221: Chapter 221 Ironclad Evidence Slams Down on Parliament! Lu Chen Hands Over Radar Screenshots

3:11 PM.

No one spoke in the Cockpit; only the hum of the ventilation fan remained.

The communicator in Zhou Yuan's pocket vibrated.

He quickly pulled it out, glanced down, leaned back against his chair, and let out a long breath.

"Forge has replied."

Several people in the room turned to stare at him simultaneously.

He flipped the screen and thrust it directly in front of Lu Chen.

There were only two lines of text on the screen.

[Received. Faster than I calculated. The Council reconvenes at 4:00 PM today. I'm going to plant this bomb now.]

Lu Chen stared at those lines for two seconds, then reached out and pushed the communicator back.

"He’s going to show his hand at the 4:00 PM Council meeting."

"Correct." Zhou Yuan pocketed the communicator. "City Lord, the scout vehicle has entered our eight-kilometer radar range. This is hard evidence that the Iron Hoof Legion has set foot in the Rustwind Wasteland. No deductions, no predictions—just solid radar echoes."

"No matter how those old foxes at Evening Bell play deaf and dumb, they won't be able to suppress this news," Zhao Tiezhu added sullenly from the back row.

"Suppressing it is one thing; whether they vote is another." Zhou Yuan's brow furrowed. "When we played the survey maps card yesterday, Evening Bell changed his tune. But those two abstention votes under him didn't budge an inch. If Forge slams down the news of the scout vehicle entering the radar today, can those two... turn things around?"

"What do you think?" Lu Chen asked back.

Zhou Yuan rubbed his hands together, his mind racing through the calculations.

"They abstained yesterday because they didn't think the blade was at their throats. The survey maps counts as a long-term threat, and the fall of the Iron Curtain Frozen Sea is a future matter. But a scout vehicle entering the radar... that's happening today, this very afternoon."

"Today and the future carry vastly different weights," Lu Chen picked up the thread.

"Vastly different," Zhou Yuan nodded. "The underlying logic of abstaining is just to 'stall.' But now, there's no way to stall. Iron Hoof's reconnaissance vehicles are already circling the Rustwind Wasteland. If Forge slams this news down at the Council, and those two still dare to abstain, it's equivalent to stating in front of all twelve people that they don't care even when the enemy is at the doorstep."

"So what if they state that?" Lin Xiao interjected from the side. "In the Dawn Legion's Council rules, abstaining doesn't carry responsibility, and they won't be labeled as traitors."

"No responsibility is one thing," Zhou Yuan shook his head. "But they all have their own research institutes and their own people underneath them. If Forge makes the news of the scout vehicle entering the radar public at the Council, the word will definitely spread. When the people below hear that the Iron Hoof Legion has reached the Rustwind Wasteland and see their own Chief abstaining at the Council... what will they think?"

"A mutiny," Zhao Tiezhu spat out two words from behind.

"It's not quite a mutiny," Zhou Yuan corrected him. "It's public pressure. The Dawn Legion's Council system is set in stone; a Chief Researcher's voting power comes from the authorization of the researchers below. If the people below judge that the Chief's judgment has gone seriously awry, they have every right to jointly demand that the Chief restate their position."

"That's the move Forge intends to use." Lu Chen summarized Zhou Yuan's analysis. "He's not counting on those two abstention votes to flip on their own? What he wants is for the people under those two votes to force them to flip."

"Exactly."

"But that takes time," Lin Wan suddenly spoke up from the side.

All eyes turned toward her.

"For news to travel from the Council to the researchers below, for them to discuss it and then provide feedback, it will take at least half a day." Lin Wan rested the communicator on her lap. "Forge shows his hand at the Council at 4:00 PM today. The people below will get the news tonight at the earliest. If they discuss it until tomorrow morning and get the feedback to the Chief, it will be dragged out until tomorrow noon."

"Tomorrow noon," Lu Chen rolled the words over his tongue.

"Noon on the sixty-eighth day," Lin Wan stated the specific date firmly.

Lu Chen picked up a pen and heavily circled that point in time in his notebook.

Noon on the sixty-eighth day. The earliest point for the Joint Strike vote to flip.

He flipped to the next page and laid out the known timeline one by one.

Day 67, 2:17 PM: scout vehicle enters radar.

Day 67, 7:00 to 8:00 PM: scout vehicle expected to complete scan.

Day 68, Noon: Joint Strike vote expected to flip.

Day 71 to 73: Iron Hoof main force arrives at the earliest.

Day 73 to 74: The City-State auxiliary engines exhausted.

He stared at these five lines for a full half-minute.

"City Lord," Zhou Yuan reminded him from the side, "there's one more thing we need to figure out."

"Speak."

"When Forge slams down the news of the scout vehicle entering the radar this afternoon, how will Evening Bell respond?"

"You mean Evening Bell will counterattack?"

"That old fox Evening Bell has taken two heavy blows in a row—one from the survey maps and one from the scout vehicle. He won't just sit there and take it without fighting back." Zhou Yuan tightened his tone. "His most convenient countermeasure is to question the source of the intelligence."

"Question what?"

"Question the reliability of Polaris's radar data." Zhou Yuan laid out the cards in Evening Bell's hand one by one. "Evening Bell can insist that Polaris is just a Level 3 Fortress with limited radar precision, and the scout vehicle's signal might be a misjudgment. The heat signatures of large Mutant Beasts on the ice field, radar reflections from pre-civilization metal wreckage—on what basis can he conclude it's an Iron Hoof reconnaissance vehicle?"

"He really dares to talk such nonsense?" Zhao Tiezhu snorted from behind.

"Of course he does." Zhou Yuan glanced back at Zhao Tiezhu. "Does Evening Bell want the truth? No, he wants a delay. As long as he puts a question mark on the reliability of the intelligence, those two abstaining votes will have a way out. They can continue to abstain with a perfectly sufficient reason: 'intelligence is in doubt.'"

Lu Chen didn't respond.

His finger rested on the edge of the notebook, his knuckles tapping twice on the paper.

"Zhou Yuan," he called out.

"Here."

"Does Forge have a way to shut Evening Bell's mouth?"

"He does," Zhou Yuan answered quickly. "Forge's own Beacon Station detected the scout vehicle crossing the South Pass at 4:46 AM. That's the Dawn Legion's own equipment, their own data—it has nothing to do with Polaris. Evening Bell wants to question Polaris's radar? Fine. But he can't question his own people's Beacon Station, can he?"

"Two independent data sources, cross-verified." Lu Chen nailed down the underlying logic. "The Beacon Station detected the scout vehicle passing the South Pass at 4:46 AM. Polaris's radar detected the scout vehicle entering the eight-kilometer range at 2:17 PM. There's a gap of nearly ten hours in between, and the distance and speed match perfectly. With the two sets of data corroborating each other, what can Evening Bell use to question it?"

"He indeed has no way to question it," Zhou Yuan agreed.

"But he has to know first that Forge has the Beacon Station data in his hands," Lin Wan added from the side.

"Forge knows what he's doing on that front," Lu Chen said with certainty. "He'll arrange the order of his cards. First, he'll show Polaris's radar data. When Evening Bell jumps out to question it, he'll slam the Beacon Station data onto the table. Every time Evening Bell jumps, he'll get slapped in the face. All those wavering people will see it."

"Lure the enemy in deep, then strike them head-on," Zhao Tiezhu commented on the tactic from behind.

"If Forge didn't even understand this trick, he wouldn't be able to hold his position as the Chief of Weapons," Zhou Yuan added.

Lu Chen glanced at the clock on the panel.

3:23 PM.

Thirty-seven minutes left until the Council meeting Forge mentioned starts.

"Zhou Yuan."

"Here."

"Send another communication to Forge."

"What should I send?"

"Send over Polaris's radar data. Include timestamps and coordinate markings. Give him hard material to slam onto the table."

"Radar data?" Zhou Yuan was stunned for a second. "Can our radar panel export that kind of thing?"

Lu Chen reached under the console, fumbled around, and pulled out a small panel with a knob. He flicked it twice quickly.

A line of text popped up in the top right corner of the panel.

[Radar History Log. Can export scanning data from the last twenty-four hours. Format: Coordinates, Timestamp, Signal Strength.]

"It can." Lu Chen pulled the exported data strip and handed it to Zhou Yuan. "Send it over."

Zhou Yuan took the data strip and strode to the transmission station.

Lin Wan watched his back for a moment, then turned her head back.

"City Lord."

"Speak."

"When Forge drops this bomb at the Council at 4:00 PM today, regardless of the final voting result, one thing is set in stone."

"What's that?"

"All twelve Chief Researchers of the Dawn Legion will know that the Iron Hoof Legion's scout vehicle has reached the Rustwind Wasteland." Lin Wan flipped her notebook to a brand-new page. "Once this news spreads, whether the Joint Strike passes or not, the overall strategic posture of the Dawn Legion will inevitably change."

"Change into what?"

"At the very least, from relaxed to full alert." Lin Wan continued to trace the logic. "Even if Evening Bell forcefully suppresses the Joint Strike proposal, he can't pretend the Iron Hoof Legion hasn't come. Dawn's defense level will have to be raised, and the escort formations of the Level 4 City-States will have to increase patrol frequency. Forge can use all of these actions to his advantage."

Lu Chen looked at her.

"You mean Forge's move today isn't just for that one vote?"

"Correct." Lin Wan closed her notebook. "He’s muddying the whole pot. No matter how the vote goes, everyone in the Dawn Legion, from top to bottom, will start preparing for war. Once it reaches that point, a Joint Strike is only a matter of time. The only difference is who speaks up first."

Lu Chen ran this thread through his mind a few times.

Lin Wan had explained it clearly.

Forge was no fool.

For an old hand who had fought in the Council system for decades, how could every move he made only have the surface meaning?

"Good." Lu Chen closed his notebook. "Let's set this aside for now. For the task at hand, keep a close eye on the scout vehicle."

He turned back toward the panel.

3:31 PM.

The signal bearing of the scout vehicle had already shifted to three degrees seven minutes north-northwest.

That arc continued to extend eastward.

It was drawn very steadily.

The speed was uniform.

No acceleration, no deceleration, no turning back.

A standard Iron Hoof Legion reconnaissance procedure.

Lu Chen leaned back in his chair, his palm resting on the edge of the console.

Waiting.