Chapter 122: Military-grade Gunpowder Formula

A cold breeze blew into the hot shelter, bringing life back to this area, which was on the brink of hell.

The bright, almost blinding white lights, powered by the restored electricity, were switched on one by one. They replaced the dim emergency lighting, gradually driving away the darkness from the shelter's streets and alleys.

The heart of the shelter—the large generator—had been repaired and was once again put into operation.

The shelter's residents, who had been pulled back from the brink of death, looked at each other. In their eyes, along with the relief of having survived, there was also a trace of confusion and sorrow.

The sudden man-made disaster had thrown them from their normal lives into a hellish nightmare.

Now that things had returned to normal, those who had perished during this brief catastrophe would never return.

After a short rest, as their strength slowly returned, the survivors quietly began collecting the bodies of their fallen companions. Occasionally, the faint sound of sobbing could be heard from the relatives of the deceased.

After everything had calmed down, in Zhou Xiwu's office, Su Wu received the loss report from the recent disaster.

The population of the large shelter had dropped from 67,000 to just over 50,000. Most of the losses were elderly, critically ill patients, and infants.

It seemed like a brutal natural selection—those with insufficient physical strength had been forced out.

"Thank you for your assistance," Zhou Xiwu said, his tone now full of pride and composure. "I will send you a generous reward shortly. Also, I noticed one of the robots you sent is particularly efficient at repairs. Would you be willing to sell it to me?"

"Your shelter's staff and security morale have been greatly improved by your help," Zhou Xiwu added, no longer speaking in the timid tone of earlier. Instead, there was a hint of forcefulness and an undeniable air of authority. It was as if he could easily flip the table if things didn't go his way.

Su Wu glanced at the report but didn't respond immediately. He had long learned to decipher these kinds of people. They were predictable in their simple-mindedness—taking without giving, driven by power and wealth that distorted their perception, making them appear more formidable than they truly were.

With a casual command on the console, Su Wu detonated a mini bomb hidden in the generator room of Zhou Xiwu's shelter.

A few seconds later, Su Wu's voice, via a construction robot's intermediary, reached Zhou Xiwu through the secure internal network, its cold metallic tone sending a chill down his spine.

"Have you installed a bomb on the generator?"

"Are you calm now?"

The voice carried an ice-cold quality that made Zhou Xiwu shiver involuntarily.

"Now that you're calm, we can talk about the trade rights and the reward."

"Also, the materials and transport costs for the assistance you received."

With the threat of the self-destructive generator components looming, Zhou Xiwu had no choice but to temporarily yield, turning his promise of external trade rights into some concrete action.

He agreed to allow Su Wu to build a communications tower above his shelter and fully open the shelter's internal network. Additionally, Zhou Xiwu designated a 300-square-meter area in the residential zone for Su Wu's office, providing a space for him to manage resources and facilitate trade.

Zhou Xiwu's large shelter had an internal height of around 15 meters, enough to accommodate 4 or 5 stories of residential buildings. The 300-square-meter area would give Su Wu at least 1,200 square meters of indoor space, nearly twice the size of his current operations in the basement of the Farmhouse Shelter.

With the office secured, the construction robots that had stayed in the generator room moved into the new space along with a few building robots. The mining trucks and large transport vehicles parked in Zhou Xiwu's shelter then left to pick up more construction materials for the office.

Su Wu knew this was the perfect time to advance. If he didn't turn the office into a well-fortified military base while Zhou Xiwu was still temporarily compliant, future opportunities might be much harder to come by.

"Armed forces," Su Wu muttered, calling up the shelter's armory.

He scanned the available weapons but felt that most were unsuitable. Some had significant firepower but lacked accuracy, making them unsuitable for close-quarters operations within a crowded shelter.

After a moment's thought, he opened his contact list and found an account named "Heavy Cavalry." This was someone he had interacted with in the past when his internet network reached a small group of survivors during the early days of the apocalypse.

Now, with the internet network expanded, that same group had been resurrected online. Su Wu wasn't as focused on them anymore due to the wealth of intelligence sources at his disposal. However, now was the perfect time to tap into one of its members.

"Hey, Boss Su, what's up? I heard you're working on something big," Heavy Cavalry replied with a playful tone, genuinely curious. He was excited to be in contact with Su Wu, who was rapidly becoming a legendary figure.

"Can you send me your military-grade gunpowder formula?"

"Price is up to you," Su Wu asked.

"That stuff? It was a hassle before, but now it's no big deal. I don't think the officials will bother us about it anymore."

"If you want it, I'll send it over in a bit. No need for payment, though. A formula like that isn't worth much."

Heavy Cavalry sounded enthusiastic. He knew that getting on Su Wu's good side could prove invaluable in the future. He didn't want to as for payment; after all, this connection could save his life one day.

--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there 

patreon.com/LegendaryTL

Thanks!