Leaving, the Initial Surge of Steel!

In the pitch-black night, the Earth Tiger drove steadily on the road to the Western Shelter.

Compared to the depressions of the Underground Shelter, the terrain becomes increasingly flat and fertile as you move westward.

The weeds, about knee-high, were still struggling to stretch their roots upwards even under the cover of heavy snow.

"I can only take you within five kilometers of the shelter. You'll have to contact someone to rescue you then."

"Such a big shelter, and everyone else can just sit around doing nothing, while a girl comes out to find supplies."

Focused on driving, Su Mo watched Oreo enjoying himself on Zhong Qingshu's lap and curled his lip in disdain.

Su Mo had already learned about the refuge in the west after chatting with Zhong Qingshu.

If what Zhong Qingshu said is true, this refuge has great potential for cooperation.

First of all, the people who established the upper echelons of power in the shelter were four prison guards, and none of them were admitted through the civil service exam; they were demobilized soldiers!

People from the military, upon meeting in the apocalypse, immediately formed bonds and quickly built an initial fighting force.

With simple weapons and passable fighting strength, after getting through the most difficult three days, people gradually joined this small Gathering Place of four.

Five people, eight people, fifteen people. When suddenly placed in an unfamiliar environment, humans have a tendency to follow the crowd, especially when the majority of people in the Western Shelter are Chinese, their cohesion is even stronger.

The harshness of the wasteland has drawn more and more people to this place, and they have quickly built a small shelter with more than seventy people.

Of course, thanks to the initial structure of the shelter, the four prison guards, who are not particularly strong in combat, now have enough say and jurisdiction in the shelter after the process of building their power.

They assembled a team and hunted around the shelter, which helped them maintain their resources and expenses.

Even before the Lionmen's sanctuary was breached, the sanctuary still had a small amount of supplies by hunting lone kobolds.

Before the disaster struck, a delicate balance was reached between reserves and consumption.

However, this balance was completely broken after Chen Shen and his group arrived. Suddenly, there were more than a dozen people to eat, and it was impossible to refuse them entry.

This led to the call for everyone in the shelter to go out and find supplies to get through the cold winter.

"No, it's not like that. Uncle Song is under so much pressure, I just wanted to help him, but I didn't expect to cause trouble again."

Living under the protection of peacetime, they arrived in the wasteland and quickly joined an orderly shelter.

Humans, of course, are not like those in some zombie movies, who are normal people in the morning and turn into ruthless, heartless, and indiscriminate killers in the afternoon.

At least in Zhong Qingshu, Su Mo could still see a trace of the feeling of a peaceful era.

"Your skills aren't bad either. What? You're a trained fighter?"

"You are from the ancient martial arts world"

Earth Tiger Car, the two spoke at the same time, and instantly burst into laughter.

"There are no Ancient Martial Arts Family, you've been reading too many novels! I'm just an ordinary person who learned some techniques from the martial arts world."

"What a coincidence, me too! Zhong Qingshu, a second-year graduate student at the National University of Defense Technology, reporting for duty!"

Seeing Zhong Qingshu's less-than-perfect salute beside him, Su Mo forced himself to suppress his laughter, refraining from exposing her lie and changing the subject.

"Is your shelter lacking food?"

"Well, with what I brought back today, at least everyone should have no problem getting through this winter."

The two-square-meter space was mostly filled with food, which was not a drop in the bucket for a shelter for seventy or eighty people.

Those who go out to work should eat more, and those who stay indoors should eat less. If everyone saves a little, three days should be no problem.

"By the way, did you see a Tortoise Shell in the Treasure Room? Its size should be..."

"My steering wheel is so big," Su Mo tried to demonstrate with his hand, and seeing the smile on Zhong Qingshu's face, Su Mo's face darkened.

"It's the Shelter Core, damaged, and obviously very valuable. I need it urgently, so I'm willing to trade food with you."

Speaking of this, Zhong Qingshu shook her head and said very seriously, "I really didn't see it. If I had, I would definitely have given it to you. When I went in, I only took the outermost items, and then you came in. Maybe it's in the Supply Room, but there's no way to go back."

Upon hearing Zhong Qingshu's words, Su Mo fell into deep thought.

If she hadn't taken it, Su Mo could guarantee that the core of Ma Gu wasn't on the ground when he was looking around the Treasure Room earlier.

"Where did the core go? Could it be that the core of Ma Gu's Shelter Core never fell?"

As Su Mo fell into deep thought, the carriage fell silent once again.

Apart from Oreo's occasional comfortable humming and the pattering sound of the earthworm grinding through the snow, the world was completely silent.

Su Mo drove the 50-kilometer road with exceptionally smooth speed.

When I estimated that the distance was about right, I stepped on the brakes and the earth tiger came to a stop.

"We're almost there, aren't we? I won't see you in. Have your people come out to meet you. We'll meet again someday!"

Su Mo politely gestured for him to enter and flicked the lock on the car door.

"Thank you." Zhong Qingshu was not ungrateful, so she smiled sweetly, patted Oreo's head, opened the side door, and went downstairs.

A heavy thud echoed as the car door slammed shut. Pressing the lock, Su Mo watched Oreo's reluctant expression as he clung to the window. He feigned anger and grumbled, "You silly dog! You've forgotten your father as soon as you see someone else! You've been bribed so quickly!"

After flashing the hazard lights twice to say goodbye, I struggled to steer the vehicle, stepped on the gas, and the Earth Tiger drove back.

However, after hearing Su Mo's words, Oreo shook his head and then stuck out his tongue to lick the remaining taste on the seat:

"Oh, you mean she also smells of the ' Divine Object '?"

This time, Oreo nodded, his eyes filled with longing.

"No, no, no! I'll give you some next time I find it. It's not right to steal from others!"

Su Mo rubbed Oreo's dog head, watching the rising sun on the horizon and the figures gradually disappearing in the rearview mirror, without feeling any psychological burden.

The reason for rescuing Zhong Qingshu was for the Laser Probe.

As for sending them back, it was because Su Mo couldn't bear to see his kind die in the icy wilderness.

But killing and robbing, all for a "Divine Object" whose true nature is still unknown, would lead to animosity with the only nearby refuge. Su Mo understood this much better than any business transaction.

"I hope Zhong Qingshu can become a pawn for me to extend goodwill. This will make things much easier in the future, whether it's cooperating in transactions or poaching people to build my own shelter!"

Facing the rising sun in the east, the Earth Tiger finally picked up speed.

Along the way, Su Mo stopped the Earth Tiger on a high ground, sat in the front of the vehicle, admired the sunrise, and finished eating the instant noodles he had made before leaving that evening.

With Storage Space, the instant noodles weren't scalding hot, but they were still warm! Watching the Oreo happily licking the ground next to him, Su Mo also felt hungry. He slurped up a bowl of noodles with gusto and then drank all the instant noodle soup in one gulp.

"It's another hopeful day!"

Su Mo retrieved the bowl of noodles, lay down on the front of the Earth Tiger's vehicle, and despite the pain all over his body, he endured the entire sunrise.

For more than half a month, he lived a busy life. This "fulfilling" life allowed Su Mo to find a meaning to life that was different from that on Earth! He overcame all the disasters!

Conquer this land and rebuild our homes! Own a shelter for dozens, no, hundreds of people, and build a super shelter for humanity!

After recording all three entries in his diary, Su Mo secretly added another one: Find a girlfriend soon! "Hehe, when I'm strong enough and qualified to recruit members, I'll expand horizontally and build a human Underground City!"

However...

Pulling out the Laser Probe, which he hadn't even warmed up yet, and pointing it at the rising sun, Su Mo could no longer suppress his excitement as he observed the multiple beams of sunlight scattered by the probe.

"The construction of the gun and ammunition production line has finally been planned!"

Repairing Small Thermal Weapon Laser Manufacturing Machine Tool requires a whopping 3380 points, a huge expense that would take at least ten days to half a month to accumulate.

Even so, it takes a single penny to save up.

But at this moment, seeing the prompt that popped up on the System Panel, which clearly stated that the probe could reduce repair costs by a full 2600 Survival Points, Su Mo nodded in satisfaction.

Yesterday, my Survival Points recovered to 2304. After deducting the 750 points for the upgrade blueprint, I still have 1554 points.

Unfortunately, the Creation Gliding Wing cost a whopping 1000 points, leaving only 554 Survival Points points.

We are still a little over 200 points away from the 780 points needed to repair the machine tool.

However, such a small difference is easily overcome by the new Survival Points that will be credited at 8 o'clock, at which point we'll have enough money to repair the machine tool! "Oreo, stop playing! Let's go back!"

Shouting at Oreo, who was still playing in the snow in the distance, Su Mo returned to the driver's seat, his spirits refreshed! From this day forward, he would no longer need spears or swords to fight monsters!

The "steel torrent" belonging to humanity is finally about to unleash its "bloody" brilliance on the wasteland!