Chapter 168: Chapter 168

Chapter 168: Version Update 3.0

Everyone first tallied the drops from the giants.

The four giants collectively dropped 152 units of Level 3 Iron Ore, 106 units of Level 3 Fabric, and 421 Crystal Coins.

Among them, the Foreman Giant alone dropped 52 units of Level 3 Iron Ore.

This Elite-grade hundred-meter monster immediately became endearing and lovable in Li Ye’s eyes.

Although the haul was quite substantial, Li Ye was still somewhat disappointed.

Mainly because the giants did not drop any Level 3 Items, Level 3 Blueprints, or Level 3 Upgrade Blueprints.

"Forget it, as long as we master the method to deal with giants, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

He thought to himself.

"Let’s focus on mining for now."

Accompanied by a rumbling sound, the armor deck of the Tomorrow slowly descended, with a group of residents holding Pickaxes standing atop it.

After reaching the ground, they first glanced with lingering fear at the corpses of those Level 3 giants, then hurriedly made their way toward the mine.

Half an hour later, Li Ye took inventory of the harvest.

784 units of Level 3 Iron Ore, 323 units of Level 3 Saltpeter, 312 units of Level 3 Coal, 213 units of Copper Ore, 164 units of Silver Ore, and 52 units of Gold Ore.

"The yield is really high!" he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Not just Level 3 Iron Ore, even the rare Copper, Silver, and Gold Ores were produced in significant quantities.

This was likely due to the high-level zone, where high risk brings high rewards.

However, such abundant resources couldn’t be enjoyed solely by the Tomorrow; they had to be shared with everyone.

The Peacemaker received this batch of Level 3 Saltpeter, while the Iron Whale obtained the Level 3 Coal. The remaining Gold, Silver, Copper Ores and Level 3 Iron Ore were all assigned to the Tomorrow.

Counting the drops from the giants, a total of 936 units of Level 3 Iron Ore.

With excitement in his heart, Li Ye arrived at the Production Workshop.

During this period, he had accumulated a pile of Production Items that needed upgrading.

But soon, he started to worry.

Upgrading to Level 3 City Camouflage required 200 units of Level 3 Iron Ore.

Crafting the "Hurricane Tamer" Energy Wind Turbine Sequence required 500 units of Level 3 Iron Ore.

Upgrading the City Simulation Training Pod required 200 units of Level 3 Iron Ore, 100 units of Level 3 Fabric, and 100 units of Copper Ore.

As for the upgrade and crafting of the Black Hawk Helicopter and the Level 3 Jetpack, those had to be postponed.

"This amount of Iron Ore is simply not enough." he sighed.

After some thought, he prioritized upgrading the City Camouflage, crafting the Hurricane Tamer Energy Wind Turbine Sequence, and upgrading the City Simulation Training Pod.

As mentioned before in the "City Alliance Level-dividend" system, as long as the Tomorrow reached Level 3 and unlocked the crafting of Level 3 Items, the other allied Level 2 Mobile Cities could also share the benefit.

One Mobile City upgrading to Level 3 and a city within the City Alliance upgrading to Level 3 were worlds apart.

After a simple exchange, Li Ye understood the needs of his three companions.

All three wanted to obtain the City Camouflage, followed by the Energy Wind Turbine Sequence and the City Simulation Training Pod.

Fang Yong gave up on acquiring the Energy Wind Turbine Sequence, since the Iron Whale frequently needed to ram into enemies, and the Hurricane Tamer Energy Wind Turbine Sequence installed on the armor deck could easily collapse.

The City Camouflage Device and City Simulation Training Pod were soon completed and upgraded.

As for the Energy Wind Turbine Sequence, it required over an hour to craft. Once completed in the Production Workshop, it needed to be assembled and installed using Mechanical Arms, Work Claws, and Cranes.

Originally, these urban engineering devices were fixed to the armor deck, but with the Tomorrow’s promotion to Level 3, the number of levels had dramatically increased. Thıs content belongs to novelꜰire.net

Therefore, Li Ye specially crafted three small mobile lifting platforms that could move around the city and installed them accordingly.

He first tested the Level 3 City Camouflage.

Using the Scanning Gun obtained from the upgrade, he scanned the Iron Whale and the other three Mobile Cities, the giants, urban structures, and distant mountains.

As Li Ye pressed the button, the Tomorrow successively transformed into the Iron Whale, a Mining Giant, a skyscraper, and even a mountain.

Eventually, it blended into the surrounding environment and vanished completely.

Next, Li Ye tested the Level 3 City Simulation Training Pod.

Compared to Level 2, the Level 3 Training Pod had expanded several times in size and could now accommodate 500 people training at the same time.

The terrain, characters, and monsters it generated had all become extremely realistic in modeling.

Most crucially, the Level 3 Training Pod had the function of amplifying and extending the trainees’ perception of time during simulation training.

The time flow ratio was 1 to 24.

In other words, training for 24 hours inside the pod was equivalent to only 1 hour outside. A day, a week, a month, and so on followed suit.

Realizing this, Li Ye immediately became extremely excited.

With this, the training of various talents required for the Tomorrow’s external operations could be accelerated countless times!

What left him slightly disappointed was that the training scenes still could not simulate the sensation of pain, bodily injury delay, or real tactile feedback.

The kind of "training scene so realistic it was indistinguishable from reality" that Li Ye desired was still unattainable.

"Never mind, having the time flow function is already amazing. What more could I ask for?" he comforted himself.

To his surprise, the City Committee submitted a request to open the Training Pod to Ordinary Residents.

In fact, the Ordinary Residents on the Tomorrow were also very interested in the Simulation Training Pod.

The Simulation Training Pod could offer all kinds of exciting and thrilling battles.

For example, defending against Living Corpse Rain and dinosaurs on the armor deck, driving vehicles to confront enemy convoys, or firing while aboard a Black Hawk Helicopter.

Li Ye gave it careful thought.

The Level 3 City Simulation Training Pod could simultaneously accommodate 500 people, and aside from daily talent training, it still had many open slots.

Opening the Training Pod to Ordinary Residents had the following two advantages:

First, by charging residents hourly for access, a large amount of their surplus Contribution Points could be reclaimed. This would both enrich the residents’ recreational activities and increase the value of Contribution Points.

Second, through various battle scenarios, ordinary residents could develop an interest in combat, thereby making it easier to recruit Combat Personnel. In fact, the Tomorrow had always had a shortage of Combat Personnel; when there was a lack of manpower, Li Ye even had to personally recruit.

During the following period, the Energy Wind Turbine Sequence was completed.

It was installed on the upper A1 floor.

This Level 3 City Building had a distinct futuristic technological style.

Main tower, base, multiple sets of thirty to forty-meter diameter rotating blades, and a top system resembling a cloud crown.

As Li Ye watched, he couldn’t help but relax his brows.

One Energy Wind Turbine Sequence could provide 20% of the city’s energy daily.

The key point was that as long as there was enough Level 3 Iron Ore, the Tomorrow could craft multiple Energy Wind Turbine Sequences.

In this way, the city’s daily energy acquisition could increase from 20% to 40%, 60%.

Deducting the daily operating energy consumption, there would still be an energy surplus each day.

"Looks like powering the city’s residents is indeed feasible," Li Ye couldn’t help but sigh.

The higher the level, the more advanced a Mobile City’s Tech Tree became.

Energy was clearly the least of its concerns.

Crafting multiple Energy Wind Turbine Sequences was already a rather straightforward approach—surely more energy supply equipment would emerge in the future.

Li Ye pondered the Tomorrow’s current energy consumption structure.

Aside from routine movement, the Energy Shield, City Camouflage, and City Radio all required energy.

These powerful Level Items always consumed a fixed amount of energy.

Whether at lower levels or when upgraded to higher levels with stronger functions, the consumption remained the same.

Thinking of this gave Li Ye a headache.

These things were indeed useful, but they were also terribly energy-hungry!

"Maybe a world-class organization like the Apocalypse Sect might have a solution." He scratched his head. "I’ll ask them next time I get the chance."

In the following period, Li Ye was in no rush to act.

In a few hours, a new batch of Intelligence would Refresh.

For the Tomorrow Alliance, which had just arrived on a new continent and in a new region, this round of Intelligence was crucial—it would determine its future course of action.

A few hours later, under Li Ye’s expectant gaze, the new Intelligence arrived right on schedule.

【1. There are multiple Old Era human shelters in your area. (Intelligence Value: Ordinary)】

【2. Taranis Ocean, the Gena Trench reaches a depth of 15,232 meters. Three Mobile Cities from world-class organizations discovered shocking Old Era truths by capturing the Living Ark, and all three cities subsequently perished. (Intelligence Value: Excellent)】

【3. Human forces breached the Capital of the Zombie Civilization ahead of the monsters. Bishop Heath, serving as commander, obtained the Lord of Bones’ Finger and submitted it to the Apocalypse Sect. He has now been promoted to Archbishop. (Intelligence Value: Rare)】

【4. The monster-side world-class organization "United Sect" repaired 132 Suppression Devices across the entire Wasteland Zone overnight. This move delayed the emergence of the Temple Zone by over three months. (Intelligence Value: Exceptional)】

【5. With the fall of the Zombie Civilization, its remaining forces in the southern part of the Western Wasteland Continent were gradually eradicated. The issue of ownership over the recovered southern regions in the Western Wasteland Continent has been placed on the table between human and monster world-class organizations. Several rounds of negotiations were held, with extremely poor results. (Intelligence Value: Exceptional)】

【6. Refreshing... (Intelligence Value: Epic)】

【7. Refreshing... (Intelligence Value: Epic)】

Li Ye couldn’t help but rub his face hard and took a deep breath.

This batch of Intelligence was overwhelming in volume.

What first caught his eye, however, was the Ordinary-grade Intelligence.

There were actually multiple Old Era human shelters in this Level 3 Region?

Startled, Li Ye let out a sigh.

The limitations of Ordinary-grade Intelligence were too great! With just this little information, how was he supposed to find them?

Next, what caught his attention was the fourth piece of Intelligence.

This time, the monster-side world-class organization "United Sect" surfaced.

A huge mystery arose in Li Ye’s mind.

Why would the monsters—normally chaotic and frenzied—take the initiative to repair Suppression Devices and suppress the Temple Zone?

Lastly, he hesitated over one matter.

He was the only one in the world who knew the function of the Lord of Bones’ Finger.

Now that the Apocalypse Sect had obtained this finger, Li Ye debated whether or not to inform them, in hopes of gaining more benefits.

To be fair, the Apocalypse Sect, as a world-class organization, indeed appeared to him as a noble and righteous entity.

From forming lines to protect human compatriots during evacuations across various zones, to raising an army to sweep through the Zombie Civilization, everything they did was beyond reproach.

In the end, Li Ye temporarily set aside his thoughts.

This was a world-class organization—no matter how much goodwill they harbored, even 1% of malice out of 99% goodness could still lead to catastrophic consequences.

His encounters with the Zombie Civilization had already shown him the horrors of Flesh Technology.

Overall, while this round of Intelligence was information-rich, it failed to reveal the situation in the Southern Continent or the new region.

Li Ye would have to gather Intelligence on his own.

It wasn’t entirely without leads.

There were survivors in the ruins of the coastal city ahead.

But at this moment, Li Ye faced an awkward problem.

Now that the Tomorrow had been promoted to a Level 3 Mobile City, it could no longer enter the city ruins.

With its enormous power, it could technically crash through the ruins, but doing so would make too much noise and risk attracting a large number of giants.

The Iron Whale, the Peacemaker, and the Engineer could enter the city, but unlike the Tomorrow, they were not Assault-type Cities and had limited combat capabilities.

Li Ye quickly came up with an idea.

He planned to take the Vanguard Armed Gunship for a quick sweep through the city ruins.

Ideally, he could discover where the survivors’ community was located.

No sooner said than done, he quickly boarded the gunship.

Before departure, Old Zhou and the others expressed their concerns.

"You are the Lord of a city. Don’t always think about leading from the front," Old Zhou said.

"By the way, are there any giants in the city that can fly?" Ning Wen asked in confusion.

"Don’t worry. The gunship flies at a high altitude and is armed well enough to protect itself. He’s very safe," Lin Wu reassured. "Given the size and tonnage of giants, they definitely can’t fly."

Under the gaze of the crowd, the gunship lifted off and swept toward the city ruins.

Li Ye noticed that the Crew Members were clearly a bit tense.

Probably because this was the first time the Lord himself had come aboard the gunship to take command.

He had to wave his hand to signal everyone to relax.

Through the Observation Scope on the gunship, he began carefully surveying the city ruins.

This city had likely been a popular coastal tourist destination, filled with hotels, casinos, and various entertainment venues.

But now, all of it had become ruins.

Li Ye saw that the ruins were crawling with wandering or resting giants.

The howling silhouette of the passing gunship immediately drew their attention.

All the giants stopped their movements, eyes fixed intently on the gunship.

Some even stretched out their hands like children.

Li Ye’s mood suddenly soured.

There were far more giants in the city ruins than he had imagined—nearly a thousand of them.

If they discovered the Tomorrow Alliance and gathered to launch an assault, the Tomorrow Alliance would absolutely be unable to resist.

Just then, a particular direction caught his attention.

After seeing what was happening there, he was stunned.

"Survivors... engaging the giants?"