Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

After concluding his negotiations with other shelters, Su Wu created a sales chart based on the orders and plotted a delivery route according to the distance of each shelter.

Thanks to his fair and affordable delivery fees, all the shelters that placed orders ultimately opted for Su Wu's delivery service. This earned him an additional profit nearly equivalent to a day's lettuce production from his hydroponic farm.

However, the joy of receiving orders turned into frustration when it came to delivery preparation.

Su Wu realized that some shelters were located in remote areas, with certain sections of the route not covered by the official shelter's road-clearing efforts.

This meant he would need to bring along a specialized transport vehicle to clear roadblocks and pave the way as he delivered supplies. Without the added benefit of scavenging for scrap along the way, the delivery fees alone might not cover the costs, given the risks of operating in the hazardous environment.

"If only I had a dedicated cargo drone," Su Wu thought, recalling news reports of professional delivery drones from the pre-apocalypse era.

The K2-series agricultural drones he owned had decent carrying capacity, but their maximum flight speed of three meters per second made long-distance transport risky and unsuitable for routine transactions.

The drones Su Wu had acquired from the official shelter were no better; the largest could only carry up to five kilograms, rendering them nearly useless for heavy deliveries.

"For now, I'll make do with the large truck," Su Wu sighed. "Once I have enough survival points, I'll consider upgrading or developing dedicated transport drones."

While his current resources were limited, Su Wu was optimistic about the future.

According to his plans, his next survival point investments would go toward enhancing the manufacturing center on the second underground level by adding a CNC machine and a 3D printer.

The CNC machine could quickly produce standard components, while the 3D printer could handle intricate parts and specialized molds. Together, these tools would replace much of the manual work done by the engineering robots, boosting production efficiency by three to five times.

Moreover, previously unfeasible tasks—like manufacturing motor core components due to the prolonged construction cycles—could now be handled by the 3D printer.

Motors were a critical component for electric-powered machines like construction robots, micro excavators, and transport vehicles. Producing them in-house would further reduce costs, allowing Su Wu to use the same amount of survival points to create more robots and vehicles.

The shelter's overall capabilities would take a significant leap forward, making the production of courier-level drones far more achievable.

Late-Night Reflections

By now, it was 3 a.m. The chat channel had grown quiet, with only a few users still active.

With nothing pressing to do, Su Wu felt a pang of loneliness.

Access to the official network was limited to a small number of individuals, making it hard to find lively conversations.

"I miss the old internet," Su Wu sighed.

"No matter the time, there was always someone to talk to. You could play online games, watch live streams…"

His gaze drifted to the monitoring wall behind the console. The sight of winding roads and rolling hills sparked an idea.

At its core, the internet was just servers and signal towers. He could use his upgraded super laptop as a server and modify the abandoned communication towers scattered across the wilderness to act as signal relays.

With AI assistance, setting up the software infrastructure would be a non-issue.

Piece by piece, Su Wu realized he could build a local network. Adding some common apps and games, he could create a rudimentary internet for nearby shelters to connect to.

"Why not give it a try?" Su Wu murmured, unable to suppress the idea once it took root.

Although it was too late to venture outside, he decided to start with the basics.

Su Wu created a local area network (LAN) within his shelter and developed a simple search engine page. Any device connecting to the LAN would automatically open the search page.

Next, he added links to commonly used apps, including communication, video, blogging, and forum platforms, as well as a few open-source multiplayer games.

With AI assistance, the entire setup took less than three minutes—a testament to its efficiency.

"Messaging apps, blogs, video sharing…"

Su Wu downloaded the apps to his phone. The familiar icons momentarily made him feel nostalgic.

When he opened the messaging app, the contact list was empty. The blog and video apps were the same—perfect replicas of pre-apocalypse platforms but devoid of any content.

As realistic as they appeared, these apps were still imitations created by AI. What they lacked were users.

After a moment's thought, Su Wu uploaded a song performed by Chen Xin to these platforms, using an AI-generated video. This made him the first user and brought the platforms to life, albeit slightly.

"This feels much better," Su Wu muttered, satisfied.

Dawn Approaches

By 5 a.m., the large truck had transported the last batch of steel from the official shelter's warehouse.

The eight construction robots that had been working tirelessly all night also left the official shelter, following the truck back to Su Wu's base.

As the first faint rays of daylight pierced the gray clouds, they illuminated the desolate cityscape below, signaling the start of a new day.

Compared to the previous day, the number of vehicles on the streets had noticeably decreased.

With the cleanup task nearing its conclusion and rankings largely settled, most shelters saw no reason to continue high-intensity operations. Instead, they began scaling

back to preserve their specially modified vehicles from unnecessary wear and tear.

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