“Starting now—”
After a brief moment of thought, Jiang Zhixu addressed the group in the artillery room. “Meng Guolong, Lu Yan, the two of you will form an artillery team. You will serve as left and right team leaders, respectively, and begin recruiting from everyone.”
Qi Honglang raised an eyebrow, not particularly surprised.
Two artillerymen were far too few.
Just the current “Deep Blue” had two cannons on each side, totaling four. Two people couldn’t possibly operate them all!
And it was obvious their City Lord intended to fill the remaining four reserved gun ports with cannons, making eight in total.
That would require eight artillerymen.
Counting trainees and support personnel, the number would likely approach twenty!
Meng Guolong said solemnly, “Thank you for your trust, City Lord. I will definitely fulfill my duties!”
He believed he was capable of being a team leader and readily accepted.
Lu Yan, however, was shocked by Jiang Zhixu’s order. “M-me?”
He was only sixteen. How could he possibly be a good team leader?
He hurriedly said, “I can’t command others. How about I be a deputy leader instead? You can appoint another leader. I promise I’ll work hard!”
“You can do it.”
Jiang Zhixu shook his head, settling the matter without room for doubt. “Choose whoever you need. Report your selections to Honglang afterward.”
Lu Yan didn’t dare refuse again, though he lacked confidence. “Then… I’ll do my best!”
After advancing to a Skilled-level artilleryman, numerous techniques had flooded his mind. Coupled with the “Miracle Gunner” skill, he was indeed qualified to be a leader.
But he was still young. He could only swear to himself not to betray the City Lord’s expectations.
After offering a few more words of encouragement, Jiang Zhixu left the artillery room.
He had come down primarily to promote the two. Lu Yan’s skill was a completely unexpected bonus.
Returning to the control hub, Jiang Zhixu asked casually, “Any news from the convoy sent to the raider city?”
“None,” Wei Ran replied, having been observing the distance through binoculars. The ten people from the convoy had entered and not come out. He was starting to worry. “Should we send another group—”
“No need.”
A look of delight suddenly crossed Jiang Zhixu’s face. “They’ve succeeded!”
A system prompt appeared before him:
[Congratulations! Your forces have successfully captured the hostile City Lord’s Control Hub!]
[Please return to your Control Hub to proceed!]
Without explaining further to the others, Jiang Zhixu hurried back to the City Lord’s quarters and immediately placed his hand on the Control Hub.
A light screen unfolded before his eyes.
It displayed all the various blueprints mastered by the opponent’s workshop!
Jiang Zhixu didn’t bother examining them closely. He plundered them all.
[You have successfully plundered all technological blueprints from the hostile City Lord’s “Roaring Thunder”!]
[You have obtained the Tier-1 Cannon “Thunder Cannon” and its matching shell manufacturing blueprint!]
[You have obtained Tier-1 Crop Seeds “High-Yield Wheat” *13 units!]
[You have obtained the Tier-1 Living Supplies “Soda Pop” manufacturing blueprint!]
[You have obtained the Tier-1 Living Supplies “Fried Chicken” manufacturing blueprint!]
[You have obtained the Tier-1 Living Supplies “Whole Wheat Bread” manufacturing blueprint!]
A full five Tier-1 blueprints!
Besides these Tier-1 blueprints, there were many ordinary-level ones—blueprints with no special effects, most of which overlapped with the “Deep Blue’s” existing ones.
The most valuable was the Tier-1 cannon. Jiang Zhixu immediately opened its panel to check the details.
——————
[Thunder Cannon]
Quality: Tier-1
Trait: When using matching shells, power increases by 20%. Attaches an electric web equivalent to the explosion radius, applying a Conductive effect to all creatures within range, potentially causing prolonged paralysis.
Description: *”The roar of the cannon heralds destruction like thunder, then despair sinks in amidst the paralysis.”*
——————
[Thunder Cannon Production Materials]
Thunder Ore *1000 units
Steel *500 units
Polymer *120 units
Precision Parts *100 units
Thunder Crystal Core *1
[Thunder Shell Production Materials]
Thunder Ore *100 units
Gunpowder *30 units
Steel *20 units
Bio-Gel *20 units
——————
“…As expected, can’t make it!”
The materials for a Tier-1 cannon were too expensive.
Basic survival resources like Polymer (advanced plastic) and Precision Parts were one thing.
Thunder Ore veins were rare mineral veins, hard to find spawn points for. And “Crystal Cores” were rare companion crystals of mineral veins, not every rare vein spawned them.
Jiang Zhixu suddenly realized—the “Roaring Thunder” (the raider Mobile City) had a ready-made one!
He immediately called Qi Honglang in from outside. “Send a few more teams. Empty their warehouse. Most importantly, dismantle that Thunder Cannon and bring it back! Don’t forget to look for its shells!”
“Yes, sir!”
Qi Honglang accepted the order, turned to leave, then remembered something. “By the way, City Lord, the people on their Mobile City—”
According to the rules, they could capture everyone as slaves.
“Our city will never have slaves. As for formal residents—”
Jiang Zhixu pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “No time to screen for talent. Gather the resources quickly. We shouldn’t linger here.”
Qi Honglang nodded in understanding.
Having risen from slavery themselves, they naturally held some sympathy for slaves.
The phrase “no slaves” would likely follow the Deep Blue forever.
…
Five new teams set out from the “Deep Blue” towards the “Roaring Thunder” to move supplies.
Jiang Zhixu finally had time to take a proper look at the city beneath his feet.
First, the various zones of the “Deep Blue.”
As a Mobile City capable of housing a thousand people, the Deep Blue had a Resource Storage Zone, Residential Living Zone, Cultivation Zone, Workshop, Medical Station, Training Ground, and Assembly Area.
Each zone wasn’t particularly spacious, but squeezing in could indeed accommodate many.
Regarding the most pressing food issue, Jiang Zhixu checked the Cultivation Zone.
The previous “Deep Blue” had no Tier-1 crops, relying only on its ten units of land to grow ordinary crops.
One unit of land produced food harvested monthly, yielding about 0.3 units of food per harvest.
The standard for 1 unit of food was: enough for 100 people, three meals a day, for one month.
Thus, the previous “Deep Blue” couldn’t possibly support a thousand people.
But now they possessed the Tier-1 crop “High-Yield Wheat.”
With the same one unit of land, a monthly harvest could yield 1 unit of food!
Planting all ten units of land would yield 10 units of food monthly, more than enough to support the current few hundred people.
During this period, the food seized from the “Roaring Thunder” would be more than enough to sustain them through this one-month wheat growth cycle.
So, the food problem was solved!
Then, Jiang Zhixu inspected each zone one by one through the management panel.
After reviewing them, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“*Sigh*, it’s a miracle this city survived two years in the Wasteland.”
The “Deep Blue” was a Mobile City born two years ago.
In all that time, it had failed to accumulate any substantial foundation, not even a single Tier-1 blueprint. At best, it had one Tier-1 finished modification part.
That was the Tier-1 “City Repair Arm” installed atop the workshop.
——————
[City Repair Arm 1/8]
Quality: Tier-1
Trait: Possesses incredibly flexible mechanical arms, capable of easily and quickly repairing any part of the city, provided materials are sufficient.
Description: *”What made me incomplete? Poverty!”*
——————
“…”
It seemed this mechanical arm originally had eight limbs, but the previous City Lord could only afford one.
Unbelievable.