Chapter 986: Space Graveyard

Chapter 986: The Space Graveyard

The production at Base 100 was well underway and in full swing.

Fighting hard at their posts were not only three hundred thousand "Cross Spider" engineering robots, but also nearly three thousand workers and engineers!

They were almost the very top industrial talents from across the entire Alliance!

Some of them came from the distant Ideal City, others from Port Evernight in the Southern Hemisphere, or from shelters within the Great Desert, as well as wastelanders who had learned advanced knowledge at Camp 101, among many others.

Faced with the threat of the impending apocalypse, the Dawn City Industrial Center, which gathered the strengths of a hundred schools of thought, once again displayed its shocking and terrifying production capacity to the major survivor factions on the wasteland.

No sooner had the "Cross Spiders" in the southern industrial park stepped off the assembly line than they were fitted with batteries and loaded directly onto trucks to be sent into the casting pits of Base 100.

From the engineering machinery welding steel to the screws in the casting pits, every single unit operating on the production line, whether human or machine, was running to its absolute limit.

That terrifying industrial throughput had even briefly strained the transport capacity and resources of Leaf City, which served as a railway transportation hub.

And this situation, where transport capacity could not keep up with productivity, had never occurred even during the most burning and anxious days of the war with the Southern Legion.

In the Manager’s office of the Alliance Building, Song Xuelin, the Minister of Industry, reported the work progress of this period to Chu Guang.

"...At present, all production units of our 'Vertical Casting Pit 100' have been activated. The first near-orbit defense platform is currently in production. The estimated construction period is three months, and if we are fast, delivery can be completed by early June!"

The near-orbit defense platform was a defensive countermeasure jointly discussed and agreed upon by professionals from various industries of the Alliance, the Academy, and the Enterprises during the meetings, provisionally named the "Trench" project.

Namely, deploying defense platforms equipped with electromagnetic railguns and high-power laser weapons on several near-Earth orbits.

These defense platforms were viewed as replacements for orbital debris.

They could act like sampans floating on the periphery of a port, preventing medium- and long-range strategic weapon strikes through electromagnetically accelerated mass shells.

Although Chu Guang knew very well that this production speed was already astonishing enough, thinking of the current pressing situation, he still could not help but frown slightly.

"One ship every three months?"

Song Xuelin said with a bitter smile.

"This is a massive systemic project. Being able to do one every three months is entirely thanks to the help of the Academy and the Enterprises... This speed is actually already very fast."

Pausing for a moment, he then immediately followed up.

"Currently, the relevant industrial chain is still in the breaking-in phase, and the technical personnel on the production line are not yet proficient. The first one might be a bit slower, but once the first one is completed, we should be able to speed up."

Chu Guang nodded, saying nothing more on this issue.

Some matters could not be rushed no matter how urgent they were.

Especially strategic materials.

He was well aware that any pressure he exerted on those below would ultimately be transmitted down level by level and magnified at each stage.

Once the people below truly rushed the work because of his pressure, the final result would highly likely be a compromise in quality.

That was something he was even more unwilling to see.

Seeing that Chu Guang did not continue to find fault with the construction period, Song Xuelin finally breathed a sigh of relief, flipped through the documents in his hand, and continued to report.

"In addition, there is the problem with logistics... Currently, the railway network in the central part of the River Valley Province is already operating under overload conditions. Although we possess a large number of mines and steel plants in the controlled areas outside the River Valley Province, the regional transport capacity of Dawn City has begun to be stretched thin."

"Not enough transport capacity?" Chu Guang looked at him in surprise, straightening up from his office chair with slight astonishment, "Wasn't there a surplus of more than 30% before?"

Railways were the blood vessels of the Alliance's industry. He had been focusing on developing the Alliance's railways since the Chew-Bone Rebellion, and had even specially planned Leaf City as a hub for the exchange of materials from the east, west, south, and north just to ensure smooth logistics for the Alliance.

It was precisely because of his measure back then that the later Alliance possessed the potential to radiate its influence toward Sunset Province, Jinchuan Province, and even the more distant Seacliff Province.

After all, even if the players could walk incredibly far relying on just their two legs, it would mean absolutely nothing if the Alliance's equipment and logistics could not get through.

If that were the case, a vast amount of time would probably be wasted waiting for respawns.

Chu Guang had even thought that Dawn City's controllable fusion reactor might run tight, but he had never imagined that those dense rows of railway lines would experience a strain on transport capacity.

The manufactured products could not be transported in?

Was this a situation that could actually happen on the wasteland?

Looking at Chu Guang's astonished expression, Song Xuelin said with sweat on his forehead.

"This... is indeed our dereliction of duty. Originally, we judged that the growth rate of productivity would be able to match the perfection speed of our railway network, but the actual capacity shown by Casting Pit 100 exceeded our expectations. Its industrial throughput is almost equivalent to the entirety of the Dawn City Industrial Zone, and its occupation of transport capacity is naturally the same..."

The back foot failing to keep up with the front foot was quite something.

Hearing the answer from the Minister of Industry, Chu Guang was temporarily at a loss whether to laugh or cry, not knowing whether he should be happy or sigh.

However, Song Xuelin was right about one thing; failing to take this into account was indeed a dereliction of duty by the industrial department.

"This kind of thing must be prepared for in advance, we cannot wait for the problem to happen before thinking of a way. Those who need to write self-criticisms will write them, but for now, let's first think about how to solve this problem."

Song Xuelin nodded, sweating profusely.

"Yes..."

Without continuing to make things difficult for him over the mistake that had already occurred, Chu Guang gently tapped his index finger on the armrest of his office chair, pondered for a moment, and spoke.

"Casting Pit 100 cannot be moved, so we can only find a way from other places... What do you think if we transfer a portion of the production capacity to the coast of the Death Coast in Seacliff Province? I was already considering this matter before."

Song Xuelin said cautiously.

"I thought so too, but considering that the settlements there are, after all, still in their early developmental stages, I am worried that the local area cannot bear such a massive industrial relocation..."

"There's no need to worry about that," looking at the hesitant Minister of Industry, Chu Guang smiled and said, "Our Dawn City was also appointed at a time of peril in the beginning, built up from a wilderness where there was nothing. Although the situation is severe now, it is far better than it was in the early years!"

"Moreover, I have personally visited the Death Coast! Although the survivors there come from all corners of the world, they are not inferior to the survivors of Shuguang City and Dawn City. In fact, they are even more knowledgeable and full of vitality than the latter. I believe they have the ability and confidence to shoulder the mission bestowed upon them by the times."

"Since you think so highly of them, then I have nothing more to add," Song Xuelin said with a smile, "I will convene an industrial meeting as soon as possible and strive to come up with a concrete plan early on."

Chu Guang nodded with a smile.

"Go ahead."

For the Alliance, the move of shifting industries southward was actually inevitable, and they had even been making preparations in this regard since a long time ago.

Container freight inherently possessed more advantages than railway transport, and an industry like aerospace naturally preferred to be closer to the space elevator.

The greatest role of Vault 100 was actually to serve as an incubation base for the Alliance's aerospace industry, just like the Seed Factory in the northern suburbs of Qingquan City.

Chu Guang's expectation for it was not merely to build a few near-orbit defense platforms.

It had the potential to give birth to a whole forest.

...

Deep within the Great Desert, the center of the Old World.

Rolling sand dunes had swallowed the endless city clusters, leaving only the everywhere-visible ruined walls and broken debris to record the prosperity of the past.

Beneath a rust-mottled, colossal steel structure, a battle-damaged off-road vehicle sped across the sand dunes.

After bypassing several pieces of debris from a space elevator, the off-road vehicle finally stopped in front of an abandoned building.

Just as the off-road vehicle came to a steady halt, roughly twenty-odd soldiers wearing exoskeletons walked out from the shadows of the nearby ruins, surrounding the vehicle in the middle.

The door of the off-road vehicle pushed open, and a damaged piece of power armor stepped down from the vehicle, raising both hands to indicate he meant no harm while unlatching the visor of his helmet, revealing the face belonging to Malik, the captain of the "Desert Scorpions."

"Don't be nervous, one of your own."

Seeing Malik's face, the leading soldier did not lower his guard; instead, he raised a clenched fist alertly.

Rifles were instantly raised one after another, aiming at "Malik" standing beside the off-road vehicle, waiting only for an order to riddle him with holes.

The medical miracle lying in the trunk saw the situation outside through the gap and couldn't help but let out a muffled "Holy shit."

Was he blown?!

Facing those pitch-black muzzles, "Malik," with his hands raised, wore an expression of utter indifference, his eyes fixed on the lead soldier.

"I need an explanation."

The soldier sneered, his rifle aimed straight at the bridge of his nose.

"Explanation? You're the one who needs to explain, Lieutenant Malik. You'd better account for your whereabouts over the past week."

Hearing this, Zhuang Lan felt a slight relief inside, but kept her face blank as she continued.

"I was ambushed by the Alliance while carrying out a mission in the southern Great Desert. I spent the whole week evading their pursuit. I'll naturally clarify the specifics to my Army Operations Division... I just didn't expect that after barely escaping with my life, I'd come back to face my own people's guns."

These words seemed to have some effect; the soldiers surrounding them exchanged glances, and though their muzzles didn't lower, the killing intent noticeably diminished.

The lead soldier was no exception.

He eyed Malik with a mix of doubt and belief, slowly lowering his rifle.

"You didn't defect?"

"Have you ever seen a defector come back willingly?" Malik stared at him, his face dark. "I did screw things up, but it's not entirely my fault. Who would've thought that when we reached our destination, we'd run into not the Watchers' little rats, but a fully armed regular force?"

"We had no preparation at all. Valen died on the spot, along with several of my squads. I almost bought it there myself! Damn... I even suspect that signal was a trap dug by the Alliance from the start. The intelligence system should take at least half the blame!"

His indignant expression didn't seem fake, as if he'd truly been screwed over by his own side.

The medical miracle, hiding in the trunk and watching a good show, couldn't help but marvel—though his turn hadn't come yet, he already felt... as if he were really a prisoner.

The lead soldier stared intently at Malik, and in the balance between trust and suspicion, the former ultimately prevailed.

He waved his hand, and two soldiers in exoskeletons stepped forward to inspect the off-road vehicle, then flung open the trunk, revealing the figure tied up like a dumpling, writhing with effort.

"Who's this?"

"Alliance personnel," Malik said, a grim smile cracking his stoic face. "I caught this unlucky bastard while fleeing. Too bad the pursuers were too close—I didn't get a chance to pry anything out of him."

By now, the soldier on duty was mostly convinced.

He waved at the soldiers near the off-road vehicle, signaling them to take the prisoner away, then turned back to Malik.

"I just contacted Internal Affairs. They were surprised you made it back alive. They probably have a pile of questions waiting for you."

Malik gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"Guess I was already a dead man in their eyes."

"Don't think like that, brother," the soldier said sympathetically, glancing at Malik's raised hands. "Put your hands down. Welcome home."

Malik lowered his hands and shook the soldier's extended right hand.

As he let go, the soldier suddenly pulled out a gun-shaped scanner and swept it over both of Malik's eyes.

Anyone unfamiliar with the Enlightenment Society might mistake it for a pistol and overreact, blowing their cover.

But Malik knew these procedures too well; such a test was utterly useless against him and almost made him want to laugh.

"Believe me now?" Malik taunted, watching the soldier fiddle with the iris scanner.

"Don't take it personally, just routine," the soldier said with a smile, pocketing the scanner. "Please follow me, Lieutenant Malik."

Malik glanced at the prisoner being led away and asked casually.

"What about that prisoner?"

The soldier smiled.

"You don't need to worry about him. Just leave him to us."

Malik added a remark.

"Make sure you interrogate him thoroughly."

The soldier grinned wickedly.

"Don't worry, we won't go easy on him."

Seeing that grin, Zhuang Lan's heart twitched slightly, but she didn't plead for the prisoner.

Any words now would be superfluous—they wouldn't help the Alliance friend and might ruin the entire plan.

She was now Lieutenant Malik, a disciple of the Enlightenment Society, an active-duty officer of the "New People's Union" regime, and the captain of the Desert Scorpions.

Without another word, she put on Malik's mask and strode confidently behind the guiding soldier, like a warrior who had lost with honor, heading toward the entrance of the legendary Vault 13.

Meanwhile, thirty-six thousand kilometers from Earth, a silver-gray research ship was slowly drifting through an asteroid belt made of space station wreckage.

Those shattered alloy structures stood like uninscribed tombstones, silently erected in a quiet graveyard.

Compared to those grand mega-structures, the Academy's research ship looked like a child's toy.

Sitting in the pilot's seat, Jiang Xuezhou's face was etched with tension.

The deflector shield could deflect space debris, but it was useless against junk larger than the ship itself.

Their luck was bad—just as they were about to reach their destination, they hit this "debris belt" crossing the geostationary orbit.

But they had no time to wait for the debris to drift past; they had to grit their teeth and push through.

Unlike Jiang Xuezhou, who was navigating nervously along the edge of the mega-structure, Ye Shi, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, was like a tourist, his jaw dropped in awe at the magnificent space debris outside the cockpit.

Everything before him shattered his preconceptions of space junk.

He had imagined space debris the size of soda cans, but now it felt like moon-sized objects were slamming into his face.

That was an exaggeration.

The space station wreckage here couldn't possibly be as big as the moon.

But it was at least the size of an aircraft carrier or two.

Earth's most advanced spacecraft looked like dandruff on a giant's head, and the so-called "Eye of Humanity" was smaller than a decent-sized piece of debris.

A wonder!

Faced with this sight, that was the only word Ye Shi could think of.

"Holy shit..."

Jiang Xuezhou glanced at him from the pilot's seat, a faint smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

What she admired most was the look of wide-eyed amazement on his face.

"Dream City."

Ye Shi looked at her blankly.

"What?"

"Dream City, one of the miracle structures of the Prosperity Era," Jiang Xuezhou said slowly as she maneuvered the ship. "They say it was a permanent space station with artificial gravity and day-night cycles... at least, that's what the ads claimed."

Ye Shi scratched his helmet.

"Why does that name sound so much like Ideal City?"

Jiang Xuezhou gave a faint smile.

"Is it possible that the name 'Ideal City' was something they borrowed from the history of the Prosperity Era and slapped onto themselves?"

Similar cases were actually quite common.

Take Avent City, for instance.

In the history of the Velantians, this settlement was named after a soldier who conquered it, but that didn't explain why it was already called Avent City before the Legion took it over.

According to the Academy's historical research, the settlement actually got its name from a pre-war housing complex; the local survivors simply kept the old name for convenience, and any so-called special meaning was something the Velantians added later.

As a major survivor faction on the wasteland, Velantian culture was in fact influencing the Common Human Language.

Ye Shi stared blankly at Jiang Xuezhou.

"...Is that really a thing?"

"It's just speculation—take it with a grain of salt," Jiang Xuezhou said with a shrug. "I've heard that quite a few people on the Zhiyuan were investors who bought pre-sale units in Dream City... because according to Dream City's business plan, that space megastructure would regularly cruise between Earth and Proxima Centauri."

Ye Shi couldn't help but sigh.

"...That's just insane."

Jiang Xuezhou nodded in agreement, then turned her gaze back to the deep space beyond the cockpit.

"It is. But considering the era, graviton technology had already made major breakthroughs, warp drives were delivering ever larger payloads, and spacecraft were traveling farther and farther—it's not surprising people thought that way. People in the Old Era dreamed of colonizing Mars with chemical rockets, and they almost succeeded. There's nothing laughable about it."

"Haha..." Ye Shi let out a dry laugh, feeling oddly caught in the crossfire.

But Jiang Xuezhou didn't notice his expression; she just took a deep breath and said in a calm tone.

"Notify your teammates to get ready..."

"We're almost there."