Ice Age Apocalypse: I've Stockpiled Billions of Resources

The amphibious vehicle's engine let out a deep roar, its massive wheels kicking up clouds of dust, leaving the desolate yet magnificent "Symbiotic City" far behind.

Lin Luo didn't turn around; his gaze was fixed on the holographic map in front of him.

"Hold on tight, we're going to speed up and cross this plain."

With his command, the chariot reached its maximum speed, racing across the red Martian surface like a steel beast.

After driving for about two hours, the shadow of a building reappeared on the horizon.

"Another city?" Natasha, sitting in the passenger seat, put down her weapon and adjusted the focus of her observation scope. "But this one looks...much smaller."

Indeed, compared to the previous megacity that could accommodate tens of millions of people, this city in front of us seems rather "miniature".

The buildings are generally low in height and more compact in layout, making them more like a satellite city or a functional outpost attached to the main city.

"Drip drip!!"

The car alarm suddenly went off urgently.

"Weather warning!" Karina stared at the red waveform on the screen. "A high-energy particle storm is forming, with extremely high wind speeds. Visibility is about to drop to zero!"

The words had barely left his lips when the sky, which had been barely discernible, instantly turned a murky dark red. A fierce wind whipped up countless tiny grains of sand, which pounded against the armored hull of the tank like bullets, producing a dense, crackling sound that sent chills down one's spine.

"This awful weather." Lin Luo frowned and slowly reduced the car's speed. "In this kind of storm, both our visibility and radar will be greatly affected."

"Should we send out drones to scout ahead?" Chen Shuang asked.

"No way." Lin Luo rejected the idea outright. "With this wind speed and charged particle flow, the drone would go out of control and crash as soon as it takes off. Sending it out would be suicide. We'll stay in the car and find a sheltered spot near the edge of the city to park."

The chariot slowly drove into the area beneath a broken wall on the outskirts of the city, using the ruins to block most of the wind and sand.

Although the car body was still swaying slightly, it had become much more stable.

"call……"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The feeling of encountering a natural disaster on an alien planet was even more suffocating than facing zombies.

"Why do I feel a little cold?" Zhang Min hugged her arms and couldn't help but shiver.

Lin Luo glanced at the monitoring screen inside the car.

The numbers above are jumping rapidly.

"The temperature has plummeted," Lin Luo said in a deep voice. "The outdoor temperature has already dropped below minus eighty degrees Celsius. Due to the storm, the vehicle is losing heat very quickly, and the interior temperature is now... minus ten degrees Celsius."

Although the vehicle has a temperature control system, the heating system was pushed to its limit in the face of such an extreme Martian storm.

The cold, coupled with the long journey and intense mental stress, instantly triggered a strong sense of hunger in everyone.

"I'm cold and hungry." Natasha rubbed her stomach. Although she was a special agent, she was still human. "Lin Luo, shouldn't we eat something to warm up?"

Lin Luo looked at the howling red sand outside the window, and a smile suddenly appeared on his lips.

"In this kind of weather, and with temperatures dropping to minus ten degrees Celsius, what do you think is the best thing to eat?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, then several pairs of eyes lit up at the same time.

"Hot pot!" Zhang Min practically shouted.

"clever."

Lin Luo snapped his fingers, and his consciousness reconnected to the space.

The next second, a copper hot pot with two separate compartments appeared directly in the center of the not-so-spacious carriage.

Immediately afterwards, a portable gas stove, a generous amount of beef and mutton rolls, tripe, duck intestines, and even several plates of lush green vegetables were spread out on the folding table.

Lin Luo skillfully lit the fire, and the red oil broth quickly began to boil under the licking flames. The spicy and fragrant aroma instantly filled the entire carriage, completely dispelling the chill.

"Although there's sand and dust outside, the oxygen content is acceptable according to the test." Lin Luo glanced at the data and pressed a button on the ventilation system. "Open the vents a little, so you don't suffocate."

As a cool breeze carrying the unique earthy smell of Mars blew in, it mingled with the rising steam from the pot, creating a sensation of "ice and fire" that whetted the appetite.

Lin Luo then produced several exquisite small plates as if by magic.

"Come on, it's not over yet."

A plate of deep-fried peanuts, sprinkled with fine salt, crispy and fragrant.

A jar of sliced ​​pickled cucumbers, bright green and inviting.

There were also a few packets of spiced dried tofu and pickled mustard greens.

"This is too much..." Although the two sisters, Yuqi and Yuna, couldn't eat too spicy food, their mouths were watering as they looked at the fish balls bubbling in the clear broth pot.

"start!"

At Lin Luo's command, everyone stopped being polite and started throwing their chopsticks.

"Wow! This beef is so tender!" Zhang Min picked up a large piece of fatty beef with her chopsticks, dipped it in the spicy oil for a few seconds, coated it with minced garlic and sesame oil, and stuffed it into her mouth. A look of extreme enjoyment appeared on her face. "Mmm... This is so satisfying! After a long day of hard work, eating hot pot while watching a storm on Mars, this is definitely a unique privilege in the entire universe!"

Natasha was not to be outdone. Although she was a foreigner, she clearly had a high tolerance for hot pot, a Chinese delicacy, and could even handle spicier food than Zhang Min. She ate until a fine layer of sweat appeared on her forehead, her lips were red, and she exclaimed that she was thoroughly enjoying herself.

“Indeed.” Lin Luo picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, savoring its roasted aroma. “In the apocalypse, being able to eat something hot is the greatest happiness. Let alone here on this godforsaken Mars.”

The atmosphere inside the carriage became warm and lively.

The previous fear, fatigue, and anxiety about the unknown melted away in the boiling steam.

Everyone clinked glasses, ate snacks, and chatted, as if they weren't on a life-or-death mission, but rather on a peculiar camping trip.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

Chen Shuang put down her chopsticks, glanced worriedly at the still raging storm outside the window, and then looked at Lin Luo: "City Lord Lin Luo, how much further do we need to go? That purple grassland... just looking at the map, I feel something is very wrong. My intuition tells me that it is very dangerous there."

Upon hearing this, everyone slowed down slightly.

Purple grassland.

This is their next destination, a vast unknown area marked on the holographic map.

Lin Luo wiped his mouth, his eyes slightly serious: "Let's continue forward for now. There are too few clues about the Symbiotic City. Although we obtained the tablet, we haven't fully unraveled the secret of the core 'Fire Seed' yet. That grassland might hold the answer. Of course, if we encounter any unavoidable danger, I will lead everyone to evacuate immediately."

"We'll see when the time comes," Lin Luo gave an ambiguous but safest answer. "Anyway, there are supplies on the vehicle, so we can attack or defend as we please."

Zhang Min took a sip of plum juice to relieve the spiciness and said with some emotion, "To be honest, I've had so much information today, my head is still spinning. I always thought Martians were those big-headed, small-bodied aliens, or some kind of giant monsters. I never imagined... that this is actually a society where many ethnic groups coexist, with giants, wise men, and even some kind of spirit race."

“Yes.” Karina slowly took a bite of a pickled cucumber, her gaze deep. “This completely overturns humanity’s imagination of extraterrestrial civilizations. This kind of social structure is actually very stable, with everyone doing their own job. If it weren’t for that solar disaster, they might have developed into something much more powerful than Earth.”

At this point, Karina suddenly looked up at Lin Luo and asked a question that everyone was concerned about: "Lin Luo, do you think... if those sleeping Martians really come back to life and awaken, is it possible for them to live peacefully with humans? After all, we saved them, or rather, we didn't destroy their cities."

The carriage was quiet for a moment, with only the bubbling sound of the hot pot remaining.

Everyone was looking at Lin Luo.

"Peaceful coexistence? Most likely impossible."

He picked up his chopsticks and stirred the pot. “You said it yourself, that’s ‘if’. In the rules of civilized survival, there is no room for sentimentality. To them, we are invaders, inferior beings, and robbers who plunder resources. Even if we do nothing, just stand on their land and breathe their air, it is an offense to them.”

"not to mention……"

Lin Luo lowered his voice, a barely perceptible glint of cold light flashing in his eyes.

He didn't say the second half of his sentence.

Moreover, he did something that was enough to impact the entire Martian civilization.

If they still exist, it's something they hate to the core.

Only Lin Luo himself knew that before coming here, he had secretly excavated and moved a large number of hibernation pods during his previous exploration of the ruins, using the system's capabilities.

Those hibernation pods don't contain ordinary supplies, but living, sleeping Martians.

He used his teleportation ability to send all these super creatures, capable of destroying modern armies, to Earth, where a catastrophe was taking place!

Lin Luo sent these Martian warriors there for two reasons: firstly, as uncontrollable "biological weapons" to fight the zombie horde; and secondly, so that he could have more leverage when he returned to Earth in the future.

But this secret must never be known to the teammates in front of them, and even more so to the Mars defense system here.

If the still-sleeping Martians knew that their precious compatriots had been treated like merchandise by Lin Luo and thrown onto the disaster-ridden Earth for a "chaotic battle," they would be in trouble.

It's likely that the entire defense mechanism of Mars will instantly go berserk, willing to do anything to tear Lin Luo to pieces.

“What else?” Natasha pressed.

"It's nothing." Lin Luo snapped out of his reverie and calmly picked up a piece of luncheon meat. "Besides, those who are not of our kind are bound to have different hearts. This is the wisdom of our ancestors, and it applies to the universe as well. Stop dreaming of being a saint and hurry up and eat. You'll have the strength to face the troubles ahead."

Although everyone felt that Lin Luo's words had a hidden meaning, they did not press him further due to their absolute trust in him.

The storm outside the window was still roaring, and red sandstorms blotted out the sky.