A Guide to Farming in a Mobile City-Chapter 182 : Hide Yourself, Find the Enemy

Chapter 182: Hide Yourself, Find the Enemy
"It’s truly chaotic," Li Ye remarked sincerely.
"Firearms and blade control—this has always been a persistent issue for us."
Albert spoke with a sigh.
"After all, they are survivors trying to make a living on the wasteland. The vast majority carry guns."
"Even though the Apocalypse Sect conducted a full-body search when they entered the Tower City, many still managed to sneak in firearms and blades by various means."
Whether the Tower City was in chaos or not could be seen from the thirty Disciplinary Deacons assigned to escort the two of them.
Under Albert’s guidance, Li Ye observed the various facilities inside the Tower City.
The water supply station, public canteen, medical room, an education center providing various books, and a small entertainment square.
Albert told Li Ye that the Tower City had existed for over twenty years.
Though internal management was chaotic and problems constantly arose, its longevity was proof of its feasibility.
After nodding, Li Ye asked the question he was most interested in.
"Bishop Albert, how many regions in Southern Liuzhou are under human control?"
"Only the Junk Zone," Bishop Albert replied.
The Junk Zone was home to two to three million survivors.
The Old Civilization District housed the resistance organization Embers with over two hundred thousand members.
These were the main human population centers in Southern Liuzhou.
And the reason the monstrous side tacitly allowed the existence of the Tower City in the Junk Zone was because the human side had ceded part of their global interests.
Now, the Apocalypse Sect needed to organize the evacuation of these two to three million survivors within a few days.
This was clearly an immense and difficult challenge.
All the High-ranking Bishops managing the Tower City were overwhelmed with stress.
"So where do you plan to evacuate to?" Li Ye asked curiously.
According to his guess, the Apocalypse Sect would likely use airborne transport aircraft to relocate these millions to an island somewhere on the ocean.
That way, there would be more land, easier settlement, and it would be more convenient to build a new home.
However, upon hearing this, Bishop Albert shook his head.
"The situation at sea is far worse than on land."
"Islands with large populations of survivors are very likely to suffer massive assaults from monstrous civilizations."
"Unless it’s one of those mobile islands equipped with teleportation devices capable of relocating large populations."
Li Ye’s expression changed upon hearing this.
He hadn’t expected the situation at sea to have deteriorated to such an extent.
The land was already extremely dangerous. The Tomorrow Alliance might as well continue cruising along the coast, looking for a suitable place in Southern Liuzhou to land and develop.
Yet when Bishop Albert heard this thought, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Who told you that cruising along the coast and looking for a place to land is safe?" he said slowly.
From the mouth of this High-ranking Bishop of the Apocalypse Sect, Li Ye learned about the maritime situation around Southern Liuzhou.
To the north of Southern Liuzhou lay the Taranis Ocean; to the south, the Southern Ocean.
In the Southern Ocean, there existed a Level 4 monstrous civilization.
Although Southern Liuzhou was vast and expansive, and even a Level 4 monstrous civilization couldn’t form a chain of monster islands around the entire continent—
They still deployed nuclear-powered submarines for strategic patrols throughout the continent’s surrounding waters.
Once a human mobile city was detected along the coast, the submarines would surface and launch an attack immediately.
Over the years, many human mobile cities had already been destroyed.
"Do you understand now?" Albert said with gravity. "The only reason your mobile city hasn’t been destroyed yet is because the monsters’ nuclear submarines just happened to not detect you."
"Thank you for the warning," Li Ye said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
He was somewhat surprised that Level 4 mobile cities could already have nuclear submarines.
As killers of the ocean, nuclear submarines were equipped with heavy torpedoes, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and possibly even nuclear warheads.
Their nuclear power enabled them to operate submerged for months, even deploy globally.
They could lurk in the deep sea, nearly impossible to track.
The combat capability of nuclear submarines was thus evident—they could destroy dozens of low-level cities single-handedly.
At present, the Tomorrow Alliance had no means of resisting nuclear submarines, let alone intercepting their missiles and torpedoes.
From this, it appeared that Level 4 mobile cities could construct nuclear power plants and missile silos, possessing nuclear weapons.
A Level 4 scale city battle probably equated to nuclear warfare.
Seeing the sweat on his forehead, Albert smiled faintly.
"Are you wondering whether the monsters’ nuclear submarines are equipped with nuclear warheads? Oh, they certainly are."
"…"
"Then on the wasteland, would Level 4 city battles be equivalent to nuclear wars?" Li Ye asked.
Albert pondered for a moment, then gently shook his head.
"Combat between two Level 4 cities, or two Level 4 city alliances, is strictly prohibited from using nuclear weapons by both sides’ World-class Organizations."
"And in regional or even Continent-level Wars, both humans and monsters place strict limitations on the use of nuclear weapons."
"I see."
Li Ye nodded in understanding.
He could see the rationale in limiting nuclear weapons during Continent-level Wars. After all, if both sides removed all restrictions, the continent could be annihilated within days.
Too many nuclear strikes could even cause a nuclear winter.
Thus, it was clear that regulating nuclear weapons was absolutely necessary.
But Albert only chuckled and shook his head.
"The higher the level of a mobile city, the more intense the warfare. That’s a natural outcome."
"Level 4 mobile cities have an endless variety of warfare methods. The threat of nuclear weapons is relatively moderate."
"Think carefully—Level 4 Energy Shields, Level 4 Missile Disruption Systems, Level 4 Jamming Rounds—there are many ways to counter nuclear warheads. What I mentioned is just one."
This elder earnestly imparted to Li Ye a truth of high-level cities.
That was—
"Hide yourself, find the enemy."
High-level cities in the wasteland were more like entities in a dark forest.
Once you exposed your location, you could draw the attention of predatory cities of the same level, alliances of predatory cities, or even monstrous civilizations.
By then, you would face overwhelming aerial forces, tank battalions resembling a steel tide, and maritime fleets.
A barrage of incoming missiles, some even armed with nuclear warheads.
And countless long-range strikes.
Likewise, high-level mobile cities had myriad methods to conceal themselves.
Some dove into the deep sea, others burrowed underground, and some sailed ten thousand meters above in the sky.
Coupled with city camouflage and regional signal shielding, they could migrate across the wasteland safely.
Bishop Albert’s words opened Li Ye’s eyes.
Now he had a clear understanding of high-level mobile cities.
"According to your explanation, by extension… the flagship mobile cities of the human and monstrous World-class Organizations must usually remain in deep concealment," he speculated.
As the flagship cities of World-class Organizations, they must at least be “mobile continent” Level 6 to start, possibly even Level 7.
Such mobile cities were already unimaginably massive in scale.
Carrying tens of millions in population, they were equipped with land, sea, and air combat forces capable of devastating an entire continent.
Internally, they contained all kinds of buildings and a complete ecosystem, resembling a full human society.
Their area was akin to a small continent.
The land could no longer support the movement of such mobile cities—only the high skies and oceans could accommodate their migration.
There was even the possibility of the vast and boundless outer space, or perhaps some alien planet.
While pondering, Li Ye gently shook his head.
"My thinking is still too narrow. Every time a mobile city advances one level, the leap in the tech tree is exponential. From Level 1 to Level 2, and Level 2 to Level 3—it’s already quite apparent."
"Level 6 and above mobile cities should possess methods like microcosms or city miniaturization."
To this, Bishop Albert smiled and nodded.
"Smart."
"Then, Bishop Albert, what is the highest level of the mobile cities held by the three World-class Organizations on the human side?" Li Ye asked excitedly. "And how many are there in total?"
"Since you’re able to develop your own mobile city to Level 3 and establish a Mobile City Alliance, I assume you’re not a fool," Albert replied slowly. "So you should also understand that I could never reveal such information to you."
Li Ye nodded in disappointment.
He was genuinely curious about the scale of the mobile cities operated by the Apocalypse Sect, the Titan Throne, and the Iron Oath Brotherhood.
But it was no reason to be too disappointed. In time, such intelligence might emerge in future s.
As the two of them walked and talked, Albert casually inquired about the Tomorrow Alliance.
After careful thought, Li Ye told him.
Primarily because he wanted to recruit a batch of survivors from the Tower City into the Tomorrow, to make up for the manpower shortage.
Revealing the scale of the Tomorrow Alliance might put the other party at ease, or even gain his agreement.
"So how exactly does the Apocalypse Sect plan to evacuate these two to three million people?" he asked.
After hearing Albert explain the Apocalypse Sect’s plan, Li Ye couldn’t help but laugh in silence.
The method was actually rather old-fashioned.
They would deploy the Level 3 Underground-digging Mobile Cities stationed in Southern Liuzhou, load them with survivors, and retreat underground.
Under extreme conditions, a Level 3 Underground-digging Mobile City could accommodate 30,000 to 40,000 people.
To relocate the two to three million survivors of the Junk Zone, just about a hundred such Level 3 Underground-digging Cities would be needed.
However, the issue was that the Apocalypse Sect had very limited deployment in Southern Liuzhou—there weren’t nearly enough Level 3 Underground-digging Cities available.
Even if they called on the Titan Throne and the Iron Oath Brotherhood, it would be the same.
Fortunately, the Level 3 Underground-digging Cities had powerful excavation capabilities underground. They could temporarily dig out multiple underground spaces to house the survivors of the Junk Zone.
By dispatching some engineering-type cities to construct and refurbish them, these spaces could serve as temporary underground settlements.
During this period of external expansion by the Giants, people would have to make do like this.
Incidentally, the internal environment of Underground-digging Cities was often extremely poor.
As such, rather than staying inside them, people preferred to stay in the underground spaces they had excavated.
At present, one after another, Underground-digging Mobile Cities broke through the ground. Under the arrangement of the Disciplinary Deacons, the residents of the Tower City packed their belongings and lined up in long queues to board the cities.
"Compared to Underground-digging Cities, wouldn’t Airborne Mobile Cities be better? They can accommodate more people and offer more comfortable living conditions," Li Ye asked doubtfully.
Albert shook his head.
He told Li Ye that most regions in Southern Liuzhou were controlled by monstrous civilizations, and the human side had absolutely no air superiority.
There was not a single human Airborne Mobile City in the skies above this continent.
Any time a human mobile city appeared, the monsters’ aerial forces and ground-based anti-air forces would come for you.
Very soon, Li Ye brought up his request to recruit residents from the Tower City.
Albert readily agreed—he even welcomed it.
"You should’ve said so earlier! However many people you want, I’ll give them to you!"
Li Ye, however, appeared cautious.
Judging from the internal state of the Tower City, it was a mix of all kinds—numerous gangs, and the residents weren’t exactly kind folk.
Reckless recruitment would throw the Tomorrow into chaos.
After learning of his concerns, Albert waved it off.
"That’s not a problem at all."
He told Li Ye that each district of the Tower City had one high-standard zone, where survivors of good character and high quality lived. Some were even professionals.
The Apocalypse Sect held strict assessments in the Tower City every year, in order to filter out this group of high-quality survivors.
The reason was to prepare for the possibility of human mobile cities passing through the Junk Zone, so they could recruit these survivors as city residents.
"Is that so?" Li Ye couldn’t help but nod repeatedly. "Thank you. That’s really considerate of you."
"I have more than 30,000 decent survivors here. Can you take all of them in one go?" Albert asked.
Li Ye shook his head with visible difficulty.
Though tempted, the Tomorrow Alliance simply couldn’t absorb 30,000 people.
He quickly did some calculations.
The Tomorrow was set to recruit around 3,000 people this time, to reach a total scale of 5,000.
The Iron Whale, the Peacemaker, and the Engineer combined could maybe take in another 1,000 at best.
Having made up his mind, he spoke up.
"Roughly 4,000 people, that’s about my limit."
Albert's face darkened slightly.
As a High-ranking Bishop of the Apocalypse Sect, this man in his sixties had always cared deeply for his fellow survivors.
Especially these more than 30,000 well-behaved, high-quality residents.
On the wasteland, that was a rare and valuable asset.
"As the Lord of an Assault-type City, you must surely understand the importance of population," he said tentatively. "This is such a great opportunity laid out before you. If you miss it, it may never come again."
Li Ye slowly shook his head.
Albert clearly didn’t want to let go of such a chance.
After thinking deeply for a moment, he made a decision.
"If the Apocalypse Sect gives you a Level 1 Mobile City, would you be willing to recruit an extra 5,000 people?"
Li Ye froze upon hearing this.
They were offering him a Level 1 Mobile City as compensation?
For the Tomorrow Alliance, a Level 1 Mobile City held enormous value.
If it were equipped with Level 3 Cannons, Level 3 Heavy Machine Guns, a Level 3 Power Engine, and Level 3 City Armor...
Then the Tomorrow Alliance would gain a second Level 3 Assault-type Mobile City—though currently the Tomorrow Alliance didn’t have those systems yet.
After all, in City Battles, a single Assault-type City like the Tomorrow was far from enough.
Li Ye's eyes gradually lit up.
This time, he was truly tempted.
Moreover, taking on an extra 5,000 people wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
As long as they could be fully integrated, they could become a tremendous boost to the Tomorrow.
However, he also had major concerns.
With this addition, the Tomorrow would be recruiting more than 8,000 people at once—an enormous challenge for internal management.
Albert showed his experience.
After carefully inquiring about the current production projects available on the Tomorrow, he spoke calmly.
"What if I also give you a blueprint for a Level 3 Fighter Jet, and another for a Level 3 Destroyer?"
"…"
Li Ye couldn’t help but take a deep breath.
He had to admit, this High-ranking Bishop of the Apocalypse Sect had offered rewards that struck right at his core.