"Qi, don't worry."
"Starting tomorrow, we'll work our asses off collecting garbage for you!"
Monkey cradled the little black balance scale like a priceless treasure. "No, starting the day after tomorrow. The Gray Storm will arrive tonight and last a day and two nights. Every one of us needs to find a safe shelter."
The Gray Storm.
It was a force 12 gale, something rarely seen in the old era, with wind speeds between 32.7 and 36.9 meters per second.
At sea, spray and foam turned the entire ocean white. Giant waves crashed like rivers bursting their banks, drastically reducing visibility.
On land, tens of millions of tons of garbage were swept into the sky, and the few buildings left on Earth suffered severe damage yet again.
On Garbage Earth, 99 percent of the vegetation had already vanished.
There was nothing to weaken the wind. Massive amounts of soil and water were lost, and the moisture in the air had fallen sharply. The planet had lost its ability to regulate its climate.
Almost once every year, the terrifying Gray Storm swept across half the Earth.
The vast quantities of metallic dust turned all those gale-force winds gray, giving the Gray Storm its name.
Whenever the Gray Storm arrived, scavengers died in droves.
In the past, Cheng Qi had always sought out massive pieces of starship wreckage, squeezed himself into a cramped space inside, and prayed and endured as he waited for the Gray Storm to pass.
"We've already found a place. It's completely safe."
Monkey asked, "Qi, want to come with us?"
Cheng Qi considered it.
He now had quite a stockpile: seventeen doses of Gene Catalysis Agent, the biotechnology case he had held on to, and the technological junk Monkey and the others had just delivered.
All of these were raw materials for synthesis, their value beyond measure.
If he hastily hid in some narrow crevice, these materials could be lost or damaged in unpredictable ways. Some things would be impossible to take along at all.
Not to mention the precious quantum repair cluster inside the shack, along with Foolish Boy and Xiao Qiong.
At that moment.
Cheng Qi's eyes flickered. "Monkey, take the guys somewhere safe. I've got my own plans!"
Monkey and the others looked worried, but they left after Cheng Qi insisted.
"Zzzzt..."
"Scavenger Alliance announcement."
"In four hours, the Gray Storm will sweep through regions B12-B69."
"Attention, all scavengers. You must seek shelter immediately!"
"Attention, all scavengers. You must seek shelter immediately!"
The battered radio inside the shack crackled with the broadcast.
Cheng Qi stood in front of the shack.
Suddenly, he noticed a little green blade of grass growing from the ground at one corner of the shack. He had no idea when it had sprouted.
Its slender, emerald-green leaves swayed in a gap between the garbage.
In a world like this, its existence seemed so fragile, yet so stubborn.
"Four hours. I'm going to build a shelter of my own."
"It's something I would've had to do sooner or later anyway."
"This rundown shack... really isn't safe enough."
"My synthesis venture has only just begun. I'll need a safe, hidden base."
"Only then can I synthesize to my heart's content, without holding back."
Cheng Qi considered it. "Whether it's shelter from the Gray Storm, radiation, or toxic gas, the best option... is underground."
A faint glint reflected off something on the ground.
Cheng Qi looked toward the pile of technological junk Bear had left behind.
[Small Geological Detector] [Titanium-alloy drill bit, 240 horsepower, equipped with multiple sensors. Can drill 30-50 meters underground. Runtime: 45 minutes. Damaged.]
The device was fairly small, no more than fifty centimeters in length or width. A dark silver drill bit was mounted at the front of its spindle-shaped body.
Cheng Qi's gaze moved slowly as he counted them in his head. Bear had delivered eight of these devices in total.
But all had suffered varying degrees of damage and were completely out of commission.
"Underground drilling capability?"
"Expanding underground space..."
Cheng Qi smiled. "Just what I need!"
[Synthesis initiated] [Breaking down into raw matter] [Updating target model] [Smart Mole Address Detector] ×4!
Despite being called a "Mole," the device had grown a size larger. Its overall contours were sleeker, the drill bit at its head gleamed brightly, and its sensor system was more sophisticated.
[Synthesis initiated] [Breaking down into raw matter] [Large Engineering-Grade Underground Mining Vehicle] ×2!
This time, the device that appeared before Cheng Qi was already the size of a truck.
Two broad tracks ran beneath it, while the enormous drill bit at its front had become some kind of dark metal. Though it no longer reflected light, it looked indestructible.
Cheng Qi's eyes gleamed.
It was getting closer and closer to what he wanted.
[Synthesis initiated] [Breaking down into raw matter] [Synthesis successful] [Codename Earth Dragon Underground Expansion Dock]! [This device is not merely a mining tool, but an expandable vehicle. In addition to its excellent drilling capabilities, it can expand into a 120-square-meter underground construction command center with exceptional resistance to pressure and high temperatures. Among interstellar prospecting teams, it is known as the "Earth Dragon King." Only prospecting teams with an annual output of at least one million tons qualify to be equipped with machinery of this grade.]
"Heh, just in time!"
Cheng Qi had to look up at the enormous ten-by-ten-meter metal machine. Its body resembled a heavily armored tank, with thick, solid-alloy tracks beneath it and four enormous dark gold drill bits at its front.
Cheng Qi took out the device's remote control panel and activated it.
It was hard to imagine that such enormous drill bits could spin up, stirring gusts of cool air, yet produce only a faint hum rather than the deafening roar he had expected. Clearly, its internal structure was extremely advanced, and its components were manufactured to exceptionally precise tolerances.
Cheng Qi assigned the Earth Dragon King its first construction task.
Its entry point was right in front of the shack.
First, it would survey the underground structure down to a depth of one hundred meters, then excavate a two-hundred-square-meter space with room for expansion.
Once the Earth Dragon King burrowed deep into the surface, it finally, inevitably, produced a tremendous racket.
Garbage fragments and dirt flew everywhere, and the Earth Dragon King vanished beneath the surface in an instant.
Xiao Qiong woke with a start and lifted the tarpaulin, poking her little head out.
Cheng Qi turned back with a smile. "Don't worry. Soon we'll have the best shelter on all of Earth!"
Before you continue