Industrial Cthulhu doesn't believe in the end times.

Chapter 19: Are you really not going home?

After inspecting the granary, the group entered the factory.

This is indeed a factory building, with ample space reserved inside to house production equipment that has not yet been installed.

Overly advanced automated machinery will be destroyed by the psionic shock during the cataclysm, while some simpler machinery will still be usable.

Of course, it's impossible to say there's absolutely no impact, but these impacts are within acceptable limits and can potentially be mitigated.

"Once the machine tools are installed here, this outpost will be able to undertake the task of supplying ammunition to the regimental-level armed forces, and will also be able to produce some firearms and artillery."

"However, the manufacturing capacity for daily necessities here is still limited."

Someone turned to look at Su Xun, who pondered for a moment and then joined the discussion in a low voice: "There's no need to rush this for now. First, ensure the supply of weapons, and then consider the production of cold weapons."

Provided there are sufficient security guarantees, resources for people's livelihoods can be collected from external sources.

As for firearms... they are certainly very useful and powerful, but frequent use of firearms may attract hordes of zombies. In such cases, many veteran survivors in the apocalypse prefer to use melee weapons and only use firearms as a last resort.

Those in charge of building the shelters—whom they considered military outposts—were puzzled. Modern warfare hardly saw the role of cold weapons anymore; even rifles were rarely used.

But Wang Wei also agreed to the plan, so these people had no choice but to agree.

Many people involved in the Kuafu Project were unaware of the full scope of the plan, but they could guess that some secrets from their superiors were not yet available. They would still give their full support to some seemingly unreasonable instructions.

How are water and electricity supplies handled here?

"Regarding water use, four large water tanks have been built at this base, and a water tower is also planned. Three pumping stations are under construction, which will be able to extract and purify groundwater once completed."

"In addition, there is a river five kilometers away from this base. We plan to lay pipelines along the river so that we can draw water directly when necessary."

“We can also build a small hydroelectric power station using this river, but time is tight. Regarding the electricity supply, our main approach is to build an underground line that connects directly to a nearby wind farm.”

Binhai City has abundant wind power resources and a large number of wind power generation facilities have been built locally, making it a good choice to use this energy source in line with local conditions.

The group followed the local leader and toured the entire shelter as much as possible. They didn't express much during the tour, but they started to have a full discussion once they got back in the car.

"I believe that the most important aspect of shelter construction is site selection. It should be far from the main urban area and close to power generation facilities and water sources."

Several people offered a number of opinions, and in the end, Su Xun made the final decision: "There are no major problems with this structure, and it can be promoted as soon as possible."

"In terms of power generation, the priority is nuclear power, hydropower, wind power, and photovoltaic power. All thermal power plants need to speed up fuel storage, since coal supply will be cut off after a major catastrophe."

Everyone nodded, inevitably feeling some concern about this issue.

Currently, China's power generation structure is still dominated by thermal power, accounting for more than 60% of the country's total power generation. The remaining power generation methods are subject to various constraints and are greatly affected by geography and weather.

Nuclear power generation is stable and convenient, but its quantity is too small.

After a long silence, Wang Wei said, "We will try our best to find other solutions to this problem."

Su Xun nodded: "We should develop a suitable allocation mechanism as soon as possible to prioritize the transportation of coal to areas that lack other means of power generation."

After discussing for a while and finding no major problems, the group prepared to head to their next destination—the city center of Binhai. "These factory-camp style shelters are only suitable for being built on the outskirts of cities—in fact, most shelters should be built on the outskirts of cities. As the most numerous large animals in the world, humans are far too dangerous in densely populated areas like cities."

"Indeed, but we still cannot abandon the survivors in the city center."

Su Xun had a deep understanding of the horror of zombie hordes. One of the reasons why there were so few survivors in his previous life was that only a very small number of survivors in major cities could survive.

Living in the heart of a horde of millions or tens of millions of zombies is undoubtedly a great misfortune. Reality is not a game; without medical care and supplies, injury is basically equivalent to death.

In response to this problem, the office proposed a rather large-scale plan.

Subway renovation project.

Transform subways in various cities into shelters and evacuation routes, allowing survivors in densely populated areas to move to safer places via subway tunnels.

At worst, they can survive underground.

At the same time, these subway tunnels can also become important routes for people to retake the city in the future, and underground fortifications are safer than surface buildings.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that the subways in various cities are themselves part of civil defense facilities, and from the moment they were built, they have been tasked with preparing for war and disaster.

As they approached their destination, Zheng Yuan instructed, "Advisor Su, please be careful once we get there. Since the policy allows most people to return to their hometowns in the next few days, there will be a lot of people on the subway and city roads."

"Of course, we will still maintain a certain level of control over the site and preserve sufficient safety space."

Su Xun waved his hand dismissively: "I'm in my own country, not on a battlefield, so there's no danger. Don't worry, I'll follow orders. I just think you don't need to be too nervous."

"Better safe than sorry." For the security department, always being vigilant is their job, and regardless of Su Xun's opinion, they will carry out their mission without any compromise.

Although she knew in advance that there would be a lot of people, Su Xun was still shocked by the dense crowd when she actually arrived near the subway station.

If the subway entrance they were heading to hadn't been under construction, Su Xun suspected that even with a group of security personnel accompanying him, he wouldn't have been able to get into the subway station.

The crowds were dense and bustling. Binhai City was already quite large, and at this moment, Su Xun felt as if he had seen the entire city's population at the subway station.

“There are even more people at the train station.” Zheng Yuan sighed. Although things haven’t reached the point of chaos yet, the tense situation has led many people to choose to go home to visit their families.

The railway department seems to be experiencing a Spring Festival travel rush that doesn't take place during the Spring Festival. Fortunately, they are experienced and their work is proceeding smoothly.

“Recently, active-duty military personnel and civilian employees will also be given leave in batches, with the goal of allowing them to go home and see their families before June, and after that…”

Zheng Yuan didn't say much. Su Xun knew that this was already the greatest kindness ASEAN could show to its people. After these few days, this massive industrial entity would have to fight with all its might.

A 5,000-ton destroyer sank next door, and a group of novel authors chimed in with a comment: "The pot calling the kettle black," followed by classic lines like, "You think we didn't have it? You think we'd report it?"

This kind of nonsense was already thoroughly criticized ten years ago. The comment that writing a book requires a correct set of values ​​is ridiculous. I wonder which unlucky person read his novel.

Speaking of which, the navy next door has always been relatively unknown. I only found out today that they can build destroyers. My impression of them has always been that they are extremely poor but have nuclear weapons, and their army is at best decent.

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(End of this chapter)