136: Chapter 136 War Prediction, Approaching the Shadow Zone

---

---

[Gelatinous liquid fuel upgrade complete, Level 2 Great Qin Skyfire Guard can be unlocked]

Early the next morning, Su Yang opened the panel to check the final unit upgrade for the Level 4 Main Base.

[Unit: Great Qin Skyfire Guard]

[Unit Type: Heavy Artillery Unit]

[Production Requirement: Level 4 Imperial Armor Camp]

[Required Prerequisite Technology: Gelatinous liquid fuel]

[Description: Obtain new type of artillery shell: Fuel Bomb]

[Fuel Bomb damage effect is consistent with the Skyfire Bomb, but after the explosion ends, it will leave behind difficult-to-extinguish flames in the bombardment zone]

[command points required for summoning: 3000 points]

[Basic consumption: 5 units of fuel/day, 5 units of concentrated water/day]

[Maintenance consumption: 5 units of steel/time, 5 units of iron/time]

---

[Loading consumption]

[High-explosive shell: 2 units of stone ore, 3 units of coal, 1 unit of saltpeter/round]

[Skyfire Bomb: 3 units of stone ore, 3 units of coal, 2 units of saltpeter/round]

[Fuel Bomb: 2 units of stone ore, 3 units of coal, 2 units of saltpeter, 1 unit of fuel/round]

The gelatinous fuel that can burn for a long time can have the effect of sealing off an area.

This effect might have miraculous results at certain times.

Su Yang moved his mind and upgraded all four Skyfire Guard units.

[command points - 12000]

After upgrading the last batch of Skyfire Guard units, all unit types in the territory were upgraded to the maximum level.

This was now a truly fully-equipped team!

The intelligence from the Scout units had already been transmitted back, and the route to the target area had also been planned.

Early this morning, Su Yang ate the special fruit brought back by the Scouts.

Although it was a fruit, it did have the texture of a tuber crop, and after roasting it over a fire, it even had a taste similar to bread.

It was hard to say about the nutritional content, but it was definitely edible.

The next task was to head to the target area, first to pick a large amount of the fruit to bring back for emergency use.

Then, determine its growth cycle to see if it could be cultivated, and what kind of environment cultivation required.

Besides picking the fruit, another task was to determine what kind of new Zerg were in the southwest dense forest.

Considering that the new race might evolve some new offensive methods, Su Yang decided to test the function of the Astrology Tower before setting off.

Opening the panel, he selected the first item: War Prediction.

[command points - 5000]

[War Prediction activated, astrological deduction in progress...]

With the investment of command points, the hemisphere at the top of the Astrology Tower began to rotate, and the orbits surrounding it also began to interweave and operate.

As the sounds of steam and machinery rang out continuously, the deduction progress increased step by step.

[War deduction complete, this battle is deduced as: Lin]

[Deduction suggestion: Avoid protracted warfare, avoid deep strategy, must carefully cover mouth and nose]

[Provides disaster relief buff, Strong Physique: Provides 10% poison resistance to the entire army]

The deduction was 'Lin', which, according to the I Ching, is one level below 'Ji' (auspicious), indicating that the process would be somewhat difficult.

The auspiciousness of I Ching divination is divided into six levels, from good to bad: Ji, Lin, Li, Hui, Jiu, Xiong.

Judging from the divination, this battle would have some minor twists and turns, but the outcome would be good.

However, divination does not represent an absolute; even if it is auspicious, one needs to use their full strength, otherwise, it is hard to say if one might fail.

Apart from the degree of auspiciousness, the subsequent suggestions and the disaster relief buff made Su Yang very concerned.

The suggestion meant to avoid deep, protracted warfare, and to pay attention to mouth and nose protection during combat.

Based on this suggestion and the effect of the disaster relief buff, it was not hard to guess that this time the enemy might use some kind of poison as an offensive means.

Su Yang's interest was piqued; if he could capture these Zerg and study them, he might be able to create biochemical weapons.

These were terrifying weapons that even steel armor could not resist!

If they could be used on Little Japan or certain countries in the future, that would feel incredibly satisfying!

Thinking of this, Su Yang directly ordered the troops to assemble.

Soon, the troops gathered in the expedition preparation area on the east side of the territory.

General Meng Tian was arranged at the front of the team to pave the road all the way.

Meanwhile, General Li Xin led 60 Armored Elite Soldiers, 40 Armored Crossbowmen, two Skyfire Guard units, and two Fire Dragon Guard units to set off.

Because he considered the need to transport the fruit back, Su Yang summoned another dark iron heavy armored vehicle.

A total of 3 dark iron heavy armored vehicles followed the troops to set off to execute this mission, which was also the limit of black iron chariots that could be summoned by the Level 4 Main Base.

Su Yang stood on the east city wall and waved his hand.

"Set off!!"

The city gate slowly opened, and the roar of a huge engine rang out.

6 Scouts riding Blazing Steeds rushed out first, followed closely by General Meng Tian who was paving the road.

After that, General Li Xin led the three roaring black iron chariots out of the gate.

The sound of hissing steam and engines intertwined and circled over the territory, demonstrating the powerful combat strength of this army.

The black iron chariots followed the Qin Highway paved by General Meng Tian and headed all the way to the southwest, with countless sand and stones churning behind them.

This was a road leading to a new area, and also a road opening a new chapter.

The addition of new mining machines plus the strategic bonus of the Astrology Tower brought the output of stone ore in the territory directly to 900 units/day.

Combined with the event-granted buff of 50% reduced war consumption for generals fighting outside, as long as Su Yang wanted, it was not a problem for General Meng Tian to pave 180 kilometers of road in one day.

According to this speed of outward expansion, they would soon encounter other lords.

The war of conquest had already begun, and it was time for history to enter a new chapter.

...

In less than two hours, the main force had already crossed nearly 130 kilometers and arrived at that new area.

Through the perspective of the Scouts at the very front, Su Yang saw the true scene of the Shadow Zone.

From afar, the distinction between the Shadow Zone and the dense forest area was extremely obvious, even more so than the distinction between the dense forest area and the barren crystal mining area.

The difference lay not only in the gray-white, almost opaque fog, but also in those huge plants.

Although the plants in the dense forest grew in strange shapes, they were at least normal plant size, which did not give a bad feeling.

However, the plants in this area seemed to have been given too much growth hormone, growing to be incredibly massive.

A single one taken out was at least three stories high, and even more so, some had already penetrated deep into the sky fog, making it impossible to see their specific height.

Looking through the perspective, Su Yang could already feel the oppressive force rushing toward him.

He had a premonition that in that gray and gloomy forest, he would definitely be able to bring back unexpected gains.

"Full speed ahead!"

Su Yang ordered.

...

...