Chapter 226: Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Underground City Construction Beneath the Glacier

Considering the tight schedule and heavy workload, Natural V7 did not linger and hurriedly departed.

Before leaving, it left behind a large batch of underground construction materials and a construction blueprint for the Engineer.

The site selection for the polar underground city was crucial. It required choosing areas where the ice layers were stable and the geological structure was solid.

For example, the uniquely polar "dry valley" terrain, characterized by extreme aridity, strong winds, and low temperatures—or the stable bedrock zones at the edges of the ice cap.

This way, active glaciers could be avoided, reducing structural stress.

The Engineering-type City relied primarily on the Polar Geological Radar Vehicle, which used geological radar to scan hundreds of meters beneath the surface, examining the ice and rock layers for stability. It also surveyed for underground water and geothermal sources—allowing the underground city to utilize water and heat resources.

Overall, constructing an underground city in the polar regions was more troublesome than on regular land.

But there was no helping it. Ever since the Silence Agreement was abolished, the Wasteland had become a lawless dark forest of survival of the fittest.

In such an environment, ordinary humans simply could not survive on the surface.

After a round of surveys, the area for the underground city cluster was finally confirmed.

Heath briefly greeted Li Ye, then led his Mobile City Combat Cluster into the sea.

In the following period, he would lead his troops in patrolling the surrounding waters, ready to intercept and eliminate any potentially incoming Monstrous Civilizations.

Both Li Ye and Heath had dispatched reconnaissance aircraft.

According to the pilots’ reports, no Monstrous Civilizations had been sighted within several hundred nautical miles.

The Tundra Zone could remain peaceful for a little while longer.

In that case, he could now focus his attention on exploring the Underground Kingdom of the Arachnid Demon Civilization.

But before that, Li Ye decided to observe how the underground cities were being constructed.

After installing the Plasma Tower left by Natural V7, and storing away the building materials and engineering vehicles, Zhou Xing ordered the Engineer to head straight to the construction site.

Joining the bustle, Li Ye took a helicopter to the deck of the Engineer.

“Zhou Xing, now that you’ve been promoted to Level 3, it’s about time you considered recruiting more people,” he reminded.

As of now, the Engineer had a population of no more than 3,500.

Most of them were Mechanics and Apprentices.

This made its deck space feel especially spacious.

Zhou Xing was taken aback but then gently shook his head.

The Engineer didn’t require as large a population as the Tomorrow, nor did he have any plans to build a city-wide society like Li Ye.

Upon reaching the site, Zhou Xing followed the blueprint and began directing construction work.

The first task was to dig out a massive tunnel wide enough for the city to enter the underground.

As the Plasma Drilling Tower on the Engineer's deck activated, a searing white ion beam pierced the ice cap like a beam saber, instantly vaporizing a 50-meter-diameter vertical shaft. The steaming mist condensed into diamond-like ice dust in the subzero air.

The thick and frigid ice layer crumbled like rapidly devoured sugar cubes before its eyes.

Li Ye glanced at the blueprint in Zhou Xing's hands.

According to the plan, each underground city would cover an area of approximately 4 square kilometers.

That was equivalent to 560 standard football fields.

It would have only one level, divided into: Residential District, Agricultural District, Industrial Production Zone, Geothermal Station, Emergency Shelter, Water Supply Station, and Power Plant.

After roughly excavating the massive underground space, all kinds of engineering devices on the Engineer’s deck came online, speeding up the digging process.

Multiple mechanical arms equipped with high-temperature torches simultaneously plunged into the ice. The bluish-purple flames vaporized deep pits upon contact.

Work Claws with serrated crushing clamps followed into the pits one after another, scooping out chunks of ice with each bite and flinging them backward.

Cranes lifted the prepped construction materials to designated zones.

Mechanical Arms on the upper Armor Deck began weaving the ceiling structure that would bear the underground city’s load above the pits.

In tandem with the continuous operation of the Plasma Drilling Tower, all engineering devices moved in elegant coordination.

During this period, the Engineer deployed a full suite of Polar Engineering Vehicles.

The Plasma Ice Drilling Vehicle's drill head glowed with a faint blue arc as it pierced the ice cap, sending up steam columns in the underground space.

The Modular Tunnel Boring Machine drilled into the opening like a mechanical tapeworm, its vibrating cutterhead crushing the permafrost at a rate of 200 times per second.

The Under-ice Multifunctional Mechanical Arm Engineering Vehicle sprang into action, its numerous arms dancing dizzying arcs in the dim ice cavern.

Amidst the ice-dust-filled air, the Air Maintenance Vehicle's electrolytic tank bubbled like a drowning beast. Like an asthmatic steel monster, it devoured ice fragments fed in by the shredder and expelled oxygen from its exhaust port—some of it even scented with fragrance to make it more pleasant.

Li Ye glanced at the blueprint, then at the Tunnel Boring Machine.

According to the plan, these twelve underground cities were to be interconnected by tunnels, with small rail subways as the mode of transport.

“They really did plan this in great detail,” he couldn’t help but think.

Two days later, at the Ice Dome Research Base.

The exploration of the Arachnid Demon Civilization’s Underground Kingdom was about to begin.

Li Ye looked at the system panel.

During this time, a piece of Epic Intelligence had already refreshed.

【6. The Underground Kingdom of the Arachnid Demon Civilization has now spread across the entire Polar Continent, covering a horizontal area of 7.64 million square kilometers, with a maximum vertical depth of 15,871 meters. The total number of Arachnid Demons is 12,156,261. Due to the remoteness of the Tundra Zone, there has been little development in the area, but the civilization is planning expansion here, intending to construct tunnels, caverns, and underground cities. (Intelligence Value: Epic)】

After reading the report, Li Ye was utterly stunned.

He had known the Underground Kingdom was vast, but he hadn’t expected it to cover an entire continent.

And a vertical depth of 15,871 meters left him speechless.

“And over ten million of them? That’s... quite a number,” he thought.

What concerned him more was the Arachnid Demons’ expansion into the Tundra Zone.

The human side had only just begun building underground cities there, yet they were already on a collision course.

It seemed humans and Arachnid Demons really were going to be neighbors.

As usual, Li Ye subtly hinted at the information to the people at the Research Base, presenting it as personal speculation or intuition.

He was always extremely cautious when it came to sharing intelligence.

After hearing him out, Lin Mei immediately perked up.

“If what you’re saying is true, then this really is interesting,” she said. “Though, civilizations with tens of millions of monsters are rare.”

“Why do you say that?” Li Ye asked in confusion.

Lin Mei explained that Monstrous Civilizations on the Wasteland usually ranged from one million to a few million in scale.

A civilization with tens of millions was quite rare.

“According to our investigations, the Arachnid Demon Civilization has been around for over 200 years,” she added. “It’s an old, conservative civilization that’s reluctant to interact with the outside world.”

Thanks to the remoteness of the Polar Continent and the civilization’s underground location, the Arachnid Demons had been able to reproduce over time, eventually surpassing ten million in number.

“Wait—they can reproduce?” Li Ye asked, surprised.

“At first, no. But over time, the monsters evolved reproductive capabilities,” Lin Mei replied.

Li Ye's expression grew grim.

If they could reproduce, didn’t that make them almost no different from humans?

Then, he smacked his forehead, suddenly recalling something.

There had been an earlier intelligence report mentioning the existence of an Emperor Beast in the Polar Continent. He’d forgotten to share that with the Ice Dome Research Base.

But when he brought it up, a look of confusion appeared in Lin Mei's eyes.

“There’s actually an Emperor Beast in the Polar Continent?” she asked.

Li Ye froze, his heart skipping a beat.

“Hasn’t the Titan Throne deployed multiple research bases across the Polar Continent and still hasn’t discovered it?”

Lin Mei shook her head.

“I believe the Polar Continent should have Emperor Beasts. You’d better investigate more thoroughly,” Li Ye said slowly, carefully choosing his words.

Lin Mei couldn’t help but laugh.

She told Li Ye that although Emperor Beasts were massive, they weren’t as easy to locate as one might think.

They often dove into the oceans, soared through the skies, burrowed underground, or even into the mantle layer, concealing their whereabouts.

Some Emperor Beasts even hollowed out massive caves within mountain peaks and hid inside.

Most critically, Emperor Beasts could manipulate biological fields to create full-body camouflage.

Some could even evolve their biological fields to block life signal tracking from scientific instruments.

“So do you understand now? Even if we want to, it’s very difficult to locate the Emperor Beasts you mentioned,” said Lin Mei.

The opportunity to find Emperor Beasts was thus put on hold—for now, everyone had to focus on exploring the Underground Kingdom.

At the thought of the expedition, Li Ye noticed a problem.

The batch of Level 0.5 Mobile Cities hadn’t arrived yet, even though the mission was about to begin.

Initially, he had thought these Mobile Cities would be delivered from Sky-roaming Island, but they weren’t.

Upon hearing Li Ye's confusion, Oleg, who stood nearby, offered an explanation.

The Ice Dome Research Base was equipped with a Level 3 Resource Transmission Device, and had even used an Energy-saving Blueprint.

On regular days, the base and Titan Throne Headquarters exchanged resources using this device.

“I see!” Li Ye exclaimed with sudden understanding.

A few minutes later, the team received a notification.

Titan Throne Headquarters had already prepared the Level 0.5 Mobile Cities and would now transmit them.

Under everyone’s eager and excited gazes, the Resource Transmission Device activated.

A batch of Level 0.5 Mobile Cities materialized.

“Why are there only five?” Oleg looked somewhat disappointed. “This isn’t nearly enough for exploration.”

Lin Mei, however, remained quite composed.

Among the various research bases across the Polar Continent, Ice Dome was relatively modest in scale. Furthermore, the Arachnid Demon tunnels, caves, and underground cities in the Tundra Zone were relatively sparse, so fewer resources were allocated.

“I heard the largest research base received as many as fifteen cities!” Oleg said, a hint of regret in his tone.

The Level 3 Resource Transmission Device couldn’t transmit living beings, so the Mobile City pilots naturally weren’t included.

However, operating a Level 0.5 Mobile City was far easier than piloting a Level 1 City.

According to one Helmsman, “Just drive it like a truck.”

Each Level 0.5 Mobile City was only a few dozen square meters in size. To facilitate movement through the Arachnid Demon Civilization’s underground tunnels, Titan Throne had specially designed all cities destined for the Polar Continent in long, truck-like shapes.

They were essentially a customized exclusive model.

In fact, Level 0.5 Mobile Cities were the most agile.

They could be tailored to various forms as needed:

An airship-type for aerial movement.

A submarine-type for underwater navigation.

A racing-type for high-speed land travel.

A drill-type for agile underground traversal.

An engineering-type for small-scale operations.

According to Titan Throne's plans, the five Level 0.5 Mobile Cities were named Ice Dome A1 through A5.

Each city came with full Level 3 configurations:

Level 3 Cannons, Level 3 Heavy Machine Guns, Level 3 Mini Missile Launchers, Level 3 Power Engines, Level 3 City Armor, Level 3 Treaded Wheels, plus a range of Level 3 Climbing Equipment and Engineering Devices.

This made them compact yet reliable.

However, due to their interior restructuring for underground exploration, this batch of cities could no longer support a “one city, one household” lifestyle.

As for operating these Mobile Cities to explore and battle within the Underground Kingdom, the task fell to the Tomorrow’s Special Forces.

Each Level 0.5 Mobile City could carry 20 people—for a total of 100 personnel across all five.

During this time, Li Ye specifically examined the cities’ technical specs:

They measured 12 meters long, 4.5 meters wide, and 3.5 meters high.

Unloaded weight: 42 tons; maximum load: 57 tons.

Equipped with variable gauge Treaded Tracks capable of climbing rocky walls.

Fitted with Sonic Ground-Penetrating Radar capable of penetrating 2 kilometers of bedrock.

A Laser Spectrometer for real-time analysis of underground rock and mineral composition.

Internally, each city featured an Air Suspension System.

Titan Throne Headquarters had been extremely meticulous, even equipping each city with two special tools:

First, a complete Level 3 set of Oxygen Bottles, Breathing Apparatus, and Gas Masks.

Second, a specially developed Spray designed specifically to counter Arachnid Demons.

Additionally, each Mobile City had cylindrical Piles outfitted with various Hooks on all sides.

These were for allowing Combat Personnel to anchor themselves outside the city during battles.

As for the Special Forces assigned to coordinate with the cities—they were armed to the teeth.

Level 3 Assault Rifles, Level 3 Grenade Launchers, Level 3 Sniper Rifles.

Level 3 Hand Grenades, Level 3 Flashbangs, Level 3 Smoke Grenades, Level 3 Military Daggers.

Level 3 Jetpacks, Level 3 Camouflage Combat Uniforms, Level 3 Bulletproof Vests, Level 3 Bulletproof Helmets.

And Level 3 Drones equipped with light machine guns.

“You really did kit out your Special Forces nicely,” Oleg remarked with genuine admiration.

With orders given simultaneously by Li Ye and Lin Mei, the expedition commenced.

Special Forces members boarded the Level 0.5 Mobile Cities one after another.

Their first task: reach a ground-level cave located several dozen kilometers away.

This cave had been excavated by the Arachnid Demons and connected to an underground tunnel.

By traveling through this tunnel, the Mobile Cities would enter the Arachnid Demon Civilization’s Underground Transit Network.

“Didn’t you say the Arachnid Demon Civilization was a closed and conservative Monstrous Civilization? Why would they build tunnels leading to the surface?” Li Ye asked curiously.

Lin Mei responded concisely.