70: Chapter 70 The Snow Fiend Gang's Vanguard Arrives! The Storm Has Finally Come

At dusk, Polaris sailed back to the docking area of the Black Rock City-State, its engines cutting to idle.

Lu Chen neatly stacked the six intermediate coal crystals and three intermediate beast cores he had collected today on the dashboard.

He was in no rush to convert them.

He did some mental math first.

Six intermediate coal crystals, around 50 points each, totaling 300 points.

Three intermediate beast cores, plus the 30% conversion machine bonus, were estimated to be 260, 195, and 390 points respectively, totaling 845 points.

Adding the previous balance of 1033 points, the estimated total balance after conversion would be 2178 points.

That was a significant number.

However, the Lv.2 tech tree still had eight unlit nodes; based on the incremental pattern, several of the remaining nodes were huge pits costing two thousand points or even more.

Save where possible; no need to rush to spend.

He put the coal crystals and beast cores into the storage compartment under the dashboard, not converting them for now.

From the planting area came Lin Wan's cheerful humming; she was performing a routine check on the nutrient solution circulation pump of the hydroponic system.

Lu Chen picked up his thermos, took a sip of water, and tuned the radio to the encrypted frequency of the Snow Shard Gang.

Static crackled.

It was still just hollow radio noise.

Compared to the complete silence of the past two days, today's noise was mixed with short pulse signals; someone on a distant frequency was rapidly sending instructions.

He leaned his ear close to the speaker, eyelids slightly lowered, his gaze locked firmly on the radio's dial.

These pulse signals were too short, too short to identify the content, but their frequency was increasing.

This was a sign of increasing communication activity.

Just as he was about to switch the radio back to the public frequency, the communicator lit up.

Zhou Yuan's frequency.

"City-State Master Lu Chen."

Zhou Yuan's speaking speed was a notch faster than usual, his tone steady.

"Chief of Staff Zhou Yuan, what is it?"

"The Black Rock City-State public broadcast channel will air an emergency announcement in three minutes."

"What is it about?"

"The Snow Shard Gang's vanguard unit has made contact with our outer patrol fleet."

Lu Chen's fingertips froze on the edge of the thermos.

"When did this happen?"

"Forty minutes ago."

Zhou Yuan's voice dropped half a pitch.

"Our Seventh Patrol Fleet discovered five unidentified Lv.2 combat vehicles seventy kilometers to the northeast. They fired first."

"What is the configuration of the Seventh Patrol Fleet?"

"Two standard Lv.2 patrol vehicles, four drivers, and six infantrymen."

"Casualties?"

"One patrol vehicle was damaged, two infantrymen were injured, and they have retreated to the buffer zone."

"Enemy losses?"

"Unknown. The contact time was very short; our fleet disengaged immediately after discovering the enemy's superior firepower."

Lu Chen leaned back, his fingers tapping rapidly on the armrest.

Five Lv.2 combat vehicles.

Seventy kilometers to the northeast.

That direction happened to be the extension of the expansion route of the Snow Shard Gang marked in the files.

"Are you sure it's the Snow Shard Gang's vehicles?"

"The vehicle bodies have blood-red skull markings."

No further confirmation was needed.

Three minutes later, the Black Rock City-State's public broadcast channel sounded on time.

The announcer's usual rigid and steady announcement tone disappeared, replaced by a formal tone pressing with urgency.

"All City-State residents and stationed vehicles, please pay attention."

"This afternoon, the Black Rock City-State's Seventh Patrol Fleet made armed contact with the Snow Shard Gang's vanguard unit seventy kilometers to the northeast."

"According to preliminary assessments, the Snow Shard Gang has dispatched forward reconnaissance forces toward the Rustwind Wasteland."

"Effective immediately, The City-State is entering a Level 2 combat readiness state."

"All field vehicles are prohibited from exceeding a thirty-kilometer range from the core zone without approval."

"The iron wall fortress has received orders and is maneuvering toward the contact point."

"Please remain calm and follow the instructions of the administrators in each district."

The announcement was repeated several times.

The City-State guards who were quietly on duty in the docking area began to mobilize quickly; the engines of several Lv.2 patrol vehicles were started in an emergency, and the tracks grinding over the steel floor emitted harsh friction sounds.

Lu Chen looked through the porthole at the suddenly busy scene in the docking area.

Above the steel beams overhead, increasingly dense mechanical operation sounds came from the deep structure of the Black Rock City-State.

That was the sound of the 120 fixed artillery positions entering combat readiness.

The communicator lit up again.

Lin Xiao's frequency.

"Brother Lu Chen."

Lin Xiao's usual relaxed, laughing demeanor was gone, his tone steady and restrained.

"Did you hear the broadcast?"

"I heard it."

"The Snow Shard Gang is here."

Lu Chen picked up his thermos and gulped down some water.

"If they're here, they're here."

His tone was flat, completely without ripples.

"Is the vehicle ready?"

"Heavy Machine Gun fully loaded, harpoon fully stocked, Ray Cannon fully charged."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the communicator.

The low snort squeezed from the veteran's nose before battle was transmitted through the radio waves.

"Good."

"Keep in touch."

The communicator cut off.

The storm has arrived.

Lu Chen's fingertips rested on the dual control sticks of the fire control console.