array: about three sticks of incense. From the Killing Array to the reef wall—the Geng Metal Sword Intent Killing Array could stop those below the Golden Core stage, but those at or above the Golden Core stage could force their way to the reef wall.

After she finished drawing, she placed the array pen on the animal skin paper. The pen barrel rolled half a turn on the paper surface—and stopped.

"From discovery to engagement—two hours at the fastest," she said, pushing the animal skin paper in front of Lu Changyuan. "What can be done in two hours?"

Lu Changyuan looked at the straight line. Two hours—enough for all Sin Battalion outposts to be fully activated, enough for the six fishing sampan teams to withdraw into the port, enough for Pot 1 to Pot 4 to be emergency extinguished and sealed, enough for the people in the old field area of the Spirit Plant Garden to retreat into the Inner Harbor shed area. What was not enough was—reinforcements. From Zhenhai Fortress to Blue Moon Island, a supply ship took at least a day and a half. A warship at full speed took about a day. Two hours—reinforcements would not arrive in time.

"Commander Tie Zhan said in the postscript—" Lu Changyuan picked up Commander Tie Zhan's transmission Jade Slip. The last line of text on the Jade Slip reflected a faint cinnabar luster under the lights of the Formation Affairs Room. "The battle at the Royal Capital will not wait for you. You must hold off the first wave yourself."

He placed the Jade Slip back on the nautical chart table—next to the line Su Qingli had drawn. The two items lay side by side. One was the military department's combat readiness upgrade order and stronghold qualification—Blue Moon Island was officially recognized as a link in the front line. The other was Su Qingli's calculation—two hours from discovery to engagement, no reinforcements. The two items lay side by side—the meaning was clear. The military department gave you stronghold qualification—because you are in this position. The flank of the Dragon Burial Trench outlet—someone must guard it. Who guards it? The one on the list closest to the trench mouth. That is Blue Moon Island. Stronghold qualification is not a reward—it is the position where you are nailed down on the defensive map.

Su Qingli tucked the military department's distribution list and Commander Tie Zhan's transmission together into the interlayer of her ledger. After putting them away, she picked up a wolf-hair brush from the brush rest—and added a line at the end of the ledger: Military quota, monthly income of about 4,000 Spirit Stones. After writing, she laid the brush on the ledger—as she placed it down, the tip of the brush dragged a very thin ink mark across the paper.

"Stronghold qualification—" She closed the ledger. "It is not a reward. It is the outermost edge of the entire defensive line trading lives for institutional recognition."

That afternoon, Lu Changyuan called everyone at the manager level on the island to the Lords Mansion.

Ye Zhe came over from the Spirit Plant Garden—he was holding a stack of growth records for the third season of jade millet. Gu He came over from the reef area shed—a black iron medicine gourd hung at his waist, and the three poison-sealing Array Pattern copper rings on the gourd's mouth collided as he walked, emitting a series of faint metallic friction sounds. Old Mai Liu came over from the Outer Port Pier—he had just stepped off a sampan, and seawater splashed during his patrol of the Fourth Sector was still on his cuffs. Commander Cai came over from the direction of the outpost platform—he was holding the shift change records for the outer warning line for the day, and a checkmark was drawn after the name of each person on duty on the record. Leng Feng brought Deng Yue—the scar on Deng Yue's left shoulder had completely healed, and the color of the new flesh was a layer lighter than the old skin next to it.

Lu Changyuan spread the military department's standard distribution list on the table in the Lords Mansion. He explained the matter of the stronghold qualification. He did not say whether it was a "good thing" or a "bad thing"—he only said that the military department had given Blue Moon Island a stronghold number and a monthly quota. Then, he spread the straight-line map Su Qingli had drawn next to the standard list—from the mouth of the Dragon Burial Trench to Blue Moon Island, with the sixth fluctuation source 120 li away, it would take two hours to arrive.

"From now on—" He traced a line on the chart from the sixth fluctuation source toward Blue Moon Island. "The entire island will operate on the basis of 'potential engagement within two hours' as the daily routine. This is not a drill."

Ye Zhe was the first to speak. He opened the jade millet growth records—the estimated yield of the 80 mu for the third season was enough to feed 3,200 people. Adding the 500 shi of Spirit Rice distributed by the military department monthly—for the entire island's population of over 14,000, there was enough food. But the harvesting window was only two days—if the Haiyuan Clan charged over exactly during the harvest period, all 80 mu of jade millet would rot in the fields. He needed to dig an emergency grain storage cellar next to the old field area—digging it under the stone wall on the inner side of the Ring Reef, three zhang deep; the stone wall itself could block a wave of spiritual power impact. After the cellar was dug, the stored grain from the first and second seasons currently in the shed area warehouses would be transferred in first—as for the third season, he would decide whether to preemptively harvest it depending on the situation on the day before the harvest.

Lu Changyuan nodded. Ye Zhe wrote the character "Cellar" on the last page of the planting records—then turned and walked out of the Lords Mansion toward the Spirit Plant Garden.