129: Chapter 129 Loyalty! The Ownership of the Three Shields

6:00 PM.

The third-level cockpit of the Polaris.

Lu Chen sat in the pilot's seat, the six screens in front of him displaying the comprehensive operational data of the lv.3 fortress.

Ray Cannon energy storage: 8/10.

After charging all day, eight shots were ready.

Napalm spray tower: 10/10 full-power reserves.

Protein synthesizer daily output: 720 nutrient bars, distributed to 480 people.

The internal temperature of the dome greenhouse was constant at 24 degrees, and Lin Wan had finished the planting plan in the afternoon; six sets of empty hydroponic racks had already begun sowing.

The atmospheric water molecule extraction tower operated all day, producing 1,600 liters of water, stored in the first-level clean water tank.

Everything was stable.

The communicator rang.

"City-State Leader Lu Chen." Zhou Yuan's voice came through.

"City-State Leader Lin Xiao wishes to meet with you tonight."

"Where?"

"Your cockpit, if it's convenient."

"What time?"

"Is 7:00 okay?"

"Yes."

"Captain Horton will come with me."

"Hmm."

7:00 sharp.

The elevator stopped at the third level, and Lin Xiao walked in front.

He had changed into a clean military uniform, the scab on his forehead had hardened, and his overall spirit was much better than last night.

After eating three nutrient bars in one day, drinking hot water, and walking back and forth twice in the snow-free zone, the leader of 30,000 people finally felt at ease.

Zhou Yuan followed behind, no longer holding a notebook.

Horton walked at the very back; the temporary splint on his left leg had been replaced with a standard fixed splint, which Lin Wan had helped him put on.

The three of them walked into the cockpit, and Lin Wan walked over from the kitchen direction, carrying four bowls of Cabbage soup.

"Sit down." Lu Chen pointed to the newly added folding chairs in front of the control console.

After the upgrade, the cockpit was spacious enough that ten chairs wouldn't even feel crowded.

Four bowls of soup were placed on the table—Cabbage stewed with beast meat, tender leaves from the fourth batch of Cabbage with slices of Icefield Wolf meat, the same as what Lu Chen had eaten last night.

"Cabbage soup again." Horton muttered.

"Is Cabbage soup not good?" Lin Wan replied.

"It's good!" Horton picked up the bowl and sniffed it, steam permeating his beard.

"Drinking a bowl of hot Cabbage soup on an ice field at minus fifty degrees is better than anything."

He took a big gulp.

"Better than alcohol."

The four of them finished their soup.

Lin Wan collected the bowls and left.

Only Lu Chen and the three people opposite him remained in the cockpit.

"Brother Lu Chen."

Lin Xiao spoke.

He was sitting with his hands on his knees, leaning forward, eyes looking straight ahead.

"I walked around The City-State today, from the fourth level to the seventh, checking every level."

"The City-State's auxiliary engines won't last much longer; heating efficiency is dropping, and it can only be maintained for a month and a half at most."

"What happens after a month and a half? How many people can your 200-meter lv.3 fortress hold?"

Lu Chen glanced at the management system panel.

"With an internal area of 48,000 square meters, after deducting non-residential spaces like the power zone and weapon zone, the actual usable residential and public area is around 24,000 square meters. Calculating based on a high-density temporary settlement standard of 0.8 square meters per person, it can hold up to 30,000 people."

"Exactly?"

"Exactly."

Lin Xiao stared into his eyes.

"Are you willing to take in 30,000 people?"

"The Polaris was upgraded to a lv.3 fortress specifically to take in 30,000 people."

"That's what you said before."

"I do what I say."

Lin Xiao slapped his palm on his knee.

"Good."

His voice regained the deep, heavy tone that a City-State leader should have.

"The migration of 30,000 people will take time and must be done in batches. Five hundred people have already made several trips back and forth today; the path has already been trodden."

"But before all 30,000 people move in, there is one thing I want to settle with you."

"What is it?"

"Command authority."

Lin Xiao's gaze did not waver.

"When 30,000 people move into your vehicle, who is in charge?"

"Me."

Lu Chen's answer didn't have a second of hesitation.

"This is my city; The City-State Leader authority is in my hands."

"After your 30,000 people move in, all their actions within the city will be subject to the city resident management system, including damage immunity and shield protection."

"These rules are non-negotiable."

Lin Xiao nodded.

"Fine."

"You are The City-State Leader; you call the shots."

"Then what about me?"

"You manage the daily affairs of your 30,000 people, and I manage the operation and safety of the Polaris. Both sides will cooperate."

Lin Xiao twitched his face.

There was no smile.

"Deal."

"One last thing."

"Those eight shield quotas you mentioned this morning."

Lu Chen tapped his fingers on the armrest.

"Hmm."

"Who are they for?"

"Three have been decided so far."

Lin Xiao waited.

Zhou Yuan and Horton were also waiting.

"The first, Lin Xiao."

Lin Xiao's breathing paused for a beat.

"The leader of 30,000 people needs the highest level of security. At any moment inside the Polaris, no one will be able to cause you fatal harm."

Lin Xiao didn't speak.

He tightened his grip on his knees by an inch.

"The second, Zhou Yuan."

Zhou Yuan leaned forward by two centimeters.

"As the intelligence hub and core advisor, you are the key node connecting all information flows. Your safety directly affects the decision-making efficiency of the 30,000 people."

Zhou Yuan's throat moved.

"City-State Leader Lu Chen."

His voice was half a tone lower than usual.

"I, as deputy chief of staff, never thought I was worth a quota."

"You are."

Lu Chen's speaking speed didn't change.

"The third, Horton."

Horton tapped his iron pipe cane on the floor.

"Old gunner, you've been firing cannons for fifteen years, calibrating the 120 cannons of the Black Rock City-State for fifteen years."

"The Polaris's firepower system will become increasingly complex at the lv.3 stage; I need someone who understands cannons."

Horton looked at him.

The lips beneath his beard tightened for half a second.

"Kid."

His voice was softer than ever.

"My 120 cannons were buried along with the city wall last night; I thought I'd never fire a cannon again in my life."

"Come fire them here."

Lu Chen's voice echoed in the ten-meter space of the cockpit.

"Four napalm spray towers, Ray Cannon, fragmentation grenade array, Heavy Machine Gun, Harpoon Cannon—if that's not enough, there will be more in the future."

Horton stood up with his cane; with the splint on his left leg, his stance wasn't very steady, but he stood straight.

"I'm in."

Two words were enough.

"System, register city resident: Lin Xiao. Assign City-State Leader authorized shield quota 3."

[Registration complete. Lin Xiao has become a registered resident of the Polaris lv.3 fortress-class Mobile City. City-State Leader authorized shield has been assigned. Quotas used: 3/10.]

"System, register city resident: Zhou Yuan. Assign City-State Leader authorized shield quota 4."

[Registration complete. Zhou Yuan has become a registered resident of the Polaris. City-State Leader authorized shield has been assigned. Quotas used: 4/10.]

"System, register city resident: Horton. Assign City-State Leader authorized shield quota 5."

[Registration complete. Horton has become a registered resident of the Polaris. City-State Leader authorized shield has been assigned. Quotas used: 5/10.]

Three blue lights popped out from the system panel, spreading from the direction of the control console into the cockpit space.

Each light was extremely faint and brief, disappearing after touching the corresponding person.

Lin Xiao felt a very slight warmth on his arm, and an invisible thin film covered his whole body for half a second before retracting.

Zhou Yuan also noticed the anomaly.

Horton also had a realization.

"From now on."

Lu Chen's voice landed in the cockpit.

"The three of you enjoy the highest level of safety protection inside the Polaris."

"No registered resident inside the vehicle can cause you fatal harm."

"Including myself."

The cockpit was quiet for three seconds. Lin Xiao looked down at the back of his hand; there were no marks.

"Brother Lu Chen, you just said that even you cannot harm me?"

"Correct."

"Then what if I rebel inside your vehicle?"

"You won't."

"Why?"

"Because your 30,000 people need this vehicle, and this vehicle only listens to me."

Lin Xiao stared at him for two seconds.

Then he laughed—not a wide-mouthed laugh, but a low, breathy sound welling up from the deepest part of his chest.

"You kid, twenty-two years old, and in thirty-three days you went from an iron coffin to a 200-meter fortress."

"You killed two lv.3 fortresses, withstood a suicide impact from a lv.4, and swallowed my city wall to level up."

"And now you're sitting in the pilot's seat, holding the life and death of 30,000 people, talking to me about command authority."

He shook his head.

"If Iron Crown of the Iron Hoof Legion knew of your existence, he wouldn't be able to sleep."

Lu Chen did not respond to this, his gaze passing over Lin Xiao's shoulder and landing on the windshield at the very front of the cockpit.

Through the glass, the Rustwind Wasteland spread out into the night toward the horizon.

Deep in the ice field to the north in the distance, the wrecks of two stopped lv.3 fortresses lay quietly on the ice; that was the source of tomorrow's points.

Conservatively estimated at over 10,000 points, plus the remaining 1,645, the channel for the second batch of nodes in the lv.3 tech tree had opened, and there was still a long road ahead.

The atmospheric water molecule extraction tower rotated quietly on the roof, the napalm spray towers stood ready at the four corners, and reactive explosive armor covered the outer walls densely.

The LED light strips in the dome greenhouse were simulating the light of dusk, and Lin Wan was watering the newly sown potatoes with the first round of nutrient solution in the greenhouse.

Twelve protein synthesizers continued to operate on the second level, and the output port pushed out a new nutrient bar every seventy-two seconds.

30,000 people were migrating from a paralyzed ruined city to a 200-meter "new home."

The first day; all of this had just begun.