36: Chapter 36 Camp-Level Secrets! Mechanical Arms and City Lord Privileges!

Lu Chen was in no hurry to go outside and check the full appearance of the Polaris.

His body was still contaminated with radioactive isotopes; every time he stepped out of the vehicle, he had to calculate the risks carefully.

He wanted to first get a clear understanding of all the new features after the promotion.

A dense series of system notifications popped up on the holographic panel.

Lu Chen pulled over the sheet-metal chair, sat down, and read through them line by line.

"City Lord, do you need my help?" Lin Wan walked over softly.

"Just stand there and listen." Lu Chen didn't even look up. "I'll read, you remember."

"Oh, okay."

Lin Wan stood obediently to the side, her hands crossed in front of her.

[Lv.2 Camp Grade Basic Configuration List:]

"First item," Lu Chen read aloud.

[External Mechanical Arm System (×2): Equipped with one retractable hydraulic mechanical arm on each side of the vehicle. Maximum extension radius: 8 meters. Functions: External resource grabbing and loading, preliminary dismantling and processing of prey carcasses, non-contact collection of beast cores, surface mining of low-grade sourcefire coal crystal. Control method: Integrated control via the cockpit's fire control hub; no need for the host to leave the cabin.]

After Lu Chen finished reading this item, he tapped his finger on the tabletop.

"No need to get out of the car anymore," he said.

Lin Wan blinked, not quite understanding the weight of those words.

But Lu Chen understood all too well.

Before, every time he hunted a Mutant Beast, he had to jump out of the vehicle into the sixty-degree-below-zero cold and personally use a skinning knife to cut open the beast's body and dig out the core.

That window of time exposed on the ice plains was the greatest safety hazard.

Now with the mechanical arms, he could stay in the warm cabin the whole time and use the joysticks to complete all operations remotely.

From hunting to recovery, he wouldn't have to leave the cabin at all.

"Continuing, second item."

[Lv.2 City Resident Management System (Basic Version):]

[As the City Lord of a Lv.2 Camp Grade Mobile City, the host has obtained the following privileges:]

[1. Internal City Damage Immunity Decree: All registered city residents receive system-level life protection within the internal space of the Polaris. Registered residents within the city cannot cause fatal damage to one another.]

[2. City Lord Authorized Shield: The City Lord can grant registered residents a special protection status that prevents them from being harmed by other residents in the city. Current available slots: 3.]

[Current registered residents: Lu Chen (City Lord), Lin Wan. Slots used: 0/3.]

Lu Chen stopped reading here.

"City Lord? What's wrong?"

"The system won't let you kill me, and it won't let me kill you. At least not inside this vehicle." Lu Chen lifted his eyelids.

Lin Wan's mouth hung open, her face a mask of confusion.

"Why would I want to kill you?"

"It's not about you; rules are rules." Lu Chen leaned back against the chair, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest.

"If any newcomers join the vehicle in the future, this rule will be the baseline safety net."

He paused for a moment.

"Three shield slots—one for you, one for me, and another for someone we trust later. No one will be able to touch us."

"City Lord, I don't need this protection, I..."

"Whether you need it or not isn't important." Lu Chen interrupted her. "There must be order on my vehicle."

He manipulated the holographic panel a few times.

[Ding! City Lord Authorized Shields assigned: Slot 1, Lu Chen (City Lord). Slot 2, Lin Wan.]

[The aforementioned two residents enjoy supreme safety protection within the internal space of the Polaris.]

Lin Wan looked at the line of pale gold text that materialized out of thin air in front of her; her name was written clearly upon it.

Her lips moved, but she couldn't say anything.

However, the rims of her eyes turned red.

In this wasteland where human life was treated like grass, someone had written her name onto a safety list.

This was heavier than a hundred coal crystals.

"Don't cry, it's annoying." Lu Chen continued looking through the subsequent system notifications without looking back.

"I'm not crying." Lin Wan secretly wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve.

"Third item."

[Lv.2 Camp Grade Internal Space Layout: Cockpit (Front), Main Living Area (Middle), Cold Storage and Material Warehouse (Port side), Ecological Cultivation Area (Starboard side), Power and Weapon Core Area (Rear). Standardized partitions are set between each functional area, adjustable according to needs.]

Lu Chen stood up and began to slowly inspect the expanded cabin.

The area of the cockpit had nearly doubled.

The original fire control console was fully retained, but a new set of mechanical arm control panels had been added beside it.

Two thick joysticks protruded from the panel, wrapped in non-slip leather covers.

The living area in the middle was no longer the miserable state of tattered cotton quilts spread over iron plates.

The system had automatically generated two simple metal frame beds, arranged in a staggered bunk layout.

Though still rudimentary, there was at least independent sleeping space.

The cold storage and material warehouse on the port side had been significantly expanded.

The meat bricks and coal crystals that were previously packed to the brim now seemed a bit sparse in the new space.

"The coal box capacity has tripled, and the cold storage capacity has quadrupled." Lu Chen's tone was full of satisfaction.

He walked to the ecological cultivation area on the starboard side.

The previous half-meter square Simple Soilless Cultivation Box was still in its original place.

But the space next to it was now sufficient to hold five or six more cultivation boxes of the same specification.

"Lin Wan, come look."

Lin Wan ran over quickly.

Seeing the planting area specifically designated for her, her eyes instantly lit up.

"This... all of this can be used for planting things?"

"Right now there's only one cultivation box; we'll keep the space for now," Lu Chen said. "Better equipment will be upgraded later."

"It's enough, it's enough! With just this area, I can start planting the Winter Wheat and sweet potatoes from the grade a seed vault."

Lin Wan squatted down to examine the open space, gesturing the dimensions with her hands, her eyes filled with the fanaticism of a Botanist.

"Don't be in a hurry, I haven't finished looking."

Lu Chen walked to the power core area at the rear of the cabin.

The volume of the boiler after the promotion had increased by nearly half, but because the cabin as a whole had tripled in size, it no longer seemed crowded.

The steam hub was running steadily on top of the boiler, with over a dozen branch pipes performing their respective duties.

The external cylinders of the supercharger had also been scaled up proportionally, and the thick exhaust pipe passed through the thickened roof armor, extending outside.

And on the inner walls on both sides of the cabin, Lu Chen discovered two guide rails that weren't there before.

The guide rails extended from the middle of the vehicle body all the way to the rear, with a hydraulic mechanical arm parked in a folded storage state at each end.

The black metal arm bodies were rugged and powerful, their joints fixed with thickened brass rivets, and the front end was a replaceable multi-functional claw.

Lu Chen reached out and touched the cold metal surface.

The rugged, cold, and hard texture of heavy industry was transmitted from his palm, making his whole body feel refreshed.

"Let's go back to the cockpit and test it."

He walked quickly back to the cockpit and sat in his seat.

On the right side of the fire control console, the newly added mechanical arm control panel had two joysticks.

The left lever controlled the left arm, and the right lever controlled the right arm.

At the top of each joystick was a trigger-style opening and closing button, used to control the claw's grabbing and release.

He placed his right hand on the right joystick and gently pushed it forward half an inch.

The characteristic hissing sound of a hydraulic system starting up came from outside the cabin.

Through the porthole, Lu Chen saw a hidden maintenance cover on the right armor plate of the Polaris being pushed open.

A dark mechanical arm extended from inside the vehicle body.

The joint movement was incredibly smooth; the metal arm swept an arc in the cold wind, its front claw opening and reaching toward the ground.

Lu Chen fine-tuned the joystick, and the claw steadily gripped a fist-sized ice lump on the ice beside the vehicle.

He pulled the trigger, and the claw tightened.

With a crack, the ice lump was crushed into powder.

"Useful." Lu Chen released the joystick, and the mechanical arm automatically retracted into the vehicle body.

"This thing is steadier than my hands. From now on, when I dissect beasts to dig out cores, I won't even have to step out the door."