222: Chapter 222 Twilight Bell Gets Slapped in the Face! Shortwave Interception Seals the Dead End

4:02 PM.

Cockpit.

The scout vehicle's signal bearing shifted to two degrees and four minutes west of true north.

Over the past hour and a half, those two blips of light had moved nearly four degrees along the arc at a steady speed.

Lu Chen finished connecting the latest batch of sample points in his notebook with a pencil.

The shape of the arc became clear.

The center of the circle was aligned half a kilometer due north of the The City-State's remains, with a radius of eight kilometers.

A standard first arc of scout reconnaissance.

"Zhou Yuan," Lu Chen said without looking up.

"Here."

"How far along is the arc?"

"By my calculations," Zhou Yuan measured the angles on the map with his fingers, "it came in from six degrees west of true north and is now at two degrees and four minutes west of true north. It has shifted three degrees and six minutes, which is four percent of the total ninety-degree arc. At this rate, it will take over three hours to finish the first arc, around 5:30 to 6:00 PM."

"It matches the previous projections."

"Matches."

Lu Chen set down his pencil and stretched his wrist.

The communicator vibrated on the console.

Chen Li's channel.

"City Lord."

"Speak."

"4:00 PM briefing." Chen Li's voice sounded efficient. "The flour production was finished before 2:00 PM today; 1,030 kilograms have been bagged and stored. Song Ya pulled the north-facing maintenance curtains as you instructed, and the Greenhouse is operating normally. The compost conductivity inspection at 1:00 PM showed no abnormalities."

"The relocation."

"The relocation was suspended this afternoon; notice came from Lin Xiao's side. The The City-State's outer decks are being cleared." Chen Li paused. "City Lord, someone on the ship asked today why the relocation stopped."

"How did you respond?"

"I told the managers of each floor to maintain a unified story: the The City-State is adjusting the passages, and maintenance will resume tomorrow."

"Good, keep it that way." Lu Chen steered the conversation back. "Anything else?"

"Liao Dacheng from the Livestock Farm sent a draft of the transport plan this morning." Chen Li flipped through his notes. "He suggests sorting piglets into cages by litter, no more than five per cage, and maintaining the temperature between twenty to twenty-five degrees during transport. Boars and sows should be in separate stalls, and the cattle and sheep will have temporary pens set up in the fourth section of the first-floor Storage Area. He said that during the evacuation, the passage from the Livestock Farm to the main entrance must be covered with non-slip mats in advance; otherwise, the cattle's hooves will slip on the iron plates and they could get injured."

"Where are the non-slip mats coming from?"

"He said the Livestock Farm still has a surplus of rubber bedding, which can be cut to fit."

"Let him cut them." Lu Chen made a decision. "Have the non-slip mats laid out today at both ends of the passage, ready to be unrolled when needed."

"Understood." Chen Li flipped another page. "Also, Sun Ke re-examined two elderly people who relocated this morning in the Medical Pod. One had digestive issues and was given some powder for digestion, and the second had a flare-up of an old knee injury and was fitted with a brace. Neither case is serious."

"Good. If there's nothing else, get back to work."

"City Lord," Chen Li's voice paused, "the matter Han Zhengqing let slip this morning is spreading even further on the ship now. People have come to ask me if the Iron Hoof Legion has really arrived at the Rustwind Wasteland."

"How did you respond?"

"I said I didn't know."

"Don't say you don't know from now on," Lu Chen corrected. "Say the City Lord is monitoring the situation and will notify them once there is confirmed news. Tell them to eat and drink as usual; the flour will be distributed as planned, and the porridge will be served."

"Understood."

The communication ended.

Lu Chen put the communicator back on the table and returned his gaze to the panel.

4:08 PM.

The scout vehicle's signal bearing had shifted a bit more.

Two degrees and one minute west of true north.

He added a point to his notebook.

Lin Xiao returned from the other end of the communication, tucked his communicator into his pocket, and leaned back in his chair.

"Arrangements have been made on the The City-State's side," he said. "The outer decks have been completely cleared. Everyone will stay in their cabins from this afternoon until tomorrow morning. The passage entrances at both ends have been locked."

"How's the mood in the The City-State?" Lu Chen asked without turning around.

"It's still stable." Lin Xiao paused. "But with the relocation suddenly stopping, the people below will speculate. News about the Iron Hoof Legion has been circulating inside the The City-State for nearly a day now, and with the relocation suspended, some people are bound to think the worst."

"Think what exactly?"

"They might think that Polaris doesn't plan to take any more people," Lin Xiao's voice lowered.

"They won't," Lu Chen replied flatly. "Once the scout vehicle leaves tomorrow, the relocation will resume immediately. Have the Floor Managers in the The City-State get the word out: today's suspension is for passage maintenance, and things will proceed as usual tomorrow. Anyone spreading false rumors will have their relocation priority moved to the back of the line."

"Harsh." Lin Xiao twitched his lips but didn't smile.

"As long as it works."

The Cockpit fell silent again.

4:14 PM.

There were no new changes to the signal on the panel; it was still moving slowly along the arc.

Lin Wan flipped her notebook to a new page and drew a table.

She wrote 'Time' in the first column, 'Bearing' in the second, and 'Signal Strength' in the third, transcribing the data Lu Chen reported line by line.

Lu Chen glanced at her notebook.

"Why are you recording this?"

"For the records." Lin Wan tucked her pen behind her ear. "In case we need to verify the data later, cross-referencing two notebooks is more reliable than just one."

Lu Chen didn't respond, his gaze returning to the panel.

4:27 PM.

The communicator vibrated.

Zhou Yuan's channel.

Lu Chen pressed to answer.

"City Lord." Zhou Yuan's voice was tight.

"Speak."

"Forge just sent a message. Only two words."

"Which two words?"

"Exploded."

No one spoke in the Cockpit.

"The Council exploded?" Zhao Tiezhu asked.

"Evening Bell exploded," Zhou Yuan replied.

"What does that mean?"

"At exactly 4:00 PM, Forge presented Polaris's radar data at the Council. Evening Bell immediately questioned the reliability of the data, saying the radar precision of a Level 3 ship isn't enough and it might be a misjudgment." Zhou Yuan clarified, "Then Forge slapped down the Beacon Station's data from 4:46 AM. The two sets of data cross-verified: the bearings matched, and the time difference and distance conversions all lined up perfectly. Evening Bell was left speechless."

"What about those two abstention votes?"

"They haven't been cast yet. Forge said the Council is in recess and will resume tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM."

Lu Chen marked this time in his notebook.

Day 68, 9:00 AM: Council resumes.

"What will Evening Bell do tonight?" he asked Zhou Yuan.

"I reckon he'll talk to the two people who abstained," Zhou Yuan speculated. "Evening Bell won't just take being slapped twice lying down. He'll definitely try to find a way to secure those two votes tonight."

"And Forge?"

"Forge won't be idle tonight either." Zhou Yuan changed the subject. "He sent me a message: 'Let the people below judge for themselves; the news is already out.'"

Lu Chen ran those words through his mind.

The news is out.

Tonight, everyone in the twelve Research Institutes of the Dawn Legion will know that the Iron Hoof Legion's scout vehicle has reached the Rustwind Wasteland.

The researchers below will discuss, argue, and seek statements from their respective chiefs.

Once the tide of public opinion rises, those two abstentions for Evening Bell will no longer be just about two people.

It will be about hundreds of people in two Research Institutes.

"City Lord," Lin Wan spoke up.

"Speak."

"The vote is at 9:00 AM tomorrow. The scout vehicle leaves tonight around 7:00 or 8:00 PM. There's a whole night in between." Lin Wan clarified the timeline. "After the scout vehicle leaves and before the vote tomorrow morning, can we give Forge some more ammunition?"

"What kind of ammunition?"

"When the scout vehicle turns back, it's likely to send a shortwave report." Lin Wan recalled what Zhou Yuan had said earlier. "If we can intercept the direction of that shortwave, we can calculate the main force's position. How close the main force is to the Rustwind Wasteland—that news would be more effective than anything else."

Lu Chen glanced at her, then at Zhou Yuan.

"She's right." Zhou Yuan nodded. "If we can intercept the scout vehicle's report and confirm the main force's bearing, that would be a third set of independent data. With three sets of data slammed on the table, Evening Bell wouldn't be able to turn things around even if he banged his head against the wall."

"That's assuming the scout vehicle sends a transmission within our interception range," Lu Chen pointed out the condition.

"That is the condition," Zhou Yuan agreed.

"Then we wait." Lu Chen closed his notebook. "We'll talk when we've intercepted it."

He lowered his seat back another centimeter and rested his palm on the edge of the console.

The scanning line on the panel rotated unhurriedly.

The scout vehicle's signal was still moving along the arc.

Outside, the sky was beginning to darken.