While pondering, Li Ye couldn’t help but nod repeatedly.
This Tier 3 City Camouflage was truly practical!
If used properly, it could achieve unimaginable results on the battlefield.
At that moment, Zhou Xing sent a message through the City Communication Channel.
【Engineer: Everyone, based on my calculations, the oil field development progress in the Sedimentary Basin has already passed the halfway mark.】
“So it’s already more than halfway?” Li Ye contemplated.
With a rough calculation, if the remaining oil was fully extracted and the shares were deducted, the Tomorrow Alliance would still have three to four hundred thousand Crystal Coins at their disposal.
Thus, Li Ye typed a message to ask Zhou Xing and Fang Yong whether the funds were sufficient.
The two quickly replied.
As a Defensive-type Mobile City, the Iron Whale had spent all 40,000 Crystal Coins where it mattered most. It had purchased Upgrade Blueprints for tires, treads, and blade-type vehicles, and had acquired a batch of Tier 2 Iron Ore for upgrading.After this round of spending, it still had a few thousand Crystal Coins remaining.
“So frugal?” Li Ye was surprised.
Overall, Defensive-type Mobile Cities were the most economical type of Mobile City. Lords only needed to focus on upgrading the Power Engine, City Armor, and tires and treads.
Add a few melee-type city weapons, and that was basically it.
High survivability, low expenditure, and relatively popular within the Mobile City Alliance—this made Defensive-type Mobile Cities fairly common.
If there was any drawback, it was the lack of offensive capability in the wild. Especially in City Battles, Defensive-type Cities heavily relied on teammates.
As for the Engineer, its expenses were on another level.
First, over the past few days, in order to conduct large-scale oil extraction, the Engineer had been tirelessly constructing Drilling Platforms and Oil Storage Tanks day and night.
At present, the Sedimentary Basin had erected over a dozen Drilling Platforms. And more were still being built.
To construct these, the Engineer needed to purchase large quantities of Tier 1 Iron Ore.
During this time, many patrolling Tier 2 Mobile Cities also came to assist.
Their decks already had Mechanical Arms and cranes, and they had enough manpower. They just weren’t as skilled and fast in oil extraction as the Engineer.
The price of Tier 1 Iron Ore at the Western Wasteland Continent Auction House was still relatively cheap, at 4 Crystal Coins per unit. Of course, this was due to fierce price competition among peers.
Second, the Engineer had just been upgraded to Tier 2 and needed a full upgrade from the ground up.
Zhou Xing immediately upgraded to Tier 2 Universal Mechanical Arm (purchased by Li Ye), Tier 2 Crane, Tier 2 Work Claw, and bought a full set of Tier 2 tools for Mechanics.
Tier 2 Hydraulic Wrench, Tier 2 Rivet Gun, Tier 2 Welder, Tier 2 General Mechanical Diagnostic Device, Tier 2 Protective Work Suit.
Additionally, Zhou Xing also purchased seven Tier 2 Vehicle Upgrade Blueprints.
These blueprints would be used to upgrade a range of Engineering Vehicles.
According to Zhou Xing, seven blueprints were far from enough. Due to budget constraints, he only selected seven types of Engineering Vehicles.
Moreover, Zhou Xing also purchased a collection of Engineering books.
The Engineer originally had a Tier 1 Simulation Training Pod. Upon receiving the Crystal Coins, Zhou Xing immediately acquired the blueprint and built a Tier 2 Training Pod.
It was far from enough to purchase so much equipment with only 40,000 Crystal Coins.
【Engineer: Alliance Leader, I need at least another 100,000 Crystal Coins.】
【Tomorrow: Okay, I’ll give it to you after the next batch of fuel and oil is sold. If it’s still not enough, you can ask me again.】
When it came to his own Tier 2 Engineer-type City, Li Ye was naturally willing to spend.
After finishing their conversation, he gave Zhou Xing a reminder.
“Looks like it’ll rain in the next day or two. You need to speed things up.”
After sleeping a few hours in his room, he returned to the deck.
This time, he wasn’t in a hurry to go back to the Cockpit and operate the Auction House. Instead, he headed for the mid-level of the Tomorrow.
During this time, the Tier 2 City Simulation Training Pod had already been completed.
Compared to Tier 1, the Tier 2 Training Pod felt more spacious and grand, and the seats were much more comfortable—after all, they were made with Tier 2 Fabric.
It could accommodate 50 people training simultaneously.
Once the Tier 2 Training Pod was built, Lin Wu also imported all the projects and data from the Tier 1 Training Pod.
Li Ye sat in a chair and put on the Connection Helmet.
Soon, he appeared in a pure white space.
Li Ye then set a series of parameters.
【Number of Trainees: 1】
【Held Weapon: Remington 870】
【Target Location: Forest】
【Enemy Type: Velociraptor】
【Number of Enemies: 15】
【Combat Difficulty: Normal】
After completing the settings and clicking confirm, he immediately appeared in a dense jungle. Nearby were a dozen Velociraptors pacing about, waiting to hunt.
“Not bad,” he praised.
As a Tier 2 Training Pod, the terrain, characters, and monster models were all much improved.
The appearance and skin of the characters and monsters were very close to real life, and their movements were also lifelike.
A few minutes later, Li Ye ended the training.
Overall, he was quite satisfied.
Besides combat training, the Tier 2 Training Pod could also be used to train Vehicle Pilots and a variety of professionals.
“How does it feel?” As Li Ye took off the helmet, Lin Wu rolled over in his signature wheelchair.
After receiving Li Ye’s feedback, he thoughtfully stroked his chin and proposed a series of ideas.
First, the training scenario needed to allow for the sensation of pain and the delay caused by physical damage.
Second, within the training scenario, people should be able to feel a range of realistic tactile sensations, and the wounds caused by firearms and shells should also be lifelike.
Third, he wanted the training scenario to be so realistic that it would be indistinguishable from reality. Only then could one achieve the best training results.
“What you’re talking about probably requires a Tier 3 or even Tier 4 Training Pod,” Li Ye scratched his head. “Let’s make do with what we have for now.”
After nodding, Lin Wu told Li Ye that the crew members of the Vanguard Armed Gunship had already been selected.
The crew members were divided into main pilot, co-pilot, communications officer, engineer, bombardier, gunner, and logistics personnel, totaling twelve people.
Li Ye then received these crew members.
Except for the main pilot, the others were all very young.
Under Lin Wu’s arrangement, the crew began entering the Tier 2 Training Pod to simulate piloting procedures and team coordination.
According to Li Ye’s instructions, the crew would face twelve hours of training daily—morning, noon, and night—for the next three days.
On the fourth day, they would attempt their first operation of the Vanguard Armed Gunship.
Within a month, they must become proficient in piloting and coordination.
By modern standards, this amount of time was far from sufficient. But in the post-apocalyptic wasteland, with constant threats to survival, everything had to be accelerated.
Immediately after, the City Committee handed Li Ye a list.
It was a procurement list that detailed the blueprints for various essential living items.
【Winter Preparations: Down Jacket, Sweater, Cotton Socks, Gloves, Cotton Pants】
【Basic Clothing: Underwear, Socks, T-Shirts, Pants】
【Living Supplies: Pillow, Bed Sheet, Cup】
【Cleaning Supplies: Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Soap, Shampoo】
【Basic Medicines: Antipyretics, Painkillers, Band-Aids, Disinfectant】
【First Aid Items: Gauze, Scissors, Medical Tape】
“So many?” Li Ye was surprised.
Upon careful counting, there were over twenty items in total.
Still, these were all necessities for the residents’ daily life.
Although there were many blueprints, they were overall quite affordable.
For items like down jackets, towels, cups, and toothpaste and toothbrushes, ordinary-grade blueprints would suffice.
For basic medicines and first aid items, Tier 1 or Tier 2 versions could be purchased.
Thinking of this, Li Ye slapped his forehead.
“Almost forgot we need to train doctors!”
As the population size gradually increased, it was time for the Tomorrow to establish its own medical system.
Not just for treating the injured, but also for maintaining the residents’ general health.
Li Ye hurried to the Cockpit and began a wave of purchases.
An entire set of basic medical books.
Twelve pieces of Tier 1 Medicine Blueprints, as well as Tier 2 First-Aid Bandages and Tier 2 Hemostatic Spray.
This round of purchases cost over 21,000 Crystal Coins.
Li Ye then called the City Committee and assigned them the task of recruiting ten doctors and nurses from the residents, with their compensation based on Tier 4 Level.
The basic medical books were taken to the Training Pod and uploaded.
To this, Lin Wu, who was training the crew, adjusted his glasses.
“Only the basics? And the medicines are also just basic types,” he said. “This isn’t quite enough. Where are the internal and surgical training books? What about high-grade medicine blueprints?”
“That’s all there is,” Li Ye replied.
He did want to buy Tier 2 Blueprints, but those were extremely expensive, starting at 3,000 to 4,000 Crystal Coins.
As for internal and surgical books and high-grade medicine, there weren’t many available in the Auction House.
On the wasteland, building a complete medical system was still very difficult.
In the future, this selected batch of doctors and nurses would also enter the Training Pod for training.
During the next stretch of time, Li Ye returned to the Cockpit and began purchasing a series of ordinary living item blueprints based on the list.
Overall, these blueprints were not expensive, typically priced between 100 to 300 Crystal Coins.
Before long, Li Ye completed the purchases and also bought a batch of materials needed to manufacture living supplies.
Looking at the piles of blueprints and materials before him, he let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his brows.
Now, the basic living needs of the Tomorrow’s residents were largely secured.
They had regular clothes and underwear to change into, warm clothing for winter, daily supplies like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and shampoo, and when sick, there were medicines and doctors and nurses to care for them.
In the wasteland, this was already considered excellent treatment.
Li Ye summoned the members of the City Committee again and asked them to calculate the quantity of supplies needed by the residents of the Tomorrow and submit the report to him, so that he could mass-produce them in the Production Workshop.
After issuing all these instructions, he sat back in his chair and thoughtfully stroked his chin.
Now, it was time to start considering upgrading the Tomorrow’s hardware.
Hardware referred to the Mobile City’s city accessories, cannons, heavy machine guns, firearms and blades, and its land, sea, and air combat forces.
Li Ye first purchased the Tier 2 Upgrade Blueprints for Cannon-type weapons. Immediately after, he acquired 600 units of Tier 2 Molten Ore.
The Tier 2 Upgrade Blueprints for Cannon-type weapons were not cheap, priced at 6,500 Crystal Coins—even in a highly competitive market.
The price of Tier 2 Rare Ores in the Auction House ranged between 60–110 Crystal Coins per unit.
What made Li Ye feel fortunate was that the Auction House had two to three pages filled with Tier 2 Molten Ore listings, and the price had dropped to 64 Crystal Coins per unit due to competition.
After the purchases, Li Ye upgraded all four Molten Cannons to Tier 2.
In addition, he bought 500 units of Tier 1 Molten Ore to manufacture 50 rounds of Molten Shells.
Besides the Frost Cannon and Molten Cannon, the Tomorrow was also equipped with a third Tier 2 Cannon.
That was the Hunter Cannon produced in the Production Workshop of the Lone Sail.
Its construction required 300 units of Tier 2 Foam Crystal Stone and one Tier 2 Foam Crystal.
The total cost was 28,000 Crystal Coins.
This time, Li Ye hesitated.
Zhou Xing had informed him that more than half of the oil field had already been extracted. Based on estimates, he had only 300,000 to 400,000 Crystal Coins at his disposal.
From that, he still had to deduct 100,000 Crystal Coins for the Engineer, and 67,000 Crystal Coins for the Auction of the City Resource Transmission Device.
Adding the recent series of purchases, not much Crystal Coins remained for allocation.
After some consideration, he still decided to buy it.
“This is a rare opportunity to craft one. It’ll be hard to gather the materials again in the future!”
A dozen minutes later, a brand-new Hunter Cannon was completed.
Now, the Tomorrow had a total of three types, with seven units of Tier 2 Cannons.
Li Ye began to evaluate the current land, sea, and air vehicle configurations of the Tomorrow.
Very soon, he had a clear picture.
For air power, there was already the Vanguard Armed Gunship, and together with the earlier-acquired Black Hawk Helicopter, it was fairly sufficient.
For sea power, there was only the Viper Speedboat obtained from the Lone Sail. To venture out to sea, more additions were needed.
For land power, there were Convoy One and Convoy Two, as well as the Storm Infantry Vehicle. If iron ore was abundant, he would consider building Tier 2 Bedrock Off-road Vehicles.
Considering that the Tomorrow was still migrating on land and far from setting sail, Li Ye decided to first improve the land combat forces.
“I wonder if there’s a Tank Blueprint under Tier 2 Land Vehicles?” he thought.
With a mindset to try his luck, he filtered for Tier 2 and entered the keyword “Tank”.
This time, the Auction House returned zero results.
He wasn’t particularly disappointed by this.
Judging by the current situation, the land combat power of Tier 2 Mobile Cities consisted of convoys.
Combat vehicles like tanks and missile trucks likely appeared at Tier 3 or Tier 4.
By Tier 5 or Tier 6, there might even be tank battalions that rolled out like steel tides.
“What about Tier 3 then?”
As Li Ye clicked confirm, a listing immediately appeared before his eyes.