243: Chapter 243 Iron Hoof Probe Appears! Lu Chen Persistently Denies Degradation Time

Day 71, 2:09 PM.

Cockpit.

Lu Chen had just sent the seventh radar report to Cheng Zheng, his hand still resting on the edge of the communicator, not yet withdrawn.

On the panel, the scanning line swept across the true north.

The signal strength indicator light flickered once.

His finger froze.

The scanning line completed its second rotation; ten seconds later, it swept across five degrees west of true north again.

The indicator light lit up again, and this time it didn't go out.

The signal was very weak, even weaker than the time with the scout vehicle. The light dot clung to the bottom edge of the threshold line; if one wasn't careful, it could easily be dismissed as clutter.

“Zhou Yuan.”

Zhou Yuan was napping on the folding table next to him. Hearing the noise, he rubbed his face and sat up straight.

“The north.” Lu Chen’s gaze didn't leave the screen. “Five degrees west of true north, eight-kilometer boundary.”

Zhou Yuan’s sleepiness vanished instantly as he hurried over to the panel.

The scanning line completed its third rotation.

The signal was still there. The light dot was pitifully small, but it was definitely there.

“Single signal source.” Zhou Yuan stared at the readings, his throat dry. “The cross-section is too small, even smaller than a scout vehicle.”

“It’s not a scout vehicle,” Lu Chen said.

“Then what is it?”

“A Drone reconnaissance probe.” Lu Chen looked at the radar interface. “The Iron Hoof main force has reached their Base Building position; they won't risk sending manned vehicles in anymore. They’ve switched to drone probes—small volume, low heat signature, specifically for tailing.”

“Watching the The City-State.”

“Exactly.” Lu Chen tapped his knuckles twice on the tabletop. “This means the Iron Hoof main force has arrived. They’re somewhere outside the eight-kilometer mark, setting up camp and building a base.”

Zhou Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

“How long will building the base take?”

“Depends on the scale.” Lu Chen flipped to his previous analysis page. “A Rank 5 crusher, plus four Rank 4 The City-States. With that volume, fully deploying to build a base will take at least two days, at most four.”

“Two days...” Zhou Yuan counted on his fingers. “Today is Day 71, plus two days... Day 73.”

“It coincides with the degradation window.”

Silence fell over the Cockpit.

“City Lord.” Zhou Yuan couldn't hold it in. “What if Iron Hoof is quick and starts expanding outward on Day 72?”

“What is the first step of expanding outward?” Lu Chen asked back.

“Long-range artillery coverage.”

“Covering whom?”

“The The City-State.”

“Does the The City-State getting shelled affect Degradation?”

Zhou Yuan paused, remembering that Lin Wan had also run these numbers before.

“It doesn't.” He picked up the thread. “Even if it's blown to bits, it can still be consumed.”

“Correct.” Lu Chen looked at his logbook. “Let Iron Hoof shell the The City-State as they please. As long as the people are evacuated, whether the The City-State is a whole shell or a pile of scrap metal makes little difference to the Degradation yield—at most five percent.”

“Then what does it affect?”

“The front half of the skeleton.” Lu Chen pointed out the critical part. “When the back half is decomposing, the front half has to stand on its own. If Iron Hoof shells the The City-State before Degradation, the front skeleton might get damaged ahead of time. That 1.38 safety factor Master Wu Bingde calculated was based on the The City-State's current state. After being shelled, that number will drop.”

“Drop by how much?”

“Depends on how many shells hit.” Lu Chen laid out the accounts. “If Iron Hoof only does long-range coverage, 180mm shells hitting the The City-State's 800-meter shell will be spread out; single-point damage will be limited. The ninth set of frames in the front half, combined with that 1.8-meter thick partition wall, can hold up.”

“What if they focus fire?”

“The probability of focusing fire on one section is low.” Lu Chen shook his head. “Iron Hoof’s goal is to disable the The City-State’s combat capability. They will prioritize taking out the gun emplacements and communication towers on the walls. Those things are all on the upper half of the The City-State, separated from the bottom skeleton by several layers of decks.”

Zhou Yuan nodded, thoroughly digesting these calculations in his mind.

“City Lord, should we report this signal to Cheng Zheng?”

“Report it immediately.” Lu Chen pressed the direct link. “Cheng Zheng.”

“Here.”

“A signal appeared to the north, five degrees west of true north, eight-kilometer boundary. A single weak signal source, judged to be a Drone reconnaissance probe. The Iron Hoof main force has arrived at their Base Building position.”

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

“Received,” Cheng Zheng replied. “I’ll notify the Furnace right away.”

“Notify Forge as well,” Lu Chen added. “Tell him the degradation window remains unchanged; work starts at 9:00 PM on Day 73.”

“Understood.”

The communication switched back to standby.

Lu Chen put down the communicator and picked up a pen to write a line in the logbook.

Day 71, 2:09 PM.

A single weak signal appeared to the north, determined to be a Drone reconnaissance probe.

Conclusion: Iron Hoof main force has reached the Base Building position.

He heavily added another line below.

Degradation countdown: 55 hours. Window unchanged.

The pen tip moved down half an inch.

The time left for relocation had decreased by another day.

He pressed the communicator.

“Lin Wan.”

“Here.”

“A signal appeared to the north.”

The background noise on her end was chaotic, but her breathing clearly hitched for a beat.

“Iron Hoof has arrived?”

“They’re here. A drone probe is watching the The City-State, and the main force is building a base eight kilometers away.”

“How long will the Base Building take?”

“Two to four days.”

“Day 73...”

“They’ve collided.” Lu Chen left no room for doubt. “But the plan remains unchanged. Accelerate the relocation further; the evacuation of the back half must be finalized before the night of Day 72. Weld the diagonal bracess on the afternoon of Day 72. Degradation starts at 9:00 PM on Day 73. Not a single link in the chain can fail.”

“Understood.” Lin Wan replied decisively. “As of 2:00 PM today, 2,100 people have already been moved. At this rate, breaking 3,500 today won’t be a problem.”

“Good.”

“City Lord.”

“Speak.”

“If the people in the The City-State find out about the signal from the north, will they panic and riot?”

“The The City-State must not know about this.” Lu Chen laid down a hard rule. “The signal from the north must remain a secret outside of the Cockpit. Go talk to Lin Xiao and tell him to keep his mouth shut. The reason for the relocation is still major repairs—stick to that story.”

“Understood.”

The communication was cut.

Lu Chen leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixed on that weak light dot on the northern panel.

The light dot floated at the eight-kilometer boundary, neither advancing nor retreating.

Behind this probe, a vast army was taking root.

He picked up his thermos.

This time there was hot water inside, brought by Lin Wan this morning.

He took a sip and set the cup down.

On the panel, the six light dots to the south glowed steadily.

To the north, one light dot flickered continuously.

Two armies faced each other across a dozen kilometers of ice fields, and Polaris was wedged right in the middle of this eye of the storm.