Chapter 17: "You Have Become the Prey"
“By the way, what do you need so much lava spider silk for?” Li Ye asked curiously.
Like him, Li Jin also cast a curious glance.
Lei Jian pondered for a moment, then revealed a design blueprint.
[Level 1 City Accessory – Lava Tread Design Blueprint]
[Item Name: Lava Tread]
[Item Level: Level 1]
[Additional Effects: 1. Increases mobile city traction by 10%. 2. Grants the mobile city climbing ability, with a maximum climbing angle of 30 degrees.]
[Required Materials: 500 units of lava spider silk, 100 units of iron ore]
According to Lei Jian, this was obtained during an assault on a monster town.
“That’s quite an impressive city accessory,” Li Ye nodded silently.
Compared to the regular Level 1 treads produced in workshops, this lava tread was more effective, even granting the mobile city the ability to climb.
Thirty degrees—quite a steep incline.
Before his eyes, a wondrous image appeared: a mobile city resembling a small mountain, nimbly climbing through rugged terrain thanks to its tread chassis.
As per the previous agreement, the remaining spoils would be divided between the Conqueror and Azure at a ratio of 64 to 36.
They smoothly split the iron ore and currency, but when it came to the lava armor, there was some dispute.
Since the Conqueror was the strongest and contributed the most, Lei Jian held more say.
After negotiation, the Conqueror received the city accessory, while Azure was compensated with 300 units of iron ore and 300 units of coal.
Though the compensation was generous, Li Jin couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret—his Azure had just regained its footing and urgently needed to strengthen.
But to be fair, Azure was the weakest among the three-city alliance.
After all, the Tomorrow was the bearer of the wild boss intel and the alliance’s initiator, while the Conqueror was the most powerful.
Overall, he still came out ahead, gaining abundant resources—though what pained Li Jin most was the loss of their gunner, a veteran who had been with Azure for a long time, meaning they now had to train a new one.
Once the spoils were divided, Lei Jian made a request.
His Conqueror, having battled the lava spider queen alone, was now covered in spider silk, unable to move and in urgent need of clearance.
In the wild, a stationary mobile city was highly vulnerable, so Lei Jian asked that, during this time, Azure and Tomorrow escort the Conqueror.
Without hesitation, Li Ye and Li Jin agreed.
After this battle, a certain camaraderie had formed among the three.
In gratitude, Lei Jian glanced at the falcon assault rifle Li Ye held.
“Your Level 1 firearm is good. Help me process some as well.”
Though the Conqueror also had Level 1 firearms, they were submachine guns, less lethal than assault rifles.
Li Ye nodded, and out of goodwill, waived any processing fees this time.
***
In the following days, he took the city camouflage back to the Tomorrow and handed it to Lin Wu for installation, while also taking stock of their own consumption.
During the battle, many lava spiders had climbed onto the deck, including a spider guardian.
The Tomorrow suffered damage to multiple decks and parts, but personnel remained unharmed, though several combatants were injured.
As for the ammo—shells, machine gun bullets, pistol rounds, and falcon assault rifle cartridges—they were expended recklessly, as if money was no object.
A rough tally showed over 400 units of iron ore had been spent in the fight.
Li Ye was taken aback by the high cost of warfare; truly, the saying “When cannons roar, gold flows like water” held true.
During this time, he glanced at the corpse of the lava spider queen and was lost in thought.
The wild boss drop was incredibly rich, enough to sustain three mobile cities.
If the Tomorrow had claimed it alone, it would have been a fortune.
But recalling the battle just fought, he shook his head gently, dismissing the thought.
“Sigh, it’s best not to be so greedy.”
Over an hour later, the Conqueror cleared all the spider silk and regained mobility.
The three parties exchanged their hostages, bid farewell, and set off in different directions.
Mobile cities in the wild rarely travel together; the reason was simple—resources found in the wild were limited, and two cities together were already hard to divide, let alone three.
Li Ye opened his system panel; the epic intelligence had just refreshed.
Its content was...
[Current Data of Human Survivors in the Wasteland Area:]
[Level 1 Mobile Cities: 119]
[Level 2 Mobile Cities: 3]
[Level 1 Fortresses: 16]
[Survivor Towns: 152]
[Survival Convoys: 63]
[Survival Squads: 421]
[Total Population: 173,531]
“This is the kind of content for the epic intelligence?” Li Ye was stunned, then a glimmer of joy flashed in his eyes.
“What excellent intel!”
Now he had a clear and intuitive understanding of the entire wasteland area.
He hadn’t expected there to be as many as 119 Level 1 mobile cities.
And astonishingly, there were even three Level 2 cities.
***
What surprised him most was that the number of survivors in the wasteland still exceeded 170,000—far beyond his expectations.
Yet, with surprise came a sigh.
In three months, the entire wasteland would be destroyed; he wondered how many would survive until then.
After arranging the duty roster, Li Ye retired to his room for a sleep.
When he awoke, it was already night.
The sky was completely dark, and the Tomorrow’s searchlights had long since been activated.
As he stepped out, a thought struck him, and he opened the system panel.
The system cooldown had reset.
[Time until next intelligence refresh: 15 hours 32 minutes 52 seconds]
[Intelligence Count: 5]
Li Ye shook his head softly.
The intelligence would refresh in less than a day, so the value would surely be low—mere trifles.
Since it was nighttime, most aboard the Tomorrow had gone to rest; only a few combatants kept watch, and lookouts had been withdrawn.
Li Ye, freshly awake and full of energy, intended to stroll around the Tomorrow casually.
At that moment, he suddenly heard distant rumbling.
“That sound... could it be from a mobile city?” he wondered.
The next second, a searchlight beam fell upon the Tomorrow.
Li Ye was startled, then turned toward the source.
From the silhouette, it was unmistakably a mobile city.
“Tang Fang, turn on the searchlight and shine it on that city!”
Having shouted this, he dashed toward the lookout tower.
Inside, Li Ye quickly grabbed his binoculars and focused on the approaching city.
On its flag was boldly painted a crimson fanged hunting dog.
He instantly realized.
“That’s... the Crimson Fang?”
At the same time, the other side sounded a whistle:
Two short blasts, two long blasts.
The meaning was clear...
“You have become the prey.”