269: Chapter 269 Strong Artificial Intelligence Online! Lv.5 Great Perfection

The seventy-fifth day, 11:00 PM.

The balance exceeded two million.

Lu Chen unlocked the remaining two nodes of the third batch.

Ecological Logistics Lv.5 node 3, Gene Bank and Species Restoration Chamber, 500,000, confirmed.

Armament and Weaponry Lv.5 node 3, Orbital Airdrop Mecha Strike Array, 500,000, confirmed.

The balance dropped to one million.

The transformation of the Gene Bank and Species Restoration Chamber began within the climate chamber on the sixth floor of Polaris.

A closed spherical space rose from the floor.

Inside the sphere was stored the complete species DNA sequence restored by the system from the pre-civilization gene database.

This included extinct temperate broad-leaved forest tree species, extinct grassland vegetation, and extinct large mammals.

"City Lord," Lin Wan crouched in front of the observation window of the spherical gene bank, her voice husky, "Inside this are the gene sequences for oak trees, apple trees, roses, and the original wild species of wheat."

She paused for a moment.

"There are all the major food crops and cash crops from before the Blue Star Ice Age."

"We will use them later," Lu Chen replied.

The transformation of the Orbital Airdrop Mecha Strike Array was very straightforward.

On the armor plating at the top of the eleventh floor of Polaris, rows of neatly arranged launch silos broke through the shell.

Each launch silo contained a three-meter-tall fully automatic combat mecha.

The total number was 1,200.

"City Lord," Zhao Tiezhu's voice came from the Fire Control Console, filled with irrepressible fanaticism, "1,200 autonomous combat mecha, each equipped with a particle assault rifle and a micro-shield, can be airdropped from orbital altitude onto the battlefield, then disperse and automatically lock onto targets for engagement."

"Use them in conjunction with the Quantum Predictive Fire Control Network," Lu Chen added. "The fire control network is responsible for predicting the battlefield situation, and the mecha array is responsible for strikes. 1,200 mecha will airdrop simultaneously, covering a battlefield area with a radius of fifty kilometers."

Zhao Tiezhu's fists clenched, making a cracking sound.

"Next," Lu Chen looked at the last four gray nodes, "Top cores, one million each, four million for all four."

The balance was one million.

Three million short.

"Keep moving."

Polaris cruised over the Rustwind Wasteland at a speed of fifty kilometers per hour, with the chassis Degradation system working continuously.

An hour later, an unprecedentedly large underground metal ore vein was discovered.

It was not a pre-civilization ruin, but a natural iron ore vein.

"This ore vein extends 300 meters underground," Zhou Yuan said, looking at the scan data. "It's over two kilometers wide, and its length stretches from here to the southern end of the wasteland, over forty kilometers."

"Eat."

Polaris flew along the ore vein.

The chassis Degradation system devoured the underground iron ore at a rate of over a thousand points per minute.

The balance soared.

One million.

1.3 million.

1.7 million.

2.2 million.

2.8 million.

3.5 million.

The seventy-sixth day, 6:00 AM.

The balance exceeded four million.

"Unlock."

Four top cores.

Power Engine Lv.5 top core, Planetary-class Core Engine, 1,000,000, confirmed.

Infrastructure Armor Lv.5 top core, wonder-class Anti-Gravity Base, 1,000,000, confirmed.

Ecological Logistics Lv.5 top core, Miniature Planetary Ecological Engine, 1,000,000, confirmed.

Armament and Weaponry Lv.5 top core, Strong AI War General Administration, 1,000,000, confirmed.

The balance dropped from four million to zero.

Red characters popped up on the panel.

Lv.5 technology tree 16/16 nodes fully lit, upgrade conditions met.

City upgrade evolution from Lv.5 to Lv.6 will be triggered automatically after all current physical transformations are completed.

The physical transformations of the four top cores started simultaneously.

The transformation of the Strong AI War General Administration was completed first.

An extra voice appeared in the Cockpit.

A steady voice with a faint electronic texture.

"City Lord Lu Chen," the voice spoke, "Strong AI War General Administration is online, designation NPTS001. Please allow me to refer to myself as Polaris."

Everyone in the Cockpit froze in place.

"Who are you?" Zhao Tiezhu was the first to react, his hand pressing onto the Fire Control Console.

"I am the combat command intelligence for Polaris," the voice replied. "My computing power is equivalent to the sum of all supercomputers of the Pre-Civilization Federation. I can complete a situational assessment of the entire battlefield in an extremely short time, generate optimal combat plans, and issue these plans to all weapon systems and mecha units."

"City Lord." Zhou Yuan turned his head to look at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen looked at the newly appeared intelligent core icon on the panel.

"Polaris," he called out.

"Present."

"From now on, you will have full authority over tactical fire control and interception. I will make the strategic decisions."

"Understood. Polaris is taking over tactical fire control. All weapon systems have been synchronized and connected. The Quantum Predictive Fire Control Network data stream has been interfaced, and the communication links for the 1,200 mecha units have been established."

"Good."

Planetary-class Core Engine was completed two hours later.

The power core of Polaris underwent another revolution.

The stellar furnace and zero-point energy modules were incorporated into a grander energy architecture.

The design concept of the Planetary-class Core Engine was to manipulate gravity.

The moment the engine came online, a measurable change occurred in the gravitational field around Polaris.

The gravity inside the city was adjusted to a standard 1G.

The gravitational field outside the city could be distorted within a certain range.

"What does this mean?" Lin Wan asked.

"It means that the movement of Polaris is no longer restricted by terrain or weather," Lu Chen stated the answer. "It can fly. Not hover, but fly. It can fly as high as it wants and as fast as it wants."

The wonder-class Anti-Gravity Base was completed shortly after.

The entire bottom structure of Polaris was completely reshaped.

The track system disappeared completely.

An anti-gravity field generation array covering the entire bottom of the city was formed.

The city's hovering altitude began to climb from one hundred meters.

Two hundred meters.

Five hundred meters.

One thousand meters.

The 3,200-meter-long steel wonder rose above the clouds.

Looking up from the ice field.

One could see the silhouette of a city floating in the gray-white sky, its body shrouded in a deep blue energy shield.

Like a steel sun appearing in the sky.

The Miniature Planetary Ecological Engine was completed last.

The ecosystem inside Polaris underwent a fundamental leap.

The climate chamber expanded into a huge space covering the entire sixth to ninth floors.

A complete miniature ecosystem formed within the space.

There was soil.

There were rivers.

There was wind.

There was rain.

There were sunrises and sunsets.

The species genes stored in the gene bank were gradually activated, and the first batch of temperate broad-leaved forest seedlings broke through the newly generated soil.

Thirty thousand people stood on this indoor land.

Looking up at the simulated sun slowly rising in the artificial sky.

Some people were moved to tears.

On the panel.

All transformations were complete.

Lv.5 technology tree 16/16, all physical transformations complete, city upgrade evolution countdown started.

Lv.5 to Lv.6, upgrade takes 1440 seconds.

1440 seconds.

24 minutes.