Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

The six small excavators working together progressed so rapidly that the results were visible even on the map.

While Su Wu took a break, browsed his internet forum, and played a couple of games, the mining cluster operating deep in the mountains had already cleared over 200 meters of mountain road within an hour. They had also constructed two iron bridges, each spanning four to five meters.

The mountain road was designed to accommodate single-lane transport vehicles. Every hundred meters or so, a small clearing was made to allow vehicles to pass one another.

The iron bridges were even simpler. They consisted of two straight iron rails with no additional supports or railings. Vehicles crossing them had to align their tracks perfectly with the rails. A slight misalignment could lead to the vehicle toppling over and plunging twenty meters into the gorge below.

What seemed barely functional to humans posed no issue for the autonomous vehicles. The bridge was as good as flat ground to them, and they crossed without reducing speed.

"At this pace, we might reach the limestone quarry by tonight," Su Wu muttered, checking the map's progress tracker. He was slightly taken aback by the efficiency of the mining cluster.

Initially, he had planned for the road construction to take two to three days. Now, it seemed the work would be done in half a day.

"That means I need to accelerate the cement production line setup as well."

Switching to the manufacturing center's management interface, Su Wu scaled down the production of a planned transport cluster, halving its scope. Only two transport vehicles that had already entered the production queue remained.

Originally, he intended to first build a complete transport cluster before moving on to manufacturing the cement equipment. However, with construction progressing far faster than anticipated, priorities had to shift. Cement-related machinery would need to be expedited.

Sometimes, overwhelming construction capabilities could become a problem. For example, the engineering team excavating underground on the fifth level was clearing 300 square meters of space daily—equivalent to the volume of an entire floor in the past.

But such speed strained the supply of construction materials. Without the newfound limestone quarry, the engineering team would soon face downtime, wasting significant labor resources.

As Su Wu wrestled with these logistical challenges, an alert suddenly arrived from the mining cluster.

Reconnecting to the transport vehicle's onboard surveillance cameras, Su Wu spotted a man in a heat-resistant suit, likely male, standing next to a parked transport vehicle. He appeared to be trying to communicate.

Since no overt hostility was detected, the automated counterattack protocols hadn't been triggered. The Mineral Type-1 Transport Vehicle, unable to make a decision, had flagged the incident for reporting.

"Are you from a nearby shelter?" Su Wu asked through the vehicle's external speakers, initiating contact.

"Finally, a response!" The man, Liu Haoyang, sighed in relief, then quickly replied. "I mean no harm. I was hoping to trade with you."

"What do you want to trade?" Su Wu asked, intrigued. He had no objection to trading; in fact, opportunities to trade were highly lucrative for someone with the capability to transport goods in the apocalypse.

"Anti-inflammatory and hemostatic powders. My wife was injured in the earthquake, and we need them to treat her wounds," Liu Haoyang explained. "I have two pieces of gold jewelry, along with their original receipts. Combined, they weigh about 22 grams. Will that be enough?"

Carefully, Liu Haoyang retrieved two pieces of gold jewelry. He knew exposing valuables to strangers was risky, but failing to demonstrate his worth might result in outright rejection.

"You only need anti-inflammatory medicine?"

"Yes, just a small 5g bottle would suffice," Liu Haoyang said cautiously, quoting his request.

"That works. I'll send a drone with the medicine shortly," Su Wu agreed. Gold had lost much of its monetary value in the apocalypse, but as a rare metal, it still held industrial importance.

For Su Wu, the trade was a win. According to his intelligence, the gold could be exchanged at other shelters for three times its weight in common medications. The profit margin was immense.

Despite the opportunity, Su Wu couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow. Just two months ago, a small bottle of anti-inflammatory medicine cost no more than a few yuan. Now, it was being traded for its weight in gold. The rapidity of change was staggering.

"Thank you!" Liu Haoyang exclaimed with heartfelt gratitude. The willingness to trade under these dire circumstances was a kindness he deeply appreciated. The profit margins didn't concern him—finding someone willing to deliver supplies to the remote mountains was miracle enough.

"By the way, I have around 300 tons of steel. Do you need it? If you can transport me and my wife to the official city shelter, the steel is yours," Liu Haoyang added boldly, sensing an opportunity with Su Wu's generosity.

"300 tons of steel?" Su Wu was startled. The number sounded familiar. He quickly recalled the reconnaissance drone's report of a cave in the mountains storing large quantities of steel.

"Those steel supplies are yours?"

"They're collateral from a failed business deal with a friend. I thought they might come in handy someday, so I hired trucks to store them in the mountains," Liu Haoyang explained. "But our shelter was largely destroyed in the earthquake. I doubt we'll get a chance to use them."

Unaware of Su Wu's underlying intentions, Liu Haoyang's tone grew somber. In the past, anyone capable of building a shelter was likely wealthy. Now, they had been reduced to desperate circumstances, struggling to reach even the safety of an official shelter. The bitterness was palpable.

"Got it. Prepare to leave," Su Wu instructed. "I'll send a vehicle to pick you up in two hours."

Whether Liu Haoyang's claim was true or not could be

verified easily. The steel would reveal its origins soon enough.

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