Western Wasteland Plateau.
Eastern Continent Capital, Northern District Shelter Cluster.
In a luxurious courtyard built deep underground.
A man dressed in opulent clothing leisurely brewed a pot of light tea while casually chatting with a friend. They were seated in a courtyard filled with rare and precious greenery, watching a silver holographic projection device display its images.
This holographic projection device.
Though not widely known to the public, and occasionally exposed to the masses, it was often dismissed by ordinary people as a mere figment of science fiction.
However, among the true upper echelons of the Federation.
It had long since become ubiquitous, integrated into every aspect of life.
To some extent, it had even become a symbol of status.
Only those who possessed it were considered recognized members of the Federation's upper class.
Otherwise, one was merely a nouveau riche.
At this moment, the advanced device, which was not available for public sale.
Was not projecting simple movies or television programs.
But rather, it was displaying the most highly anticipated intelligence from the Eastern Continent Capital's External Intelligence Management Center.
"Who knows what madness has struck Jianghe City."
"Suddenly deploying so many sixth-generation fighter jets to conduct low-altitude patrols over the wilderness."
"Tsk tsk, they must have fuel to spare."
The opulently dressed man gazed at the massive black fighter jets in the projection.
And commented with a condescending tone.
"Perhaps they were provoked by something."
"Aren't they busy hunting down those monsters called Amethyst Crystal Entities?"
"Maybe they suffered heavy losses in a recent skirmish."
"And now they're planning to retaliate."
The man's friend, who shared a similar background, was his childhood companion.
A young man equally brimming with arrogance.
He held the freshly brewed tea, took a gentle sip.
The rich aroma lingered in his mouth, causing him to squint slightly in satisfaction.
"That's just how the lower class is."
"If they get lucky and rise to power, they become arrogant."
"Thinking the whole world revolves around them."
"It's just a pity for those sixth-generation fighter jets."
"If they were in my hands."
"I could definitely make them far more valuable."
No matter how arrogant or dismissive they were of Jianghe City's actions.
The young man had to admit.
The sixth-generation fighter jets in their possession were genuine mainstay equipment of the Federation.
A nation's heavy weaponry.
Symbolizing dominance over the skies.
In the Eastern Continent, they were more than enough to dominate.
If any aristocratic family could control a hundred sixth-generation fighter jets like Jianghe City.
Their position in the Eastern Continent Capital.
Would become utterly unshakable.
They would no longer have to worry about being purged for aligning with the wrong faction.
"Speaking of the Amethyst Crystal Entities."
"I heard those things have already caused over a million casualties."
"Now, many places are in a state of panic."
"Quite a few local tycoons are planning to move to the Western Wasteland Plateau at any cost."
As the two casually chatted.
Their words inevitably carried a tone of pity and disdain.
It was as if they were spectators in an arena, watching prisoners desperately trying to escape the jaws of wild beasts.
Whether the prisoners succeeded or not.
It was all just an amusing spectacle.
They had the right to maintain such arrogance.
Because in the Eastern Continent regions beyond the Western Wasteland Plateau.
In reality, most of these areas had already been abandoned as fallen zones.
Sooner or later, they would become uninhabitable forbidden zones due to continuous disasters.
Not to mention the privileged upper-class individuals like them.
Even the lowest-level garbage collectors in the capital of Dongzhou were far more esteemed than the residents of those regions.
Because the former were at least considered human, while the latter were merely a group of souls with little time left.
Just like the two people in the courtyard.
Many residents of Dongzhou's capital maintained a sense of superiority toward areas beyond the Western Wasteland Plateau.
Even though most of them were unaware that those regions had already been officially abandoned.
The sheer disparity in safety and resource supply between the two areas was enough to give them reason to look down on those outside the capital.
However, at this moment, all those watching the spectacle from the Western Wasteland Plateau failed to realize one thing.
The crisis was already looming dangerously close to them.
At the edge of the Western Wasteland Plateau.
On a desolate icy plain devoid of life.
A flying Amethyst Crystal Entity folded its wings and silently landed on a rock.
With its eyes, it quietly observed this strange new world that was unfamiliar to it.
April 17th.
Jianghe City, Farmhouse Shelter.
In the newly constructed underground 12th level.
A brand-new and unique structure was officially put into operation.
The Construction Waste Processing Center.
Its name was unremarkable.
Its shape was boxy and unassuming, with nothing particularly striking about it.
But inside, the technology it employed was brimming with a futuristic aura.
Waste materials excavated from the underground rock layers were transported here by the engineering team's vehicles.
They would first be gathered into a processing pool with a capacity of 1 million cubic meters.
Once the pool was filled, it would seal itself and evacuate the air inside.
Then, the entire pool would move to the launch port.
After a brief electromagnetic acceleration.
The waste inside the pool would continuously be ejected at supersonic speeds through the 12 vacuum channels of the launch port.
Traveling from underground, it would directly shoot up to the artificial mountain range several kilometers away on the surface.
Under normal circumstances.
1 million cubic meters of waste.
Could be completely ejected in just 10 to 15 minutes.
The process was concise and highly efficient.
This was the result of Su Wu, along with Wei Manman and Liu Qianqian, two women with unique talents.
Conducting further in-depth research on the Electromagnetic Cannon and the materials that composed it.
Although it might seem incongruous to apply weapon research achievements to waste processing.
The undeniable fact was that it brought immediate and significant benefits.
It solved the challenge of rapidly transporting waste within limited space.
Combined with a higher-powered oscillation crusher.
The construction speed of the engineering team in the underground 12th level of the Farmhouse Shelter achieved another leap.
Increasing efficiency by a full 50%.
The daily expansion area reached 3 million square meters.
Which equated to over 100 million cubic meters of space.
This ultra-high efficiency meant that in less than 13 days.
Su Wu could construct an entirely new level for the Farmhouse Shelter.
And if this level were entirely dedicated to building Standard Dormitories, along with corresponding Plantations and activity areas.
Sufficient to accommodate a population of 30 million living normally within it.
This was less time than it took for Su Wu to transport all 30 million survivors from the Zhenhai City shelter from the coast to Jianghe City.
However, behind the ultra-high construction efficiency.
Lies a massive consumption of electricity.
After the construction waste processing center was activated.
The energy consumption for transportation alone was about a hundred times higher than using traditional conveyor belt methods.
If it weren't for Su Wu's breakthrough in wireless power transmission, which allowed the conversion of fuel from other regions into electricity and transmitted back.
He might not have been able to bear such a huge electricity expenditure. "From today onwards."
"There's no longer a need to worry about insufficient space within the shelter."
Watching the construction waste processing center operating normally.
Su Wu felt a sense of completely breaking free from shackles.
All along, he had been constrained by the limited space within the farmhouse courtyard.
No matter what he did, he felt restricted.
Now, as the expansion speed of the farmhouse courtyard space exceeded basic needs.
He could finally unleash his imagination and make big moves.
Withdrawing his gaze from the waste processing center.
Su Wu pulled up the design blueprint of the entire farmhouse courtyard on the control panel.
The currently completed underground 10 floors.
Primarily consist of standard dormitories, capable of housing 30 million people.
Most of the population transferred from Zhenhai City will be accommodated on this level.
As for the underground 11th floor under construction and the yet-to-start 12th floor.
Su Wu plans to continue building standard dormitories.
To accommodate the over 70 million population from the Xiaojiang Province that has yet to be taken over.
By then.
Su Wu would have used the space of three shelter floors to house nearly 100 million people.
Achieving an unprecedented grand feat.
And such a massive population.
Would inevitably bring enormous governance pressure.
Especially when they are gathered in such a confined space.
A slight misstep could brew a riot powerful enough to shatter half of the farmhouse courtyard.
Therefore, the future underground 13th floor of the shelter.
Cannot continue to accommodate the population to such extreme limits.
Instead, new warehouses, parks, and recreational areas must be built.
Then starting from the underground 14th floor.
Ordinary residential areas will be continuously constructed.
Gradually diverting the population from those three floors of standard dormitories.
"It feels like."
"First, regardless of anything, eating all the food at once."
"After being full."
"Then take time to digest slowly."
The process is tough.
But Su Wu finds it sweet.
Moreover, with the current construction speed of completing one floor in less than two weeks.
The most stressful period is actually now.
As time goes by, it will only get easier.
It might even be possible that the two floors of standard dormitories reserved for Xiaojiang Province.
May not even have the chance to be fully occupied.
By the time the merchant train transports them from Xiaojiang Province to the farmhouse courtyard.
The subsequently built ordinary residential areas.
Will already be sufficient for their use.
Apart from the population.
With the support of a large number of resources from Zhenhai City.
Su Wu's development of mines across the Eastern Continent will also enter a phase of rapid growth.
A large number of mining machines equipped with vibration crushers and portable electric arc furnaces, along with small wireless power transmission devices providing nearly endless electricity, have significantly increased the speed of ore extraction by several times. Moreover, the extracted ores can be directly refined into basic industrial materials right at the mining site, greatly reducing the pressure on later transportation.
From the results, in the near future, the daily income from the mining site alone might not be less than the gains from directly plundering a large shelter.
"In addition, the new transportation tool is almost ready for development."
"By then, the output from the mining site, as well as the ordinary resources that have been stranded in various subsidiary shelters due to the past strategy of prioritizing population transportation, can all be quickly gathered at the Farmhouse Shelter."
Ordinary resources are still resources. Although they are not as high priority as rare resources, which can be directly converted into land battleships and various high-end equipment, they are indispensable for industrial production and daily life. The more of these resources there are, the longer Su Wu's Farmhouse Shelter can maintain its self-sustaining cycle.
Until reaching a certain critical point, it can become an independent world capable of drifting through the star sea for thousands of years.
Turning off the design blueprint of the Farmhouse Shelter, Su Wu opened another blueprint. It was a fully enclosed, streamlined spacecraft, 70 meters long and 16 meters wide, slightly larger than the Pioneer-class Land Destroyer but without the multiple caterpillar tracks characteristic of land battleships. The entire bottom of the ship was smooth as a mirror, resembling a submarine or a real spaceship.
This is the Ice Lake-class transport ship that Su Wu is preparing as the next generation of main transportation tool. The transport ship incorporates some technologies from seventh-generation fighter jets and has surpassed the third stage of anti-gravity technology, truly allowing its hull to break free from the constraints of gravity and achieve semi-air suspension.
However, since the anti-gravity technology is still not mature, the entire transport ship can only hover half a meter above the ground when fully loaded with 10,000 tons of cargo. Moreover, if the ground is uneven, it might be blocked by protruding terrain and unable to move forward.
At the same time, its speed is extremely slow. Considering cost and cost-effectiveness, the main propulsion of the ship comes from the still immature ion propulsion engine, with a maximum speed of only 10 kilometers per hour, equivalent to the speed of an ordinary person running long distances.
But despite these various defects, its advantages remain unshakable. The construction cost is relatively low, requiring few rare materials, and the maximum load capacity reaches 10,000 tons. These two advantages mean that Su Wu can obtain a large amount of transportation capacity at a relatively low cost.
From then on, distance will no longer be a barrier for Su Wu to obtain resources.
"Soon, after solving the last few less important technical details, we can start formal production."
"By then, we will shut down all production lines for land battleships and snow transport vehicles."
"The freed-up space will be used to produce Ice Lake-class transport ships."
"The first batch production number will be set at 500 ships."
"Then, after we recover a batch of resources to replenish the consumption in the farmhouse warehouse."
"We'll continue producing another 500 ships."
In Su Wu's mind.
At this moment, a grand blueprint seemed to emerge.
He could envision hundreds of Ice Lake-class transport ships.
Guarded by countless Combat Drones across the mountains and Spider Robots across the fields.
Transporting resources from all over the Eastern Continent back to the farmhouse.
(End of Chapter)