187: Chapter 187 Data Acquired from the Ice Rift Zone! Lu Chen's Trump Card

8:12 PM, Cockpit.

Lu Chen sat in the pilot's seat, a notebook spread out before him and a thermos placed on the left side of the control console.

Inside the cup was the noodle soup Lin Wan had sent over in the evening—it wasn't actual noodles, but rather the starchy water produced during the flour-grinding process, boiled with salt into a clear broth. The taste was bland, but it was better than plain water.

Lin Wan had said the first batch of flour wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, so he would have to make do for tonight.

He took two sips, set the cup down, and then his communicator rang.

"City Lord," Zhou Yuan's voice came through.

"Speak."

"The Dawn Legion has replied."

Lu Chen's fingers paused over the notebook.

"When was it received?"

"Five minutes ago. I double-checked it before I dared to report it."

"Give me the details."

"Two items. First, regarding the fourth signal parameter of the Iron Hoof Legion we reported, the Dawn Legion has confirmed receipt. Forge personally replied with a sentence."

"What did he say?"

"He said: 'Thank you for being our eyes.'"

Lu Chen didn't respond.

"The second item is the depth data for the Ice Rift Zone," Zhou Yuan's speaking speed increased. "Three years ago, the Dawn Legion conducted a geological survey of the uninhabited ice fields between the southern mouth of the Roaring Ice Abyss and the Rustwind Wasteland. The survey area included that sixty-kilometer stretch of the Ice Rift Zone."

"The depth."

"Average depth is twenty meters, the deepest point is thirty-two meters, and the shallowest is twelve meters."

Lu Chen wrote these three numbers in his notebook.

Twenty meters, thirty-two meters, twelve meters.

"Zhou Yuan, what were the judgment criteria you mentioned before?"

"Anything over thirty meters and a wonder-class will get stuck; ten to twenty meters, they can roll right over it."

"Average of twenty meters."

"An average of twenty meters means the crushers can pass through most areas directly; only that thirty-two-meter deep section at the deepest point will cause trouble."

"How long is that section?"

"The Dawn Legion's data doesn't specify the exact length, but the survey report mentions the deepest part is located in the east-central part of the Ice Rift Zone, with a width of around four hundred meters."

Lu Chen ran these numbers through his head.

For a wonder-class crusher, the time needed to bypass a four-hundred-meter wide, thirty-two-meter deep section would depend on the detour distance.

If the detour distance exceeded twenty kilometers, it was estimated to take an extra half-day.

If the Iron Hoof Legion chose to use engineering methods to fill the deep pit directly, it would take even longer.

If they didn't care about losing a few small escort vehicles, they could have the small vehicles scout the path first, and then the crushers could follow a safe route through.

"Conclusion," Zhou Yuan said, "the delay effect of the Ice Rift Zone on the Iron Hoof Legion is limited—at most half a day to a full day."

"Consistent with my estimate."

"City Lord, this means the Iron Hoof Legion's arrival time is basically locked between the 71st and 73rd day, which overlaps with the time The City-State's engine will run out of fuel."

"The window is extremely tight, but it still exists."

"Yes, a one to two-day window still exists, depending on how exactly the Iron Hoof Legion handles that section of the Ice Rift Zone."

Lu Chen closed the notebook.

"Zhou Yuan, when the Dawn Legion replied, did they mention their own movements?"

"Not directly, but Forge's line about 'thanking us for our eyes' didn't sound like a farewell."

"Your assessment?"

"Forge is still fighting for it," Zhou Yuan paused for a beat on the other end of the communicator. "Evening Bell hasn't officially proposed an evacuation motion yet, which means the council hasn't reached a consensus."

"If we continue to report the signal parameters, Forge will have more and more external intelligence in his hands, and his influence within the council will increase."

"Exactly."

"Keep reporting them."

"Understood."

"Every time a new signal from the Iron Hoof Legion appears, sync it to the Dawn Legion within twelve hours. Use the same parameter format as before."

"Understood."

"One more thing," Lu Chen looked at the balance figure on the panel. "Zhou Yuan, when you were with the Dawn Legion, did you notice if they had any other blueprints available for exchange?"

"Forge still has stock, but the last exchange already took everything he could provide on his own. The rest require council authorization to be released."

"Probability of council authorization?"

"Not high at the moment. Evening Bell controls the majority of the council votes and won't agree to export more core technical data at this point in time."

"What if Forge bypasses Evening Bell?"

"Bypassing the Council Chairman to privately leak technical blueprints is a violation of regulations. Forge's position in the council would be jeopardized."

"But if he wants to fight badly enough..."

Zhou Yuan was quiet for two seconds on the other end.

"City Lord, do you mean using a stance on a joint strike as leverage to get Forge to provide more blueprints privately?"

"It's one of the options."

"The risk is high. If Evening Bell finds out, Forge's council seat will be lost, and our relationship with the Dawn Legion will be severed."

"So we won't do it now. We'll consider it when the situation becomes urgent."

"Understood."

The communicator hung up.

Lu Chen picked up the thermos and finished the remaining noodle soup.

The soup had gone cold and the flavor had faded.

He put the cup back, picked up the notebook, and flipped to the timetable.

Day 59.

Everything for today had been recorded.

The first batch of nineteen Strawberries had been distributed.

The fourth signal of the Iron Hoof Legion had been reported to the Dawn Legion.

Ice Rift Zone depth data obtained.

The conclusions of the 3:00 PM meeting had been recorded.

The first batch of flour will be ready tomorrow.

Work on the storage area partition starts tomorrow.

ZM-07 will be moved to the production room tomorrow.

He checked each item one by one to ensure nothing was missed, then flipped to the next page.

Day 60 task list.

He began writing the first entry.