Chen Yun wrote furiously, his pen moving rapidly across the paper, and lines of dense handwriting continued to appear on the paper.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the pointer on the wall pointed to 11 o'clock.
"Huh." Chen Yun let out a long sigh and stopped what he was doing.
Picking up the [Old House Site Reconstruction and Construction Plan] covered with dense handwriting on the table, Chen Yun carefully checked it again.
After confirming that there were no mistakes, Chen Yun stood up and walked to the center of the living room.
The first step of the first phase of the renovation plan: strengthening the insulation and structure of the old house.
Looking around, Chen Yun shook his head. Although the living room was spacious, it was still too small.
Chen Yun turned around, opened the door and walked into the yard.
The summer night was deep. It was the beginning of the month, the moon dark and the stars sparse. The small mountain village had no streetlights, only a few faint lights scattered in the distance. The whole world was shrouded in darkness, pitch black.
Chen Yun stood in the darkness, closed his eyes for a few seconds to adjust, and when he opened his eyes again, it was no longer pitch black.
The enhanced vision brought by the genetic drug worked.
The darkness before his eyes was replaced by a vague but discernible gray world. The outlines of the courtyard walls and houses, the rough texture of the blue brick floor, and the firewood and coal piled in the corner of the wall all appeared as gray silhouettes of varying shades in Chen Yun's eyes.
Although it was far less clear than daylight, it was enough for Chen Yun to move freely.
Chen Yun lightly jumped onto the wall and looked around the yard.
There were only five or six families living near Chen Yun's old house. Except for Lin Wanwan's family, the other families had moved away many years ago. Those courtyards had been abandoned for a long time and were overgrown with weeds.
Chen Yun looked towards Lin Wanwan's house not far away. The windows of the house were pitch black. No light came through, and no sound was heard.
It seems that Lin Wanwan has already fallen asleep.
After making sure that no one was paying attention to his yard, Chen Yun jumped off the wall and came to the center of the yard.
His consciousness sank into the system space. Chen Yun waved his hand, and piles of neatly stacked white insulation boards and rolls of insulation cotton appeared on the ground in front of him.
Chen Yun walked around the insulation materials and came to the second floor of his house.
Pressing his hand on the wall of the house in front of him, Chen Yun thought about it and summoned the system light curtain.
Click [Strengthen] with your mind!
[Do you want to strengthen the current base? ]
An emotionless electronic synthesized sound rang in my mind.
"yes."
[Required points: 3500, insufficient points balance.]
"It's indeed much more expensive than a reinforced car or truck." Chen Yun thought to himself.
[Insulation material detected. Should we consume the insulation material to strengthen the base in a specific direction?]
[Strengthening direction: thermal insulation. ]
[Required points: 250.]
"Yes." Chen Yun did not hesitate.
[Confirmed. Consumed points: 250.]
[Strengthening…]
A progress bar appeared on the screen and quickly filled up.
After a blurry flash, most of the insulation material in the center of the yard disappeared in an instant, and the red brick house in front of him had changed color.
[Enhancement successful!] A mechanical voice rang out.
Chen Yun looked carefully and found that the overall shape of the house in front of him had not changed much, except that the originally exposed red bricks were covered with a layer of gray-white coating about half an inch thick with a fine texture.
"Is this the special reinforcement for thermal insulation? It doesn't seem as impressive as the previous ones." Chen Yun stroked the gray-white coating.
"Besides, the coating is exposed. Will it be damaged by external forces?"
Chen Yun thought for a while and decided to test it.
He waved his hand and took out a handheld spray gun and a fire axe from the space.
Chen Yun first picked up the fire axe and chopped at the coating hard, chopping at the same point three or four times in a row.
Putting down the fire axe, Chen Yun looked carefully at the chopped area, and a faint white mark appeared on the coating.
"With my current strength, a full-strength chop can only cause a few scratches. It seems that the coating's defense is quite good. It should be difficult to destroy without tools like an electric hammer."
Chen Yun picked up the spray gun, aimed it at the coating and ignited it. A strong, scorching flame gushed out towards the gray-white coating.
A minute later, Chen Yun turned off the spray gun.
The off-white coating remains unchanged.
Chen Yun carefully reached out his hand towards the burned coating, but the imagined burning heat did not appear.
The burned area of the coating feels slightly warm to the touch, and the temperature is slightly higher than other parts of the coating, but only slightly.
"It's impossible to measure the thermal insulation performance right now, but at least it's top-notch."
Chen Yun withdrew his hand, looked at the house covered with gray-white coating in front of him, and nodded with satisfaction.
[bite--!]
An electronic sound suddenly rang out.
[Daily points settlement starts.]
[Settlement in progress…]
[Today's basic points: 24 points.]
[Today's Survival Assessment: Environmental Exploration (Survival Exploration): 50 points.]
[Base initial construction (survival preparation): 100 points.]
[Settlement completed, current survival points: 1658 points.]
"Today's survival assessment gave me a full 150 points." Chen Yun thought to himself, "It's the same as the novice gift pack.
"I don't understand how the points calculated by the system are rated.
"An old house that's just been renovated gets 100 points, while ten years of stockpiling supplies only gives 60 or 70 points. And even the incredible black technology of genetic enhancement only gives 10 points."
Chen Yun tried to think...
"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore." Shaking his head, Chen Yun gave up thinking, "Let's continue strengthening first."
Walking to the center of the yard, Chen Yun looked at the insulation materials that were missing some of their value. "It seems there's a limit to the points I can get for discounting the materials."
"Or maybe these 250 points are the processing fee required to strengthen the system."
Chen Yun waved his hand to put the insulation material in front of him into the space, and then waved his hand again to take out cement, sand and gravel and two steel ingots from the space.
Chen Yun came to the house again and put his hand on it.
Call out the system light curtain and select [Enhance].
[Do you want to strengthen the current base? ]
[Building materials detected. Do you want to consume them to strengthen the base in a specific direction?]
[Strengthening direction: structural reinforcement.]
[Required points: 300.]
"yes."
[Confirmed. Consumed points: 300.]
[Strengthening…]
[Strengthening Successfully! ]
Chen Yun withdrew his hand, and the old house in front of him had changed its appearance.
The whole house seems to have been raised a few centimeters. The gray-white coating that was previously strengthened for thermal insulation has disappeared, replaced by a thick dark gray. The whole building looks like it was cast in one piece, and it is natural.
When my palm touched the wall, it felt cold and slightly frosted.
Chen Yun was shocked. "Where's my thermal insulation coating? Where's my thermal insulation coating? It's so big! I hope it won't swallow me!"
"The system shouldn't be so tricky, right?"
Chen Yun summoned the system light screen again and silently said in his heart: "Special reinforcement, thermal insulation."
Click [Strengthen] with your mind.
[Do you want to perform special reinforcement on the current base? ]
[Strengthening direction: Advanced strengthening of thermal insulation. ]
"Advanced reinforcement..." Chen Yun thought to himself, "It seems that the insulation direction has not been replaced by the reinforcement direction. Now the two directions should be integrated."
Chen Yun tapped lightly with his fingers; the wall felt solid and heavy.
"Try the intensity."
Chen Yun took out a hammer from the space, took a deep breath, mobilized all the muscles in his body, and smashed the wall with a hammer.
"Clang——!!!"
Sparks flew everywhere! The sharp sound of metal clashing and exploding sounded even louder in the silent night!
"Clang——"
The hammer hit the wall, making a sharp sound of metal!
The recoil force made Chen Yun's arm numb and the hammer almost slipped out of his hand.
"Shit." Chen Yun didn't expect such a loud noise and subconsciously looked around.
After a long time, no other sounds were heard. Chen Yun jumped onto the wall and looked around. The windows of Lin Wanwan's house next door were still dark, and the desolate courtyard around him was silent.
Chen Yun breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay..."
After returning to the front of the house, Chen Yun looked at the place where he had just hammered. There was no trace of it on the dark gray wall.
Looking at the hammer in his hand again, the handle was almost broken.
"So powerful!" Chen Yun shook his numb arms and sighed, "As expected, the system's products are of the highest quality."
"Let's stop here for tonight and continue tomorrow."
Having made such a big noise just now, Chen Yun was worried that someone had noticed this place, so he didn't dare to take the risk of continuing to strengthen it.
Waving his hand to put the hammer back into space, Chen Yun pushed the door and entered the house.
The layout of the house has not changed much. The positions of furniture such as tables, chairs, and beds have not changed. Only the walls have turned dark gray.
Chen Yun walked to the window, reached out and tapped lightly on the glass, causing it to tremble slightly.
"The window glass wasn't strengthened, nor were the tables and chairs." Chen Yun murmured softly.
"Sure enough, these two reinforcements to the house were only aimed at the main structure of the house itself.
"It seems we need to strengthen the glass in all the windows."
Chen Yun pressed his hand on the glass and called out the system panel [Strengthen].
[Do you want to strengthen the target object - window? ]
[Consumption points: 40 points.]
"If you don't consume materials for special strengthening, direct strengthening requires 40 points, which is still within an acceptable range."
Chen Yun thought for a moment and chose "yes".
[Confirmed to strengthen. Consumes 40 survival points.]
[Strengthening…]
[Strengthening Successfully! ]
As my vision blurred, the appearance of the window changed.
The old wooden window frames have disappeared, replaced by black and gold matte metal window frames, which fit perfectly with the wall, as if they were integrated into one.
The dusty glass became thick and bright, and remained motionless even when knocked hard.
Chen Yun tried to open a window; it felt smooth and silent. When he closed it, there was only a slight click, and it closed tightly.
There are eight windows on the exterior wall.
Chen Yun followed the same method and strengthened all the windows on the exterior walls, spending a total of 320 points.
The partition windows in the rooms inside the house have not been moved for the time being to save points.
Looking at the brand new windows, Chen Yun nodded with satisfaction.
I glanced at the clock on the wall and it was already past one o'clock.
"It's getting late, let's rest today." Chen Yun stretched, washed up quickly, and walked towards the bedroom.
Lying on the old wooden bed in the bedroom, listening to the faint chirping of cicadas outside the window on a summer night, Chen Yun quickly fell into a deep sleep.
A dreamless night.
The next morning, Chen Yun woke up at daybreak.
Get up, get dressed, and wash up briefly.
Chen Yun walked into the kitchen and prepared something to eat.
The earthen stove in the kitchen had also been changed. The original brick stove had now become the same dark gray as the wall. However, the structure remained the same as before.
"The stove is also considered part of the house structure." Chen Yun was a little surprised, but then he understood.
The stove was also built with the same bricks and cement as when the house was built, so it is naturally considered the main structure of the house.
"This is a pleasant surprise."
Chen Yun did not use the stove, but instead cooked some noodles on the induction cooker and ate them quickly.
After dinner, Chen Yun pushed the door open and came into the yard.
The early morning air is moist with dew and fresh with grass and trees.
Chen Yun turned his head and looked at the reinforced walls of the house.
It was too dark last night and I couldn't see it carefully. Now that it's bright outside, I can see every detail of the wall clearly.
The rising sun shines on the dark gray walls, reflecting a faint metallic luster.
"No wonder it makes a metallic sound when I hit it with a hammer. It turns out there's metal on the surface of this wall." Chen Yun was a little shocked. "I didn't notice it last night in the house."
After calming down his shock, Chen Yun jumped onto the wall and looked around.
After confirming that no one was paying attention to his yard, he walked to the center of the yard and waved his hand to take out the bricks in the space.
Chen Yun turned around and walked straight to the stone-covered corner on the east side of the courtyard.
cellar.
This is the underground part of the renovation plan for Chen Yun's old house.
Chen Yun placed his hand on the cellar lid, called out the system light screen, and silently said in his heart: Special strengthening, space expansion.
[Do you want to specifically strengthen the current cellar? ]
[Strengthening direction: space expansion.]
[Required points: 1500 points, insufficient points balance.]
"It can be expanded directly, but there is no prompt to consume materials." Chen Yun nodded.
"It seems that there is no way to directly use materials such as cement, sand and gravel to deduct points. I wonder if the method I thought of before will work."
When the capacity of the oil barrels was expanded before, the consumables were other empty oil barrels. Chen Yun guessed that in order to expand the volume of space, the space volume of the corresponding materials would be needed as consumables.
For example, to expand the capacity of an oil barrel, the consumable material is an oil barrel made of the same material.
Chen Yun planned to use cement bricks and stones to build hollow cubes.
If his guess was correct, then these hollow cubes could be used as consumables for discount points for cellar expansion.
Chen Yun dragged over two bags of cement and sand and gravel, took out a shovel from the space, and used the shovel to split the cement bags open.
Chen Yun mixed cement, sand and gravel in a ratio of one to five, added water and stirred vigorously.
Soon the cement was mixed, and Chen Yun picked up a pile of red bricks and prepared to start building the wall.
The red bricks were not soaked in water in advance, but it's not a big problem. It's enough that they can be stacked up and not collapse for the time being. After all, this is just a consumable.
Chen Yun picked up a tile trowel and began to build the first cube on the flat ground.
The first brick is coated with cement mortar and placed firmly, and the second brick is placed next to it...layers of bricks are stacked in an alternating pattern.
When he reached the top floor, Chen Yun staggered several thin steel bars to serve as a simple lintel, and then sealed the roof with a layer of red bricks.
Soon, a one-meter-square hollow cube appeared in the yard, and the mortar between the bricks was still wet and dark.
"Huh..." Chen Yun straightened up, took a long breath, and then came to the cellar and put his hand on the stone slab covering the cellar.
[Should I strengthen the foundation of the current cellar? ]
[Hollow masonry cubes detected. Do you want to use them to specifically strengthen the cellar?]
[Strengthening direction: capacity expansion.]
[Required points: 1450.]
"It really works." Chen Yun was delighted. "A 1 cubic hollow brick cube can be discounted by 50 points."
"Try to see how much discount you can get on hollow cubes of other sizes."
Chen Yun continued to lay bricks with cement.
Soon a two-cubic cuboid appeared in the yard.
[Required points: 1420.]
"Two cubic meters can be discounted by 80 points." Chen Yun calculated in his mind, "So it seems that one cubic meter is more cost-effective."
Chen Yun wiped his sweat, turned around and prepared to continue stacking the hollow cubes.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
There was a knock on the door from outside the courtyard.
Chen Yun paused and turned to look towards the courtyard gate.
"Brother Xiaoyun, are you home?" A crisp and lively voice came from outside the door.
It's Lin Wanwan.
Chen Yun looked at his hands covered in cement dust, took a deep breath, and walked towards the gate.
Walk to the door and open it.
The girl stood outside the door prettily.
Lin Wanwan wore a light green sleeveless top, pale blue knee-length shorts, and a low ponytail. Beads of sweat covered her forehead, and her cheeks were slightly flushed from the sun.
The girl was holding a small bamboo basket in her hand, which was filled with a few juicy green cucumbers, a few red tomatoes, and some other fruits and vegetables.
"Brother Xiaoyun, good morning!" Lin Wanwan smiled when she saw Chen Yun and handed the basket to him.
"Since you just got back, you probably don't have any fresh vegetables at home, so I came to bring you some. They're all freshly picked from my yard."
Chen Yun hesitated for a moment, then took the basket from Lin Wanwan and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome!" Lin Wanwan waved her hand, but her eyes curiously passed by Chen Yun and fell on the cement, sand, and red bricks piled in the yard.
"Eh? Brother Xiaoyun, what are you busy with? Building a house?"
Chen Yun's heart tightened slightly, but he remained expressionless. He unnoticedly moved to the side to block Lin Wanwan's sight, and then he opened his mouth and said:
"Well, the old house has been in disrepair for a long time. I'm planning to stay here for a long time, so I thought about renovating and repairing it."
"Renovating the house?" Lin Wanwan's eyes lit up, and she looked eager to try. "This job is not easy. Do you want me to help? I'm free at home anyway."
"No need!" Chen Yun blurted out, then he realized that his reaction was a bit extreme, so he slowed down his tone.
"This kind of dirty work is not suitable for a girl like you. I can do it myself."
"Hey, Brother Xiaoyun, don't underestimate me!" Lin Wanwan pouted unconvincedly, "I can do anything, from fetching water and chopping wood to moving bricks and plastering!"
"I'm not looking down on you." Chen Yun said in a gentle tone, "There's really no need. I can do it alone."
"Okay, okay. If you need help, be sure to call me." Seeing Chen Yun's firm attitude, Lin Wanwan had to give up. But after a moment's thought, she thought of something else:
"Oh, by the way, it's only June now. Brother Xiaoyun, if you plan to stay here for a long time, you can plant some quick-maturing leafy vegetables in the yard, like bok choy, lettuce, and spinach. They grow quickly and you can eat them in about a month."
"You can't live without fresh fruits and vegetables," Lin Wanwan said enthusiastically. "Your vegetable garden is just lying there anyway."
Chen Yun's mind moved. There was a huge amount of food stored in his space, most of which were rice, flour, grain, oil, meat and canned goods. There were indeed not many fresh fruits and vegetables.
Because the system space is not a place where time is static like in many novels.
Steaming hot food placed in the space will gradually become cold. Although this process is much slower than the outside world, it does exist. This means that food and vegetables placed in the space will also gradually deteriorate.
Grain is fine and can be stored for a long time, but vegetables, fruits and other things with a short shelf life cannot be stored for too long.
Originally, Chen Yun planned to use vitamin tablets to replace fruits and vegetables, but Lin Wanwan was right, fresh fruits and vegetables are very important to people.
Chen Yun pondered for a moment: "Hmm... I'll consider it."
"That's right!" Seeing that Chen Yun listened to her advice, Lin Wanwan smiled even more.
"When you need to plant, be sure to call me. Hehe~ I'm a top student in agronomy! I'll teach you everything from raising seedlings to fertilizing and pest control! I guarantee the fruits and vegetables you grow will be big and sweet!"
"Okay." Chen Yun responded.
"Then... you really don't need me to help you move bricks and plaster?" Lin Wanwan looked at the red bricks piled in Chen Yun's yard again.
"Really." Chen Yun shook his head again, "I'll call you when I need help."
"Okay then..." Lin Wanwan finally gave up and waved her hand, "Then I'll go back first!"
Lin Wanwan turned to leave, then remembered something and turned back to say enthusiastically, "Come to my house for lunch..."
"No, thank you." Chen Yun took the initiative to decline.
"Okay then. I'll go back first. Remember to call me anytime if you need help." Lin Wanwan waved her hand, turned around and left with light steps.
"She's still as enthusiastic and lively as I remember." After watching Lin Wanwan leave, Chen Yun turned around and closed the gate.
He carried the vegetable basket into the main room and put it on the table. His eyes fell on the fresh vegetables in the basket, and Chen Yun fell into thought.
"The previous stockpiling was somewhat flawed. Vitamin pills alone cannot replace fresh fruits and vegetables."
"Growing vegetables..." Chen Yun whispered to himself.
"After the underground base is developed, if there is enough space, we can try soilless cultivation or small greenhouses...
"But greenhouse cultivation and soil-less cultivation consume too much energy."
Chen Yun calculated in his mind that although he had a generator and a lot of fuel, he was afraid that it would not last long if he had to use them to maintain the long-term operation of the greenhouse.
"Forget it, I'll go to the county tomorrow to purchase a large amount of seeds. As for the energy consumption issue," Chen Yun stood up and smiled.
"Maybe my generator can be upgraded all the way to a nuclear power plant."
Chen Yun pushed the door open and came into the yard, walking towards the pile of building materials.
Without further delay, we continued to mix cement, move bricks, and build…
One, two, three... hollow brick and stone blocks took shape one by one in Chen Yun's hands.
The sun gradually set in the west, but Chen Yun did not rest.
As night fell, Chen Yun turned on the lights in the yard and continued to fight.
It was not until late at night that Chen Yun finally put down the tile knife in his hand.
Standing up, Chen Yun rubbed his stiff and sore back, looked at the twenty cubes neatly arranged in front of him, and nodded with satisfaction.
The points available for discounts on materials were limited, so to avoid wasting materials, Chen Yun would try to [Reinforce] each cube he built to see if the discount had reached the upper limit.
[Required points: 470.]
"A total of 19 one-cubic blocks and one two-cubic rectangular block." Chen Yun muttered to himself, withdrawing his hand from the cellar cover.
"The points required for special enhancement are now 470. I wonder if the discount will continue."
[bite--!]
A mechanical sound was heard.
[Daily points settlement starts.]
[Settlement in progress…]
[Today's basic points: 24 points.]
[Today's Survival Assessment: Initial Base Construction (Survival Preparation): 120 points.]
[Settlement completed, current survival points: 1158 points.]
"The points for the initial construction of the base increased by 20 points compared to yesterday." Chen Yun thought to himself.
"Are the points for this item calculated based on the construction content of a single day, or based on the overall construction progress?
"We should be able to see the result after another settlement tomorrow."
Chen Yun took a long breath and stretched his body. "Let's stop here for today. We'll continue tomorrow. Let's rest first."
Turning around and going into the house, Chen Yun simply washed up, lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.
When I opened my eyes again, it was still pitch black outside the window.
Chen Yun picked up his phone and checked the time. It was just past four o'clock. After just four hours of sleep, the fatigue from yesterday's hard day had long since disappeared.
Chen Yun got up and walked straight out of the yard.
After confirming that there was no one around, Chen Yun waved his hand to take out the truck from the space and parked it next to his car.
Back inside, Chen Yun washed up briefly and headed to the kitchen. It was still early, so he decided to make a serious breakfast.
After being busy for half an hour, Master Chen cooked a pot of millet porridge, and then made smashed cucumbers and cold-mixed tomatoes with the vegetables that Lin Wanwan sent yesterday.
The taste is very average, just edible.
Recalling the dinner he had at Lin Wanwan's house the night before, Chen Yun sighed softly, realizing that he really had no talent for cooking.
After breakfast, the sky outside the window was just getting light, and the summer heat had not yet risen.
Chen Yun stood up, pushed the door open and came into the yard.
In the courtyard, twenty hollow cubes made of red bricks are arranged neatly.
After pausing, Chen Yun walked straight out of the yard. He planned to go to the county to buy a batch of seeds, as well as materials for greenhouse planting and soilless cultivation, and then continue to build cubes after returning.
After leaving the yard and locking the gate, Chen Yun walked to the truck parked in the corner, opened the door, got in, and drove towards the county town.
The county town is not far from Pingle Village. There are not many vehicles on the road. Chen Yun drove very fast and arrived at the county town after about 30 minutes.
The county town is not big and the roads are still smooth in the early morning. Chen Yun drove straight to the farmers' market.
Walking into a seed store that looked to be the largest, Chen Yun went straight to the owner.
"Boss, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, winter melon..." Chen Yun said calmly as he listed a long list of fruits and vegetables. "Give me 200 bags of each of these seeds."
"Oh, you're a stranger." The boss raised his eyebrows and looked Chen Yun up and down. "Have you rented a farm nearby?"
"Yes, we contracted a farm to stock up." Chen Yun nodded.
The boss didn't ask any more questions, stood up and told the clerk to start moving the goods.
Boxes of seeds were moved out. Chen Yun paid with his card and then loaded the seeds onto the carriage one by one.
Driving to the agricultural supplies wholesale market on the other side of the county town, Chen Yun bought a large amount of plant nutrient solution and cultivation substrate at the agricultural supplies wholesale market.
After getting the seeds and materials for soilless cultivation, Chen Yun came to the gas station on the edge of the county town.
There is only half of the oil left in the tank. Although there is fuel in the space, it is prepared for the end of the world. Now we can save as much as we can.
There were already several cars lined up at the gas station, and Chen Yun was waiting patiently at the back.
A truck in front seemed to be arguing with the staff. The driver, a bald man with a face full of flesh, shouted loudly: "What's going on? Why can't I only fill up 300 yuan? I'm driving long distances, this amount of gas is useless!"
The staff member's voice was a little helpless: "Sorry, sir, there was a new notice yesterday. Each person with an ID card can only increase their salary by 300 yuan per week..."
"Fuck! What about us on long-distance trips?" The bald man slammed the car window impatiently.
"Sir, you can go to the community or street to get a certificate, and then go to the police station to report and the police station will issue a certificate. You can refuel with the certificate." The staff explained.
"Damn, what a hassle!" The bald man cursed and drove away.
Listening to the previous argument, Chen Yun fell into deep thought.
The sudden fuel purchase restrictions, could it be that the authorities... have noticed something? Or perhaps, they've grasped some signs of disaster?
After filling up 300 yuan of fuel, Chen Yun drove towards Pingle Village.
When he returned to Pingle Village, it was almost noon. Chen Yun parked the car and returned to the yard.
Walking to the center of the yard, Chen Yun took out work gloves from the space and put them on. He dragged a bag of cement over and continued to stack hollow cubes.
The 21st block... [Required points: 420.]
…
The 24th piece... [Required points: 300.]
The twenty-fifth piece... [300 points.]
Chen Yun stopped what he was doing and said, "The points discount has reached its upper limit."
Taking a deep breath, Chen Yun placed his hand on the stone cover of the cellar and summoned the system with his mind, "Then let's start strengthening."
[Hollow masonry cubes detected. Do you want to use them to specifically strengthen the cellar?]
[Strengthening direction: capacity expansion.]
[Required points: 300.]
"yes!"
Chen Yun felt that the ground seemed to be shaking slightly.
On the system light screen, the progress bar advances rapidly.
A few seconds later, as the progress bar filled up, Chen Yun's vision suddenly became blurred.
When the scene became clear again, the stone slab covering the cellar in front of him had disappeared, and the dark cellar entrance under the stone slab had also disappeared.
There was nothing in front of me. The original cellar and stone slabs were replaced by blue brick floors, blending seamlessly with the rest of the courtyard.
Chen Yun: "?"
"Where's my cellar? What did it do to me?"
Chen Yun was a little dazed, but the mechanical sound of the system immediately sounded in his mind.
[Strengthening Successfully! ]
[A new entrance location has been generated - living room.]
"They've reinforced the living room." Chen Yun was surprised. "If the cellar entrance is inside the house, the security will be greatly improved. This is really a pleasant surprise."
Chen Yun stood up and pushed the door open to go into the house.
The layout and furnishings in the living room had not changed. Chen Yun searched carefully and finally found a clue in the inner corner of the living room.
The ground in the corner is slightly sunken than other places, with an area of about one meter square. There is a small protrusion the size of a palm on the edge of the depression.
"Is this the entrance to the cellar? Do I need to press this?"
Chen Yun put his hand on the small protrusion and pressed hard.
Buzz——!
A slight buzzing sound was heard, and the ground in front of me trembled slightly and collapsed.
A dark hole appeared on the floor, and at the edge of the hole, a gray-black step extended downwards.
Chen Yun took a deep breath, took out a high-intensity flashlight from the space, turned on the switch, and walked down the stairs carefully.
The stairs were very long and it took more than ninety steps to reach the bottom.
The flashlight beam swept around, and Chen Yun couldn't help but gasp.
The space in front of him was larger than Chen Yun expected!
Judging from the visual depth, it is about 50 meters, and the total area is at least 2,000 square meters!
It far exceeds the total area of my old house!
And the height... Chen Yun looked up and saw that the dark gray ceiling was about eight or nine meters away from him.
"Based on the length of the stairs and my perception when I walked down just now, the ground surface is about eleven or twelve meters away from where I am now.
"That means there should be about three meters of covering soil between the ground and the cellar!"
Chen Yun looked around again. The cellar was extremely empty. Apart from the four walls, the floor and the ceiling, there was nothing there.
Such a huge space, such a large span, and such a high height, but there is not a single load-bearing column in sight! There are no beams or other supporting structures!
So terrifying!
Chen Yun squatted down and looked carefully at the ground beneath his feet. The ground was gray-black and reflected a slight metallic luster under the flashlight.
"The material is the same as the house." Chen Yun muttered to himself, "It seems that the strength of this material is far beyond my imagination."
Standing up, Chen Yun took a long breath.
"Now that the foundation of the base has been formed, it's time to fill it up."
The basement is fifty meters deep and nine meters high.
For such a spacious space, some partitions must be made to maximize the use of the space.
"I don't know if the strengthening function can create a reasonable partition."
Chen Yun pressed his palm on the ground again and called out the system light curtain.
Silently say in your heart: Strengthen in a specific direction and reconstruct the layout.
Click [Strengthen] with your mind.
[Do you want to specifically strengthen the current shelter? ]
[Strengthening direction: layout reconstruction.]
[300 points are required for strengthening.]
[Materials required for strengthening: Design drawings.]
"It's really possible to restructure the layout, but this time the enhancement is different from the previous ones." Chen Yun muttered to himself.
"Consumables actually require design drawings, and they seem to be necessities."
Chen Yun stood up and looked around the basement again. "Looks like I'll have to come up with a design myself."
After taking in every detail of the empty basement in his mind, Chen Yun walked back into the house along the stairs.
Sitting on the sofa, Chen Yun fell into deep thought.
"Now the overall framework of the shelter is missing only the layout and partition of the basement.
"The points required for strengthening aren't that many either; 300 points is within an affordable range.
"So now all that's missing is a blueprint.
"The problem is... I don't know how to draw a blueprint."
Chen Yun covered his head and felt a headache.
"I'm just a mediocre programmer. Drawing blueprints is totally out of my league."
After a long time, Chen Yun stood up and walked to the desk in the corner.
He took out a pen and paper, then waved his hand to take out his laptop from the space.
Turning on this old computer that had been with him for more than seven years since college, Chen Yun sighed.
"No other way, I'll just learn and draw now."
Chen Yun picked up a pen and began to write and draw on the paper.
Chen Yun planned to divide the basement into two floors.
The upper floor, also known as the underground floor, is divided into four areas: living, medical, storage, and work.
The lower level, that is, the second underground level, is roughly divided into three parts: energy, water sources, and farms.
Chen Yun intended to make the underground part the main part of his base.
On the one hand, the underground part is much larger than the house above ground.
On the other hand, except for disasters such as earthquakes and floods, underground shelters are much safer than above-ground shelters in the face of other types of disasters.
Faced with the impending extreme cold doomsday, underground is obviously more suitable than above ground.
Of course, Chen Yun will not give up the ground part.
While retaining basic living functions, Chen Yun planned to transform the above-ground part of the old house into an impregnable bunker that could be used for both attack and defense.
After roughly planning the design layout on paper, Chen Yun opened the drawing software on his computer.
On his laptop, Chen Yun struggled to operate the drawing software, drawing the spatial layout and structural design of the basement and the old house on the ground bit by bit.
Time passes and the sun sets in the west.
After a long time, Chen Yun pressed Ctrl+S on the keyboard, stood up, and stretched his body.
Finally finished the painting!
Taking out an equally old printer from the space, Chen Yun printed out the drawings in several sheets. Looking at the crooked design drawing on the A4 paper in his hand, he sighed.
So ugly.
"See if you can strengthen the blueprint."
Chen Yun called out the panel and tried to [Strengthen].
The system's cold mechanical sound rang out.
[Do you want to strengthen the target item - the useless blueprint? ]
[Consumption points: 40 points.]
"..." Chen Yun felt his self-esteem was a little hurt.
"yes."
[Confirmed to enhance. Survival points consumed: 40 points.]
The progress bar on the light screen quickly filled up.
The crooked and fragmented stack of drawings in Chen Yun's hand disappeared in an instant, replaced by two large A0 papers.
One photo shows an aerial view of the entire yard, house, and basement.
The other one is filled with details of each room.
The dense lines made Chen Yun a little dizzy. After looking at it carefully for a long time, Chen Yun roughly understood the layout of the drawing.
Holding the blueprint, Chen Yun came to the bottom of the basement again, called out the system and began to strengthen it.
[Confirmed. Consumed points: 300.]
[Consume design drawing × 1.]
The ground began to tremble slightly, and after a few seconds, a familiar blurry feeling came over me, and the vast and empty basement in front of me disappeared.
Walls separated the empty space. Looking up, the ceiling, which was originally more than nine meters high, was now about five meters high.
I am now on the second underground floor.
Chen Yun turned on the flashlight and began to explore the reconstructed base.
At this moment, he was standing on a main passage that was nearly three meters wide. On both sides of the passage were tall dark gray walls, dividing the ground floor space into several huge cabins.
On the left hand side there are three adjacent cabins of similar size. According to the markings on the drawings, they are the energy area, water source area and garbage area.
On the right side there is only a huge cabin - the farm area!
At the end of the passage is a dark gray staircase leading to the upper level.
Chen Yun walked up the stairs to the basement.
The upper floor is much lower than the lower floor, about three meters high, and is also divided neatly by dark gray walls.
Near the stairs is a relatively large area, surrounded by cabins of varying sizes.
The cabin on the left is the storage area, and the cabin on the right is the work area. These two areas are the largest.
Directly opposite are three cabins, the larger one is the medical area, and the two smaller ones are bedrooms.
All the cabins were empty, with nothing in them.
These all need to be filled in by Chen Yun one by one.
The layout of the entire basement is simple and clear, with clear functional divisions.
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Chen Yun returned to the house on the ground floor along the stairs.
The overall layout and structure of the old house on the ground level has not changed much, except that the overall area seems to be larger.
After exploring the entire basement and the ground area, Chen Yun sat down on the sofa.
Now that the framework of the entire base has been determined, the next thing to do is to fill it with energy, water purification equipment, etc.
And started to build soilless greenhouse cultivation.
"I don't understand technologies like soilless cultivation in greenhouses, so I need to look up information or ask professionals."
Chen Yun muttered to himself, planning what to do next.
[bite--!]
An electronic synthesized sound suddenly rang out.
[Daily points settlement starts.]
[Settlement in progress…]
[Today's basic points: 24 points.]
[Today's Survival Assessment: Initial Base Construction: 420 points.]
[Settlement completed, current survival points balance: 962 points.]
"420 points, that's quite a lot given today." The cold mechanical voice disappeared, and Chen Yun pondered in his heart.
"I still haven't figured out the rules for points settlement.
"If the settlement is based on the base's construction progress, then the daily points will only increase day by day.
"If we calculate based on the construction volume for the day, I spent 640 points today and received 420 points.
"These points are not worth spending at all."
With a sigh, Chen Yun glanced at the doomsday countdown on the system screen.
"The end of the world is getting closer and closer. Time waits for no one. We must hurry up."
Chen Yun stood up and looked at the solid dark gray walls around him, and breathed a sigh of relief.
The prototype of the base has been completed.
Tonight, he plans to build and perfect this prototype overnight.
Chen Yun stood up and put all the furniture in the living room into the space.
The living room suddenly became empty.
Then he waved again.
Bundles of flame-retardant wires, PVC and PPR water pipes of different diameters, joints and valves of various specifications appeared out of thin air in the center of the living room.
The empty living room was instantly filled with messy materials.
"Install the water and electricity pipes first."
The basement now only has a structural frame, and given the strength of the wall material, it is simply unrealistic to cut grooves on it and install water and electricity by yourself.
So you can only spend points to use the system.
Chen Yun pressed his hand on the wall, and the system's light blue translucent light screen appeared in front of him.
Click [Strengthen] with your mind.
The mechanical sound immediately rang in my mind.
[Do you want to strengthen the current base? ]
[Materials such as electrical wires and PVC pipes have been detected. Should these materials be consumed to specifically strengthen the base?]
[Strengthening direction: Water and electricity supplement. ]
[Required points: 100.]
Chen Yun said without hesitation: "Yes."
[Confirmed to strengthen. Survival points consumed: 100 points.]
[Strengthening…]
[Strengthening Successfully! ]
As the progress bar filled up, most of the miscellaneous water pipes and electrical wires piled up in the living room disappeared in an instant.
Even the lighting suddenly changed. The originally yellowish and slightly dim light became softer and brighter.
The exposed wires, water pipes, and old, yellowed sockets and switches in the old house have all disappeared, replaced by standard switch panels and socket panels that are tightly embedded in the wall.
In the corner of the living room, a small distribution box appeared out of thin air in the dark gray wall, with the door closed.
Chen Yun raised his head and looked at the ceiling.
The old incandescent lamps that were originally hanging on the ceiling have also disappeared, replaced by rectangular flat lamps embedded in the ceiling, emitting soft and bright light.
Chen Yun waved his hand, collected the remaining materials in the living room, and went to the basement.
The scene before him stunned him.
On the dark grey walls, ceiling and floor, countless lines and nodes emitting soft, bright white and light blue light clearly emerged!
These lights outline a complex network.
Chen Yun walked around the basement, carefully examining the glowing lines on the wall.
Sockets and switches are located at the glossy white nodes, and the glossy white lines converge into the distribution boxes embedded in the walls of each functional area. Like a glowing spider web, they extend to the lamps on the ceiling and the socket and switch panels on the walls.
Light blue lines shuttle between the ground and walls, leaving many interfaces in each area.
The bright white ones represent electrical wires, while the light blue ones represent water pipes.
The two eventually converged into the energy area, water area and garbage area on the second underground floor respectively.
After going around every corner of the basement, Chen Yun roughly memorized the electrical circuits and water routes.
At this time, the light on the wall slowly faded and disappeared, and the dark gray walls, floor and ceiling returned to their original appearance.
The basement was plunged into darkness.
But the socket switch panels, distribution box locations, and reserved interfaces indicate that the base's water and electricity lines have been perfectly completed.
Chen Yun tried to press the light switch on the wall, but there was no response.
I came to the entrance of the basement and opened the cover of the distribution box embedded in the wall at the entrance. There were a few small words marked on the switch on the far left of the distribution box: external circuit.
"This should probably be connected to the public power grid like the house above."
Chen Yun turned on the power switch and then pressed the light switch next to it.
Soft light instantly filled the empty area in front of him.
"You guessed right. This switch is connected to the public power grid, and the others should be connected to the energy zone. However, the energy zone has no power yet."
Chen Yun turned around and walked towards the second underground floor.
When we arrived at the energy area, we found that the chamber inside was empty.
"We have the skeleton and the blood vessels, now it's time to install the heart."
Chen Yun waved his hand and took out four diesel generators, two gasoline generators, and the matching fuel tanks and battery packs from the space.
Without pausing, Chen Yun placed his hand directly on the diesel generator in the middle.
Silently say in your mind: Consume other generators and strengthen comprehensively.
[Should we consume other generators and comprehensively strengthen the current diesel generators? ]
[Required points: 250.]
"yes."
The progress bar fills up quickly.
My vision was blurry, then clear in an instant.
The six generators and the accompanying fuel tanks and battery packs in front have been replaced by a silver-gray metal rectangle that is more than two meters high, more than two meters wide, and more than four meters long.
The surface of the rectangle is covered with high-efficiency heat dissipation fins, and the honeycomb-shaped air intake and exhaust ports are exquisitely designed.
On the front is a one-foot square LCD screen, which is the control panel.
The thick cables on the walls of the energy zone have been firmly connected to the corresponding output ports of the generator, fitting seamlessly.
The system light screen suddenly popped up in front of me:
Fuel generator (advanced): Diesel tank capacity 1000L, gasoline tank capacity 750L, battery pack maximum storage capacity 200 kWh, generator thermal efficiency 85%.
"This comes with an instruction manual?" Chen Yun was startled and read it carefully.
"85% thermal efficiency is truly incredible. It's truly worthy of being a system product."
With an exclamation of admiration, Chen Yun stood up and came to the water source area next to the energy area.
The water source area is also empty.
Chen Yun waved his hand and took out five one-ton stainless steel water storage tanks, three sets of multi-stage filtration and ultraviolet sterilization water purification systems, as well as matching water pumps, water pipes, pressure barrels and several spare filter cartridges.
Do the same.
Chen Yun placed his hand on the water purifier in the middle.
[Will it consume other water purification systems and comprehensively strengthen the current water purification system? ]
[Required points: 250.]
Blurred, clear.
A silver-white metal cylinder with a height of nearly five meters and a diameter of about two meters replaced the previous water purification system and supporting equipment.
Not far to the right of the silver-white column, there stands a translucent cylindrical container with a height of nearly five meters and a diameter of five meters.
There are several thick water pipe joints on the left side of the silver-white cylinder, with the words "water inlet" marked on top.
Behind the silver-white cylinder, most of the water pipes on the wall of the water source area are tightly connected to the joints on the rear side, fitting seamlessly.
On the right side of the silver-white column, several thick water pipes also extend out and connect to the translucent water tank on its right side.
A thick water pipe extends from the back of the translucent cylindrical water tank and connects to the remaining water pipe joints on the wall.
The system light curtain pops up the instruction manual again:
Water purification system (advanced): The maximum water production speed is 100L per minute, and the water can be filtered into pure water, with a water storage capacity of 100 tons.
"The system's products are still as amazing as ever." Chen Yun sighed.
"Starting tomorrow, we will slowly fill up the water tank with tap water.
"As for the water ingress issue after the apocalypse, we'll tentatively use snow water.
"If you have enough points, you can try digging a deep well."
Looking at the huge water purification system in front of me, a sense of accomplishment and peace of mind came over me.
The lifeline of hydropower has been initially connected!
Chen Yun walked out of the water source area and headed straight for the farm area across the passage.
Next up is the farm.