“Everyone, listen to me,” Su Rui’s voice sounded out from the darkness. “I know of a shelter with good conditions, low costs, and available space. If you’re willing, come with me and leave this place.”
As soon as Su Rui said this, quite a few survivors were tempted. After all, his reputation in the shelter had always been solid.
If such a place truly existed, it would definitely be far better than staying here and enduring this treatment.
However, some survivors hesitated. They had lived in this shelter for many years, and leaving all at once was difficult to accept.
“I’m not forcing anyone,” Su Rui continued. “My teammates and I, along with our families and friends, have already decided not to stay here. Do as you wish. If you want to come with me, pack your things and gather at the entrance.”
After saying that, he packed his belongings, took his younger brother, and left the room.
“Wait, Su Rui, I’m coming with you.” Ge Shu quickly packed up as well, helped his partner to their feet, and followed Su Rui out.
He and his teammates split up to visit the other rooms, informing everyone of the news. After notifying all those willing to leave, they exited the shelter.
One after another, survivors began to follow them out. Wearing gas masks and carrying their few remaining supplies, they stood at the entrance, waiting anxiously for the unknown journey ahead.
At that moment, the newly appointed Administrator, Tang Ming, came out with a group of subordinates. Seeing the survivors gathered outside, a mocking smile curled at his lips.
“Oh? Leaving, are we? I wonder which shelter can take in so many of you. Don’t come crawling back when it doesn’t work out,” Tang Ming said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
“If you hadn’t arbitrarily raised the mutated crystal fees, would we have been forced to leave?” Su Rui shot back without restraint. “With management like yours, you’ll face the consequences sooner or later.”
“What do you know? This is survival of the fittest. The previous Administrator was too soft, taking in just anyone. Look at this shelter, full of useless trash who can’t even obtain Level 4 mutated crystals. What I want is the strongest shelter.”
“What do you mean, useless trash? Who are you calling that?”
The survivors who heard this were outraged and began to protest, but Tang Ming did not seem to care at all, his expression unchanged.
Behind him, his followers took out their weapons, including firearms.
This was one of the privileges of being Administrator, access to the shelter’s armory.
Seeing this, the survivors immediately fell silent, which only made Tang Ming more pleased.
“Go on, why did you stop talking?” Tang Ming laughed loudly. “Listen carefully. I’ve set the rules. Anyone who leaves will never be accepted back. Think it through.”
“Enough, don’t waste time arguing with him,” Su Rui said. He had no interest in continuing the exchange and did not want to waste his strength. “Is everyone here? Anyone else coming? If not, we’re leaving.”
Before long, everyone who intended to go had gathered. Some were unwilling to leave, and others were frightened by Tang Ming’s threats. They did not force anyone.
A group of over a hundred survivors set out together toward Sunrise Shelter.
Watching them leave, Tang Ming sneered and turned back inside with his men. “Good riddance. Now we don’t have to share resources with so many people. A bunch of trash. If they come crawling back begging, maybe I’ll consider letting them in.”
After a full day and night, the newly constructed rooms were finally completed.
With more rooms, the corridors had also extended. The first underground level now had eight rooms, numbered from 01 to 08. If more were needed, they could be built on the opposite side, across from the laundry room and waste processing station.
Tang Ye took a glance, then stepped into the elevator. Inside, in addition to Basement Level 1, there was now a button for Basement Level 2.
She pressed it, and the elevator descended silently.
The layout of Basement Level 2 was similar to the floor above. On the right were eight eighteen-person dormitories, while on the left were the spacious cafeteria and medical room.
Tang Ye walked into the cafeteria to take a look. It was not only wide but also deep, an expansive space filled with neatly arranged tables and chairs, similar to a school cafeteria.
Directly ahead were the serving windows, though they were currently unattended.
She went into the kitchen area. There was a full row of stoves and sinks for washing vegetables, all spotlessly clean. The kitchen connected to a storage room filled with metal racks for ingredients, along with a large refrigeration unit and freezer, likely for storing meat.
Fortunately, she had upgraded the water and power systems earlier. Otherwise, with so many power-consuming facilities, the system would likely have already turned red.
“What about ingredients?” Tang Ye asked, looking at the empty racks.
“You can check the logistics shop. There are ingredients specifically for the kitchen,” the System replied.
Tang Ye opened the logistics interface and quickly found the cafeteria supplies. Vegetables were sold by the crate, each weighing fifty jin. The prices were reasonable, ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred energy points.
Meat products, such as pork, beef, and lamb, were also sold in crates, pre-processed, and priced higher, from a few hundred to over a thousand energy points.
“What if they spoil if we can’t sell them?” Having lived through the apocalypse, Tang Ye could not bear the thought of wasting food.
“Rest assured, Host. The crates are made of special materials with built-in preservation functions. They can keep ingredients fresh for a long time,” the System explained.
Hearing this, Tang Ye relaxed. She purchased a variety of common ingredients, pork, beef, lamb, potatoes, carrots, peppers, rice, seasonings, and more, spending a total of 3,820 energy points.
Crate after crate of fresh ingredients appeared before her. For a moment, even Tang Ye felt emotional. It had been so long since she had seen such fresh produce, some potatoes still had soil clinging to them.
She crouched there, steadied herself, then began arranging the ingredients on the racks.
When there were few people, she could handle the work alone. Now that the population was growing, the workload had increased as well. It might be time to recruit help.
Just as she finished organizing, the System spoke again. “Host, you now need to spend 500 energy points to unlock the mutated crystal conversion machine.”
“What is that used for?” Tang Ye asked.
“It converts mutated crystals into energy points. In the cafeteria, payments are made through facial recognition. Survivors must first convert their crystals into energy points before spending them,” the System explained.
Tang Ye nodded. That made sense. So the cafeteria used face recognition for payment, meaning she could also use it herself.
“Of course. As long as you have energy points, you can spend them here. The same applies to other facilities like the medical room and future supermarket. You may consider installing more machines for convenience.”
Tang Ye agreed. It seemed energy points would become the universal currency within the shelter. The conversion machines were essential.
She decided to install four machines, two in the cafeteria, one in each corridor of Basement Level 1 and Level 2, costing a total of 2,000 energy points.
These machines did not require construction time. Once exchanged, they were immediately installed.
Standing before one, Tang Ye saw a large screen and a slot below for inserting mutated crystals, resembling a bank ATM.
She tried inserting her own crystals, but nothing happened. As the System had said, only crystals obtained through trade could be converted into energy points.
She could only spend energy points earned through transactions.
Next, she checked the medical room. It was spacious, complete with consultation rooms, a payment counter, a pharmacy, and even six hospital beds.
Walking inside, she felt it was no different from a small hospital.
However, it was empty. They would need doctors and nurses.
But how would she pay them? Mutated crystals? She did not have many stored. Was she supposed to go out and hunt zombies just to pay wages?
Sensing her thoughts, the System spoke. “Host, you can use food and energy points as wages. In the future, when the supermarket is built, employees can use energy points there.”
Tang Ye recalled seeing the large supermarket option earlier. It required 500,000 energy points and occupied nearly an entire floor.
Once built, the System shop would unlock. The thought excited her. After so many years in the apocalypse, all supermarkets had long been looted. She had not seen a normal one in ages.
But that was for later. She still needed to save energy points for the supermarket and for reclaiming land above ground to build a farm.
She had thought over eighty thousand energy points was a lot, but now it seemed far from enough.
Still, using energy points or food as wages was a feasible solution. She could not realistically hunt for crystals every day just to pay staff.
After finishing her inspection, Tang Ye returned to Basement Level 1. The radiation cleansing agent in the laboratory was ready. She packaged it and placed it in storage.
She then purchased materials for fifty gas masks and loaded them into the machine.
Producing fifty at once would extend the processing time accordingly.