Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

The same routine repeated itself as time crept deeper into the night.

Darkness engulfed everything, and the clearing convoy's two specialized transport vehicles vanished around the corner of a skyscraper.

On the open ground, where piles of fertilizer had been dumped, silence reigned as if the area had been abandoned by the world.

The only presence was a lone armed construction robot standing vigil.

At that moment, a drone silently swept overhead, its infrared camera recording everything on the ground below.

Owen Shelter, Ground Operations Command

"Supervisor Sun, the people from the Arid Stone Village Shelter dumped their supplies in the city," an employee reported, relaying the drone footage to their superior.

"They've left at least two to three hundred tons there."

The competition for the cleanup task rankings had brought the Arid Stone Village Shelter into the spotlight of the operations room. Recognizing their transport truck in the footage was easy.

"It's them again."

Sun Yaoyang, the supervisor, approached the employee's monitor and studied the image. The infrared photo showed large quantities of supplies in woven bags haphazardly piled on a cleared patch of ground beside the street.

The resolution wasn't high enough to determine exactly what the supplies were, but it was clear they had been deliberately left there.

"They left only one robot to guard the area. Should we take it?" asked the assistant supervisor beside him.

"Just one robot?"

Sun Yaoyang felt tempted but remained cautious. His sharp eyes focused on the image, noting that the robot held what appeared to be a firearm.

He couldn't help but feel wary. A robot signified advanced technology, and a firearm indicated a disregard for federal weapon regulations. Together, they suggested that Arid Stone Village Shelter wasn't an easy target. They weren't just civilians but a well-organized and heavily armed faction.

"First, find out what they're transporting," Sun Yaoyang ordered.

Concerned about potential risks, he directed a communications officer to contact their members at the official shelter to gather intelligence.

With such a large operation, involving hundreds of tons of supplies, it would be impossible to keep everything under wraps in the confined environment of the official shelter. A few casual inquiries among the workers would suffice to uncover the truth.

As expected, within minutes, Sun Yaoyang had detailed information in hand.

The Arid Stone Village Shelter was urgently transporting several hundred tons of steel and fertilizer from the official warehouse to avoid requisition by the authorities. Additionally, their transport was being handled not by humans but by nearly ten agile, high-performance robots.

"Steel and fertilizer," Sun Yaoyang murmured, slightly disappointed. These items weren't valuable enough to justify a confrontation. Even with the added incentive of potentially blocking Arid Stone Village from taking first place in the cleanup rankings, it still wasn't worth the risk.

Ten armed robots, even if underestimated, posed a significant threat to Owen Shelter.

"Let's keep monitoring for now," Sun Yaoyang decided.

"The Chairman wants us to maintain a low profile for now and avoid drawing too much attention."

As a mid-level manager, Sun Yaoyang had heard rumors about ongoing research within the shelter that required discretion. Any unnecessary trouble could jeopardize these efforts, and he wasn't about to risk his position over something as trivial as a few tons of supplies.

Arid Stone Village Shelter

Unaware of the potential threat that had quietly dissipated, Su Wu sat in the control center on the second underground level, feeling optimistic.

The transportation process was progressing smoothly. At the current pace, it would take just two or three more hours to move all the remaining supplies from the official warehouse.

Once that was done, the construction robots could form a heavily armed squad with the K2-series agricultural drone, focusing solely on guarding the materials while the large transport truck slowly moved them back to the shelter.

"Time is on my side," Su Wu thought.

"As long as there's no direct conflict with the official shelter, the likelihood of problems decreases as time goes on."

He glanced at the progress of the road-clearing convoy. His contribution points had firmly surpassed Owen Shelter, securing first place. The 20,000-point reward was within reach.

"The cleanup mission is almost complete. I'll pull an all-nighter to ensure nothing goes wrong at the last minute."

Though the decision to stay up meant sacrificing rest, Su Wu felt it was necessary. With ten construction robots active outside, any mishap could result in irreparable losses.

However, staying up didn't require much active effort on his part. Most tasks, from route planning to disaster monitoring, demanded only minimal attention.

With spare time on his hands, Su Wu turned to the official chat channel to pass the time.

"Man, I'm so bored," someone lamented.

"I just finished beating Homeland Defense and now I have nothing to do."

The complaint came from a user named Heavy Armored Knight, who had lost several buildings in the storm, leaving his shelter's entrance blocked. Despite this, he still had the leisure to play games, a testament to his strong mindset.

"Just play another game. Simple," retorted Young Master Zhuang.

Formerly a carefree trust fund kid, Zhuang now found life in his family's shelter stifling. He was especially frustrated by the lack of fresh vegetables and fruits, with his meals consisting almost entirely of frozen foods and canned goods.

"No way," Heavy Armored Knight replied. "There aren't many games left. If I binge them all now, there'll be nothing to look forward to later."

His words reflected a common post-apocalyptic dilemma: even entertainment had to be carefully rationed, as new content would no longer be created.

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