252: Chapter 252 Degradation (First Half)! Lu Chen Kuang Exchanges Ten Cannonballs

1:25 AM.

"City Lord."

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

Lin Wan stood beside the iron chair, holding a steaming cup in her hands.

"The milk has been heated."

He took the cup, tilted his head back, and took two gulps.

It was hot.

"Has Lin Xiao reported in?"

"He reported at 1:22."

Zhou Yuan answered from in front of the control panel.

"The last batch of 317 people from the front half have all entered the Polaris. The front half of The City-State is empty."

Lu Chen set the cup down and pushed himself upright using the armrests.

"What about Lin Xiao himself?"

"He was the last one out."

Zhou Yuan flipped through the communication logs.

"He crossed the Main Channel threshold at 1:20 and confirmed that all entrances and exits to the front half of The City-State were sealed at 1:21."

"Good."

Lu Chen stood up and walked to the control panel.

The radar scanning line rotated round after round. The probe signal to the north remained unchanged. That faint light point on the eight-kilometer boundary had been motionless for fifty-nine hours, since the afternoon of the seventy-first day.

Six light points to the south were glowing steadily.

"Current total population on board."

"Approximately 28,400 people."

Zhou Yuan reported the numbers.

"Adding the 14,000-plus already registered to the roughly 14,000 who came in during tonight's grand evacuation. Chen Li is verifying the exact figures, but the margin of error is no more than two hundred."

"28,400 people."

Lu Chen ran the number through his head.

"All squeezed inside the Polaris."

"The first floor's Storage Area is packed with people, the second-floor corridors are covered in floor mats, and the walkways around the Greenhouse on the third floor are also stuffed with people."

Lin Wan added.

"But the Greenhouse itself is unaffected; the Hydroponic Racks and Synthesizers are operating normally."

"Good."

Lu Chen glanced at the clock; it was 1:27.

"Decompose the front half."

He spoke.

"Initiate at 2:00 sharp."

"Thirty-three minutes to go," Zhou Yuan confirmed.

"During these thirty-three minutes, do three things." Lu Chen held up three fingers.

"First, notify Cheng Zheng that the front half is about to be decomposed. During the Degradation, the Polaris will remain stationary, and the Vanguard Formation's shield duties remain unchanged."

"Second, notify Lin Xiao that the front half of The City-State will begin to disappear at 2:00. Tell him to keep a tight lid on it so the people on the ship don't panic."

"Third."

He looked at Zhao Tiezhu.

"Railway Gun energy storage status."

Zhao Tiezhu glanced at the fire control panel.

"Energy storage at 100%, loading complete, but ammunition remaining is zero rounds; the balance is insufficient for exchange."

"Once the front half's Degradation reaches over five hundred points, immediately exchange for ten rounds."

Lu Chen set the priority firmly.

"Ten Railway Gun shells, five hundred points. That's the first expenditure."

"Ten rounds." Zhao Tiezhu memorized the number.

"Second expenditure: Phalanx CIWS interception reserves. One thousand points for one thousand interceptions."

"Third expenditure: save all the rest. Once the total exceeds ten thousand, unlock the next lv.3 fortress node."

"Which node?" Lin Wan asked.

Lu Chen flipped through the technology tree in his mind.

Of the current sixteen nodes, ten were lit. Under Armament and Weaponry, three out of four were lit; under Infrastructure Armor, two out of four; under Ecological Logistics, three out of four; and under Power Engine, two out of four.

Of the remaining six nodes, the top core for Armament and Weaponry was the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix. The third node for Infrastructure Armor was Adaptive Electromagnetic Suspension, with the top core being the Heavy Mobile Fortress Base. The top core for Ecological Logistics was the Medium All-Weather Ecological Circle. The third node for Power Engine was the Gas Turbine Generator Set, with the top core being the High-pressure Thunder Power Hub.

"Power Engine Node 3."

He made his choice.

"Gas Turbine Generator Set."

"Why?" Zhou Yuan asked.

"The Railway Gun uses electromagnetic acceleration."

Lu Chen straightened out the logic chain.

"With every shot, the Superconducting Energy Storage Matrix must release a massive amount of current. The current fuel-electric hybrid engine has a limited charging rate."

He paused briefly.

"Once the Gas Turbine is online, the power generation will double, and the Railway Gun's actual rate of fire can be compressed from one shot every ninety seconds to sixty seconds or even less."

"Rate of fire increase." Zhao Tiezhu's eyes lit up.

"Yes."

Lu Chen finished the last gulp of milk in his cup.

"In battle, the difference between ninety seconds and sixty seconds is the difference between one more shot and one less."

"How many points for the Gas Turbine?" Lin Wan asked.

"Ten thousand."

Lin Wan quickly did the math in her notebook.

The front half was estimated at fifteen to eighteen thousand points. Subtract five hundred for Railway Gun ammo, one thousand for the Phalanx CIWS, and ten thousand for the Gas Turbine.

That left thirty-five hundred to sixty-five hundred.

"It's enough."

She closed her notebook.

"Once the front half is decomposed, the Gas Turbine can be unlocked."

"Time."

Lu Chen glanced at the panel.

"Work starts at 2:00 and finishes at 5:00. The Gas Turbine will be online before 5:00."

He turned and walked back to the iron chair, sitting down.

1:58 AM.

Two minutes.

"Has Cheng Zheng been notified?"

"He has."

Zhou Yuan replied.

"Cheng Zheng confirms that the Vanguard Formation's shield duties remain unchanged. During Degradation, the three lv.3 fortresses will maintain their fan-shaped formation facing north."

"And Lin Xiao?"

"Notified."

Lin Wan took over.

"Lin Xiao said he will explain to those around him that The City-State is undergoing final dismantling and recycling."

"Good."

1:59 AM.

Lu Chen's hand rested on the console, his finger hovering over that metal button.

The second hand on the panel ticked forward one notch at a time.

2:00 AM sharp.

He pressed the button.

The Truth Tech Tree system interface expanded.

Degradation function.

Target locked: front half of the Black Rock City-State's remains, from the first to the Ninth Framework, total length 360 meters.

Degradation range confirmed.

Confirm.

System prompt: Degradation initiated. Estimated time: 2 hours and 58 minutes.

Faster than the back half.

Although the front half had a denser structure, its total volume was nearly twenty percent smaller. The system's Degradation efficiency had clearly improved after the continuous operation on the back half.

On the panel, the Truth Points balance began to tick upward.

287.

305.

334.

378.

The speed was more than double that of the last few dozen meters of the back half.

The area from the first to the third frameworks of the front half contained The City-State's lower Docking Area and the wreckage of the main engine room. A large number of heavy mechanical parts and dense metal structures were all high-density Degradation targets.

421.

487.

553.

"It's at five hundred."

"Exchange."

Lu Chen didn't hesitate. He switched to the ammunition exchange function in the system interface.

155mm electromagnetic acceleration Railway Gun ammunition, 50 Truth Points per round, exchange quantity: 10 rounds.

Confirm.

The balance dropped from 553 to 53.

On the fire control panel, the Railway Gun ammunition count jumped from 0 to 10.

Ten rounds.

Ten rounds of Kinetic Energy Armor-Piercing Shells with 1,200mm penetration.

Zhao Tiezhu stared at the number, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Ten rounds."

His voice was tight.

"Ten Railway Gun rounds, plus eight Ray Cannon shots, plus ten Napalm strikes, plus four Phalanx CIWS units."

"Plus fragmentation grenades, plus Heavy Machine Guns, plus Harpoon Cannons."

Lu Chen completed the firepower list.

"The Polaris's current firepower density has already exceeded that of a standard lv.3 fortress."

"By how much?"

"At least three times."

Zhao Tiezhu clenched his fist.

On the panel, the balance continued to tick up.

53.

89.

134.

The Degradation was accelerating.