chsdbacks Chapter 103 Odin Fortress
Chapter 103 Odin Fortress
Chapter 103 Odin Fortress
Zais, a wasteland in the northern hemisphere.
The gale whipped up sand and gravel, which pelted against the thick armor plating with a crackling sound.
A colossal land-based warship, "Odin Fortress," measuring eight kilometers long and three kilometers wide, is crushing across the wasteland at a speed of thirty kilometers per hour.
This thing is too big.
Each of its track plates is as big as half a basketball court. When it rotates, the ground shakes and the rocks along the way are crushed into powder.
It's less of a ship and more of a mobile city, complete with streets and factory chimneys belching black smoke.
At this moment, in the central command room located on the top floor of the fortress.
Lord Tang Lu was sitting on the chair covered with the skin of an unknown monster, holding a glass of murky synthetic liquor in his hand.
He was a 45-year-old bald man with several crude-looking data interfaces attached to his head.
Tang Lu was in a good mood and even hummed a little tune.
Zais has not been peaceful this past month.
A new foreign force has emerged in the north, flying a yellow and blue flag, and has taken over the haunted ruins of Horisonburg.
Logically speaking, as one of the largest warlords in the area, Tang Lu should have sent troops to test the waters and at least collected some protection money.
But he didn't go, he didn't even glance at it.
Because he was busy.
He's struck gold.
A month ago, the starship that descended from the sky and carved a large trench in the ground left behind a huge empty shell after all the crew members evacuated.
Tang Lu and his men arrived at the scene immediately.
Although the ship's main structure had been blown up and the bridge had been dismantled down to just a frame.
But in the engine compartment, they unearthed two enormous, earth-shattering machines.
A complete subspace engine, and a heavy element reactor that can be easily fitted together.
This is the core of the starship!
For the Zais people, who have been trapped on the ground for thousands of years.
Once this thing is fixed, we can install it on the land-based ships and then make some modifications.
Odin Fortress then has starships!
They could then fly out of the atmosphere and rob those legendary agricultural worlds where milk and honey flow!
Driven by this grand dream of spaceflight, Tang Lu ordered a city-wide shutdown of all work and production, pouring all resources and engineers into the repair of the power compartment.
"Lord! Great Lord!"
The engineering minister, his face covered in grease, rushed in, so excited he almost tripped.
"It's fixed! It's all done!"
"The physical circuits are all closed, and the cooling pipes are leak-free! We just conducted the final pressure test, and that massive main drive shaft was spinning like a windmill!"
"real?!"
Tang Lu slammed his wine glass on the table and jumped up.
"Come on! Take me to see this!"
The other lords who were accompanying them quickly followed, their faces beaming with joy.
These guys don't usually understand technology, but that doesn't stop them from dreaming.
One of the fat lords was so excited he rubbed his hands together: "Great! Once we're airborne, I'm going to blow up that 'Twilight' ship next door! Those bastards stole several of my mining spots!"
The group arrived at the core power compartment located at the bottom of the fortress.
This place was originally used to house the diesel engine units of the land-based ships, but it has now been hollowed out, and the two giant machines from the "New Bang" stand in the very center.
It must be said that the engineering capabilities of the Zaisi are truly impressive.
Although they didn't quite understand the principles of starship propulsion, they managed to reconnect the broken pipes and repair the shattered hull.
At this moment, the reactor's outer shell was polished to a shine and coated with a layer of red anti-rust paint, making it look quite festive.
"Great, really great."
Tang Lu circled the reactor twice, then reached out and patted the thick metal casing, producing a dull thud.
"It's a bit ugly, but as long as it can move, it's fine."
"Come on, start the self-test program."
Don Lu himself was an engineer, and for such a sacred moment, he had to do it himself.
He walked to the control panel.
"Click".
Tang Lu switched off the power switch.
A huge current surged into the device, the console screen flickered a few times, and a line of green characters lit up.
The system power supply is normal.
[Initializing————]
The lords behind them cheered.
"It's lit up! It's lit up!"
"We're going to fly! Hahahaha!"
A smug smile appeared on Tang Lu's face as he clicked "Full Self-Check".
however.
next second.
The screen, which was originally green, suddenly turned into a shocking blood red.
Countless red pop-up windows, accompanied by a piercing alarm sound, frantically refreshed the screen.
[Important Warning: Hardware Missing!]
[Important Warning: Logic loop interrupted!]
[Important Warning: Core component not responding!]
Tang Lu's smile froze on his face.
"What's going on? Is the connection off somewhere?"
He quickly went to check the detailed error report list.
Upon seeing this, Tang Lu felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head, as if the blood vessels in his brain were about to explode.
[Reactor ignition control array: Missing.]
[Subspace Engine Phase Adjuster: Missing.]
[Geller force field frequency resonant crystal: missing.]
[Main control servo chipset: Missing.]
[Fluid Valve Intelligent Control Board: Missing.]
[Curtain Array: Missing.]
[Geller array: Missing.]
Missing.
Missing.
It's all missing!
Tang Lu didn't believe in superstitions; he suspected that the sensor was broken.
It's important to understand that the reason the engineering department has been busy repairing the external pipes and lines for the past month without ever thinking of taking a look at the core is not because they are lazy or stupid.
Common sense dictates that the core components of a starship of this caliber undergo the most stringent industrial packaging, and its outer shell is made of genuine adamantite composite armor. The design was intended to allow it to survive as an independent black box even after the main hull explodes.
When they dug these two treasures out of the ground, even though the keel of the New Bang was broken, these two things still looked intact.
Logically speaking, since the outer shell is fine, then the core components, which are protected by layers of protection, must be absolutely safe!
Moreover, without a dedicated key, opening this level of packaging without damage is virtually impossible; forcibly disassembling it could very likely damage the delicate internal structure.
Who would risk damaging their precious item by opening the lid to inspect it?
But now, the screen full of red error messages completely shattered Tang Lu's rationality.
He had to see for himself what was going on inside!
Tang Lu turned and roared at his men, "Bring me the hot melt! Now!"
The engineering minister and several lords around him turned pale with fright and desperately tried to stop him, saying that this was a desecration of the machine's spirit. If the delicate parts inside were damaged, all their efforts over the past month would be wasted. This was their hope for flying!
But at this point, Tang Lu was no longer willing to listen to any advice.
He snatched the directional thermal detonator from the demolition team and slammed the explosives against one of the sealed doors.
With a muffled bang and a blinding flash of white light, the high-temperature metal jet instantly burned through the defenses, but even so it did not completely destroy them, leaving only a hole emitting billowing heat exposed to everyone.
Despite the dripping molten iron and his singed eyebrows, Tang Lu still leaned in to take a look.
Then, he witnessed that suffocating scene.
It was completely empty inside.
The slots that should have been filled with precision circuit boards, transistors, and coils were now completely empty, leaving only dark, hollow interfaces that seemed to mock his ignorance.
All the core components are gone.
This is like you painstakingly repairing a Ferrari, repainting the exterior, inflating the tires, and cleaning the seats spotless.
When they got in and turned the key, they found only a large rock in the engine compartment; the engine itself had been stolen!
"Holy shit!"
Tang Lu was so anxious that he couldn't catch his breath, his vision went black, and he staggered back several steps.
"Great Lord! Great Lord, what's wrong?!"
The lords nearby were startled and quickly helped him up.
"Aren't you getting too excited?"
"He must be overjoyed. It's alright, he'll be fine after a while."
"Happy my ass!!"
Tang Lu pushed away the person supporting him, pointed at the huge reactor, his fingers trembling violently.
His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.
"Empty—empty!"
"This is just an empty shell!!"
Tang Lu finally roared, "The captain of this ship is absolutely insane!"
"He emptied it all out! He didn't even leave me a single screw!"
"That bastard deserves to be torn to pieces!"
The surrounding lords looked at each other, completely bewildered.
"What do you mean? Hollowed out?" The fat lord hadn't even reacted yet. "Then how can it still fly?"
"Fly my ass! What are you going to use to fly? Your belly?!"
Tang Lu was so angry that he grabbed the screwdriver in his hand and slammed it to the ground.
"This thing is basically a giant boiler now! It can't do anything but boil water!"
"I just can't understand it—I really can't understand it!"
Tang Lu grabbed his bald head and spun around in place, looking a bit neurotic.
"They were evacuating! They were fleeing for their lives!"
"Our land-based ships are firing outside, and it's probably a complete mess inside."
"Under those circumstances, how did that captain manage to remove over 90% of the core components in such a short time?!"
"Is he sick?!"
"Are his crew members locusts?! They didn't even leave a blade of grass behind after crossing the border?!"
Even the most greedy scavenger will discard heavy goods when fleeing for their life.
But that person didn't.
He took all the good stuff, leaving them only this pile of impressive-looking but actually useless scrap metal that could be repaired!
This is more than just robbery.
This is an insult! An insult to the intelligence of all those who follow!
"Oh my god————"
The fat lord, who had always dreamed of becoming a captain, finally understood.
His dream of flying was shattered.
Not only was it broken, but it was also stomped on the ground twice.
All the hard work of the past month has been for nothing.
All the resources invested this month have gone down the drain.
The fat lord felt a sharp pain in his chest and his eyes rolled back.
"Here we go."
With a strange sound, he fell straight backward.
"Clang!"
The heavy body slammed onto the metal floor with a loud thud, sending dust flying everywhere.
No one went to help him up now.
Everyone stared blankly at the empty server rack, while Tang Lu was on the verge of tears: "I refuse to accept this! I refuse to accept this!!"
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