83: Chapter 83 Six Thousand Points of Confidence! The Skeleton Army of the Ice Rift Has Arrived

1:30 PM.

"City Master, it is 1:30 PM."

Lu Chen opened his eyes.

Two hours of sleep was enough.

He sat upright; the first thing he did was look at the holographic panel.

[Ray Cannon charging progress: 52%. Estimated time to full charge: 2 hours 48 minutes remaining.]

By the time they set out at 5:30 PM, it would be fully charged.

The second thing was to check his balance.

[Current Truth Points balance: 6124 points.]

Six thousand one hundred.

He stared at this number, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the armrest several times.

Six thousand one hundred and twenty-four points.

The top core consumption was as high as 4000.

He still had eight nodes not yet lit up, and the total requirement for the remaining eight nodes was:

Infrastructure Armor node 3 (2000) plus Infrastructure Armor top core (4000).

Ecological Logistics node 2 (1000) plus Ecological Logistics node 3 (2000) plus Ecological Logistics top core (4000).

Power Engine node 2 (1000) plus Power Engine node 3 (2000) plus Power Engine top core (4000).

Armament and Weaponry top core (4000).

Total: 24,000 points.

Six thousand points wasn't even a quarter of that.

But if he could cripple the Ice-Rift Swarm in the evening, adding the wrecks of over thirty combat vehicles—thirty vehicles multiplied by two hundred—that would be six thousand points.

Plus the existing balance, that was twelve thousand.

Twelve thousand is enough to light up three to four core nodes.

It was still a long way from being fully Lv.2, but he could already see the path.

Lu Chen put away the panel.

"City Master, would you like to eat something?"

"Yes."

"Still meat soup?"

"Yes, add two more pieces of meat; we have to run for the entire evening today."

Lin Wan went to the cold storage to get the meat.

Lu Chen walked to the planting area and took a look.

The leaves of the fourth batch of Cabbage had already unfurled for the most part, their edges shimmering with a moist, light green.

"Lin Wan."

"Yes!"

Lin Wan poked her head out from the cold storage, holding two pieces of frozen meat.

"Pick the Cabbage at four o'clock?"

"It can be picked at four, but if we wait another two hours, the quality will be better."

"Pick it at four."

"Okay."

"After picking, put four leaves in a lunchbox and send it to your brother."

"Huh? Sending it again?"

"Last time, four leaves exchanged for a blueprint library. I don't know what four leaves will exchange for this time, but it won't be a loss."

Lin Wan thought about it, confirmed it made sense, and nodded.

The meat soup simmered in the iron pot for twenty minutes.

Lu Chen ate two bowls.

After eating, he performed a comprehensive pre-battle check on all weapon systems.

The Heavy Machine Gun ammunition was replenished from 480 to a full load of 500 rounds, costing 2 points.

The Harpoon Cannon ammunition was replenished to a full load of 4/4, and recasting 2 rounds cost 20 points.

One round of fragmentation grenades was pre-loaded, costing 50 points.

Total consumption was 72 points.

The current balance dropped from 6124 to 6052 points.

After checking the weapon systems, he tuned the communicator to Zhou Yuan's frequency.

"Chief of Staff Zhou."

"City Master Lu Chen."

"The latest position of the Ice-Rift Swarm."

"130 kilometers to the northeast, maintaining a marching speed of 25 kilometers per hour."

"No change in the estimated arrival time?"

"Between 6:00 and 6:30 PM."

"What about the Icebreaker Swarm?"

"The remnants of the Grey Bee retreated to over 150 kilometers to the northeast and merged with the Ice-Rift Swarm's marching column."

"Merged?"

"Yes, nine Icebreaker Swarm combat vehicles have been incorporated into the Ice-Rift Swarm's column."

Lu Chen's fingers paused for a beat.

The remnants of the Icebreaker Swarm had joined up with the Ice-Rift Swarm.

By the time White Bone arrived at the buffer zone, the total number of combat vehicles in his hands would swell to forty.

A cluster charge of forty combat vehicles, plus six 105mm medium howitzers.

iron wall couldn't withstand this density of firepower head-on.

"Chief of Staff Zhou, how long can iron wall's ammunition reserves last?"

"The base load of 105mm shells is enough for two hours of high-intensity combat."

"What about the patrol vehicles?"

"Twenty Lv.2 patrol vehicles, each equipped with a 75mm cannon; the ammunition base load is enough for an hour and a half."

"An hour and a half to two hours."

"What about after that?"

"After that, we will have to rely on the main cannons of The City-State for coverage."

"But if the Ice-Rift Swarm rushes within 30 kilometers of the core area, The City-State's 180mm main cannons can come into play."

"Lead them towards The City-State?"

"You'll have to ask the City Master about that; it's not within my decision-making authority."

"Understood."

Lu Chen switched the communicator to Lin Xiao's frequency.

"City Master Lin Xiao, if the Ice-Rift Swarm breaks through iron wall's defensive line, where do you plan to intercept them?"

"The 30-kilometer line of the core area."

Lin Xiao's answer came out immediately.

"The City-State's 180mm main cannons have an effective range of eight kilometers; one shot can blast a Lv.2 combat vehicle from head to tail."

"But that means letting the Ice-Rift Swarm advance to the edge of the core area."

"Assuming iron wall can hold, I don't want to let them enter the core area."

"What if it can't hold?"

"If it can't hold, then we retreat."

"iron wall will retreat while fighting, and the twenty patrol vehicles will follow to provide blocking fire."

"Finally, we retreat to the 30-kilometer line of the core area, and my 120 cannons will take over."

"That is the worst-case scenario."

"Yes, the worst-case scenario."

"But what if someone could stab the Ice-Rift Swarm in its charging formation?"

"Then the worst-case scenario wouldn't happen."

Both of them stopped talking.

There was silence for three seconds.

"Brother Lu Chen, setting out at 5:30?"

"5:30."

"Take care."

"Yeah."

The communicator cut off.

Lu Chen glanced at the wall clock.

2:10 PM.

There were more than three hours left until departure.

He adjusted the back of the driver's seat to a semi-reclined position, neither lying down nor sitting up.

The thermos was placed in the cup holder.

The radio was tuned to the Snow Shard Gang's encrypted frequency.

Amidst the static, the frequency of those pulse signals became denser.

White Bone was issuing orders.

The Ice-Rift Swarm was assembling.

The second half of the storm was about to crash down.

4:00 PM sharp.

"City Master, the Cabbage can be picked."

Lin Wan squatted in front of the Cultivation Box, gently picking the leaves of the fourth batch of Cabbage one by one.

Fourteen leaves.

Two more than the third batch.

The 40% efficiency boost from the Constant Temperature Hydroponic Botanical Garden was already beginning to show in the fourth batch.

"Put four leaves in the lunchbox."

"Okay."

Lin Wan put the four plumpest Cabbage leaves into the tin lunchbox and stored the remaining ten in the fresh-keeping compartment of the cold storage.

She contacted Lin Xiao via the communicator.

Five minutes later, an orderly ran down to pick up the lunchbox.

Three minutes later, Lin Xiao's voice came over the communicator.

"Brother Lu Chen!"

"Yeah."

"Cabbage! It's Cabbage again!"

"Exchange it for blueprints."

"Exchange, exchange, exchange!"

Lin Xiao's voice was raised very high.

"Tomorrow, I'll have someone send you the best blueprints in the warehouse!"

"Fine."

"Hahahaha!"

After laughing, Lin Xiao's tone deepened.

"5:30."

"5:30."

The communicator cut off.

Lu Chen glanced at the charging progress of the Ray Cannon.

[Ray Cannon charging progress: 89%. Estimated time to full charge: 42 minutes remaining.]

Fully charged in forty-two minutes.

5:12 PM.

Departure time is 5:30.

Just right.

He confirmed the status of all weapon systems once more.

Heavy Machine Gun 500/500 full ammo.

Harpoon Cannon 4/4 full ammo.

Fragmentation grenades pre-loaded and ready to fire.

Ray Cannon about to be fully charged with three shots.

Four-corner Steam Spray Gun pressure full.

Repeating Crossbow magazine full.

Mechanical arm hydraulics full.

Fire control console all systems online.

Everything is ready.

Polaris sat quietly in the parking area, waiting for the moment to be unleashed.

5:15 PM.

[High-Temperature Thermal Melting Cutting Ray Cannon: Charging complete. Current energy storage: 100%. Available shots: 3.]

Fully charged, three shots.

Lu Chen stood up.

"Lin Wan, we are going out."

"Okay."

"Tonight's Cabbage stewed meat will be a little late."

"I'll start stewing it now, and we can eat as soon as we return to the Black Rock City-State."

Lu Chen looked at her.

"Don't stew it yet."

"Wait until we return, then stew it."

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment.

Then she nodded.

"Okay, waiting for us to return."

Lu Chen started Polaris, and Polaris's engine roared.

The heavy tracks rolled onto the steel plate floor.

The third sortie.

Target: Ice-Rift Swarm, White Bone.