Chapter 322: City-level Constant Temperature Shield (Patreon)

Chapter 322: City-level Constant Temperature Shield

April 30th.

The surface of the rural homestead had transformed into a massive construction site.

Under Su Wu's resource allocation, tens of millions of residents within the entire shelter began participating directly or indirectly in this city-scale project.

While countless people busied themselves with the work, Su Wu, escorted by several robots, quietly made his way to the surface.

"Seeing it with my own eyes... it feels like a miracle."

Standing on the frozen ground outside the shelter, Su Wu, dressed in a loose casual jacket, looked up at the nearly transparent, pale blue light screen enveloping the homestead's surface area like a city. A genuine sense of awe for technology welled up in him.

This phantom-like light screen, derived from the Electromagnetic Protection Array, isolated the roughly 7-kilometer-diameter surface space of the homestead from the snowstorms and freezing temperatures outside, allowing ordinary people to move about normally within this shielded area.

Su Wu withdrew his gaze and walked another fifty or sixty meters forward, reaching the edge of the light screen. Here, he could see more clearly—the screen was about 30 centimeters thick.

The icy wind carrying scattered snowflakes visibly slowed upon entering the screen's range. By the time it penetrated the 30-centimeter-thick barrier, the wind dissipated silently, leaving only the snowflakes to drift gently in the nearly windless environment.

Raising his right hand, Su Wu checked the real-time temperature at his location via the bracelet-shaped mobile control terminal he carried.

-6.5°C.

Just one meter outside the screen, it was -71.6°C.

A single step separated heaven from hell.

"The insulation effect is impressive. If it could be maintained long-term, rebuilding homes on the surface wouldn’t be impossible. Unfortunately, the cost is still too high. It can only be used occasionally during large-scale construction."

Su Wu sighed regretfully.

Though this Electromagnetic Protection Field screen was a civilian-grade, incomplete version—capable only of blocking low-intensity winds and isolating temperature to some extent—ordinary people could pass through it effortlessly without harm.

Yet the cost of activating it remained staggeringly high.

On average, it consumed nearly 3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour—almost matching the total residential power consumption of the homestead's population of over 100 million in the same timeframe.

Su Wu lingered quietly for a few more minutes, observing, until one of his daily system tasks—"Inspect Surface Electromagnetic Protection Field"—showed as completed. Only then did he turn and head back into the shelter.

Upon entering the shelter's first underground level, the temperature around him instantly rose from a frigid -6°C to a comfortable 20+°C.

Such a drastic shift would be taxing for an average person's constitution, but Su Wu felt nothing notable.

The bracelet on his wrist, enhanced with a substantial amount of Survival Points, could automatically deploy a special Energy Shield at any time, even in its low-power standby mode.

It could also maintain the body's surface temperature within a comfortable range, ensuring no drastic fluctuations in temperature difference.

In more extreme situations—such as stepping outside the electromagnetic protective screen to face the low-temperature cold waves raging across the surface—the energy shield would switch from standby to active mode, providing defensive effects similar to those of a miniature mech.

This was precisely why Su Wu dared to leave the safety of the shelter's core area alone and travel lightly to the surface for inspection.

Through a randomly selected temporary lift platform, Su Wu arrived at Level 2 aboveground.

At this point, only a few hours had passed since construction officially began. Yet most of the turrets that had once densely populated the area had already been dismantled. The outermost three-meter-thick walls had also been poured to a height of nearly fifty or sixty meters.

Overall, it looked like a large, open-topped courtyard.

After casually walking around the vicinity, Su Wu discovered that this area had been designated as a standard plantation.

Numerous spider robots, remotely operated by workers stationed in the control center, were transporting large equipment, planting racks, construction materials, and other supplies. They were also handling relatively monotonous but labor-intensive traditional tasks, such as building fireproof partition walls.

Meanwhile, other workers—some wearing exoskeleton armor, others clad in ordinary thermal clothing and equipped with simple power tools—were primarily responsible for laying water and electrical networks, installing pipes and light strips, and cultivating plant seedlings—tasks requiring precision.

Individually, each worker's efficiency wasn’t particularly high—just average, really. A regular worker with basic power tools might only manage to assemble a single row of planting racks in an hour.

But if the number of such workers reached the millions—or even tens of millions—the overall construction speed could only be described as spectacular.

They truly had the capability to complete work equivalent to building an entire city within just a few days.

"Only under the centralized planning of artificial intelligence could such terrifying efficiency be achieved," Su Wu mused. "Otherwise, even reaching half of the current labor efficiency would be next to impossible. The sheer number of logistical challenges involved is staggering."

Stopping in a temporarily deserted spot, Su Wu projected a real-time construction map of Level 2 from his bracelet.

The flickering dots representing robots and workers were densely packed, like an ant colony swarming within a nest. A single glance was enough to make one dizzy.

Su Wu didn’t scrutinize how the AI was coordinating this workforce. Instead, he focused on the overall construction progress.

He noticed that in just the few minutes he had spent checking the map, the completion rate of Level 2 had already increased by nearly a tenth of a percent.

At this rate, in about two or three days, Level 2 of the shelter would be ready for official use.

Once a large number of new assembly workshops were integrated into the production line, the Super Factory’s productivity would be fully unleashed—pushing the output of Ice Lake-class transport ships to more than ten times the current volume.

Closing the construction map, Su Wu moved on to inspect the next area.

Half a day later, he had toured roughly one percent of Level 2.

The system displayed that all objectives had been completed.

Only then did he stop.

By this point, Su Wu was feeling somewhat exhausted.

Even just wandering around.

Several hours of continuous walking still amounted to considerable physical exertion.

"Speaking of which,"

"Chen Yue's research on the Rola Virus seems to have made another breakthrough."

"I wonder if her newly developed Life Extension Potion can enhance physical constitution somewhat."

Although all along,

Su Wu's research focus had been on military and mechanical transportation fields.

He hadn't paid much attention

to the biological research led by Chen Yue.

But after such prolonged enhancement through Spirituality, some achievements had finally emerged.

Based on references from the Rola Virus,

the developed Type I and Type II Plant Growth Potions, along with the still semi-finished Life Extension Potion,

were manifestations of these achievements.

Among these, especially the Life Extension Potion,

its effects were so remarkable that even Su Wu found it somewhat exaggerated.

Even in its semi-finished state,

conservative estimates suggested it could extend human lifespan beyond theoretical limits to over 400 years.

Consider that even with Federation technology,

before the apocalypse,

the average lifespan of the wealthy had just reached around 90 years.

For ordinary civilians, the average hadn't even surpassed 70 years.

This sudden increase to four or five times that...

It could only be described as terrifying.

Pulling back his scattered thoughts,

Su Wu summoned the system panel.

Looking at the completed green rare daily task—"Inspect the Shelter's Surface Construction Site"—

he chose to claim the reward.

Survival Points immediately increased by 67.

"With this reward,"

"Survival Points have finally broken through 1,000 again."

A sense of accomplishment rose in Su Wu's heart.

The last time he'd been this well-off was over two months ago.

Back then, he'd spent a full 1,500 Survival Points to upgrade to the first-generation Quantum Computer,

allowing the Artificial Intelligence's maximum computing power to increase a thousandfold at once.

The rapid development of the entire Farmhouse Shelter,

effortlessly managing a population of over a hundred million and maximizing their production value,

was largely due to that upgrade.

However, although he'd regained four-digit Survival Points,

it wouldn't be long

before the expansion of the shelter's second and third above-ground levels was completed.

These points would soon be spent again.

More than half would go toward manufacturing the second Eden Synchronous Orbit Satellite,

responsible for extending Su Wu's satellite network to the western hemisphere.

The remaining portion would continue to be invested in modifying the base vehicle.

This would also be the final Survival Points investment in the base vehicle.

Once fully expended,

the base vehicle would complete its transformation from a land vehicle into an Aerospace Carrier.

Just as Su Wu was inspecting his shelter's construction site,

the massive southbound Merchant Train convoy

began entering the territory of Xiao Jiang Province.

There, they ignited the flames of war.

Though calling it "war" might not be entirely accurate.

Faced with the overwhelming military power displayed by the Merchant Train,

few shelters chose armed resistance.

The handful who couldn't read the situation

faced decapitation strikes by the robot army, equipped with High-Frequency Oscillating Crushers—exceptionally adept at excavation—and supported by Metallic Hydrogen Explosives.

Similarly, without even the chance to erupt into a proper battle, surrender was declared.

From an overall perspective,

the speed at which the Merchant Trains took over various shelters within Xiao Jiang Province was almost equal to their travel speed.

By the second hour after the Merchant Trains entered Xiao Jiang Province,

the first batch of Sixth-Generation Fighter Jets

began arriving at the occupied Subsidiary Shelters,

prioritizing the airlift of rare resources back to the farmhouse.

By the tenth hour,

nearly all official and civilian shelters in Xiao Jiang Province—except for the provincial capital, the megacity of Changming—

had fallen under Su Wu's control.

Yet even at this point,

thanks to mature communication jamming and network control measures,

no one outside the Eastern Continent, or even within Xiao Jiang Province itself—aside from those who experienced it firsthand—

was aware that the shelters there had already been seized by Su Wu.

By the twelfth hour,

after swiftly consolidating control over the captured shelters,

the first batch of ten Merchant Trains

began transporting the initial 200,000 people back to the farmhouse.

Accompanying the convoy were a group of Spider Robots and some engineering equipment.

They would make stops along the route,

leveling the rugged terrain

to expedite the passage of subsequent Merchant Trains and Ice Lake-class Transport Ships.

While they worked on road construction,

hundreds of Sixth-Generation Fighter Jets shuttled frequently overhead to meet transportation demands.

This grand spectacle

sent a silent shock through every unaffected shelter

along the hundreds of kilometers between Jianghe City and Xiao Jiang Province,

making them realize that something earth-shattering must be happening beyond their knowledge.

Chu Se Province.

In a mountainous region that had emerged after the apocalypse due to earthquakes,

a massive fireball, resembling a rising sun, suddenly erupted into the sky.

Its boundless light and heat

dispelled the overcast clouds and the darkness covering the land.

Then,

violent tremors spread from the depths of the mountains,

clearly felt by hundreds of shelters, large and small, located outside the area.

"What was that explosion on the surface?"

Inside a large shelter,

the head of security, roused from deep sleep, hurried to the intelligence room

and sternly questioned the personnel on duty.

"Still unclear for now,"

"Based on the explosion's magnitude,"

"initial speculation points to a nuclear detonation—"

The duty officer, still shaken,

had initially mistaken the tremors for just another strong earthquake.

But then, through surface monitoring equipment,

he witnessed the fireball at the epicenter, illuminating nearly the entire visible landscape.

"Send out reconnaissance drones."

"That's too close to us."

"We must determine the cause."

The security chief decisively ordered.

Drones capable of flying in temperatures below -70°C

were invaluable assets for large shelters.

Only the security chief could authorize their use,

and afterward, he would have to submit a report to higher-ups

justifying the deployment.

A little over ten minutes later...

The reconnaissance drone sent out near the mountainous area transmitted back a series of images.

Deep within the mountains, a towering peak several hundred meters high had completely vanished.

In its place was a long, narrow canyon.

Inside this newly formed canyon, a group of six-legged robots were busily leveling and repairing the road.

All signs indicated that the recent explosion—and the disappearance of that massive mountain—seemed to have been carried out solely to make way for these robots to construct the road.

The security chief was momentarily speechless at the sight.

(End of Chapter)