Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

At the Chaoyang Shelter, Fu Yongyuan silently stared at the statistical report in his hands for a full minute before sighing and setting it down.

"Tell me," he began, his voice tinged with disbelief, "how is Su Wu this formidable? An armed force of over a thousand, practically half a battalion, wiped out in the blink of an eye."

His assistant, standing quietly by his side, did not respond. He knew his boss wasn't seeking answers, merely venting.

As the head of a major corporate group, Fu Yongyuan had always led a life of luxury and ease. Even after the onset of the apocalypse, the most significant inconvenience he faced was not being able to play golf on a real course. In many ways, life had improved—his power and influence had grown, allowing him to equip his private security force with state-of-the-art weaponry and expand its numbers to near-military proportions.

Yet, beneath this veneer of wealth and authority, Fu Yongyuan remained, at his core, a businessman.

While he excelled at navigating assassinations and backroom deals, the mechanics of warfare were foreign to him, existing only in books or films.

Watching the footage of two 240mm rockets exploding midair, raining an inferno of heat and destruction over nearly a kilometer, had left him profoundly shaken.

All the connections, resources, and armed guards he had amassed seemed laughable in the face of such overwhelming firepower.

Once his initial awe had passed, Fu Yongyuan closed his eyes and made a decision.

"Pull our security forces back," he ordered. "And send a congratulatory message to Su Wu on my behalf. Include a gift—deliver a few lambs from the livestock pens."

He paused. "We need to build a good relationship with him."

---

At the Jingyuan Shelter, Director Yan Qingyu was livid.

"A bunch of useless fools!" he bellowed, slamming his desk so hard that the surface shook. "Couldn't even maintain proper vigilance—didn't see the attack coming until it was too late. Run? How far do they think they can run?"

His bloodshot eyes and labored breathing betrayed his fury, but beneath his anger lay panic.

Yan Qingyu had known from the outset that targeting an industrially capable shelter like Su Wu's would not be easy. But the prospect of earning millions of contribution points daily had clouded his judgment.

Moreover, Su Wu's shelter had no established reputation in Jianghe City, no allies, and Su Wu himself seemed young and inexperienced—a seemingly easy target.

Yan had gambled most of his shelter's armed forces on this operation, even collaborating with other large shelters to fund the assault.

But the coalition had barely begun to organize when Su Wu retaliated with devastating precision, unleashing massive rocket strikes that decimated the joint force.

As his temper cooled, Yan turned to a man sitting silently nearby—his long-time business partner and confidant, Yang Chaopeng.

"Chaopeng," he began, "do you think we could build rockets like those?"

Yang considered the question for a moment before shaking his head.

"Constructing the rocket bodies might not be too difficult, but achieving their accuracy is another matter entirely. That level of precision requires advanced technological support. Even if we managed to build them, they'd be little more than oversized fireworks—nowhere near as effective."

Though he wasn't an expert, Yang knew enough to understand the gap. Heavy rockets like Su Wu's were a world apart from anything he could conceive of manufacturing.

But in his heart, Yang didn't see the need to even try.

As Yan Qingyu continued to ramble about impractical ideas, Yang's mind wandered.

The assault on Su Wu had been Yan's plan from the start, and the profits, had they succeeded, would have been his alone.

Now that the operation had failed spectacularly, why shouldn't Yan bear the consequences alone? Why risk everything when a safer, more profitable alternative presented itself?

The seed of betrayal planted itself in Yang's mind and grew rapidly. Feigning interest in Yan's tirade, he began to think about what gifts might best serve as a peace offering to Su Wu.

---

At the Arid Stone Village, the aftermath of the battle was already sending ripples across Jianghe City.

Within half an hour, Su Wu had received private messages from over a dozen members of the wealthy elite in the city's official chat network.

Many offered greetings or congratulations, while others subtly revealed the identities of those behind the thousand-strong armed coalition.

Organizing such a force was no small feat, and the activity couldn't have gone unnoticed.

For the deeply rooted shelters of Jianghe City, uncovering the culprits was not difficult.

Now, these revelations were being offered to Su Wu as goodwill gestures. With a powerful new neighbor in the region, many were eager to make peace—or at least lower their chances of being targeted next.

But among the flood of messages, one stood out. It came through an official satellite channel from an anonymous shelter manager.

Its contents hinted at treachery.

Curious, Su Wu leaned back in his chair and began reading carefully.

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