Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

Chapter 92: Chapter 92: The Fountain and the Garden



After two consecutive trips, the large transport trucks successfully delivered all the materials Su Wu had exchanged from the official warehouse back to the shelter.

Following the standard disinfection process, ten construction robots, along with the shelter's remaining two construction robots and two engineering robots, began working under Su Wu's direction.

The first task was building temporary enclosures for the newly arrived piglets and calves in Underground Level 5.

Once the animals were safely housed, the robots began laying fresh soil near the sheep pasture and planting the newly acquired tree saplings and flower seeds.

They also transported some of the unused seeds to the Underground Level 4 chemical lab, storing them in specially designed containers that mimicked the controlled environment of an official seed bank.

After this round of work, the pasture area expanded by another 200 square meters.

The new addition featured over twenty saplings, transplanted flowers, and decorative shrubs, giving the area a distinct pastoral charm.

"In the future, the area for these trees and flowers needs to expand further," Su Wu mused. "Ideally, it should reach over 2,000 square meters, the size of nearly five basketball courts, to create a proper natural space."

"And in the center, I'll add a fountain."

He imagined a fountain with a white marble statue, surrounded by a pool and paved with cobblestones.

Sketching out the layout for Level 5, Su Wu admitted that his current shelter didn't have materials suitable for a fountain. Not even the official warehouse stocked such items—few shelters would have any reason to store decorative materials like marble or cobblestones.

However, if he was patient, they could be scavenged. Many buildings in Jianghe City had used marble for decoration, and although most were now in ruins, some usable materials were likely still intact.

Cobblestones, on the other hand, could be found in abundance in the wild.

The water for the fountain and pool would come from a new large water tank planned for Level 5.

In truth, the fountain was just a bonus. The real focus of the plan was the 6,000-cubic-meter water tank.

Currently, the shelter's water supply relied almost entirely on groundwater and a small reservoir on Underground Level 2. However, groundwater was not a reliable source; surface radiation could penetrate shallow soil layers and contaminate it.

If the worst-case scenario occurred, even the shelter's upgraded water purification system might fail to clean the water. At that point, they would have to rely on the stored supply in the tank.

"The new water tank won't take up space in Level 5," Su Wu planned. "It will be built in an adjacent area, freeing more room for the garden."

"My goal is to turn Level 5 into the most beautiful natural environment in any shelter."

Su Wu's vision was ambitious, but achieving it would require solving numerous challenges. For example, a proper garden ecosystem needed earthworms, insects, and other small creatures.

Su Wu didn't want to introduce live organisms, so the solution would involve designing specialized agricultural robots to fulfill these roles.

Just as he was finalizing these plans, a sudden alert appeared on the control console's screen.

This time, it was an earthquake warning.

The shelter's AI had detected abnormal seismic activity through its monitoring network. By analyzing geological data and comparing it with historical earthquake patterns, the AI predicted a high-magnitude earthquake was imminent in Jianghe City.

The estimated time of impact: 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

Su Wu froze for a moment, his gaze fixed on the warning. Then his expression hardened.

Two minutes wasn't much time, but Su Wu moved with practiced efficiency.

First, he issued a command to shut down all non-essential systems and power sources.

The manufacturing equipment in the Fabrication Center, the engineering robots excavating new spaces on Level 5, the geothermal generators, and even the lights across all levels were all forcibly turned off.

The robots secured themselves in corners, anchoring their positions before entering standby mode.

Next, Su Wu launched a squad of surveillance drones, sending them skyward for real-time monitoring of the surface.

With a few seconds remaining, Su Wu logged into both the local internet and the satellite network. He quickly issued a public earthquake warning.

Though his status ensured his warnings would be taken seriously, the short notice meant there was little anyone could do beyond seeking the nearest shelter.

---

The countdown ended. 2 minutes and 15 seconds later, the earthquake struck.

The initial tremors were subtle, rippling gently across the entire city.

But within seconds, a massive fissure tore through the wilderness, appearing without warning. It spread at a terrifying speed of 1–2 kilometers per second, cutting into the distant mountains.

The moment the fissure opened, the tremors intensified dramatically.

The previously flat terrain rippled like waves on a disturbed pond.

These tremors soon reached the urban core of Jianghe City.

Buildings that had withstood previous storms began swaying violently, their steel frames creaking under the strain.

From the upper floors, shattered windows and unsecured items rained down like hail, pelting the streets below.

Within minutes, additional cracks formed across the cityscape, engulfing vast swathes of land. Entire structures collapsed into the deepening chasms, some disappearing entirely into the earth.

Several mid-sized shelters were caught in these sinkholes. Thousands of residents, unable to send out distress signals in time, were swallowed by the ground along with their shelters.

Crushed under the weight of shifting rock layers, they perished in silence.

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