135: Chapter 135: A food shortage of 20,000! Tomorrow, we'll dismantle two fortresses.

8:00 AM.

Third-level cockpit.

Lu Chen sat in the pilot's seat, the display screen in front of him filled with various operational data.

Total registered residents: 4,261.

Protein synthesizer daily output: 720 bars.

Dome greenhouse planting area: 83%.

Atmospheric water molecule extraction tower daily water production: 1,700 liters.

The communicator rang.

"City-State Leader Lu Chen."

Lin Xiao's booming voice came through.

"I'm here."

"I want to go over the numbers with you regarding the relocation progress."

"Go ahead."

"As of this morning, the total number of residents who have moved into the Polaris is 4,261."

"There are approximately 25,700 people remaining in The City-State."

"At a relocation rate of 2,000 people per day, it will take another thirteen days to complete."

"That means everyone will be in place by the fifty-first day."

"Thirteen days."

Lu Chen tapped his fingers on the armrest.

"Is there enough margin for the auxiliary engines?"

"Yes. The engineers re-evaluated yesterday; the coolant leakage rate is slightly slower than previously predicted."

"The auxiliary engines can last for at least another thirty-five days."

"Relocation finished on the fifty-first day, auxiliary engines exhausted on the seventy-third day."

"There's a twenty-two-day buffer in between."

"That's enough."

"There is one more thing."

Lin Xiao's voice deepened.

"Food."

"Speak."

"The food reserves in The City-State's storage area lost about thirty percent in the fire. The remaining reserves can sustain thirty thousand people for forty-five days."

"Adding the 600-person daily supply from your protein synthesizer, plus the future output from the greenhouse, I had Zhou Yuan run the numbers."

"Whose figures?"

"Zhou Yuan's."

Zhou Yuan's voice came through the communicator.

"City-State Leader Lu Chen, I'm here to report."

"Go ahead."

"There are currently three sources of food."

"First, the food in The City-State's storage area. If distributed at full capacity for 30,000 people, it can last for forty-five days. But if we reduce the ration standard to seventy percent of a full daily ration per person, it can be extended to sixty-five days."

"Second, the twelve protein synthesizers on the Polaris. They produce 720 nutritional bars daily, each satisfying one person's daily protein requirement, but they require a continuous supply of organic raw materials."

"What is the source of the organic raw materials?"

"Meat bricks and Mutant Beast fat in the cold storage, plus leftover leaves and root waste from the greenhouse output."

"Based on current cold storage levels, the meat raw materials can keep the synthesizers running for about ninety days."

"And after ninety days?"

"We will need to go out hunting to replenish, or increase the waste output of the greenhouse."

"The third source?"

"The dome greenhouse."

Zhou Yuan slowed his speech.

"The planting plan provided by Lin Wan and Song Ya shows that if the greenhouse is fully planted, the vegetable rations can support three thousand people."

"Combined with the 600-person protein supply from the synthesizers, the food issue for a total of 3,600 people can be completely solved."

"3,600 out of 30,000."

Lu Chen's tone was steady.

"A shortage of 26,400."

"Yes."

"But Lin Wan added one more data point."

"What?"

"If the second-generation propagation of watermelons and strawberries is successful, combined with the increased production of conventional crops, the total greenhouse output can be increased to support five thousand people within six months."

"Five thousand."

"Still short 25,000."

"Yes."

The cockpit was silent for three seconds.

"Brother Lu Chen."

Lin Xiao's voice sounded again.

"I know this gap is huge."

"But with The City-State's reserves lasting sixty-five days, plus ninety days of raw materials for the synthesizers, and the gradual expansion of the greenhouse, no one will starve in the short term."

"The real problem is after half a year."

"After six months, the food reserves will be exhausted. If the output from the greenhouse and synthesizers still can't keep up with the consumption of 30,000 people, there will be trouble."

"So?"

"So we need to do two things within half a year."

Lin Xiao's voice revealed the composure expected of a leader.

"First, expand the greenhouse's production capacity as much as possible. I'll leave that to you and Lin Wan."

"Second, go out to obtain additional sources of organic raw materials by hunting Mutant Beasts and searching for food remnants in pre-civilization ruins."

"Who will do the second task?"

"The Polaris will go out hunting, and the iron wall will follow to transport the goods."

"The density of Mutant Beasts in the Rustwind Wasteland is much higher than in the Pale Shoals. I've seen you hunting here for the past few days, and your efficiency is not low."

"I'll arrange the hunting."

Lu Chen glanced at the cold storage data.

The 40-cubic-meter cold storage is currently about 60% full.

"But not right now."

"There's something more important right now."

"What is it?"

"Two lv.3 fortress wrecks."

He shifted his gaze outside the windshield.

On the ice field to the north in the distance, the outlines of the two deactivated lv.3 fortress wrecks were faintly visible against the gray-white skyline.

"I'm going tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Continue to push forward with the relocation at the current pace."

"Tomorrow, I'll take the Polaris to that lv.3 fortress wreck twelve kilometers north, degrade it into Truth Points, and then go to the one in the south."

"Combined, a conservative estimate is over ten thousand points."

"What does over ten thousand points mean?"

Lu Chen avoided Lin Xiao's question.

He looked at the lv.3 technology tree on the panel.

Four green icons were lit up.

Twelve gray, unlocked icons.

"It means the second batch of nodes in the lv.3 technology tree can be unlocked."

"The subsequent nodes will have more powerful food production equipment, more efficient synthesizers, or new means of resource acquisition."

"I don't know exactly what they are."

"But I am certain that more Truth Points equal more choices."

"And more choices equal a higher survival probability for the 30,000 people."

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

"Okay."

Lin Xiao's booming voice returned to its usual crispness.

"You go dismantle the wrecks tomorrow; I'll keep an eye on the relocation."

"Let me know in advance if you need any coordination."

"Not needed."

Lu Chen's fingers rested on the steering wheel.

"The two lv.3 fortress wrecks are dead vehicles; there's no armed threat."

"I can go by myself."

"Is the iron wall coming or not?"

"It's coming, to carry the heavy items."

"Alright, I'll notify Zhao Tiezhu."

The communicator hung up.

He leaned back in the pilot's seat.

The Truth Points balance on the panel shimmered.

1,645 points.

Tomorrow, this number will become a five-digit figure.

His gaze swept over the gray, locked icons on the lv.3 technology tree.

Behind each icon lay an unknown answer.

The 30,000-person food shortage, the long-term threat of the Iron Hoof Legion, the long road for the Polaris from lv.3 to lv.4—the solutions to all these problems were written within those gray icons.

He needed points, a large amount of points.

Tomorrow was far from over; it was just the beginning.