73: Chapter 73: A 60-kilometer night run to kill the enemy! One vehicle left for the ray cannon.

Polaris advanced northeast into the night.

The sound of the tracks rolling over the surface of the Rustwind Wasteland was different from the daytime; it lacked the rustling of rust dust being crushed, replaced by the crunching sound of the frozen, hard ice surface cracking.

The temperature was dropping.

The Rustwind Wasteland at night was at least ten degrees colder than during the day; the thermometer outside the vehicle showed minus fifty-two degrees.

Inside the vehicle, it remained a constant twenty degrees, and the sound of hot water flowing through the heating pipes was steady and subtle.

Lu Chen held the steering wheel with one hand and a thermos in the other.

The communicator was mounted on the fixed clip on the right side of the dashboard, with Zhou Yuan's frequency kept open.

"City Lord Lu Chen, the latest report from the outpost." Zhou Yuan's voice came through right on time.

"What's the situation?"

"The five enemy war vehicles are still parked in their original positions and have not moved."

"Have any new vehicles joined?"

"No, no new heat source signals have been detected within the outpost's observation range."

"Have they sent anyone out of the vehicles to scout?"

"Not sure. The outpost's telescope has limited observation distance at night; I can only confirm that the engines of the five vehicles are idling."

"Understood."

Lu Chen placed the thermos back into the cup holder and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel twice.

Five vehicles parked and motionless, engines idling.

This implies three things.

First, they are waiting. Waiting for the main force behind them to catch up.

Second, they aren't panicked. This means the main force isn't far away, or is already on the way.

Third, they haven't dispersed to scout. The five vehicles are hunkered down in terrain with cover, which is a standard waiting procedure for a scout formation that has become separated from its main force.

The kind of work the Icebreaker Swarm does.

He flipped through the files in his mind.

Icebreaker Swarm, led by Grey Bee, responsible for reconnaissance and infiltration.

Over twenty war vehicles plus a large number of armed snowmobiles, with a force of two thousand people.

If these five vehicles are the Icebreaker Swarm's vanguard scout formation, then the main force of the Icebreaker Swarm is highly likely within a range of one hundred to one hundred and fifty kilometers behind them.

At a marching speed of thirty kilometers per hour, they could reach the vanguard's position in three to five hours.

In other words, if the Icebreaker Swarm sets off now, they could link up with the vanguard around daybreak.

As for White Bones of the Ice-Rift Swarm, according to Zhou Yuan's calculations, it would take at least twelve to twenty hours.

A time window.

Lu Chen's eyelids drooped slightly.

He had a time window of less than six hours to wipe out these five vanguard vehicles before the Icebreaker Swarm's main force arrived.

Five Lv.2s, each wreck worth at least two hundred points.

One thousand free Truth Points.

Adding the replenishment for ammunition consumption, the net income would be at least eight hundred to nine hundred points.

Plus the two thousand four hundred and seventy-eight points in his account.

The total amount available after the battle would exceed three thousand three hundred points.

Three thousand three hundred.

Enough to light up a two-thousand-point core node, with over a thousand left over.

"City Lord." Lin Wan's voice came from the planting area. "The cracking furnace has started, and the Iron-Spine Wolf fat is being fed in."

"How much did you add?"

"Everything stored in the cold storage was added, about thirty jin."

"Good."

"How much diesel is it expected to produce?"

"Last time, a few dozen jin produced two liters; this time, thirty jin should yield a little over one liter."

"That's enough."

Lu Chen didn't speak again.

The tracks of the Polaris crushed through silhouettes of pre-civilization mechanical wreckage in the darkness.

A crooked chimney stack swept past on the right, casting a long shadow on the edge of the searchlight's beam.

In the distance, the shell of a pre-civilization factory remained, leaving only a pitch-black silhouette in the night, its sheer size terrifying.

The vehicle speed was steady at thirty-five kilometers per hour.

The engine wasn't supercharged, and the boiler output was maintained at a normal level.

Lu Chen was in no rush.

Sixty kilometers to go, another hour and a half.

He picked up the thermos and took another gulp of water.

The communicator rang again.

This time it wasn't Zhou Yuan.

It was Lin Xiao.

"Brother Lu Chen, have you set off?"

"I have."

"How far have you gone?"

"Fifteen kilometers."

"Hm." Lin Xiao paused. "I just received the latest simulation from the Staff Department."

"What simulation?"

"Regarding the affiliation of those five vanguard vehicles."

"From the Icebreaker Swarm?"

"That's what Zhou Yuan judged as well," Lin Xiao's voice deepened a notch. "Next to the skull logo painted on the vehicle body is a grey honeycomb pattern; that is the identification mark of the Icebreaker Swarm."

"Confirmed."

"Confirmed." The City Lord's tone tightened. "The Icebreaker Swarm belongs to Grey Bee; her group is different from the Ice-Rift Swarm."

"How are they different?"

"The Ice-Rift Swarm is White Bones' fist; they fight head-on, with thirty war vehicles lined up in a row charging forward."

"The Icebreaker Swarm doesn't fight like that."

"Grey Bee's people are adept at breaking down into smaller units, scattering in groups of three to five within a range of dozens of kilometers, coordinating with each other."

"After you arrive, don't just stare at those five vehicles."

"Pay attention to whether there are other scout teams scattered around."

"I understand." Lu Chen tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. "However, five Lv.2s hunkering down between two cooling towers suggests they are either waiting for the main force or waiting for the scattered teams to return and regroup."

"You mean you need to be fast after striking?"

"Hit and run."

"Good." Lin Xiao remembered something. "Right, that Ray Cannon of yours."

"What about it?"

"What's the range of that thing?"

"Effective kill range is within two hundred meters, with optimal accuracy at one hundred meters."

"That's enough," Lin Xiao's tone rose half an inch, full of anticipation. "I'd like to see what kind of effect that thing has when it hits an Lv.2 war vehicle."

"You'll see."

"What do you mean?"

"Among the five vehicles, I'll leave one for the Ray Cannon."

There was silence on the other end of the communicator for two seconds.

"Brother Lu Chen, just how fearless of death are you?"

"It has nothing to do with being fearless of death," Lu Chen's tone was no different from discussing what to eat for dinner. "The Ray Cannon has three full charges; not using it at all is just a waste."

"Combat data needs to be collected."

Lin Xiao laughed.

"Fine, you do your thing, I'll listen for the bangs from behind."

"Notify me anytime if there's new intelligence."

"Don't worry."

The static from the communicator stopped.

The searchlight of the Polaris cut a path of light through the darkness.

Thirty kilometers ahead, the two pre-civilization cooling tower ruins marked by Zhou Yuan were drawing ever closer.