Chapter 430.2: City of Abundance

They were as fierce as mutants, could charge through gunfire and shrapnel in heavy armor. They were naturally fearless of gunshots and explosions..

"Where are we going, Your Highness?" Riding alongside William, the bearded captain of the guard holding the reins asked.

William squinted, looking east. "To the frontlines!"

The captain showed hesitation and spoke with caution, "It's too dangerous there, Prince Wint's troops are always shelling us, I advise against going to such a dangerous place."

William laughed heartily before spurring his horse forward.

"There's nothing dangerous! Those turtles hiding in their shells only have a few good days left, we'll soon be crossing over their bodies."

Before that beautiful castle turns into a twisted pile of steel, he planned to ride his beloved warhorse to see it one last time.

...

At the same time, in the City of Abundance in Oasis No.9, within and outside the towering circular Levee, were fields of tender yellow crops.

Harvest season was approaching.

It was uncertain whether the first to harvest them would be the farmer's scythe or the tracks of tanks.

On top of the Levee, Prince Wint held a telescope while gazing in the direction of the west. His face lined with wrinkles and a hint of gravity emerging.

The fortress beneath his feet wasn’t just the granary of the Lion Kingdom but also the frontlines.

The Levee, a natural fortress completely forged from alloy, was almost indestructible by conventional weapons.

The troops stationed here were the kingdom's elite! They were the Scarabs Brigade!

Together with two brigades composed of 22,000 conscripts, the stationed troops in the Levee numbered over 30,000. There were also tens of thousands of farmers in training.

Thousands of 97mm smoothbore guns had been pushed to the top of the Levee, in addition to nearly a hundred 230mm cast iron mortars.

No one could underestimate those antiques.

Although their range was limited, relying on impregnable shelters, they could still be surprisingly effective.

As long as there were enough of them, combined with shells filled with high explosives, they could still pose a considerable threat to the attacking troops.

Not to mention, they had also prepared a large number of gas canister rockets.

Besides those antiques, the Lion Kingdom also purchased a certain number of 100mm howitzers, and 30 of them were given to Prince Wint.

Those modern light howitzers had a range of 20 kilometers. Although they lacked ammunition, they were more of a deterrent than actual weapons ready to be used in battle.

However, the garrison stationed there wasn't worried about the troops outside, all of them had high morale and were prepared for battle.

Even the Army's tanks, powerful as they are, could not scale the alloy-forged Levee.

The City of Abundance's supplies were ample. They could defend until the next century!

As long as the City of Abundance stood, the capital would stand. With that, the kingdom.

It would be like a stubborn nail, hammered into the direction of the Falcon Kingdom's troops' advance. Anyone who tried to pull it out was destined to get their hands bloody.

Everyone was ready to live and die with the fortress.

"... The Falcon Kingdom's troops are digging trenches 5 kilometers of us."

Handing the telescope to his adjutant, Prince Wint, expressionless, looked to the side at the messenger and ordered, "Have the first artillery squadron ready. Let's show our enemies what we’re made of!"

"Yes!" The messenger stood at attention, saluted, and then jogged to the nearby radio.

After the coordinates for the artillery were reported, more than ten explosions were heard.

Trails of white smoke drew parabolic trajectories in the air, landing on the enemy's positions, bursting into clouds of white smoke.

The range of the 230mm cast iron mortars was similar to that of light mortars, but their power was significantly greater, quickly blowing up the trench-diggers.

However, watching those heavily wounded combat engineers, Prince Wint furrowed his brow.

The adjutant noticed the anomaly as well, his eyes showing shock, and he said through gritted teeth.

"Sir... those digging the trenches, they seem to be our guys..."

"They are the enemy," Prince Wint, expressionless, interrupted him without hesitation. "Continue firing!"

The adjutant silently nodded, picked up the telescope again, and looked towards the distant position.

Hatred and fury flickered in his eyes.

These shameless people...

They actually used prisoners as cannon fodder!

The despicable tactic was not only a desecration of the ancient alliance but also a betrayal of the faith!

He swore he would definitely take revenge on those people!

Turning away from the front line, Prince Wint took an elevator back into the fortress.

At that moment, a messenger jogged over, stopping in front of him and standing at attention.

"Report! Urgent dispatch from the palace!"

Taking the letter from the messenger's hand, Prince Wint tore it open and glanced at it, his tightly furrowed brow finally relaxing.

Seeing the change in his expression, the staff officer beside him couldn't help but ask, "Is it good news?"

The only piece of good news this month was probably that their allies were finally planning to send troops.

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Although it was said to be only half a brigade in size...

Prince Wint nodded, handing the letter to the staff officer, his tone unusually relaxed and cheerful.

"Our allies have successfully destroyed the Army's supply hub in the north. The Army’s Operation Thunder has been thwarted. The north will probably be safe for a while. We can concentrate on dealing with those vermin outside."

It was hard to deny... The New Alliance's intelligence network was terrifyingly strong.

He had just learned the codename of the entire operation, and the alliance, thousands of miles away, had already strangled the vast and meticulous plan in its cradle.

All signs indicate that the New Alliance’s intelligence network in the desert had reached an undeniable depth.

And the Lion Kingdom knew almost nothing about them.

Thinking about it, Prince Wint, with a sense of wariness in his heart, also made a firm decision.

If the Lion Kingdom could successfully get through this crisis, he would definitely persuade the king to increase the budget for intelligence work.

Or... He could do the job himself.

"50 Conqueror tanks... including self-propelled artillery and trucks, as well as enough supplies to arm a brigade. It's amazing they could take down such an important military base!" The staff officer exclaimed as he looked impressed.

Suddenly, he thought of something, his eyes eagerly looking at Prince Wint and he asked, "What about those equipment?"

Prince Wint smiled faintly. "Most likely transferred to the resistance army led by Yard... Forget about it, they won't give them to us."

A hint of regret appeared on the staff officer's face.

That was enough equipment to arm a brigade...

"If only we had sent troops to help..."

"Who would you send?" Prince Wint didn't feel much regret. "We're hard enough pressed just to defend ourselves. Where would we find extra troops to send to the north?"

Hearing what he said, the staff officer fell silent for a while, sighed, and said, "You're right... I hope we get news from Andre soon."

"I doubt it." Prince Wint casually replied, holding no expectations.

If the Golden Lizard Kingdom really had the intention to send troops, they should have deployed their forces when they delivered the declaration of war, instead of sitting quietly on the border like they were doing.

The faith in the Spirit of the Desert had never been so weak. Those oaths sworn before the Spirit of the Desert were like water poured into sand, unable to hold any weight.

Maybe... Those things are really outdated.

Whatever form the war concluded, they would enter an era of deceit.

The next second, another messenger ran over. He held an urgent letter in his hand, the second one of the day.

"Another one?"

Two urgent letters arriving simultaneously...

Prince Wint couldn't help but feel a bad premonition.

He had already seen the good news. Logically, the probability that the second letter still contained good news was extremely low...

However... He couldn’t avoid what was coming. He eventually opened it.

The letter contained only a short line, but he paled after reading it.

[A nuclear bomb with a yield of a million tons is being transported through the Great Desert to the Falcon Kingdom.]

A million tons!

For a moment, he felt as if his heartbeat had stopped.

...

It's been a month and a half since that celebratory fireworks display.

In the month and a half, the biggest change in Dawn City was the road connecting to the south.

With the help of the Ideal Corporation, the concrete road, costing 16.9 million CR and stretching 169 kilometers from the northern suburbs of Clearspring City to the Sunset Province, was finally completed.

Previously, from Clearspring City to Lucky Valley Municipality, even a forced march would take a day or two. Now, with a smooth road going straight through, it wouldn’t take them three hours to get there.

As the administrator of the New Alliance, Chu Guang attended the grand opening of the new road. Although, before he cut the ribbon, trucks had already been running on it.

"This road is ultimately for emergency use, but if it's well maintained, it should last 10 to 20 years." Looking at the straight concrete road in front of him, Li Changkong's face was full of pride as he introduced with a sense of achievement.

Standing beside him, Chu Guang also had a smile on his face while he shook Li Changkong’s hand. "Thank you so much!"

Li Changkong smiled and replied. "You're welcome!"

Not far away.

The New Alliance’s Chief Engineer, Sword Execution, was still squatting next to the road. He was muttering to himself about the concrete chunks. "How is that possible..."

Just passing by, Quit Smoking glanced at him. Watching the strange fellow still squatting there pondering over the damn road, Quite Smoking couldn’t help but comment, "My God... you haven't given up yet, huh? Have you figured out anything?"

Unexpectedly, Sword Execution actually nodded.

He reached out his index finger, touched the side of the road, and pinched it together with his thumb while rubbing it between his fingers. He muttered softly, "This road isn't just made of cement. There's a kind of fixed structure similar to steel rods inside... However, it’s not made of steel."

Quit Smoking was taken aback. "Then what is it made of?"

"Carbon... It could also be some allotropic form of silicon carbide." Sword Execution patted his hands before standing up. He said with sparkling eyes, "I don't know what it is, but its tensile strength and other physical properties are all higher than steel."

"Oh..." Quit Smoking stroked his chin. "Interesting."

Seeing the little asshole’s perfunctory expression probably because he didn’t know anything he just said, Sword Execution couldn't help but ask again, "Don't you find it strange?"

Quit Smoking looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "What's strange about it? There's a space elevator here! Isn't a material with higher tensile strength nothing surprising to discover?"

Sword Execution stared at him, dumbfounded. "..."

That makes sense.

He didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

In the distance, the ribbon-cutting ceremony ended. Just as Chu Guang was pondering where to deploy the machine that was staying idle since the road was built, Little Seven's voice suddenly reached his ear. "Hmm... Master! Prince Kariman wants to see you, he says he has important matters to discuss! Do you want to meet him?"