After confirming that he was temporarily safe, Jiang Yufeng let out a breath of relief. He reached to the pocket at his side, only to find that the pouch containing his mutated crystals was gone. It had likely been taken by the woman who saved him.
However, as long as he was alive, the crystals meant nothing. Only by surviving could he take revenge.
At that moment, there was a soft beep, followed by the door being pushed open. Tang Ye stood at the doorway, still holding her long blade in a guarded grip.
“You’re awake,” Tang Ye said calmly. “How do you feel?”
Jiang Yufeng softened his voice, leaning weakly against the bed. “Still a bit uncomfortable, but thank you for saving me. I’ve caused you trouble.”
Tang Ye’s expression did not change. She walked over and handed him the pouch of mutated crystals. “Since you’re awake, we should talk about the cost.”
Jiang Yufeng paused. After taking the pouch back, he opened it and checked. To his surprise, not a single crystal was missing.
“You’re staying in our eighteen-person dormitory. One night costs one Level 1 mutated crystal. If you join the shelter, one bed including water and electricity costs one Level 2 crystal per month. I also gave you a fever-reducing pill earlier, that counts as one Level 2 crystal.” Tang Ye calculated briefly and extended her hand. “Including the effort I spent saving you, just give me three Level 2 crystals.”
Watching her calculate everything and only charge him three Level 2 crystals, Jiang Yufeng did not know what to say.
He had seen plenty of ugliness in human nature since the apocalypse, but someone so straightforward and almost… naive, this was his first time encountering such a person.
He took out a Level 5 mutated crystal from his bag and handed it to her. “I want to join this shelter. My condition isn’t good right now, and I don’t want to share a room with others. Can I rent all six beds in this room? Take this crystal and deduct the costs from it. If it runs out, let me know and I’ll pay more. Also, do you have food?”
Seeing his decisiveness, Tang Ye did not hesitate. She accepted the Level 5 crystal. “Alright. This room is yours. Six beds cost six Level 2 crystals per month. I’ll bring you food. Stand up for a moment, I need to register you.”
Jiang Yufeng stood up. Tang Ye used her wrist device to scan his entire body, registering him into the shelter system. Then she brought him thirty portions of food.
“These are preserved using compression and vacuum techniques, so they last a long time. The contents are random, either rice or noodles. This is one month’s worth of the daily free portions for shelter residents. When you run out, come find me. If you need anything else, you can come to the administrator’s room. Also, no harming other residents or damaging the shelter.”
“Understood. Thank you,” Jiang Yufeng said, his gaze lingering on Tang Ye’s departing figure with a complicated expression.
In this world, could someone really be this selfless?
After returning to her room, Tang Ye instructed the system to monitor Jiang Yufeng’s energy fluctuations. Then she converted the Level 5 crystal into energy points.
A Level 5 crystal converted into one hundred thousand energy points, enough for her to use for quite some time.
She took out a notebook and recorded Jiang Yufeng’s expenses. Renting the entire room for a month cost six hundred points. Thirty portions of food counted as his daily free allotment, and any additional food would be added later.
One hundred thousand minus six hundred left ninety-nine thousand four hundred energy points. Recording it this way ensured nothing would be overlooked.
She locked the notebook in her bedside drawer, then began planning room construction.
The current floor already had enough room types. Tang Ye decided to organize the layout and place the cafeteria on Basement Level 2.
To access Basement Level 2, she needed to spend one thousand energy points to construct an elevator.
She spent the energy points one by one. The cafeteria was placed below the water purification and power generation rooms. This side would be designated for non-residential facilities.
The cafeteria was very large, equivalent to five or six water purification rooms in size. Tang Ye felt that as the shelter developed, one cafeteria would definitely not be enough.
After planning that, she built the medical room next to the cafeteria. It also occupied a large area.
These facilities required time to complete, including the elevator, so Tang Ye could not see them immediately.
On the other side, she built three more eighteen-person dormitories. These cost-effective dorms would always be in highest demand, so she planned to dedicate the upper three floors entirely to them.
After construction, Tang Ye also built a waste processing station on both Basement Level 1 and Level 2, costing one thousand energy points. The one on Level 1 was placed next to the laundry room. It had been specially treated, so no odor would escape.
The waste processing station was connected to a recycling station, which converted waste into usable items. This required five thousand energy points and was placed next to the laboratory.
She also built a laundry room on Basement Level 2, positioned across from the dormitories and next to the waste station. This was essentially a necessary facility for each level.
After constructing all these rooms, Tang Ye prepared to upgrade the water purification and power generation rooms. Although the indicators on her wrist device had not yet turned red, once more survivors moved in and all these facilities began operating, overload would likely occur.
The first upgrade cost one thousand energy points, the second two thousand, the third four thousand, doubling each time.
After all the spending, she had used a total of eighteen thousand four hundred energy points, leaving eighty-one thousand seven hundred ninety-seven.
Tang Ye felt that she had never fought such a well-funded battle before.
Confident, she opened the system interface and checked the rooms she had previously wanted to unlock. She also considered organizing the surface area.
But as she scrolled further, she saw that reclaiming a piece of land on the surface required fifty thousand energy points.
“System, are you sure this price is correct? Why is it so expensive?” Tang Ye asked in disbelief. It was even more expensive than underground facilities.
“There is no error. The surface has become wasteland. All vitality has been lost. Rebuilding it requires massive energy, so fifty thousand is already a carefully considered price,” the system explained.
Tang Ye fell silent. That was true. The surface had become barren wasteland. Scientists had to cultivate soil and growing environments in laboratories just to produce small amounts of plants. She had only heard about it, never seen it herself.
Those carefully cultivated vegetables never reached ordinary survivors and were sold at extremely high prices.
Thinking about it this way, fifty thousand energy points did not seem expensive.
Her earlier excitement faded. Even with over eighty thousand points, she could only afford a single plot of land, which would not yield much.
And later facilities like large supermarkets and weapon manufacturing rooms required even more energy, reaching six or even seven digits.
It seemed she could not become complacent. She needed to accumulate more energy.
After finishing the construction on Basement Level 2, Tang Ye went to the laboratory.
The radiation-protective suits she had queued earlier were ready. They were lightweight and form-fitting, suitable for wearing underneath clothing without restricting movement. There were five in total.
She packaged them one by one and stored them in sealed bags, then placed them in a cabinet.
After that, she exchanged for materials to produce anti-radiation agents, spending eight hundred energy points.
With the current low number of people, she needed to stockpile gradually. If the population suddenly increased, it would be too late to produce them on demand.
Anti-radiation agents took the longest to produce. After calculating the collection time, Tang Ye left the laboratory. The recycling station next to it was still under construction, covered with a tarp, with no visible or audible activity inside.
As she stepped out, she saw Jiang Qing and Jiang Hong hurrying back. When they spotted Tang Ye, their eyes lit up.
“Administrator, there are survivors outside who want to join,” they said.
“Did you bring them here?” Tang Ye asked.
The sisters exchanged a glance. “You could say that. We met them on the way. They came from another city. Their shelter was overrun by underground poisonous insects, and they’re looking for a new place. We recommended this one.”
Jiang Hong looked a little embarrassed, unsure whether Tang Ye would approve.
“Thank you. The shelter does need new members,” Tang Ye smiled. “Go get some rest. I’ll go take a look.”
The two nodded and headed back to their room to wash and change.
“Oh, right. Someone is staying in the room at the far end of Room 01,” Tang Ye added, thinking of the strange energy surrounding Jiang Yufeng.
“Got it,” they replied, turning toward the dormitory.
Tang Ye took the elevator to the surface.
Opening the door from inside with her fingerprint, she saw a group of survivors standing outside, their expressions tense and anxious.
There were more than thirty people. They looked worn and weary, quietly discussing among themselves.
When they heard the door open, everything fell silent. All eyes turned toward Tang Ye.
Their expressions varied, some hopeful, some cautious, some doubtful.
After all, such a young administrator made them question what this shelter was really like. However, Jiang Qing and Jiang Hong appeared to be in good condition, and most importantly, the food they carried was something the survivors had not seen in a long time.
The group’s representative was a man in his thirties named Zheng An, who had previously been the captain of the Falcon Squad in his former shelter.
Most of the shelter’s original leaders had died in that disaster. The remaining survivors had fallen into chaos and panic, unsure what to do. Zheng An had stepped forward, taking responsibility and leading them in search of a new refuge.