60: Chapter 60: Departure from the Giant City in Three Hours! The Last Calm Before the Storm

Lin Xiao released his grip and patted Lin Wan on the head again.

"Take care of yourself, and don't cause trouble for others."

"I know, I know. Bro, can you stop patting my head?" Lin Wan dodged back, covering her head.

"No."

Lin Xiao turned and strode toward the elevator.

Zhou Yuan followed by his side, taking a few steps before turning back to nod at Lu Chen.

"City Lord Lu Chen, take care."

"Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou, take care."

Horton walked at the very back; his flask was already empty, but he still held it and gave it a twirl.

When he reached the elevator entrance, he stopped and looked back at the Polaris.

"Brother Lu Chen."

"Old Huo."

"That newly installed rear turret on your vehicle—what material is that dark red stuff wrapped around the barrels?"

"heat dissipation coating."

"How does it work?"

"The heat is too intense. Without that coating, the barrels would overheat and warp."

Horton's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Heat enough to warp a gun barrel," he muttered under his breath. "Just what level of firepower is that..."

"Old Huo! The elevator is waiting for you!" Lin Xiao shouted from inside.

"Coming, coming." Horton took one last look at the turret wrapped in dark red coils, shook his head, and stepped into the elevator.

The lift rose slowly, and the three figures disappeared among the steel beams of the upper level.

The docking area fell silent once again.

Lu Chen stood at the vehicle's door for a dozen seconds in the chilly air.

He turned and walked into the cabin, engaging the hydraulic locks from the inside.

"City Lord," Lin Wan followed him inside, "will you really consider joining the Black Rock City-State?"

"Yes," Lu Chen sat back in the driver's seat, "but not now."

He turned up the radio volume by one notch and tuned back to the Snow Shard Gang's encrypted frequency.

Amidst the static, there were no useful signals.

"Then what do you think my brother meant?"

"Meant by what?"

"Why did he invite you to join?"

Lu Chen leaned back in his seat and tapped the metal handle of the joystick twice.

"There are many reasons."

"First, you and the seed vault are on my vehicle. He wants to win me over to ensure these two things remain within The City-State's system."

"Second, he saw the potential of the Polaris."

Lu Chen paused.

"A Lv.2 Base Vehicle with this level of configuration is unheard of in the wasteland. He wants to bind me while our relationship is good. If he waited until the Polaris became stronger to talk about joining, the price would be different."

"And the third?"

"Third, your brother is actually a decent guy."

Lu Chen picked up his thermos and took a sip of water.

"Regardless of his calculations for profit, he fulfilled all three cooperation conditions he promised without any compromise."

"He gave me seven blueprints, a full set of intelligence, and he's still keeping the parking space for us."

"Furthermore, he stated clearly that whether I join or not, our cooperation remains unchanged."

"In the wasteland, there aren't many people who can say such things and make others believe they'll follow through."

Lin Wan was stunned for several seconds after hearing this analysis.

"City Lord, has your impression of my brother improved?"

"Don't talk nonsense," Lu Chen glared at her. "My impression of your brother has always been an objective assessment; it's not about good or bad."

"Right now, the assessment result is that he's a reliable partner, nothing more."

"Oh." Lin Wan nodded and smiled slightly.

She turned and walked back to the cultivation area, squatting down to check the Winter Wheat seedlings.

Lu Chen sat in the cockpit and brought up the holographic panel.

[Current Truth Points balance: 250 points.]

[Lv.2 Tech Tree Status:]

[Armament and Weaponry: Node 1 (Heavy Machine Gun), Node 2 (fragmentation grenade), Node 3 (Ray Cannon), Top Core]

[Infrastructure Armor: Node 1 (manganese steel ram), Node 2 (bulletproof armor), Node 3, Top Core]

[Ecological Logistics: All Greyed Out.]

[Power Engine: All Greyed Out.]

Six out of sixteen nodes across the four major branches have been lit, leaving ten remaining.

The Armament branch is one Top Core away from completion. The Infrastructure branch is two away. Ecology and Power are still completely blank.

There is still a long way to go before reaching full Lv.2 ascension.

But lighting three nodes in one go today was already the largest single-day upgrade since his transmigration.

Six weapon systems were integrated into the Fire Control Console, and the angled bulletproof outer armor could deflect all low-level artillery fire.

This twenty-meter-long Lv.2 Base Vehicle's firepower and defense were already approaching the threshold of a lv.3 fortress.

Lu Chen closed the holographic panel and looked out of the porthole.

The lights in the docking area were still a warm yellow, and a few guards on duty were patrolling in the distance.

A dull mechanical rumble came from overhead; the Black Rock City-State's main engine was entering the pre-start warm-up phase.

In three hours, this eight-hundred-meter-long steel giant city would leave the Pale Shoals and return to the Rustwind Wasteland.

And the Polaris would be inside the Black Rock City-State, following it into the Rustwind Wasteland.

There was nothing left in the Pale Shoals; the levels of beasts and coal were too low, and they needed to go somewhere better.

Then, wait for the radiation mark to dissipate.

Wait for the Snow Shard Gang to come.

Or wait for them not to come.

Regardless of the outcome, the Polaris was ready.

Lu Chen tuned the radio back to the public channel.

The Black Rock City-State's departure announcement was still looping, the announcer's voice rigid and steady.

He didn't turn off the radio.

He needed to hear everything.

The constant twenty-degree air flowed evenly through the cabin, and the sound of water in the heating pipes was faint and lingering.

From the cultivation area came the sound of Lin Wan quietly tending to the planting boxes.

Everything was quiet and orderly.

Lu Chen's finger rested on the radio knob, his thumb gently rubbing the metal texture.

His OCD told him that everything was where it should be.

But his intuition told him that this silence wouldn't last long.