66: Chapter 66: Two Major Milestones Unveiled! Animal Fat Can Now Be Rendered into Oil

The Polaris sailed back into the lower docking area of the Black Rock City-State, its engine shifting to idle.

Lu Chen did not get out immediately, nor did he contact Lin Xiao.

He sat in the driver's seat and summoned the holographic panel.

The four branches of the Lv.2 technology tree spread across the light curtain.

Armament and Weaponry: Three nodes glowed with golden light, while the core at the top remained grey.

Infrastructure Armor: Two nodes were lit, with the following two being grey.

Ecological Logistics: Entirely grey.

Power Engine: Entirely grey.

Six golden lights, ten grey ones.

Lu Chen's gaze swept back and forth several times over the two entirely grey branches: Ecological Logistics and Power Engine.

Armament and Infrastructure were for fighting; their priority would always be the highest.

But fighting was a game of consumption, and consumption relied on logistics.

The Ray Cannon running dry after three shots was essentially a problem of insufficient power supply.

The fragmentation grenades costing fifty points a round was essentially Truth Points production failing to keep up with consumption.

The root of these two bottlenecks lay in power and logistics.

Lu Chen tapped his finger on the first node of Power Engine Lv.2.

[Power Engine Lv2 (Node 1): High-Energy Fuel Converter]

[Node Description: Installs a Grease Pyrolysis Refining Unit in the vehicle's power core area. This can convert the fatty tissue of ice field Mutant Beasts into low-grade diesel through high-temperature pyrolysis. The resulting diesel can serve as auxiliary fuel for the boiler, providing a backup heat source when sourcefire coal crystals are insufficient. Simultaneously, the trace sourcefire energy contained within the Mutant Beast fat will be concentrated during the pyrolysis process, increasing the comprehensive yield of hunting Mutant Beasts by approximately 30%.]

[Unlock Cost: 500 Truth Points.]

He read the node description several times, his eyes fixed on the final line.

The comprehensive yield of hunting Mutant Beasts increases by approximately 30%.

This meant that the same mid-level Iron Iguana, which previously converted into 350 Truth Points, would yield 455 points after unlocking this node.

The long-term rate of return was extremely high.

Mutant Beast fat was a byproduct of hunting; previously, it was all thrown away or only the tenderest meat was kept, leaving a massive amount of fatty tissue to go to waste.

With this converter, fat became diesel, and diesel supplemented fuel. Every beast hunted would mean a double gain of Truth Points and fuel simultaneously.

“Unlock.”

[Ding! 500 Truth Points deducted. Power Engine Lv2 (Node 1): High-Energy Fuel Converter, successfully unlocked!]

[Current Truth Points balance: 1533 points.]

The modification began in the power core area at the rear of the cabin.

Lu Chen turned his head and saw changes taking place in the space beside the boiler.

System blue light burst out from the pipe interface at the bottom of the boiler, coalescing into shape at a reserved module interface nearby.

An exquisite metal device grew out of the blue light.

The core was a half-meter-tall cylindrical pyrolysis furnace, its outer wall wrapped in a layer of heat-insulating alloy, with a thick intake pipe and a slender exhaust pipe protruding from the top.

The bottom of the pyrolysis furnace was connected directly to the boiler's auxiliary fuel inlet via an oil pipe.

Beside it, a matching filter bucket was generated to remove impurities from the pyrolysis products.

The entire device occupied no more than half a square meter; once embedded into the power core area, it formed a compact power triangle with the boiler and the steam hub.

The modification lasted twenty seconds.

The outer wall of the pyrolysis furnace emitted a faint heat, and the intake pipe mouth opened with a funnel-shaped interface, waiting for the first piece of beast fat to be tossed in.

Lin Wan leaned over to look at the cylindrical device.

“City Lord, there's something extra in the back.”

“It's a Grease Pyrolysis Furnace. In the future, don't throw away the fat from the Mutant Beasts we hunt. Collect it all and throw it in here.”

“What can it refine?”

“Diesel.”

“Diesel? Isn't that something from the pre-civilization?”

“Low-grade diesel. It can burn and supplement the boiler's fuel.”

Lu Chen paused.

“As long as we can hunt prey, the fuel will never run out.”

Lin Wan's eyes lit up.

“City Lord, is this vehicle of yours already completely self-sufficient?”

“Far from it.”

He glanced at her.

“There are still fifteen nodes to light up. Self-sufficiency will have to wait until at least Lv.3.”

Lu Chen's gaze shifted to his next target.

Ecological Logistics Lv.2, Node 1.

Balance: 1533 points.

This node required 500 points.

After spending them, 1033 points would remain.

One thousand points wasn't enough to open the third node.

But he wanted to open this one first.

He had long since seen the name of Ecological Logistics Node 1.

Constant Temperature Hydroponic Botanical Garden.

The planting area was eight times that of the simple Cultivation Boxes.

High-calorie crops like tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes could be grown.

Maturation efficiency would increase by 40%.

Those three Improved Watermelon Seeds and five Cream Strawberry Seeds had been waiting for this node.

Lu Chen's obsessive-compulsive disorder and infrastructure-maniac traits flared up simultaneously.

The six Cultivation Boxes were already full; winter wheat was growing, sweet potatoes were growing, carrots were growing, cabbage was being harvested in cycles, and potatoes were ready to be planted.

The planting area had reached its limit.

Opening the Constant Temperature Hydroponic Botanical Garden was equivalent to breaking the bottleneck.

Eight times the area.

“Lin Wan. If the planting area expanded eightfold, what else could you plant?”

Lin Wan's body trembled, and her hands tightly gripped the watering can.

“City Lord, are you serious?”

“Answer the question.”

Her speech quickened as the Botanist mode in her brain shifted into full gear.

“The watermelons can be planted. Improved Watermelon Seeds need at least one square meter for root expansion; the current Cultivation Boxes are too small.”

“Strawberries can be planted too. Cream strawberries need independent hydroponic troughs and more precise temperature control.”

“Besides those two, I can expand the winter wheat planting area to four boxes, doubling the yield.”

The more she spoke, the faster she went, her hands gesturing the dimensions in the air.

“Sweet potatoes and potatoes can each have an extra box, and carrots can have two more.”

“If efficiency increases by another 40%, the cabbage harvest cycle can be compressed from 72 hours to about 43 hours.”

She paused for a beat, her fingers stiffening slightly.

“City Lord, give me eight times the area, and in two months, the food output of the Polaris will be enough to support more than ten people!”

“Enough.”

Lu Chen interrupted her.

“System, unlock Ecological Logistics Lv.2 Node 1.”

[Ding! 500 Truth Points deducted.]

[Ecological Logistics Lv2 (Node 1): Constant Temperature Hydroponic Botanical Garden, successfully unlocked!]

[Current Truth Points balance: 1033 points.]

The modification began in the ecological planting area on the starboard side.

This time, the commotion was quieter than the previous few.

There was no metallic grinding of armor restructuring, no hydraulic roar of rising turrets.

Only a soft blue light slowly seeped out from the floor and walls of the planting area.

He shoved Lin Wan behind the cockpit door frame.

“Don't move.”

She stood obediently, but her neck craned desperately, her gaze fixed intently ahead.