56: Chapter 56 Mobile War Fortress

After admiring the scenery, Xu Qin turned around and walked back into the Lords Hall.

The hall was spacious, with only the energy core in the center glowing.

He tapped open the command panel.

The icons for the Floating City's various functional zones were neatly arranged, with their levels marked in the bottom right corner:

Lords Hall: Level 5 (Core)

Watchtower: Level 4

Forging Area: Level 4

Hall of Valor: Level 4

Magic Zone: Level 4

Wall Turret: Level 4

Vault: Level 4

Energy Zone: Level 4

"These are all levels inherited from the Level 5 Graveyard; only the structure has changed a bit."

He swiped through the panel, studying the description of each functional zone.

He clicked on the energy core interface.

[Energy Zone operating interface connected]

[Current Energy: 462,000 / 800,000]

[Consumption per hour: approx. 2,000]

[Consumption doubles when moving: 4,000 / hour]

[Maximum fully loaded speed: 15 km/h (current energy level)]

"Four thousand soul energy per hour... that's ninety-six thousand a day."

Xu Qin calculated, "This oil—er, energy consumption is a bit high."

"Two armies bring back over a hundred thousand a day, so it's barely sustainable."

"But if we need high-intensity combat or long-distance movement, I'll have to consider landing points."

He closed the interface, turned, and walked toward the passage on the east side of the hall, arriving at the Forging Area.

The original Undead Forge and workshop had merged into a huge semicircular platform.

In the center of the platform were three furnaces side by side, with dark purple steam puffing out of the chimneys.

Several Acolytes were standing by, and seeing Xu Qin enter, they bowed to their master one after another.

"Continue." Xu Qin waved his hand and walked up to a furnace.

[Forging Area · Level 4]

[Function 1: Equipment Forging (Currently can forge Green-tier Fine equipment)]

[Function 2: Material Decomposition (Conversion ratio 6:1)]

[Function 3: Ore Refining (Conversion ratio 4:1)]

[Function 4: Equipment Improvement (Can consume additional resources to upgrade the attributes of already constructed siege equipment).]

[Constructible Ordnance Buildings: Bone Catapult (Upgraded version), Bone Transport Cart (Heavy · 64 slots), Bone Wall section (Reinforced · 300 Health).]

"Equipment Improvement..." Xu Qin nodded and closed the improvement interface. "It's indeed more reasonable after merging the workshop and the Undead Forge."

Xu Qin left the Forging Area, passed through a bone corridor, and arrived at the Wall Turret area.

This was originally the Bone Wall surrounding the Graveyard, but it had now become the wall of the Floating City.

The eight Soul Energy Sentry Towers had turned into eight turrets, their muzzles adjustable to cover a 200-meter radius around them.

He walked up to the nearest turret and placed his palm on the cannon body.

[Soul Energy Turret · Level 4]

[Attack Power: 65]

[Additional Effect: 10 points of Shadow Erosion damage]

[Range: 200 meters]

[Charging Time: 3 seconds / shot]

[Current Status: 8 / 8 ready]

"One shot every three seconds, 65 damage plus 10 points of erosion..."

"If all eight fire at once, that's nearly 600 damage per second."

"Highly effective against swarms of small monsters."

He continued walking forward and arrived at the Hall of Valor.

The original Dark Altar had become a stepped bone hall with an obelisk standing on the platform.

Four names appeared on the obelisk: Tian Ming, Bull, Blade Guard, Jackal Hunter.

[Hall of Valor · Level 4]

[Hero Slots: 4 / 4 (Full)]

[Skill Enhancement Limit: Level 4]

[New Function: Hero Garrison]

[Hero Garrison Description: You can designate a hero to garrison the Hall of Valor long-term. During the garrison period, the hero gains the "Soul Resonance" effect, increasing all attributes by 10% and reducing skill cooldowns by 20%. However, the garrisoned hero cannot go out to perform missions.]

"Huh? No spot for Shadow?"

Xu Qin couldn't help but laugh.

"The garrison bonus is nice, but it locks up a hero slot."

"Not considering this for now; it's fine if I just guard it myself."

He left the Hall of Valor and headed toward the Magic Zone.

The Cursed Temple had become a three-story spire tower, with a dark purple crystal ball floating at the top.

[Magic Zone · Level 4]

[Function 1: Curse Research (Three basic curses completed)]

[Function 2: Necromancy Research (Currently researchable items: Soul Rend, Shadow Veil, Whispers of the Dead)]

[Function 3: High-Level Lich Advancement (Used)]

"Soul Rend... Shadow Veil..."

Xu Qin clicked on the research items one by one.

"These are all good things, but they require a large amount of Magic Crystal Shards and soul energy."

Finally, he arrived at the Vault.

The bone vault had become a heavy domed building, its outer walls covered in layers of bone armor.

The interior was huge, with various resources stacked and categorized.

[Vault · Level 4]

[Storage Limit: 1,000,000]

[Current Reserves: 12,000+ Bone, 460,000+ soul energy, 1,800+ Magic Crystal Shards, various metal ores, and organic materials]

[New Function: Resource Compression (Can compress large quantities of the same type of resources to save space)]

"A limit of one million?" Xu Qin raised an eyebrow slightly. "Is this compensation for giving up the Undead City?"

He turned and walked out of the Vault, returning to the center of the Lords Hall.

About an hour had passed.

Acolytes shuttled between the various functional zones.

The entire Floating City began to operate slowly and orderly like a precision machine.

Xu Qin walked to the entrance of the hall and looked at the line of yellow sand in the distance.

"Still missing two things," he muttered to himself. "The descent platform and the Combat Readiness Platform."

He opened the command panel and found the construction menu.

[descent platform]

[Construction Requirements: 5,000 Bone, 30,000 soul energy, 500 Magic Crystal Shards, 20 elite soul core]

[Function: Can set coordinates to instantly deploy troops (up to 3,000 units) from within the Floating City to a specified location. Deployment distance is limited by energy reserves; 10,000 soul energy is consumed per 10 kilometers. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

"Long-distance troop deployment..." Xu Qin took a breath. "A base defense artifact. Before the enemy even touches the wall, I can drop elites behind them."

He went on to look at the second item.

[Combat Readiness Platform]

[Construction Requirements: 3,000 Bone, 1,000 Iron Ore, 300 Magic Crystal Shards]

[Function: Located at the bottom of the Floating City, it can carry and repair small combat units (such as Skeleton Sand Rat, Skeleton Vulture, etc.). Carrying capacity: 5,000 units. Repair speed: restores 5 HP per minute.]

[Currently constructible layers: 3 layers.]

"In other words, the current standing army capacity is fifteen thousand..." Xu Qin stroked his chin.

He didn't hesitate and confirmed the construction on the panel.

[First layer under construction... Estimated time: 2 hours]

"Build it first."

Immediately after, Xu Qin opened the Energy Zone interface.

[Energy Zone · Level 4 → Level 5]

[Requirements: 4,000 soul energy, 600 Magic Crystal Shards, 30 elite soul core, 20 Abyss Bone Seeds]

[Energy Zone · Level 5: Hourly output will increase to 220 points, movement energy consumption reduced by 5%.]

"Increase output, reduce fuel consumption."

Xu Qin clicked [Upgrade].

"Start upgrading!"

[Energy Zone upgrading, estimated time 6 hours.]