The human forces’ convoy marched forth in grand formation, eventually passing through the Rift Valley.
What lay before them now was a vast, boundless giant plain.
As far as the eye could see, nothing obstructed the view. The horizon curved perfectly, and the sky dominated most of the vision, with low-hanging clouds seeming within reach.
The plain was covered in an endless sea of grass, swaying in waves with the wind.
Additionally, numerous plants and trees were deeply rooted across the plain.
There were also countless dinosaurs on the plain, some foraging, some resting, and others tending to their young.
Upon spotting the massive convoy of humans emerging from the Rift Valley, the dinosaurs froze, alertness flickering in their eyes.
Moments later, they hastened their steps and left.
Natural L3 let out a whistle, roughly signifying that the journey had ended and the convoy could disband.
The bounty hunters, survivor caravans, and Mobile Cities scattered, heading in different directions.The three Mobile Cities of the Tomorrow Alliance headed northward.
Watching the receding Natural L3, Li Ye pondered for a moment, then made his way to the upper Armor Deck.
He piloted the Goblin Helicopter toward Natural L3.
"What is it? Is there something else you need?"Nils, who received him, asked in confusion.
"May I ask where you're headed next?"Li Ye asked.
The reason for inquiring about their whereabouts was because he believed future cooperation with the Titan Throne was still possible.
"Oh, you mean that."Nils suddenly understood.
He told Li Ye that Natural L3 planned to remain on this giant plain for about a week, surveying the vegetation and capturing some dinosaurs for research.
"Alright, thank you."
Returning to the Armor Deck of the Tomorrow, Li Ye, who exited the helicopter, suddenly heard a beeping sound.
He instinctively looked toward the Lord’s Wristband on his left wrist.
"Now what’s going on?"
Displayed boldly on the Lord’s Wristband was a line of text.
"Three days from now, the Western Wasteland Continent City Auction House will open."
Li Ye stood frozen for over ten seconds before snapping out of it.
"Western Wasteland Continent City Auction House?!"His eyes were filled with disbelief.
As the name suggested, this was likely a continent-wide City Auction House.
Resources from all 22 regions would be listed in the auction.
Li Ye was instantly overwhelmed with joy.
At that time, the volume of resources circulated through the City Auction House would be beyond imagination.
As long as one had enough Crystal Coins on hand, even a barebones Mobile City could instantly be equipped with full configurations.
If the Tomorrow could seize this opportunity, it could reach Tier 2 full configuration, or even be promoted to a Tier 3 City!
Ground armies, naval fleets, aerial combat forces—it might develop them all.
In that case, the scheduled plan to set sail would be greatly accelerated!
Thinking of this, Li Ye clenched his fist tightly.
No matter what, the Tomorrow had to seize this opportunity.
With the City Auction House open, Crystal Coins had become the most important resource.
As long as one had money, they could buy practically anything they desired.
"Good thing I refreshed an Epic Intelligence this time,"Li Ye said with relief.
After all, the Tomorrow Alliance only had just over ten thousand Crystal Coins in total, which was far from enough to meet the needs.
The three Mobile Cities continued heading northward.
The Engineer originally had two Goblin Petroleum Survey Vehicles, but Li Ye asked Zhou Xing to build six more.
To this, Zhou Xing showed some hesitation.
That would consume 900 units of Level 1 Iron Ore—enough to craft quite a lot already.
"Just do as I said!"Li Ye waved his hand.
The Engineer then dispatched eight Petroleum Survey Vehicles to begin searching for oil fields in the northern region.
This area was extraordinarily vast; the three Mobile Cities, while in motion, looked like tiny black dots on the ground.
During this period, the Tomorrow and the Iron Whale escorted the Engineer and completed their promotion.
In truth, the Level 1 resources stored in the Engineer’s warehouse were rather insufficient.
However, Li Ye had already anticipated this. During the earlier advance of the main convoy and through territory trade, he had deliberately sought out other Lords to gather some Level 1 resources.
Several hours later, one Petroleum Survey Vehicle was the first to discover an oil field.
According to the data, it was a medium-sized oil field.
"There really is an oil field!"
Zhou Xing and Fang Yong instantly grew excited.
Li Ye simply smiled faintly.
If they knew the northern region was filled with oil fields, they would likely be dumbfounded.
"If there’s one oil field, it means this entire area might be oil fields,"he thought to himself.
At this moment, the three Mobile Cities were situated in a large sedimentary basin.
From above, this large sedimentary basin appeared as a giant bowl-shaped depression, surrounded by mountains and highlands.
Its edges were steep fault cliffs, while the interior was a vast alluvial plain with flat terrain like a mirror, dotted with low hills.
Upon arriving near the oil field, the three Mobile Cities commenced extraction operations.
A hatch opened at their base, extending an Automated Drilling Rig, which slowly rotated and bored into the earth.
As the Hydraulic Drill Head tore through the rock layers and reached the oil reservoir, a continuous stream of petroleum was pumped through the Oil Pipeline into the Storage Compartment of the Mobile Cities.
Over half an hour later, Li Ye conducted a simple tally of the harvest.
This medium-sized oil field had yielded a total of 882 units of petroleum.
Converted into Crystal Coins, that amounted to eight to nine thousand.
During this time, another Petroleum Survey Vehicle discovered two more oil fields.
One was a small oil field, and the other was a large oil field.
In their joy, Fang Yong and Zhou Xing couldn’t help but grow puzzled.
"Why are there so many oil fields in this region?"
After a brief discussion, the three of them made a decision.
The Iron Whale would proceed to extract the small oil field, while the Tomorrow would escort the Engineer to extract the large one.
Upon arrival at the destination, Zhou Xing offered a suggestion to Li Ye.
The large oil field was simply too vast; relying solely on the Mobile City’s Oil Pipelines would take a long time.
Therefore, he proposed constructing an Oil Drilling Platform here to greatly improve extraction efficiency.
These materials traveled along conveyor belts to the Armor Deck, where Mechanical Arms and Universal Work Claws began the assembly process.
Supported by the Hydraulic Pillars, the skeleton of the drilling platform gradually took shape.
The Built-in Crane began lifting and placing the heavy crossbeams.
Mechanics and apprentices aboard the Engineer, clad in work uniforms, began installing various components onto the skeleton and tightening bolts one by one.
In just a few dozen minutes, the drilling platform took form.
It featured sturdy riveted steel panels and solid, massive Mechanical Oil Pipelines.
With Zhou Xing’s command, the drilling platform began operation.
The Steam Turbine roared, driving the multi-ton Diamond Drill Bit to rotate and slowly bore into the ground.
Drill pipes sank section by section, as mechanics and apprentices used Hydraulic Wrenches to firmly secure each connection. Sparks flew amidst the oil-stained surroundings.
Tremors began to pulse from underground.
As the drill bit pierced through the rock layers, the pipeline suddenly spewed the first burst of petroleum. The thick oil, reeking of sulfur, splattered across the drilling platform.
The mechanics and apprentices let out a cheer, quickly pulling the diverter valve to direct the gushing oil into the Giant Oil Tank.
With the drilling platform running, petroleum from underground surged into the Giant Oil Tank at an astonishing rate.
"What a smooth operation!"Li Ye marveled.
From constructing the drilling platform to the coordinated oil extraction by mechanics and apprentices, the Engineer’s entire process was seamless.
In fact, as an Engineer-type City, the Engineer had always trained its residents toward becoming mechanics and apprentices to handle all sorts of engineering tasks.
The Engineer also had a City Simulation Training Pod, where residents regularly practiced various engineering techniques.
Precisely because Engineer-type Cities were so valuable, some members of the Predatory Cities Alliance, upon discovering one, would opt not to attack it but instead try to recruit it.
"Good thing I recruited the Engineer back then,"Li Ye said with relief.
Without this Engineer-type Mobile City, all he could do now was gaze at the situation in frustration.
With the Tomorrow’s Oil Pipelines alone, extracting these oil fields would have taken forever.
Roughly an hour later, the Iron Whale returned.
The two Tier 2 Mobile Cities stood quietly beside the drilling platform and the Engineer.
In truth, this large sedimentary basin was not peaceful.
Mobile Cities passed by from time to time.
Among them were even Predatory Cities.
They looked at the active drilling platform and the Engineer, clearly tempted.
But upon seeing the Iron Whale and the Tomorrow standing guard, they gave up the idea.
Furthermore, the sedimentary basin contained numerous dinosaurs.
From time to time, dinosaurs could be seen in the distance, staring intently at Li Ye and the others.
Seeing this, Li Ye couldn’t help but frown.
"This place doesn’t seem very safe."
During the oil extraction period, Li Ye called Zhou Xing and Fang Yong over for a meeting.
Naturally, their topic of discussion was the Western Wasteland Continent City Auction House.