114: Chapter 114 Satellite Launch

Fire Seed Shelter, Eastern Scourge Legion base, outside an abandoned mine.

Lin Li wore his flashy red Power Armor, maintaining his usual cold, expressionless NPC face.

He looked at the Scourge Legion commander [Praise Ming Shen] standing stiffly before him and said in a flat tone:

"Very good, Kindlers. You have restored order to this wasteland. Keep up the hard work, develop your strength, and protect the fruits of our civilization."

Ming Shen, acting like a 'Soldier King' from a summer camp, gave a very exaggerated military salute and roared loudly:

"Yes! Sir! Mission will be accomplished!"

Lin Li's mouth twitched slightly:

"Very good, very spirited."

After the formalities, Lin Li turned and got into the modified off-road vehicle, heading toward the canyon pass to the northwest.

Over the past month.

Under the frantic sweeping of thousands of players like a plague of locusts, the situation in the Shelter and surrounding areas became increasingly stable.

Those small Greenskin tribes, large mutant beasts, and raider gangs that once occupied the wilderness had almost vanished.

They were either killed and turned into dried meat or captured to be exchanged for points.

Furthermore, the [Jinkela No. 1] super wheat developed by Stone Man Hong was being promoted and planted across all major camps.

Now, all factions under the Shelter, including Shahe Town and the Nomads tribes, had completely escaped the fate of starvation.

Because the grain output was so abundant, some life-skill players had even begun trying to brew low-quality moonshine with the excess wheat.

Not only that.

Due to the expanding range of trading players, Red Lake Town, hundreds of kilometers to the south, and the mountain people of Tieling Town on the western coastal highlands also began to have frequent contact with the Shelter.

The combined population of these two towns was less than a hundred thousand.

Compared to Shahe Town, which was a sweatshop cruelly exploited by merchant nobles, Red Lake Town and Tieling Town were more like clan societies jointly ruled by several large families.

Although there was still exploitation of the lower classes, the small population base meant they could at least struggle along the subsistence line.

When they learned of the Shelter's powerful rise and the enticing Kindling Alliance proposal, serious divisions appeared within these two towns.

Some family patriarchs argued they should immediately join the alliance in exchange for super seeds and military protection;

Others believed the other party's origins were unknown and that they should keep their distance.

But ultimately, these discussions held little real significance.

In the face of an absolute disparity in strength, merging was only a matter of time.

As for Shahe Town, after shaking off the rule of the nobles, it displayed a vitality far beyond Lin Li's imagination.

Since the [Scourge Legion] took over defense and infrastructure there, various facilities printed by Matter Constructors were built rapidly, and a basic social security net was quickly established.

With frequent trade of goods between the Shelter, the Northwest Camp, and the three legion bases, consumer goods also gradually became more abundant.

To compete for the plentiful labor force, the three legions even began setting up recruitment offices in Shahe Town, engaging in intense competition to grab people.

After a bumpy ride, the off-road vehicle finally arrived at the northwest pass—the [Brotherhood of Steel] legion base.

Legion commander Flame Fist, Nicotine Truth, and several other core members were waiting outside the camp gates early on.

As soon as Lin Li got out of the car, he felt a strong wave of male hormones hitting him.

He saw these hulking men all wearing a uniform set of simple armor made of heavy steel plates and discarded tracks welded together, holding Power Axes and Chainswords.

On such a hot day, they were all sweating profusely, yet they still stood perfectly straight.

This look was exactly like the Brotherhood of Steel in Power Armor from the "Fallout" games!

"Welcome, Lord Manager, to inspect our work!" several muscle bros roared in unison, their voices echoing through the canyon.

Lin Li gritted his teeth hard, forcing down the urge to cover his face, and maintained his NPC dignity while making his usual empty promises:

"Very good. Your achievements in fighting the xenos will be forever engraved on the monument of human revival."

Subsequently, Lin Li began to inspect the camp.

Although the [Brotherhood of Steel] did not have the most people among the three legions, its members' average level was the highest.

They fought Greenskins in hand-to-hand combat every day, so their practical combat experience was the most extensive.

Entering the camp, the first things that caught his eye were numerous two-story buildings made of red brick and cement.

Flame Fist introduced proudly: "Reporting to the Manager, these are the exclusive housing for the warriors. One building per person, with independent bathrooms!"

Lin Li nodded.

Besides these basic residential facilities, he also saw rows of smokehouses filled with processed orc steaks.

In the center of the camp, many octagons enclosed with wire mesh were erected.

At this moment, dozens of shirtless players were engaged in intense 1v1 locker room man-battles in the octagons to train their melee skills.

Passing through the living area and going further forward, there was a heavy concrete defensive wall over twenty meters high that completely sealed off the entire canyon pass.

It was densely packed with anti-aircraft cannons and heavy machine guns.

Flame Fist pointed at the empty wilderness outside the wall, his tone filled with deep disappointment:

"Lord, there are pitifully few Greenskins outside now. If we want to find Greenskins to fight, we have to drive over a hundred kilometers deep into the north. These past few days, everyone has had no mobs to farm, so we're so bored we can only brawl with each other in the octagons."

After seeing the current state of the Brotherhood of Steel and getting a general understanding of the situation, Lin Li returned directly to the Shelter.

This legion was full of battle maniacs with nothing but muscle in their brains; they hadn't developed any decent industrial or agricultural sectors. There really wasn't much to see.

"However, the Greenskins have all crowded toward Coastal City in the east, and everyone having no one to fight is indeed a serious problem. If these Scourges get bored, there's no telling what kind of trouble they'll stir up. I need to find an outlet for them."

Lin Li calculated silently while sitting in the car.

Returning to the surface of the Shelter.

Lin Li saw Ironhead leading a hundred-man Shelter Guard composed of local natives, practicing shooting in the open space.

What they were holding was the new gadget the grease monkey Kane had recently tinkered with—the [Plasma Rifle].

Although it was called a rifle in name, in reality, to arrange enough adamantium coils to replace superconductors for constraining the high-temperature plasma, the entire gun was made ridiculously large.

An adult man could only carry it on his shoulder like an RPG rocket launcher, and after firing one shot, it had to cool down for a long time, otherwise the barrel would melt.

Lin Li had just gotten out of the car and hadn't even had time to comment on the ugly design of the thing.

Iron Man 73 approached with heavy steps.

"Creator, the first Promethium liquid rocket has been manufactured and assembled. At the same time, the ten multi-functional reconnaissance and communication satellites inside the fairing are also in place. The launch procedure can begin now."

Lin Li was not surprised.

Because just a few days ago, he had personally watched the large Matter Constructor on level B5, which had nanometer precision, perfectly print all the components of a micro-satellite in just two hours.

This satellite not only possessed basic global communication functions but was also equipped with military-grade high-definition optical cameras and thermal imaging lenses.

Furthermore, at the strong suggestion of the grease monkey Kane.

73 had also added a detection device inside the satellite capable of detecting ether radiation in space.

To prevent Warp scrapcode viruses from invading the system, Kane had also piously painted the satellite's shell with sacred protective runes of the Adeptus Mechanicus using oil.

"Let's go. Let's see our first step back into space together." Lin Li clapped his hands.

Lin Li and 73 came to an open launch site to the west of the Shelter.

In the center of the field stood a simple steel launch tower.

Fixed to the tower was a silver-white single-stage-to-orbit rocket about five meters in diameter and over fifty meters tall.

At this time, the grease monkey Kane and a new player face were standing outside the safety distance.

What made Lin Li feel it was very absurd was that the grease monkey Kane had actually lit a few things like candles on the ground and scattered a handful of metal dust of unknown composition into the air.

His mouth was incessantly muttering:

"Praise the Machine God! May the glory of the Omnissiah protect this sacred machine, may the machine spirit be pleased and not explode in mid-air..."

Lin Li waited for him to finish this abstract ritual and couldn't help but step forward to complain:

"I say, Old Kane, aren't you a member of the Logic Sect? Shouldn't you believe in absolute science and cold data? Why are you doing this kind of prayer ritual?"

Kane stood up, brushed the dust off his robe, and spoke with unusual calmness and justification:

"Lord, I am not one of those extremists in the sect who excise the emotional modules of their brains in pursuit of pure truth. My philosophy is more conservative."

"I believe in both the scientific rationality of the physical universe and acknowledge the existence of idealistic forces in the Warp. Render unto science what is science's, and unto metaphysics what is metaphysics'. We must grasp both."

Lin Li was completely stunned:

"Good grief, quite the dialectician. An extremist of the Adeptus Mechanicus and a conservative of the Logic Sect, right? Your ability to stack buffs is truly something else!"

At this time, many players had also gathered around the launch site to watch the excitement.

"Holy crap, did they build a big rocket or an ICBM?"

"Looking like a rocket, right? There's no warhead attached."

"You don't know squat. Aren't rockets and ICBMs the same thing in terms of delivery principles? It's just a matter of changing the payload, what's there to fuss about?"

"Boom—!"

Just as the players were arguing.

The launch site began to vibrate, and the fuel connection lines on the tower disconnected instantly.

With a deafening roar, the bottom of the giant silver rocket spewed out dazzling blue-green flames!

The powerful thrust kicked up sand everywhere.

The rocket began to slowly lift off the ground, then its speed increased, piercing through the lead-gray radiation clouds like a sharp sword, flying toward deep space!

Lin Li tilted his head back until the rocket became a small black dot. He turned to Iron Man 73 beside him:

"73, shouldn't a rocket launch have all sorts of complex ground command centers and towers to monitor orbital data in real-time? Are we just standing here like idiots watching?"

73's optical lens flickered, his tone seemingly carrying a hint of disdain:

"Creator, that is a sign of an inferior civilization's lack of confidence in its own machine processing precision."

"With rocket components nanometer-printed by a large Matter Constructor, coupled with my computing power for guidance, this level of primary low-earth orbit satellite deployment has no risk of failure on a physical level."

"The only risk is a sudden outbreak of a strong Warp storm, causing electronic components to be burned out and lose control due to Chaos psychic energy."

Lin Li curled his lip: "Fine, you're the boss. What's next?"

"The rocket's booster will return precisely to the launch pad in five minutes and forty seconds. After refueling, it will continue to launch the remaining ten satellites for network formation."

73 replied, "However, I suggest you head to the main control room on level B1 now. Activate the cameras of the satellites already in orbit and see the real-time status of this planet's orbit or the surface."

"Makes sense."

To be honest, Lin Li was also very curious.

He had been here so long and didn't even know the full picture of the planet beneath his feet.

From the limited geographical information obtained so far, this planet seemed very small.

If the oceans, which occupied seventy percent of the area, were excluded, the land area was pitifully small.

Lin Li returned to the main control room.

Ten minutes later, an icon for [Satellite Monitoring Array] appeared on the main computer screen in front of him.

He clicked the icon.

Twenty high-definition monitoring split-screens instantly filled the entire monitor.

Lin Li randomly selected a camera with a space perspective and enlarged it.

High-definition footage from outside the planet was instantly presented!

Directly below was an elliptical planet showing an interwoven pattern of grayish-brown and dark blue.

Without a doubt, this was Outpost Planet 586, the planet beneath their feet that had been ravaged by radiation.

Lin Li manipulated the joystick, slowly rotating the satellite's perspective to look at the deep space background.

Suddenly!

A behemoth occupying nearly half the screen crashed into the frame without warning!

It was a massive Gas Giant!

Its surface displayed a weird and brilliant purple-red color, covered with giant swirling cyclones formed by terrifying storms.