155: Chapter 155 Four Close-In Weapons Launched! Rockets Are Useless

11:20 AM.

A moving blip appeared on the radar panel.

Approaching at a steady speed from twelve kilometers due north.

Speed: forty kilometers per hour.

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord Lu Chen," Zhao Tiezhu's voice came through.

"Back?"

"Back. All three of us are in one piece, and the car's fine."

"And the haul?"

"Twelve pieces."

Lu Chen's finger paused on the armrest for a moment.

"Twelve intermediate source-fire coal crystals?"

"Yes. There were more scattered on the perimeter than expected. A few were buried under rusty iron fragments; the Mechanical Arm flipped them over and picked them up."

"Encounter any Mutant Beasts?"

"Spotted an intermediate Iron-Spine Wolf from a distance, loitering in the collapsed area inside the ruins. It didn't come near."

"Good. Have them bring the coal crystals to the cockpit."

"Understood."

Twenty minutes later.

The Patrol Car drove into the Polaris's first-floor main entrance and parked steadily in its berth.

Three men jumped out of the car.

The leader was a man in his early thirties with an old scar on his face, carrying a tin box in his hand.

Following Zhao Tiezhu's guidance, he walked to the elevator and went up to the third floor.

The cockpit door was open.

Lu Chen sat in the pilot's seat, the console in front of him glowing with blue light.

The man placed the tin box on the console and opened the lid.

Twelve fist-sized, deep blue crystals were neatly arranged in the box, their surfaces flowing with luminescence.

intermediate source-fire coal crystals.

"Leave them here. You may go."

"Yes."

The man turned and walked back into the elevator.

Lu Chen was left alone in the cockpit.

He placed the twelve coal crystals one by one onto the console's scanning area.

A blue light curtain enveloped the crystals as the system began identification.

[intermediate source-fire coal crystal ×12. Total Truth Density: 612 points. Execute High-dimensional Decomposition?]

Six hundred and twelve points.

Far exceeding the gap of one hundred and sixty-five.

Lu Chen pressed confirm.

The twelve deep blue crystals began to slowly dissolve in the blue light.

Thirty seconds later, the crystals had completely vanished into nothingness.

The numbers in the top right corner of the panel flickered.

Six thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.

Became seven thousand four hundred and forty-seven.

Enough.

Lu Chen's finger moved toward the technology tree panel.

Armament and Weaponry branch.

Node Two.

Phalanx Close-In Weapon System.

Seven thousand points.

He pressed unlock.

[Armament and Weaponry Lv.3 Node 2: Phalanx Close-In Weapon System. Cost: 7000 Truth Points. Confirm unlock?]

Confirm.

The Truth Points balance on the panel jumped from seven thousand four hundred and forty-seven to four hundred and forty-seven.

The Polaris began to vibrate.

A low-frequency resonance emanated from deep within the skeleton, similar to the vibration from unlocking the farm, but the source was higher, concentrated at the top of the city walls.

The steel plate beneath the pilot's seat began to heat up.

He observed the exterior through the periscope.

Napalm Projection Towers were originally installed at the four corners of the Polaris's wall top; now, on the sections of wall between those towers, new structures were growing.

Four flat, cylindrical turrets emerged from the top of the walls.

At the top of each turret was a set of six-barrel rotary rapid-fire cannons. The barrels were short and thick, with a caliber much smaller than a Heavy Machine Gun.

The turret bases were equipped with independent radar antennas and infrared tracking modules, the antennas rotating slowly.

The entire generation process lasted two minutes.

The four Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems completed initialization simultaneously.

A new node information window popped up on the system panel.

[Phalanx Close-In Weapon System ×4. Each equipped with a six-barrel 20mm rotary rapid-fire cannon, firing rate 4500 rounds/min, effective interception range 1500 meters. Equipped with independent short-range radar and infrared tracking systems, can automatically identify and intercept incoming rockets, mortar shells, and Flying Ice Beasts. Ammunition consumption rule: 1 truth point per interception. Zero consumption in standby mode.]

Lu Chen finished reading the node information.

The four CIWS were distributed at the four corners of the wall, covering 360 degrees and forming a complete short-range air defense interception network.

Automatic identification, automatic tracking, automatic interception.

No manual control required.

This meant that when the Iron Hoof Legion's rockets and high-angle fire weapons were launched, an automatic defensive umbrella would be held over the Polaris.

He leaned back into the pilot's seat.

Balance: four hundred and forty-seven.

From twenty-three thousand eight hundred down to four hundred and forty-seven—he had spent over twenty-three thousand three hundred points in two days.

Spent clean.

But every single point was spent exactly where it needed to be.

The communicator rang.

"City Lord," Lin Wan's tone was tense, "the fortress is vibrating. What's happening?"

"Unlocked a new node."

"What node?"

"CIWS."

"The one that was short by one hundred and sixty-five points?"

"Yes."

"The coal crystals were enough?"

"Enough. Twelve pieces, six hundred and twelve points."

"What's the balance?"

"Four hundred and forty-seven."

Lin Wan was quiet on the other end for two seconds.

"Spent it all again."

"Spend what needs to be spent."

"City Lord, do you ever have more than a thousand points in your hand?"

"I have. Yesterday morning I still had twenty-three thousand."

"That was yesterday."

Lu Chen didn't pick up that thread.

"Those four new things growing on the roof, are they turrets?"

"CIWS turrets, used for automatically intercepting rockets."

"Automatic?"

"Automatic. No manual control needed. They fire on their own after the radar locks onto a target."

"Then we don't have to fear the Iron Hoof Legion's rockets anymore?"

"They can intercept Lv.3 and below rockets. For Lv.4 and above, it depends on the situation."

"Better than nothing."

"True."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen wrote a new line in his notebook.

Phalanx CIWS ×4 unlocked. Truth Points balance: 447. Lv.3 tech tree 7/16 nodes lit.

He closed the notebook.

Seven nodes lit, nine more to go.

With a balance of four hundred and forty-seven, even the cheapest next node would cost seven thousand.

Still a long way off.

But there was no rush today.

Zhou Yuan would set out tomorrow, taking Mai Sui to the Dawn Legion.

If they could trade for blueprints, one high-level blueprint would be worth dozens of Mutant Beasts.

He glanced at the radar panel.

The northern horizon remained empty.

That dark red record in the signal log flashed silently.

Fifteen degrees west of due north.

Two days, and not a second signal.

Lu Chen stared in that direction for three seconds.

Sometimes silence is more dangerous than the signal itself.