Chapter 11: Roland Fortress

【1. There is a small Iron Ore Vein 190 kilometers southwest, estimated to yield 150 units of iron ore. (Intelligence Value: Common)】 【2. In the lower district of Roland Fortress, a young man will be dismissed from the repair shop where he works. He used to be a Gunner. (Intelligence Value: Excellent)】 【3. The Lord of the Conqueror currently needs at least 500 units of Molten Spider Silk and is willing to purchase at a high price. (Intelligence Value: Rare)】 【4. There is a Level 1 Monstrous Town 45 kilometers due north, inhabited by 163 Boarmen, equipped with 4 Cannons and 8 Heavy Machine Guns. (Intelligence Value: Rare)】 【5. One minute from now, a Thunder Ore Vein will refresh 60 kilometers due south. The vein is medium-sized and expected to yield 482 units of Ore. (Intelligence Value: Excellent)】 【6. Refreshing... (Intelligence Value: Epic)】 As usual, Li Ye began analyzing the intelligence one by one. The first piece of intelligence: a small Iron Ore Vein in the southwest. Although he currently lacked iron ore, it wasn’t worth going all that way just to mine 150 units. Most likely, he would give it up. The second piece of intelligence was about a Gunner in the lower district of Roland Fortress. A Gunner was precisely the talent Li Ye urgently needed. Moreover, he had already replenished the shells and could put the Cannons back into combat. The issue, however, was that he didn’t know where Roland Fortress was. The third piece of intelligence: the Lord of the Conqueror needed 500 units of Molten Spider Silk and was willing to buy at a high price. Once again, a new Mobile City appeared in the intelligence, and its Lord’s needs were clearly listed. Molten Spider Silk was a rare Level 1 material dropped by Level 1 elite monsters—Molten Spiders. Molten Spiders were extremely large, roughly the size of a table, and specialized in spraying scalding silk to attack enemies. The fourth piece of intelligence: a Monstrous Town located 45 kilometers due north. Monstrous Towns were rare monster strongholds in the Wasteland Zone and often stored large quantities of iron ore, fuel, food, freshwater, and had a higher probability of producing Level 1 items. They were the most favored resource points for Lords to attack. Although tempted by this juicy target, Li Ye felt somewhat apprehensive. After all, the Tomorrow had only 24 people onboard, and their Cannons and Machine Guns were outnumbered. Launching an attack recklessly would lead to disaster. The fifth piece of intelligence gave him a pleasant surprise. A rare Ore Vein—and it was medium-sized! Li Ye’s heart instantly pounded with excitement. If he could fully mine this vein, he’d strike it rich. He immediately became anxious. That Thunder Ore Vein would refresh in just one minute and was sixty kilometers away. If a nearby survival convoy or Mobile City discovered it, that would be a disaster. “Tang Fang, drive south at maximum speed!” he waved his hand at once. Normally, a Level 1 city could reach a top speed of 50–60 kilometers per hour. But if the city parts were upgraded, it could go even faster. Then he eagerly turned to look at the still-refreshing Epic intelligence. “I wonder what it’ll be this time?” About an hour later, the Tomorrow arrived at the destination. Upon seeing the Thunder Ore Vein appearing intact in their field of vision, Li Ye let out a sigh of relief. He immediately ordered everyone on the Tomorrow to stop whatever they were doing and grab their Mining Pickaxes to get to work. Old Zhou and the others were far more excited than Li Ye. As soon as the lifting platform hit the ground, they rushed out and started digging enthusiastically. After two or three hours of hard work, the Thunder Ore Vein was finally fully mined. Once everyone returned to the Tomorrow carrying the ore, Li Ye breathed another sigh of relief. This time, he had mined a total of 483 units of Thunder Ore. This rare ore was dark blue all over, with flickers of electric light shimmering across its surface. Unfortunately for Li Ye, this Thunder Ore Vein didn’t come with any accompanying Thunder Crystals. He planned to find a place to sell off this batch of rare ore and use the proceeds to purchase supplies. However, not long after the Tomorrow set off again, the speaking tube in the Cockpit carried the voice of the Lookout. “Report—800 meters northeast, there’s a forest. There’s movement in the forest, seems like something big is moving.” “A forest? Something big?” Li Ye was stunned. He quickly realized something and rushed out of the Cockpit toward the Watchtower. Through his binoculars, he saw the forest. The forest was fiery red throughout, its colors so vibrant they looked like flames. Li Ye instantly realized that this was the Firefeather Forest mentioned in the intelligence! To think he’d stumbled upon it while mining the Thunder Ore Vein. Then the “something big” mentioned by the Lookout must be... In the next second, a mountain-sized silhouette emerged from the Firefeather Forest. It was a gigantic spider, glowing entirely red, with dark red magma-like patterns flowing across its body. Its eight eyes blazed like burning furnaces. Field BOSS—Molten Broodmother. Following it were a swarm of Molten Spiders and four elite, captain-class Spider Guards. Everyone on the Tomorrow was alarmed this time. Staring at the Molten Broodmother roaming the Firefeather Forest, all were dumbfounded. Li Ye too kept his eyes locked on the Molten Broodmother. This was a rare encounter—a Field BOSS, guaranteed to drop a Level 2 item! But at the moment, the Tomorrow’s strength was nowhere near enough to challenge a Field BOSS. He could only look away with reluctance and wave his hand at the others. “Let’s go.” Half an hour later, Li Ye unexpectedly encountered a group of people. It was a convoy, and leading the convoy was none other than Lin Xia, the person he had rescued from the Zombie Swarm earlier. “Didn’t expect we’d meet again!” Lin Xia rolled down her window and waved at him. “We just finished an Exploration and are heading back. If you’re looking to buy supplies, you can come to our Fortress.” Li Ye’s thoughts stirred. Lin Xia’s suggestion wasn’t bad. With her, the daughter of a Lord, as a guarantor, there should be no issue entering Roland Fortress. He could sell off the freshly mined Thunder Ore there, purchase supplies, and also recruit that Gunner from the lower district. The Fortress should have ample resources—he might even be able to acquire the Frost Ore and Frost Crystal needed to craft a Frost Cannon. Three hours later, the Tomorrow followed Lin Xia’s convoy to Roland Fortress. Roland Fortress was located in a mining region, not far from a freshwater lake, surrounded by vast farmland. The Fortress was guarded by a row of massive city walls, several dozen meters high, with rows of Cannons and Heavy Machine Guns mounted atop them. There were also numerous guards patrolling with Firearms. The walls had several small gates and one enormous gate in the middle. Upon seeing this, Li Ye couldn’t help but be filled with envy. The strength of this Fortress was indeed formidable. The guards inside the Fortress, upon seeing Lin Xia’s convoy and the Tomorrow traveling together, seemed to understand and lifted their alertness. Lin Xia parked and explained the situation to the guards. They nodded and opened the giant gate to let the Tomorrow enter. At first glance of the interior of Roland Fortress, Li Ye was instantly stunned. Rather than a Fortress, it looked more like a Mobile City that had shed its wheels and treads and settled down in place.