Chapter 188: Chapter 188

Chapter 188: Film Industry and Miniature Version of Tomorrow

As for water sources, Aiken stated that the convoy typically sourced water from ponds and lakes found along the way and filtered it through the Base Vehicle’s onboard system. Each Base Vehicle was equipped with a water storage tank, so water was never in short supply.

Moreover, the convoy was outfitted with Level 3 Cannons, Level 3 Heavy Machine Guns, and Level 3 Motorcycles.

Their firearms included Level 3 Assault Rifles, Level 3 Rocket Launchers, Level 3 Sniper Rifles, and various Level 3 Throwing Weapons, even Level 3 Landmines.

Therefore, the convoy could not only survive while on the move in the wild but also attack wandering Mutant Creatures, Monstrous Strongholds, or even Monstrous Towns.

“.Thinking of it that way, it really is impressive.” Zhou Xing marveled.

Li Ye nodded repeatedly.

In the apocalypse, owning a Base Vehicle that provided self-sufficiency along with powerful firepower and self-defense capabilities truly felt remarkable.

Even better, they were surviving alongside close friends and family, adding a familial atmosphere that made the Base Vehicle life even more appealing.

“I have a question, Mr. Aiken,” Zhou Xing spoke up. “For Level 3 and above convoys, is the Base Vehicle always the central unit?”

“Of course. Low-level Off-road Vehicles alone could never survive out on the Wasteland.”

He further explained that high-level Base Vehicles could expand on the spot, forming town-scale structures and fortifications.

However, due to their considerable size, Base Vehicles had limited speed and required extra caution when operating in the wild.

In fact, not only the Mobile Cities on the Wasteland but even the Three Major Human Organizations supported Survivor Caravans and Bounty Hunters.

The prerequisite was having a good reputation.

“Alright, time to get down to business,” he clapped his hands.

The leader of this Survivor Caravan briefly reiterated his request.

Iron Ore, Gunpowder, and Fuel.

Li Ye immediately supplied him—after all, the Tomorrow Alliance currently had ample resources.

Upon learning that Li Ye and his group owned two City Steelworks, Aiken showed a trace of envy in his eyes.

“As expected of a Mobile City, the scale is just far beyond that of a convoy,” he sighed.

Aiken seemed practical; he didn’t take the resources for free but instead offered a Level 3 City Building Blueprint in return.

Li Ye took the blueprint and examined it carefully. Official source ıs novel(ꜰ)ire.net

[Item Name: City Film Base]

[Bonus Effects: 1. The City Film Base can construct various filming scenes as required (construction materials must be provided). 2. It provides film editing and special effects processing.]

[Construction Requirements: 350 units of Iron Ore (Level 3)]

“This...” he hesitated to continue.

This City Building was clearly an entertainment facility meant to enrich the residents’ spiritual life.

With a Film Base built in a Mobile City, they could begin filming movies.

Following this train of thought, Li Ye began contemplating.

To shoot a film aboard Tomorrow, several conditions had to be met.

First, a competent directing team.

Second, the Film Base needed to be staffed appropriately.

Third, construction materials like stone and timber had to be well-stocked to build sets within the Film Base.

Fourth, costumes, makeup, and props for the actors had to be fully equipped.

Fifth, filming equipment like cameras and a full project to construct a movie theater needed to be prepared.

Among these five conditions, the fourth and fifth were the trickiest. Tomorrow’s Production Workshop had very few projects related to costumes and props. As for the filming equipment and theater—those were even less likely. Still, as long as the City Committee conducted several rounds of external procurement, they could be stocked.

“So, should we shoot a movie or not?” he pondered.

With the official resources of Tomorrow, it was entirely feasible.

If a movie theater could be built, it would open another channel for reclaiming Contribution Points from residents while also enriching their spiritual lives.

As for the film quality—people in the Wasteland likely didn’t have high standards. A decent plot would suffice.

“By the way, do you know about the giant expansion in the Old Civilization Zone?” he asked Aiken.

The latter wore an expression like he’d seen a ghost.

Seeing this, Li Ye shrugged.

Clearly, this Survivor Caravan wasn’t very well-informed.

He gave a brief explanation of the current situation in the Southern Continent and suggested they seek refuge at the A9 Defensive Outpost.

Aiken sincerely thanked him and led his convoy off in haste.

In the meantime, the Black Hawk Helicopters that Li Ye had dispatched to scout the Basin Region began returning with Intelligence.

Scattered across the Basin Region, the primary Level 1 monsters were Boarmen, suggesting that the area had originally been under the control of the Boarmen Civilization.

At present, the Boarmen Civilization had been entirely wiped out.

Vehicles and Mobile Cities of this Monstrous Civilization lay abandoned throughout the Basin Region.

“How many Giants were killed?” Li Ye asked further.

From the pilots, he got his answer.

Not a single Giant corpse was found in the Basin Region—the number of Giants the Boarmen Civilization had eliminated was likely zero.

“They couldn’t even kill one Giant? This local Monstrous Civilization is absolutely useless!” Li Ye shook his head in disappointment.

Still, thinking carefully, it made sense.

Giants were Level 3 monsters—a complete dimensional leap for a Level 1 Monstrous Civilization.

According to the pilots, the main Giant forces had moved on, and only twenty to thirty Giants were still roaming the Basin Region.

Li Ye's eyes flickered with surprise upon learning this.

This meant the Tomorrow Alliance might genuinely succeed in securing this region.

More valuable than the refreshed resources in the area were the ruins of the cities.

The Tomorrow Alliance could extract a vast amount of metal from the city ruins, to be smelted into various grades of steel at the Steelworks.

Li Ye soon selected the Tomorrow Alliance’s stationing site.

The large city ruins at the center of the Basin Region.

Due to its massive size, Tomorrow could only anchor on the outskirts of the city.

As for the other three Level 2 Mobile Cities and the newly acquired Level 1 Mobile City—they could move freely in and out.

Incidentally, Li Ye named the Level 1 Mobile City “Stellar.”

He assigned the Helmsman Tang Fang from Tomorrow to pilot Stellar and outfitted it with 20 Combat Personnel.

Stellar would exist purely as a combat city—Li Ye didn’t intend to input any projects into its Production Workshop or build any buildings or farmland within it.

Daily provisions and combat supplies for Stellar’s crew would all be supplied by Tomorrow.

Currently, Li Ye was fretting over Stellar’s city accessories and weapon configuration.

At the very least, it needed Level 3 City Armor, Power Engine, Cannons, Heavy Machine Guns, and even Autocannons.

If that could be achieved, Stellar would become a formidable force.

However, even with Level 3 configurations, a Level 1 Mobile City still had its limitations.

Its space was restricted and couldn’t accommodate Level 3 Flying Vehicles or Level 3 Ground Vehicles, making deployment in combat impossible.

On the battlefield, its role was more like a Super War Vehicle.

To that end, Li Ye specially transferred two Level 3 Black Iron Cannons from the Peacemaker and used Level 2 Iron Ore in the Production Workshop to craft Iron Dome City Armor for it.

As for the Level 2 Power Engine and Treaded Wheels—although Tomorrow didn’t have them, their ally Iron Whale did.

“Gear Earl” Mechanical Turbo Engine, Iron Curtain Heavy Treads, and Storm Hunter Tires.

With each city accessory installed, Stellar grew more complete.

Originally, Li Ye planned to equip Stellar with four Level 3 Cannons, but upon reconsideration, he gave up.

Mainly because if Stellar were destroyed in combat, losing four Cannons at once would be too great a loss.

To know that the Peacemaker had only 12 Level 3 Black Iron Cannons in total—even though the Upgrade Blueprint had unlocked the crafting project, no Level 3 Black Iron Ore or Black Iron Crystal had been found so far.

Immediately after, Li Ye input the Level 3 Upgrade Blueprint, upgrading the Bloodtear Ripper Heavy Machine Gun to Level 3 and equipped Stellar with two of them.

In addition, the combat personnel stationed on Stellar were also equipped with Level 3 Assault Rifles, Level 3 Grenade Launchers, and Level 3 Sniper Rifles.

As for Jetpacks, he couldn't bear to allocate them.

Lastly, he equipped Stellar with Level 3 City Camouflage.

Upon completing the upgrade, the Production Workshop unlocked the crafting of Level 3 City Camouflage.

Upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 only required 200 units of Level 3 Iron Ore, while crafting directly required just 400 units. It could be described as cost-effective.

All resources used for crafting these items came from the recently produced Level 3 Steel of the Steelworks.

Thinking of this, Li Ye couldn't help but scratch his head.

“...I need more Steel.”

The Tomorrow Alliance currently had massive demand for Iron Ore and Steel.

Level 3 Firearms, Level 3 Jetpacks, Level 3 Heavy Machine Guns.

Level 3 Windmill Sequences to share with companions, Level 3 City Camouflage.

Level 2 Iron Ore and Steel to resupply combat resources for Level 3 Weapons and Vehicles.

All in all, the Tomorrow Alliance currently did not lack metal to forge Steel.

Previously, they had collected four to five hundred thousand units of scrap metal from the Tourist State in the Old Civilization Zone. Now, being in the Basin Region, they had access to a steady stream of metal from numerous city ruins.

Coming back to his senses, Li Ye looked at the Stellar before him with a hint of satisfaction.

At this point, this Mobile City’s combat strength was already considerable.

It was almost equivalent to a miniature version of Tomorrow.

Li Ye actually had a bit of a perfectionist streak—he hoped to fully configure Stellar with Level 3 components.

After all, Level 2 city accessories just felt lacking.

In the future, he would train two Helmsmen through the City Simulation Training Pod and assign one each to Stellar and Tomorrow.

In the days that followed, the Tomorrow Alliance continued to eliminate stray Giants roaming within the city while dispatching personnel to collect metal from the ruins.

To quickly forge more Steel, Li Ye scheduled the Steelworks to operate around the clock in rotating shifts.

He also sent out Black Hawk Helicopters and Convoy One and Two to begin searching for various resources across the Basin Region.

Inside Tomorrow’s City Simulation Training Pod, various personnel were undergoing intensive training.

Regular combatants, tank crew members, fighter pilots, Steelworks workers, Special Forces, and future destroyer and submarine crew...

Along with the sudden increase of over 9,000 people.

Tomorrow now required plenty of recuperation time.

During this period, Li Ye decided to take it easy.

As long as the Tomorrow Alliance could occupy the Basin Region and slowly mine metal, he didn’t mind going idle for two or three weeks.

A few hours later, his vision was shattered.

“▶ Report to the Lord! We’ve discovered a Monstrous Mobile City!”

As Li Ye was sound asleep in his room, a combatant rushed in and reported urgently.

Roused from his dreams, Li Ye quickly nodded, got dressed, and rose from the bed.

While shaking off his drowsiness, he asked,

“This Mobile City—what level is it? What type of monster?”

“From its size and the monsters within, it’s a Level 1 Hyenafolk Assault-type Mobile City.”

Li Ye’s hands froze mid-dress.

“Hyenafolk Mobile City?”

According to the combatant’s description, the Hyenafolk resembled hyenas in appearance, had humanoid physiques, and walked upright on two legs.

Just as he was about to issue orders, Li Ye suddenly realized something and turned to the combatant.

“...Did you observe the weapons and city accessories on that Hyenafolk city?”

Ten-odd minutes later, Li Ye received intel from the frontline sentries.

That Level 1 Hyenafolk city was equipped with Level 3 Cannons, Level 3 Heavy Machine Guns, Level 3 City Armor. The Hyenafolk on deck were also Level 3, armed with Level 3 Firearms.

Li Ye’s lips twitched.

“This Hyenafolk isn’t Level 1 at all. It’s definitely a Level 3 Civilization!”

Only a Level 3 Civilization could afford to outfit a Level 1 city like that.

Li Ye quickly boarded the Gunship and headed toward the area where the Hyenafolk city was spotted.

From the sky, he saw the Monstrous Mobile City clearly.

Combat Captains, combat personnel, Lookouts, Gunners, Helmsmen, Mechanics—

The Hyenafolk had complete personnel configuration and wore matching uniforms.

Their total number was around 100.

Li Ye’s expression subtly shifted.

This Level 1 Assault-type Mobile City with Level 3 configuration was clearly sent by the Hyenafolk Civilization to scout the Basin Region.

Who would’ve thought such a remote area would still get noticed?

“Fire on it!” he ordered.

As the Gunship descended aggressively, the Hyenafolk Mobile City initiated Mobile Evasion.

It displayed unbelievable agility, dodging the Gunship’s bombing run entirely.

“My god! What kind of speed is this?” the crew members exclaimed in unison.

Li Ye’s face also began to change.

That Hyenafolk Mobile City’s speed had clearly exceeded 120 kilometers per hour, almost matching the Roaming.

A Level 1 city body with a Level 3 Power Engine—it practically flew.

Combined with Level 3 City Armor for protection, it could withstand firepower from the Gunship.

Most absurdly, the Hyenafolk Helmsman had exceptionally high aptitude, making their evasive maneuvers extremely nimble.

Li Ye picked up the Walkie-talkie and called in the Iron Whale, the Peacemaker, and the freshly armed Stellar.

After a round of action, they finally managed to destroy the Hyenafolk city.

Watching the burning city before him, Li Ye gently shook his head.

This high-level configuration on a Level 1 city was truly troublesome.

On the Armor Deck, the surviving Hyenafolk clutched their Firearms and continued resisting desperately from behind cover.