Chapter 11: Roland Fortress

[1. There is an iron ore vein 190 kilometers to the southwest, classified as small-scale, with an estimated yield of 150 units of iron ore. (Intelligence value: common)]

[2. In the lower district of Roland Fortress, a young man who was formerly an artilleryman will be dismissed from his repair shop job. (Intelligence value: excellent)]

[3. The lord of the Conqueror is currently in need of at least 500 units of lava spider silk and is willing to pay a high price. (Intelligence value: rare)]

[4. Forty-five kilometers due north lies a level-1 monster town inhabited by 163 boar-men, equipped with four cannons and eight heavy machine guns. (Intelligence value: rare)]

[5. In one minute, a thunder ore vein will respawn 60 kilometers due south, medium-scale, with an estimated 482 units of ore available for mining. (Intelligence value: superb)]

[6. Refreshing now... (Intelligence value: epic)]

As usual, Li Ye began to analyze the intelligence one by one.

The first piece: a small iron vein to the southwest. Although he was currently short on iron ore, it wasn’t worth making the long journey just to mine 150 units. Most likely, he would have to abandon it.

The second: an artilleryman in Roland Fortress’s lower district. Artillerymen were precisely the kind of talent Li Ye urgently needed, and since he had replenished the ammunition, the cannons could be put back into action. The only problem was that he didn’t know where Roland Fortress was located.

The third: the lord of the Conqueror required 500 units of lava spider silk and was willing to pay a premium. This time, the intelligence mentioned a new mobile city and clearly outlined its lord’s demand.

Lava spider silk was a rare level-1 material dropped by elite level-1 lava spiders. These spiders were enormous—about the size of a table—and specialized in spraying scorching webs to attack foes.

The fourth: a monster town 45 kilometers due north. Monster towns were rare strongholds in the wasteland, often stocked with abundant iron ore, fuel, food, and fresh water, and had a higher chance of producing level-1 items. They were favorite targets for lords seeking resources.

Though tempted by such a rich prize, Li Ye felt some trepidation. After all, the Tomorrow currently had only 24 people aboard, with fewer cannons and machine guns than the monster town. Launching an attack unprepared would be suicidal.

The fifth piece brought a pleasant surprise: a rare ore vein of medium scale! Li Ye’s heart leapt instantly. If he could mine out this vein, it would be a small fortune.

At the same time, urgency gripped him. This thunder ore vein would respawn in just one minute—and it was a full 60 kilometers away. If any nearby survival convoys or mobile cities discovered it first, things would get complicated.

“Tang Fang, head south at maximum speed!” he immediately ordered, waving his hand.

---

Under normal circumstances, a level-1 city’s maximum speed ranged between 50 and 60 kilometers per hour. But if the city had upgraded components, the speed could be even higher.

Then, filled with anticipation, he turned toward the epic-level intelligence that was still refreshing.

“I wonder what it will be this time?”

Almost an hour later, the Tomorrow arrived at its destination. Seeing the thunder ore vein clearly visible in the distance, Li Ye let out a breath of relief.

He immediately ordered everyone aboard the Tomorrow to stop what they were doing and grab pickaxes to begin mining.

Old Zhou and the others were even more excited. As soon as the elevator platform touched down, they rushed forward enthusiastically and started digging energetically.

After two to three hours of toil, the thunder ore vein was finally depleted.

With everyone carrying the ore back to the Tomorrow, Li Ye exhaled deeply. This time, he had mined a total of 483 units of thunder ore.

This rare ore was deep blue, occasionally flickering with electric-like glimmers on its surface.

A bit disappointing was that the vein contained no accompanying thunder crystals.

He planned to find a place to sell this rare ore and use the proceeds to purchase supplies.

However, shortly after the Tomorrow had traveled a short distance, a voice came through the intercom in the cockpit.

“Report: Eight hundred meters to the northeast, a forest has appeared. There’s movement inside—it seems a large creature is on the move.”

“A forest? A large creature?” Li Ye was stunned.

Soon, he realized what was happening and dashed out of the cockpit toward the watchtower.

Through the telescope, he saw the forest.

The forest was entirely fiery red, so vivid it seemed aflame.

Li Ye immediately recognized it: this was the Firefeather Forest mentioned in the intelligence!

He hadn’t expected to stumble upon it while mining the thunder ore vein.

Then, the “large creature” the lookout mentioned must be...

The next moment, a mountainous figure emerged from the Firefeather Forest.

It was a gigantic spider, its entire body glowing bright red with deep crimson veins flowing like molten lava. Its eight eyes burned brightly like blazing furnaces.

A wild boss—the Lava Spider Queen.

---

Accompanying her were a large group of lava spiders and four elite captain-level spider guards.

Everyone aboard the Tomorrow was alarmed. Staring at the Lava Spider Queen prowling in the Firefeather Forest, they were all dumbfounded.

Li Ye also fixed his gaze on the queen.

This was a rare wild boss that could drop a level-2 item!

But at present, the Tomorrow’s strength was far from enough to challenge such a wild boss.

Reluctantly, he withdrew his gaze and waved to the others.

“Let’s move on.”

---

Half an hour later, Li Ye unexpectedly encountered a convoy.

The convoy leader was none other than Lin Xia, whom he had rescued from the corpse horde before.

“Didn’t expect to see you again!” Lin Xia rolled down her window and waved. “We just finished an exploration and are heading back. If you’re planning to purchase supplies, you can come to our fortress.”

Li Ye’s mind stirred.

Lin Xia’s offer was not bad.

With the lord’s daughter vouching for him, visiting Roland Fortress should be no problem.

He could sell the batch of freshly mined thunder ore there, buy supplies, and recruit the artilleryman in the lower district.

The fortress’s supplies were probably abundant, and he might even find frost ore and frost crystals needed to craft frost cannons.

Three hours later, the Tomorrow followed Lin Xia’s convoy to Roland Fortress.

Roland Fortress was located within a mining district, near a freshwater lake, surrounded by vast fields.

Guarding the fortress was a row of massive walls several tens of meters high, mounted with rows of cannons and heavy machine guns, with numerous armed guards patrolling. The walls had several small gates and one massive main gate.

Seeing this, Li Ye couldn’t help but feel envious.

The fortress’s strength was indeed formidable.

The guards, recognizing Lin Xia’s convoy accompanied by the Tomorrow, relaxed their vigilance.

Lin Xia parked her vehicle, got out, and explained the situation to the guards. They nodded and opened the huge gate to let the Tomorrow in.

At the first glance inside Roland Fortress, Li Ye was taken aback.

It looked less like a fortress and more like a mobile city that had removed its tires and tracks and was stationed right there!