136: Chapter 136 Earning 13,000 Truth Points! Taking Down Two Fortresses in One Go

5:30 AM.

The main engine of the Polaris ramped up from idle to cruising power.

The humming of the steam turbines conducted from the first level's power core area into the steel skeleton of the entire fortress.

Lu Chen sat in the driver's seat, his hands resting on the steering wheel.

Six fire control screens were lit, and the scanning lines on three radar panels were rotating at a steady speed.

There were no moving heat sources within an eight-kilometer radius.

"Lin Wan."

"I'm here."

"I'm going out for four to five hours."

"To dismantle those two lv.3 fortresses?"

"Dismantle the one to the north first."

"Keep an eye on the greenhouse. Song Ya and the first batch of agricultural technicians will arrive today; you are responsible for arranging them."

"Understood."

"Also."

"What is it?"

"Take the third block of Snow Bear meat from the cold storage, cut off a jin, and stew it with Cabbage for lunch."

"For whom?"

"For Han Zhengqing's engineering team."

"They worked overtime until late last night retrofitting the bunks on the second level."

"They welded one hundred and twenty pure steel metal beds."

"One hundred and twenty?"

Lin Wan's voice rose by half a pitch.

"How many people are there?"

"Han Zhengqing brought forty welders and mechanics; they worked from 2:00 PM until 1:00 AM."

"They welded one hundred and twenty beds in eleven hours."

"Then they deserve to eat meat at noon."

Lin Wan slowed her speaking pace.

"You can also increase their portion of Cabbage."

"Pick an extra handful of tender leaves from the fifth batch of Cabbage."

"Understood."

Lu Chen stepped on the accelerator.

The 206-meter steel behemoth of the Polaris began to move.

The heavy track assemblies crushed two wide tracks into the ice, churning up rust-colored soil mixed with crushed ice to both sides.

The iron wall followed from 500 meters to the right.

Zhao Tiezhu's gruff voice rang out over the communicator.

"City Lord Lu Chen, the iron wall is in position, following one kilometer behind you."

"Received, maintain distance."

"How far away is the target to the north?"

"Twelve kilometers."

"What's the cruising speed?"

"Forty."

"We'll arrive in twenty minutes."

The Polaris headed north at a speed of forty kilometers per hour.

The 200-meter radius snow-free zone moved along with the fortress, melting the snow along the route and leaving a wide, wet trail on the ice sheet.

Fifteen minutes later.

A massive, stationary signal appeared on the radar panel.

It was a cold source.

The metal structure of the entire lv.3 fortress had reached thermal equilibrium with the surrounding environment, and its mass formed a clear metal echo on the radar.

Lu Chen looked at the silhouette in the distance through the windshield.

A steel behemoth less than a hundred meters long lay prone on the ice, its walls tilted, with a large section on the left side collapsed.

That was the lv.3 fortress that the Polaris had disabled in thirteen minutes, belonging to Iron Spine.

He parked the Polaris two hundred meters from the wreckage.

The boundary of the snow-free zone advanced to the side of the wreckage.

The snow melted and slid off under the influence of the hot air currents, revealing the rusted armor plates on the surface of the wreckage.

"System, high-dimensional scan, target: northern lv.3 fortress wreckage."

[High-dimensional scanning in progress.]

Scanning lines shot out from the console panel, and a blue light covered the entire wreckage within two seconds.

[Scan complete.]

[Target: lv.3 fortress-class Mobile City wreckage (severely damaged).]

[Structural integrity: 41%. Wall collapse area: 55%. Main engine shut down, drive shaft broken.]

[Estimated degradable mass: 3,200 tons of steel and composite materials.]

[Estimated degradation yield: 5,840 to 6,320 Truth Points.]

Six thousand.

He looked at this number; six thousand for a single piece of wreckage.

The one to the south was fifteen percent smaller than the one to the north; calculating by the same ratio, the estimated yield would be around five thousand.

Adding the two together, that's eleven thousand.

Plus the balance of 1,645.

A total of nearly thirteen thousand.

If the price for the second batch of nodes in the lv.3 Truth Tech Tree is still five thousand each, he could unlock two.

If the price went up, it would at least be enough for one.

"System, execute high-dimensional degradation, target: northern lv.3 fortress wreckage."

[Executing high-dimensional degradation. Estimated degradation time: 25 minutes.]

The Mechanical Arm extended from both sides of the Polaris, approaching the wreckage with a maximum radius of eight meters.

Blue light spread from the ends of the Mechanical Arm, covering the surface of the wreckage.

The steel turned into particles in the blue light, and the particles were harvested by the system's force field within the light, converting into a data stream that flowed into the Truth Tech Tree.

The degradation began from the outer armor of the wreckage, with ten-centimeter-thick composite sloped armor plates peeling off layer by layer in the blue light.

Beneath the armor plates were structural ribs, beneath the ribs was the skeleton of the inner compartments, and between the skeletons were pipes and cables.

The speed at which all materials were consumed by the blue light was uniform and stable.

Twenty-five minutes.

The entire lv.3 fortress wreckage, less than a hundred meters long, turned into nothingness in the blue light.

Only a wide, rectangular depression remained on the ice.

The ice layer that had been covered by the weight of the wreckage emitted a low cracking sound as the pressure was released.

[Degradation complete. Truth Points obtained: 6,180.]

[Current balance: 7,825 points.]

Lu Chen looked at the number on the panel: 7,825. The first one was done.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord Lu Chen."

Zhao Tiezhu's voice.

"Did you eat the entire lv.3?"

"Yes."

"Not even a single rebar left?"

"None left."

A heavy exhale came from the other end of Zhao Tiezhu's communicator.

"Good heavens."

"Where is the one to the south?"

"Eight kilometers south of The City-State."

"Drive there from here?"

"Drive there from here."

He stepped on the accelerator, and the Polaris turned, heading south at a speed of forty kilometers per hour.

The iron wall followed one kilometer behind.

Forty minutes later.

The southern lv.3 fortress wreckage appeared on the radar; this fortress was a size smaller than the northern one, with a length of eighty-five meters, its engine shut down, and one-third of its walls collapsed.

"System, high-dimensional scan."

[Scan complete.]

[Estimated degradable mass: 2,700 tons.]

[Estimated degradation yield: 4,960 to 5,380 Truth Points.]

"System, execute high-dimensional degradation."

[Executing high-dimensional degradation. Estimated degradation time: 22 minutes.]

Twenty-two minutes later, the blue light dissipated, and another empty depression appeared on the ice.

[Degradation complete. Truth Points obtained: 5,210.]

[Current balance: 13,035 points.]

Thirteen thousand and thirty-five.

Lu Chen stared at this five-digit number for three seconds, tapping his fingers on the armrest twice.

"That's enough."