109: Chapter 109 Surviving and Developing

With tasks distributed, the fortress quickly became busy.

Luo Ning dove straight into the mechanical workshop, frantically mass-producing fully automatic harvesting robots, with Muzi and Zhang Ming going over to help.

Inside the vast main control room, only Zhou An remained.

He sat quietly in the spacious captain's command chair.

His fingertips tapped lightly on the main console, and a ghostly blue holographic projection instantly wove together in mid-air, presenting a detailed 3D cutaway view of the internal structure of the entire Cloud Top Fortress before his eyes.

Cloud Top Fortress LV5

Current specifications: Four-story structure, 800 square meters per floor.

Current status: Docked and on standby.

Prompt: The fortress has reached LV5.

Current fortress expansion is available!

Theoretical expansion limit: Can support a maximum of four floors, with a maximum area of 10,000 square meters per floor!

If expanding to the extreme, it will place immense load pressure on the fortress's armored keel and underlying spatial matrix. At the same time, the current basic material reserves in the warehouse are severely insufficient to complete the casting of 40,000 square meters of solid armor and the reconstruction of internal facilities! Please choose the expansion ratio carefully, Captain.

Looking at the theoretically exaggerated frame on the holographic projection, Zhou An raised an eyebrow slightly.

10,000 square meters per floor, totaling 40,000 square meters—this area was equivalent to shoving five or six standard football fields into a flying fortress.

But the system's warning was realistic; taking too big a step could lead to trouble, and blindly pursuing maximum area would not only collapse the fortress's defensive structure, but the existing material foundation wouldn't be enough to fill the void.

"Since materials are insufficient, I'll compress the number of floors to ensure the space and armor thickness of each level."

Zhou An didn't hesitate, his fingers dragging and reorganizing on the holographic projection. He cut off the top floor, compressing the original four-story structure into three in the virtual model.

"Set to a three-story structure, with the area of each floor expanded to the limit of 10,000 square meters. The first floor will be the experimental area, the second floor will be the living area and main control room, and the third floor will be the weapon and vehicle depot."

Command recorded!

Feasibility of the plan: 100%. The load is in a perfectly balanced range.

Deducting materials... Estimated time required for reconstruction: 8 hours.

With the system prompt, the materials in the warehouse were quickly consumed and soon bottomed out.

After setting everything up, Zhou An didn't move, instead relaxing against the back of his chair, quietly waiting for the fortress to transform.

Through the floor-to-ceiling porthole, he could clearly see the heated scene below the fortress.

Under Luo Ning's terrifying production speed, in just over half an hour, hundreds of tracked fully automatic harvesting robots poured out like army ants from a nest, surging through the hatch at the bottom of the fortress.

They tirelessly dispersed to every corner of this scorched island.

With specialized mechanical arms waving, whether it was rare ore veins buried deep underground or the wreckage of Goblin airships scattered everywhere, everything was violently dismantled by these robots.

In mid-air, the fortress released dozens of azure tractor beams, forming a perfect closed loop with the transport vehicles shuttling on the ground.

A highly efficient "scraping" collection assembly line was thus established on this dead Floating Island.

Everything was moving in the most perfect direction.

Eight hours of reorganization and the "scraping the earth" search finally came to an end.

"Beep—" With a soft sound from EVA, the final report on the island's resources popped up on the holographic panel.

Resource Looting Settlement Report

Tier 3 Basic Materials: 4.3 million units

Tier 4 Refined Materials: 2.1 million units

Tier 5 High-Order Materials: 220,000 units

Several scattered rare associated ores.

"Small as a mosquito's leg may be, it's still meat."

Zhou An satisfiedly moved all these massive resources into the fortress's resource bank. This was their "first pot of gold" for their resurgence in the Cangyun Airspace.

Meanwhile, accompanied by a low and heavy metallic roar, the renovation of the entire Cloud Top Fortress was officially declared complete.

When Luo Ning, Li Muzi, and the others returned, everyone was completely shocked by the scene before them; even the usually cold Shen Xingyue had her mouth slightly agape.

The fortress, which originally only had 800 square meters per floor, had now been expanded to a terrifying scale of 100 meters by 100 meters! 10,000 square meters per floor! This was equivalent to squeezing nearly one and a half standard football fields into the sky!

Not only that, to improve the sense of internal space and load-bearing structure, Zhou An had forcibly compressed and reconstructed the originally somewhat crowded four-story structure into three.

The height of each floor was raised to an astonishing eight meters, eliminating the oppressive feeling of a metal box from before.

Zhou An, with his hands in his pockets, slowly walked down the steps from the main control area. Seeing everyone's shocked expressions, he smiled and began to introduce the new fortress layout:

"From today on, the fortress is officially divided into three floors. The first floor is the 'Work and Ecological Zone,' where the laboratory and workspaces are located."

At the same time, around the outermost ring of the first floor, dozens of hidden weapon ports were evenly arranged; once engaged, they could unleash firepower in 360 degrees without blind spots.

After briefly introducing the first floor, Zhou An led them back to the second floor. Zhou An walked to the front of the group and pointed to the huge space they were currently in: "As for where we are standing now, this is the middle layer. It is also the core area for our future living, daily life, and command."

The original main control room was moved by Zhou An to the very center of the second floor. The octagonal wraparound holographic screen and the floating command console made this place the brain of the entire fortress.

Everyone's private bedrooms were not only expanded to over two hundred square meters but also featured panoramic skylights and independent gravity-simulation bathtubs.

"As for the third floor, it remains the same weapon depot and vehicle room as before."

Luo Ning's mischievous eyes lit up, and she urged impatiently: "Hurry, hurry, Boss, take us to visit the first floor in detail quickly; I can't wait to see my laboratory!"

"Alright, alright."

The group returned to the first floor.

"Zhang Ming, this one is yours."

Walking to a huge double alloy door, a holographic icon of crossed knife and fork lit up on the door frame.

The door opened, revealing a super-large kitchen and central dining room covering a hundred square meters. There were rows of freshness cabinets, smart stoves, and even a small sterile cutting assembly line.

"Boss... this... this is too luxurious..."

Zhang Ming touched the brand-new kitchen counter, unable to put it down.

"Dr. Shen, the room next door is your medical and pharmacological extraction room."

Zhou An pointed to the other side, where sterile chambers, life-support monitors, and various complex alchemy separation equipment were all available.

"This will be your workspace from now on."

Shen Xingyue adjusted her glasses and took a turn around the room.

"Perfect equipment, thank you, Boss."

Li Muzi was also assigned a crop laboratory.

Luo Ning was assigned the largest research room with the highest level of protection.

She patted the experimental bench with satisfaction and gave Zhou An a flirtatious look: "I love this place!"

As for Lin Qing, she intended to renovate one of the sunniest rooms into an indoor ecological garden room, filled with gentle flowers and plants, making it the most suitable place in the entire fortress for a safe pregnancy.

Night fell, and the starry sky of the Cangyun Airspace was exceptionally bright. Through the huge panoramic skylight in the master bedroom, silvery starlight sprinkled onto the soft, large double bed.

Zhou An leaned against the headboard, while Luo Ning, like a lazy cat, curled up in his arms.

One of her legs rested naturally on Zhou An's waist, and her chin rested on his chest, listening to the steady and powerful heartbeat, enjoying the tranquility and sense of security she hadn't felt in the past five months.

Zhou An gently stroked Luo Ning's smooth short hair with one hand, while his other arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Zhou An..."

Luo Ning suddenly spoke softly, her voice sounding exceptionally gentle in the quiet night.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Zhou An lowered his head, his chin gently rubbing against her forehead.

Luo Ning leaned up slightly, a rare trace of worry in her eyes: "Shen Xingyue gave Lin Qing a full check-up today. Her due date is approaching; it's probably within the next ten to fifteen days. She has been drifting with us for the past few months, suffering from malnutrition and fear, and her fetal condition has not been very stable."

She looked up: "So... for the next period of time, can we try not to look for trouble? Although the fortress is strong, high-intensity combat will inevitably cause violent shaking. I'm afraid Lin Qing's body and the baby in her belly won't be able to withstand it."

Hearing Luo Ning's words, a warm current flowed through Zhou An's heart. This seemingly carefree girl actually cared more about this "home" that everyone had pieced together than anyone else.

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Zhou An smiled slightly, lowered his head, and planted a gentle kiss on her brow.

"The fortress has just leveled up to LV5, and we have a bit of a foundation in terms of supplies. For the next period, we won't go out of our way to provoke those Goblins or Dwarves, nor will we fight high-intensity battles. We will just turn on the stealth field and drift slowly in the sea of clouds, peacefully waiting for the little one to be born safely."

A sweet smile curled at the corners of Luo Ning's mouth. Content, she snuggled into Zhou An's arms and closed her eyes.

"I'm sleepy, time to sleep..."

Before long, the girl's steady breathing sounded in the quiet room. Zhou An held her, watching the starry sky outside, and slowly closed his eyes as well.

The next morning.

In Zhang Ming's luxurious kitchen, everyone finally ate the most sumptuous and decent hot breakfast they had had in months.

At the dining table, Zhou An put down the milk cup in his hand, tapped the table lightly, and told everyone about the decision he had made last night.

"Everyone, let me briefly go over our recent arrangements. Considering that Lin Qing is due to give birth soon, and the fortress is in its break-in period after the recent modifications, I have decided that for the next while, our core policy will be: 'Fly slowly, develop low-profile.'"

Zhou An looked at the group: "We need to avoid large-scale fleet engagement zones and alien territories as much as possible, keeping the fortress in silent cruise mode. During this time, everyone should rest if you need to rest, and do research if you need to do research."

"Boss, that sounds great!"

Li Muzi was the first to raise both hands in agreement, her mouth still stuffed with half a soup dumpling.

Zhang Ming looked at Zhou An with even more gratitude. He knew that the boss's decision was largely made to take care of his wife, who was about to give birth. He stood up, picked up a bowl of freshly brewed broth, and handed it to Zhou An; everything was understood without words.

"Alright, everyone get back to work. As for the resources needed for development..."

"Leave that to me."

Returning to the main control room, Zhou An sat in the spacious captain's chair, immediately called up the system panel, and opened the trading mall.

Back when they were in District 997, the number of survivors was limited. Plus, with major guilds like City Lord Zhao Tianyu's deliberately monopolizing high-level supplies and controlling the lifeline of resources, there weren't many goods circulating in the trading market, and the ratios would collapse before long.

But now, it's different.

With the merger of a hundred districts, there are now over three million survivors from various races in this airspace engaging in cross-species trading! Although major factions and guilds still have internal resource controls, with such a massive base, the scattered supplies circulating on the market are vast as the sea!

"Beep—"

A massive amount of information instantly refreshed on the giant holographic screen like a bursting waterfall, the text scrolling so fast it was dizzying.

Zhou An didn't rush to list items for sale like a headless chicken.

He leaned back in his chair, eyes slightly narrowed, and began to check the exchange rates for supplies between different races in the current district.

"Urgent need for large quantities of high-calorie carbon-based food and healing potions! Will trade Level 4 heavy metal ore! Ratio 1:5!"

"Looking to buy unpolluted high-grade purified water and psionic crystals. Can trade with Epic-grade blueprints or the Elven specialty 'Moon Spirit Water'! Warning: Refuse all items with traces of Abyssal pollution!"

"Massive sale of Epic-grade engine blueprints and floating cannons! Trading for any level of high-energy fuel and precision mechanical gears! Haggling supported, hehehe!"

Zhou An looked at these diverse trading posts, his eyes growing brighter.

"This really is an unplowed field of golden leeks..."

Zhou An knew very well that whether it was the stocks and futures on Wall Street during peaceful times, or the survival resource trading in this man-eating apocalypse, the underlying logic never changed: it was always "supply and demand" and "information asymmetry."

He first pulled up the most basic hard currency in the current district, which was the exchange ratio between [Level 3 Steel] and [Level 4 Steel].

"EVA, based on the current data from the trading hall, establish a tiered exchange model for conventional materials." Zhou An calmly issued the command.

"Model established. Captain, the average exchange ratio between Level 3 and Level 4 in the current market is stable at around 2.05:1 to 2.15:1. This is determined by the physical loss rate of the conventional smelting furnaces used by various races."

Zhou An nodded slightly. This ratio was reasonable, and the market was very stable. This meant that the room for reselling conventional materials was extremely small, and the profit margins were as thin as paper. Unless he had a massive base of tens or hundreds of millions, it wasn't worth wasting his precious time.

To get rich quickly, what he needed to find were those "bottleneck" strategic materials that had "extremely large volume, highly unstable output, and extremely high processing loss."

"Change filter criteria: Search for the top ten in recent trading popularity that show a severe gap in the Level 4 to Level 5 exchange ratio."

The blue aperture on the holographic screen spun wildly. Just a few seconds later, a set of trading data marked with an eye-catching red frame was isolated.

[Level 5 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel]

Material Properties: Possesses extremely abnormal energy conductivity and compressive strength.

This type of steel has wide applications, so the demand is quite high.

In the current trading hall, the ratio for trading [Level 4 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel] for [Level 5 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel] is a terrifying 5:1! And the finished Level 5 product is in an absolute state of "having a price but no market," where it's snatched up instantly the moment it's listed!

"5:1?"

Zhou An looked at this exaggerated data, his eyebrows shooting up. He quickly scanned a few related high-heat purchase posts.

[Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel] as an associated mineral isn't particularly rare at the Level 4 stage; many deep mines of the Goblins and labor mines of the Orcs can dig it out in large quantities.

However, wanting to purify and refine this material to Level 5 requires such demanding craftsmanship that it can only be described as abnormal!

The existing LV4 smelting furnaces of all major races have extremely low success rates when refining this material, and the loss is frighteningly high.

To force out one piece of Level 5 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel, one needs to consume at least five, or even six, pieces of Level 4 raw ore to fill the furnace!

This has led to an extremely distorted market phenomenon.

Level 4 raw ore is everywhere on the market with relatively mediocre prices, while the Level 5 finished product has been hyped up to an astronomical price.

"The processing loss rate is so high..."

"But... I don't need to process it!"

Zhou An's brain began to run at high speed, and an extremely clear "scalper supply chain" formed in his mind:

Use the massive amount of conventional basic supplies on hand to buy up the common [Level 4 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel] from the market at low prices.

Then, utilize the "Level Up!" talent to batch-synthesize them all into [Level 5 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel] at a 2:1 ratio.

Harvest: Exchange these highly sought-after Level 5 finished products back for double the amount of Level 4 raw ore, or other equivalent top-tier strategic supplies, at the profiteering market ratio of 1:5.

"Invest two, get back five... This in-and-out, the net profit margin is as high as... 150%!"

The moment he calculated this, Zhou An couldn't help but gasp in the cold high-altitude air.

When the profit reaches 100%, people dare to trample on all human laws; and now, his profit is 150%, and there is zero risk!

"EVA!"

"Take all those 'Level 3 materials' and 'Level 4 conventional materials' we scraped together in the warehouse and list them all on the public trading hall!"

"Buy everything up at any cost! As long as it is [Level 4 Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel], buy as much as I can get! Until the supplies are exhausted!"

"Command received. Anonymous trading has been established, currently sweeping the market..."

...Time flew by, half a month later.

In this past half month, Zhou An transformed into a financial tycoon.

All the various materials in his hands had been exchanged for [Ultra-Strong Tungsten Steel].

Subsequently, during this half-month of cruising, Zhou An activated the [Level Up!] talent almost without pause.

Two Level 4s combined into one Level 5, with zero loss.

In this massive market housing over three million creatures, the gap for Level 5 Tungsten Steel was like a bottomless pit. Every time Zhou An released a batch of Level 5 finished products, they were instantly snatched up by big shots of various races desperate to upgrade their warships.

With every in-and-out, his assets rolled over geometrically.

But when the time reached the fifteenth day, Zhou An stopped all his "business."

Because, on this day, there was a more important event inside the fortress.

In the medical area on the first floor of the fortress, the lights in the corridor were adjusted to a gentle, warm yellow.

Shen Xingyue and Luo Ning had already been busy in the fully sterile delivery room for three hours.

Next to the alloy bench in the corridor, Zhang Ming was currently hunched over, his hands buried deep in his hair.

"Boss... I... my heart is beating so fast it's about to explode."

"There's been no sound from Lin Qing inside... how long has it been since she went in..."

Zhou An had also changed into a clean set of casual clothes. He walked over to Zhang Ming, didn't sit down, but leaned against the cold metal wall.

"Lao Zhang, don't be nervous."

"And don't let your imagination run wild. You know Shen Xingyue's medical skills better than I do, and we are currently using nothing but Legendary-grade potions and nutrient solutions on the ship. That little one in Lin Qing's belly grew up eating top-tier food; it's tough as nails."

Li Muzi was also squatting to the side, holding a string of prayer charms she had found God-knows-where, muttering to herself.

The corridor fell into a long, deathly silence, with only the red "Surgery in Progress" indicator light at the entrance of the medical room flickering slightly.

Zhang Ming was restless; he would stand up and pace a few steps, then sit back down again.

Suddenly.

"Wah——!!!"

A crisp and loud cry, even carrying a sense of wild vitality, pierced through the heavy soundproof alloy door and rang out in the silent corridor!

The sound echoed through the empty fortress.

Zhang Ming looked as if he had been hit by a freezing spell, frozen in place, forgetting even to breathe.

"Born... is it born?"

Zhou An also let out a long breath.

"Listening to that volume, it's a sturdy child."

With a "click," the delivery room door slowly opened.

Shen Xingyue wearily took off her mask, her eyes filled with joy.

And Luo Ning walked out carrying a tightly wrapped little cloth bundle. Her face was still stained with a few drops of sweat. Looking at the group of grown men outside the door, she raised an eyebrow mischievously:

"Boss, Lao Zhang, what are you looking at? Both mother and child are safe. This is the first native born in our 'Cloud Top Fortress.'"

Zhang Ming hurriedly walked over, took the child steadily with both hands, his eyes full of love.