Su Wu sat down in the chair at the operating table.
He reached out and pressed the control panel, turning on the computer through the fingerprint verification device.
Half a second later, the 40-inch screen, which occupied almost his entire field of vision, flickered from darkness to brightness. A three-dimensional image of the shelter, outlined in dark green lines, emerged in the center.
Su Wu examined it carefully and soon spotted the corresponding icon representing the engineering team.
By analyzing their movement trajectories, he deduced that this was a real-time status map of the shelter.
"Amazing."
Su Wu was a little impressed.
Regardless of how simple or complex its internal mechanics were, the sheer visual presentation of the system maximized the sci-fi atmosphere, delivering an immersive and futuristic experience.
With a slight swipe of his finger, the three-dimensional image of the shelter shrank and moved to the right side of the screen. He then opened the control software and connected to the medium-sized truck that was autonomously driving through the city.
A live street view, captured by the truck's camera, appeared at the center of the screen.
Compared to the last time Su Wu had ventured out, the city now looked even more desolate.
Not only were all the shops on either side of the road closed, but even the windows and doors of residential buildings were tightly shut, showing no signs of life.
According to the vehicle's built-in electronic thermometer, the street temperature was currently holding steady at around 52.3 degrees Celsius.
At this level of heat, most conventional household air conditioners would no longer function properly. Even if some units retained a bit of cooling capacity, their actual effectiveness would be negligible.
"For ordinary people," Su Wu murmured, "this must be unbearable."
Just thinking about it made him feel a pang of sympathy for those still struggling outside.
And this was only the beginning.
Strictly speaking, the true apocalypse had not yet arrived in Jianghe City.
After one last glance at the temperature reading, Su Wu firmly decided not to leave the shelter anytime soon. He disconnected the video feed from the truck and shifted his focus to surface conditions.
In the farmyard above ground, the completion of the shelter's two underground levels had consumed about 800 tons of the 3,000 tons of scrap metal in stock. Between the construction of drilling rigs, geothermal generators, vehicles, and robots, the once-crowded yard—once filled with piles of copper and iron—had become noticeably more spacious.
Under normal circumstances, building a shelter wouldn't require such an enormous amount of steel.
However, Su Wu's deep-seated sense of insecurity had driven him to reinforce the original design. He had added an extra layer of thick steel plates to the already one-meter-thick concrete exterior walls of the shelter.
With this enhancement, even a powerful earthquake wouldn't be able to crack the outer walls.
But as a result, the steel consumption had far exceeded his initial estimates.
"The batch of steel I traded from the plant is nowhere near enough," Su Wu thought.
"I'll have to find more raw materials."
He silently added this to his growing list of future tasks.
Fortunately, this wouldn't be too difficult.
Unlike food, steel had no special storage requirements.
Once the apocalypse fully set in, abandoned buildings, unattended vehicles, and even small iron mines—unsuitable for conversion into shelters—could all serve as potential sources of raw materials.
The real challenge would be collecting and transporting them back.
Beyond the scrap iron, the second-largest category of items in the yard consisted of discarded household appliances and rubber.
These items, especially the circuit boards inside the used appliances, were currently more valuable to Su Wu than steel.
The various rare elements extracted from circuit boards were essential for upgrading the electronic systems in the shelter.
Although survival points could be used to force upgrades without raw materials, the cost difference was staggering. Just one glance at the required points had been enough for Su Wu to dismiss that option entirely.
"Circuit boards don't take up much space," he mused.
"I should dismantle them first and store them in the mechanical manufacturing center on the second underground floor. Along with some copper, aluminum, and rubber."
Recalling the large amount of unused space in the rare materials warehouse, Su Wu felt it would be a waste not to utilize it.
After all, leaving valuable materials exposed on the surface wasn't safe. A sudden storm could scatter them beyond recovery.
If conditions allowed, everything should be moved underground.
However, disassembling circuit boards was no simple task. It would take a construction robot at least seven to eight hours to process them properly.
At present, Su Wu only had two construction robots. One was assisting the engineering team with the shelter's expansion, while the other was transporting purchased steel. Neither had any time to spare.
"I'll have to add another construction robot," he decided.
There was no way he could handle the work himself.
Seeing that his remaining survival points were just enough, and considering the shelter's growing labor demands, Su Wu made up his mind to spend his last five survival points on prioritizing the production of another construction robot.
After assigning the task to the engineering robot, he resumed monitoring the surface through surveillance feeds.
There wasn't much else of value to check—cement, sand, and the nearly empty two-story house.
These were all low-value, bulky materials that no one would bother stealing. He didn't need to worry about their security for now.
"From now on, I can shift my focus to the interior of the shelter."
After taking stock of his remaining surface assets, Su Wu felt an unexpected sense of relief.
The vague urgency and underlying crisis that had been weighing on his mind seemed to dissipate, replaced by a newfound sense of stability and security.
Now that both he and most of his essential supplies were inside the shelter, he no longer had to worry about external threats.
Even if the apocalypse fully struck, his safety would no longer be a concern.
He had truly transitioned from an ordinary survivor, scraping by day-to-day, to the owner of a well-fortified refuge capable of withstanding disasters.
Switching the surveillance feeds to the interior of the shelter, Su Wu checked on the first-floor hydroponic farm.
It had been nearly ten days since planting and seedling cultivation had begun. Some of the fastest-growing vegetables were already showing vibrant green hues.
"It won't be long before I can start a small-scale harvest," he thought.
"I should add professional farm robots to the manufacturing schedule."
Due to his limited survival points, the hydroponic farm had only received a single upgrade upon completion.
At present, it had three basic functions: automatic monitoring and replenishment of nutrient solution, water circulation, and lighting. These were just enough to ensure that his rice, vegetables, and fruits could grow normally.
However, advanced features—such as adjusting light, temperature, and nutrients based on crop types, as well as automated breeding, harvesting, and maintenance—were still nonexistent.
And now, with vegetables approaching mass maturity, further upgrades could no longer be postponed.
Making a mental note, Su Wu switched the feed to inspect the second underground floor.
Aside from the living quarters and control center, this level also housed the power room, water storage facility, daily necessities warehouse, and the mechanical manufacturing center.
Everything else was just empty space.
At this stage, the mechanical manufacturing center was little more than a vacant hall. None of the planned lathes, 3D printers, or additional engineering robots had been built yet.
"This is another area that will require a huge investment of survival points," he thought.
"But there's no rush."
Su Wu had learned patience.
After all, progress couldn't be achieved overnight.
Step by step, he would get everything in place—sooner or later.