Chapter 4: New Intelligence

When Li Ye stepped into the cockpit, he found that Tang Fang was no longer operating the helm but had folded his hands and was sitting back in his chair resting. The Tomorrow was already cruising steadily.

He paused for a moment, then suddenly realized something and spoke with delight.

“You’ve already managed to get the Tomorrow on autopilot?”

The mobile city had an autopilot mode, but activating it wasn’t as simple as pressing a button; it required inputting a sequence of codes at the control panel. Commands such as the direction the mobile city should head, the desired speed, and how to avoid obstacles of certain sizes all needed to be set.

Tang Fang had learned to input the autopilot sequence in less than half a day since taking the helm.

“You truly have a talent for piloting,” Li Ye said sincerely, patting Tang Fang on the shoulder.

Tang Fang, however, grimaced and waved him off.

“No, Brother Li. I’m just someone who came in halfway through. I’m really afraid I’ll mess it up. It’d be best to find another helmsman.”

Li Ye’s expression grew pensive.

In this wasteland apocalypse, talents like skilled helmsmen were rare and precious—one might not find one for years. Even if he were lucky enough to find one, he wouldn’t dare grant them helm access to the Tomorrow lightly.

Only by training a helmsman from scratch could he feel assured.

Looking at Tang Fang, sweat-drenched and weary, Li Ye suddenly understood something, and a hint of emotion appeared on his face.

Since overthrowing the former lord’s rule and taking over the Tomorrow the previous night, this frail and sickly boy had been tirelessly piloting the city, diligently studying its operations and working hard to avoid mistakes.

Until now, he hadn’t even nibbled on any rations—only drank a few sips of water.

“You’ve worked hard,” Li Ye said again, patting Tang Fang on the shoulder and handing him some food. “Eat quickly, then take a rest.”

Tang Fang took the food absentmindedly, then froze when he saw what it was.

It was a canned meat.

There were only three cans on the Tomorrow, and they had previously been reserved only for the lord and his trusted inner circle.

Since taking over the Tomorrow, Li Ye and the others had been scrimping on food, eating only a steamed bun or a boiled potato each day.

Seeing Li Ye’s expression, Tang Fang hesitated but then opened the can and began to eat.

After a few bites, he lowered his head, wiped the corner of his eye, and muttered gloomily, “Brother Li, this stuff doesn’t taste good.”

Li Ye was momentarily taken aback, then ruffled his hair with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

“Don’t give me that. You’ve been working hard piloting the Tomorrow. You deserve to eat well.”

He glanced thoughtfully at the can.

The packaging was very new—it was clearly produced recently, likely in some other mobile city.

“In this apocalypse, they still have resources to produce canned food. That mobile city must be quite powerful...” he thought.

At that moment, Old Zhou and the others entered the cockpit.

“Ah Li, the blue-heart potatoes have been planted, and the zombie carcasses cleared,” Old Zhou reported.

Seeing Tang Fang eating canned meat beside Li Ye, no one showed surprise. Instead, Tang Fang felt a little embarrassed and set the can aside.

Li Ye nodded to the group and cleared his throat.

“Good timing. I need to tell you all something... We need to upgrade to a level 2 city within three months and leave the Wasteland Zone.”

Everyone was stunned.

“Why the rush?” Old Zhou’s face changed, and the others looked puzzled, whispering among themselves.

Seeing Li Ye nod solemnly, the murmurs in the cockpit gradually ceased.

Though they didn’t understand the reason, everyone trusted Li Ye.

His expression grew serious.

The Wasteland Zone was a level 1 area but the size of a country—absurdly vast.

The nearest zone was the Eternal Night Zone, a level 2 area.

It was far more dangerous, with even more terrifying monsters.

Few people on the Wasteland knew the way to the Eternal Night Zone—they only knew it was distant.

This meant the Tomorrow needed full staffing, ample resources, and sufficient city upgrades—ideally reaching level 2.

A level 1 city blindly advancing into a level 2 zone was tantamount to suicide.

But upgrading from level 1 to level 2 was far from simple; it required a massive consumption of level 1 resources and the gathering of rare materials.

Most level 1 cities would struggle to upgrade within three years.

Li Ye made a decision.

“In three months, we must prepare resources, find the route to the Eternal Night Zone, and figure out how to upgrade the Tomorrow to a level 2 city!”

...

After finishing a steamed bun, Li Ye slowly lay down on a small bed.

He pulled up the system panel and silently stared at the epic-level intelligence report, occasionally closing his eyes in thought.

This piece of information had unsettled him ever since.

The Tomorrow had just set sail and was already facing such a severe challenge.

At the same time, he glanced at another section of the system panel.

[Intelligence is being compiled, please wait patiently...]

Next to this line was a sand timer icon ticking continuously.

It seemed that every time all intelligence was refreshed, the system entered a cooldown period.

After about half an hour, the sand timer changed into a checkmark, and a line of text appeared.

[Cooldown complete.]

[Next intelligence refresh in 7 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

[Intelligence count: 5]

“Is the intelligence refresh usually this fast?” Li Ye was surprised.

From the system instructions, he learned this:

The quantity and timing of intelligence refreshes were random.

But overall, there was a fixed rule.

The longer the refresh time, the more intelligence was provided, and the higher its value.

If a refresh took days or even a week, it might yield legendary intelligence of even greater value than epic-level.

Sleepiness crept over him; Li Ye yawned and closed his eyes. Since last night, he hadn’t rested properly. He was very tired now.

“Hopefully, this time it will refresh some good intelligence.”

With that thought, he fell into a deep sleep.

When Li Ye woke again, it was already dark.

“It’s already night? How long have I been asleep?”

Without thinking further, he excitedly opened the intelligence system.

There were five new intelligence reports displayed.

[1. This afternoon, the level 1 mobile city Azure revived its strength and took a monster-occupied mine. After treatment by the Azure city’s physician, the Azure lord’s condition improved, and he regained consciousness, but his left arm was amputated. (Intelligence value: Common)]

[2. Five kilometers northeast lies an uncontaminated freshwater lake. (Intelligence value: Common)]

[3. One hundred kilometers due west is a survivor town named “Field Town,” with a population of 161. The town has no heavy artillery or machine guns; its defenses are average. (Intelligence value: Excellent)]

[4. Five minutes ago, level 1 mobile city Crimson Hound successfully produced a level 1 cannon. Currently, its armed forces total 96 combatants, with 4 convoys, 2 level 1 cannons, 8 ordinary cannons, 14 standard heavy machine guns, and over 120 assorted firearms. (Intelligence value: Excellent)]

[5. The day after tomorrow at dawn, a gnoll caravan will appear in Thunder Canyon. All gnolls in the caravan are neutral. Collecting candles and trading them might yield valuable goods. (Intelligence value: Rare)]