255: Chapter 255 Fifty Shells Received in a Frenzy! The Polaris Unleashes Full Firepower

4:51 AM.

Cockpit.

A notification popped up on the panel.

[Degradation complete. The front 360-meter section of Black Rock City-State has been fully converted. Total gain: 22,417 Truth Points.]

22,417.

Nearly two thousand more than Zhou Yuan's highest estimate.

Lu Chen stared at the number.

He ran the accounts through his head.

Total gain from the Degradation of the front section: 22,417.

This was the cumulative figure since 2:00 PM.

In between, 10,000 had been spent on the gas turbine and 1,000 on the Phalanx CIWS. The 500 for the Railway Gun ammunition was spent right when the front section started.

So, the current actual balance should be the total gain of 22,417 minus the 10,000 for the gas turbine, 1,000 for the Phalanx CIWS, and 500 for the Railway Gun ammunition, which equals 10,917.

Adding the leftovers from the back section's tail, the actual current balance was the number displayed on the panel.

He glanced at the panel.

Balance: 11,934.

Over five hundred more than his mental calculation. It was likely some overlapping fragments between the last few dozen meters of the back section and the front section.

11,934.

Sixty-six points short of the 12,000 needed for the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix.

"Sixty-six short." Lin Wan was also calculating, her pen scratching twice on the paper. "The City-State is completely gone; there's nothing left to decompose."

"No rush." Lu Chen didn't move. "Replenish the ammunition first."

He operated the system.

Railway Gun ammunition exchange. Current: 10 rounds. Replenish to 50 rounds. Requires 40 rounds, cost: 2,000 points.

Confirm.

The balance dropped from 11,934 to 9,934.

Railway Gun ammunition: 50 rounds.

Fifty rounds.

Fifty rounds of kinetic energy armor-piercing shells with 1,200mm penetration.

"Fifty rounds." Zhao Tiezhu's voice trembled. "Fifty Railway Gun shells."

"Fifty rounds is enough to fight a medium-scale urban war." Lu Chen quantified the ammunition. "A crusher would be paralyzed after three to five hits. The four Lv.4s need two to three hits each. The ten-plus Lv.3s need one hit each. Added all together, the entire main force of Iron Hoof can be resolved within thirty rounds. The remaining twenty rounds are redundancy."

"Redundancy." Zhao Tiezhu chewed on the word.

From a balance of 447 points fifteen days ago to holding fifty Railway Gun shells now.

The scale of this leap made one's scalp tingle.

"Replenish another round for the Phalanx CIWS." Lu Chen continued his operations.

Phalanx CIWS interception reserves: current 1,000 times. Replenish to 3,000 times. Cost: 2,000 points.

Confirm.

The balance dropped from 9,934 to 7,934.

Phalanx CIWS interception reserves: 3,000 times.

"Three thousand interceptions." Zhou Yuan calculated. "Iron Hoof's four Lv.4s plus ten-plus Lv.3s would fire about two to three hundred rounds in a single full salvo. Three thousand interceptions can withstand ten rounds of full salvos."

"Ten salvos, assuming a thirty-second interval between each, is five minutes." Lu Chen converted the time. "The Phalanx CIWS can intercept five minutes of concentrated fire coverage. After five minutes, Forge's main formation should be biting into them."

"Enough." Zhou Yuan nodded.

"The rest." Lu Chen glanced at the balance. "7,934."

Still 4,066 short of the 12,000 for the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix.

"For this gap, we'll wait for Forge's blueprints." He finalized the decision. "Don't touch the current balance anymore. Keep it as an emergency reserve."

"Where would the emergency reserve be used?" Lin Wan asked.

"Replenishing Railway Gun ammunition." Lu Chen listed the possibilities. "If ammunition consumption exceeds expectations during battle, 7,934 points can still exchange for 158 rounds. Plus the existing 50 rounds, that's 208 rounds in total."

Two hundred and eight Railway Gun shells.

That number was enough to plow through the Iron Hoof Legion three times over from front to back.

"City Lord." Cheng Zheng's communication cut in.

"Speak."

"The City-State is completely gone?"

"Completely gone."

There was a three-second silence on the other end.

"My Optical Array confirms that one hundred meters north of Polaris, where The City-State used to be, is now an empty lot. An empty lot eight hundred meters long and four hundred meters wide. Not even a trace of the foundation remains."

"Is it clean?"

"Clean as if it never existed." Cheng Zheng's voice carried an indescribable tone. "City Lord Lu, this ability of yours..."

"Cheng Zheng." Lu Chen interrupted him.

"Here."

"The City-State is gone, and Polaris has lost its cover. From now on, Iron Hoof's probes can directly observe the full view of Polaris."

"Right." Cheng Zheng snapped back to attention. "This means your camouflage period is over. Iron Hoof will re-evaluate Polaris's threat level."

"Let them evaluate." Lu Chen spoke. "Once they're done, they'll find a 206-meter long lv.3 fortress equipped with an Electromagnetic Acceleration Cannon that can punch through its frontal armor, fifty rounds of ammunition, three thousand close-in defense interceptions, plus Reactive Explosive Armor and Angled Shot-deflecting Outer Armor."

"What will Iron Hoof do?"

"Two choices." Lu Chen laid out his judgment. "First, accelerate Base Building and concentrate all firepower to destroy Polaris in the shortest time possible. Second, change the direction of attack and bypass Polaris's firing range."

"Is the second option feasible?"

"Not feasible." Lu Chen shook his head. "The Railway Gun's effective range is thirty-eight kilometers. The east-west width of the Rustwind Wasteland is less than sixty kilometers. Polaris is wedged right in the middle; the thirty-eight-kilometer range covers over seventy percent of the wasteland's area. If Iron Hoof wants to bypass us, they'd have to detour to the glacier zones at the edge of the wasteland. The terrain there is fragmented; a Lv.5 crusher simply can't pass through."

"So Iron Hoof can only choose the first one."

"They can only choose the first one." Lu Chen nailed down the conclusion. "A frontal assault. And a frontal assault is exactly what we want."

"Because during a frontal assault, Forge's main formation can bite in from the flank."

"Exactly."

The communication was cut.

Lu Chen turned and walked back to sit in the iron chair.

A faint grayish-white light began to appear on the horizon outside the window.

It was almost dawn.

The dawn of the seventy-fourth day was arriving.

"City Lord." Lin Wan walked to his side and placed a cup of freshly heated milk on the corner of the table.

"Thanks."

"Will Iron Hoof move after daybreak?"

Lu Chen picked up the cup and took a sip.

"No." He set down the cup. "They won't move until Base Building is complete. Cheng Zheng said Iron Crown is extremely cautious. Without one hundred percent certainty, the crusher won't move a single step."

"How much longer for Base Building?"

"Counting from the afternoon of the seventy-first day, it's been thirty-eight hours so far." Lu Chen tracked the time. "Standard Base Building takes two to four days. In the fastest case, it'll be finished this afternoon. At the slowest, tomorrow night."

"Meaning, at the earliest, Iron Hoof will strike this afternoon."

"Yes." Lu Chen looked at the grayish-white light outside the window. "Iron Hoof will launch their attack between this afternoon and tomorrow night."

"Are we ready?"

Lu Chen didn't answer immediately.

He looked down at the panel.

Railway Gun online. 50 rounds. Loading time: 52 seconds.

Phalanx CIWS on hot standby. 3,000 interceptions.

Ray Cannon: 8 of 10 rounds. Fully charged in 18 minutes.

Napalm: 10 of 10 uses.

Reactive Explosive Armor online.

Angled Shot-deflecting Outer Armor online.

Radiation-proof Lead-lined Inner Shell online.

Gas Turbine Generator Set online.

Omni-directional Crawler Transmission Module online. U-turn in place: 18 seconds.

Truth Points balance: 7,934.

Lv.3 technology tree: 11 of 16.

"We're ready," he said.