116: Chapter 116 Gengzi-7792

The moment the system broadcast ended, the originally tranquil Cangyun Airspace seemed to have had a switch flipped.

On the holographic map in the main control room, dense golden dots appeared like stars exploding in the night sky. A massive rain of supplies occurred, with a full one hundred thousand "Core Resource Islands" refreshing simultaneously across various airspaces.

Although the number was staggering, for the more than three million survivors living on this continent, this remained a cruel struggle destined to be baptized in blood.

...

Inside the main control room.

Everyone watched the radar screen; there were quite a few resource points nearby, but what they cared about most were the Floating Islands.

"One hundred thousand islands, that's one for every thirty people on average."

Luo Ning stared at the screen: "The game is forcing everyone to get down and fight hand-to-hand."

"This kind of rule is just filtering for the truly strong."

Zhou An stood before the command console, observing the situation in the surrounding airspace.

"The longer you occupy it and the wider the range, the greater the output. This is clearly meant to make people root themselves on the island and become sitting ducks."

"Which one are we going to snatch?"

Luo Ning asked.

"If we're going to snatch one, we're snatching a big one!"

Zhou An's slender fingers swept across the screen, instantly locking onto a large golden dot more than five hundred kilometers away from the fortress.

"No need to run far. The one closest to us, numbered 'Gengzi-7792'. It's right on our doorstep; there's no reason to let others have it!"

"True, proximity grants the first advantage."

Luo Ning nodded in full agreement.

...

An hour later.

The fortress slowed down.

Resource Island "Gengzi-7792" officially appeared before them.

This was a Floating Island with an area of about thirty square kilometers. It lacked the desolation of ordinary islands; instead, its entire body radiated a magnificent, pale purple halo.

What made one's breath quicken, however, were the ore veins exposed nakedly between the ridges and rifts.

Huge Level 5, and even suspected Level 6, deep blue source ore crystals were visible everywhere like roadside weeds.

As the fortress approached, a line of system light screens automatically popped up on everyone's retinas:

[Current Territory: Gengzi-7792 Core Resource Island]

[Current Status: Unclaimed]

[Current Output Rate: 0% (Seconds start counting after occupation)]

[Occupation Rules: Every minute of continuous occupation adds +1% to the output bonus; controlling 1% of the island's area increases total output by an additional 0.5%!]

"What a great place..."

Luo Ning looked at the open-pit ore veins, her eyes filled with frenzy. "This is a mobile treasure bowl."

However, Zhou An did not rush to order a landing. He manipulated the holographic radar, pulling the perspective to the airspace surrounding the island.

At this moment, around the resource island, various spaceships were densely hovering like flies spotting blood.

Counting carefully, there were thirty-four of them.

They were diverse in form, including Orc Race ironclad ships and rough Goblin airships. These ships were eerily silent at this moment, distributed around the island, maintaining a relatively safe distance from each other.

Everyone wanted to be the oriole, and no one wanted to become the target of concentrated fire from over thirty ships.

Luo Ning, at his side, completed further reconnaissance.

"Thirty-four ships, most are between LV4 and LV5."

"They're all waiting. These guys are waiting for a bird to stick its head out and test the others' firepower."

Zhou An sneered.

"If none of them are willing to be the first to stick their head out, then why not muddy the waters?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Ning's eyes immediately lit up.

"You should've said so earlier; my babies have been starving and impatient!"

She excitedly licked her lips, her hands blurring as they moved across the control panel.

Accompanied by a low hum of mechanical operation, the fortress's vast top-layer armor slid open to both sides with a roar. A full fifty thousand upgraded swarm drones poured out, silently merging into the surrounding thick clouds.

At the same time, Zhou An issued an order:

"EVA, output maximum power to all ship modules, activate the stealth field, enter combat mode!"

"Command received. Attack module output adjusted to maximum, optical camouflage engaged, thermal signature eliminated, radar frequency reverse-spoofing in progress..."

At this moment, at the edge of a cloud layer a dozen kilometers away from the resource island.

A Goblin LV4 heavy armored ship was hovering in mid-air. Inside the bridge, a burly one-eyed captain with a face full of flesh was staring fixedly at the resource island on the screen, chewing anxiously on a low-quality cigar.

"Damn it, over thirty ships, and no one dares to go first! If we keep wasting time like this, the super fleets from the big guilds in the central district will smell the scent and come rushing over!"

The one-eyed captain slapped the control console irritably.

"Captain, a huge energy source seemed to flash on the radar just now, but it disappeared instantly."

The first mate looked at the radar screen and reported with some confusion.

"Probably just some broken ship firing up its engines to run away! Ignore that, keep the main cannons charged. As soon as any unlucky bastard dares to rush into the island, we open fire immediately!"

However, less than a thousand meters off the starboard side of the armored ship, the empty-looking cloud layer suddenly twisted eerily.

Under the stealth field, [Cloud Top Fortress] was silently sliding to the side of its prey.

The massive armor plate on the fortress's flank slowly rose, revealing a heavy main cannon dozens of meters long.

"Target locked."

Zhou An looked at the opponent's completely unguarded flank on the screen. "Open fire."

"BOOM—!!!"

A terrifying roar that shattered the heavens instantly tore through the silence of the airspace!

There was no dazzling flash of fire, only an immensely thick beam of energy, like a sword of divine punishment splitting the heavens and earth, instantly piercing through from the side!

"What is that?! Evasive maneuvers! Quick, eva—"

The one-eyed captain's roar was still stuck in his throat. The beam of destruction had already slammed heavily into their pride and joy, the LV4 energy barrier.

That barrier was like a fragile glass dome; the moment of contact, it was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and then with a "bang," it shattered completely!

But this was merely the prelude to death.

The instant the barrier shattered, the swarm of black drones that had long been lurking in the surrounding clouds, like piranhas that had smelled blood, swarmed overwhelmingly toward the unprotected armored ship!

"Swish, swish, swish, swish—!!!"

Tens of thousands of [Magma Burst Mines] were precisely dropped into the gaps in the armor, the engine exhaust ports, and the weak points of the bridge.

In a series of scalp-tingling chain detonations, this sturdy LV4 armored ship didn't even have time to turn its main cannons to counterattack before being ripped apart into a huge fireball.

Countless burning metal wrecks and shrill screams, trailing long plumes of black smoke, plunged into the airspace below.

Everything happened too fast; from the stealth main cannon firing to the enemy ship falling, the entire process took less than thirty seconds!

The other ships in the surrounding airspace hadn't even realized who had opened fire before they saw a warship of the same level instantly obliterated!

"Tsk, the firepower is fierce enough, but it's a bit wasteful."

Zhou An stood before the holographic screen, watching the falling wreckage, his brow furrowing slightly.

Looking at the supplies and wreckage falling down before he could harvest them, he pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Luo Ning, this way of fighting is satisfying, but the loot all fell down. The fortress is too big, and we can't just extend tractor beams in the middle of a chaotic battle to pick up scraps."

Zhou An rubbed his chin and grumbled thoughtfully.

"Looks like, besides a cook and a doctor, we need to quickly recruit some fierce, full-time combatants for this ship."

"They can be responsible for cleaning up the battlefield and harvesting supplies in normal times, and when it comes to snatching territory like this, they need to be able to be thrown out as a spearhead for perimeter support. Otherwise, the two of us can't be chasing wreckage to pick up trash every day."