Doomsday disaster: Start by building a shelter.

Chapter 342 One Billion People
The 17th floor of the Chuhu City Shelter.

A few streetlights, which appeared to be somewhat broken, illuminated the sparse crowd on the road with their dim light.

Su Wu was controlling a humanoid robot through a holographic projection helmet.

Standing in the shadows where no light reached, I curiously observed everything around me.

Judging from the rudimentary environment and the large amount of household garbage piled up everywhere.

As can be seen.

This is a typical area where ordinary people gather.

According to the information Su Wu possessed.

He is currently located on the top floor of the Chuhu City shelter.

It's different from before the apocalypse.

In the pre-apocalyptic world, the higher the floor people lived on, the greater their status and power often represented.

But after the apocalypse.

Especially special refuges like those in Chuhu City, built in canyons.

The upper levels, on the contrary, symbolize danger.

Therefore, the important people in the shelter, as well as the essential production and living materials, were naturally placed deep underground.

Secondly, there are industrial production equipment such as factories.

The outermost layer, which is the top layer.

That's where the tens of millions of people at the bottom of society live.

"Industry is not developed."

"The unemployment rate is very high."

"Cost of living—"

I casually browsed through a few sets of data.

Su Wu frowned and gave the environment here an extremely poor rating.

Let's leave the industrial sector aside for now.

Although Chuhu City is described as a megacity.

However, due to the lack of technology for conventional nuclear power plants, most of the electricity comes from thermal power generation.

Therefore, the lack of electricity makes it difficult to support the normal operation of a large number of factories.

The number of job openings available is quite limited.

These objective reasons can be ruled out.

Chuhu City, however, has not even set up many voluntary posts that are considered basic living allowances.

This would constitute wrongdoing by the manager.

What's even more outrageous is...

The entire shelter has at least tens of millions of residents.

To have survived until now in the apocalypse.

The majority of them actually relied on games previously released by Su Wu.

even.

Even this basic welfare benefit obtained from the game is subject to a heavy tax levied by Chuhu City.

This cut the income that would have been enough for the poorest residents of Chuhu City to barely make a living by more than half.

They had to rely on savings from before the apocalypse to make ends meet.

As for those whose savings have been exhausted.

What awaits them is either joining a local gang and becoming a hired thug, or starving to death.

"Essentially."

"Apart from greed."

"The main reason for this situation should be that the higher-ups in Chuhu City want to intentionally control the population size of the shelter."

Extremely limited living space in the post-apocalyptic world.

And it is almost impossible to replenish various basic resources from the outside.

An excessive population is destined to be a burden.

Therefore, appropriately reducing the surplus population is in the interest of the shelter's leadership.

Even if it is exceptionally cruel for an individual.

"Given the current situation, there is no need to seek a spokesperson from higher levels."

"Then let's just get started."

His gaze shifted to the right, watching several gang members in the distance, carrying homemade muskets, burst into a house.

Then several muffled gunshots rang out.

Su Wu's eyes were calm to the point of indifference.

This kind of scene plays out almost every moment in Chuhu City.

There's nothing particularly surprising about it.

Similarly, they provided cover.

When Su Wu launched the operation.

In the initial stages, it is highly unlikely that it will attract the attention of the shelter's leadership.

A few seconds later.

A group of special agents wearing exoskeleton armor had infiltrated the area beforehand.

They began using drones and robot dogs for assistance.

They infiltrated key departments on the top 19th floor of the shelter step by step.

10 minute later.

The top-floor area, C-30, is a large plaza.

Amidst a deafening roar.

Large amounts of concrete debris, accompanied by icicles and a biting, cold airflow.

They fell from the ceiling together.

Then, a steel torrent of spider robots and combat drones.

It kept pouring in from there.

17 minute later.

The Chuhu City Shelter, the top 18 and 19 floors.

All the key routes were occupied.

The mechanical legion now has a forward base.

They split into small teams and followed the cableway of the elevator platform.

Initiate a synchronized intrusion into the other layers of the shelter.

It benefits from the chaotic order and strict control over internet communications here.

The first three minutes are the most valuable after a full-scale invasion begins.

This did not raise any alarm among the shelter's leadership.

20 minutes.

There was an explosion.

The sound came from near the robot that Su Wu was piloting.

Then came the piercing alarm and the burst of gunfire.

This means that the main force of Chuhu City stationed on the 17th floor finally realized that something was wrong.

They began engaging in combat with Su Wu's mechanical legion.

"It's my turn."

Su Wu exited the strategic command mode.

The entire map of the shelter appeared in the field of vision, along with a large amount of troop movement data.

They all vanished at that moment.

All that remains are the pristine, clean exterior streets.

It also includes simple data indicating the quantity of ammunition carried, the type of weapon, and the condition of the aircraft.

For Su Wu now...

Conquer a megacity.

It's actually not a particularly important matter anymore.

That's why he personally went to the scene to direct the operation.

The goal wasn't to gain any profit; I just wanted to experience the fun of a battle.

After all, no matter how well a game is simulated.

Even a real battlefield can make you feel more immersed.

"1200 bullets."

"10 third-generation hand grenades."

"Five two-kilogram rockets."

"That should keep us entertained for a long time."

5 month 20 day.

The Chuhu City shelter has fallen.

More than 97% of the administrative area of ​​Chuhu Province thus fell into Su Wu's control.

And at the same time.

Su Wu's campaigns in other provinces did not stop.

On the map of the central region of Dongzhou, with Jianghe City as the center and a radius of 1000 kilometers.

More and more places.

It was dyed with the green of Jianghe City.

In order to cope with the increasing daily influx of people.

The two sides of the 10-story farmhouse shelter.

Two new air ports have been added.

It is specifically used to accommodate the Morning Light-class transport ships.

6 month 5 day.

After a period of rapid expansion and absorption lasting half a month.

The total population of the entire farmhouse officially reached 10 billion on this day.

[Current Main Mission: Build a super shelter with a population of 10 billion (Completed)]

[Mission Reward: Cosmic Treasure, Berenville (Unawakened)]

[Berenville: A legendary sacred sanctuary and garden of miracles, possessing an incredible power to unite people.]

The next phase of the main storyline has been activated.

[Planetary End: A complete experience and witness to the disintegration of the homeworld. Mission objective: The main refuge must remain on the homeworld's surface until it is completely destroyed.]

[Mission Notes: In the endless void, matter is of paramount importance. Seize every opportunity to collect as many resources as possible.] No earth-shattering phenomena occurred.

On one occasion, people transported by the Dawn-class transport ship entered the shelter via the shelter airport.

Su Wu's long-dormant main quest.

The status has quietly changed to "completed".

I didn't rush to check the mission rewards.

Su Wu, on the contrary, first turned his attention to the next stage of the main quest.

Compared to previous main quests, this one has an unprecedentedly detailed description.

It even provided additional task notes.

"The next main quest involves planetary disintegration."

"It seems I don't have much time left."

Regarding the disintegration of the Earth.

Su Wu had already made preparations based on the scattered hints the system had given him in daily tasks.

The only thing I didn't expect was that it would come so quickly.

However, considering that the specific time was not mentioned in the mission statement.

Refer to the previous main quest cycle.

With any luck.

Su Wu may have more than six months, or even several years, to prepare.

It wasn't exactly unexpected.

"Then."

"The main entity responsible for completing the mission has changed from the individual to the main shelter."

"The task notes also seem to have no connection with the task objectives."

Su Wu pondered for a while and gradually formed some guesses.

Perhaps, it's the main quest objective.

You cannot leave the planet's surface before the planet is destroyed.

This is not a restriction, but rather a special hint.

The goal is to keep him on the planet as long as possible.

It was used to collect supplies.

"From now on, we need to pay more attention to collecting supplies."

He quietly changed some of his future development plans in his mind.

Su Wu then turned his gaze to the reward for the mission involving 10 billion people.

The wonders of the universe can be understood as a technological marvel that transcends conventional creations.

The object that Su Wu currently possesses can be described as a rare treasure of the universe.

There are only two.

A gold balance that can convert gold and silver into any other substance in equal proportions.

And a ball lightning control chamber capable of storing almost unlimited power.

In contrast, these two rare treasures are more practical in function.

The newly acquired rare item, Berenville, seems to have some vague and unpredictable uses.

Unite people's hearts and minds.

To what extent can we be considered to have won people's hearts and minds?

In addition to this.

Even among rare treasures, there are clearly differences in their quality.

Because Su Wu noticed.

The system mentions the Golden Balance and the Ball Lightning Control Container.

The font is plain white.

When referring to Berenville, purple is used.

Based on the previous system refresh of daily tasks, different levels of tasks were marked with different colors to infer the difference.

If the Golden Balance and the Ball Lightning Control Container are the most common Tier 1 Rare Treasures...

Then Berenville should be a level 4 rare item.

The actual gap between the two sides may be larger than imagined.

Open the system's temporary storage slot where Berenville (unawakened) is located.

Su Wu attempted to extract it.

The whole process went quite smoothly.

The real Berenville is just a golden sphere with a diameter of 10 meters.

It doesn't occupy a large area.

Su Wu could easily settle it anywhere in the core area.

And after the resettlement was successful.

As artificial intelligence establishes a data interaction channel with it.

A wealth of detailed information.

They began to appear before Su Wu one by one.

Berenville, in the shape of a golden sphere.

It is in an unawakened state.

Its sole function is to convert electricity into a light source more suitable for plant growth.

And only after a considerable amount of materials have been invested in it.

Only then can one transform from an unawakened state to an awakened state.

By the time.

The fully evolved Berenville.

It will be able to unfold a temple and garden building.

Its size is related to the scale of raw materials used.

But at the very least, it will reach 10 square kilometers.

That is equivalent to about a quarter of the area of ​​a single-story farmhouse courtyard today.

After ordinary people enter the temple.

It offers an opportunity for a spiritual and physical cleansing.

All non-serious diseases will be completely cured, and the natural lifespan will increase to 300 years.

At the same time, negative emotions will also be purified.

In theory, only one baptism is needed, and ordinary people's spirits will easily remain in a peaceful and positive state for the next twenty years.

The garden was an auxiliary building of the temple.

It can produce a variety of high-quality plants.

It also has a greater probability of randomly generating higher-yielding grain crop seeds.

"Functionally speaking, this should be a farming marvel."

"In addition, a large storage warehouse with limitations."

I studied it for a while.

Although it is not yet clear where the so-called "uniting people's hearts and minds" is specifically manifested.

However, Su Wu had already begun to value Berenville highly.

Light promotes plant growth and leads to higher yields of food crops.

This means that plantations of the same size will be established in the future.

It will produce more food.

The pressure of raising a child will be greatly reduced.

By using specific materials, Berenville can awaken and grow.

It is roughly equivalent to a warehouse with a large space in disguise.

However, this warehouse can only store a few specific types of raw materials.

And if you want to remove it.

The process will be a little troublesome, and there may even be considerable losses.

However, this is in comparison to the additional storage space gained.

These drawbacks can be ignored.

"Next."

"The focus of the shelter's development is on collecting resources and awakening Berenville."

"The process of absorbing people can be slowed down for the time being."

The population of 10 billion.

They have almost completely absorbed the population that could be easily absorbed in the entire Eastern Continent.

Continuing to absorb them is not a bad idea.

However, its cost-effectiveness is far worse than before.

Furthermore, the required armed forces and other resources will also increase significantly.

Therefore, slow down the pace.

Shifting the focus to the construction of the shelter's interior is more cost-effective.

Make a decision.

Su Wu's gaze then returned to the materials needed for Berenville's awakening.

Pure water, oxygen-rich air, ideal soil, healthy and thriving plants, marble, and basic titanium alloys—

The long list of materials.

The different types of materials combined number at least several thousand.

It includes simple materials such as pure water and oxygen-enriched air.

There are also rare materials that are more difficult to obtain.

There is even a completely new material that has never been heard of before.

Basic titanium alloys.

But fortunately.

The list is more than just a name.

The various processes and raw materials required to manufacture basic titanium alloys.

They were also listed clearly.

Su Wu only needed to manufacture a batch of corresponding equipment step by step.

That would allow them to produce materials that have never existed before.

(End of this chapter)