15: Chapter 15: A Fifty-Pound Harpoon Cannon Loaded onto the Vehicle! Who Can Withstand This Firepower!

Due to the heat extraction just now, the temperature inside the cabin had dropped by 0.5 degrees.

But as the boiler pressurization chamber closed, the thermal break system quickly locked the heat back in.

In less than half a minute, the needle was once again firmly pinned to the 20-degree mark, not moving an inch.

Lin Wan slumped on the floor, staring at the white, high-heat mist outside the window that refused to dissipate for a long time, her mind completely blank.

Just a moment ago, even through the thick bulletproof glass and the Double-layer Asbestos Insulation Interlayer, she had felt her scalp tingle from the brutal heatwave.

"Water... so much purified water... just sprayed out like that..."

Lin Wan came back to her senses, looked at the water tank gauge, and her features twisted in heartache.

As a Botanist, she knew deeply that in this world filled with toxic snow, a liter of purified water could be exchanged for many people's lives.

Lu Chen ignored her heartache. For someone committed to the path of survival, as long as it could increase the survival rate, he would not hesitate to spend everything he had, let alone just a few liters of water.

At worst, once the ice storm stopped, he could just use the collection funnel to absorb snow; after all, toxic snow was the one thing the wasteland had in abundance.

His attention was already completely immersed in the next node of the system interface.

[Armament and Weaponry Lv1 (Node 3): Armor-Piercing Explosive Harpoon Gun]

[Node Description: The ultimate weapon for countering medium to large Mutant Beasts and hostile heavy vehicles. This system will generate a heavy launch base on the front armor or roof of the vehicle. Powered by extremely compressed steam mixed with secondary combustion of black powder, it fires a 50-jin pure steel harpoon equipped with barbs and a micro-delay explosive fuse. Ignores primary and some intermediate armor.]

[Once it pierces the target's body, it will trigger internal combustion after three seconds, causing devastating internal destruction. The tail of the harpoon is attached to a high-strength alloy chain, which can be used for dragging or strangulation.]

[Unlock Cost: 100 Truth Points.]

After reading this detailed description, accurate down to the second of the blast delay, a tremor that was hard to suppress finally appeared on Lu Chen's usually calm face.

That was the physiological pleasure experienced by someone with severe "insufficient firepower phobia" upon seeing large calibers and explosives.

A 50-jin pure steel harpoon! Armor-piercing! Barbs! Internal explosion! Chain dragging!

What savage, ultimate wasteland industrial violent aesthetics! Compared to this thing, the Black Powder Steam Repeating Crossbow in his hand was practically a toy water gun for children.

The repeating crossbow was for clearing out small fry and medium-to-small targets. The close-defense high-pressure spray gun was for resisting close-quarters ambushes.

And this Armor-Piercing Explosive Harpoon Gun was the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all giant creatures and enemy vehicles! It was the true spear that breaks the stalemate!

With it, the three-layered long, medium, and close-range defensive firepower network would be completely closed.

"Account balance: 200 points."

Lu Chen glanced at the number in the top right corner and gritted his teeth. Money is just a bastard; spend it and earn it back!

"System, invest 100 Truth Points and install the Harpoon Cannon for me! Install it on the front part of the roof!"

[Ding! Deducted 100 Truth Points. Armament and Weaponry Lv1 (Node 3): Armor-Piercing Explosive Harpoon Gun, successfully unlocked!]

[Heavy fire control base under construction... performing chassis reinforcement and shock absorption treatment...]

The commotion of this upgrade was far more intense than any previous one.

Rumble!

The entire Polaris let out an unbearable groan. The layer of iron sheeting on the roof, which had been relatively flat, was suddenly torn open from the inside by some immense force.

A blinding, deep blue light pierced through the gaps in the iron sheeting, shooting straight into the gloomy sky of the Pale Shoals.

Immediately after, a large amount of metal was generated out of thin air and intertwined crazily.

A heavy, semi-enclosed black-brown turret base quickly took shape on the roof.

Four extremely thick hydraulic shock-absorbing pillars extended from beneath the base, piercing directly through the roof and transforming into four pillars of stability, anchoring firmly onto the load-bearing steel frames in the four corners of the cabin!

If this hadn't been done, the terrifying recoil of this giant cannon when firing would have instantly torn the thin roof of the Polaris into shreds.

Click! Clang!

Above the turret, a two-meter-long black iron barrel, with a caliber comparable to the thickness of an adult's thigh, took shape amidst the light.

The interior of the barrel was filled with extremely complex steam rifling. Behind the barrel was a massive black powder loading wheel.

Inside the cabin, directly above the driver's seat, the ceiling had been modified into a semi-circular observation dome.

The dome was made of bulletproof glass ten centimeters thick. An extremely complex periscope-style aiming device, along with two brass cranks the size of a heavy truck steering wheel, hung above Lu Chen's head.

A metal ammunition feeding tube, as thick as an adult's arm, connected from the supply storage box at the bottom all the way to the turret on the roof.

Lin Wan huddled in the corner, hugging her knees, looking up at the steel giant hanging down from the ceiling, her eyes wide, unable to close her mouth for a long time. She had completely given up on trying to understand everything happening before her with common sense.

[Upgrade complete. Harpoon Cannon is ready.]

Lu Chen stood up and gripped the two brass cranks hanging above his head. The moment he touched them, a heavy metallic sensation spread through his entire body. He tried turning the cranks.

Click... clatter...

The heavy base above his head emitted a gear-meshing sound that was extremely satisfying.

Following his operation, the two-meter-long black iron barrel turned and pitched steadily in the wind and snow.

Even while operating blindly from inside the vehicle, through the periscope-style aiming device, he could clearly see the trajectory of the crosshairs moving through the wind and snow outside.

Without any lag, it was as easy as moving his own arm. This was the ultimate pleasure of having complete control over a force of destruction in the palm of his hand.

Lu Chen grinned; he could already see the image of those Mutant Beasts, who fancied themselves wasteland hunters, being pinned to the ice by this 50-jin pure steel harpoon, and subsequently exploding into a sky full of blood and gore from the inside.

"Firepower network, closed."

Lu Chen released the cranks and sat back in the driver's seat. Currently, his Truth Points balance had only 100 points left. All three nodes of the Armament branch had been lit up, but he was not yet completely satisfied.

"The firepower is enough, but a perfect tank can't just have a cannon; I also need a turtle shell worthy of this giant cannon."

Lu Chen quickly scanned the third node of the Infrastructure Armor Lv1 branch. The existing Double-layer Asbestos Insulation Interlayer solved the problem of heat loss, but that interlayer was soft.

The outer bulletproof iron sheeting, under the extreme cold of minus one hundred degrees and the erosion of long years, was already covered with tiny, invisible cracks.

If that giant beast, enraged by the Harpoon Cannon, rammed into them before dying, or if they encountered a heavy machine gun barrage from Raider, this layer of broken iron sheeting wouldn't last three seconds.

Defense must be built to a desperate thickness to be worthy of being called truth.

Lu Chen looked at these last 100 points.

Outside, the roar of the ice storm grew more intense. But the brand-new Harpoon Cannon on the roof of the Polaris was slightly raising its muzzle in the wind and snow.

It was waiting.

Waiting for the first prey that didn't know any better after the storm passed.