Chapter 362: Dawn City Arrives
6:30
Jinhai, the underground construction base of the Federation Star Port is brightly lit. Giant mechanical arms are operating in an interlaced manner under the dome, building a 300,000-ton starship. Its size is equivalent to that of three Ford-class aircraft carriers. The Dreadnought-class space battleships seem very small in front of it. Welding sparks are pouring down like a rainstorm, illuminating the holographic progress chart suspended in the air - "021 Star-Class Starship·Construction Progress 92%".
Suddenly, all the engineers' communicators lit up at the same time.
"Federation President's authority access - channel cleared."
The air pressure door slid open with a hydraulic sound, and a tall man led a group of people into the star port quickly. In an instant, the noise of the entire D7 star port area seemed to be reduced a bit. He was wearing the navy blue uniform of the highest administrative officer of Dawn City and walked at the front of the crowd. His shoulder line was as straight as the armor-piercing blade on the bow of a ship, and a dark silver blue star badge on his collar shone with a metallic chill under the cold light.
This person is Chu Zhaonan, the former chairman of the Blue Star Federal Parliament and the lord of Dawn City.
At the age of 52, he has a resolute face with a bit of scholarly air and sharp eyebrows, but his eyes are very gentle.
"The current confirmed location of Silent City is 230 kilometers south of Luling. Vice Chairman Zhou has already set off from Dawn City on a transport ship under the escort of the Seraph Team. Accompanying him are Wen Dong from Linglong Group and Jian Xuwei, the head of Finger Group. They are taking the Jinhai Jingkong route and then turning north. They are expected to pass by here in 30 minutes."
The accompanying secretary reported in a low voice. Chu Zhaonan stopped in front of a huge silver-black space engine that was being transported. He glanced over and spoke loudly.
"The progress is a bit slow."
The chief engineer in the crowd nearby had a cold sweat on his neck: "The radiation shielding material has been delayed, Chairman."
"Notify Wen Hui's starship construction team that they need to speed up the process. There are unusual movements in Star Abyss No. 5 again."
"Yes, Chairman."
Chu Zhaonan was then surrounded by a group of people and boarded a special weapons transport ship that was about to fly back to Dawn City. As soon as he sat down in the administrative office, a middle-aged man with a mechanical eye and a suit beside him asked in a low voice:
"Chairman, Silent City is coming to Jinhai. Do we need to strengthen our defenses?"
This middle-aged man is named Luo Ming. He was formerly the head of the Angel Project and is now the director of the Dawn City's superpower department, Seraph.
"Defending against whom?" Chu Zhaonan smiled gently: "Humans?"
"They are here to cooperate and have saved many people along the way. We are in urgent need of a batch of mechanical production capacity. We can't welcome them enough."
Buzz.
The transport ship shook slightly and took off slowly. It flew rapidly towards the direction of Dawn City at night. In the administrative room, in addition to Luo Ming, the Minister of Seraph, there was also Xu Yan, the Senate President and the head of the Underground City Committee. He was a thin old man with gray hair and a suit. He looked at the radar map and said
"Vice Chairman Zhou wants to use the starship construction order to keep Silent City in the suburbs of Dawn City. In addition to providing productivity construction, it can also protect the defense of Star Abyss No. 5 in the northwest. It is a thoughtful consideration."
"That's his business." Chu Zhaonan lowered his eyes, a hint of coldness flashed across his face, and then he said calmly, "Vice Chairman Zhou has to bear such a heavy burden. Thank you for your hard work."
"I'm worried about a conflict between Silent City and Dawn City." Xu Yan said bluntly: "Silent City was involved in Star Abyss No. 5 this time. They must have investigated something and the spearhead will be directed at us."
"Then point it."
After Chu Zhaonan finished speaking, he picked up his mobile terminal and kept flipping through the various briefings. He whispered, "News came from the East China Sea in Jinhe. The Sky-Suppressing Ship of the Phoenix Society's Dawn Center just appeared in the airspace radar. It must be because of the situation in Star Abyss No. 5 that caused a chain reaction around the world."
"Zhentian Ship? Ye Lan?" Xu Yan frowned slightly.
"I don't know if it's Ye Lan or Li Heping now," said Luo Ming, the head of the Seraph. "The Phoenix Society currently only has the 83rd Iron Guard Brigade stationed in Yongcheng Port in the south, responsible for guarding the construction of Unit 2 and Unit 3 of their Emperor Project. There is only one Sky Guard ship and the Enterprise of the North American United Front coming from the Dawn Center in the north. They all traveled at night, which means they think the situation is a little out of control."
"It should be Ye Lan." Chu Zhaonan said with a serious expression: "If it was Li Heping, with his temper, he would have at least brought in five interstellar military heavy fleets, and our outpost would have been destroyed 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 start a war with us, but let's notify Lu Tianye and make some preparations."
"Ye Lan... The commander of the Dawn Center is here in person? And the North American United Front?"
Xu Yan's eyes narrowed when he heard this: "It seems that Zhou Mingyuan and Julius are getting bigger and bigger!"
Xu Yan looked a little gloomy. They were naturally clear about some of the cooperation between Dawn City and Crimson World. The leadership group of Dawn City seemed stable and harmonious, but in fact, he, the Senate President, was as clear as a mirror. At present, all Chu Zhaonan's energy was focused on the Far Star Project. Except for the Dawn Garrison, the Seraph Department and starship construction, all other matters, big and small, were handled by Vice Chairman Zhou Mingyuan. It was not so much factional disagreements as it was that Chu Zhaonan had no intention of managing these things under the doomsday.
Of course, Chu Zhaonan actually turned a blind eye to the cooperation with the Crimson World. His goal was very determined, that is, the Far Star Project must succeed. Even if only one Far Star-class 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 consumed, it didn't matter.
From this point of view, Chu Zhaonan is an absolute pragmatist. The Federation has collapsed, and countless underground city plans have failed disastrously. He knows better than anyone that darkness cannot be defeated. In his opinion, it is impossible to save tens of millions of people and keep the Blue Planet alive. But there is a glimmer of hope if a seed is preserved!
That's why he focused on the Far Star Project, allowing Zhou Mingyuan and Wen Hui of Linglong Group to secretly cooperate with the Crimson World, and remained unmoved by the various high-pressure rule and extreme oppression of Dawn City, and was willing to do anything to succeed.
The atmosphere in the executive hall was silent and cold.
Chu Zhaonan closed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath, and then changed the subject.
"Ignore them for now. What's the situation with the Curtain Breaking Team?"
"Progress is good. It looks like we will conduct the third test flight tomorrow." Seraphim Minister Luo Ming responded.
"We have to speed up. Tell Chu Jing that he must break through the sky curtain within 30 days, otherwise we will replace him."
Cough~
Xu Yan coughed dryly and said in a persuasive tone: "I heard that Colonel Chu Jing has already lived in the institute. If he hadn't been stopped by Luo Feng and the others, he would have been ready to be a test pilot himself."
"Really? This brat is getting more and more outrageous."
Chu Zhaonan's eyes 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. I said that all resources must be tilted towards the Yuanxing Project."
"good."
Xu Yan nodded.
Chu Zhaonan turned around and looked at the two of them. His expression was restrained. The shadow of the light slowly slid across his face. He only heard him say in a low voice:
"I have a feeling that Zhou Mingyuan and his men may have gone too far. Ye Lan's visit this time is just a warning. We don't have much time left."
"Is it possible that Phoenix will declare war on us?" Luo Ming frowned.
"It certainly wasn't the case before. The world was in chaos, and the Phoenix Society was focused on mobilizing and rescuing people. They had no time to engage in internal strife and liquidation. Now... I can only say that you should not underestimate Ye Lan and Li Heping. I know their skills best." Chu Zhaonan said in a calm voice, and his leather shoes clanged out, making a hollow and crisp sound in the administrative hall. He changed the subject:
"However, all their efforts are in vain. Our underground city plan is not feasible, and their prediction of one year and 96 days is also a joke. At the current rate of expansion of Star Abyss No. 5, it may be difficult to even have six months. If we want to keep the flame of human civilization alive, the only way is..."
He came to the table and slapped it with his hand. The sound was sharp.
"Live towards death!"
…
Silent City, aircraft parking area No. 3.
"NC-17, Flying Dutchman, docking complete."
The sound of a mechanical broadcast echoed under the dome. Lin Xian and KIKI walked out of the airlock and saw a battered civilian airship entering the port. Its two rows of ion thruster nozzles were still glowing dark red, and its armor plates were covered with all kinds of horrific scars.
It was obvious that it was not caused by the sharp teeth and claws of an ordinary monster on the ground, but by some giant creature from the air. A crack in the middle almost tore the entire airship in half. The cold front crack in the metal torn metal also carried a strong dark invasion toxin, which was terrifying to see.
"It's so lucky that it can fly back." KIKI looked at the huge crack and couldn't help but say, "It seems that the air is really much more terrifying than the ground."
"There is terrain on the ground and buildings can be used for shelter, but there is nothing in the air." Lin Xian recalled the mountain-like atmospheric mica he saw in Yubei. A tentacle swung over and directly knocked down and shattered the skyscrapers. If they hadn't been lucky, the Infinity would have been flattened by the tentacles that night at Daluo Mountain.
"So I thought that the satellites and space stations in the sky must no longer exist, and I don't know what the situation is with the Nantianmen and Wangyue planetary rings." KIKI said.
Lin Xian heard this and said as he walked: "The Moon-Watching Planetary Ring is the largest platform of our Dragon Country's lunar exploration project. More than 100 countries have joined forces to build it. Its diameter is over 300 kilometers. Such a big thing is hanging in the sky and we can't even see it. Is it blocked by something?"
KIKI couldn't help but frown when she heard it: "It's a bit scary when you put it that way."
"I'm serious." Lin Xian said solemnly, "Except in Xingyuan, the sky can be seen from other places, but that huge sky curtain can block the aircraft. Don't you think it's strange? What on earth can block the entire blue planet?"
"It's not some cosmic monster." KIKI pouted and said, "Then it seems that we can only find out by passing through the giant screen."
Lin Xian nodded, said no more, and walked straight to the berth area that Hu Lushou mentioned.
Before getting close, Lin Xian had already seen a huge Dragon-type transport ship docked in the berth. The hull was intact except for some damage to the armor and the cooling fins on both sides, and some rough repairs. There were no other problems. At this time, Hu Lushou was with Sun Chang and a group of his men surrounding it. Hu Lushou was looking at this 10,000-ton transport ship happily with a small fan in his hand. When he saw Lin Xian coming, his eyes lit up immediately.
"Captain Lin!!"
Hu Lushou ran over with his big golden teeth bared. As soon as he got in front of Lin Xian, he said, "Oh, you're finally here. I thought you weren't interested in such a big thing."
"I'm very interested." Lin Xian glanced at the transport ship and said, "I'll dismantle it tonight, Boss Hu. Thank you very much."
“Tear down…Tear down???”
Hu Lushou thought he had misheard and pointed at the transport ship behind him and said, "Why did you dismantle such a big treasure? It can fly!"
"I know." Lin Xian looked at Hu Lushou with a smile: "But you can also fall."
"Didn't you crash on the Dragon transport ship?" KIKI crossed her arms and looked at him with interest: "Do you want to ride it a second time?"
"Ah, this..." KIKI's words confused Hu Lushou.
“That makes sense, but this…” Hu Lushou looked distressed. You know, this transport ship was a treasure that he had bought with 500 blood essences. He could load all the people in the convoy with this thing and then run all the way to the Dawn Center or even the Pole.
Of course, the prerequisite is that he has the courage to do so.
Hu Lushou actually knew that in the end times, the bigger the flying machine, the more cumbersome it is, especially for ordinary survivors. The danger level is comparable to riding a bicycle towards a group of zombies or feeding monsters with skin and iron. Therefore, ordinary survivors dare not use such vehicles to survive. Even if this transport ship had wheels, it would be better. Unfortunately, this is impossible. It is precisely because of this that he, Hu Lushou, can get one at such a cheap price.
To put it simply, not many people dare to sell, and even fewer dare to buy.
But it is a 10,000-ton aircraft after all. If he had known it was going to be dismantled, he might as well have taken the 500 blood essences and gone directly to Lin Xian. At least it wouldn't be a waste.
Lin Xian knew what Hu Lushou was thinking, but at the moment this big guy was much more useful to him than blood essence. He was worried that he had nothing to devour to upgrade, so he said directly to Hu Lushou
"Lao Hu, I dismantled this thing to build a train, a flying train, which is safer than a transport ship. I know you want to go with us. No problem. I am preparing to form an alliance and your fleet can join in, but the premise is... you have to obey me in everything."
When Hu Lushou heard Lin Xian's words, his eyes gradually began to shine, and his big gold teeth were almost broken. As soon as Lin Xian finished speaking, he nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and said
"OK, that's absolutely OK. Of course, I will follow Captain Lin's arrangements one hundred percent, ten thousand percent. Oh, Captain Lin, you don't know, along the way, your various magical operations have completely conquered me, Old Hu. Just now, you said that...fly..."
"Flying train." Sun Chang reminded.
"Yes, yes, flying train!" Hu Lushou said with his eyes wide open, "If it were someone else, I, Old Hu, wouldn't even listen. Flying train, what kind of international joke is this?"
"But since you said this from your Captain Lin, I, Hu Lushou, believe it 100%. You just led a combined train of more than 500 cars out of Xingyuan. Damn it, you are awesome, Kras. I am convinced. I am 100% convinced. From now on, if you, Captain Lin, say to go east, I will definitely not go west. Is that okay with you?"
Hu Lushou's constant flattery made even KIKI unable to bear it anymore. She looked at him with disdain and said, "Hey, really keep your word."
“It definitely counts!”
"Oh, right." Hu Lushou smiled and came over to look at Lin Xian: "Captain Lin, what exactly is the alliance you just mentioned? I am in this alliance, can I... help you in any way?"
"I haven't thought about it specifically yet, just think of it as joining our Infinity." Lin Xian said bluntly: "As for what to do..."
As he spoke, he looked at Hu Lushou's followers in black suits behind him, smiled at him and said, "Then continue to display your talents."
Lin Xian started walking towards the transport ship, but stopped halfway. He turned around and looked at Sun Chang, whose mechanical arm was thicker than her thigh and whose face was firm and taciturn. Then he asked Hu Lushou:
"I never asked you, what is your relationship with Sun Chang?"
Hu Lushou was stunned when he heard this, and said seriously: "Didn't I tell you, she is my wife."
"Divorced." Sun Chang added
"So what if we're divorced?!" Hu Lushou looked puzzled: "It's the end of the world, and you still want to find another one?"
Sun Chang glanced at him coldly, then crossed her arms like a robot and said indifferently:
"I'm not interested in men."
Lin Xian, KIKI: …
Lin Xian was very shocked at this time. He always thought that Sun Chang was just Hu Lushou's deputy, but he didn't expect that Sun Chang was actually his wife.
After all, it was hard to imagine that Hu Lushou, who was only about 1.7 meters tall, would have a wife who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with wheat-colored skin, explosive muscles, and a pair of unparalleled mechanical arms. When Sun Chang stood in front of Lin Xian, her aura could even overshadow the building...
Seeing the 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, and KIKI followed him all the way.
"Wow, I didn't expect that Sun Chang is actually Hu Lushou's wife. This really opens my eyes..." KIKI said as he followed behind.
"No wonder Sun Chang is different from ordinary deputies. It turns out there is this relationship." Lin Xian also smiled, remembering that Sun Chang had not given Hu Lushou face many times. So this is the case.
"Lin Xian, are you going to devour this transport ship right here in public?"
KIKI asked Lin Xian while walking in the internal corridor of the transport ship.
"One step at a time, starting with the nuclear power engine." Lin Xian said to KIKI, "Please talk to Hu Lushou and pull up the berth area maintenance partition. Don't worry about the others, just let them withdraw."
KIKI nodded, and then Lin Xian went directly to the power compartment of the transport ship, just like he did in Qingshui Town before, and immediately jumped onto the nuclear-powered engine room and began mechanical devouring.
"Last time, we had limited time and could only devour the nuclear power plant. This time, we have to destroy the engine, propulsion array, and the entire transport ship together!"
[Devouring progress 1%]
The light curtain opened in front of him, and Lin Xian's face showed eagerness. Since he had the Mechanical Heart, this was the first time he had swallowed such a large object. The largest one before was a nuclear-powered locomotive, but that was only a few hundred tons.
This Dragon-type transport ship weighs more than 10,000 tons, so even if it has some metal main structures, a large amount of materials can be obtained.
At berth area No. 24, the dragon-type transport ship was quietly docked here. No one knew that at this moment, the transport ship was gradually disintegrating and disappearing from the inside, becoming the nourishment for the upgrade of Lin Xian's Mechanical Heart.
10:30
The dim sky suddenly brightened, and the originally colorful and quiet city was shrouded in sunlight, and the decks of the Silent City began to come alive.
Boom!
With the control of the main bridge, the moving tracks of the Silent City stuck in the muddy valley began to roar, and countless propulsion arrays on both sides of City No. 1 ejected powerful thrust. After the overall weight was reduced, this huge mechanical floating city began to slowly move towards the east with the momentum of an earth-shaking movement.
Uh ah uh ah! !
As the huge roar sounded, a large number of zombies in the mountains, forests, roads and villages along the way began to roar out. However, facing this huge mobile city like a mountain, those zombies were like mosquitoes and flies on the map. Apart from being crushed into the deep soil by the tracks, there were only dense crowds of zombies roaring and crying, and they posed no threat to the city at all.
At this moment, hundreds of people are busy working at the communication tower of Silent City, receiving messages, information packets, and approaching convoys and aircraft from all directions through dark radios and communicators. After obtaining entry permission, those convoys can rush up at high speed through the landing platform at the rear, and after being inspected by the Silent City guards, enter the interior of Silent City.
In a short period of time, many convoys of survivors began to pour in. It seemed that the news that Silent City had left Xingyuan had spread to Luling and Jinhai areas through various long and short waves overnight, and a large number of survivors began to gather.
At this time, on the cloud deck, a large federal transport ship slowly landed under the escort of several aerospace warships.
Outside, Sensu Shun and Amano Ran, along with a group of Silent City's mechanical guards, looked seriously at the "Federal Dawn City" logo on the transport ship and waited quietly.
"He comes with ill intentions." Amano Ran said facing the strong cyclone.
Qian Su Shun, however, looked calm: "It doesn't matter. Before Shinji reveals the purpose of the Crimson World's collusion with them, there will be no fighting. Besides, people from the Phoenix Dawn Center have also come. It's not certain who will be the one to hold back who."
"Xun, be polite."
At this time, Shinji Mochizuki, dressed in a plain robe, slowly walked past him with a calm expression.
"Okay~"
Shinji Mochizuki stood in front of the two of them, looking at the people coming down from the transport ship, and suddenly said to Sensu Shun
"Open the real-time monitoring screen of ACS. Someone from Dawn City should be interested."
Qian Suxun smiled upon hearing this.
"knew."
At this time, Lin Xian, who was performing mechanical swallowing in the engine room of the Dragon-type transport ship in the No. 24 berth area on Deck 3, suddenly received a message from Shinji Mochizuki.
He opened his eyes and a holographic image appeared before him.
A high-standard transport ship opened its hatch at this time, and several people of extraordinary status walked down one by one. Lin Xian frowned slightly. The leader was in his fifties, with slightly frosted temples, but combed meticulously, as if he deliberately retained a trace of majesty. There were a few faint smile lines at the corners of his eyes, as if he was habitually showing gentleness to people all year round. His lips were neither thin nor thick, and were always slightly raised. Even when he was not speaking, he had a kind of elder-like kindness.
Lin Xian immediately felt that this person looked very familiar, but not because he knew him, but because he had only seen this person on TV news.
At this time, a woman walked out behind him. Lin Xian's eyes immediately moved slightly. This was the only one he knew among the group of people.
Jian Xuwei!
(End of this chapter)
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