177: Chapter 177 The Third Signal of Iron Hoof! The Main Force Arrives in Fifteen Days

1:48 PM.

Inside the cockpit.

Lu Chen leaned against the back of his chair. The panel on the right displayed this morning's radar records; there were no abnormalities.

Lu Chen was looking at the timeline in his notebook.

The communicator rang.

It was Chen Li.

It wasn't even four o'clock yet—not time for the daily report.

"There's an emergency."

Lu Chen's back straightened, leaving the chair's backrest.

"Speak."

"A third signal from the Iron Hoof Legion has appeared," Chen Li said, his speaking pace quickening. "Time: 1:46 PM. The radio marked it automatically; I'm currently extracting the parameters."

"Parameters."

"Pulse width is 0.04 milliseconds, constant, consistent with the first two. Signal duration is 1.4 seconds."

1.4 seconds.

The previous one was 0.7 seconds.

It had doubled.

"Direction?"

"Eleven degrees west of true north."

Lu Chen's gaze fell on the signal log column at the bottom right of the panel.

A third dark red record jumped out, brighter than the first two and with a faster blinking frequency.

Eleven degrees west of true north.

The first was fifteen degrees, the second was thirteen degrees, and the third was eleven degrees.

A two-degree shift each time.

The direction was converging toward true north.

"Chen Li."

"Here."

"Send the waveform data over."

"Sent."

A waveform diagram popped up on the panel.

Lu Chen spent twenty seconds comparing this waveform with the first two.

The waveform structure of the third signal was more complex than the previous two. The intervals of the pulse groups showed clear encoding characteristics—it was by no means random; it had a pattern and content.

This was definitely not an interim reporting signal.

The signal complexity already reached the level of a complete command.

"Chen Li, contact Zhou Yuan and have him come to the cockpit."

"Alright, he's on the second floor. I'll notify him immediately."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen stared at the waveform on the panel.

The interval between the first two signals was eight days; the interval between the third and second was seven days.

The intervals were shortening.

Furthermore, the signal complexity was already at the level of a full command.

The interpretation parameters Zhou Yuan had left stated that a signal duration greater than one second equaled a detailed instruction.

1.4 seconds.

It exceeded one second.

Four minutes later, the elevator doors opened.

Zhou Yuan walked in empty-handed, his eyes wide. This meant Chen Li had used the word 'emergency' when notifying him.

Zhou Yuan sat in the co-pilot's seat and looked directly at the panel.

"The third signal." Lu Chen enlarged the waveform on the panel for him to see. "Duration 1.4 seconds, direction eleven degrees west of true north, waveform complexity has increased."

Zhou Yuan looked at the waveform, his brows knitting together before slowly relaxing.

"The direction went from fifteen to thirteen to eleven degrees. A two-degree shift each time—the convergence trend is very clear."

"Yes."

"1.4 seconds exceeds the one-second threshold."

"You said before that greater than one second is a detailed instruction."

"It's at the level of a detailed instruction." Zhou Yuan lowered his voice. "City Lord, this means the scout vehicles have finished aggregating intelligence and are transmitting a detailed target area report to the Iron Hoof Legion's main base."

"The target area is the Rustwind Wasteland."

"Correct. The Iron Hoof Legion already knows there's a target here. The scouts aren't reporting blindly; they're reporting specific coordinates, terrain features, and the distribution of obstacles." Zhou Yuan paused for a beat. "City Lord, the window for the main force's deployment is even faster than we originally estimated."

"By how much?"

"If the scout phase concludes completely within the next three to five days and the main force advances immediately after receiving the detailed report, then the actual window is only about fifteen days, maybe even shorter."

The only sound left in the cockpit was the faint hum of the instruments.

"Chen Li." Lu Chen pressed the communicator. "Change the signal monitoring from every thirty minutes to a scan every ten minutes. Report any new signals immediately."

"Understood."

"Also, notify Zhao Tiezhu that the Patrol Car's final run the day after tomorrow is canceled."

On the other end of the communicator, Chen Li paused for a beat.

"City Lord, is it because of the signal?"

"The value of the peripheral coal crystals isn't worth continuing to take risks at this point in time. Those few hundred Truth Points can be made up through other means, but if the Patrol Car is intercepted by the Iron Hoof Legion's scouts once it's out, the cost of exposing our position is irreparable."

"Understood. I'll notify Zhao Tiezhu now."

The communicator hung up.

Zhou Yuan looked at Lu Chen.

"City Lord, if the main force arrives within fifteen days, we need to notify the Dawn Legion."

Lu Chen nodded.

"Forge said Dawn needs three days of preparation time to evacuate. If we inform them in advance, they still have enough time to leave."

"What's your take on whether they'll leave or stay?"

Zhou Yuan didn't speak immediately.

"If the Dawn Legion leaves, we lose a potential ally. But if they stay, I can't say for sure how much their Level 4 city can actually assist us in actual combat."

"Forge wants to fight, but can he convince Evening Bell to stay when the time comes?"

"I doubt he can," Zhou Yuan said bluntly. "Evening Bell's path is one of contraction and preservation. Once the Iron Hoof Legion closes in, Evening Bell will push the council to decide on evacuation. Forge won't win that vote."

"So the Dawn Legion will most likely leave."

"Most likely."

Lu Chen turned his gaze out the window.

The rust-color of the Rustwind Wasteland sat heavy in the afternoon's grey light.

"Then informing them in advance only has one value," Lu Chen said. "To make Forge owe us a favor. Once this matter passes, his voice in the council will be stronger than Evening Bell's, which will be more beneficial to us."

Zhou Yuan looked at him.

"City Lord, should I send the communication to the Dawn Legion now?"

"Send it."

"The content?"

"Tell them the third scout signal from the Iron Hoof Legion has appeared. We judge the countdown for the main force's deployment to be within fifteen days. The direction is eleven degrees west of true north, with a trend of converging toward true north. The scout phase has ended, and we suggest they begin strategic deployment."

Zhou Yuan took a pen from his pocket and noted the key parameters directly on the back of his hand.

"Alright, I'll go send it."

Zhou Yuan stood up and walked toward the elevator.

He stopped at the door.

"City Lord, will you be able to sleep tonight?"

Lu Chen looked at the panel.

"Hard to say."

"Me too."

The elevator doors closed.

Only the low hum of the panel remained in the cockpit.

There were now three dark red records in the signal log, blinking side by side.

Three of them, lined up in a row, with directions shifting from fifteen to thirteen to eleven degrees, converging more and more toward true north.

It was like a gun being aimed, its muzzle slowly turning toward this place.

Lu Chen leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

Balance: 2,622 points.

The next milestone was 5,000 points—a difference of 2,378.

The final Patrol Car run for the day after tomorrow was canceled, so those four hundred points were gone.

Black Rock City-State's auxiliary engine still had seventeen days.

The Iron Hoof Legion would arrive in fifteen days at the earliest.

The windows for these two events had now flipped.