80: Chapter 80: Using War to Sustain War! The outer perimeter of the shattered ice mass was torn apart.

The second outer perimeter team was eight kilometers east-northeast of Polaris.

Three Lv.2 tanks were moving slowly southward in a single-file line.

Their direction of travel indicated that Grey Bee had realized there was a problem on the east side and was mobilizing the outer perimeter teams to tighten their defensive line.

But their speed of contraction was too slow.

Lu Chen pushed the vehicle speed to 50 km/h, keeping the supercharger engaged.

Six minutes later, Polaris rushed out from behind a rusted crane skeleton, only 300 meters from the rear of the three-tank convoy.

This time, he didn't use fragmentation grenades.

Three vehicles were too few; using a 50-point area-of-effect attack on just three vehicles wasn't worth it.

He opened fire directly with the Heavy Machine Gun.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch!

Twenty rounds fired in a burst, striking the rear engine compartment of the vehicle at the tail of the line.

Five rounds pierced the thin armor around the exhaust port.

The engine began to spew black smoke, and its speed plummeted.

The second vehicle turned back, its turret rotating.

Bang!

A 75mm shell hit the right front armor of Polaris from a distance of 200 meters.

Sparks flew.

The angled shell-deflecting armor deflected the projectile, which whizzed off into the distant sky.

Lu Chen drove Polaris directly at them.

150 meters.

100 meters.

50 meters.

Steam Spray Gun.

Hiss!

A wall of scalding white steam enveloped the second tank for a second and a half.

The bulletproof glass of the vehicle windows cracked under the temperature difference.

Lu Chen extended the mechanical arm, and the grappling claw clamped onto the second tank's cannon barrel.

Hydraulic pressure tightened.

Crack!

The barrel was bent by thirty degrees.

That cannon was useless.

He released the grappling claw and moved Polaris forward twenty meters, catching up to the first vehicle, which was still moving slowly.

The driver of this vehicle was completely panicked, jerking the steering wheel left and right, causing the vehicle to serpentine across the ice.

It was useless.

Polaris was a size larger in tonnage, and one oblique ramming maneuver knocked it off its trajectory.

The vehicle flipped over, tracks facing the sky.

Lu Chen used the mechanical arm to right the overturned vehicle, then ripped off a loose armor plate from its side.

The grappling claw reached inside and clamped onto the boiler's main steam line.

Hydraulic pull.

Pop!

The line ruptured, and steam gushed out from the break.

Loss of pressure.

The engine stalled.

The third vehicle, the one with the smoking engine, was already completely immobilized.

Lu Chen turned back and fired ten more rounds from the Heavy Machine Gun into its transmission wheel to ensure it couldn't move.

Three vehicles, two minutes and fifty seconds.

"System, degrade all three vehicles."

A blue light lit up.

[Lv.2 tank wreckage × 3, conversion gained: 632 Truth Points.]

After deducting costs, the net income was 587 points.

Current balance: 4787 points.

The communicator rang.

It was the voice of Battalion Commander Zhao.

"City Lord Lu Chen, the Icebreaker Swarm command group has moved again."

"What's the movement?"

"Three vehicles have split off from the seven and are moving east-northeast."

"Coming for me?"

"Judging by the direction, yes."

"What's their speed?"

"Full speed march, forty kilometers per hour."

Lu Chen calculated the distance in his head.

His current position was twelve kilometers from Grey Bee's command group.

It would take the three vehicles eighteen minutes to arrive at full speed.

"Battalion Commander Zhao, can you pin down the remaining four?"

"Four are easier to pin than seven."

"Then pin them down."

"Understood."

Lu Chen turned the vehicle around and drove toward the direction of the third outer perimeter team.

He wanted to take out another group before the three reinforcements split off by Grey Bee arrived.

The third outer perimeter team was six kilometers north-northwest, consisting of four vehicles that had just received Grey Bee's contraction order and were moving toward the command group.

Polaris cut in from the side.

Fragmentation grenades.

50 points per round.

Twelve fragmentation shells detonated above the four vehicles, bang bang bang bang bang!

A rain of metal fragments fell from the sky.

Blinding.

Then came Heavy Machine Gun fire to the tracks, the Steam Spray Gun injected at close range, and the mechanical arm for the finishing blow.

Four vehicles, four minutes and ten seconds.

Degrade.

[Lv.2 tank wreckage × 4, conversion gained: 841 Truth Points.]

After deducting costs, the net income was 736 points.

Current balance: 5523 points.

Five thousand five hundred and twenty-three.

Lu Chen leaned back in the driver's seat for two seconds.

"City Lord, the water pipe next to the boiler is making noise."

Lin Wan shouted from the planting area.

"It's normal, the pipeline pressure fluctuates when steam consumption is high."

"Oh."

The communicator rang again.

This time it was on Lin Xiao's frequency.

"Brother Lu Chen!"

Lin Xiao's voice was three degrees louder than usual.

"How many have you taken out on the east side?"

"Eleven."

"Eleven!"

The sound of someone slamming a table hard came from the other end of the communicator.

"Hahahaha! Brother Lu Chen! Eleven in one morning! You've eaten almost half of the Icebreaker Swarm's twenty-three vehicles!"

"It's not over yet."

"Not over?"

"Grey Bee sent three reinforcements, plus there's one outer perimeter team I haven't encountered yet, totaling eight vehicles outside."

"The command group still has four vehicles pinned down by iron wall."

"You're going to keep fighting?"

"Those three reinforcements Grey Bee split off are coming in my direction."

"What do you mean?"

"It would be a waste not to eat what's served on a silver platter."

There was another burst of laughter on the other end of the communicator.

"Ruthless!"

Lin Xiao restrained his laughter.

"Brother Lu Chen, business."

"Speak."

"The latest intelligence on the Ice-Rift Swarm."

Lu Chen's fingers paused on the control stick.

"Where has White Bone reached?"

"An hour ago, the outpost detected a large-scale heat source signal 200 kilometers to the northeast."

"Two hundred kilometers."

"A column of over thirty tanks, marching at a speed of twenty-five kilometers per hour."

Lin Xiao paused for a beat, his fingers tapping on the shell of the communicator, "Slower than the Icebreaker Swarm."

"Because the Ice-Rift Swarm is dragging three heavy transport vehicles, carrying six 105mm medium howitzers."

"At this speed, what is the arrival time at the buffer zone?"

"Between six and eight o'clock this evening."

Lu Chen glanced at the wall clock.

9:30 AM.

There were eight to ten hours left until the Ice-Rift Swarm arrived.

"City Lord Lin Xiao, how do you plan to fight after the Ice-Rift Swarm arrives?"

"iron wall plus my ten patrol vehicles will hold the buffer zone first."

"Is that enough?"

"Not enough."

Lin Xiao's reply was crisp and decisive, "White Bone's Ice-Rift Swarm fights completely differently from the Icebreaker Swarm; thirty vehicles charging forward at full speed without slowing down—iron wall's ten cannons won't hold the front."

"So?"

"So I need to send more reinforcements from Black Rock City-State."

He took a breath and continued.

"iron wall was originally the core of the outer defense line, but it cannot hold off the Ice-Rift Swarm alone."

"I will send another ten Lv.2 patrol vehicles, which, combined with the ten iron wall already has, will be twenty patrol vehicles coordinating with ten 105mm cannons."

"But this is all the mobile force I can send."

"What about the Black Rock City-State itself?"

"It won't move."

"Why?"

"Because of the North Ice Group."

Lu Chen tapped his finger on the armrest.

The North Ice Group.

The base guard cluster directly commanded by Iron Spine.

Four thousand people, over forty tanks, stationed at the Roaring Ice Abyss main base.

"You're worried about Iron Spine?"

"Must defend against it."

Lin Xiao lowered his voice, "The Icebreaker Swarm and Ice-Rift Swarm are moving out simultaneously; if the North Ice Group also comes out of the Roaring Ice Abyss and sneaks into the Rustwind Wasteland from another direction..."

"Black Rock City-State's one hundred and twenty cannons must remain on the city walls; we cannot split our forces."

"So iron wall plus twenty patrol vehicles is all the external aid you can give?"

"Yes."

"When are they leaving?"

"Now. The ten reinforcement patrol vehicles are leaving now and are expected to arrive at the iron wall position in two hours."

"Understood."

Lu Chen put down the communicator.

He looked at the Rustwind Wasteland ahead.

The morning light had fully brightened; under the grey-white sky, rust-colored dust mist flowed slowly in the gale.

In the distance, the three reinforcements from the Icebreaker Swarm were rushing toward his direction at full speed.

They were expected to arrive in fifteen minutes.

Lu Chen shifted the engine from idle to low gear.

Polaris's tracks turned slowly.

He did not retreat but instead headed toward them.

Truth Points delivered to his door—it would be a waste not to take them.