Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

Following Ye Luoshuanghua's instructions, Su Wu spent over ten minutes in the control center. With the help of the console and the signal receiver installed outside the shelter, he successfully connected to a new network—a wireless satellite network.

The signal wasn't particularly strong, but it was sufficient to transmit text and simple images.

The network contained little content, primarily an official forum and a chat channel built around it. Su Wu used the credentials provided by Ye Luoshuanghua to log into a subchannel called "Jianghe City," where he immediately recognized many familiar names—shelter owners he had interacted with before in group chats.

"Communications resources are limited," Ye Luoshuanghua explained in a private message. "Only shelter administrators certified by the government can access this network. The primary purpose is to issue announcements and facilitate resource and information exchange between shelters."

Even during peacetime, satellite networks were considered a luxury. In a post-apocalyptic world where rocket launches were nearly impossible, such communication was even more valuable. The fact that the government had managed to establish this satellite network overnight after the collapse of the surface internet—and made it freely available to smaller shelters like Su Wu's—demonstrated the level of importance they attached to it.

Su Wu browsed the forum briefly. Whether due to haste or design, the forum's content was sparse. It mainly consisted of brief official summaries of recent major events and speeches by federal leaders. Any useful information was condensed into a few words in the titles.

Moreover, only official administrators could post or reply, and browsing permissions were heavily restricted. Su Wu's account allowed him to access only the federal announcements section and his local area board. Even news from neighboring cities was inaccessible.

The only place for open communication was the Jianghe City chat subchannel.

"This level of control… Are they trying to hide something?" Su Wu wondered. But such questions were beyond his reach. As a civilian under the Federation's rule, he held no sway over government actions and had to passively accept their decisions.

By the afternoon, the storm on the surface had subsided.

Su Wu opened the shelter's long-sealed gates and brought all vehicles, construction robots, and engineering equipment back to the surface amidst a cascade of dust and debris.

The scene outside was unsurprisingly disastrous.

The once-standing courtyard walls and the two-story residential house were gone, leaving only scattered remnants as evidence of their existence.

A few piles of steel materials, secured tightly with iron nets, had been partially torn apart, with about a third of the steel scattered. Some pieces lay haphazardly within a few hundred meters, while others had vanished entirely.

This was still relatively fortunate compared to the cement stores.

The cement, which had also been secured with iron nets and steel plates, had been physically reduced to dust. Over 2,000 bags, weighing over 100 tons, had disintegrated in the storm, never getting the chance to serve their purpose.

"Time to clean up," Su Wu said, swallowing the frustration building in his chest. Despite anticipating losses, the sight of the devastation still hit hard. After a long pause, he directed the robots to begin tidying up.

First, they cleared an open space, gathering the scattered, salvageable materials—mostly steel of various sizes and scrap metal—and stacking them neatly.

Next, they flattened the ruins of the two-story house, salvaging whatever usable construction materials and household items remained. These were temporarily placed beside the scrap metal.

The tasks weren't complicated.

With seven construction robots, two mini-excavators, two mini-transport vehicles, and a multifunctional transport vehicle, the cleanup progressed swiftly.

During this time, Su Wu received a detailed loss report from the AI.

Despite the storm, the actual losses were lighter than they appeared.

The emergency transfer during the storm's lull had saved the lightest and most valuable materials, moving them into the shelter. Even most of the cement had been brought inside.

Many scattered materials, including some thought to be lost entirely, were later found within a few kilometers.

The final tally showed losses of 53 tons of steel, 78 tons of cement, and several other materials—a fraction of the value of the goods he had recently traded with the government.

Reading the report, Su Wu's expression softened slightly.

At the very least, the remaining resources were still plentiful and wouldn't impact the shelter's future construction plans.

"Next step: I need to build a bunker," Su Wu thought.

As the surface cleanup neared completion, a new problem emerged—how to handle the salvaged materials.

Storing them in the shelter was out of the question. The already-transferred materials couldn't remain there long-term either, as they would interfere with daily operations and ongoing construction.

Since the shelter wasn't an option, the only solution was to create storage space on the surface.

With the courtyard now flattened, Su Wu saw an opportunity to rebuild something even more robust.

A fortress.

Once constructed, the fortress could serve multiple purposes: a storage facility for large quantities of materials, a platform for drone takeoffs and rocket launches, and a defensive outpost equipped with firepower to act as the shelter's first line of defense.

Another significant advantage was that surface construction was much simpler than underground excavation.

Even if built to the highest military standards, a small bunker could be completed in just a few days, with manageable time and resource costs.

Given the benefits and low cost, Su Wu didn't de

liberate long.

Determined, he made his decision: the bunker would be built.

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