63: Chapter 63 Rusty Wasteland is littered with scrap metal! Lu Chen goes out to gather resources.

Three days later, the wall clock inside the Polaris's cabin pointed to ten in the morning.

Lu Chen sat in the driver's seat, hands on the steering wheel, looking through the bulletproof glass at the open bottom armored door directly in front of the docking area.

Grayish-white light poured in through the crack in the door, slicing through the warm yellow industrial lighting of the docking area inch by inch.

Quite different from the scene when entering The City-State at the Pale Shoals three days ago, the world outside the door had taken on a new face.

The Black Rock City-State's broadcast system sounded a brief announcement.

"Black Rock City-State has arrived at the target area. The main engine has switched to mooring mode, and the bottom passage is open."

He shifted the engine from idle to low gear, and the Polaris's heavy tracks rotated on the steel plate floor, heading toward the open armored door.

The light outside the doorway grew brighter and brighter.

The tracks rolled down the last stretch of the metal ramp, pressing onto the actual ground with a crunch.

Then, Lu Chen saw the Rustwind Wasteland.

It was a completely different world from the endless pure white ice of the Pale Shoals.

The surface of the Rustwind Wasteland was grayish-brown, with a large amount of metal debris and minerals mixed beneath the thick ice layer; from a distance, it looked like a vast expanse of rust-colored sandpaper covering the horizon.

The wind blew from the north, carrying visible rust-colored dust, pulling orange-red curtains across the air.

The dust hit the Polaris's armor, making a fine rustling sound.

But it was the things scattered on the ice that fixed Lu Chen's gaze.

Everywhere were the mechanical remains of the pre-civilization era.

The chassis frames of giant tracked vehicles were half-buried in the ice, with only rusted steel beams and shattered drive wheels exposed.

Beside an ice mound thirty meters away, a chimney stack at least five stories high pierced straight into the sky from the ice, its surface pitted and eroded by the fierce winds.

On the distant horizon, several massive metal silhouettes stood in the rust-colored mist—the skeletal remains of pre-civilization heavy factories, twisted into eerie shapes by the shifting glaciers.

It was like an industrial graveyard that had been frozen for over a hundred years.

Lu Chen tapped his finger on the steering wheel.

pre-civilization wreckage everywhere meant potential blueprints and recyclable materials everywhere.

The communicator lit up.

"Brother Lu Chen, we're home," Lin Xiao's voice came through the speaker.

"See those iron lumps? The Rustwind Wasteland used to be a heavy industrial zone for the pre-civilization; the surface is full of scrap metal and slag."

"When the wind blows, it's full of rust dust; breathing too much of it will rot your lungs."

"Does your vehicle have air purification?"

"It does."

"Good." Lin Xiao dropped his casual tone and got down to business.

"The main body of the Black Rock City-State will be stationed here. We have a fixed mooring point in the middle of the wasteland with a reinforced foundation that can support a Lv.4 tonnage."

"I'll have Zhou Yuan report the surrounding situation to you."

A different voice came over the communicator.

"City Lord Lu Chen, I am Zhou Yuan."

"Mm."

"The defensive layout of the Rustwind Wasteland is as follows," Zhou Yuan's speech was fast and clear.

"With the Black Rock City-State's mooring point as the center, the area within a thirty-kilometer radius is the core zone, covered by the range of the The City-State's main guns."

"The radius from thirty to sixty kilometers is the buffer zone. The lv.3 fortress-class Mobile City, iron wall, is stationed forty-five kilometers to the northeast, and together with ten Lv.2 Patrol Cars, it forms the first early warning line."

"The radius from sixty to one hundred kilometers is the outer zone. Over a dozen Lv.1 and Lv.2 Patrol Cars patrol along fixed routes and report any abnormalities immediately."

He paused for a beat before continuing.

"Eighty kilometers to the northeast, there is an outpost converted from a pre-civilization underground bunker, garrisoned by a platoon of scouts responsible for monitoring and early warning."

"Thirty kilometers to the southwest is an open-pit mine that produces intermediate sourcefire coal crystals, currently being mined regularly by two Lv.2 mining vehicles."

"Fifteen kilometers due north is a cluster of pre-civilization factory ruins, a high-frequency area for intermediate Mutant Beasts. Our hunting teams go there once a week to clear them out and collect beast cores."

Lu Chen constructed a complete map of the defensive lines in his mind.

A three-layer concentric circle defense system centered on the Black Rock City-State.

The core zone covered by main guns, the buffer zone backed by the lv.3 fortress, and the outer zone warned by Patrol Cars and outposts.

The layout was reasonable, with sufficient depth.

But it wasn't the defensive lines he really cared about.

Intermediate sourcefire coal crystal.

Intermediate Mutant Beast.

pre-civilization factory ruins.

Three keywords were etched into his mind, each extremely valuable.

"Thanks, Deputy Chief of Staff Zhou."

"You're welcome." Zhou Yuan paused. "The City Lord said that the Polaris's range of activity is unrestricted while in the Rustwind Wasteland; feel free to move within the core zone. If you wish to leave the core zone, it's recommended to give us a heads-up so we can coordinate patrol lines to avoid you."

"Understood."

Lin Xiao's voice returned to the communicator.

"Brother Lu Chen, what are your plans?"

"I want to go out for a look."

"Hunting?"

"Hunting and surveying."

"You can check out the factory ruins fifteen kilometers due north; the level of Mutant Beasts there is significantly higher than in the Pale Shoals."

"Intermediate?"

"Starting at intermediate," Lin Xiao clicked his tongue.

"The Mutant Beasts in the Rustwind Wasteland generally have a higher degree of mutation due to long-term exposure to residual sourcefire radiation in pre-civilization industrial waste."

"Be careful; those things are much tougher to deal with than the Icefield Wolves of the Pale Shoals."

"Don't worry." Lu Chen's finger rested on the trigger of the fire control console.

"I've got my gear with me."

"Haha!" Lin Xiao laughed twice, and the communicator cut off.

Lu Chen turned the steering wheel fifteen degrees, and the Polaris's heavy tracks ground over the grayish-brown surface of the Rustwind Wasteland, heading due north.

The sound of the tracks crushing the metal debris mixed with the ice was completely different from the Pale Shoals.

There was less of that crisp ice-cracking sound and more of a dull, coarse grinding noise.

The ground beneath was harder, with a higher mineral content.

Such geological conditions meant the quality of coal crystal veins would also be higher.

One piece of intermediate coal crystal is worth dozens of Truth Points.

One intermediate beast core is worth five basic ones.

The technical fragments buried in the pre-civilization factory ruins are of extremely high value.

He looked at the silhouette of the factory ruins looming in the rust-colored mist ahead and lightly tapped his finger on the joystick.

Rustwind Wasteland.

Treasures are everywhere.

And he was the person most capable of turning those treasures into Truth Points.