9: Laboratory Launch and the Light of Science

The explosion of one modified Reaper seemed to sound the horn for a counterattack. The remaining Reaper, trapped by the wreckage, suddenly became a turtle in a jar.

"Concentrate fire! Take it down!" Sun Zheng's voice was a bit raspy with excitement.

The surviving grizzly tanks turned their muzzles and, together with the newly built patriot missiles, poured their angry fire toward the final target. The American Soldiers' morale was also greatly boosted, and bullets were sprayed like water toward the Reaper's joints and sensors.

This Reaper still wanted to charge, but it stumbled over the sharp wreckage of its own kind under its feet, unable to pick up speed at all. patriot missiles hit its armor one after another, while the grizzly tanks' armor-piercing shells precisely hammered the already cracked front armor.

The phase rays on its back swept around in vain, splashing sparks against the patriot missile base, but it could do nothing against this sturdy defensive tower.

"Boom—!"

Another 90mm shell bored into its vital abdominal area, and the last Reaper finally let out an unwilling wail. Its eight mechanical legs gave way, and its massive body crashed heavily into the moon dust, exploding into a ball of fire.

[All threats cleared.]

A dead silence filled the Command Center, leaving only Sun Zheng's heavy breathing. He slumped in the Commander's seat, feeling as if all the strength in his body had been drained. Continuous high-intensity command and mental exhaustion had left him tired to the extreme.

But the joy of victory and the relief of surviving a disaster washed over his fatigue like a warm current.

"Report battle damage..."

"Reporting to Commander: the grizzly tanks are severely damaged with only 12% armor remaining and require major repairs. The patriot missiles sustained light damage and have initiated automatic repairs. No infantry casualties, but ammunition is completely depleted. The outer casing of Power Plant No. 4 is slightly damaged."

The price was not small, but the core forces were preserved, and the most critical new buildings—the patriot missiles and the Power Plant—were also fine. More importantly, with sufficient power, the Combat Laboratory was nearing completion at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Sun Zheng forced himself to stay alert and ordered all units to return to their designated positions for rest and reorganization. The base's automatic repair system began to slowly repair the damaged units.

Selling the broken wreckage yielded a significant amount of funds!

His gaze was locked tightly onto the building that was about to be completed, representing the base's highest technology.

Five minutes... three minutes... one minute... When the construction progress bar of the Combat Laboratory finally reached the end, the entire Command Center shook slightly, and an invisible energy field spread out from the laboratory as its center.

[Construction Complete: Allied Combat Laboratory!]

[Base Tech Level increased to T2!]

[All advanced units and technologies unlocked!]

[Advanced Construction List unlocked!]

A series of system prompts sounded like celestial music. Sun Zheng couldn't wait to open the unit production list and the technology research panel.

In the unit list, the previously greyed-out icons lit up one after another:

prism tanks, phantom tanks, Dolphins, Destroyers... and the one he had long been looking forward to—Chrono Legionnaires!

The technology research panel was even more dazzling:

[Tank Armor Upgrade], [Weapon Firepower Upgrade], [Soldier Weapon Upgrade]... as well as two very special icons glowing with blue light:

[Basic Electromagnetic Armor Technology] (Researchable)

[Small High-Energy Battery Technology] (Researchable)

This was exactly the technology he had cracked from the Scrin wreckage! Now it could finally be put into practical use!

Without a second thought, Sun Zheng directly selected the research for [Basic Electromagnetic Armor Technology]. Although it would cost $5000 and 8 hours, he didn't hesitate. This technology, which could comprehensively improve the survivability of armored units, was too important!

Next, he looked at unit production. It was time to say goodbye to having only grizzly tanks.

"Produce one prism tank!" Sun Zheng selected this iconic Allied unit. Although the $1200 cost was painful, its long-range refraction attack and massive lethality against buildings and armored units were definitely worth it.

The prism tank entered the production queue.

Then he turned his gaze to the infantry units. American Soldiers were no longer enough. He needed more powerful and specialized infantry.

"Train one Chrono Legionnaire!" The cost was as high as $1500, but its ability was practically heaven-defying—it could freeze any moving unit temporarily and eventually erase it completely!

Next, he trained a Spy (1000). Although he didn't know what there was to steal on the moon for now, its infiltration and disguise abilities might be of great use in the future. He also trained the first batch of five Rocket Troopers ($600 each), finally gaining aerial mobility and strike power.

Large sums of money flowed out like water, but Sun Zheng felt particularly at ease. Watching the icons representing advanced units turn from grey to bright one by one and then enter the production queue, he could already see the future scene of a steel torrent sweeping across the moon.

Finally, he looked at the defensive buildings in the construction list. The ultimate defensive tower he had been longing for was finally unlocked!

[prism tower] - Cost: $2000

[Function: Fires a high-energy laser beam that can refract to attack multiple targets, extremely effective against armored units.]

"Build one prism tower in each of the three main directions: East, West, and North of the base!" Sun Zheng allocated a huge sum of $6000. With these three towers combined with the patriot missiles, the base's defense would truly be impregnable!

After doing all this, Sun Zheng finally breathed a long sigh of relief. He walked to the large screen, looking at the Combat Laboratory standing outside and the three prism tower bases under construction, a surge of pride rising in his heart.

The two Scrin attacks had not only failed to crush him but had instead accelerated his growth. Now, he had more advanced technology and a more powerful army.

"Come on, whether you are Scrin or whatever you are." Sun Zheng's eyes flashed with confident light. "From now on, this Moon Base is your forbidden zone!"

He pulled up the map and cast his gaze once again toward that faint signal point discovered deep within the crater.

"Next, it's my turn to take the initiative and strike."