33: Chapter 33: 1400 Points All in! Chain Upgrade Begins!

The Winter Trade Alliance's fortress-class Mobile City, which blotted out the sky, slowly receded into the distance at the edge of the horizon.

The deep rifts left by the giant treads crushing the ice crisscrossed and would not close for a long time.

Lu Chen stood before the bulletproof glass, watching the behemoth's silhouette being swallowed inch by inch by the wind and snow.

Until the last wisp of black smoke vanished into the lead-gray skyline.

Only then did he turn around and casually toss the empty silver-gray code tube into the scrap metal bin.

"City Lord, has that big guy left?" Lin Wan poked her head out from beside the cultivation box, her voice still trembling with the tension from earlier.

"Gone."

Lu Chen sat back in the driver's seat, his gaze falling on the glowing golden number in the top-right corner of the holographic panel.

2500.

He stared at this number for a full five seconds.

Then he reached out to scoop a cup of warm purified water from the water collection tray beside the Primary Efficiency Boiler, took a large gulp, and washed down the saliva that had turned bitter from excitement.

"Lin Wan."

"Here!"

"Put down what you're doing. Come and sit down."

Lin Wan was taken aback and gently placed the tweezers in her hand on the edge of the cultivation box.

She walked to the welded iron chair by the iron table and sat down, her hands resting properly on her knees.

She noticed that Lu Chen's expression was different from usual.

On that face that was always as cold as an iron plate, the skin twitched upward by a millimeter.

"You're about to see something," Lu Chen's voice was low, his speaking speed half a beat faster than usual.

"No matter what you see, no screaming, no running around. Do not touch anything that is glowing."

"Understood?"

"I-I understand." Lin Wan nodded vigorously, her heart beginning to race.

Every time Lu Chen said such things, something that shattered her worldview would inevitably follow.

Lu Chen took a breath of the warm twenty-degree air in the cabin and slowly summoned the Truth Tech Tree.

The light screens of the four major branches spread out within the dim cabin.

On the Armament and Weaponry branch, every node from the Repeating Crossbow at the bottom to the Fire Control Console at the top shone with dazzling golden light. The symbol of Great Perfection shimmered at the very top.

As for the other three branches, the nodes at the bottom and middle sections were also lit. Only the core nodes at the top and the third node of Ecological Logistics remained grey.

That grey was particularly jarring against the screen full of golden light.

"Today, I'm going to light up this entire tree."

Lu Chen's voice carried a certainty that was obsessive to the core.

He reached out his finger and found the third node of the Ecological Logistics branch on the light screen.

"Let's start with you."

[Ecological Logistics Lv1 (Node 3): Coal-Fired Central Heating Pipes]

[Node Description: Lay a complete coal-fired hot water circulation pipe network between the vehicle chassis and the cabin walls. The heat generated by the boiler will no longer rely on radiation diffusion, but will instead be directionally transported by closed copper pipes carrying high-temperature hot water. This achieves uniform heating in every corner of the vehicle, eliminating cold spots. This piping system is upwardly compatible and can continue to be used in higher-level vehicle structures.]

[Unlock Cost: 200 Truth Points.]

"Two hundred points." When Lu Chen uttered this number, his tone was casual, as if he were just talking about what to eat today.

"System, unlock."

[Ding! 200 Truth Points deducted. Ecological Logistics Lv1 (Node 3): Coal-Fired Central Heating Pipes, unlocked successfully!]

[Current Truth Points balance: 2,300 points.]

The commotion of the modification was greater than any previous time.

This time, the system was going to modify the entire vehicle's chassis and all the walls, leaving no part untouched.

Hum!

A dull tremor came from the very bottom of the cabin. The iron chair Lin Wan was sitting on trembled slightly.

She looked down; the metal floor beneath her feet was undergoing a visible transformation.

Brass-colored pipes emerged from the gaps in the floor. The thick ones were as wide as an arm, while the thin ones were only the size of a thumb.

They possessed a vitality like that of organic beings, frantically climbing and spreading along the inner walls of the cabin.

The layout of the pipes was so orderly it made one's skin crawl.

The main pipe branched out from the radiator vent at the back of the boiler, splitting into two, then four.

It spread out symmetrically along both sides of the cabin, with a thin pipe branching off every half-meter to penetrate deep into the asbestos interlayer of the walls.

Finally, all the pipes merged at the rear of the cabin into a single return main, reconnecting to the boiler's water inlet.

Forming a perfectly sealed closed-loop thermal cycle.

The entire process lasted twenty seconds.

When the brass flange of the last joint tightened automatically, it let out a crisp metallic clink.

The air inside the cabin underwent a subtle change.

Although the previous constant twenty-degree temperature was comfortable, if one felt carefully, the areas near the door and the rear were always a degree or two lower than around the boiler. That was the physical limit of thermal radiation diffusion, an unavoidable cold zone.

But now.

Lin Wan's eyes widened as she reached out to touch the cabin wall beside her.

It was warm.

It was uniform.

From front to back, floor to ceiling, every inch of metal surface she touched was at exactly the same temperature.

The experience of being uniformly enveloped in warmth was on an entirely different level than before.

"City Lord, these pipes..."

"Heating pipes. From now on, there won't be any cold zones in the vehicle." Lu Chen replied quickly without turning his head.

"Furthermore, this piping system is compatible with higher-level vehicle bodies. In other words, even if the Polaris becomes three times larger, these pipes will still be usable."

"Three times larger?" Lin Wan's brain couldn't keep up with Lu Chen's train of thought.

"Don't interrupt. There are three more."

Lu Chen's gaze had already shifted to the next target.

The dark core node at the very top of the Power Engine Lv1 branch.

[Power Engine Lv1 (Top Core): High-Pressure Steam Miniature Hub]

[Node Description: Comprehensively reconstruct the steam output system of the Primary Efficiency Boiler. Generate a highly integrated steam distribution hub that uses a precision pressure regulating valve group to distribute the high-pressure steam generated by the boiler to every vehicle module. This completely solves the issues of power competition and energy loss during simultaneous multi-module operation, meeting the peak power supply requirements of all current Lv.1 equipment.]

[Unlock Cost: 400 Truth Points.]

"Four hundred points."

Lu Chen glanced at the balance. 2,300.

Filthy rich.

"Unlock."

[Ding! 400 Truth Points deducted. Power Engine Lv1 (Top Core): High-Pressure Steam Miniature Hub, unlocked successfully!]

[Prerequisites met, the Power Engine Lv1 branch has been completely filled!]

[Current Truth Points balance: 1,900 points.]

The half-person-tall cast-iron boiler in the center of the cabin underwent its second earth-shaking transformation.

Lin Wan saw with her own eyes the boiler's top armor being sliced open by the system's blue light. A complex device consisting of over a dozen sets of brass valves and steam manifolds grew out from within.

The craftsmanship of these valves was outrageously fine. Every knob was engraved with dense, tiny pressure scales.

Several steam pipelines extended from this hub's center. One connected to the tread transmission system at the bottom, another to the steam supply pipe for the Repeating Crossbow on the side. The main valves of the High-Pressure Spray Guns at the four corners and the Steam Catapult of the Harpoon Cannon on top were also connected one by one.

When the last pipeline clicked into its interface.

The boiler emitted an unprecedented low, long roar.

The previous strained humming had vanished completely. What the boiler emitted now was a deep, powerful roar full of confidence.

"City Lord! The sound changed!" Lin Wan shouted, covering her ears.

"It's not just changed," Lu Chen closed his eyes, feeling the uniform vibration rising from the soles of his feet, his skin twitching upward another half-millimeter.

"It's smoother. Before, the boiler had to provide heating, charge the weapons, and drive the treads all at once. It was like three heads fighting for one teat; of course it was struggling. Now with this hub, every drop of steam is allocated exactly where it needs to go, not a single drop wasted."

He opened his eyes.

Two Great Perfections.

Two left.

Lu Chen's finger slid across the light screen, locking onto the top core of the Infrastructure Armor branch.

"The third one."