A Major Transformation: The Rules of the Wasteland

"Oh? What a treasure! What grade is it? Why are you so surprised?"

Seeing the gleam in Chen Shen's eyes, Su Mo chuckled twice, strode forward, and patted Chen Shen on the shoulder twice.

Zeus Shelter was once the No. 2 sanctuary for billions of people in the entire world.

However, this only means that they were lucky in the first seven days of the wasteland world, and it does not mean that they will be as developed as Su Mo and ahead of everyone else a month later.

Looking back at the three disasters, within a month, of the top ten shelters that were able to reach the top during the first disaster, only Su Mo remained active in everyone's sight; all the others disappeared without a trace.

Even the Tundra Shelter, an official organization, is no exception to this.

Of course, this kind of development is inevitable.

Luck is a very important thing in the wasteland, sometimes and not so important.

Given the current combat capabilities of the Land Alien Race, most creatures would be no match for special forces soldiers who already possess basic weapons.

Without extremely strong special abilities from the alien race, there is only one outcome: annihilation without taking any damage!

As for the Official Shelter currently hidden beneath the surface, its true strength remains unknown until the naval battle fully unfolds.

But if we're talking about the most reputable sanctuaries right now, Zeus's development potential probably wouldn't even crack the top 10,000 in the world.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable situation, facing off for hours against Hope Village, which only had three guns, without daring to make a move.

Hearing Su Mo's nonchalant question, Chen Shen was not in a hurry. He leaned in and whispered a few more words into Su Mo's ear.

"Big Brother Su, don't underestimate these thugs. They've been using trucks to rob people along the way, traveling at least 3,000 kilometers."

"By stealing from others, they have a total of one epic item, two rare items, and six excellent items!"

"If they hadn't run into us, they probably would have become rich again by plundering all the supplies they had on their way to the New Continent!"

Hiss. Upon hearing the words "epic" and "rare," Su Mo, who had previously maintained a calm demeanor, suddenly became unsettled! Epic?

Good heavens, I've been working on this for so long, and if it weren't for going back to the past through the Time Ruins and ambushing the Pterodactyl Zeta, I wouldn't have gotten an epic item.

Otherwise, the only thing I have now is an epic-level blueprint that I obtained from the last time I entered the trading ruins.

I can't believe even Zeus Shelter, which is in such a sorry state, has one? When did epics become so worthless?!

Seeing that Su Mo's face finally showed great interest, Chen Shen scratched his head, said nothing more, and led the way upstairs.

According to the village's previous regulations, the spoils of war captured from prisoners of war must be counted and placed in the warehouse in the presence of all the management personnel.

For items without a rank, such as food or basic materials, you can first submit a report to the supplies manager.

After the materials supervisor approves the order, Chen Shen it, keep a copy, sign it, and issue it.

At the end of each cycle, all the records of these basic materials are compiled by the materials manager and submitted to Su Mo for unified review.

Such regulations can ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that Hope Village, and also ensure that in times of emergency, supplies can be distributed and cataloged without going through too many procedures.

But these are just basic supplies. As for higher-grade items, the procedures are much more complicated.

When taking inventory of these items, all graded items need to be sealed with seals from all management levels and stored on the shelves of the supply warehouse.

Whoever tampered with the seal must bear the responsibility.

With all management members supervising each other, the possibility of internal corruption is eliminated at its source.

If the Hope Village want to take out this kind of item, they must first obtain approval from all management levels except Chen Shen.

The proof must be submitted to Chen Shen, and only after Chen Shen and approved it will it be submitted to Su Mo for final review. Only after completing this process can it be obtained.

Therefore, after the supplies were inventoried, even Chen Shen, the village chief, lost control over them and had to ask Su Mo to make a decision.

Su Mo, as one of the participants in formulating this rule, was extremely satisfied with it and did not raise any objections due to its complexity.

The journey up the mountain was not "smooth" at first.

The mountain road is now filled with prisoners from Zeus Shelter, most of whom are tied to the cliff edge, bound together in a ball.

As they traveled, Su Mo witnessed firsthand the strange phenomena described by Chen Shen.

During yesterday's interrogation, most of these criminals only showed a false sense of fear when they saw me.

This fear stemmed entirely from Su Mo's control over their lives, not from genuine dread.

But today, after turning the corner, the first prisoner saw Su Mo and let out a strange cry. This time, the situation has completely changed!

Without exception, everyone looked at them as if they were monsters, first with incredulous expressions, then with an intense desire to live.

Su Mo was very familiar with this expression.

It was after destroying the Saltpeter Camp and rescuing Chen Shen and his group that they showed signs of wanting to curry favor with the powerful.

However, seemingly aware of their current status as prisoners, these people did not make a fuss. They simply made way quietly, watching Su Mo's departing figure with reverence in their eyes.

After passing through the most congested section of the road, the road conditions improved significantly as we approached the Summit Platform.

Su Mo had seen the engineering design drawings produced by the construction team that the Hope Village had previously hired at a high price, and after reviewing them with the system, he found no problems.

Therefore, after the design drawings were submitted, construction on the shelter platform began rapidly.

With the amazing tools and manufacturing panels that humans currently possess, even ordinary people can rival top-notch craftsmen, and their speed is frighteningly fast.

When I interrogated the Female Lion Man last time, I was so nervous that I didn't get a good look at her.

This time, even as they moved slowly, Su Mo saw everything clearly and gave himself a positive assessment.

In just a few days, the construction of the Hope Village on the mountaintop has made rapid progress.

The mountaintop is no longer a bare platform, but has been transformed into a tiered structure! Four pillars stand around the platform, and above the pillars, a downward-curving eaves, reminiscent of a pavilion design, has been created.

This design not only ensures that rainwater can flow down the curved eaves without affecting the Hope Village cave dug in the middle, but also ensures that rainwater can flow down the curved eaves without affecting the cave.

It also ensures that there is enough natural light on weekdays, so you don't have to live in darkness.

As for the cave in the middle, the place where all the villagers live, it has been hollowed out into a large cavity about three meters deep.

The cavity was reinforced with an iron plate to ensure that there would be no loosening or collapse.

Descending the stone steps felt like entering another small world, especially when entering the brightly lit cave.

"Not bad, Chen Shen. Your abilities are too good for you to be the village chief!"

On the cave walls were the names of all the villagers, as well as their work points.

There were no sycophantic words or empty motivational slogans engraved on it.

Su Mo stepped forward, stroking the rough writing on the wall as he offered a few words of praise with considerable emotion.

It's not just in post-apocalyptic wastelands; even within companies or large organizations on Earth, whenever interests are involved, slogans and motivational platitudes can only fool newcomers. To maintain that long-term is nothing but a pipe dream.

In a large group, you want everyone to have drive, cohesion, and the desire to strive for a goal.

There's no need for elaborate team-building activities or timed, sentimental platitudes.

If a company can offer weekends off, eliminate overtime during the week, and allow employees to leave half an hour early on Fridays, even if the salary is only the industry average, employees will remember the boss's kindness for a lifetime.

Similarly, this is even more evident in the wasteland.

As long as fairness, impartiality, and transparency are achieved, there is no need to worry about anyone slacking off or the shelters failing to develop.

These are the deepest insights that Su Ba gained after leaving the military and going into business.

On several occasions during meals, Su Ba would intentionally or unintentionally reveal some management knowledge, prompting the whole family to discuss it.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shen now has such awareness. If he were on Earth and had the opportunity, he would probably have made a name for himself after a while.

"Big Brother Su, please don't flatter me!"

"These are just petty tricks. If the villagers really want to live well, they'll have to rely on you to work hard outside. Without real strength, there's no stability; you can't live a good life without it."

"Stop, stop! You little brat, you're already getting all worked up just because I gave you a couple of compliments!"

Seeing that Chen Shen was about to start his old flattery again, Su Mo, who knew that these were his true feelings, couldn't help but feel a headache after hearing them so many times. He quickly stopped talking and went inside first.

Seeing Su Mo's expression, Chen Shen could only shake his head, a strange kind of admiration on his face, and quickly followed after him.

For managers, having a good boss is also very important.

A pragmatist like Su Mo is exactly the kind of person these subordinates dream of.

You don't need to flatter or fawn; you just need to do your job well. In the apocalypse, that's too much to ask!

He walked ahead, offering words of comfort to the villagers who were still working, while receiving admiring glances from the villagers in the distance.

After winding through the cave to its innermost part, Su Mo discovered that the Storage Room was actually a hidden world.

In the area where everyone lived, the Storage Room was actually dug down another level.

Furthermore, the entrance to this floor was not obvious; it was only after Chen Shen removed the wooden planks covering it that the door leading down became visible.

A ladder passage that allows only one person to descend at a time is covered by three layers of manhole cover-style security doors, each about ten centimeters thick.

Upon closer inspection, Su Mo was astonished to discover that these security doors were not made of ordinary iron, but of Alloy Material similar to that of the shelter doors.

Even with a high-quality iron forge, there's nothing one can do with such material.

Of course, there are still vulnerabilities.

When thieves know that this is the passage to the Storage Room, they don't need to break down the main door; they can simply dig down into a nearby spot.

However, considering that this is the heart of Hope Village, the noise of chiseling this iron stone can be clearly heard even from the mountainside, so this natural flaw can be disregarded for the time being.

As the iron gate opened, I went down the stairs. After descending three meters, my feet found solid ground, and I arrived at Storage Room that occupied about fifty square meters.

Cabinets have already been installed on the walls of the Storage Room.

There aren't many items on the cabinet right now; looking from bottom to top, there are about fourteen or fifteen pieces, all with neat seals affixed to them.

However, these items all emitted a plain pale green light and were only of excellent quality; they were not the good items that Chen Shen had mentioned.

"Big Brother Su, wait a minute, we have an even safer design here!"

Seeing Su Mo's gaze sweep over, Chen Shen smiled and took out a flashlight, shining it on the wall as he groped around.

"Huh? There's a mechanism involved?"

Seeing Chen Shen's method of finding and opening mechanisms, which was exactly the same as in the TV series, Su Mo became curious.

The Underground Shelter also has such mechanisms, located in a hidden door in the bedroom. With a gentle push, it flips open to enter the weapons room and retrieve the stored weapons.

Surprisingly, this structural technology was also used in the Storage Room of Hope Village.

However, the method of opening the wall using this technology is not difficult. After Chen Shen found three points and gently pushed, a small hinge plate appeared.

Grasping the plate, Chen Shen exerted all his strength, and the entire wall began to slowly rotate.

Faint rays of light began to grow brighter as the wall rotated, illuminating the shelter.

Fine items are pale blue, rare items are bright purple, and epic items are orange-yellow.

The three colors intertwined are like opening a treasure trove; once you see it, it's hard to look away.

Epic items belonging to Zeus Shelter were also beginning to be exposed to Su Mo's view as they were flipped over.

"Hmm, this epic item looks a bit strange!"

"This is an Iron Pot?"

Having witnessed the high-end sophistication of the Thought Ring and the magnificent elegance of the Epic Design, Su Mo was stunned upon suddenly seeing this pitch-black iron Iron Pot before him! These past two months have been hectic with all the month-end tasks piling up, so the update time has been slightly delayed. My apologies, dear readers!