Chapter 277: Deterrence from the Sky

Therefore, as long as there was an opportunity, anyone holding game coins would be more than willing to spend them at Su Wu's place.

This kind of transaction might seem like Su Wu was at a disadvantage. However, it still served as a credibility guarantee for the game coins. As long as the overall value of the game coins remained stable, the benefits Su Wu could gain would far exceed the investment in transportation costs.

Of course, even without considering these factors, each game coin had already provided Su Wu with an equivalent return through the restoration of Spirituality from the moment it was created. The act of using materials to recover game coins was essentially Su Wu paying the reward that was due.

"Currently, the 30 shelters of various sizes that we have occupied have almost all been renovated. The high-value materials and most of the population have been gradually transferred back to the farmhouse through trade caravans. Only a small portion of the population, necessary for maintaining the basic operations of the shelters, and a large amount of fuel have been retained to serve as transit supply stations and refining centers for the surrounding mines."

In the control center of the farmhouse, a northern holographic map was spread out before Su Wu. An irregular line, formed by the interconnected occupied shelters, glowed faintly with a light green hue. One end of the line connected to the north of Jianghe City, while the other pointed to a massive metropolis 400 kilometers away—Steel City.

As the heavy industry center and steel capital of East Asia before the apocalypse, Steel City held significant importance in the region, with a total population reaching 25 million, making it a veritable supercity. However, after the apocalypse, for reasons unknown, Steel City was abandoned by the East Asian authorities and local leaders. A large amount of important materials and equipment were gradually transported via railway to the western plateau, leaving behind over 20 million local residents and various abandoned factories. The loss of strong official rule directly led to Steel City becoming the first supercity in East Asia to be controlled by local gangs and various commercial organizations after the apocalypse.

"Since no one wants it, there should be no problem if I go and take it away, right?" Su Wu opened the video captured by the reconnaissance drone swarm hovering over Steel City. From an aerial view, the city, covered in ice and snow, still revealed endless factory buildings, piles of metal products, and the ruins of metal frameworks. Although these things, useless for food or drink, might seem no different from roadside stones to ordinary people, in Su Wu's eyes, they were a treasure trove that made his heart race.

As the largest industrial production center and steel production base in East Asia, even after a round of plundering by the federal government and half a year of chaos and destruction, preliminary estimates suggested that the remaining high-value resources, such as metals, glass, rubber, and chemical products, still amounted to 50 to 80 million tons. Low-value fuels, concrete, and other materials were estimated to be at least 1 to 1.5 billion tons. Additionally, there were several untapped large coal and iron mines in the surrounding areas. If Su Wu could seize the resources of Steel City, even just a small portion, his military forces, including trade caravans and twin-winged helicopters, would experience a significant leap in scale, laying the foundation for expanding his power throughout East Asia.

"However, if I want to take action against Steel City, I'll have to wait two more days. I need to gather over 30 trade caravans and deploy 200,000 ordinary Spider Robots and 3,000 Heavy Main Battle Spider Robots there before I can truly begin the operation. After all, even if they were initially just local civilian forces, after inheriting the legacy of Steel City, they would still have some combat power. Without fighting a few large-scale battles, it might not be possible to completely take it down."

Due to the vast area of Steel City, no substantial unified force had emerged in the past six months. If Su Wu were patient enough and willing to spend a lot of time negotiating and forming alliances within the city, he could achieve the goal of unified occupation with minimal cost. Perhaps the entire process wouldn't even require a few decent battles. Unfortunately, with the threat of the Amethyst Crystal Entity nearby, Su Wu didn't have that much time to play a game of house with the forces in Steel City. He could only choose the most straightforward and direct method—using absolute force to sweep away all obstacles.

Two days passed. An hour before Su Wu was about to launch the war, he received a call from Changming City.

"Are you planning to take action against Steel City?" Song Hong, the mayor of Changming City, asked directly after the call connected.

"You know about it?" Su Wu was slightly surprised.

"With such a big movement, if we didn't know, the entire external intelligence department of Changming City would be unnecessary." Song Hong chuckled, then paused and said seriously, "The force you stationed at the edge of Steel City has scared a lot of people. It's said that a supercity directly under East Asia is planning to propose that the East Asian government lead a team to eliminate you, the troublemaker."

As a supercity, Changming City had not completely severed ties with other cities of the same level in East Asia due to the apocalypse. Often, things happening in other supercities could be known to Song Hong before the mid to lower-level management of Changming City even got wind of them.

"So, what do you think? Are you also planning to join the pressure?" Su Wu asked, his calm tone revealing nothing.

"Since the federal and East Asian governments have essentially abandoned the south, we are no longer on the same path. Otherwise, the Southeast Alliance wouldn't have been formed." Song Hong shook his head, indicating his stance. Then he hesitated for a moment and said, "Ping Yuhan from Zhenhai City and I still have some influence in the East Asian government. This time, we'll try to help you block them. But you also need to show sufficient strength. Just the mechanical unit in Steel City isn't enough."

To the East Asian government, a mechanical army with 200,000 ordinary Spider Robots as the main force might look intimidating, but its actual lethality was limited. Without sufficient strength, it wouldn't be enough to make the East Asian government back down. They might resort to force for various reasons, even just to save face for certain high-ranking officials.

"Show sufficient strength," Su Wu pondered for a moment and nodded. "I understand. The current East Asian capital is located below Mount Sellar in the Western Wasteland Plateau, right? I'll let them feel my sincerity."

Su Wu's words made Song Hong's heart skip a beat, giving him a vague sense of foreboding that things might escalate. But then he thought about it and felt relieved. If things did escalate, it wouldn't be bad for them. Instead, it might allow them to vent some frustration.

"Also, thank you for your help this time. After I occupy Steel City—" Before Su Wu could finish outlining the distribution plan, Song Hong on the other end of the phone interrupted.

"We have no interests in Steel City; you can take whatever you want. The idea from Zhenhai City and us is to further strengthen our economic exchanges. Your growth is a good thing for us. Perhaps in the future, most of the people in our two cities will need to rely on you for aid."

Although Song Hong came from a privileged family, he still cared about the common people. After inferring through certain channels that the safety of the entire city might not be guaranteed by the supercity itself in the future, he had been looking for a way out for the tens of millions of ordinary people in Changming City.

"No problem. As members of the same alliance, if you ever need anything in the future, you can always come to me." Su Wu nodded in agreement. The resources of Steel City were crucial to him. Being able to monopolize this cake without worrying about retaliation from the federal government was already the best outcome. Making some promises in return was nothing.

After ending the call, Su Wu looked at the holographic projection on the metal platform. After some thought, he switched it to the East Asia map mode and located the Western Wasteland Plateau and Mount Sellar. The new administrative center of the East Asian government had been a somewhat secretive location since the apocalypse. Ordinary people hadn't even heard of it. However, none of this could escape the watchful eyes of the Eden Satellite orbiting high above.

The satellite only needed to peer through the clouds and track the flow of resources across East Asia, especially in the Western Wasteland Plateau, to determine the specific coordinates of the new East Asian capital. With the coordinates, a strike could be carried out.

"Activate Eden Satellite combat mode. Unlock the Skyfall Strategic Strike System. Lock onto the target, the East Asian capital."

After a series of complex biometric and mental frequency verifications, Su Wu entered the command to deploy the Eden Satellite's force on the control panel. Half a second later, tens of thousands of kilometers above the Earth's surface, several metal rings on the Eden Satellite began to glow with a white light. The light grew brighter and brighter until it became a star as bright as the moon, then transformed into a dazzling beam, striking straight down at the planet below.

[Skyfall Strategic Strike System unlocked. Coordinates confirmed. Commencing strike trajectory deployment.]

As the beam descended, an invisible force field barrier began to form along its trajectory, creating a nearly vacuum-like channel. One end of the channel connected to the titanium tungsten alloy warhead of the Eden Satellite, while the other connected to the East Asian capital beneath Mount Sellar. From a distance, it looked like a beam of heavenly light was shining down on the East Asian capital.

Piercing alarm sirens began to sound throughout the underground shelters of the East Asian capital. Countless people looked up in confusion, listening to the familiar yet strange sound. For a moment, they didn't even realize what it meant.

In the war room on the first level of the shelter, a group of staff members was in chaos.

"What's going on?"

"We're being targeted by an unknown space-based weapon. We're about to be struck."

"Hurry and confirm the enemy's identity!"

After a few seconds of panic, someone finally identified the source of the attack through satellite surveillance. This was relatively easy to determine. Simply by adjusting the angle of the satellite's monitoring camera, one could clearly see the brilliant beam connecting Earth to a satellite in space. The unique structure of the Eden Satellite made it easy to recognize.

"Isn't that a communications satellite? How can it launch an attack?"

"Look, the warhead in the center of the satellite. It's in the final stages of preparation for acceleration."

Some were puzzled, while others were terrified. Given the size of the warhead visible in the footage, if it hit, those on the first level of the shelter wouldn't stand a chance.

"According to the detection equipment, there's an unknown force field within the beam locking onto us. Its interior is in a near-vacuum state."

At this moment, another nightmarish piece of information was discovered by the monitoring staff. This meant that the intensity of the impending strike would likely be much higher than previously estimated. The entire East Asian capital might not survive.

The severity of the situation made more people nervous. They quickly sent the report to the highest levels of the East Asian government. Meanwhile, East Asian Governor Yi Nengjing received a call from the federal government.

"What are you doing over there? Making such a big commotion. Even using space-based weapons?"

A minister from the federal defense department asked with a tone of reproach. Although separated by half the globe, the federal government, with its global satellite surveillance network and more advanced monitoring equipment, had identified the space-based weapon faster than East Asia. The weapon had more advanced technology than their own, capable of reducing kinetic energy loss during the attack to almost zero. With this level of technology, if the target were shifted to the federal capital, it could also cause irreparable damage. This was why the federal minister had contacted Yi Nengjing so quickly.

"For now, we're not sure either. We were suddenly and inexplicably targeted for an attack." Yi Nengjing's tone was filled with helplessness and confusion. He had no idea when he had provoked such a powerful enemy capable of flipping the table. Moreover, the enemy had skipped the negotiation process entirely and moved straight to the final stage—physically eliminating the opponent.

At this moment, the latest report from the war room was transmitted to his office computer. He opened it and his expression froze for a moment before he quickly ended the call with the federal minister.

"We've identified the source of the attack. Time is of the essence. Please allow us to handle this matter first."

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