Chapter 369: Dawn City's Arrival

6:30.

Jinhai, the Federation Starport underground construction base was brightly lit. Giant mechanical arms intersected and operated under the dome, surrounding the construction of a stellar-class starship weighing 300,000 tons. Its scale was equivalent to three Ford-class aircraft carriers; Fearless-class space battleships looked very small in front of it. Welding sparks poured down like a rainstorm, illuminating the holographic progress bar floating in the air—"021 Stellar-class Starship · Construction Progress 92%."

Suddenly, the communicators of all engineers lit up with a logo.

"【Federation Chairman Authority Access—Channel Clearing.】"

The pressure door slid open with a hydraulic sound. A tall man led a group of people and stepped quickly into the starport. In an instant, the noise in the entire D7 starport area seemed to have been lowered by a few notches. He walked at the very front of the crowd wearing the dark blue uniform of the Dawn City Chief Administrative Officer. His shoulder lines were as straight as the bow-breaking blade of a warship, and a dark silver Blue Star emblem on his collar exuded the coldness of metal under the cold light.

This person was none other than the former Chairman of the Blue Star Federation Council, Dawn City Lord Chu Zhaonan.

52 years old, his resolute face carried a bit of the vicissitudes of a scholar. His brows were a bit sharp, but the gaze he revealed was very gentle.

"The currently confirmed location of Silent City is 230 kilometers south of Luling. Vice Chairman Zhou has already set off from Dawn City by transport ship under the escort of the Seraphim team. Accompanying him are Linglong Group's Wen Dong and Fenger Group's leader Jian Xuwei. They are taking the Jinhai clear-air route and then turning north. They are expected to pass through here in 30 minutes."

The accompanying secretary reported in a low voice. Chu Zhaonan stopped in front of a silver-black giant star-sky engine that was being transferred. He swept his gaze over it and said loudly:

"The progress... is a bit slow."

The chief engineer in the crowd had cold sweat oozing from the back of his neck: "The transportation of radiation shielding materials was delayed, Chairman."

"Notify Wen Hui's starship construction team to speed up. The No. 5 Star Abyss has had movements again."

"Understood, Chairman."

Then, surrounded by a group of people, Chu Zhaonan boarded a special armed transport ship prepared to fly back to Dawn City. Just after sitting down in the administrative room, a middle-aged man in a suit with a mechanical prosthetic eye beside him asked in a low voice:

"Chairman, Silent City is coming to Jinhai. Should we strengthen the defense?"

This middle-aged man was named Luo Ming, the former person in charge of the Angel Project, and now the Minister of the Dawn City Ability User Department 【Seraphim】.

"Defend against whom?" Chu Zhaonan smiled gently. "Humans?"

"They are here to cooperate. They saved quite a few people along the way. We are in urgent need of a batch of mechanical productivity now; it's too late to welcome them."

Buzz, buzz.

The transport ship shook slightly and took off slowly, flying rapidly toward Dawn City in the starry night. In the administrative room, besides Seraphim Minister Luo Ming, there was also the Chairman of the Council and person in charge of the Underground City Committee, Xu Yan, a lean old man in a suit with some gray hair. He looked at the radar map at this time and said:

"Vice Chairman Zhou wants to use starship construction orders to keep Silent City in the suburbs of Dawn City. Besides providing productivity construction, it can also guard the defense of the No. 5 Star Abyss to the northwest. It's quite thoughtful."

"That is his business." Chu Zhaonan lowered his eyes, a flash of coldness passed by, and then he said indifferently: "Such a heavy burden, it's hard work for Vice Chairman Zhou."

"I'm worried that Silent City and Dawn City will clash." Xu Yan said bluntly: "Silent City was involved in the No. 5 Star Abyss this time and must have investigated something. The spearhead will point to us."

"Then let it point."

After Chu Zhaonan said this, he picked up the mobile terminal and kept flipping through various briefings, saying in a low voice: "News came from Jinhe Haidong that the Phoenix Society Dawn Center's Zhen Tian ship just appeared on the airspace radar. It must also be because the situation of the No. 5 Star Abyss has caused chain reactions everywhere in the world."

"Zhen Tian ship? Ye Lan?" Xu Yan frowned slightly.

"Don't know if it's Ye Lan or Li Heping," Seraphim Minister Luo Ming said: "The Phoenix Society currently only has the 83rd Iron Guard Brigade stationed at Yongcheng Port in the south, responsible for guarding the construction of their Emperor Project's No. 2 and No. 3 machines. Coming from the Dawn Center in the north, there is only one Zhen Tian ship and the North American United Front's Enterprise. Both are traveling at night, indicating they think the situation is a bit out of control."

"It should be Ye Lan." Chu Zhaonan said with some solemnity: "If it were Li Heping, with his temper, he would have at least brought five interstellar military heavy fleets, and our outposts would have been blown away long ago..."

After saying this, he stood up, walked to the porthole with his hands behind his back, and said loudly:

"They are not here to wage war against us, but notify Lu Tianye to make some preparations."

"Ye Lan... the commander of the Dawn Center came personally? And the North American United Front?"

Xu Yan's gaze condensed when he heard this: "It looks like Zhou Mingyuan and Julius and the others are making things bigger and bigger!"

Xu Yan's expression was a bit heavy. Regarding the cooperation between Dawn City and the Deep Red World, they were naturally clear. The Dawn City leadership group seemed stable and harmonious, but in reality, he, the Chairman of the Council, saw it clearly. Currently, all of Chu Zhaonan's energy was focused on the Deep Space Project. Besides the Dawn Garrison, Seraphim Department, and starship construction, all other matters were handled by Vice Chairman Zhou Mingyuan. Rather than saying the factions were at odds, it was better to say that Chu Zhaonan had no heart for this management in the doomsday.

Of course, regarding the cooperation with the Deep Red World, Chu Zhaonan actually turned a blind eye. His goal was decisive: the Deep Space Project must succeed. Even if only one deep-space starship escaped, it would be a victory for the survival of civilization. As for how many people died, who they cooperated with, and how many resources were exhausted, it was all irrelevant.

From this point of view, Chu Zhaonan was an absolute pragmatist. The Federation collapsed, and countless underground city project disasters failed. He knew better than anyone that darkness could not be defeated. In his view, saving tens of millions of people or guarding the Blue Star was absolutely impossible, but leaving a seed was a glimmer of opportunity!

That was why he focused on the Deep Space Project, let Vice Chairman Zhou Mingyuan and Linglong Group's Wen Hui and others cooperate secretly with the Deep Red World, and remained unmoved by Dawn City's various high-pressure rule and extreme oppression, sparing no cost just for success.

In the administrative hall, the atmosphere was silent and cold.

Chu Zhaonan closed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and then changed the subject:

"Regardless of them, how is the situation with the Screen-Breaking Group?"

"Progress is good. It seems they will conduct the third test flight tomorrow." Seraphim Minister Luo Ming responded.

"Must speed up. Tell Captain Chu Jing that he must break through the Firmament Megascreen within 30 days, or he will be replaced."

Cough~

Xu Yan coughed and said in a persuasive tone: "I heard that Colonel Captain Chu Jing is already living in the research institute. If it weren't for Luo Feng and the others pulling him back, he would have been prepared to be the test pilot himself."

"Is that so? This brat, he's getting more and more out of line."

Chu Zhaonan's gaze flickered slightly when he heard this, and his sharp tone became gentler as he looked at Xu Yan: "Old Xu, find a way to increase the supply of vegetable juice to them by one batch. I said that all resources must be tilted toward the Deep Space Project."

"Good."

Xu Yan nodded.

Chu Zhaonan turned back to look at the two, his expression restrained, and the shadow of the light slid slowly across his face. He said in a low voice:

"I have a premonition that Zhou Mingyuan and the others might have taken things too far. Ye Lan's arrival this time will first be a warning. The time left for us will not be much."

"Is it possible for the Phoenix Society to declare war on us?" Luo Ming frowned.

"Before, it certainly wouldn't have happened. The world is in chaos, and the Phoenix Society's energy is focused on mobilization and disaster relief everywhere; they have no time to engage in internal fighting and liquidation. Now... I can only say don't underestimate Ye Lan and Li Heping. I know their methods best." Chu Zhaonan said indifferently, his leather shoes stepping out with a clanking sound, making a crisp sound in the administrative hall. He changed the subject:

"However, all their painstaking efforts are in vain. Our underground city plan doesn't work, and their 1-year-and-96-day prediction is also a joke. According to the current expansion speed of the No. 5 Star Abyss, I'm afraid even six months will be very difficult. To continue the fire of human civilization, there is only..."

Slap, he came to the table and slapped it, his voice cold:

"Live toward death!"

Silent City, No. 3 Aircraft Parking Area.

"【NC-17 Zone, Flying Dutchman, docking complete.】"

The mechanical broadcast echoed under the dome. Lin Xian and Kiki walked out of the airlock and saw a scarred civilian airship entering the port. The nozzles of two rows of ion thrusters were still glowing dark red, and the armor plates were covered in various terrifying wounds.

One look told them that these were not caused by the sharp teeth and claws of ordinary weird entities on the ground, but by some kind of giant creature from the sky. A crack in the middle almost tore the entire airship in half, and the cold, sharp crack of the metal tearing still carried the strong toxin of dark invasion, which was chilling to look at.

"To be able to fly back like this, the luck is really good." Kiki looked at the huge crack and couldn't help but say: "It seems the sky is really much more terrifying than the ground."

"The ground still has terrain and buildings to hide in; there's nothing in the sky." Lin Xian remembered seeing the mountain-like Atmospheric Mica in Yubei. One tentacle swung over and smashed skyscrapers directly into pieces. If it weren't for their good luck, the Infinite would have been flattened by the tentacles that night at Daluo Mountain.

"So I was thinking, the satellites and space stations in the sky must not exist anymore, and I don't know what the situation is with the Southern Heaven Gate and the Mochizuki Planetary Ring." Kiki said.

Lin Xian said while walking: "The Mochizuki Planetary Ring is the largest platform for our Dragon Country's lunar exploration project, uniting more than a hundred countries to participate in construction. A guy over 300 kilometers in diameter hanging in the sky can't even be seen. Is it blocked by something?"

Kiki couldn't help but frown when she heard this: "Hearing you say that, it's a bit scary."

"I'm serious." Lin Xian said with a solemn expression: "Except for inside the Star Abyss, the sky is visible in other places, but that Firmament Megascreen can block aircraft. Don't you think it's very strange? What exactly is it that has covered the entire Blue Star?"

"Could it be some cosmic monster?" Kiki curled her lips: "Then it seems we can only know after passing through that megascreen."

Lin Xian nodded, said nothing more, and walked straight toward the parking area Hu Lushou mentioned.

Before they even got close, Lin Xian had already seen a huge Dragon-class transport ship docked in the berth. The hull was complete, except for some damage to the armor and the heat dissipation fins on both sides, and some rough maintenance conditions; there were no other problems. At this time, Hu Lushou was surrounding it with Sun Chang and a group of subordinates. Hu Lushou was holding a small fan and looking at this 10,000-ton transport ship happily. Seeing Lin Xian walk over, his eyes lit up instantly.

"Team Leader Lin!!"

Hu Lushou ran to Lin Xian with his gold teeth showing. As soon as he arrived in front of Lin Xian, he said: "Oh, you finally came. I thought you weren't interested in such a big thing."

"I'm very interested." Lin Xian swept his gaze over the transport ship: "I'll dismantle it tonight. Boss Hu, thank you very much."

"Dis... dismantle it???" Hu Lushou thought he had misheard and pointed to the transport ship behind him: "Why dismantle such a big treasure? It's a thing that can fly!"

"I know." Lin Xian looked at Hu Lushou with a smile: "But it can also crash."

"Isn't it because you crashed while driving a Dragon-class transport ship?" Kiki crossed her arms and looked at him with interest: "You still want to sit in it a second time?"

"Ah, this..." Kiki's words instantly left Hu Lushou speechless.

"That is the logic, it's just that this..." Hu Lushou looked pained. He had to know that this transport ship was a big treasure he had traded for 500 blood crystals. With just this thing, he could have loaded up everyone in the entire fleet and run all the way to the Dawn Center or even the Polar Region.

Of course, the premise was that he had the guts.

Hu Lushou actually knew clearly that aircraft were cumbersome in the doomsday, especially for ordinary survivors. The danger level was comparable to riding a bicycle into a zombie swarm—feeding monsters with skin-wrapped iron. So ordinary survivors didn't dare to use such vehicles to survive. Even if this transport ship had wheels, it would be a bit better, but unfortunately, that was impossible. Precisely because of this, Hu Lushou was able to get one at such a cheap price.

Simply put, not many dared to sell it, and even fewer dared to buy it.

But it was still a 10,000-ton aircraft. If he had known it was going to be dismantled, he might as well have taken those 500 blood crystals directly to find Lin Xian; at least it wouldn't have been a waste.

Lin Xian knew Hu Lushou's thoughts, but currently, this big guy was much more useful to him than blood crystals. So he said directly to Hu Lushou:

"Old Hu, I'm dismantling this to build a train—a flying train. It's safer than a transport ship. I know you want to follow us. No problem, I'm preparing to form an alliance. Your fleet can join, but the premise is... everything must listen to me."

When Hu Lushou heard Lin Xian's words, his eyes gradually began to glow, and his gold teeth were almost showing. As soon as Lin Xian finished speaking, he nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and said:

"OK, too OK. That is, of course, 100%, 10,000% listening to all the arrangements of you, Team Leader Lin. Oh, Team Leader Lin, you don't know, along the way, your various god-like operations have thoroughly and completely conquered me, Old Hu. Just what you said just now... fly..."

"Flying train." Sun Chang reminded him.

"Right, right, right, flying train!!" Hu Lushou's eyes widened and he said: "If it were anyone else, I, Old Hu, wouldn't even listen. Flying train—what kind of international joke is that."

"But these words came from you, Team Leader Lin, so I, Hu Lushou, 10,000% believe it. You just led the joint train of over 500 carriages to fly out of the Star Abyss. My goodness, that's awesome. I'm convinced, I'm 100% convinced. From today on, if you, Team Leader Lin, say go east, I absolutely won't go west. Do you think that's okay?!"

Hu Lushou's rainbow farts were so flattering that even Kiki couldn't listen anymore. She gave him a look of disgust: "Hey, really keep your word, okay."

"Absolutely keep my word!"

"By the way." Hu Lushou leaned over smilingly to look at Lin Xian: "Team Leader Lin, the alliance you mentioned just now, what exactly is it? May I ask, in this alliance, can I... help with anything?"

"Haven't thought about it specifically yet. You can just consider it joining our Infinite." Lin Xian said directly: "As for what to do..."

He said this and looked at Hu Lushou's group of subordinates in black suits behind him, smiled at Hu Lushou, and said: "Then continue to exert your talents."

Lin Xian finished speaking and stepped forward, preparing to walk toward the transport ship. He stopped halfway and turned his head to look at Sun Chang, whose mechanical arms were thicker than thighs and who was resolute and taciturn, and then asked Hu Lushou:

"I haven't asked you all along, what is the relationship between you and Sun Chang?"

Hu Lushou was stunned when he heard this and said seriously: "Haven't I said it? She's my wife."

"Divorced." Sun Chang added.

"So what if we're divorced?!" Hu Lushou looked inexplicable: "It's almost the end of the world now, do you still want to find another one?"

Sun Chang gave him a cold look, then crossed her arms like a machine, and said coldly:

"I'm not interested in men."

Lin Xian, Kiki:...

Lin Xian was very shocked at this time. He had always thought Sun Chang was just Hu Lushou's deputy. He didn't expect Sun Chang to be his wife.

After all, it was hard to imagine that Hu Lushou, a 1.7-meter-something skinny dog, would have a wife who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with wheat-colored skin, explosive muscles, and a pair of unparalleled mechanical arms—a muscular Barbie. This Sun Chang stood in front of Lin Xian, and her aura could even cover a building...

Seeing this couple arguing with each other, Lin Xian's eyes twitched slightly, and then he turned around and walked onto the transport ship without saying anything. Kiki also followed along.

"Wow, I didn't expect Sun Chang to be Hu Lushou's wife. I've really opened my eyes this time..." Kiki said behind him.

"No wonder Sun Chang is different from ordinary deputies. It turns out there's this relationship." Lin Xian also smiled, remembering that Sun Chang didn't give Hu Lushou face many times. It turned out to be like this.

"Lin Xian, are you planning to devour this transport ship directly in public?"

Kiki asked Lin Xian while walking in the internal corridor of the transport ship.

"A little bit at a time, starting from the nuclear power engine." Lin Xian said to Kiki: "You help me tell Hu Lushou to pull up the maintenance section of the parking area. Don't worry about anything else, just let them withdraw."

Kiki nodded. Then, like he did in Qingshui Town before, Lin Xian came directly to the power cabin of this transport ship, jumped onto the nuclear power engine room immediately, and began mechanical devouring.

"Last time time was limited, I could only devour the nuclear power pile. This time I'll take out the engine, the propulsion array, and the entire transport ship!"

【Devouring progress 1%】

The light screen in front of him opened. Lin Xian looked eager. Since having the Mechanical Heart, this was the first time he had devoured such a large object. The largest before was only the nuclear-powered locomotive group, but that was only a few hundred tons.

And this Dragon-class transport ship weighed over 10,000 tons in total. Even if it was just some metal main structures, he could obtain a massive amount of materials.

In the No. 24 parking area, this Dragon-class transport ship was docked quietly. No one knew that this transport ship was gradually disintegrating and disappearing from the inside, becoming the upgrade nourishment for Lin Xian's Mechanical Heart.

10:30.

The dim sky suddenly brightened. The originally neon-colored Silent Metropolis was suddenly shrouded in sunlight, and the decks of Silent City began to become active.

Rumble!

With the control of the main bridge, the mobile tracks of Silent City, which were stuck in the mud of the valley, began to roar. Countless propulsion arrays on both sides of the No. 1 city sprayed out powerful thrust. After reducing its own weight as a whole, this massive mechanical floating city began to move slowly toward the east with the momentum of shaking the earth and mountains.

Ugh, ah, ugh, ah!!

As this huge roaring sound rang out, a large number of zombies in the forests and village roads along the way began to roar and rush out. But facing this giant mobile city like a mountain, those zombies were like mosquitoes and flies on a map, except for being crushed into the depths of the mud by the tracks, they could only follow and roar and cry, posing no threat to this city at all.

And the communication tower of Silent City was busy with hundreds of people working at this moment, listening to messages, information packets, and approaching fleets and aircraft from all directions through the dark radio and communicators. After obtaining entry permission, those fleets could rush onto the landing platform at the rear at high speed, and after accepting inspections from Silent City guards, enter the interior of Silent City.

In a short time, quite a few survivor fleets had begun to pour in one after another. It seemed that the news of Silent City leaving the Star Abyss had spread throughout the Luling and Jinhai areas overnight through various long-wave and short-wave radios, and a large number of survivors began to gather.

At this time, on the cloud deck, a large Federation transport ship landed slowly under the escort of several space battleships.

On the outside, Qian Suxun and Tianye Lan stood with a group of Silent City mechanical guards, looking seriously at the "Federation Dawn City" logo on the transport ship, waiting quietly.

"Those who come are not good." Tianye Lan said against the strong cyclone.

Qian Suxun was calm: "Doesn't matter. Before Shinjin uncovers the purpose of the Deep Red World and their collusion, they won't be able to fight yet. Besides, people from the Phoenix Society Dawn Center have also come. Who is holding whom back is not necessarily certain."

"Xun, be polite."

At this time, Mochizuki Shinjin in a plain robe walked slowly past him, his expression indifferent.

"Okay~"

Mochizuki Shinjin stood in front of the two, looking at the people coming down from the transport ship, and suddenly said to Qian Suxun:

"Open the real-time monitoring screen of the ACS. Dawn City people are coming; there is someone who should also be interested."

Qian Suxun smiled when he heard this.

"Understood."

At this time, Lin Xian, who was performing mechanical devouring in the engine room of the Dragon-class transport ship in the No. 24 parking area on the No. 3 deck far away, suddenly received an information pop-up from Mochizuki Shinjin.

He opened his eyes, and a holographic screen appeared in front of him.

He saw a high-specification transport ship opening its cabin door, and several figures who looked extraordinary walked down one after another. Lin Xian frowned slightly. The leader was in his fifties, with frost on his temples, but groomed meticulously, like a trace of authority deliberately retained. There were a few shallow smile lines at the corners of his eyes, as if he were habitually accustomed to showing gentleness to people all year round. His lips were neither thin nor thick, always slightly upturned, and even when he wasn't speaking, he carried a kind of kindness like an elder.

Lin Xian immediately felt that this person was very familiar, but not because he knew him, but because this person could only be seen through television news in the past.

And behind him, a woman followed out. Lin Xian's eyes moved slightly. This was the only one among this group of people he recognized.

Jian Xuwei!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 370 =====