Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

The flying debris on the highway thickened, obscuring the beams of the headlights and reducing visibility to less than two meters.

The stones and sand battered the high-speed transport and cargo trucks, creating a cacophony of sharp impacts, drowning out all other sounds.

The specialized transport vehicle, smaller and lighter, was the first to show signs of losing control in these extreme conditions. Its body swayed erratically, the movements growing more pronounced. Without the cargo truck's towing hook stabilizing it, the vehicle might have veered off the road into the dried-up ditch.

At the console, Su Wu turned off the live feed from the transport vehicle and cargo truck cameras. Instead, he focused on the primary screen, which displayed a 3D terrain map reconstructed by the cargo truck's radar system.

The swirling debris rendered the radar map almost unreadable, with countless interference points obscuring the view. By cross-referencing it with pre-disaster panoramic maps, Su Wu could barely reconstruct the terrain and locate the convoy's position.

Alongside the map, data streams displayed the vehicles' speed, steering angles, center of gravity, and tilt. By mentally calculating these variables, Su Wu could gauge the convoy's current status and the external pressures it faced.

But this was the limit of his control.

The situation had escalated beyond his capabilities, transforming into a desperate race between the rudimentary AI systems of early apocalypse vehicles and the catastrophic force of nature.

"Almost home," Su Wu murmured, helplessly watching the map while silently praying for the convoy's safety.

---

On the barren surface, the storm roared like an unstoppable torrent, sweeping from the horizon toward the distant mountains.

Occasionally, less stable hills trembled under the onslaught. In a split second, they collapsed like snowbanks kicked apart by an invisible foot, sending soil, fractured rocks, and dead roots hurtling through the air in all directions.

Amid this chaos, two vehicles—one large, one small—linked by an iron chain, pressed forward in stoic silence. They moved across the gravel-covered highway, cutting through waves of wind and debris with relentless determination.

Fragile yet unyielding.

Finally, the walled courtyard of the farmhouse came into view.

The convoy didn't slow down, crashing through the courtyard's locked gate and charging toward the shelter entrance.

Simultaneously, the heavy gates of the shelter began to open, timed perfectly with the vehicles' arrival.

Seconds later, the cargo truck and transport vehicle barreled into the entrance tunnel, leaving the swirling sandstorm behind as the shelter gates closed securely.

---

On the second underground level, inside the control center, Su Wu finally exhaled a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding.

The convoy's safe return meant that his most valuable external assets were secure. Now he could remain in the shelter and wait for the unprecedented storm to pass.

But just as he began to relax, a faint tremor coursed through the ground.

Frowning, Su Wu didn't have time to investigate before the control room's monitors displaying surface activity abruptly went dark.

"What happened?"

His momentary relief was replaced by tension. Su Wu immediately instructed the AI to check the shelter's internal systems.

The results brought some comfort—whatever had caused the tremor hadn't affected the shelter. Even the partially excavated fourth underground level remained intact.

"Was that an earthquake?" Su Wu wondered aloud, trying to understand what had occurred outside.

With all external cameras offline, his efforts to gather information were frustratingly inconclusive.

Only by replaying the final seconds of the surface surveillance footage did he piece together a partial explanation.

It wasn't an earthquake—or at least, there were no visible signs of one. The disruption stemmed from the intensifying storm.

The AI's analysis of the footage confirmed that the storm's wind speed had reached Level 17. Moreover, this wasn't its peak; its ultimate intensity remained unknown.

"Good thing I brought the cargo truck back early," Su Wu muttered with a mix of relief and dread.

Had he allowed the truck to remain in the city, it might not have survived the storm.

Even so, a shadow of unease lingered in his mind.

A storm exceeding Level 17 was virtually unheard of—not just in Jianghe City, deep in the continent's interior, but even along the coastal regions. Its arrival was a harbinger of greater calamities to come.

"I can't focus solely on defending against heatwaves anymore," Su Wu resolved. "Other natural disasters need to be accounted for."

Clearing his thoughts, Su Wu reflected on his misjudgment.

This time, the losses seemed inevitable.

If the storm had swept through with such force, the supplies left on the surface were likely destroyed.

Still, thanks to the emergency transfers earlier, even in the worst-case scenario, the losses were manageable—painful, but not catastrophic.

Glancing at the clock, Su Wu noted it was almost 4 a.m.

After reviewing the day's events and confirming there were no urgent tasks, he yawned, stepped away from the console, and decided to rest.

The storm raging above couldn't touch the depths of the shelter. Likewise, Su Wu couldn't influence the outside world from within.

The only thing he could do was rest and conserve his energy for the aftermath.

Several hours later, around noon, the storm had subsided slightly.

Freshly awakened, Su Wu received a message through the shelter's broadcasting system—a greeting from Ye Luoshuanghua.

Along with it came something unexpected: a special account.

"Satellite network?" Su Wu murmured, intrigued.

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