Chapter 117: The Official Fangs

To show sincerity and facilitate communication, Ye Luoshuang used Su Wu's internet system for the video call.

Su Wu didn't respond immediately. Instead, he began carefully weighing his position. He now represented not just himself, but over a million users of his internet platform.

The weight of this responsibility was palpable. Every thought, every decision he made seemed to carry the potential to impact countless lives. The interplay of power and responsibility revealed itself in full.

"What do I get in return?" Su Wu asked cautiously after a moment of thought.

"Since this concerns the internet, the benefits will also be tied to it."

"The Director-General proposes granting your internet access to all official shelters. Additionally, we will issue an official directive encouraging all private shelters to allow your network to connect."

This was a monumental concession. Without cooperation from the shelters, Su Wu's internet would be little more than a one-way broadcast system. With cooperation, however, it would transform into a true network for mutual communication—a qualitative leap.

According to Ye Luoshuang, this proposal sparked heated debate among Jianghe City's top officials. The matter was only resolved after the Director-General held a private meeting with a few key figures to finalize the terms.

While this sounded reasonable to Ye Luoshuang, Su Wu had a starkly different reaction. His expression shifted from seriousness to disappointment.

The offer was far too generous, beyond what he had expected or even hoped for. Yet this was not a positive sign—it signaled an unwillingness for genuine cooperation. Instead, it hinted at plans to take control by force.

Su Wu let her finish speaking before responding with deliberate care.

"Nothing else? No additional conditions?"

"None," Ye Luoshuang replied confidently, though she didn't understand why Su Wu would ask.

"All you'd need to do is coordinate with our publicity department. They'll inform you in advance of any content that needs to be moderated."

"Alright. Discuss the details with my assistant."

Recognizing that Ye Luoshuang was not privy to the full context, Su Wu refrained from further explanation. After directing her to Chen Xin, he opened a map of Jianghe City, his expression growing serious.

"They've finally made their move."

Unlike the small-scale dealings over geothermal generators or radiation detectors in the past, the communication towers' advanced technology and the rapidly expanding internet user base had drawn the full attention of Jianghe City's official shelters.

The worsening environment may have delayed direct action, but it wouldn't hold them back indefinitely.

As for Su Wu's previous demonstration of military strength in annihilating a thousand armed combatants, it might have offered some deterrence in ordinary times. But when faced with the potential of a technology that hinted at capabilities beyond their era, such concerns became secondary.

Ultimately, it all came down to one thing: profit.

"I need to prepare," Su Wu resolved, his determination solidifying.

The battle over network ownership was a small skirmish in the grand scheme of survival.

While the internet connected people underground, the 90°C surface heat continued to dominate the land, forcing humanity to retreat into the depths. With cooling systems as their lifeline, survival was tenuous at best.

In this harsh and desolate world, only Su Wu's vehicles continued to work above ground.

At the farmhouse ruins, his engineering team tirelessly excavated the underground levels. They expanded the fifth floor to 3,000 square meters, carving out a 6,000-cubic-meter reservoir. From there, they moved on to the sixth floor, designed to match the size and specifications of the fifth.

On the sixth floor, Su Wu planned a livestock farm, relocating piglets and calves to their new home. He also constructed a 500-square-meter vertical pasture, fully utilizing the 12-meter ceiling height.

By cultivating high-yield forage grass, this 24-layer planting area with a total surface area of 18 acres could support up to 30 cows or 140 sheep, making it a sizable livestock operation.

Adjacent to the farm, Su Wu allocated space for a large vehicle assembly area, a mechanical laboratory, and a multi-level parking garage. This area would serve as the future headquarters for various vehicle and drone clusters, as well as the yet-to-be-developed land-based combat cluster.

When not on missions, all vehicles would return here for maintenance and rest.

At the small limestone quarry, most of Su Wu's functional engineering vehicles were hard at work. Their efforts yielded a steady flow of limestone, converted into cement and transported to the farmhouse for the massive construction demands of the sixth underground level.

"Mining, transport, engineering, and scavenging—four clusters are now fully operational."

"The 300 tons of steel from the mountains will soon be exhausted."

"It's time to set up a high-temperature furnace at the watchtower base to accelerate the smelting of scrap metal."

The CNC machines and 3D printers, once operating around the clock, had begun slowing down as the shelter's stockpile of raw materials dwindled. The production rate dropped to below 50%.

This decline was expected. Su Wu's extensive resource reserves, bolstered by trades of radiation detectors and the mountain steel haul, had sustained the shelter's rapid expansion. Now, with those reserves nearly depleted, progress would naturally slow.

Fortunately, the industrial recycling center, powered by the Lime Shelter's fire generators, continued to operate at full capacity. It could smelt over 20 tons of scrap metal daily, drawing from the abundant resources scattered across Jianghe City's ruins.

This steady output ensured the foundation for Su Wu's future expansion projects, offering a glimmer of hope amidst the relentless challenges of the apocalypse.

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