93: Chapter 93: All-in with 10,000 points for three major items! The Polaris evolves once again.

"Lin Wan, find the sturdiest thing you can and hold on tight. I'm going to modify the 'tricycle'."

"The tricycle?"

"Yes."

The sound of Lin Wan firmly hugging the load-bearing pillar of the hydroponic rack came from the cultivation area.

"I'm holding on!"

Lu Chen reduced the vehicle's speed to thirty kilometers per hour.

He didn't intend to stop.

Polaris was rushing back toward Black Rock City-State at a full speed of thirty kilometers per hour.

In the past, single-node unlocks were always done while parked for modifications.

But today, there was no time to stop.

The fifteen minutes Ice Thorn had given were up.

Black Rock City-State was about to start the fight.

He had to complete the upgrades while on the move.

The node modifications in the Lv.1 stage were all local, so the vehicle body didn't need to be fully locked down.

The scope of Lv.2 node modifications was larger, but the system's high-dimensional force field was strong enough to handle local modifications while driving.

Let's try the first one first.

"System, unlock Infrastructure Armor Lv.2 Node 3: Cabin Thermal Insulation Coating. Consume two thousand Truth Points."

[Unlock confirmed. 2,000 Truth Points consumed. Current balance: 9,040 points.]

The inner walls of the carriage began to change.

An extremely thin composite coating with a faint blue luster began to spread outward from the center point of the ceiling.

The coating spread with extreme speed, blooming across the surfaces in an instant.

Within ten seconds, the entire inner wall of the carriage—including the ceiling, walls, floor, and both sides of the partition walls—was completely covered by that layer of coating.

After the coating dried, it turned into a matte silver-gray.

Lu Chen noticed the change in temperature.

It didn't necessarily feel hotter; it just felt more stable.

Previously, the constant twenty-degree temperature was maintained by a triple system of boiler plus heating pipes plus the broken bridge thermal break, and the temperature fluctuated slightly between 19.5 and 20.5 degrees.

After the coating was applied, the fluctuations disappeared, locking exactly at twenty degrees; even a half-degree float was zeroed out.

"City Lord, why does it feel even more comfortable?"

"Thermal insulation coating. The temperature fluctuations have been zeroed out."

"Then can we really wear short sleeves from now on?"

"Even if it's negative one hundred degrees outside the vehicle, you can wear short sleeves inside. But you don't need to wear them right now."

"Oh."

The first one, complete, without affecting the drive.

The system's high-dimensional force field completed the installation of the inner wall coating while driving.

The second one is the big one: the Infrastructure Armor Lv.2 Top Core, four thousand points.

Lu Chen released his hand from the steering wheel for half a second, clenched his fist, and placed it back.

"System, unlock Infrastructure Armor Lv.2 Top Core."

The holographic panel popped up the node details.

[Infrastructure Armor Lv.2 Top Core: Hydraulic Expansion Chassis. Installs hydraulic folding expansion mechanisms on both sides of the vehicle chassis. The vehicle body can expand to both sides as needed, increasing the internal usable area by approximately 60% in the expanded state. The expansion modules include complete structural support and armor coverage, forming an integrated space with the main carriage after expansion. Can be expanded or retracted while driving. Cost: 4,000 Truth Points.]

The internal area would increase by 60%, turning over a hundred square meters into one hundred and sixty or seventy square meters.

This was essentially growing an entire new block of structure on both sides of the vehicle.

"Confirm unlock."

[Unlock confirmed. 4,000 Truth Points consumed. Current balance: 5,040 points.]

This modification was far more violent than the coating.

The armor plates on both sides of the vehicle emitted a low resonance sound as metal was stretched, bent, and welded within the high-dimensional force field.

The vehicle's chassis extended new load-bearing structures to both sides; the armored beast slowly spread its wings while on the move.

The left wall moved outward by 1.5 meters, and the right wall moved outward by 1.5 meters. With 1.5 meters of width added to each side, the interior space went from eight meters wide to eleven meters wide.

The ceiling and floor expanded simultaneously, and the newly generated expansion areas connected seamlessly with the original carriage.

Armor plates wrapped around the expansion structures on the outside, and the modules of the angled ballistic outer armor automatically extended to cover the new surfaces.

The entire modification process lasted sixty seconds, and Polaris completed its lateral expansion while driving.

From the outside, the width of this camp-level Mobile City had changed from eight meters to eleven meters. Its length and height remained the same, but its volume had increased by nearly forty percent.

"City Lord! The carriage has gotten wider!"

Lin Wan's startled cry came from the cultivation area.

The space in the cultivation area had directly expanded, with nearly two meters of empty floor appearing next to the hydroponic racks.

"Hydraulic Expansion Chassis."

"What do you mean by expansion chassis?"

"The car grew up."

"I can see that."

In the Infrastructure Armor branch, from Node 1 to the Top Core, all four nodes were now lit—Great Perfection.

On the holographic panel, the icons for the Infrastructure Armor branch compressed from four independent blue dots into a single golden ring, the same effect as when Lv.1 reached Great Perfection.

Four thousand points were spent, and the balance dropped from over nine thousand to five thousand and forty.

The third one.

Lu Chen's finger paused for a beat on the control lever.

The last one: the Armament and Weaponry Lv.2 Top Core.

This was what he had been looking forward to since unlocking the first node of the armament branch. From the Black Powder Steam Repeating Crossbow to the six-barreled Heavy Machine Gun, to fragmentation grenades and the Ray Cannon, every node in the armament branch was direct combat power.

The Top Core—this was the final piece.

"System, display Armament and Weaponry Lv.2 Top Core."

[Armament and Weaponry Lv.2 Top Core: Early-stage Electrical Fire Control Hub. A primary electrified fire control system driven by a steam generator set. Integrates all weapon systems on the vehicle into a unified electrified control platform. New features: Primary Radar Array (can detect heat source signals within a three-kilometer range, works even in blizzards and thick fog). Automatic Target Locking Assist System (provides electrified aiming compensation for all weapons). All-Weapon Linked Salvo Mode (can simultaneously trigger multiple weapon systems to perform saturation strikes on the same target under a single command). Cost: 4,000 Truth Points.]

Radar.

Lu Chen's eyes lingered on those two words for two seconds.

Heat source detection within a three-kilometer range, still functional in blizzards and thick fog.

Polaris would have its own radar, no longer relying solely on the naked eye and periscopes, and no longer needing Zhou Yuan's outposts to forward intelligence.

All heat sources within a three-kilometer radius would be displayed on the panel.

Not to mention the automatic target locking assist; the aiming of every single weapon would receive electrified compensation.

With the precision of manual control plus the compensation from system assistance, the hit rate would climb to another level.

The All-Weapon Linked Salvo Mode meant the Heavy Machine Gun, Harpoon Cannon, fragmentation grenades, and Steam Spray Gun could all fire at once.

With one button, all firepower would be poured onto the same target—saturation strikes.

Lu Chen let out a breath.

"Confirm unlock."

[Unlock confirmed. 4,000 Truth Points consumed. Current balance: 1,040 points.]

The lights in the carriage flickered for a moment, and the fire control console in the cockpit began to undergo earth-shaking changes.

Beside the original purely mechanical brass control levers and periscope sights, a whole new set of panels grew out of thin air, and a rectangular display screen rose from the center of the console.

Completely devoid of the illusory nature of holographic projections, this was a solid, physical display screen.

With a green background and black grid lines, a circular scanning area centered on Polaris appeared on the screen, with a radius of three kilometers.

A bright green scanning line slowly rotated over the circular area—radar.

With each rotation of the scanning line, the heat source data on the screen would update. As the first scan completed, multiple light spots appeared on the screen.

Directly behind Polaris, three kilometers away, was a string of moving light spots.

That was Zhao Tiezhu's iron wall and the seventeen patrol vehicles.

In the southwest direction, at the edge of the screen, was an extremely bright cluster of light, its brightness far exceeding all other spots. That was Black Rock City-State.

Directly opposite Black Rock City-State, at the other edge of the screen, was another extremely bright light cluster, its brightness comparable to the one for Black Rock City-State: Ice Thorn's Lv.4 Main City.

Beside it were two slightly smaller light clusters—the two Lv.3 fortresses.

The three enemy targets were clearly displayed on the panel.

"City Lord!" Lin Wan poked her head out from the cultivation area. "What's that green screen on the dashboard?"

"Radar."

"Radar? A radar as big as the one in Black Rock City-State?"

"A small radar, three-kilometer range. But it's enough."

Lu Chen watched the two extremely bright light clusters facing off on the radar screen.

The distance between Black Rock City-State and Ice Thorn's main city was slowly shrinking; Ice Thorn was approaching.

The state of the technology tree on the holographic panel updated. Armament and Weaponry branch: Node 1 to Top Core, all four nodes lit, golden ring—Great Perfection.

Current status of Lv.2 technology tree: 12/16 nodes lit.

Infrastructure Armor: Great Perfection.

Armament and Weaponry: Great Perfection.

Power Engine: 3/4 (missing Top Core).

Ecological Logistics: 1/4 (missing three nodes).

Total cost for remaining nodes: 4,000 for the Power Top Core, plus 1,000 for Ecological Node 2, plus 2,000 for Ecological Node 3, plus 4,000 for the Ecological Top Core, totaling eleven thousand.

Current balance: 1,040.

Short by ten thousand, but that was a matter for later. The most important thing now was the battlefield in front of him.

Lu Chen shifted his gaze from the panel back to the ice ahead.

In the distance, the silhouette of Black Rock City-State became clearer in the twilight. The eight-hundred-meter-long steel city wall and the muzzles of one hundred and twenty cannons lined up in the darkness like a bright line of fire.

On the other side of the wall, Ice Thorn's Lv.4 Main City was closing in, with the two Lv.3 fortresses flanking it like two massive armored hounds.

On Polaris's new radar screen, the distance reading between the two extremely bright light clusters was steadily decreasing.

Thirty-five kilometers, thirty-four kilometers, thirty-three...

The communicator lit up.

It was Lin Xiao's voice.

"Brother Lu Chen, where are you?"

"Fifteen kilometers from The City-State, arriving within fifteen minutes."

"Ice Thorn's main city has entered the thirty-kilometer range. My 180mm main guns just fired a round of warning shots."

"Did he slow down?"

"He did. Dropped from fifteen kilometers per hour to five."

"He's testing your firepower."

"Yes."

Lin Xiao lowered his voice.

"He's looking for the blind spots in my artillery coverage."

"Once I arrive, Polaris's radar can provide you with real-time heat source data within a three-kilometer range."

"Radar?"

Lin Xiao paused for a beat.

"You mean your vehicle has radar now?"

"Just installed it."

"How can you install just anything?"

"The question is how to provide the data to you guys."

"How do we transmit it?"

"I'll report the coordinates to Zhou Yuan over the communicator, and he'll plot them on the map in the command center."

"That works!"

Lin Xiao's tone gained a layer of confidence.

"Our radar can't detect Ice Thorn's stealth city, but if your radar can see heat sources within three kilometers..."

"When the time comes, I'll move within the three-kilometer range to give you real-time positions."

"That's enough."

"City Lord Lin Xiao, my vehicle just upgraded three more major components."

Silence lasted for a second on the other end of the communicator.

"Upgraded again?"

Through the communicator, Lin Xiao's breathing became heavy for two beats.

"Brother Lu Chen, just how much stuff have you crammed onto that vehicle?"

"Enough."

In the distance, the muzzle flashes of the one hundred and twenty cannons on Black Rock City-State's walls lit up in the twilight, and a 180mm triple-barreled main gun let out a low roar.

The shells trailed fire across the dark sky, landing on the ice two kilometers in front of Ice Thorn's main city. The explosion kicked up a plume of ice shards and rocks over ten meters high.

The first blast from Black Rock City-State was telling Ice Thorn: you aren't the only one with teeth.

Polaris crushed its way toward that dark zone between the firelight and the sound of cannons at sixty kilometers per hour. The vehicle body was three meters wider than when it started, and the light spots on the radar screen were pulsing steadily.

Inside the carriage, the temperature was a steady twenty degrees, perfectly still, and all weapon systems had been linked to the electrified fire control hub.

Lu Chen's right hand rested on the new electrified control console, his fingertips touching the red button labeled 'All-Weapon Linked Salvo'. Beside the panel, the balance display emitted a faint blue glow in the twilight.

[Current truth point balance: 1,040 points.]

[Lv.2 Technology Tree Progress: 12/16.]

Polaris's searchlights sliced through the final veil of darkness in the twilight. Three kilometers ahead, the open armored gates of Black Rock City-State were waiting for it.