Chapter 73: Limited-Time Opening of the City Auction House

Inside the cockpit, Tang Fang stepped hard on the accelerator and swiftly turned the helm all the way to the right. The engine of the Tomorrow let out a tearing roar in response. The propellers spun at high speed, wildly churning the lake water, and the entire Mobile City tilted violently due to inertia. The first torpedo grazed the left side of the hull, and the people on the deck could even faintly feel its trajectory and wake. As Tang Fang abruptly turned the helm all the way to the left and slammed on the brakes, the sudden halt caused massive inertia, making the Tomorrow tilt in the opposite direction like a whipped spinning top, narrowly avoiding the second torpedo. "Well done! Tang Fang!" Li Ye nodded, then waved his hand again. "Ning Wen, open fire!" The Tomorrow fired immediately. The Frost Cannon targeted the Apollo, while the Lava Cannon targeted the Medusa. On the water’s surface, the Frost Cannon proved unexpectedly effective. Although the two frost shells didn’t hit the Apollo directly, the shells froze the surrounding waters upon exploding, instantly immobilizing the Apollo in place. Meanwhile, the Lava Cannon exploded upon hitting the water near the Medusa, and the powerful blast shook the entire Predatory City, causing it to lose its balance. Having lost its mobility, the Apollo panicked. It immediately fired smoke shells to conceal itself and activated its icebreaker bow to begin clearing the surrounding ice. The Medusa also instantly lost its earlier aggressive momentum, not daring to approach the Tomorrow any further. It was not their fault for hesitating—both types of cannons on the Tomorrow were simply too formidable. They were not defense-type cities. A single hit from the Lava Cannon could disable most of a Mobile City’s systems. And as long as a Frost Cannon shell landed nearby, it would freeze the city along with the surrounding water, stripping it of its mobility. The water surface was not like land. On land, even if a Mobile City was destroyed, it might still be repaired on the spot and resume moving. On water, destruction meant only one thing—sinking. Li Ye then gave the order to swap targets for the two cannons. The Lava Cannon bombarded the Apollo through the smoke, hoping to land a lucky hit. The Frost Cannon bombarded the Medusa, trying to render it immobile. This time, the Medusa was also forced to fire several smoke shells and retreat rapidly. As for the speedboats it had deployed, due to the presence of the Storm Infantry Vehicle on the Tomorrow’s deck, along with firepower like the Level 1 Heavy Machine Gun and the Gale Rocket Launcher, they didn’t dare approach at all. After a ten-minute skirmish, the battle came to an end. The Medusa and the Apollo retreated hastily under the cover of the smoke shells. Li Ye’s brow relaxed. This battle had been far easier than he had imagined. At the same time, he sighed inwardly. During this battle, the Tomorrow had suffered a disadvantage from the start due to lacking a suite of waterborne Mobile City accessories and having no fleet. The enemy Mobile Cities, on the other hand, had Level 1 waterborne Mobile City accessories, which gave them an advantage both in initiating pursuit and during their retreat. "If this were on land, the Tomorrow could have definitely destroyed them," he thought. At the same time, he stroked his chin in contemplation. The Apollo and the Medusa were surely part of a Predatory Cities Alliance. He just didn’t know how many members this alliance had, or how many Level 2 items they possessed. After the battle, the Tomorrow underwent its routine repairs and maintenance, while Li Ye returned to his room to rest. Several hours later, a beeping sound came from the Lord’s Wristband on his left arm. Li Ye looked at the Lord’s Wristband in surprise. As the item used to command a Mobile City, the Lord’s Wristband currently had only a few functions: crafting items in the Production Workshop, granting permissions to others, and joining the Mobile City Communication Channel by entering an invitation code. It had never made a sound before—until now. "The City Auction House in the Wasteland Zone will open in ten minutes. All Lords, please prepare accordingly." Li Ye saw this line of text on the small screen of the Lord’s Wristband. He began reading the following introduction full of suspicion. The City Auction House, as the name implied, was a trading system that Mobile Cities could participate in. Lords only needed to verify their Lord’s Wristband inside the cockpit to access the auction house channel through the cockpit computer. Any Mobile City could list the resources it wished to sell in the auction house, and once a buyer successfully bid and paid, the auction house would automatically transport the purchased item to the buyer’s Mobile City. Each auction listing required a deposit of 1000 Crystal Coins, and a 5% handling fee would be deducted upon sale. The auction house had a daily transaction limit of 300 times, with a maximum of 30 items listed simultaneously per session. All items sold in the auction house were resources listed by Lords; the auction house itself did not sell anything, nor did it have standard pricing. This auction house would only remain open for less than a day. Each zone could potentially see a limited-time auction house appear, but the chances were extremely low, often only happening once every few years. As Li Ye read, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. This auction house greatly enhanced the capabilities of Mobile Cities. Everyone could bypass obstacles and obtain what they needed, improving their strength with maximum efficiency. Every time the auction house appeared, it meant a collective enhancement for the Mobile Cities in that zone. It was said that many years ago, there had even been an auction house with global circulation. That meant, as long as one had enough Crystal Coins, a Mobile City from a Level 1 zone could purchase resources and city accessories produced in Level 5 zones. Just the thought of it was a bit terrifying—this was equivalent to a Mobile City’s strength leaping across several tiers. Li Ye didn’t even bother to take a shower. He quickly got up, dressed, and rushed all the way to the cockpit. Upon learning that the City Auction House was about to open, Tang Fang and A-Bai in the cockpit were also stunned. The news gradually spread, and a crowd surged into the cockpit. Li Ye verified through the Lord’s Wristband and logged into the soon-to-open auction house system. At that moment, he rubbed his hands together, full of anticipation. He currently had a fairly decent amount of Crystal Coins—forty to fifty thousand in total. The Tomorrow was currently in a precarious situation, and the City Auction House would allow it to purchase a series of resources to prepare for battle. It also happened to be a good opportunity to understand the market for Level 2 items. A few minutes later, the auction house opened. The first auction item immediately appeared on the shelf. It was a batch of 321 units of Level 1 Iron Ore, priced at 7 Crystal Coins per unit. Li Ye couldn’t help but frown. "The price is a bit inflated." Through his recent experience in the Wasteland, he had already developed a sense of the prices out in the wastelands. As the most widely used and highest-demand resource, Iron Ore usually cost between 3 to 5 Crystal Coins. At 7 coins, it could at most fool some newbie Lords. Among weapons, the most valuable and expensive were usually Level 1 Cannons, followed by Level 1 Heavy Machine Guns and Level 1 Firearms. And among city accessories, the most valuable were Level 1 City Armor and Level 1 Engines, followed by Treaded Wheels. After all, in the Wasteland, survival was the top priority.