114: Chapter 114 Icethorn's Self-Destruction Paralyzes the City-State! Lu Chen's Fury Ignites

"Zhou Yuan."

"Here... here!"

Zhou Yuan's voice came through the communicator, accompanied by coughing and the noise of falling metal fragments.

"Is there a casualty count?"

"Still counting! Preliminary report... Among the fifteen personnel who evacuated last from the first level, five are seriously injured, and two are missing!"

"The equipment in the first half of the second level's industrial zone is completely destroyed, but personnel evacuated in advance; no casualties!"

"The third level's storage area is on fire. The fire suppression system was completely destroyed in the explosion, and we are currently fighting the fire manually!"

"The structure of the fourth level's residential area has sustained shock damage; seventeen ceilings have collapsed, and thirty-two people have minor injuries!"

"The explosion-proof cabin in the fifth level's command center is intact. City-State Leader Lin Xiao and the Staff Department personnel are safe!"

"What about Horton?"

"Captain Horton was at the gun position on top of the city wall! When the wall collapsed, he and three gunners were buried under the rubble!"

Lu Chen's fingers paused for a moment.

He did not say a word.

"Are they alive?"

"Alive! The rescue team is digging! He shouted through the communicator from under the rubble, saying his leg is pinned but his head is fine!"

Lu Chen remained silent.

He switched the Polaris's engine to idle.

The vehicle came to a stop three hundred meters to the side of The City-State.

"Battalion Commander Zhao."

"I'm here!"

Zhao Tiezhu's rough voice came through the communicator, with the sound of metal clashing and personnel shouting inside the iron wall in the background.

"What's the situation with the iron wall?"

"Bad!"

Zhao Tiezhu took a sharp breath.

"The residual wave from the shockwave leaking out of the back wall of The City-State still hit me!"

"Didn't you deviate thirty degrees from the axis?"

"I did! But when the back wall of The City-State collapsed, a dozen-ton armor plate flew out! That armor plate hit exactly in my direction!"

"Did it hit you?"

"It hit the front wall!"

Zhao Tiezhu's voice deepened amidst the creaking metal sounds.

"The two holes previously pierced by the 105mm shells were right near the area that was hit! The wall in that area is dented inward by half a meter! All three main ribs are broken!"

Lu Chen quickly processed this information.

The iron wall's front wall had previously been pierced in two places by a southern lv.3 fortress during close-range exchanges; the outer layer was penetrated, and three ribs on the second layer were broken.

Now, it had been struck in the same area by an armor plate flying from The City-State; the wall in that area was dented inward by half a meter, and three main ribs were completely broken.

The front wall was structurally totaled.

"Can the iron wall still drive?"

"The engine is fine! The tracks are fine! But the front wall is already ruined! If it takes one more 105mm shell, it will be pierced through!"

Lu Chen's gaze shifted from the communicator to the wreckage of the Black Rock City-State outside the windshield.

The burning storage area cast a dark red light in the darkness.

A column of smoke rose from the ruins in the front, blown eastward by the cold wind of the Rustwind Wasteland.

He sat in the driver's seat, staring ahead.

Lin Wan walked out from the cultivation area.

She stood at the doorway behind the cockpit, her hands still clutching the frame of the cold storage, not yet letting go.

She looked at the scene outside the windshield.

She said nothing.

Lu Chen switched the communicator to Lin Xiao's direct frequency.

"City-State Leader Lin Xiao."

Dense background noise came through the communicator.

The sound of metal clashing, people shouting, the hissing of fire extinguishers, and the muffled sound of collapses from afar.

A few seconds later, Lin Xiao's voice came through.

"Brother Lu Chen."

"Are you injured?"

"The explosion-proof cabin blocked the shockwave."

Lin Xiao coughed.

"Banged my head a bit, it's nothing."

"What about The City-State?"

Lin Xiao did not answer immediately.

His heavy breathing came from the other end of the communicator.

It lasted for a moment.

"The front wall is gone."

"The first half of the first to third levels is totaled."

"Three drive shafts of the main engine are broken."

"Two auxiliary engines can barely run, but only enough to maintain internal heating and lighting."

"Mobility is zero."

He paused for a moment.

"The Black Rock City-State can no longer move."

Lu Chen's fingers slowly tightened on the steering wheel's leather cover.

"Can't it be repaired?"

"The level of damage to the front wall is beyond any possibility of field repair."

Lin Xiao's voice dropped half an octave.

"The military factory was in the first half of the second level; it was flattened by the shockwave. The equipment is completely destroyed. Even if we had materials, we couldn't weld a new wall without equipment."

"What about the drive shafts?"

"The main drive shaft is 1.2 meters in diameter, forged from pre-civilization alloy. Once broken, it must be replaced as a whole. Where do you expect me to find a 1.2-meter pre-civilization alloy drive shaft?"

Lu Chen did not reply.

He stared at the huge, broken City-State.

Lin Wan asked softly from behind him.

"City-State Leader, my brother, he..."

"Your brother is fine."

"What about the Black Rock City-State?"

Lu Chen did not turn around.

He stared at the wreckage of The City-State.

Then he said one sentence.

Lin Wan had never heard him speak in such a voice.

"That madman Ice Thorn."

Every word exuded a bone-chilling coldness.

Lin Wan shivered in this cabin, which was kept at a constant temperature of twenty degrees.

She had been following Lu Chen for thirty-three days.

In these thirty-three days, she had seen him kill calmly, upgrade calmly, and calmly drink a sip of hot water in the extreme cold of minus sixty degrees, then say it was good.

She had never seen him angry.

Today, she did.

"City-State Leader..."

"Go."

Lu Chen engaged the supercharger.

The Polaris's engine jumped from idle to full speed.

The front of the vehicle turned toward the collapsed front side of the Black Rock City-State.

"We're going over to see how many survivors are left."