The remaining balance in Jiang Ye's account was a meager thirty-five thousand yuan after transferring the funds to Xu Yan.
Xu Yan replied instantly, "Military base, right? Work starts tomorrow morning."
Jiang Ye didn't bother with pleasantries and responded with an OK gesture.
In this era, people who could speak English were almost extinct, as rare as those who could speak Sanskrit in the past. Yet, some things had been preserved through the long passage of time, like the OK gesture and the peace sign. Da Feng Novel Network.
The next morning, as Jiang Ye was getting up to brush his teeth, Xu Yan knocked on his door.
She was still in her signature black suit, her lipstick a vibrant shade.
As soon as Jiang Ye opened the door, she handed him a tablet, saying, "Choose the location."
The tablet displayed a map of the surrounding terrain, encompassing all factories, buildings, plains, and coastal areas.
Jiang Ye hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to place the military base on a barren piece of land five kilometers away from the town. He then returned the tablet to Xu Yan.
"This far?" she asked, slightly surprised.
"Military garrisons and residential areas should be separated to avoid disturbing the public," Jiang Ye smiled.
"Alright, I'll take my people to start work. You go ahead with your business," Xu Yan nodded. Her hair was a bit disheveled today, each strand clearly visible in the sunlight.
"How long will it take to build?"
"It's hard to say, depends on the ground strata there. I'll call you when it's done," Xu Yan turned and left.
With nothing to do all day, Jiang Ye wandered around the town. When he got tired, he went to a restaurant for a meal. Since it was his own restaurant, he didn't have to pay no matter how much he ate, which was quite a leisurely experience.
The construction site of the military base was too far away to be seen with the naked eye; only a faint wisp of dust could be vaguely discerned on the horizon.
In the evening, as he returned to the base vehicle,
Xu Yan was already waiting at the entrance.
"It's completed. Do you want to come and inspect it?" she asked. "My car is outside town."
"Wait a moment, I'll gather some people," Jiang Ye said as he got into the vehicle.
He opened the base panel and sent a message directly to the rapid response unit group.
Jiang Ye: "The military base is built. All squad leaders, head to the Spider Armored Vehicle Factory and each take one armored vehicle. I'll lead you there."
A flurry of "received" messages quickly followed.
Jiang Ye emerged from the base vehicle. "Alright, I'll drive an armored vehicle. You wait for me outside town. Once everyone is here, you lead the way, and we'll go together."
Xu Yan nodded. "No problem, be quick."
"Definitely, definitely!"
Xu Yan hurried away, and Jiang Ye jogged towards the factory.
The towering outer walls of the factory cast dark shadows on the ground. Dozens of brand-new Spider Armored Vehicles lay dormant in the darkness, their mechanical legs wrapped around their turrets as if in slumber. These were the first batch of armored vehicles Jiang Ye had prepared for the troops, a total of sixty units, each requiring two crew members, enough for two rapid response units to deploy. Armored vehicles for other units would be produced gradually.
The squad leaders were very efficient. By the time Jiang Ye arrived, all fourteen captains were present, standing at attention beside the Spider Armored Vehicles. They saluted him as soon as they saw him.
"Everyone get in, follow me closely!" Jiang Ye shouted, climbing into a Spider.
The squad leaders also got into their respective Spiders. The control screens automatically lit up, and each person received an orange message:
[Jiang Ye invites you to join temporary combat sequence 1]
This was the Spider's built-in identification system. All the squad leaders clicked "confirm" in unison. The fifteen Spider Armored Vehicles immediately established an information network. Each person's face appeared in the upper right corner of the control screen, similar to a video conference interface. In the lower right corner were the relative positions of the fifteen Spiders. Hovering the mouse over them displayed information, with each unit showing 100% integrity.
Jiang Ye's Spider was the first to rise, ascending to a height of five meters. Its mechanical legs moved alternately, emitting a heavy mechanical sound as it accelerated forward. The fourteen Spiders behind it followed suit, kicking up a cloud of dust on the street.
The nearby residents were all alerted. Even those who were asleep were woken up. Everyone rushed out of their homes, looking up at the passing Spider formation with expressions of shock.
Soon, Jiang Ye spotted the vehicles in the open ground outside town.
It was a construction vehicle hauling earth and stones, with three large tires on one side, a silver body, and some blue lines, lightly dusted with yellow soil.
As the Spider formation approached, the construction vehicle immediately started moving.
Despite its massive size, the construction vehicle moved with the speed of a supercar, kicking up a trail of yellow dust as it sped straight ahead. The Spider formation behind it had to accelerate to keep up. Jiang Ye glanced at the speedometer: 100 mph.
Before long, the military base could be seen in the distance.
Its scale was larger than he had imagined, resembling a civilian airport.
The outermost layer was a snow-white wall, topped with gleaming barbed wire, and some cameras were faintly visible.
The main buildings were not tall, only three stories high, shaped like the Chinese character "工" (gong). The building exteriors were a gray color resembling rock, with very small windows, a stark contrast to the large windows of civilian buildings. However, Jiang Ye estimated the main building's footprint to be at least five thousand square meters, which was quite substantial.
Upon entering the courtyard gate, Xu Yan got out of her vehicle.
Jiang Ye also lowered his Spider Armored Vehicle to the ground and opened the hatch.
Xu Yan pointed ahead. "There's a circle over there. Drive your Spiders onto it and crouch down; they'll automatically connect and descend. The parking bays for the armored vehicles are all underground. Go park them."
Jiang Ye made an OK gesture and closed the hatch.
The Spider rose slightly, and indeed, twenty meters ahead, there was a black circular area resembling a helicopter landing pad, with a large character "库" (ku, meaning depot or warehouse) painted in white.
Jiang Ye maneuvered the Spider Armored Vehicle over and stopped in the center, then crouched down.
The control screen indeed displayed a prompt:
[Connected to underground weapon depot. Enter?]
He clicked "Yes," and the circular platform began to rotate and descend into the ground, taking the Spider with it.
The control screen continued to display prompts:
[Please select parking level:]
[B1: Ornithopter Hangar, Available: 100]
[B2: Armored Vehicle Bay, Available: 300]
[B3: Armored Vehicle Bay, Available: 300]
[B4: Armored Vehicle Bay, Available: 300]
[B5: Armored Vehicle Bay, Available: 300]
"Holy crap, so many?" Jiang Ye was stunned by the options that popped up.
He had expected something like an underground parking lot, not five levels, each with an astonishing capacity.
This single underground weapon depot could accommodate 100 ornithopters and 1200 Spider Armored Vehicles!
Jiang Ye selected the fifth basement level and said aloud:
"Attention all captains, when you come down to park your armored vehicles, disperse to different levels. Take a look around, check the construction quality. We're here to inspect the military base, so there can't be any sloppiness. Twenty minutes from now, we'll gather on the ground."
"Yes, Captain!" the captains replied in unison. Their expressions were jubilant; they were clearly very satisfied with this military base.
The elevator platform carried Jiang Ye's Spider downwards. He opened the hatch and peered out. The surroundings were dark circular walls, with continuous blue light tubes, and a metallic scent in the air.
Finally, they reached the fifth basement level.
The Spider was pushed into the dark space, and the surroundings were deathly silent.
*Click!*
With a sound, bright white lights shone down from above.
Immediately after, *click-click* sounds followed one after another, and all the top lights on the fifth basement level illuminated!