215: Chapter 215 Shock Absorption Test Passed Perfectly! The Tank is Ready to Change Springs and Wheels at Any Time!

Day sixty-six, 7:00 AM.

Greenhouse, third floor.

Lin Wan bent over by the first row of Hydroponic Racks, lifting the outermost wheat head with her fingertips and pressing down on the texture of the awn with her thumb.

It felt heavy.

The grains were full.

She released her finger, and the wheat head bounced back; the stalk swayed a few times over the nutrient solution tank before steadying.

"Song Ya." Lin Wan didn't look up. "How many have been sampled from the first row?"

"Twenty stalks." Song Ya made a mark on her clipboard. "This row has a 92% coverage rate, and the head weight has completely exceeded expectations. The average of the first three rows is about 6% higher than the second harvest."

"The second harvest was thirteen point four tons." Lin Wan calculated. "Given this momentum, the third harvest is heading toward eighteen tons. Conservatively, seventeen point five to eighteen tons."

"So, do we start harvesting today?"

"We do." Lin Wan opened her notebook and filled in the data. "We'll clear the first five rows this morning, continue in the afternoon, and finish up tomorrow morning. We'll produce ten tons today and settle the rest tomorrow."

"Threshing as usual?"

"As usual." She closed the notebook. "Wind-dry for six hours, then straight to the Synthesizer. What we harvest today, we'll see as flour by tomorrow afternoon."

She tucked the notebook under her arm and pressed the communicator.

"City Lord."

"Speak." On Lu Chen's end, the background noise was mixed with the low hum of the engine idling.

"The third harvest begins today." Lin Wan's speaking speed increased slightly. "The first five rows this morning, and the rest will be cleared by tomorrow morning. Based on the head weight, the total yield will be 17.5 to 18 tons—a new record."

"Good."

"City Lord." She paused for a beat, her voice lowering. "There's something we need to be clear about. If we harvest the wheat today and tomorrow and leave the day after, that leaves only a one-day gap in between. Is this window... enough?"

There was no reply from the Cockpit for two or three seconds.

"Enough." Lu Chen replied crisply. "The Shock-absorbing Layer is ready. Han Zhengqing reported at six-thirty; all forty sets of springs on the edges were replaced last night, and the work just finished."

Lin Wan's arm tightened around the notebook.

"Can we run the third test today?"

"Seven-thirty." Lu Chen gave the time. "You keep a close eye on the Greenhouse; I'll push the throttle."

"I'm in position."

The communicator hung up. Lin Wan stuffed the notebook into her pocket and turned to call Song Ya.

"Stop the sampling for now." She waved her hand. "Prepare for the test; get the Measuring Rods out."

"Is Old Du coming?"

"I'm calling him now."

7:28 AM.

Cockpit.

Lu Chen's palm rested on the Main Engine Power Throttle, his eyes fixed on the clock on the panel as it approached the 7:30 mark.

A sound came through the communicator.

"City Lord." Lin Wan spoke on the other end. "Old Du is here, and all the equipment is ready."

"Good." Lu Chen applied force to his wrist and pushed the lever up. "Engine start, 10% power."

The steel frame of Polaris began to hum, and the vibration climbing up from the chassis was significantly rougher than when idling.

"Old Du measured it; it's 4.1 times per second." Lin Wan reported the figures. "Safe zone. The Hydroponic Racks are swaying less than two millimeters."

"Twenty kilometers."

The throttle was pressed forward, and the massive body of Polaris began to crush the ice.

"Twenty kilometers." The noise on Lin Wan's end grew louder. "11.2 times per second. Old Du says the sixty sets in the center have an amplitude of five to six millimeters. The forty sets on the edges..."

Her voice caught for a moment.

"Seven to eight millimeters. Old Du says it's dropped by a huge margin compared to last time."

"What about Resonance?" Lu Chen asked.

"No Resonance!" Lin Wan spoke faster. "Old Du said the edge sets had their coils changed, and the Natural Frequency has been pushed to around 19 times per second. Now it's at 11.2, so they're staggered!"

Lu Chen didn't speak; he continued to push the throttle forward.

Thirty-five kilometers.

Forty kilometers.

The vibration frequency of the vehicle body directly jumped to a new level, and the metal inner walls of the Cockpit hummed along with it.

"Report the figures."

"13.7 times per second." Lin Wan's voice carried an irrepressible excitement. "The sixty center sets are at eight to nine millimeters—no Resonance! The forty edge sets are at ten to twelve millimeters—also no Resonance!"

She took a deep breath.

"Including all one hundred sets!" Lin Wan's voice grew louder. "At forty kilometers per hour, the entire vehicle has no Resonance! Old Du says the natural frequencies are all above eighteen times per second, completely leaving that lethal range behind!"

Lu Chen's wrist dipped, firmly locking the speed at forty kilometers.

Polaris sped across the Rustwind Wasteland, its Crawler Teeth biting hard into the ice layer and kicking up a sky full of rust-colored ice sand.

"Root dislocation status?"

"Let me check..." Lin Wan's end went quiet for three or four seconds. "The sixty center sets have their roots fully submerged in the water. They're swaying, but there's no dislocation. The amplitude is nearly half of what it was last time at forty kilometers!"

"The edge sets."

"The edges..." Another rustling sound. "Old Du and I went through them one by one. Numbers three, seven, and twelve show dislocation, but less than 3% is exposed above the water. Last time it was over 10%; this time it's not even a fraction of that!"

Lu Chen didn't reply; he let Polaris maintain forty kilometers per hour for a full two minutes.

He didn't ease off the throttle at all.

Only after two minutes did he pull the lever back, and the speed began to drop.

"Old Du." Lu Chen spoke. "Give me the bottom line."

The person on the communicator changed, and Old Du's voice, as coarse as sandpaper, came through, carrying the certainty of a lifetime of craftsmanship.

"City Lord." Old Du reported the accounts. "In its current state, at forty kilometers per hour, the entire vehicle won't resonate. The center sets will have a loss of 3% to 5%, and the edge sets 8% to 12%."

"A four-hundred-kilometer journey." Lu Chen stated his baseline. "Running in segments with a rest every fifty kilometers. What's the total loss?"

"Averaging the center and edges..." Old Du ran the numbers in his head. "At the very most, 10% to 15%."

The old man paused for a beat.

"City Lord, I'm willing to sign and seal this figure."

Polaris's speed returned to zero, and it came to a steady stop on the ice plain two kilometers from the starting point.

Lu Chen leaned his back against the chair and ran those numbers through his mind.

Ten to fifteen percent.

Fifteen percent of eighteen tons is two point seven tons.

There would still be fifteen to sixteen tons left in the warehouse.

It's manageable.

"Test passed." Lu Chen shifted the throttle completely back to idle. "Polaris, full-speed travel combat readiness state, activated."

The other end of the communicator went silent for a moment.

"Received." Lin Wan's voice came through, each word spoken firmly.

In the background, Old Du muttered something that couldn't be heard clearly through the microphone.

Lu Chen didn't press for details.

He maneuvered Polaris to turn around on the spot and head back the way it came. The speed indicator on the panel dropped all the way down—thirty, twenty, ten—until it came to a complete stop.

Lu Chen opened his notebook and put pen to paper.

Day sixty-six, 7:41 AM, third shock absorption test passed, Polaris full-speed travel combat readiness state activated.

With a flick of his pen, he pushed the notebook to the left side of the console.

His gaze swept toward the bottom right corner of the panel.

That pale red fifth signal line was still pinned there.

Five days left.