Chapter 124: Network Television

July 28, at the farmstead refuge.

Underground Level 2, Control Center.

"A03 Communication Tower established. Network coverage expanded by 37%. Current computational power utilization: 12%."

With the establishment of the third communication tower, the faint green light representing network coverage on Jianghe City's map immediately spread to cover over 90% of the city's main urban areas. Within just one day, the total number of internet users surged to the three-million mark.

"This should be close to the limit," Su Wu muttered as he reviewed the distribution of logged-in users. He found that the majority were concentrated within official shelters, while users from private shelters made up only a tiny fraction.

This disparity didn't suggest massive losses among private shelters but rather that their leaders were unwilling to grant internet access. With physical connections to the official channels nearly severed, even modest private shelters harbored ambitions.

While they might not aim to challenge the authorities or annex other shelters, they relished the unchecked power within their domains.

"It seems we need to take those television programs more seriously," Su Wu noted.

Private shelters could block internet access but couldn't stop the one-way transmission of video signals. These private shelters in and around the city once housed about 1.2 million people. Based on the casualty rates from official shelters, Su Wu estimated that over 1 million still survived—a significant audience.

Well-curated programs could yield unexpected benefits or, at the very least, curb the excesses of private shelter leaders. The perception of a desolate, lifeless world versus a functioning, orderly society could inspire hope among the oppressed.

Even the most oppressive rulers would hesitate to exploit citizens who yearned for a better life beyond the shelter's walls.

After reviewing the reports, Su Wu quickly turned his attention to other matters.

Having tasted the benefits of trading with Zhou Xiwu's large shelter, Su Wu became eager to establish a logistics network to transport materials across the surface. By offering transportation and repair services, he aimed to extract maximum profit from various shelters.

To this end, he invested 10 survival points, equipping an entire transportation cluster with new cooling systems. This fleet became the backbone of his logistics operations.

The newly established logistics network immediately yielded substantial profits.

Products from private shelters flowed to new markets, and essential supplies reached resource-strapped shelters. Each transaction earned Su Wu a commission of 5% to 20% of the cargo's value, rivaling or surpassing the profits from operating a large-scale mine.

"At this rate," Su Wu calculated, "a single transportation cluster with 11 vehicles should suffice for all of Jianghe City."

"The next step is to focus on the scavenging cluster. It's time to tap into the immense resources buried in the city's ruins."

The city's total population of just a few million, spread across a radius of 40–50 kilometers, created only limited demand for high-cost inter-shelter logistics. Given that a single transportation cluster could handle up to 550 tons of goods in one trip, further expansion was unnecessary.

On the other hand, the resources hidden within the urban ruins had always been a tempting target for Su Wu. Various constraints, however, had limited his scavenging efforts to sporadic bursts. In fact, Su Wu had acquired far more scrap metal through trades with scavengers and other shelters than through his own expeditions.

Now, with surface temperatures exceeding 80°C and scavengers effectively gone, Su Wu found himself with ample survival points and the ability to produce more engineering vehicles. Scavenging was once again a priority.

While daily scavenging might generate less immediate profit than a single logistics trip, it provided a stable stream of diverse industrial materials. The city's ruins were like a mineral-rich mine containing nearly every resource imaginable. Tapping into this treasure trove was tantamount to monopolizing a miniature world economy.

In the following days, Su Wu established a triad of systems: logistics, repair services, and scavenging. His warehouses quickly filled with materials, forcing him to allocate resources to expand storage capacity.

He redirected his engineering team to build a new metal storage facility adjacent to the already-completed underground Level 5. Simultaneously, scrap metal was relocated to the outpost at the tower base, alleviating the storage crunch.

By August 5, Su Wu's stockpile of processed metal officially surpassed 1,000 tons.

That same day, Su Wu received a message from the top-ranked private shelter in the city, the Chaoyang Shelter.

"Su, your recent activities have been a bit bold," said Fu Yongyuan, the leader of Chaoyang Shelter.

"Some high-ranking officials in the city's official shelters aren't happy about your monopoly on surface logistics. They're planning punitive measures."

"My advice? Don't bite off more than you can chew. Sharing the pie a little can go a long way in maintaining harmony."

As a leader of a prominent private shelter, Fu Yongyuan wasn't particularly keen on getting involved. However, several officials he was associated with had expressed interest in Su Wu's logistics network. Their goal was clear: gain control of Su Wu's lucrative operation and exploit it for their own benefit.

Through Fu Yongyuan, they hoped to convince Su Wu to transfer partial ownership of his transport fleet.

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