Chapter 126: Fortress of Ambition

“Master~!”

“I just earned over a thousand more!”

In the bedroom, Yenir paused mid-stroke and, watching Li Dafu’s excited face, couldn’t help but laugh as he offered a few words of praise.

With nothing better to do, he had Li Dafu put his skill to work, starting a flurry of arbitrage in the trade channel.

By using his skill to deduct 10 points from the Awakener, the guy then flipped those points—selling them at cost or even a bit cheaper. After several cycles, the profit was surprisingly substantial.

As Li Dafu’s calculations clicked away, Yenir was astonished to find that if he let the scam continue, the earnings could really add up. Flipping 100,000 Credit Points and, after fees and price cuts, the profit margin could still be seven or eight percent.

Four or five transactions a day would net twenty to thirty thousand points! With ample capital, pulling in two or three hundred thousand in a single day wouldn’t be a stretch.

Realizing this, Yenir even regretted having burned through all his Credit Points so early.

With 800,000 points entrusted to Wang Zheng, he could earn money even while lying down!

But there was nothing he could do—their top priority at this stage was to boost his strength as quickly as possible.

Of course, this was an ideal scenario; in reality, transactions of such magnitude were unfeasible. Once a deal hit 100,000 points, even major forces would be cautious. Li Dafu could only operate anonymously, making it hard to avoid suspicion.

Nonetheless, having Li Dafu earn money for him was an absolute goldmine!

Watching Li Dafu get busy, Yenir shook his head, feeling a bit sorry for those duped by him. Who would have thought that an NPC shady merchant from a dungeon could pull a fast one in the real world too?

After too many instances, Yenir even wondered if a bizarre legend might start circulating on the Memory Channel.

“Don’t trust any anonymous trading IDs! They’re demons that will swallow your Credit Points!”

He decided not to overthink it.

The scratch of his pen accompanied as Yenir studied the fortress defense blueprint he’d drawn, constantly comparing it with his memories.

Securing the entire Huaxia Battle Zone was impossible. All he could do was push the Military to build an ultimate fortress—capable of sheltering over a hundred million people—as quickly and relentlessly as possible!

In his past life, due to inexperience and ignorance of mutant and aberrant beast capabilities, the Capital Military District’s once-proud defense system crumbled under monster attacks, costing countless soldiers and hundreds of Third-Stage fighters a precious moment of respite.

It was precisely for this reason that, during the final battle when Fourth-Stage mutants emerged, they lost even the most basic ability to resist.

The more survivors there were, the greater the hope of holding the line.

Deep in thought, Yenir kept sketching a defense system on white cardstock that was entirely different from that of any Safe Zone.

“Air defense is crucial…”

“Those bird-like aberrant beasts carrying mutants over the city wall cause massive destruction just by being dropped in.”

“The original defense system was shattered, forcing us to deploy our invaluable Spiritual Energy Fighters to forcibly replace the low-level mutant beasts.”

“Ground-to-air defenses must blanket the entire fortress.”

“…”

“The ground armored corps is insignificant. Field operations only work against small undead swarms, and the underground defense system is far more vital.”

“Without underground tunnels for quick evacuations and surprise raids, even Awakeners sent out to eliminate mutants have little hope of returning alive.”

“We need to construct underground pipelines, at least 700 kilometers long! Only then can we flank the leading waves of the monster hordes!”

“…”

“The Capital’s underground river must be sealed off. Once the pipelines are in place, they’ll also require reinforcement.”

“I remember that many aberrant insects carried viruses. Individually they were harmless, but when they emerged in swarms from underground, they caused widespread infections. Many soldiers’ families perished in the rear—even the food was contaminated.”

“…..”

“Research on Spiritual Energy Armor must be accelerated.”

“With it, we could mass-equip low-level Awakeners to avoid catastrophic losses during the siege.”

“Who was it that first developed Spiritual Energy Armor again?”

“Zhang Ying?”

If memory serves, that guy should have been nothing more than a junior researcher. In the last six months of my previous life, I only heard that he was continuously promoted to Chief Engineer.

“Hmm… I don’t really know him well.”

With a slight frown, Yenir kept recalling a few key figures from his past life—most of whom had been at the front lines with little interaction with the higher-ups, usually just exchanging a few words when assigned missions.

“Forget it. Knowing his name is enough.”

Once I reach the Capital, I’ll find him directly! I do know a thing or two about the design of Spiritual Energy Armor.

Drawing on the blood-and-tears experience of warriors from my past life, Yenir meticulously marked key details on the blueprints.

Refining parts of the defense system in advance meant adding another glimmer of hope.

“………”

He didn’t sleep for an entire day and night.

Exhaling softly, Yenir looked over the hand-drawn fortress defense plan with satisfaction, a surge of emotion rising within him.

If it weren’t for his sharp memory, he could never have drawn this entirely by hand.

Mind you, the entire design spanned over thirty pages, covering nearly every conceivable issue of the fortress. Aside from some pending details, it was practically a half-finished masterpiece.

“If I showed these blueprints to those old-timers right now, they’d probably lose it…”

A smile tugged at his lips as Yenir recalled the few veteran Military officers he still knew from his past life. While many had doubted him in the early days, these survivors of the apocalypse had taken a gamble on him from the start.

Without those who, for some unknown reason, had recognized his potential and secured early supplies, even his promotion to Third Stage would have been in doubt.

After carefully reviewing the blueprints, Yenir was astonished by the sheer volume of resources required.

In the pursuit of perfection, the fortress spanned a staggering 1,200 square kilometers, including 47 levels of underground space—larger than the original Capital. It wasn’t just a super fortress; it was the ultimate bastion masquerading as a city!

Take the city wall for example: six layers of defense, each towering over 70 meters. The outermost alloy wall reached 120 meters in height and 25 meters in thickness—essentially, a metal-clad web of firepower.

Once the plan was set in motion, it would become a true Steel Great Wall, capable of repelling any enemy below Fourth Stage!

“Material consumption is also a problem.”

“To build this fortress, we’d probably need the united power of the entire nation—though gathering enough resources might still be a challenge…”

“Not three years… no, two years. We have no choice but to give it our all!”

Lost in thought, Yenir kept twirling the ring on his finger, his eyes glinting with determination.

If all else failed, he’d have to find a way to make other national battle zones ‘voluntarily’ supply resources.