131: Chapter 131 Zhao Tiezhu Leads the Team to Surrender! The Ownership of the Sixth Shield

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The basic medical bay on the second level of the Polaris.

In the ten-square-meter space, a young woman wrapped in a thermal blanket lay on a metal diagnostic table.

Lin Wan stood nearby, holding a homemade bamboo stick to examine the frostbite on the woman's left calf.

"Third-degree frostbite. The tissue below the knee has already turned black."

Lin Wan's voice was much softer than usual.

"All I can do is debridement and bandaging."

"The medicine cabinet is empty. There are no anti-infection drugs, no painkillers."

This woman was one of the two survivors carried out from the depths of the ruins by the search team this morning.

The other was a sixteen-year-old boy with a fractured right arm, who was lying on a temporary bed in the hallway after Lin Wan had splinted it.

Lu Chen stood at the entrance of the medical bay.

"Regarding the medicine, can we source it from The City-State?"

The communicator switched to Zhou Yuan's frequency.

"Zhou Yuan."

"Present."

"What is the status of the medical supplies at the Black Rock City-State's fourth-level medical station?"

"I have checked."

Zhou Yuan's reply was swift.

"The fourth-level medical station of The City-State was not directly damaged when Ice Thorn self-destructed. The medicine cabinets are still there, but the supplies are limited."

"How much is there?"

"About three hundred doses of basic antibiotics, one hundred and fifty doses of painkillers, two hundred trauma suture kits, and some fracture fixation materials."

"Is it enough?"

"For the current thirty-seven seriously injured and one hundred and sixty-two lightly injured people, it is barely enough."

"But if there is a large-scale outbreak of trauma or disease later, the shortage will be significant."

Lu Chen glanced at the empty medicine cabinet.

"First, transfer a batch of basic consumable medicines from The City-State to fill this cabinet."

"The quantity doesn't need to be large, just enough to ensure the emergency needs within the Polaris."

"Keep the main reserves at The City-State for the seriously injured."

"Understood, I will coordinate with City Lord Lin Xiao."

"One more thing."

"Please go ahead, City Lord."

"The last four missing people."

Lu Chen's voice paused for a beat.

"Notify the search team to try again this afternoon, using a long-rod detector to cut in from the side of the collapsed layer."

"If cutting in from the side still cannot reach them, conduct a sonic percussion test."

"If there is no feedback on any vital signs within forty-eight hours, classify them as deceased."

"I understand."

Zhou Yuan's voice lowered.

"There are family members waiting over there."

"Make the family members wait for the results."

"Before the results come out, no one should jump to conclusions."

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

The third-level cockpit.

Lu Chen sat in the pilot's seat, and the screen in front of him switched to the city resident management system.

Total registered residents: 1,612 people.

Five authorized shield slots have been used.

The remaining five slots flashed with gray outlines on the panel.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord Lu Chen."

Battalion Commander Zhao Tiezhu's gruff voice came through the communicator.

"Battalion Commander Zhao."

"I heard from City Lord Lin Xiao that you went to the ruins to dig for survivors this morning."

"Yes."

"How many did you dig out?"

"Two alive, three bodies, and four still unfound."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for two seconds.

"I'm on the iron wall. Is there anything I can help with?"

"Are the engine and tracks of the iron wall in good condition?"

"They are intact. One-fifth of the front wall was dismantled and downgraded into a transport vehicle, but it runs fine."

"Battalion Commander Zhao."

Lu Chen tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the armrest.

"Have you ever thought about moving to the Polaris?"

The breathing on the other end of the communicator paused for a beat.

"What did you say?"

"The iron wall is now a transport vehicle. Your three hundred people are living on it, relying on the engine's waste heat for heating, so the temperature is only in the teens."

"The interior of the Polaris maintains a constant temperature of twenty degrees, and the protein synthesizer provides daily rations for six hundred people, with production still expanding."

"You and your people move over, and the iron wall can just follow along as an external transport platform."

Zhao Tiezhu's heavy breathing echoed in the communicator for several seconds.

"City Lord Lu Chen, are you serious?"

"When am I not serious?"

"Then what about the organization of my three hundred people?"

"You manage the daily affairs of your three hundred people, following the same rules as Lin Xiao's thirty thousand."

"I manage the safety and operation of the Polaris."

"The two sides will cooperate."

Zhao Tiezhu's voice raised by half a degree.

"Do you still have shield slots?"

"There are still five left."

"Give me one."

Lu Chen's expression remained unchanged.

"Come and sign."

"Now?"

"You are two kilometers away. Drive over; it's a ten-minute trip."

The sound of Zhao Tiezhu slapping his thigh came from the communicator.

"I'm coming right now."

Twenty minutes later.

The iron wall parked next to the Polaris.

Two lv.3 fortress Mobile Cities, one large and one small, were parked side by side on the ice of the Rustwind Wasteland.

One-fifth of the front of the iron wall had already been dismantled, and the gap was sealed with temporarily welded iron plates, making it look like a dented tin can.

Zhao Tiezhu jumped down from the side door of the iron wall, his feet landing on the dry mud of the two-hundred-meter snow-free zone of the Polaris.

He looked down at his feet.

"Dry."

He looked up at the thirty-meter-high walls of the Polaris.

"It's different from the last time I was here."

"Last time, your vehicle was only twenty meters long, and I had to crouch to crawl through the door."

He strode into the four-meter-wide and six-meter-high airlock door.

The ten-meter-high ceiling of the first level made him crane his neck to look for three seconds.

"Damn."

Zhao Tiezhu spat out the word.

"Ten times more spacious than the iron wall."

Lu Chen was waiting for him at the elevator entrance on the other side.

"Come up."

The two took the elevator to the third-level cockpit.

The moment Zhao Tiezhu walked into the cockpit, he craned his neck again.

Six fire control screens, three radar panels, and the red button for full-weapon coordinated salvos.

A large command console with side-by-side seats.

"This fire control console."

Zhao Tiezhu lowered his voice.

"It's more than three generations ahead of my iron wall."

"Sit."

Lu Chen pointed to the folding chair next to the driving console.

Zhao Tiezhu sat down, resting his hands on his knees, leaning forward.

"City Lord Lu Chen, let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart."

"The night that madman Ice Thorn crashed into and paralyzed The City-State, I was in the iron wall watching the fireball of the explosion three kilometers away, thinking that everything was over."

"Later, when you leveled up and parked that two-hundred-meter vehicle there, the blue light illuminated the entire wasteland."

"I watched from the cabin of the iron wall for one hundred and eighty seconds."

"After watching, I said one thing to my deputy."

"What did you say?"

"I said this kid will be the protagonist of the wasteland in the future, and following him is definitely the right choice."

Lu Chen glanced at him.

"You're not bad either."

"When the Ice-Rift Swarm launched their bone charge, you were the one who fired that shot from the front."

"Without the iron wall holding the front line, the frontal defense would have collapsed long ago."

Zhao Tiezhu grinned.

"That was my duty."

"System, register city resident: Zhao Tiezhu, assign City Lord authorized shield slot six."

[Registration complete. Zhao Tiezhu has become a registered resident of the Polaris lv.3 fortress Mobile City. City Lord authorized shield has been assigned. Used slots: 6 / 10.]

A faint blue light popped out from the direction of the control console and disappeared after touching Zhao Tiezhu.

Zhao Tiezhu felt a very slight warmth on his arm.

He looked down at his hand.

There were no marks at all.

"From now on, you enjoy supreme safety protection within the Polaris."

Lu Chen said in a steady tone.

"Registered residents inside the vehicle cannot inflict fatal damage on you."

Zhao Tiezhu clenched his fist.

"That is enough."

He stood up.

"I'll go back and notify my three hundred people to start moving here tonight."

"There is open space in the first-level storage area; sleep on the floor for now."

"We will expand the residential area later."

Zhao Tiezhu walked to the cockpit door and paused.

"City Lord Lu Chen."

"What?"

"I have a medic on the iron wall who has been with me for eight years and has been doing field emergency medicine for eight years."

"What is his name?"

"Sun Ke."

"How much medicine does he have?"

"Not much, but he has the Pre-Civilization Federation field emergency manual in his head; he can do everything from suturing to amputations."

"Have him report to the medical bay on the second level of the Polaris."

"The medicine cabinet is empty. Once a batch is transferred from The City-State, he can familiarize himself with the equipment first."

Zhao Tiezhu nodded heavily.

"He will arrive tomorrow."

He turned and walked into the elevator.

Lu Chen watched the elevator door close.

The management system interface on the panel refreshed.

[Used slots: 6 / 10. Remaining: 4.]

Four slots.

He was not in a hurry to assign them.

Shield slots are political chips and cannot be distributed too quickly.

Keep the remaining four for later use.

The communicator rang again.

"City Lord Lu Chen."

Zhou Yuan's voice.

"Speak."

"The search team's attempt to cut in from the side this afternoon was not successful; the structure of the collapsed layer is too dense."

"What about the sonic percussion test?"

"It was done several times, but there was no response."

"None at all after several times?"

"None at all after several times."

There was silence for five seconds.

"Observe for another twenty-four hours."

Lu Chen looked at the direction of The City-State ruins outside the window.

"If there is still no response by this time tomorrow, notify the family members."

"I understand."