236: Chapter 236 The radar has been silent for three days! Lu Chen is waiting for the iron hooves to show their faces.

Day 70, 4:29 AM.

In the Cockpit, the humming of the ventilation fan was monotonous and dull.

Lu Chen opened his eyes in the iron chair and tilted his neck to the right, which only brought on a sharper ache.

He reached out to touch the communicator, his gaze falling on the control panel first.

The radar scanning line swept across the screen in circles.

Within eight kilometers, there wasn't even a ghost of a shadow.

The last entry in the signal log stopped at 2:17 PM on the 67th day, the echo left by the scout vehicle.

Three full days.

Not a single sound.

Lu Chen pressed the communicator.

"Chen Li."

"City-State Lord." Chen Li's voice on the other end was raspy from just waking up, but he answered quickly.

"Did you send the 4 AM report?"

"It was sent just two minutes ago." The sound of shuffling papers came from Chen Li's side. "The standard report for Forge, timestamped 4:27 AM on the 70th day. Radar status normal, no signals within eight kilometers. This is the fifth report."

"Has Forge replied?"

"Not yet. The last reply was at 2 PM yesterday; just two words: 'Received.'"

"Alright, go back to work."

The communication cut off.

Lu Chen pushed the back of his chair straight, and his cervical spine let out a faint click.

He stood up and walked to the panel.

His fingers slid across the screen, scrolling through the signal log from beginning to end once more.

Day 42, first encrypted signal.

Day 49, second signal.

Day 57, third signal.

Day 59, fourth signal.

Day 63, fifth signal.

Day 67, scout vehicle entered radar range.

From Day 67 until now, Day 70.

Three days, zero signals.

After the scout vehicle left, no new activity had surfaced at all.

This matter seemed strange.

Lu Chen went over the accounts in his mind; there were only two possibilities.

The first: the main force of Iron Hoof was still on the road, currently in radio silence. Maintaining communication silence during large-scale army marches was standard procedure to hide their location and marching speed.

The second: the main force of Iron Hoof had already reached the outskirts of the Rustwind Wasteland and was silently establishing a base. During the base-building phase, they would also maintain communication silence.

With these two situations, relying solely on radar and communication monitoring made it impossible to distinguish the truth.

The eight-kilometer radar could catch a light scout vehicle, but it couldn't scan a Level 5 crusher a hundred kilometers away. No matter how large the radar cross-section of that big guy was, the distance was there; it was already far beyond the detection range.

What was the situation with Forge's Beacon Station?

The Beacon Station was set up at the South Pass of the Roaring Ice Abyss. If the main force of Iron Hoof had already passed the South Pass and was pushing toward the Rustwind Wasteland, it would have long been outside the Beacon Station's coverage area.

Right now, the only thing that could be pinned down was the moment the scout vehicle crossed the South Pass at 4:46 AM.

In the three days since then, the main force was either still north of the South Pass, or it had already passed it without being caught by the Beacon Station. The main force was massive; it was possible they had bypassed the edge of the Beacon Station's coverage area.

Lu Chen pressed the communicator again.

"Zhou Yuan."

"Here." Zhou Yuan's voice sounded clear; it sounded like he hadn't closed his eyes all night.

"Any updates on the latest status of Forge's Beacon Station?"

"It was mentioned in the report at 8 PM last night." The sound of flipping through a logbook came from Zhou Yuan's end. "Since the scout vehicle crossed the line, there have been no new targets for sixty-two hours at the Beacon Station."

"Sixty-two hours with no new targets." Lu Chen repeated.

"Correct. The main force didn't pass through the South Pass, or rather, the Beacon Station didn't catch them."

"What do you think?"

"Two possibilities." Zhou Yuan's speed of speech quickened, switching into analysis mode. "The first: the main force is taking a detour. The direction intercepted by the scout vehicle's communication was due north, eight degrees west; the main force is bypassing the western end of the Ice Rift Zone. If the detour is wide, the main force hasn't reached the position directly opposite the South Pass yet, so naturally, the Beacon Station wouldn't detect them."

"A three-day detour and they haven't reached it yet?"

"There's no certainty about how long the Ice Rift Zone extends to the west. The data provided by Forge lacks the length of the western end. If the Ice Rift Zone extends forty or fifty kilometers to the west, the main force would have to walk an extra eighty to one hundred kilometers to bypass it and turn back. Calculated at a speed of twelve to sixteen kilometers per hour, it would take an extra six to eight hours."

"A six to eight-hour delay won't affect the overall arrival time by more than a day." Lu Chen calculated in his mind. "At the fastest estimate, the scout vehicle sent the communication at 7:15 PM on the 67th day. With the main force waiting for reports and then marching, the earliest they would arrive is the afternoon to evening of the 70th day."

"Correct, which is this afternoon to tonight."

Lu Chen's gaze swept over the digital clock on the panel.

4:36 AM.

There were still eleven hours until the earliest milestone this afternoon.

"And the second possibility?"

"The second." Zhou Yuan lowered his voice. "The main force has already arrived, reached somewhere outside the Rustwind Wasteland, and is huddled outside our radar circle building a base. The Beacon Station didn't catch them because the main force bypassed the edge of the Beacon Station's coverage area."

"What's the probability of that?"

"Not high." Zhou Yuan replied on the other end. "A main force formation of thousands of people and dozens of vehicles bypassing the edge of the Beacon Station's three-kilometer coverage area without being discovered is unlikely. Unless Iron Hoof knows the location of the Beacon Station like the back of their hand and avoided it precisely."

"Forge said his Beacon Station has extremely high concealment."

"Extremely high doesn't mean it's absolutely impossible to hide." Zhou Yuan gave his assessment. "I lean towards the first one. The main force is still on the road, and the probability of them appearing between this afternoon and tonight is the highest."

"Then the eight-kilometer radar must be watched closely today."

"I'll watch it."

"Did you close your eyes last night?"

"I dozed for two hours."

"Not enough." Lu Chen tapped his knuckles on the desk. "You watch until noon, hand over to Chen Li at noon, go sleep for three hours in the afternoon, and take over again at night."

"City-State Lord, today might very well be the day Iron Hoof descends; I won't be able to sleep soundly at such a critical juncture."

"You've been running non-stop for five days." Lu Chen's words left no room for negotiation. "Passing out in front of the console is more of a hindrance than sleeping for three hours. You must sleep in the afternoon."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for two seconds.

"Understood."

The communication cut off.

Lu Chen threw the communicator back onto the desk, pulled open the drawer under the console, and took out half a Nutrient Bar.

Leftover from last night.

He broke off a piece and stuffed it into his mouth; the taste was bland and bitter, and by the time he finished chewing, his mouth was full of crumbs.

The radar scanning line on the panel kept spinning in circles.

Within eight kilometers, there was nothing.

But Lu Chen knew clearly in his mind that eight kilometers away, in the place where he was completely blind, an army led by a Level 5 crusher was crushing across the ice field.

Every time the clock ticked forward, those people got a minute closer.

He opened the logbook and picked up a pen to write a line.

Day 70. No radar signals. Iron Hoof main force expected to arrive this afternoon to evening. Dawn formation expected to appear this afternoon.

Two forces, colliding on the same day.

One force killing their way from the north.

One force rushing from the south.

Polaris was lying right in the middle, one hundred meters away from the remains of the Black Rock City-State.

He closed the logbook and reached for the thermos next to him.

He tilted his head back and poured.

It was empty.