261: Chapter 261 A Crazy Gain of 200,000 Points! Lu Chen's Sword Points at a Level 4 City-State

"Transmission in progress."

Cheng Zheng's voice came through the communicator: "Forge is operating it personally, transmitting directly via an encrypted frequency. Two sets of Level 4 Power Engine core blueprints, data packet size 4.7 megabytes, estimated transmission time twelve seconds."

A data reception progress bar appeared in the corner of the panel.

Twelve percent.

Thirty-four percent.

Sixty-seven percent.

Eighty-nine percent.

One hundred percent.

The system prompted that data reception was complete, and the file integrity check passed.

The thumbnail information for the two blueprints expanded in the system interface.

The first was the complete design blueprint for a high-pressure steam turbine unit, a third-generation industrial Power Engine core from the Pre-Civilization Federation, containing full material parameters, processing techniques, and assembly procedures, with extremely high Truth logic density.

The second was the theoretical framework for a sourcefire coal crystal fission reactor, a top-secret file from a pre-civilization military research institute, covering fission chain reaction control, energy conversion efficiency optimization, and containment vessel design, with extremely high Truth logic density.

"It's here." Lu Chen looked at the information for those two blueprints. "Degradation."

He sent the two blueprints directly into the Degradation function of the Truth Tech Tree.

The system displayed the Degradation target as two Level 4 Power Engine core blueprints, with an estimated processing time of instantaneous.

Degradation complete, yield 21,340 Truth Points.

21,340. That was 1,300 more than the maximum value Forge had estimated.

The Truth Points balance on the panel jumped to 29,274.

29,274.

Lin Wan's pen tip poked a hole in the paper.

"Twenty-nine thousand." Her tone drifted as she spoke.

"Twenty-nine thousand." Lu Chen stared at the number, tapping his fingers on the desktop twice.

The Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix required 12,000. After unlocking it, there would be over 17,000 left, enough to unlock one or two more major items.

"Unlock." He directly expanded the technology tree interface.

Armament and Weaponry Level 3 top core Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix, requirement 12,000 Truth Points.

Confirm.

The balance dropped to 17,274.

The system prompted that the Armament and Weaponry Level 3 top core was unlocked, and the physical modification for the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix had started, with an estimated time of 38 minutes.

"Thirty-eight minutes." Zhao Tiezhu looked at the countdown.

"In thirty-eight minutes, Polaris will have its own long-range phased array radar." Lu Chen clarified the benefits. "Detection range over fifty kilometers; the Railway Gun will no longer need any external guidance, capable of autonomous locking, autonomous firing, and all-weather strikes at the hundred-kilometer level."

"All four nodes of the Armament and Weaponry branch are full." Lin Wan checked her notebook. "Four out of four."

"Correct." Lu Chen looked at the technology tree interface. "Armament and Weaponry fully mastered."

His gaze moved to the remaining nodes.

Current progress was twelve out of sixteen. Armament and Weaponry four out of four full, Infrastructure Armor two out of four, Ecological Logistics three out of four, Power Engine three out of four.

The remaining four nodes: Infrastructure Armor node three 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.

Balance 17,274.

"Keep upgrading."

Infrastructure Armor Level 3 node three Adaptive Electromagnetic Suspension. He switched interfaces to check the price.

Requirement 10,000 Truth Points.

"Unlock."

Confirm.

The balance dropped to 7,274.

The system prompted that Infrastructure Armor Level 3 node three was unlocked, and the physical modification for the Adaptive Electromagnetic Suspension had started, with an estimated time of 45 minutes.

"Adaptive Electromagnetic Suspension." Zhou Yuan read the name aloud. "What is this?"

"The city will travel over rugged glaciers as if on flat ground." Lu Chen repeated the technology tree description. "All-terrain adaptability; whether it's the Ice Rift Zone, gravel slopes, or frozen swamps, Polaris will be able to pass through smoothly."

"Infrastructure Armor is three out of four." Lin Wan recorded. "Just one more top core to go."

Balance 7,274.

Infrastructure Armor top core Heavy Mobile Fortress Base. Lu Chen checked the price.

Requirement 15,000 Truth Points. Not enough, short by 7,700.

"Wait on this one." He closed the interface. "Keep the remaining 7,200 for ammunition reserves and emergencies."

He quickly wrote down the current status in his notebook.

Level 3 technology tree thirteen out of sixteen. Armament and Weaponry four out of four full, Infrastructure Armor three out of four, Ecological Logistics three out of four, Power Engine three out of four.

Balance 7,274.

Railway Gun ammunition thirty-seven rounds.

Phalanx CIWS reserves 2,568 uses.

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

"Speak."

"Forge wants to speak with you directly."

"Connect."

Frequency switched.

"City Lord Lu." Forge's voice came through, carrying something indescribable compared to the last call.

"Forge."

"Thirty-seven minutes." Forge read out the number. "From the moment the crusher entered your radar to the total annihilation of the entire army, thirty-seven minutes. My main fleet hadn't even fully deployed, and you had already broken the backbone of Iron Hoof."

"Your Furnace dealt the final blow." Lu Chen didn't take all the credit.

"Final blow." Forge laughed. "Seven holes in the crusher, you made six of them; my shot at most counts as finishing it off."

"Blueprints received." Lu Chen brought the topic back to business. "21,340 points, more than you estimated."

"Good things should be worth a good price." Forge replied. "City Lord Lu, what next?"

"What do you mean 'what next'?"

"The wreckage of Iron Hoof." Forge laid the interests on the table. "The wreckage of the crusher, 2,200 meters long. The wreckage of four Level 4 The City-States, the wreckage of over ten Level 3 fortresses. Who is going to collect these things?"

Lu Chen's fingers stopped on the desktop.

Wreckage. The wreckage left after the total annihilation of the Iron Hoof Legion. The crusher, a Level 5 wonder, four Level 4 The City-States, over ten Level 3 fortresses.

How much would the Truth Points yield be if everything were degraded?

He quickly calculated in his head. The Level 4 wreckage of Ice Thorn had degraded for 10,800 points; the crusher was a Level 5 wonder, with a volume more than five times that of Ice Thorn, so conservatively estimating, the crusher's wreckage Degradation yield would be over 50,000 points. Four Level 4 The City-States, around 10,000 each, 40,000. Over ten Level 3 fortresses, 5,000 to 8,000 each, totaling 60,000 to 100,000.

Adding it all up, 150,000 to 200,000 Truth Points.

This number swirled in Lu Chen's mind.

150,000 to 200,000. Enough to max out the remaining three nodes of the Level 3 technology tree, enough to trigger the promotion from Level 3 to Level 4, and enough to immediately unlock the first few nodes of Level 4 after the promotion.

"Forge." Lu Chen spoke, his tone steady. "The wreckage belongs to me."

The other end was silent for two seconds.

"All of it?"

"All of it." Lu Chen laid out his bottom line. "I took down the crusher; of the four Level 4 The City-States, I took down two and you took down two; of the over ten Level 3 fortresses, I took down five and you took down the rest. Based on battle merit, I should get at least sixty percent, but I want it all."

"If you take it all, what do you give me?"

"The full set of signal monitoring data." Lu Chen put his chips on the table. "From the first signal intercepted on the forty-second day until today, all communication parameters, march route deductions, and Base Building location determinations of the Iron Hoof Legion, all packaged for you. For your council report and subsequent defense deployments, these data are worth no less than the wreckage of a few Level 3 fortresses."

Forge was silent on the other end for five seconds.

"Deal."

Communication cut off.

Lu Chen placed the communicator back on the desktop and leaned back into the iron chair.

On the panel, the countdown for the Radar-guided Fire Control Matrix modification was still ticking, and the countdown for the Adaptive Electromagnetic Suspension modification was also ticking.

Outside the window, on the northern glacier, lay the scattered wreckage of a once-haughty steel army.

150,000 to 200,000 Truth Points.

Level 4 The City-State.

He wrote the last line in his notebook: Degradation target, all wreckage of the Iron Hoof Legion, estimated yield 150,000 to 200,000 Truth Points. Goal: Level 4 promotion.

The pen tip pressed heavily onto the paper.

Then he closed the notebook and shut his eyes.