Chapter 8: Charging Stations and Artificial Intelligence

The rainstorm raged outside, but the engineering team worked tirelessly, their progress displayed on Su Wu's laptop screen. Excavation, reinforcement, and transport operations proceeded methodically, slowly shaping the underground shelter.

After observing for a while, a notification popped up: the engineering robots had finished manufacturing the large battery packs. Su Wu grabbed an umbrella and ventured out into the downpour.

In the yard, the wind whipped the rain, a chill seeping into Su Wu's collar. He hunched his shoulders against the storm and made his way to the temporary shed. Locating the newly completed battery, he touched it, silently initiating an upgrade.

A flash of white light later, a silver-white metal square, the size of a suitcase, materialized.

[High-Energy Battery Pack]

[Maximum Stored Power: 10,000 kWh]

[Includes Wireless Charging Component: Provides wireless charging within a 100-meter radius]

[Note: Simple and removable small charging station]

The upgrade, surprisingly, only cost five survival points.

"I'll have to scavenge more batteries in the future," he thought. "Upgrade more of these packs."

This upgrade hadn't been in Su Wu's initial plans; it was a spontaneous decision. But it was a necessary one. A high-energy battery pack was like an insurance policy for the shelter's power supply. Even if the geothermal generator failed, it wouldn't immediately cripple the entire operation. It could also act as a power reservoir, storing excess energy generated by the geothermal unit. The sooner he acquired these packs, the better.

Connecting the high-energy battery pack to the geothermal generator's output port, Su Wu left it to charge and returned inside. After a shower and a change of clothes, he went upstairs to his bedroom. Seeing he had enough survival points, he finally upgraded his laptop. He'd been wanting to do this for a while, but the fifteen-point cost, combined with other, more pressing needs, had forced him to postpone it.

Another flash of light, and the black laptop transformed into a sleek, silver-white machine. The upgraded laptop boasted a 1,000 PB hard drive—a hundred thousand times larger than its predecessor. Its computing power rivaled that of a small supercomputer. Of course, this enhanced performance came at a cost: at full load, it consumed a staggering 100 kWh per hour, limiting its battery life to a mere hour.

Beyond the hardware upgrades, the laptop now also housed a primary artificial intelligence. This AI could handle simple tasks for Su Wu. After some experimentation, he named the AI Luo Tianyi and transferred control of the engineering team to it. Immediately, the team's coordination improved dramatically, their movements becoming fluid and efficient.

"So, there are levels to automated operation," Su Wu mused. "The greater the processing power, the higher the efficiency." He observed the team for a while. Commanding the construction efforts didn't seem to tax the laptop's resources significantly, so he added another long-term task: prioritizing textual information, Luo Tianyi would collect and download all publicly available information from the internet.

This task, while seemingly simple, was challenging due to the sheer volume of data and the constant stream of human interference online. Manual collection would be incredibly time-consuming, and Su Wu wouldn't even know where to look for much of the information. But with AI, these obstacles vanished. The only limitation was the network download speed itself.

By afternoon, the heavy rain had subsided. Two trucks carrying cement arrived at Su Wu's gate. He temporarily suspended the construction robots and micro-transport vehicles and, to the drivers' astonishment, had them unload the cargo.

"You're high-tech, brother," one driver commented. "More efficient than three or five workers."

"No choice," Su Wu replied with a shrug. "Hard to find reliable help these days."

While he could find workers, they would likely be temporary, inefficient, and unreliable. Robots were simply more efficient and less hassle.

"Tell me about it," the driver sighed. "All the hardworking folks are getting hired by the government. Something about building civil defense projects."

"Think there's any truth to the rumors about the world ending?" the other driver asked.

"Maybe," the first driver replied. "Look at how crazy the markets are acting. Hard to say what's coming."

Su Wu offered a noncommittal response, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Once the unloading was complete, Su Wu saw the drivers off. Then, he directed the construction robots to cover the newly delivered cement with tarps. These supplies might become difficult to obtain in the future, so he had to be careful.

May 22nd.

After another week, Su Wu had accumulated enough survival points to add a mini excavator, a mini transport vehicle, and another construction robot, effectively doubling his construction team and significantly improving excavation efficiency.

May 28th.

The initial excavation of the six-hundred-square-meter underground space was complete. Su Wu spent one survival point to reinforce the space, bonding the construction waste, steel bars, and concrete walls together. The engineering team began to withdraw, preparing to dig the second underground level.

That same afternoon, in his bedroom on the second floor of the farmhouse, Su Wu, who had seemed rather idle lately, began planning the next phase of his shelter. He opened his laptop, comparing the original shelter designs with the numerous reference materials he had gathered. He fell into deep thought. This decision would define the foundation of his refuge and its intended functionality.