When Li Ye slowly woke up, a new day had already arrived.
Although he really wanted to sleep a bit longer, he still forced himself to resist the fatigue and got up to dress.
Because he still had many, many things to take care of.
Starting today, the Tomorrow Alliance would officially begin managing the Valley Zone.
After a quick wash and dressing, and finishing breakfast at the Public Canteen, Li Ye dispatched the Black Hawk Helicopter to pick up Zhou Xing and the other two.
After a round of discussion, everyone confirmed a series of matters.
First, to conduct surveys in the Valley Zone to locate oil fields and natural gas fields. Naturally, this task was assigned to the Engineer.
Second, to dispatch personnel to take over the mines, logging sites, and mountains in the Valley Zone, and to search the wilderness for Tier 1 Rare Ore Veins.
Third, regarding the Molemen and Molemen Towns that had been eliminated over the past few days, as well as three Molemen Mobile Cities that had been destroyed—personnel needed to be sent to search the corpses and collect resources from the towns and Mobile Cities.
Fourth, nearshore marine fishing, oil and gas surveys, and establishing salt fields.Once tasks were distributed, the four Mobile Cities set out one after another.
On the decks of the four Mobile Cities, the residents were already in position.
Whenever a resource point was discovered, a group of residents would be dispatched to extract resources from that location.
The Engineer slowly lowered its lift platform, and vehicle after vehicle of Petroleum Survey Equipment drove down to the ground and began spreading out in all directions to search.
During the opening of the Western Wasteland Continent City Auction House, Zhou Xing had specifically applied to Li Ye for funds and purchased seven Upgrade Blueprints for Engineering Vehicles.
The Goblin Petroleum Survey Vehicle was one of them.
After being upgraded to Tier 2, the vehicle's function evolved from “can detect oil fields within 10 kilometers” to “can detect oil fields, natural gas, and ore veins within 30 kilometers,” making it significantly more practical.
As for the Engineer, its mission was to find fertile land and begin constructing agricultural parklands.
As a Tier 1 zone, the Valley Zone might not be large in scale, but if the resources were monopolized, the quantities would be quite substantial.
At the end of the day, Li Ye did a quick inventory of the harvest.
9851 units of Tier 1 Iron Ore, 8241 units of Tier 1 Coal, 7213 units of Tier 1 Saltpeter, 5112 units of Wood, 761 units of Copper Ore, 231 units of Silver Ore, 74 units of Gold Ore.
351 units of Tier 1 Frost Ore, 541 units of Tier 1 Shadow Ore, 421 units of Tier 1 Wind-Erosion Ore, 1 Shadow Crystal.
"This is quite impressive!" he exclaimed in surprise.
For Tier 2 cities, Tier 1 resources weren’t entirely useless.
Resupplying shells and bullets for Tier 2 Vehicles usually required Tier 1 Iron Ore, Coal could fuel City Energy, and Saltpeter could be used to make Gunpowder.
Copper Ore, Silver Ore, and Gold Ore were universal resources with no tier, meaning they were usable by any level of Mobile City.
Tier 1 Rare Ores and Crystals could be forged into Tier 1 Cannons, and then upgraded using Upgrade Blueprints into Tier 2 Cannons.
If the Tomorrow Alliance couldn’t digest all these resources internally, they could also be sold externally for some Crystal Coins.
That batch of Tier 1 Frost Ore was taken by him and used to replenish a batch of Frost Shells.
The task of searching Molemen corpses and looting towns and Mobile Cities was assigned to the Iron Whale and the Peacemaker.
These places also yielded large amounts of Tier 1 resources, Ordinary and Tier 1 Blueprints, Ordinary Finished Products and Tier 1 Items.
In addition, there were also quite a few Ordinary and Tier 1 Production Items found on the Molemen Mobile Cities.
During this period, Li Ye began upgrading the Tomorrow.
He entered the Production Workshop and selected two Tier 2 projects.
[Azure Ripple Water Tower: Consumes 300 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore. Additional effect: Can store 24,000 units of Freshwater]
[Comet City Circuit: Consumes 350 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore. Additional effect: Increases work efficiency by 20%]
As a Tier 2 Water Tower, the Azure Ripple Water Tower’s capacity for storing Freshwater had already jumped up by several levels. For reference, a Tier 1 Water Tower could only store 6000 units of Freshwater.
As for the Comet City Circuit, it was considered part of the Tomorrow’s electrical infrastructure. After installation, every room on the Tomorrow would have access to electricity.
After all, Li Ye had always kept in mind the goal of improving the living standards aboard the Tomorrow.
If full electricity supply for all residents could be realized, then the residents would be able to use household appliances such as washing machines, electric fans, hair dryers, and rice cookers.
Up to now, the Tomorrow already had quite a few Ordinary Household Appliance Production Items.
But Li Ye had not yet opened up residential electricity usage.
The main reason was that power supply consumed City Energy.
At present, the City Energy of the Tomorrow could not achieve self-sufficiency and could only be replenished through external mining and purchasing fuel from outside.
Not only that, the amount of electricity used by residents and how electricity charges would be levied all needed specific and detailed regulations.
It could only be said that improving residents’ living standards still had a long way to go.
With the Comet City Circuit and the Azure Ripple Water Tower completed, Li Ye began preparing to build the Tier 2 City Engine and Tier 2 Treaded Wheels.
The Production Workshop of the Tomorrow did not have production items for this series of Tier 2 City Accessories, but its companion, the Iron Whale, did.
Fang Yong immediately showcased these three items for Li Ye in the Production Workshop.
【“Count Gear” Mechanical Turbo Engine: Consumes 700 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore. Additional effects: 1. Power increased by 30% 2. Wear rate reduced by 15%】
【Iron Curtain Heavy Treads: Consumes 400 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore. Additional effects: 1. Traction increased by 25% 2. Defense increased by 25%】
【Rampage Hunter Tires: Consumes 350 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore. Additional effects: 1. Speed increased by 20% 2. Defense increased by 15%】
Li Ye immediately handed over 1450 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore to Fang Yong and had the Iron Whale assist in crafting these Tier 2 City Accessories.
The Engineer was responsible for helping the Tomorrow with installation and replacement.
Through all this, the Tier 2 Iron Ore Li Ye had obtained from killing bugs in the Plateau Zone was completely used up.
Since there was still a good stock of Tier 2 Iron Ore on the Iron Whale, he simply transferred a batch over to replenish the combat resources of the Vanguard Armed Gunship.
Zhou Xing then reported to Li Ye that a Medium Oil Field had been discovered within the Valley Zone and was currently being exploited.
In addition, he requested 1000 units of Tier 1 Iron Ore from Li Ye to build Fishing Boats for marine harvesting.
Li Ye nodded in agreement.
What surprised him was that two Human Forces successively visited the Valley Zone that very day.
The first Human Force came from the Tier 2 Airborne Mobile City “Warship L99” of the Iron Oath Brotherhood.
With Elder David, Lord of the Warblade M3, having reported the location provided by Li Ye, the Iron Oath Brotherhood's leadership had dispatched the Warship L99 to deliver the promised reward to Li Ye.
Just like the Warblade M3, the exterior of Warship L99 exuded a rugged, hardened vibe.
Its Lord was a woman in her fifties, tall and muscular, even more masculine than most men. When shaking hands with Li Ye, her grip was powerful.
"I never imagined there was such a Tier 1 Zone in the Western Wasteland Continent,"she remarked."I will report this location to the Iron Oath Brotherhood to add this zone to the map of the Western Wasteland Continent."
Li Ye didn’t particularly mind.
For a World-class Organization like the Iron Oath Brotherhood, a Tier 1 Zone was at most like mosquito leg meat—not enough to draw their real attention.
When he saw the female Elder take out a box, he realized something and his eyes gradually turned fervent.
As the box opened, inside was a Tier 2 City Structure Blueprint.
Just as Li Ye reached to take it, the female Elder looked at him and solemnly said:
"Even for the Iron Oath Brotherhood, this is an extremely precious strategic resource."
"I hope you will value it and, after being promoted to a Tier 3 Mobile City, contribute even more to the Human Forces."
Li Ye nodded earnestly and took the box from her hands.
Clutching the Blueprint tightly, his heart pounded wildly.
This brought the Tomorrow one step closer to becoming a Tier 3 City.
After handing over the materials, the Warship L99 didn’t linger and soon departed.
Overjoyed, Li Ye also pulled out the Tier 2 City Promotion Blueprint he had previously obtained from the Apocalypse Sect.
He stared at the blueprint, brows furrowed.
【Tier 2 Mobile City promotion to Tier 3 requires the following Tier 2 Resources】
【Iron Ore: 4000 units】
【Wood: 4000 units】
【Fuel: 4000 units】
【Saltpeter: 4000 units】
【City Alloy: 2000 units】
【City Structure Blueprint: 1 copy】
【City Crystal: 1 piece】
最⊥新⊥小⊥說⊥在⊥⊥⊥首⊥發！
The Tier 2 resources required for Tier 3 promotion had doubled across the board.
Among them, 4000 units of Tier 2 Iron Ore was considered the simplest requirement.
Tier 2 Fuel and Tier 2 Saltpeter were extremely difficult resources to gather.
Tier 2 Wood required unlocking via collecting Tier 2 Wood Blueprints.
2000 units of Tier 2 City Alloy was equivalent to 2000 units of any Rare Ore Vein or 2000 units of Copper Ore.
This was nearly equal to the cost of crafting seven Tier 2 Cannons.
Li Ye took a deep breath to calm his mood.
Tier 3 Mobile Cities were significantly larger than Tier 2, so it was only natural that the resources consumed during promotion were greater.
However, following this logic, the resources needed for promotion to Tier 4, Tier 5, or Tier 6 Cities would be astronomical.
"No rush, take it slow,"he comforted himself."Next, I’ll have to figure out how to obtain a Tier 2 City Crystal."
Clearly, obtaining a Tier 2 City Crystal was far harder than imagined.
A few hours later, another Human Force visited the Valley Zone.
This time it was a research vessel.
Upon seeing the emblem of the Beast Throne on the research vessel, Li Ye immediately realized it had come from the Titan Throne.
Judging by its size, it was obviously a Tier 2 ship.
The research vessel quickly docked, and a group of people disembarked in a hurry.
Leading them was a white man in his forties or fifties.
Unlike Professor Annie, he appeared somewhat unkempt, with messy hair and dressed not in a researcher’s white lab coat, but in a casual T-shirt and jeans.
"It’s really great to have a foothold nearby!"he exhaled in relief."By the way, who’s in charge here?"
Li Ye stepped forward immediately.
"I’m Li Ye, Lord of the Tomorrow,"he said, his tone tinged with some curiosity."By the way, may I ask how you found this place?"
The white man shrugged.
"Oh, a few hours ago, the Iron Oath Brotherhood shared information about this zone with us."
"I see!"Li Ye suddenly understood.
As World-class Organizations of the Human Forces, it was quite normal for the Titan Throne, the Apocalypse Sect, and the Iron Oath Brotherhood to share Continental intelligence with each other.
The white man then introduced himself. His name was Mick, a doctor from the Titan Throne, with a rank of T7.
The research vessel he was on was called the Explorer.
"The situation is urgent. I need your help,"Mick said, gripping Li Ye’s hand tightly.
"Are you facing enemies, Dr. Mick?"Li Ye asked."With the combat strength of my Mobile City, I can help you deal with them easily."
Dr. Mick shook his head and grinned.
"No, it’s to take care of an Emperor Beast."
".What?"
With a wave of Dr. Mick’s hand, the Explorer emitted a series of high-frequency sound waves.
Startled, Li Ye turned his head to look and saw ripples forming on the distant sea surface.
Looking more closely, he noticed a massive shadow slowly moving beneath the water.
Realizing something, he instinctively stepped back.
Under Li Ye’s watchful gaze, rows of jagged, gigantic dorsal fins pierced through the water’s surface first, followed by a swaying giant tail.
Then, a massive beast suddenly broke through the water, revealing its colossal form.
Its body loomed like a mountain, black scales flowing with dim blue light. Its hind legs, as thick as giant stone pillars, crushed the seabed beneath, each step stirring up towering waves!
The beast’s back, covered in thick bone plates, rose and fell in jagged ridges, with its serrated dorsal fins resembling a range of undulating hills.
It had a head that was narrow in front and wide in the back, very dinosaur-like. A pair of amber vertical pupils radiated primitive ferocity. Its massive jaw was lined with jagged fangs, each like a scimitar forged of refined steel. Its thick neck muscles were tightly knotted and covered in layers of dense, overlapping scales.
"Is this an Emperor Beast evolved from a Tyrannosaurus?"Li Ye turned and asked Mick.
The reason for his speculation was that the Emperor Beast’s appearance was remarkably similar to a Tyrannosaurus.
Whether it was the narrow-front, wide-back head, the jaw so huge it left people stunned, or those iconic short arms.
Mick nodded.
What surprised Li Ye was that the Emperor Beast was covered in wounds, with some injuries exposing bare bones, even internal organs.
At that moment, it was dragging its wounded body and struggling to walk ashore, shedding a large amount of blood with each step.
"Why is it injured?"Li Ye asked.
Mick shrugged at the question.
"This guy always loves picking fights with other Emperor Beasts."
"Not long ago, it just had a battle with another Emperor Beast in the sea."
"The opponent was twice its size and looked somewhat like a tiger shark."
From Mick’s words, Li Ye learned the identity of this Emperor Beast.
“Planet-Annihilator” Geras.
Evolved from the Tier 2 Wild BOSS “Field Tyrant” of the Cretaceous Zone.
In upright posture, it stood approximately 700 meters tall.
Its body length was around 1200 meters (including tail).
Its weight was about 75 million tons.
Activity range: land, ocean, subterranean magma layers.
Attack methods: biting, tail-whip, shockwaves formed by Biological Field.
As he spoke, Mick solemnly patted Li Ye on the shoulder.
"Now, I need your and your Mobile City’s help to take care of Geras."