You Have Become Prey

"By the way, what do you want so much Lava Spider Silk for?"

Li Ye asked curiously.

Like him, Li Jin also cast over a curious look.

Lei Jian pondered for a moment, then displayed a blueprint.

Level 1 City Component—Lava Treads Blueprint

Item Name: Lava Treads

Item Level: Level 1

Additional Effects: 1. Increases the traction of a Mobile City by 10%. 2. Grants the Mobile City climbing ability, allowing it to climb slopes of up to 30 degrees.

Materials Required: 500 units of Lava Spider Silk, 100 units of Iron Ore

According to Lei Jian, he had obtained this while attacking a monster town.

"That's quite a good city component." Li Ye nodded inwardly.

Compared to the Level 1 treads normally upgraded in the Production Workshop, the Lava Treads had better effects. They could even grant a Mobile City climbing ability.

Thirty degrees was already a considerable incline.

A wondrous scene seemed to appear before his eyes: a Mobile City the size of a small mountain, using the treads on its city chassis to nimbly climb through the mountains.

According to their previous agreement, the remaining spoils would be divided between the Conqueror and the Azure in a six-to-four ratio.

The two sides had divided the Iron Ore and Crystal Coins smoothly, but when it came to the Lava Armor, they had some disagreements.

Since the Conqueror was the strongest and had contributed the most, Lei Jian had greater say.

After some negotiation, the Conqueror obtained the city component. As compensation, the Azure received 300 units of Iron Ore and 300 units of Coal.

Although the compensation was substantial, Li Jin could not help feeling a little regretful. The Azure had just regained its footing and urgently needed to increase its strength.

But in all fairness, the Azure had been in the weakest position among the Three-City Alliance this time.

After all, the Tomorrow was the holder of the information about the Wild BOSS and the initiator of the alliance, while the Conqueror was the strongest side.

Still, he had profited this time, obtaining quite a few resources. The only thing that pained Li Jin was that the Azure had lost its gunner. He had been a veteran member who had served the Azure for a long time, and now they had to train a replacement all over again.

After the spoils had been divided, Lei Jian made a request.

Since he had single-handedly held off the Lava Spider Queen during the battle, the Conqueror was now completely wrapped in spider silk and could not move an inch. The silk needed to be cleared away.

In the wilderness, a Mobile City that could not move was in great danger, so Lei Jian asked the Azure and the Tomorrow to escort the Conqueror during that time.

Li Ye and Li Jin agreed without hesitation.

After experiencing this battle, the three sides had forged some degree of comradeship.

After expressing his thanks, Lei Jian glanced at the Falcon Assault Rifle in Li Ye's hands.

"That Level 1 firearm of yours is pretty good. While you're at it, make some for me too."

The Conqueror actually had Level 1 firearms as well, but they were submachine guns, whose stopping power was inferior to that of Assault Rifles.

Li Ye nodded. Out of goodwill, he did not charge any processing fees this time.

Afterward, he brought the City Camouflage back to the Tomorrow and had Lin Wu install it. He also made a simple inventory of his side's expenditures.

During the battle, quite a few Lava Spiders had crawled onto the deck, including a Spider Guard.

Several parts of the Tomorrow's deck and hull had been damaged. No personnel had been lost, but several combat personnel had been wounded.

As for the artillery shells, machine-gun ammunition, pistol ammunition, and Falcon Assault Rifle ammunition consumed, shells and bullets had been sprayed out like they were free from the very beginning of the battle.

A rough calculation showed that this battle had cost more than 400 units of Iron Ore.

Li Ye could not help clicking his tongue. The cost of war really was high. It truly lived up to the saying, "When the cannons roar, ten thousand taels of gold are spent."

During this time, he glanced at the Lava Spider Queen's corpse and fell into thought.

The Wild BOSS's drops were far too abundant. They could actually feed three Mobile Cities.

If the Tomorrow had taken it down alone, they would have struck it rich.

But recalling the course of the battle, he gently shook his head and abandoned the thought.

"Forget it. I shouldn't be so greedy."

A little over an hour later, the Conqueror had cleared away all the spider silk and restored its power.

The three sides exchanged their respective hostages, bid each other farewell, and set off.

The three Mobile Cities headed in different directions.

In the wilderness, Mobile Cities generally had no intention of traveling together. The reason was simple: the resources found in the wilderness were limited. Two Mobile Cities traveling together would barely have enough to divide, let alone three.

Li Ye opened the system panel. The Epic Intelligence had refreshed.

Its contents were:

As of now, the human survivor data in the Wasteland Zone is:

Number of Level 1 Mobile Cities: 119

Number of Level 2 Mobile Cities: 3

Level 1 Fortresses: 16

Survivor Towns: 152

Survival Convoys: 63

Survival Teams: 421

Total Population: 173,531

"This time, the Epic Intelligence Report is actually this kind of information?"

After his astonishment, a trace of delight flashed through Li Ye's eyes.

"This is great intelligence!"

He now had a clear and intuitive understanding of the entire Wasteland Zone.

He had not expected there to be as many as 119 Level 1 Mobile Cities in the Wasteland Zone.

There were even three Level 2 Cities.

What surprised him most was that the Wasteland Zone still had more than 170,000 survivors, far beyond his expectations.

After his surprise, he sighed again.

The entire Wasteland Zone would be destroyed in three months. He did not know how many people would still survive.

After arranging the personnel on watch, Li Ye returned to his room and slept.

When he woke again, he found that night had already fallen.

The sky was completely dark, and the Tomorrow's searchlights had long since been switched on.

As he left his room, Li Ye thought of something and opened the system panel.

The system's cooldown had finished.

Time until the next intelligence refresh: 15 hours 32 minutes 52 seconds

Number of intelligence entries: 5

Li Ye could not help shaking his head.

This intelligence refresh had taken less than a day, so its value should not be very high either. They were probably all just scraps.

Since it was already nighttime, most people aboard the Tomorrow had gone to rest. Only a few combat personnel remained on night watch, and the lookouts aboard the Tomorrow had also withdrawn.

Having just woken up, Li Ye was in high spirits and planned to take a casual stroll around the Tomorrow.

Just then, he suddenly heard a faint rumble coming from the distance.

"That sound seems to be coming from a Mobile City?" he said doubtfully.

The next second, a searchlight shone onto the Tomorrow.

Li Ye froze, then looked toward the direction from which the searchlight had come.

Judging by its outline, it was clearly a Mobile City.

"Tang Fang, turn on the searchlight and shine it toward that Mobile City!"

After shouting this, he immediately dashed toward the Watchtower.

Once inside the Watchtower, Li Ye quickly picked up the binoculars and looked toward the Mobile City.

A banner on that Mobile City prominently displayed a completely scarlet, fanged hound.

He realized it instantly.

"This is... the Crimson Hound?"

At the same time, the other side sounded its steam whistle.

Two short blasts, two long blasts.

The meaning was:

"You have become prey."