Level 1 Firearms: Falcon Assault Rifle

Having swiftly read through the five pieces of intelligence before him, Li Ye frowned.

Compared to the previous round, this batch of intelligence was clearly far worse. The most valuable entry was only rare-grade intelligence.

But this also confirmed the system's rules.

He rubbed his eyes and pulled himself together as he began analyzing the intelligence.

This time, there was news about Azure again. The Mobile City had regrouped, captured a monster-occupied Mine, and its lord had pulled through.

What interested Li Ye most were the fourth and fifth pieces of intelligence.

Eight Normal Cannons, fourteen Heavy Machine Guns, four convoys, ninety-six Combat Personnel, over one hundred and twenty firearms of various kinds, and even two Level 1 Artillery pieces!

Crimson Hound's armaments were staggering. Such combat strength was already enough to destroy a town at will.

"Are there really Mobile Cities with such high combat strength in the Wasteland Zone?" Li Ye froze.

At the same time, a question gradually spread through his mind.

Why did Crimson Hound have as many as ninety-six Combat Personnel? Did these Combat Personnel work in their daily lives, or did they focus solely on fighting? If it was the latter, how many slaves would they need to support them through labor every day?

Soon, a guess surfaced in his mind.

Perhaps Crimson Hound did not have as many people as imagined. Most of its residents were Combat Personnel.

Their primary way of life was to sustain themselves through war.

Killing monsters, attacking Survivor Towns, seizing resource points, and even hunting other Mobile Cities.

This was far faster than farming, laboring, and gathering resources.

This type of Mobile City was often called a "Predator City."

For now, Li Ye could only pray inwardly that they would not run into Crimson Hound.

Next, he looked at the fifth piece of intelligence.

At dawn the day after tomorrow, a Kobold Merchant Caravan would appear in Thunder Canyon.

There were countless monsters in the wasteland. They were often hostile toward humans and would launch an attack the moment they encountered them. Killing monsters could yield Crystal Coins, materials, weapons, items, and even precious blueprints.

Monster caravans, however, were an extremely rare special case. The monsters within them were all neutral, and humans could freely trade and interact with them.

The Intelligence System had made it perfectly clear: if he gave candles to the Kobold Merchant Caravan, he might be able to trade for something good.

Li Ye nodded thoughtfully. This fifth piece of intelligence was the most valuable one in this round.

Tomorrow's warehouse happened to have two crates of candles stored away. He wondered what good things they could trade for.

After planning Tomorrow's next moves, he slowly headed toward the cockpit.

Following Li Ye's arrangements, everyone was divided into several groups to take turns standing watch. Since night had already fallen and visibility was poor, the people temporarily serving as lookouts in the Watchtower had returned to rest. They would resume their watch at dawn tomorrow.

As Li Ye descended the gangway, he looked around. All he could see was boundless darkness.

The only light came from the searchlights shining ahead and the scattered lights flickering aboard Tomorrow.

Inside the cockpit, Tang Fang was resting with his eyes narrowed, while Old Zhou sat beside him.

When they saw Li Ye approach, they hurriedly stood up.

"Xiao Fang, turn Tomorrow around and head five kilometers northeast," Li Ye said. "After that, we'll go to Thunder Canyon."

Tang Fang and Old Zhou exchanged glances, surprise filling both their eyes.

From their perspective, Li Ye had seemed to awaken some sort of supernatural ability since this morning, allowing him to foresee certain things.

But to people who trusted Li Ye, that was not a bad thing.

Before long, under the searchlights' illumination, an unpolluted Freshwater Lake came into view.

After Li Ye performed a series of operations at the control console, an opening on Tomorrow opened, and a huge pipe extended into the lake.

On the control panel, the amount of Freshwater was slowly increasing.

The Freshwater pumped in would be stored in Tomorrow's Water Tower, which could currently hold three thousand units of Freshwater.

This was only an ordinary Water Tower. A Level 1 Water Tower could store a far more astonishing amount of Freshwater. Unfortunately, Li Ye did not currently have the blueprint for one.

Watching the Freshwater supply gradually rise, Tang Fang and Old Zhou both felt much more at ease.

Li Ye opened the map and carefully marked the location of the Freshwater Lake.

Though it was called a map, it was actually mostly blank, with many areas still unexplored.

While waiting for the Water Tower to fill, the three of them chatted idly.

Then, they all looked toward the same part of the dashboard.

Mobile City Energy Remaining: 11%

"Don't worry," Li Ye said reassuringly. "We still have quite a bit of Level 1 Iron Ore. If it comes down to it, we'll use that as fuel."

A Mobile City's energy supply was quite miraculous. As long as coal, ore, oil, wood and Cloth used for burning, or even trash was fed into it, energy could be replenished.

Trash provided very little energy, while coal and oil provided a great deal.

Tang Fang's brows immediately furrowed when he heard that.

"Brother Li, can we not use Iron Ore?" he said miserably. "That would be such a waste."

Li Ye nodded as well.

Level 1 Iron Ore was an essential resource for Mobile City production and upgrades. Using it as fuel really would be wasteful.

"We still have 11% energy left. That should last us a few more days," he said. "If it really comes to it, then we'll use the Iron Ore."

As he spoke, he lightly patted both of them on the shoulders.

"Get some proper rest. There is still work to do tomorrow."

When dawn came on the new day, Tomorrow arrived at Thunder Creek.

From the Watchtower, Li Ye raised his binoculars and looked into the distance. Before long, he spotted the Kobold Merchant Caravan mentioned in the intelligence.

He immediately used the Speaking Tube in the Watchtower to give Tang Fang orders, telling Tomorrow to approach the Kobold Merchant Caravan.

As the distance gradually closed, he also got a clear look at the entire caravan.

There were more than a dozen kobold merchants in the group. They rode small horses and carried bundles of packages on their backs. What surprised Li Ye was that a group of Kobold Cavalry was actually guarding the caravan on both sides.

"We're so lucky, Brother Li! We actually ran into a monster caravan!" Tang Fang's excited voice came through the Speaking Tube.

Li Ye merely smiled faintly at that.

It was not luck.

Once Tomorrow came to a stop, Li Ye and Old Zhou took two crates of candles and slowly approached the Kobold Merchant Caravan with several Companions.

The kobold merchants had originally been extremely wary, but when they saw the half-crate of candles Li Ye displayed, they all froze. Then they happily jumped off their horses and ran toward him.

Li Ye first took out a candle from the crate and waved it before them experimentally.

"How much is this candle worth?"

After thinking for a moment, one kobold merchant pulled a pitch-black Level 1 ore from its bundle.

"Is this... Shadow Ore?" Li Ye could not help but freeze.

Shadow Ore was a rare resource. Only a rare ore deposit such as a Shadow Ore Vein could produce it, and a single piece could sell for quite a bit of money.

After thinking it over, he handed over half a crate of candles.

"What about this, then?"

Another kobold immediately rummaged through its bundle and pulled out an item as if performing a magic trick.

Item Name: Caravan Portable Travel Refrigerator

Item Level: Level 1

Additional Effect: Energy consumption reduced by 20%

"Half a crate of candles can be exchanged for a Level 1 Item?" Li Ye was astonished.

Though this energy-saving refrigerator was quite good, he had no need for it at the moment.

After thinking for a while, he simply handed over both crates of candles.

"What about this, then?"

This time, all the kobold merchants erupted with excitement. They swarmed around Li Ye, desperately pulling items from their bundles in hopes of trading with him.

Amid the dazzling array of goods, Li Ye noticed something.

Falcon Assault Rifle Blueprint

Item Name: Falcon Assault Rifle

Item Level: Level 1

Additional Effects: 1. Accuracy +2% 2. Damage +6%

Crafting Requirements: 50 units of Iron Ore (Level 1)

"This one's good!" His eyes immediately lit up.