254: Chapter 254 Gas Turbine Online! Lu Chen Re-establishes Radar Guidance

4:03 AM.

Cockpit.

On the panel, the countdown for the Gas Turbine Generator Set modification jumped to the final two minutes.

01:47.

01:33.

01:21.

Lu Chen stood in front of the control console.

He braced his hands against the edge of the surface.

The vibrations beneath his feet hadn't stopped for the past forty minutes.

Unlike the short, sharp tremors during the Railway Gun modification, the growth of the gas turbine was a continuous, heavy movement.

It transmitted up from the lowest level of the city.

Polaris was growing its second heart.

00:58.

00:41.

00:27.

00:13.

00:00.

The vibration stopped.

A line of text popped up on the panel.

Power Engine lv.3 Node 3: Gas Turbine Generator Set is online.

A row of parameters refreshed.

Total power generation increased by 220%.

Superconducting Energy Storage Matrix charging rate increased by 180%.

Actual reload time for the 155mm Electromagnetic Railgun compressed from 90 seconds to 52 seconds.

Phalanx Close-In Weapon System continuous fire duration extended from 45 seconds to 120 seconds.

High-Temperature Thermal Melting Cutting Ray Cannon full charge time shortened from 45 minutes to 18 minutes.

Zhao Tiezhu stared at that line of numbers.

52 seconds.

Railway Gun reload time: 52 seconds.

“City Lord.”

His throat felt dry.

“One shot every fifty-two seconds.”

“One shot every fifty-two seconds,” Lu Chen repeated.

“Less than a minute per round.”

Zhao Tiezhu clenched his hand into a fist.

“Ten rounds of ammunition finished in 520 seconds. Less than nine minutes.”

“Ten 1,200mm penetration kinetic armor-piercing shells fired within nine minutes.”

Lu Chen calculated the firepower density.

“If they hit a crusher, that's ten through-and-through holes.”

“Can a crusher withstand ten rounds?” Zhou Yuan asked.

“It can't.”

Lu Chen shook his head.

“After 800mm of armor is pierced by 1,200mm of penetration, the projectile core entering the interior will cause secondary damage and ricochet effects. One shot to pierce the shell, a second to destroy the internal structure, and three or more can paralyze critical systems. Ten rounds are enough to turn a crusher's Core Cabin into a sieve.”

The Cockpit fell silent for two seconds.

“City Lord.”

Lin Wan's voice came from the side.

It carried a suppressed excitement.

“Speak.”

“Can we really win?”

Lu Chen turned his head to look at her.

Lin Wan stood by the console.

She was clutching her notebook.

There were dark circles under her eyes.

Her lips were peeling because she hadn't drunk much water for over a dozen hours.

But her eyes were shining with light.

“We can win,” Lu Chen said.

No embellishment, no explanation—just those three words.

Lin Wan nodded.

She lowered her head to write in her notebook.

4:03 AM: Gas Turbine Generator Set online. Railway Gun actual reload time: 52 seconds.

“City Lord,” Zhou Yuan spoke from in front of the panel.

“Current balance.”

Lu Chen glanced at it.

2,847.

The Degradation of the front half was still ongoing.

Since unlocking the gas turbine and zeroing out at 3:24 AM, nearly three thousand points had been recovered in forty minutes.

The speed was increasing.

Degradation had already bitten into the fifth-level military district of The City-State.

Communication tower bases, radar array supports, reinforced steel plates from the ammunition depot.

All of it was high-density alloy.

“At this rate,” Zhou Yuan calculated for a moment.

“When the front half is finished decomposing, the total revenue should be between 21,000 and 23,000.”

21,000 to 23,000.

Subtract the 10,000 already spent on the gas turbine, plus 500 for ten Railway Gun rounds, and 1,000 for Phalanx reserves.

The actual net balance on hand would be between 9,500 and 11,500.

9,500 to 11,500.

Enough to unlock another major component.

“The next node.”

Lu Chen prioritized in his head.

Of the current sixteen nodes, eleven were lit.

Five remained.

Armament and Weaponry Top Core: Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix.

Infrastructure Armor Node 3: Adaptive Electromagnetic Suspension, and Top Core: Heavy Mobile Fortress Base.

Ecological Logistics Top Core: Medium All-Weather Ecological Circle.

Power Engine Top Core: High-pressure Thunder Power Hub.

“Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix.”

He made his decision.

“Armament and Weaponry Top Core?” Zhao Tiezhu's eyes lit up.

“Yes.”

Lu Chen clarified his reasoning.

“The Railway Gun's effective range is 38 kilometers, but the current radar only reaches 8 kilometers. Any targets beyond 8 kilometers rely entirely on Cheng Zheng's formation to provide coordinates. Once communication is cut or Cheng Zheng's formation is scattered, the Railway Gun becomes blind.”

“And after the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix is online?”

“Hundred-kilometer-class all-weather strikes.”

Lu Chen read out the description from the technology tree.

“It comes with long-range phased array radar, with a detection range of at least 50 kilometers. The Railway Gun will no longer need external guidance; it can lock onto targets itself.”

“50 kilometers detection plus 38 kilometers range.”

Zhou Yuan strung the numbers together.

“Any city of the Iron Hoof, as long as it enters the 50-kilometer range, will be within our strike zone.”

“Correct.”

Lu Chen slapped his pen on the table.

“Once radar guidance is online, Polaris will be a true long-range firepower fortress. It won't need anyone to feed it data; it can fight on its own.”

“How many points?” Lin Wan asked.

“Top Core.”

Lu Chen recalled the pricing patterns of the technology tree.

“An Lv.3 Top Core, based on previous experience, should be between 10,000 and 15,000.”

He opened the technology tree interface to confirm.

Armament and Weaponry lv.3 Top Core: Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix.

Requirement: 12,000 Truth Points.

Twelve thousand.

“Twelve thousand,” he reported the number.

Lin Wan did the math.

Current balance: 2,847.

Degradation of the front half was still ongoing.

According to Zhou Yuan's estimate, the total revenue for the front half was 21,000 to 23,000.

11,500 already spent.

Net balance: 9,500 to 11,500.

9,500 to 11,500 for a 12,000-point node.

“We're short by 500 to 2,500,” Lin Wan calculated the gap.

“We're not short,” Lu Chen shook his head.

“Don't forget the blueprints from Forge.”

Lin Wan's pen stopped.

“Two Lv.4 Power System Core blueprints.”

Lu Chen pulled up the transaction terms again.

“Handover on the spot once the battle is over. Degradation revenue: 15,000 to 20,000.”

“But that's after the battle is over,” Zhou Yuan pointed out the problem.

“Radar guidance won't be online before the battle.”

“It doesn't need to be online before the battle.”

Lu Chen cleared up the tactical logic.

“For the first forty minutes of the Joint Strike, Polaris's task is to feed data to Cheng Zheng's formation. During those forty minutes, Cheng Zheng's radar will be my eyes. After forty minutes, Forge's main formation will bite in from the flank, and Iron Hoof's attention will be divided. By then, the battle will already be underway, and the blueprint handover can be completed in the gaps of combat.”

“Handing over blueprints in the gaps of combat?” Zhou Yuan was somewhat confused.

“Forge promised an on-the-spot handover.”

Lu Chen explained fully.

“His Furnace is thirteen kilometers to the south. Once the battle starts, as long as Iron Hoof's formation is torn open, the Furnace can get close enough for communication. Blueprints are data, not physical objects. Transmission over an encrypted frequency only takes a few seconds.”

Zhou Yuan thought about it and nodded.

“So that means the unlock time for the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix is timed for the middle of the battle.”

“Yes.”

Lu Chen straightened out the timeline.

“Rely on Cheng Zheng for data for the first forty minutes. After forty minutes, Forge's main force bites in, blueprints are received, decomposed, and radar guidance is unlocked. From that moment on, Polaris will be completely free from dependence on external data.”

“What if the blueprint transmission is jammed?”

“Alternative plan.”

Lu Chen had already considered this layer.

“If the net balance can reach 12,000 after the front half is decomposed, we unlock it directly without waiting for the blueprints. If we're a bit short, we'll top up the ammunition first and wait for the blueprints.”

“Understood.”

The balance on the panel continued to jump.

3012.

3178.

3345.

Degradation was accelerating.

The wreckage of the ammunition depot in The City-State's fifth military district was being swallowed by the system.

Lu Chen leaned back against the chair.

He closed his eyes to rest.

One shot every fifty-two seconds.

Ten rounds of ammunition.

One thousand Phalanx interceptions.

Gas turbine online.

Before dawn, the front half of the Degradation would be finished.

After dawn, Iron Hoof's Base Building would be complete.

And then, it would be down to real steel and fire.