A Conflict of Ideologies
Clicking into the live broadcast room of the first-ranked Zeus Shelter, the scene abruptly changed, providing an immersive experience akin to a full-fledged simulation. The sky was overcast, with a curtain of rain pounding the ground, creating a continuous drumming sound.
Following the camera's descent, a vast expanse of mountains came into view, stretching as far as the eye could see, a truly awe-inspiring sight.
As the camera zoomed in, Liam spotted a cluster of wooden houses at the foot of a mountain, bearing the name Zeus Shelter.
Built against the mountainside, the wooden houses were arranged in a north-south orientation, numbering around twenty or thirty. Apart from the three main houses in the center, which appeared to be well-constructed, the other rooms seemed hastily assembled, their structures somewhat haphazard.
Thanks to the mountain's slope, the acid rain naturally flowed down the terrain, posing no threat to the Zeus Shelter.
"The person who chose this location is quite impressive," Liam thought, observing the expansive complex.
This location, nestled against the mountain, could easily withstand minor disasters, if not major ones.
Coupled with the dozens of people they had already gathered, their combat strength and efficiency in exploring ruins would undoubtedly be much higher than that of a lone individual.
It seemed that the owner of the Zeus Shelter didn't mind the public display of their shelter's structure, as they had granted full viewing access.
Experimenting with the controls, Liam zoomed the camera in closer.
In the center of the main house sat a blond, bearded man, speaking eloquently.
Upon switching perspectives, the scene before Liam solidified into a fixed camera view, resembling a typical live streamer's setup.
"Welcome everyone to our Zeus Shelter, this is the safest shelter in the world."
"Currently, we have over 80 people in our shelter, including more than 12 wilderness survival experts and 30 individuals with exceptional combat abilities who have served in the military. We can absolutely guarantee the safety of those who join the Zeus Shelter."
"Of course, the shelter doesn't support idlers. To apply to join, you need to meet the following conditions."
"Men must be at least 175cm tall, women at least 168cm, and your weight must be within a healthy range. You must also possess a skill. As long as you can contribute to the construction of a large-scale shelter, we welcome you."
"Of course, for those with technical expertise, there's no need to participate in hunting expeditions; you only need to stay in the shelter."
The bearded man, who didn't seem to be very talkative, spoke with a surprising eloquence. Thanks to the game panel's translation function, Liam could understand without any difficulty.
As he spoke, the bearded man also showcased the current facilities of the base.
Following his camera, they arrived at the supply room, where a mountain of processed mutated beast meat came into view.
Approximately one to two tons of beast meat were piled together, a sight that was quite impressive in this world where food and water were scarce.
And that wasn't all. Next to it were three large vats, each half the height of a person. As the bearded man lifted the lid of one, the slightly cloudy yellow water inside was revealed.
Looking at the water, the bearded man was clearly tempted, but he still chose to lick his somewhat chapped lips and close the lid.
Next, they came to the weapon room, where rows of wooden spears and three hand-crafted bows and arrows were displayed.
Finally, the bearded man arrived at the largest room. Although this room had windows on all sides, the bonfire in the center dispelled any chill.
Forty to fifty shelter members, both male and female, sat around the fire, singing songs and occasionally getting up to dance.
Seeing this scene, no one would believe they were in the midst of an apocalypse.
The bearded man puffed up his chest with pride.
"This is the strength of our Zeus Shelter. By joining us, you'll have enough food and water, and the safety you dream of!"
"I see someone in the comments mentioning Sunrise?"
"Ah? Ah? No way, you'd be willing to go to a shelter where you have to work more than fifteen hours a day? You'd go to that kind of Sunrise shelter where, even after you risk your life to bring back supplies, you still have to support others?"
The bearded man's words were met with laughter from the men and women sitting around the fire.
"Don't say I'm being harsh, but in this wasteland, everyone should have their own awareness!"
"Look at your Sunrise shelters, heh, they're all just a bunch of rabble. Still thinking of saving so many burdens? They'll all be destroyed in the next disaster!"
Hearing the bearded man's arrogant words, Liam turned his slightly stiff neck and exited the live broadcast room.
"It seems these people have conflicting shelter philosophies."
Skipping the second-ranked live broadcast room, Liam directly clicked into the third-ranked Summer Shelter's live broadcast.
Once again, the scene began with a gray sky and falling rain.
Unlike the mountainous terrain where the bearded man was located, the Summer Shelter was situated on a vast plain, similar to Liam's own shelter.
"United as one, fight the disaster and save lives!"
As the camera panned down, Liam noticed a banner hanging among the large cluster of buildings, comparable in size to the bearded man's shelter.
The banner, made of white cloth from who knows where, was hung between the low wooden houses, with a line of characters written on it in charcoal.
"-...fifteen…twenty-five…"
Counting them one by one, Liam was surprised to find that the Summer Shelter actually had a total of forty-three houses.
Moreover, more than ten of these houses were the wooden shelters provided by the survival game.
Unlike the bearded man's shelter, which relied on the terrain for disaster resistance, the Summer Shelter had chosen to build dams to defend against the rain.
On the ground of the shelter, there were many winding waterways. Over a hundred people, wearing extremely bulky grass raincoats and holding grass umbrellas, were working hard to dredge the drainage channels.
On the faces of these people working diligently on the land, Liam didn't see the same joy as the members of the Zeus Shelter.
But Liam saw another emotion—
Hope!
Every working person's face was filled with hope.
It was the hope for life!
This kind of shock could only be felt by the Summer people, and only the Summer people could understand the sense of responsibility required for this hope.
Switching to the anchor's perspective.
The camera turned to a house on the outermost side, a room lit by torches.
"Greetings to every Summer person watching this live broadcast room, this is the frontline command center for earthquake relief, we are the disaster relief point under the Summer 13th Army, 79th Regiment."
"The maximum range of this live broadcast is 50 kilometers. Every Summer citizen within 50 kilometers of this rescue point can contact the shelter center after the disaster. The shelter will go to your location for rescue soon. Please wait patiently and don't give up hope!"
"Repeating…"
"Summer has not given up on rescuing every citizen. Please stay in your shelters, survive the disaster, and a beautiful tomorrow awaits us!"
"Those who are not near the Summer Shelter, please don't worry. Currently, there are forty-two shelters established by the military. Please don't rush out to search. Protect yourselves and wait for the military to expand the search and rescue range. Please don't go to the wilderness on your own!"
"Repeating…"
The young black-haired woman in charge of the broadcast repeated these four sentences over and over again.
Even though her lips were cracked and bleeding from speaking, she didn't seem to notice.
"Lily liu…"
With a heavy heart, Liam remembered the woman's name and exited the Summer Shelter's live broadcast room.
Compared to the Zeus Shelter, which only recruited talented individuals, the Summer Shelter's approach was indeed difficult for people from other countries to understand.
They certainly wouldn't understand…
Why, in this apocalyptic world, they still wanted to protect those ordinary people who were weak, unskilled, and untalented.
But at this moment, Liam believed that every Sunrise person who saw the live broadcast would feel a surge of hope in this apocalypse.
Natural disasters are merciless!
But people have compassion!
One day, Sunrise will rebuild its home in this wasteland!
After browsing through all the live broadcast rooms, Liam gave up the idea of topping the disaster resistance rankings.
Although starting a live broadcast would reward him with an unknown airdrop of supplies, which seemed tempting, the shelters ranked in the top ten were undoubtedly not small groups.
An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth!
The fact that he, a lone individual, could build a shelter that surpassed those built by other groups was obviously suspicious.
In this era where modern firepower was still lacking, Liam decided to prioritize keeping a low profile.
He always kept in mind the strategic policy of Emperor Taizu of Ming: Build high walls, store abundant grain, and bide your time before claiming the throne.
Don't be like Yuan Shu, the great warlord of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, who, upon obtaining an imperial jade seal, dreamt of becoming emperor every day. He finally couldn't resist and declared himself emperor, only to immediately become the target of almost all other warlords, ultimately failing and dying, becoming a laughingstock.
"It's not appropriate to expose my coordinates within 50 kilometers now. If there's no one around, it's fine, but if there is, the risk is too great, not appropriate."
After careful consideration, Liam simply closed the live broadcast interface, out of sight, out of mind.
Watching the construction of the top ten shelters had given Liam a lot of food for thought.
His so-called "commoner mentality" in this unknown world had been solely focused on survival, upgrading the shelter, and living through natural disasters.
This had led him to neglect the most important aspects: increasing combat power and exploring the outside world.