Ice Age Apocalypse: I've Stockpiled Billions of Resources

The shattered city is being forcibly rebuilt.

Lin Luo led the two women across the main road. On the ruins of buildings on both sides, hundreds of engineering robots were busy like ants. They weren't rescuing people, but leveling them. Those dilapidated buildings were being demolished by controlled explosions, the dull rumbles echoing everywhere, and the dust they kicked up was pressed back to the ground by the massive air purification field before it could even disperse.

Mars' efficiency is ruthless and precise.

"Is that the crown of the landmark building in Jinghai City?" Tian Xiaoyu pointed to a twisted steel structure by the roadside, with half of a huge neon sign for the character "Hai" hanging on it.

“It’s now the number one pile in the scrap metal recycling area.” Lin Luo didn’t even glance at it, his feet still on the ground. “Old-fashioned symbols are useless; what we need is a level foundation.”

Ahead, the searchlights of the temporary command post cut the night in two.

Four heavy mechs formed a ring of escort, with a mobile command vehicle deployed in the center. They were surrounded by heavily armed elite guards, their black exoskeletons bearing the red impact emblem of the Martian Alliance.

Upon seeing Lin Luo appear, the guards instantly parted to create a passage.

Su Bo stood in front of the command vehicle, having just removed his helmet, which was still covered in gunpowder smoke. A fresh, still-scabbed bloodstain ran down his cheek, but he seemed oblivious to it. The moment he saw Lin Luo, the murderous intent in the eyes of this commander who once commanded thousands of troops on the battlefield vanished instantly, replaced by a fervent reverence.

He strode over, his boots clattering on the gravel.

There are still three meters between them and Lin Luo.

Su Bo suddenly stopped, put his legs together, and stood at attention.

"City Lord!"

The roar made the external armor of the nearby armored vehicle vibrate loudly.

Immediately afterward, Su Bo bent his knees, about to kneel on the ground. His movements were extremely precise, an obedience etched into his bones, as if this kneeling was not a matter of etiquette, but some kind of sacred ritual.

A hand supported his elbow.

That hand was very strong, and it forcefully stopped Su Bo's downward momentum.

Lin Luo frowned and pulled him up.

"What era are we living in? Still using feudal remnants in the interstellar age?" Lin Luo patted the dust off Su Bo's shoulder. "Knees are for supporting the mecha's control sticks, not for kowtowing."

Su Bo stiffened, but instead of straightening up, he retorted, "Propriety cannot be disregarded. The Mars Alliance owes its current status entirely to the City Lord. Without you, we would still be munching on synthetic clay in Martian mines. This is the rule, and it's the bottom line."

"I make the rules."

Lin Luo released his hand and pointed to the busy soldiers around him and the monster corpses falling in the distance.

“Here, speaking while standing is more effective than speaking while kneeling. I need you to look at the map, not at my shoes.”

Tian Xiaoyu, holding a knife beside her, scoffed, "Alright, Su Bo, you're wasting time by having Lin Luo bend down to help you kneel down. Hurry up and explain the situation."

Su Bo straightened up, but his eyes remained lowered, not daring to look directly at Lin Luo. This was the absolute respect a subordinate had for a superior.

"Yes, ma'am."

Su Bo turned to the side, making way for the holographic sand table behind him.

"Reporting to the city lord, the cleanup in Jinghai City is 85% complete. All A-level and above mutants in the core urban area have been confirmed dead. The remaining ones are just C-level scum hiding in the sewers. The cleanup team is currently filling in water and power, and they will be able to sweep them up within half an hour."

On the sand table, the entire three-dimensional model of Jinghai City appeared as a pleasing green. Only a few red dots flickered at the edges, but they were quickly swallowed up by the blue cursors representing friendly firepower.

Lin Luo stared at the sand table and remained silent for a few seconds.

In the library, he was forced to flee in a sorry state by that giant octopus, even using up a lot of the supplies in his cheat-like spatial dimension, and even having to rely on Shen Kexin's braised pork to recover. That was the limit of his personal strength.

Now, Su Bo, with his army, turned the entire city upside down in less than two hours.

The giant octopus that gave him a headache probably didn't even deserve a name in Su Bo's battle report; it was just a "cleared target" in the data stream.

"This is the power of the collective."

Lin Luo traced a street on the sand table with his finger, the route he had just taken to escape.

"No matter how strong I am on my own, I'm just a special forces soldier. Faced with a beast tide, I still have to run. But with an army and a technological network, these monsters are just pigs and dogs waiting to be slaughtered."

“You’re too modest, City Lord,” Su Bo replied immediately, his tone serious. “It is the individual that determines the limits of the collective. Without the deep-space engine technology and space folding theory you provided, the Martian fleet wouldn’t even be able to enter the atmosphere right now.”

"Alright, stop flattering me." Lin Luo waved his hand, his gaze sharpening. "What's the extent of the damage?"

"Twelve drones were destroyed, three were slightly wounded, and there were no casualties," Su Bo replied crisply. "This level of combat intensity is not even a warm-up for the current Martian Legion."

Natasha interjected, staring at the coastline at the edge of the sand table: "What about the harbor? Those deep waters are usually more troublesome for mutants."

"It evaporated directly."

Su Bo pressed a key on the control panel to bring up the real-time view of the port.

The once deep sea was now boiling, the water being cooked by high-energy lasers, billowing white steam. Countless huge pieces of corpses floated on the surface, while outside the port, three Martian destroyers aimed their cannons at the sea, forming an absolute death blockade.

“Anyone who dares to show their face will be carbonized immediately. We don’t need prisoners, nor samples.” Su Bo’s voice was tinged with bloodlust. “In this sea area, there won’t even be any fish left, only our ships.”

Lin Luo nodded in satisfaction.

This domineering attitude is exactly what he wants.

He had eked out a living on Earth and knew its cruelty. Talking about ecological balance with mutated creatures was suicidal; only through complete destruction and conquest could humanity regain its footing.

"well done."

Lin Luo turned around and looked out of the command vehicle.

The street has been cleared to create a wide passage. Construction vehicles are laying temporary maglev tracks, several huge 3D building printers are operating at high speed, and the walls of a temporary fortress are rising from the ground at a visible pace.

This place is no longer ruins, but a construction site.

It is the first piece of the Mars Alliance puzzle on Earth.

“Su Bo,” Lin Luo said.

"Your subordinate is here."

"This is just the beginning." Lin Luo pointed to the starry sky above and then to the land beneath his feet. "We've taken Jinghai City, but that's not enough. I want to take over all the resources on this planet."

Su Bo puffed out his chest, his eyes burning with fervor: "The Martian fleet is ready at any time. With just your command, we can flatten even the Zerg nests in Africa or the Zerg King's territory in the Americas."

Lin Luo smiled.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and took one out. Su Bo immediately took out a tactical lighter and lit it for him.

The flickering flames illuminated Lin Luo's young yet ambitious face.

Take a deep breath, and the smoke dissipates in the cold wind.

"I just realized something in the air-raid shelter." Lin Luo said, a cigarette between his fingers, looking at the lights that kept coming on in the distance. "I used to think that as long as I could live a good life with my wives in the apocalypse, that would be enough. But now it seems that my vision was too narrow."

Tian Xiaoyu crossed her arms and leaned against the armored vehicle, a slight smile playing on her lips: "What? City Lord Lin, do you want to be the planet's governor now?"

"It's not just about the length of the ball."

Lin Luo exhaled a smoke ring, his gaze piercing through the ruins and looking towards the distant horizon.

"Now that we're back, the rules of the game need to be changed. Mars is our base, and Earth is our backyard. From now on, both planets belong to the Lin family."

He turned around, looked at Su Bo, and spoke in a calm but unquestionable tone.

"Notify the logistics department to bring Shen Kexin and the others over. Also, have the research department bring down the latest 'Sky Curtain' defense system. I want to build Jinghai City into an impregnable fortress; even if a nuclear bomb falls, I want it to remain unscathed."

"Yes!" Su Bo answered loudly, then immediately turned around and shouted instructions into the communicator.

Natasha slung the sniper rifle back over her shoulder, walked to Lin Luo's side, and whispered, "This commotion will attract attacks from other Martian monsters."

"Let them come."

Lin Luo threw the cigarette butt on the ground, his military boots extinguishing the last spark.

"Those who don't want to die should submit; those who want to die should become fertilizer. In this world, might makes right."

In the distance, atop a newly erected signal tower, a huge spotlight suddenly shone, its beam shooting straight into the sky like a sharp sword piercing through the Earth's murky atmosphere.

Under that light, the ruins are receding, and a new city forged of steel is awakening.

Lin Luo took a step and walked towards the light.