“Did you… see that?”
Zhou Yi’s voice came through the comms, his usually gentle tone tinged with a dry rasp from shock.
“We saw it.”
Lei Qing of the *Iron Guard* responded gravely. “Looks like some kind of insectoid species. No doubt, the entire riverbed… has become their breeding ground.”
Everyone looked out from their respective portholes.
As far as the eye could see, the once-wide riverbed had vanished, replaced by a “living carpet.”
Countless dark carapaces were densely packed together, gleaming with a metallic, cold light under the dim illumination, like a boundless, slumbering black ocean.
One glance was enough to send anyone with trypophobia to an early grave.
If they swarmed all at once, forget five Tier-1 Mobile Cities, even ten or twenty would likely be devoured in an instant!
Jiang Zhixu fell silent for several seconds, suppressing the shock in his heart, and asked uncertainly, “Excuse me… were the Tier-2 dungeons you’ve tackled before all of this… intensity?”
The channel was first met with dead silence.
After a few seconds, Zhou Yi said, “We’ve actually only cleared one Tier-2 dungeon, and it was just a standard Tier-2, not an elite one.”
At this point, everyone was actually considering retreat.
Judging by this spectacle, this was definitely not a difficulty level they could handle!
Jiang Zhixu pondered for a moment, then asked, “As far as I know, although our Wasteland zone is a Tier-1 region, it once produced three Tier-2 Mobile Cities, right?”
“Correct,” Zhou Yi said. “Not just in the past. Even now, there are still two Tier-2 Mobile Cities in existence.”
A thought struck Jiang Zhixu, sending a chill down his spine: “Then is it possible… this dungeon wasn’t prepared for us Tier-1 cities at all?”
This conjecture made sense, yet it also seemed unlikely.
Because Zhou Yi refuted it: “You need to clear Tier-2 dungeons to drop Tier-2 blueprint components. And for a Tier-1 Mobile City to upgrade to Tier-2, it must master a sufficient number of Tier-2 components. Therefore, Tier-2 dungeons *are* prepared for us!
“Moreover, we’ve cleared a Tier-2 dungeon before. It wasn’t as difficult as you might imagine. Even though that was a standard one and this is an elite, the difficulty gap shouldn’t be this outrageously large!”
“Then could it be that we’re simply too early?”
Lady Ying’s voice chimed in at the right moment. “City Lord Lei Qing received the activation time as 6 PM. There’s still over an hour to go. Perhaps during this time, the battle situation will undergo some kind of ‘evolution’?”
Her words were like a ray of light, instantly dispelling the gloom in everyone’s hearts.
They had been so awed by the sight before them that they forgot the dungeon hadn’t officially opened yet!
“Makes sense!”
Hope of conquering the dungeon reignited in everyone’s hearts.
“Everyone, I suggest we advance along the riverbed first to investigate the source of the insect tide.”
Jiang Zhixu immediately proposed, no longer uttering any discouraging words.
After all, he also very much wanted to clear this dungeon and obtain the Tier-2 treasure chest!
“Agreed.”
No one fled at the critical moment. The proposal was unanimously approved.
The five massive Mobile Cities maintained their vigilance, cautiously advancing along the edge of the riverbed.
The sound of treads and tires crushing gravel seemed especially piercing at this moment.
Everyone was on tenterhooks, fearing they might disturb the slumbering sea of insects in the riverbed.
Fortunately, by the time they reached the iconic G7 broken bridge at the “dried-up river channel,” the insect sea had shown no unusual movement.
But they were clearly not the first to arrive!
To the left of the broken bridge, three unfamiliar Mobile Cities were already waiting there.
The one on the left resembled a crab, with a flat chassis and a tracked structure, giving it considerable off-road capability in complex terrain.
The middle one was a blocky, architecturally chaotic tower-city, with buildings of varying heights stacked together like blocks, looking somewhat messy.
The one on the right was an airtight iron lump, encapsulating all facilities within its “belly,” maximizing defensive capabilities.
The arrival of Jiang Zhixu and the other four put the three cities on high alert. They quickly closed ranks towards the central tower-city, unabashedly assuming an offensive-defensive alliance posture.
“They have a Tier-1 Alliance Radio.”
Qian Wansan’s intelligence report was concise. “The three cities are spaced over a kilometer apart, yet they can act simultaneously. There are no signalmen on top, so they must be in real-time communication!”
Zhou Yi said dismissively, “Probably just a small alliance huddling together for warmth.”
Such alliances were common in the Wasteland, though it was somewhat lucky for them to possess a Tier-1 Alliance Radio.
Everyone exchanged their observations and intelligence.
Jiang Zhixu didn’t participate in the discussion because his gaze was firmly locked on a specific area within the riverbed.
There, lay the wreckage of a Mobile City, reduced to a skeletal frame riddled with bite marks.
But what attracted Jiang Zhixu were the various ores scattered beneath the wreckage.
Iron ore, coal, alloy ore… and a pile of peculiar crystals flickering with blue electric arcs in the gloom!
Thunder Ore!
Jiang Zhixu recognized it instantly, his heart instantly stirring.
“As long as I have enough Thunder Ore…” his heartbeat quickened, “…I can attempt to ‘crit’ forge Tier-2 Thunder Cannons and Tier-2 shells without reservation, truly possessing a trump card!”
Currently, the *Singularity*’s sole Tier-1 Thunder Cannon carried too much risk to attempt “crit” upgrading with.
Failure was one thing, but if it successfully crit into a Tier-2 cannon, it would create a combat power vacuum due to lack of ammunition.
Because higher-tier cannons couldn’t use lower-tier ammunition, and relying on his talent to crit one shell per day could never form effective firepower.
But with spare cannons and shells, it was a different story!
This dungeon… at least that pile of ore, must be secured!
By the time he snapped back to attention, Zhou Yi and the others had basically finished their discussion.
Zhou Yi: “…Ignore them. If they truly overestimate themselves, then—we could also use a few cannon fodder.”
No one objected.
It wasn’t that they were cold-hearted, but the terrifying pressure of an elite Tier-2 dungeon forced them to make the most utilitarian choices.
Those three Mobile Cities in the distance might have formed an alliance, but they didn’t even possess the most basic trump card like Tier-1 cannons, nor did they bring an industrial support city like Zhou Yi’s. How dare they covet an elite Tier-2 dungeon?
Having no awareness of their own feeble strength, they couldn’t blame others if they died!
Therefore, even without Jiang Zhixu’s explicit agreement, a tacit understanding had been reached.
Even when the other side tentatively honked their horns in a gesture of friendliness, Zhou Yi and the others chose to ignore them outright.
If they responded or even successfully established diplomatic relations, selling them out later would be a different matter.
“Something’s strange.”
Lei Qing spoke up with a frown. “I told everyone, this dungeon intel was intercepted along with the battle against the *Calamity*.
“The *Calamity* belongs to the Wasteland’s largest掠夺者联盟—’Dawn’. But now, people from ‘Dawn’ are nowhere to be seen!”
His reminder made everyone’s hearts sink.
Given ‘Dawn’s’ greed, it was impossible for them to be indifferent to an elite Tier-2 dungeon.
Their absence could only mean one thing: they were hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity, or… they had a bigger scheme!
“Could they possibly…” Zhou Yi’s voice carried worry, “…have actually gone to attack Rust Town?”
Now, no one dared to assert “absolutely impossible.”
In this barren Wasteland zone, to disregard even an elite Tier-2 dungeon—what reason could there be other than wanting to take a bite out of the fat piece of meat that was Rust Town?
Finally, Lei Qing made the decision: “Rust Town isn’t so easy to take down. Even if ‘Dawn’ throws their full force at it, they couldn’t finish the battle in a day or two.
“We’ll wait and see, let the dungeon officially open. If we can fight, we take it down with overwhelming force; if the situation becomes untenable, don’t hesitate, retreat immediately!”
Everyone voiced their agreement.
“City Lord Jiang, what do you think?”
Finally, Lei Qing proactively called on Jiang Zhixu.
Jiang Zhixu’s gaze returned from the distant Thunder Ore. He put down his binoculars and replied calmly, “I agree. If the situation becomes untenable, I will also retreat.”
It’s just that before retreating, he might have to make a move for that pile of Thunder Ore!