119: Chapter 119: Four Major Nodes Light Up in a Chain! The Citizens of Blackrock City Are Stunned

Lu Chen parked the Polaris one hundred meters from the side wall of the Black Rock City-State.

He glanced at the panel.

Lv.2 Tech Tree: 12/16 nodes.

The remaining four nodes were all concentrated in the Power Engine and Ecological Logistics branches.

Power Engine top core: Fuel-Electric Hybrid Engine. 4000 points.

Ecological Logistics Node 2: Protein Synthesizer. 1000 points.

Ecological Logistics Node 3: Unannounced. 2000 points.

Ecological Logistics top core: Unannounced. 4000 points.

Total 11000 points.

Current balance: 19855 points.

"System, unlock Power Engine Lv.2 top core."

[Confirm consumption of 4000 Truth Points, unlock Power Engine Lv2 top core: Fuel-Electric Hybrid Engine.]

[Current balance: 15855 points.]

The Polaris emitted a low electrical hum.

It was a sound like nothing before.

No hissing of steam, no roar of a diesel engine, only the continuous, steady-frequency hum of current passing through thick wires.

The rear power area changed.

Next to the boiler, a compact generator set grew out of thin air.

The steam turbine and diesel generator were driven in parallel.

Thick cables extended from the generator set in all directions, drilling into every cabin along the conduit slots inside the vehicle wall.

The cockpit lights switched from the warm yellow of kerosene lamps to bright, steady electric lights in one second.

All gas lamps went out in the same second, and all electric lights turned on in the same second.

The light inside the carriage changed from flickering to constant as day.

The brightness of the fire control hub's display screen increased by one level.

The refresh frequency on the radar panel changed from once every two seconds to once every second.

The Ray Cannon's charging status bar changed from a slow crawl to a rapid pulse.

[Ray Cannon charging speed increased by 300%. Full charge time shortened from about 6 hours to about 1.5 hours.]

"City Lord! The lights changed!" Lin Wan's voice came from the planting area.

"It's powered on."

Lu Chen looked at the newly replaced lighting system in the cockpit.

Electric lights, stable, bright, no flickering, no smoke, no oxygen consumption.

This was the first time the Polaris possessed a true electrical system.

From gas lamps to electric lights, this step took pre-civilization two hundred years, while the Polaris took 4000 points.

"Next."

"System, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv.2 Node 2."

[Confirm consumption of 1000 Truth Points, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv2 Node 2: Protein Synthesizer.]

[Node description: Utilizes edible insect culture media and organic scraps to press out high-protein nutritional bars with a complete amino acid profile through high-temperature and high-pressure synthesis processes. Flavor is adjustable, default setting is beef flavor. Daily output of a single machine can meet the basic protein needs of about fifty people.]

[Current balance: 14855 points.]

A piece of stainless steel equipment, half a person tall, appeared out of thin air in the corner of the planting area.

The feed inlet, pressure chamber, and discharge outlet were connected by pipes to the hydroponic garden's nutrient solution circulation system.

Lin Wan squatted in front of that device, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Protein Synthesizer..."

"Can it make nutritional bars?"

"Beef flavored." Lu Chen's speech speed was no different from reciting a menu.

"One machine can feed fifty people a day..." Lin Wan's voice was trembling.

It wasn't a tremble of fear. It was the reaction of a Botanist seeing the ultimate solution to the food problem appear before her eyes.

"Next."

"System, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv.2 Node 3."

[Confirm consumption of 2000 Truth Points, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv2 Node 3: Wide-Area High-Heat Dispersion Generator.]

[Node description: Generates a high-heat airflow field with a radius of fifty meters around the vehicle, which can disperse the surrounding wind and snow and ice crystals in extreme cold environments, forming a safe, snow-free area with a temperature above freezing. Accumulated snow on the ground within the effective range will be melted, providing basic living space for personnel to move outside the vehicle.]

[Current balance: 12855 points.]

The undercarriage of the Polaris emitted a low-frequency thermodynamic tremor.

A stream of visible hot air sprayed out from the exhaust vents on the ground at the four corners.

The hot air spread to the surroundings.

The ice within a fifty-meter radius began to warm up.

The accumulated snow melted within thirty seconds.

The ice surface turned into wet slush.

The wind and snow curved at the boundary of the hot air stream, bypassing the space above the Polaris.

A fifty-meter radius safe snow-free zone formed a perfect circle on the ice of the Rustwind Wasteland.

The Polaris was parked at the center of the circle.

"City Lord! The snow outside has stopped!" Lin Wan shouted, leaning against the side window.

"It hasn't stopped."

"It's being pushed away."

On the side exit platform of the fourth level of the Black Rock City-State.

Lin Xiao and Zhou Yuan saw the fifty-meter radius snow-free circle.

Snowflakes were blocked by invisible heat at the boundary of the circle, sliding to both sides upon contact, splashing into fine water mist.

On the ground inside the circle, the accumulated snow was melting with a hissing sound.

"He upgraded again." Zhou Yuan's voice was lowered to the minimum.

"Just watch." Lin Xiao's voice was deep.

But his eyes were fixed on that twenty-plus-meter-long war chariot.

He didn't blink at all.

"The last one."

Lu Chen's fingers landed on the panel.

"System, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv.2 top core."

[Confirm consumption of 4000 Truth Points, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv2 top core: Primary Greenhouse Dome.]

[Node description: Construct a dome greenhouse on the roof of the vehicle using high-strength transparent composite materials. The interior of the dome is equipped with an independent lighting system, temperature control system, and irrigation system, which can maintain spring temperatures inside the dome in extreme cold environments. The dome area expands proportionally with the vehicle area. Current available planting area is about 85% of the roof area. The dome links with the Wide-Area High-Heat Dispersion Generator to form a complete temperature-controlled ecosystem from the roof to the bottom of the vehicle.]

[Current balance: 8855 points.]

[Note: Lv.2 four major branches 16/16 nodes all lit up. Triggered city upgrade evolution conditions.]

[Note: The host has lit all nodes of the four major branches to full perfection at the Lv.2 stage, and will receive super-spec bonus rewards during the upgrade process.]

The roof of the Polaris emitted a crisp structural locking sound.

A transparent composite material dome opened and grew from the edge of the roof toward the center.

Each transparent panel was precisely locked into the reserved slots under the guidance of the system force field.

Fifteen seconds later, a complete transparent dome covered the entire roof of the Polaris.

Full-spectrum LED light strips simulating sunlight lit up inside the dome.

Warm light radiated outward from the transparent dome.

In the night of the Rustwind Wasteland at minus forty degrees, the roof of the Polaris bloomed with a warm halo, illuminating the ice surface.

Dozens of people crowded onto the exit platform of the fourth level of the Black Rock City-State.

They had originally come to see the ruins, but now they were looking at that vehicle.

A transparent dome had grown on the roof of that twenty-plus-meter-long war chariot.

There was light in the dome, warm light.

In this devastated wasteland night, this light made everyone quiet down.

"System." Lu Chen's voice sounded in the carriage.

"Lv.2 four major branches full perfection confirmed."

"Execute city upgrade evolution."

"Target level: lv.3 fortress class Mobile City."

[City upgrade evolution command confirmed.]

[About to enter the upgrade procedure. Power system will be forced offline for 180 seconds.]

[The vehicle will have no mobility during the upgrade process.]

[Execute?]

"Execute."

[Executing.]

[Upgrade countdown: 180 seconds.]

The engine of the Polaris died.

All sounds disappeared in the same second.

Then, the vehicle body began to vibrate.