Carefully placing the three precious laser weapons.
Su Wu still had a considerable amount of Survival Points left in his hands.
He had long since made plans for these Survival Points.
[Inferior Leaky Gauntlet.]
[Compatibility: 7%.]
[Upgrade Options: Compass (1 Survival Point), Bracer (1 Survival Point), Personal Electromagnetic Shield (125 Survival Points)]
The item itself was an unknown handmade piece picked from a pile of electronic waste.
It seemed to be casually crafted by some amateur hobbyist.
Among the upgrade options, there were also two very common and utterly useless junk options.
But none of that mattered.
What was important was that there was a rare option that required a full 125 Survival Points to upgrade.
"Upgrade."
Without much hesitation.
Su Wu almost decisively poured nearly all of his remaining Survival Points into it.
In the next moment.
A precision device, no larger than a fingernail, appeared in his hand.
[Personal Electromagnetic Shield Activator.]
[Effect: When the wearer is subjected to a lethal attack, an all-around protective electromagnetic shield automatically unfolds. The shield can last up to 45 seconds and can be recharged after energy consumption.]
[Note: This activator can be actively triggered. The unfolded electromagnetic shield can resist attacks of personal rocket strength and below.]
Examining this freshly minted piece of equipment in his hand.
Su Wu discovered that it could be seamlessly integrated with the Bracelet on his wrist, which combined holographic projection and communication functions.
It was very easy to carry around.
"Just in time to save some trouble."
For a moment, Su Wu even felt a bit satisfied.
The pressure that had been lingering in his heart for a long time seemed to dissipate significantly.
The emergence of the Personal Electromagnetic Shield.
Could provide the last line of defense for Su Wu's fragile body.
From now on.
He no longer needed to deliberately confine himself to the core area of the farmhouse courtyard.
Even every time he went out on a mission, he had to be extremely cautious, keeping his distance from everyone outside.
Fearing that some impulsive stranger might ambush him with a knife or a gun.
Instead, he could walk confidently among the crowd.
Personally experience every corner under his governance.
In a sense.
This actually granted Su Wu more freedom.
"The defenses at the base have reached their peak."
"The next step."
"Should be to consider enhancing the power for outdoor operations."
"For example."
"Base vehicle—"
He attached the fingernail-sized activator to the Bracelet.
Su Wu actively activated the electromagnetic shield.
His gaze passed through the light blue halo enveloping him.
Looking at the control center, at the massive screen embedded in the wall.
At that moment, the screen displayed a bird's-eye view captured by a reconnaissance drone.
It presented a train traveling across the vast snowy plains.
That was a convoy heading to Shanghe City, with the base vehicle as the lead.
November 17.
A fleet of ten Azure Sky-Class Transport Drones.
Formed in a line.
Like birds, they skimmed over a stretch of pristine white glacier.
Below, between the glaciers.
In a makeshift camp constructed from several RVs and armored vehicles.
A few young men and women looked up at the drones passing overhead.
Only retracting their gaze after they disappeared.
"Nowadays in the wild."
"The only thing that can stir up some commotion is these planes."
One person sighed softly, nostalgia filling his tone.
They braved the cold to camp outside.
The experience was not particularly pleasant.
Outside, there was almost nothing but ice and snow.
It was as silent as a ghost realm.
Yet, knowing the truth, they understood that even this terrible environment would soon become the last link between the apocalypse and the peaceful era.
After this, the surface environment would only become more hostile, no longer suitable for human activities.
"Those should be planes from Jianghe City."
"I heard their industry is recovering quickly, and they can now produce mobile phones on a large scale."
"These planes are responsible for selling phones to the southeast and then airlifting the gold and silver they receive back."
Another person seemed to know more.
Looking at the direction the planes disappeared, a hint of envy in his eyes.
"If someone were to shoot them down."
"Maybe they could find tons of gold."
"And then?"
"Whether you can find it is another story."
"As soon as you make a move, just wait in the shelter for them to come and raid you."
The friend of the speaker rolled his eyes.
Unceremoniously retorting.
"Right now, they are the overlords of our southeastern region."
"No one can afford to provoke them."
Su Wu's act of annihilating one of the three major forces in Tumen City, the Golden Lion Shelter, within an hour was not a secret.
In fact, the entire battle process was repeatedly broadcasted on television without any edits.
Thus, even in places hundreds of kilometers away from Jianghe City.
Local forces would consciously extend a few courtesies to Su Wu.
They were reluctant to engage in conflict with him.
At the same time, this indirectly facilitated the current golden air route supported by Azure Sky-Class Transport Drones.
Every day.
In the area covered by communication signal towers southeast of Jianghe City, over 800 kilometers.
Dozens of kilograms of gold and silver, along with tons of various other precious metals and chemical raw materials.
Were transported back to Jianghe City through the aerial route.
Supporting the increasingly large shelter of the farmhouse courtyard, meeting its daily consumption needs.
Meanwhile.
In the distant suburbs of Jianghe City.
In the underground control center of the farmhouse courtyard.
Su Wu stood beside the metal platform of the holographic projection, watching a giant armored vehicle that seemed to come from the future projected on the platform.
That armored vehicle was the command vehicle used by the head of the Changming Trade Caravan, who had just left not long ago.
During their stay in Jianghe City.
Su Wu had been observing and scanning it for several dozen hours through various reconnaissance devices secretly set up around them.
Finally, he managed to piece together the various detailed designs of the giant armored vehicle.
With the help of these design materials.
And the greatly enhanced research capabilities under the influence of Spirituality.
Su Wu could make some useful modifications to the snow transport vehicle, making it more suitable for the wild environment.
Breaking free from the reliance on roads.
For example, by adding an ion thruster.
In a short time, reducing the weight of the snow transport vehicle.
Allowing it to traverse less sturdy thin ice layers or the muddy, soft ground of temporary bridges in the wild.
At the same time, besides the modifications.
Combining the snow transport vehicle with the giant armored vehicle of the Changming Trade Caravan.
Su Wu also gained new inspiration.
He began designing the next generation of transport vehicles.
The new transport vehicle.
Would no longer rely on roads for travel.
It could directly operate in the wild or on glaciers.
Thus, its size would be enormous.
With a width of 5 meters and a length exceeding 30 meters.
It was almost equivalent to the total of five or six snow transport vehicles.
Truly a giant on land.
"After increasing the size."
"The maximum transport capacity reaches 1500 tons."
"It can carry more maintenance tools, emergency materials, and electricity."
"It has a higher fault tolerance in the wild."
"It can adapt to harsher environments."
"At the same time, it has great expansion potential, capable of replacing the original base vehicle and becoming the core and pillar of a convoy."
"However, the manufacturing difficulty is relatively complex."
"It is unlikely to be mass-produced like the snow transport vehicle."
"Given the current stock of resources."
"At most, only three to five can be produced."
Unlike the technical difficulties.
The resource issue was nearly unsolvable.
If it wasn't there, it simply couldn't be conjured out of thin air.
But even if there were only three to five vehicles.
For Su Wu, it was already enough for temporary use.
"As for the name."
"Considering it is primarily the core of a convoy."
"The transport function is secondary; its main role is to provide military protection and logistical support."
"Let's just call it the Icebound-class Land Battleship."
That afternoon.
The Icebound-class Land Battleship, integrating Su Wu's current highest technological achievements, officially began production.
The manufacturing center of the farmhouse courtyard, along with the ordinary industrial production area.
Would prioritize the production of its core components.
Subsequently, these components would be transported to the temporary warehouse on the surface of the farmhouse courtyard.
Where the final assembly and testing would be completed.
And just two hours after the construction of the Icebound-class Land Battleship commenced.
The entire surface of Jianghe City suddenly dropped a full seven degrees without warning, reaching minus 15 degrees.
The cold air felt like a tangible blade.
Cutting through the workers still working on the surface.
Causing the energy consumption rate of their Exoskeleton Armor to increase imperceptibly.
"The wind seems to have picked up a bit."
A worker on the surface looked up at the overcast sky, and at a crumpled can that had been swept down from the upper floors of a remaining building by the high-altitude winds.
He vaguely felt that something was different from before.
But he couldn't pinpoint what had changed.
He could only shake his head in confusion and continue to focus on his work.
After all, if the sky were to fall, there would be tall people to hold it up.
He didn't need to worry as a small fry.
Meanwhile.
Dozens of kilometers away in the farmhouse courtyard.
A deep red warning suddenly popped up on the screen in front of the control console.
Casting a more somber atmosphere over the originally warm and bright control center.
"Warning, abnormal weather has occurred in the northern region of Tumen City."
"Vehicles transferring from Golden Lion Shelter along the way are in danger."
"Warning, casualties have occurred among the transfer vehicles."
"Casualties are continuing to increase—"
Su Wu quickly glanced at the warning, his expression startled.
He immediately operated the interface, trying to switch the screen's monitoring to the location mentioned in the warning.
But he failed to switch twice in a row.
The reconnaissance drones he attempted to connect with were unresponsive.
In the end, with no other options, he connected with a survivor's phone who was still alive.
Asking him to manually film with his phone.
Only then did he manage to see the situation at the front line.
He saw that on that road.
Almost all the vehicles had malfunctioned and could no longer operate normally.
Several vehicles that seemed to have lost control and collided with each other without having time to brake.
Their bodies shattered like glass.
The passengers inside were not faring any better.
Either turned into dismembered limbs or directly frozen into ice sculptures.
"How could this happen?"
Su Wu looked on in shock.
And the artificial intelligence promptly analyzed the footage captured by the phone.
Providing an initial assessment.
Those shattered vehicles.
At the time of the incident, the surrounding temperature must have been below minus 120 degrees.
Glancing at the AI's analysis.
Su Wu did not delve further.
Now was not the time to investigate the cause.
There were more living people in danger.
Every second of delay meant more lives lost.
"All vehicles that have not left the Tumen City area."
"As long as they can still start normally."
"Immediately return to Golden Lion Shelter."
"Vehicles that have already entered the Jianghe City area, change their original routes."
"Head to any nearby shelter with residents."
"In the ruins of Jianghe City."
"All manually driven fuel-modified vehicles."
"Return to their respective shelters and suspend operations."
With a series of commands issued.
All ordinary people with insufficient protective capabilities but still active on the surface were urgently recalled to the underground shelter.
Su Wu briefly contemplated.
Then sent the only 16 snow transport vehicles recently produced in Jianghe City.
Along with 200 newly produced Spider Robots made from low-temperature steel, and corresponding rescue supplies.
To speed towards the northern part of Tumen City.
At the same time.
More reconnaissance drones began to take off from various affiliated shelters in Jianghe City.
Rushing to the destination faster than the rescue convoy.
Relying on the information obtained from the survivors' phones at the disaster site was ultimately limited.
To truly understand what had happened there.
Su Wu would still need to deploy professional reconnaissance equipment to investigate.
Minutes later.
The first reconnaissance drone to arrive sent back clearer photos.
"A total of 270 vehicles have experienced breakdowns along the way."
"Including 22 buses, 71 large and medium-sized trucks and off-road vehicles, and over 100 family cars."
"Among them, three buses have completely lost life signals."
"The situation of the other buses is also not good."
"Many people inside have perished."
These casualties were so brutal and inexplicable.
It was difficult to find the real cause just from the photos.
Fortunately, the remote sensing temper
ature gauge carried by the reconnaissance drone provided Su Wu with more clues.
At this moment.
Near those surface vehicles.
The temperature still hovered around minus fifty to sixty degrees.
Creating a stark contrast with the average temperature of minus 15 degrees in the urban areas of Jianghe City and Tumen City.
"Did they encounter a localized extreme cold wave?"
Su Wu naturally associated it with the first few cars he saw that had been smashed to pieces.
And the extreme heat that randomly appeared on the surface at the beginning of the apocalypse, driving all humanity into underground shelters.
(End of Chapter)