He withdrew his gaze from the merchant convoy.
Su Wu's eyes shifted to the nearest communication signal tower.
At this moment, the communication signal tower was already outside the area shrouded by the blizzard and Low-Temperature Cold Wave.
From its position, the sky appeared unusually bright.
It seemed like a paradise in a post-apocalyptic world.
According to Su Wu's plan, the importance of the communication signal tower's location surpassed that of all the surrounding occupied Subsidiary Shelters.
They were the central nodes of Su Wu's dominion over that area.
Thus, after a period of development, the previously rudimentary two or three-story watchtower next to the communication signal tower had been replaced by a larger five-story fortress.
The stationed troops had also increased to an enhanced company scale, consisting of 30 soldiers in Exoskeleton Armor, 100 Spider Robots, 200 Machine Dogs, and three Heavy Main Battle Spider Robots.
Of course, these armed forces were not solely for guarding the communication signal tower.
When necessary, they would also serve as backup forces to support the Subsidiary Shelters controlled by Su Wu around the signal tower.
He magnified the structural map of the five-story fortress.
Su Wu's gaze swept over it.
The first floor had an activity hall and dining area, the second floor housed the radar early warning center and dormitories, the third floor contained the armory, the fourth floor had the power generation room, water tower, and general supplies warehouse.
Then there were various firepower points made up of automatic machine guns, Electromagnetic Cannons (Railguns), and Rocket Launch Pods.
Additionally, there was the arc defense array, representing the highest technology in Su Wu's hands.
With this configuration, even if the enemy sent an entire division, they would not easily conquer it.
"If it really comes to a fight,"
"There's still a backup plan."
"Call for air support."
Su Wu's gaze fell on the small runway in front of the five-story fortress.
With the capacity of over a thousand Azure Sky-Class Transport Drones at his disposal, he could air-drop thousands of Spider Robots for support in one round.
The Twin-Winged Helicopter group could also urgently deliver over 70 Heavy Main Battle Spider Robots to the front lines in one go.
As long as they could withstand the first wave of impact, the subsequent support would only increase.
Ultimately, it would evolve into a situation where the attacking forces would grapple with the main forces of Jianghe City.
However, all of this was merely a contingency plan.
Under normal circumstances, it was unlikely to encounter such extreme situations in a post-apocalyptic world.
What was more likely was a super earthquake that could swallow the entire communication signal tower and the five-story fortress deep into the ground.
In such a case, Su Wu would be helpless.
With his current technological strength, he still could not fortify the isolated watchtower to withstand the forces of nature.
After surveying the area, he found nothing amiss.
Satisfied, Su Wu withdrew his gaze.
In the end, considering that the resource reserves at the communication signal tower were not abundant, he planned to send an additional batch of fuel and food the next time a merchant convoy passed by.
For these soldiers who could encounter unforeseen dangers at any moment, Su Wu could do little else, but at least he could provide them with a level of daily sustenance and entertainment far beyond that of ordinary people.
Beyond the communication signal tower, the only places that warranted Su Wu's special attention were the various mines and the occupied Subsidiary Shelters.
Currently, the number of mines under Su Wu's control had reached a total of 207.
Although for a long time, Su Wu's main focus had been on building merchant convoys and transporting finished goods to various Subsidiary Shelters, the investment in the mines had been extremely limited.
Many mines were still in the preliminary exploration stage.
Not a single piece of ore had been produced yet.
However, the sheer number of mines meant that they could still provide Su Wu with 13,000 tons of finished goods daily.
And this was limited by the current transportation conditions, which could not timely transport the mined ores to nearby shelters for primary smelting and processing.
If the transportation issue were resolved, the mine's output could instantly soar to over 38,000 tons per day.
As for the Subsidiary Shelters, the valuable resources in the southeastern region had mostly been harvested, except for fuel.
To obtain resources on a large scale, they could only consider the ruins of nearby cities or even dismantling the shelters themselves.
If all went well, this would likely become one of Su Wu's main sources of material income in the future.
"It's time to consider developing a more efficient recycling tool."
Unlike the nearby ruins of Jianghe City, the external city ruins were still dozens of kilometers away.
Continuing to use the original engineering vehicles for recycling posed significant risks.
It was very likely that the vehicles would be destroyed in the Low-Temperature Cold Wave before they even reached their destination.
Moreover, even without accidents, given the current rate of environmental degradation on the surface, they would likely be rendered inoperable in no time.
The best approach would be to develop a more efficient recycling tool based on the framework of a snow transport vehicle.
Let specialized vehicles do specialized tasks.
He recorded this idea in his research log.
Su Wu continued to scan the Subsidiary Shelters scattered throughout the southeastern region and around Yu'an City.
Among those shelters, nothing unexpected occurred.
Long before Su Wu took control of Jianghe City, he had gradually developed a mature management system.
Now, with the establishment of the communication signal tower and the rollout of personal Bluetooth headsets and communication bracelets, the Artificial Intelligence managing these newly added Subsidiary Shelters operated smoothly.
Basically, anything fell within its independent processing capabilities.
This "anything" even included small-scale riots, mutual support between various Subsidiary Shelters, and even diplomacy with other nearby non-allied shelters.
Even the previously tricky issue of criminal trials was handled fairly and excellently by the Artificial Intelligence, thanks to a sufficient number of precedents to reference.
It rarely provoked large-scale opposition from the shelter residents, thus alarming Su Wu for a review.
However, this was still a post-apocalyptic world.
Each Subsidiary Shelter varied in size and was generally in a nearly closed environment.
Various accidents and disasters were unpredictable.
Even with excellent management by the Artificial Intelligence, thousands of people died daily from various accidents.
This was the normal attrition of the post-apocalyptic world.
It could also be classified as casualties under Su Wu's strategic planning of first transporting materials and then relocating populations.
His gaze did not linger for even half a second on the groups of people who had died unexpectedly.
After simply confirming that there were no major issues in the Subsidiary Shelters, Su Wu withdrew his gaze.
He concluded today's routine work.
Standing up, Su Wu left the control center.
He arrived at the garden on the fourth underground level.
As a place for Su Wu to relax and unwind, the garden now occupied the core area of the entire fourth underground level.
It covered an area of 196,250 square meters.
Along with the small woods on the edges, it had grown significantly under the catalysis of plant growth agents.
Standing inside and looking around, one could even feel a hint of boundlessness.
At the same time, with the establishment of the Super Factory, which undertook the majority of production tasks, the 3D printers in the manufacturing center could free up some precious high-end productivity.
This was used to create seamless ultra-clear panels.
Throughout the garden, the surrounding walls and ceiling were embedded with layers of 16k-level display screens.
They could simulate dynamic blue skies, white clouds, sunlight, and horizons.
The experience was almost indistinguishable from that on the surface.
However, maintaining such an environment consumed over 60,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per hour just for the displays.
Not to mention providing light, moisture, nutrients, and specialized micro-robots for tasks like loosening soil and pollination for the various plants in the garden.
It could be said that every moment in the garden burned enough energy and resources to sustain the survival needs of tens of thousands of people.
"To be able to enjoy such scenery after the apocalypse."
"Is also a reward for all the hard work."
Pausing in front of an artificial stream, gazing at the vast sea of vibrant flowers illuminated by the simulated sunlight, Su Wu felt as if all his fatigue and weariness had been washed away.
This garden, which could even be called a small world, was something that, before the apocalypse, was completely out of reach for Su Wu, who was just an ordinary person.
But now, in this post-apocalyptic era, where everyone struggled on the brink of hunger and poverty, it had become his exclusive backyard.
The wonders of life's circumstances felt almost dreamlike.
He withdrew his gaze.
Su Wu turned his head to look at the girl beside him, who was holding a flower basket.
Chen Xin and her sister were still busy in the laboratory.
Thus, this time, Wei Manman was temporarily acting as a maid to accompany him.
Today, Wei Manman wore a simple modified pink Hanfu.
It complemented her rosy cheeks illuminated by the artificial sunlight, giving her a unique charm and gentleness.
Noticing that she was being watched by Su Wu, Wei Manman shyly lowered her head, her heart racing slightly faster.
Facing Su Wu, the master who could decide her fate with a single word, the girl inevitably felt a bit nervous and uneasy.
She couldn't help but recall whether she had acted in any clumsy way.
"Come here."
Su Wu said softly.
"Oh."
Wei Manman responded weakly, feeling a bit at a loss as she approached.
Time gradually passed in Su Wu's orderly and rapid development.
On January 9, on the surface of a rural courtyard.
At the edges of many temporarily constructed factory buildings, the newly built magnificent aerospace launch center stood.
A giant rocket, 3.7 meters in diameter and 70 meters tall, stood quietly on the launch pad.
"The weather conditions are good."
"Wind speed at 2.7."
"No effective threats detected."
The wide-area radar of the Laser Defense Array provided the latest environmental dynamics for the aerospace launch center, bringing the rocket launch into the countdown phase.
"After so much research,"
"I hope there won't be any issues."
Standing in the control center on the first underground level, Su Wu watched remotely as the rocket at the center of the aerospace launch site underwent its final manual inspection by Spider Robots.
A rare sense of anxiety and excitement about the unknown surged in his heart.
To manufacture such a colossal rocket, Su Wu had invested countless resources.
Even the Spirituality used in the research had consumed hundreds of points.
It was much more labor-intensive compared to previous technological research.
But fortunately, the results had finally come.
As for the satellite it carried, not much research resource was wasted.
Because the satellite was essentially built with resources comparable to manufacturing three Miniature Mechs, resulting from sheer investment rather than research.
At the same time, after such a significant upgrade cost, the satellite named Eden had reached peak performance.
Its primary communication function, once sent into geosynchronous orbit, would cover about one-third of the Earth's area.
It could simultaneously support the normal internet needs of hundreds of millions of people.
In terms of reconnaissance, its resolution could reach 0.05 meters, allowing it to clearly identify ground vehicles and even the specific faces of humans.
It was comparable to the world's most advanced military satellites.
However, this would not be very effective on the post-apocalyptic surface, which had been shrouded in clouds for years.
Once obscured by clouds and blizzards, the satellite could only detect a limited number of moving targets, significantly reducing its accuracy.
In terms of defense, due to the upgrades from the Survival Point, the entire exterior was covered with a layer of unknown nano-material.
There was even a weak energy shield on the outer layer that could be activated.
The Eden satellite exhibited astonishing resistance to cosmic rays and physical impacts.
Even if it were struck head-on by a meteorite, it would only be deflected from its original orbit without affecting its internal operations.
Moreover, even if it were deflected from its orbit, the Eden satellite itself had a certain degree of mobility.
It could slowly return to its original position.
Its survival capability was nearly maximized.
In addition to these basic functions, the Eden satellite also had an attack capability named "Heaven's Tilt."
It could slowly accumulate energy through its deployed solar panels and then launch long-range strikes against the ground.
However, each strike required the consumption of a special tungsten-steel warhead weighing over 20 tons.
This was not present on this rocket.
The rocket Su Wu manufactured could send the Eden satellite's main body to a synchronous orbit over 30,000 kilometers away, which was already close to its limit.
It could not carry an additional 20-ton warhead.
He would need to manufactu
re a separate rocket for it to conduct a secondary launch.
Then, in synchronous orbit, it would need to rendezvous with the main body of the Eden satellite.
This difficulty was slightly higher than simply launching the satellite, and the failure rate was not low.
If it failed, it would mean that resources equivalent to manufacturing ten Icebound-class Land Battleships would be completely wasted.
(End of Chapter)