Chapter 848: Development

4 Long'an Base apron.

Looking at the flat ground, Lin An unexpectedly saw the transport aircraft production line from the Amoeba Insect World among the many newly built factory buildings.

On a whim.

After deciding on the plan to depart in two days, he simply strolled around the base.

Hearing Jing Tian's description, after the base's upgrade, many more spiritual-energy buildings have been unlocked.

After checking the building list, Lin An had thought only exoskeleton armor and a few conventional spiritual-energy vehicles were added.

But he didn't expect that the scene before him was different from what he imagined.

This immediately piqued Lin An's interest.

He originally thought that at least upgrading the base to the third stage or even fourth stage would be necessary to surpass real-world technology and realize the ideal super base.

But looking at it now, the base's development speed has already reached the critical point.

Starting from behind the core fortress.

More than three newly built spiritual-energy towers guard everything except the rear mountain direction; the towering dark-gold city walls stand all around.

At the center of the defense line is a pitch-black factory resembling a giant dragon.

Floating, the constantly moving mechanical arms are quickly assembling spherical flying craft.

On the left side is an underground hangar constructed from spiritual-energy alloy.

Over 61 fighter jets and 102 armed helicopters, fully loaded with ammunition, are silently parked in an underground structure with as many as 11 levels.

In the distance, a technological building like a tank factory is continuously remodeling tanks and armored vehicles.

Over a hundred soldiers wearing exoskeleton armor are solemnly doing adaptation training.

Heads bustling, many engineers in white uniforms gather nearby, recording data.

And the most eye-catching are the scattered spherical flying craft floating in midair.

Its shape is peculiar, with a fully streamlined metal texture, looking like an alien artifact.

Inside, it actually carries a second-level awakened one.

Like a floating submersible, through the translucent arc-shaped front shield, one can faintly see the driver's tense expression.

Looking at everything before him, Lin An couldn't help but a faint smile appear on his face.

According to current statistics, Long'an Base's total population has exceeded 2.7 million, and the number of awakened ones, with the help of potions and enhancements, has reached as many as 420,000.

If not for the spiritual-energy limit, according to Chu An, Long An could even mobilize nearly a million troops in a short time.

In less than a year, from an academy with no industrial foundation whatsoever, Long'an Base has actually become the strongest war fortress of the entire Huanjiang three provinces.

The base's range keeps expanding; without the help of the regulated lands to construct massive underground facilities, the base's range would almost have to expand to the Linjiang suburbs.

Exaggerating a bit, he now can be considered to command 'a million' troops, wielding powerful ground-air forces and possessing a fully formed large legion.

If placed before the apocalypse.

As long as Lin An is willing, a single order is enough to launch a campaign.

This is his own base..

Lin An felt sentimental; who could have imagined that before the apocalypse broke out, he was still worrying about where to borrow money..

He just doesn't know who 'picked up' the batch of supplies he originally bought...

«The 669th load test! Ignition! »

«Boom! Whoosh!! »

Orders were issued layer by layer.

In the center of the open ground.

Behind the spherical flying craft, four vector thrust devices spurt out pale blue high-energy jets, suddenly rushing forward.

The strong wind pressure blew, causing the surrounding staff to instinctively clutch their record notebooks.

What a fast speed.

Lin An raised his eyebrows slightly, his gaze following the flight trajectory as he spread his mental power to detect.

This inconspicuous spherical flying craft, its instantaneous burst speed actually reached Mach 1.5, and this is just the takeoff speed.

Like a streak of flowing light, under the strong thrust, the sphere vanished into the horizon in an instant.

This thing, is it another new creation of Chu An?

According to the information he knows, the spiritual-interference phenomenon worldwide is becoming increasingly severe.

Human side hardly ever launches supersonic fighters anymore, or precision instruments.

On the contrary, the various trainer aircraft and old-style jet fighters eliminated in the last century, thanks to their rugged and durable design, can still exert some effectiveness.

Like the sixth-generation aircraft representing humanity's cutting-edge technology, each takeoff and flight is a gamble with one's life.

Therefore, Lin An inevitably developed a strong interest in this spherical flying craft.

You know, a third-level awakened one also needs to be of the speed type to break the sound barrier.

This thing, its appearance shows the structure is not complicated.

If it could be mass-produced...

However.. four seconds later.

«Boom!! »

The explosion sounded.

Like a heavenly falling object, a ball of scorching firelight accompanied by thick black smoke rose from the distance.

Watching the shouting staff rush to rescue, Lin An couldn't help but his mouth twitched.

Fortunately, the driver seems to be a physique-system awakened one.

Besides looking a bit embarrassed from the explosion, he could still crawl out on his own.

Just looking at his expression, he seemed to wish he could blow himself up on the spot, to stop enduring this "torment".

"What is this?"

Lin An casually asked a somewhat familiar staff member, who presumably had worked at the weapons testing facility.

"Who's speaking!?"

He was startled.

The researcher, who had been frowning while recording data, shuddered all over and only then realized someone was standing beside him.

The gap in will and mental power was too huge; after Lin An casually set up a mental power barrier around himself, nobody present noticed his appearance.

Or rather, they subconsciously overlooked him.

"Who are you!? How did you get in..."

Wait!

As he subconsciously warned and shouted angrily, the researcher suddenly saw that face clearly.

Already startled, he now gaped in shock with his mouth wide open.

Holy shit!? That mask!?

"Lin... Lord Lin An!?"

He trembled.

Holy shit!? I've actually seen a ghost!?

Just like being frightened.

Only see his eyes widened into ovals, and the record sheet he clung to tightly slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

Those nearby, upon hearing his startled cry, also turned to look.

A few seconds later, the rising and falling exclamations almost blew the roof off.

Crowds of personnel gathered; every survivor who could set aside his work rushed over, as if viewing a miracle, surrounding Lin An completely.

Everyone's eyes burned with fervor, excited.

Many even frantically sent messages on the chat channel, privately contacting their own people.

No way.

Even though Long'an Base was built by Lin An himself.

But aside from the early academy folks who had seen him a few times, the later‑joining survivors had hardly ever seen Lin An in person.

Facing a man who had only ever appeared in system announcements, and who was the world's number one strongest.

Who could stay calm!?

This is a genuine legend!

Two minutes later, groups formed, over a thousand fully armed base soldiers, tense‑eyed, began to control the scene.

They formed a human wall, wearing uniform uniforms, the lowest rank among them being Second Level elite troops, blocking the crowd that had rushed over upon hearing the news.

It was unclear whether they feared the crowd might harm Lin An, or worried that an overly frenzied crowd would affect this important figure's mood.

In midair, many armed helicopters patrolling the perimeter began to circle, their alert reports echoing across the base.

Inside the factory, the department heads who had been in a meeting, upon hearing that Lin An was coming for an "inspection," were even more startled and jumped up.

Among them, a middle‑aged man who had just taken charge of the space‑sky project was the most panicked.

My goodness!

Lord Lin An didn't even say a greeting before running straight over to inspect the situation.

Could it be that he's dissatisfied with their work!?

Is it because they've blown up too many aircraft?

Sweating profusely, though he was only a zero‑level, the one specially in charge of R&D now wished he could sprint all the way to Lin An to explain.

In an instant, if viewed from high above.

The entire inner city of the base, with Lin An's location as the core, instantly sprang into motion.

If an unaware person saw this scene, they'd likely think the base had been infiltrated by mutants.