The plunder of the heavens begins with the Spirit Cage.

"Hehehe, once the Spark Research Institute stabilizes this space technology, things will be even better," Lu Qianwei replied with a smile.

"Who knows, it might not be long before you can buy other meats besides pork."

"Haha, that's great! You must come and try my cooking, the skills of a royal chef, when the time comes!"

“Definitely!” Lu Qianwei replied.

"Boss, two bowls of lean pork rice noodles!" came a call from a nearby stall.

"Okay! Coming right away!"

No sooner had Old Zhang left than Lu Qianwei's slender hands snatched the noodles away, before he could even put the chopsticks into the noodles. The noodles were slurped up in one smooth motion.

Seeing his elusive younger sister, Lu Qianwei helplessly put down his chopsticks. "You're not going to follow me around like this, are you?"

"I'm not that free!" Lu Yue retorted angrily, smacking her plump face.

Looking at the absentee boss in front of her, she really regretted listening to his nonsense and studying management. That bastard brother must have planned this all along!

Calming herself down, Lu Yue said while eating, "Due to the frequent appearances of the Devouring Beasts, several shelters have lost contact."

Over the past few days, quite a few survivors have come to our bunker seeking refuge, and at this rate, we expect even more to arrive later.

"It's alright, they've come at the right time."

At this stage, Lu Qianwei is not worried about the shelter not being able to accommodate everyone.

“But at this rate, we’ll soon be facing a critical shortage of food,” Lu Yue said with concern. “The Tianxingshan Shelter sent us a distress signal at noon today.”

"They promised to provide us with 30% of the special metals we earn from the mine this year as compensation if we help resolve this crisis."

"However, we don't have any effective means to deal with the Devouring Beast, so I refused."

"Tianxing Mountain?"

That place was quite secluded, how did they get discovered?

"They captured a Devouring Beast, hoping to find the secret of immortality within it."

"If you don't court death, you won't die. It's such a simple principle, why do you still do stupid things?" Lu Qianwei said speechlessly.

Tianxing Mountain has numerous mineral veins, and the shocks caused by geological disasters have turned the deep-buried ore into easily mined areas.

Over the years, the people of Tianxing Mountain have managed to sell a considerable amount of weapons and raw materials through the half-ruined interstellar shipyard smelting plant.

They were considered a dominant force in the vicinity of the Tianxing Mountains.

However, in terms of distance, the other party was still too far away from their location.

The enemy has missile technology and cannot be breached in a short time.

Lu Qianwei's gaze returned to the Tarim Basin where he and his companions were located.

Apart from its fragile edges, the region is an ancient and solid craton with a crystalline basement formed 18 billion years ago, exhibiting considerable stability in its geological structure.

When the mangroves broke out globally in 49, they were nowhere to be found here.

All that remains are the tumors formed by the fungi that drift in with them.

This fruiting body, which has a large eyeball, can exist even without being attached to organic matter.

It can also absorb particles and minerals from the air through the growth medium to grow, and releases spores to proliferate when it matures.

Besides climate disruption, it can be considered one of the main culprits accelerating the destruction of the Earth's environment.

However, Lu Qianwei, who knew how to deal with eye tumors from the plot, naturally wouldn't let them grow unchecked in the basin.

Before the appearance of the Devouring Beasts, the people living in the basin would periodically use the Harmonic Gun to remove eye tumors.

However, with the frequent appearance of Devouring Beasts, Dark Fortress, as the local tyrant, has no choice but to step in and assist its neighbor.

After the Devouring Beast consumes the Source Essence and gives it to the Mana Flower, it will accelerate the birth of an even more powerful Devouring Beast.

In order to reduce the threat around the bunker, the dimensional system also needs an energy supply, and Lu Qianwei naturally will not stand idly by.

While eating the noodles that Lao Zhang had made again, Lu Qianwei listened to Lu Yue recount the situation and circumstances surrounding the basin.

Generally speaking, the situation is not optimistic; small shelters are almost certain to be destroyed by the Devouring Beasts.

At this point, population became a liability, and only camps equipped with power armor and high-powered weapons could provide effective defense.

However, with the various camps ceasing trade, their already complementary supply of resources could not sustain them for long.

"By the way, how did your negotiations with the phenomenology equipment go?" Lu Qianwei asked after they had finished eating and drinking.

"Hmph~ That's because of my tireless efforts... The royal family of Jingxu has agreed to the price I offered," Lu Yuezhi said smugly.

"They'll come to pick it up in a few days."

Chapter 9: In this world, influence and background matter.

The next morning, Lu Qianwei woke up in bed, ate a meal prepared by Xihe, and then went straight to the ground floor.

As soon as you step into Armory No. 1, the clicking and clattering of the hydraulically operated armored vehicles echoes throughout the room.

Good morning, Commander!

"Good morning, Commander Lu..." Along the way, everyone kept greeting Lu Qianwei.

The advent of space technology has long since dispelled the previous gloom for everyone.

Even thanks to the captured alloy, everyone's equipment saw a significant performance improvement.

Lu Qianwei arrived at his command vehicle, where a mechanic was leading two apprentices in making final adjustments.

"Uncle Mo!" Lu Qianwei greeted him.

Mo Han nodded without turning his head until the last few connection points of the vector propulsion module were reinforced and locked.

He then turned around and said, "Commander Lu, although I don't encourage you to engage in hand-to-hand combat with those Devouring Beasts."

But I've already adjusted all the melee performance settings to the maximum for you.

"Thank you, Uncle Mo. With your optimization, a military industry tycoon, all these Devouring Beasts will fall to my blade." Lu Qianwei said with a smile.

Mo Han was originally a top mechanic in the elite troops of the Heluo Kingdom.

He happened to be visiting his family when the disaster struck, which meant that Lu Qianwei got lucky.

Mo Han wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face showing a hint of fatigue but also satisfaction as he patted the flight backpack and introduced, "This is the fifth-generation Darkwing thruster."

I won't go into details about vertical takeoff and landing, high-speed penetration, and so on.

The backpack's fusion power module can power your Emberbreaker Pulse Gun.

In emergencies, it can overload and output pulse cannons, at the cost of a 30% decrease in flight thrust for a short period of time.

The backpack has 'freeze grenade' deployment pods on its sides.

Superconducting liquid nitrogen can instantly freeze targets within a ten-meter radius…

"As for other optimization modules, the tactical helmet has detailed explanations and introductions."

"Then I wish you a resounding victory!" After saying that, Mo Han stopped dawdling, yawned, and left the armory with his two apprentices.

Lu Qianwei opened the cockpit and stepped inside, briefly learning about the armor's performance and mission information.

He walked to an overpass, looked down at the neat formation below, and got straight to the point: "Due to the emergence of new high-risk species."

Survivor camps across the country have been subjected to severe persecution and threats.

Today our mission is to eliminate the hordes of Devouring Beasts roaming outside the Dark Fortress and three neighboring camps.

"According to information provided by other camps, the Devouring Beast horde is generally between 30 and 80."

The effective range for detecting emotions is within one kilometer.

The more excited they are, the farther they can "smell" the fragrance...

Lu Qianwei's methods of taking the lives of the Devouring Beasts had already spread throughout the Dark Fortress, and it was a hot news topic at the time.

With managers leading the charge, everyone was highly enthusiastic.

Five hundred against eighty. Before, they couldn't kill them because they were disgusted. Now they can wear them down. They don't know how to lose!

With the caution of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and using all one's strength to hunt a rabbit, Lu Qianwei had no intention of dividing his forces.

The group action of 500 powered armored vehicles was aimed at war.

The Devouring Beasts have fundamentally threatened the life and death of humanity.

A long, steel dragon roared as the armored convoy rolled across the wasteland, scouted by two armed aircraft.

Before they had driven very far, Lu Qianwei's deliberate attempt to amplify everyone's emotions quickly attracted a group of Devouring Beasts that were wandering nearby.

"Falcon One reporting!"

"A pack of snakes and dogs has been spotted thirteen kilometers to the northwest!"

"Number... fifty-six, rapidly approaching our convoy!" The observer's electronic voice on the aircraft pierced the communication channel.

"Roger that!"

Sitting in the command vehicle, Lu Qianwei transmitted the command message to all vehicles via the tactical screen: "Attention, all vehicles!"

"Approach the enemy from the northwest, execute the 'Anvil' contingency plan!"

The steel convoy instantly went from motionless to still, its engines still humming and running.

Several heavy armored personnel carriers and armed assault vehicles located on the northwest perimeter of the convoy suddenly turned.

The heavy armored side panels slammed heavily onto the ground with a loud thud, instantly forming a low steel wall.

The heavy machine gun and automatic turret on the roof of the vehicle rose with a "hum," their dark muzzles pointing directly at the rising smoke and dust.

At the same time, soldiers near these vehicles quickly jumped out of the vehicles and orderly used them as cover.

The various weapons mounted on its body, including miniature missiles, were all put into a ready-to-fire state.

It directly forms a three-dimensional firepower network with high and low ranges and long and short ranges complementing each other with vehicle-mounted firepower.

The armored soldiers on the inner side even set up 240mm mortars in case of emergency.

In a short moment, the armored convoy filled the wasteland with a chilling aura.

The figures of the Devouring Beasts appeared and disappeared in the smoke and dust.