Expansion Plan

"If this continues, my contribution value may rank among the top among all the small and medium-sized shelters participating in the cleanup."

This was a pleasant surprise. The official shelters of Jianghe City would grant an additional reward of 2,000 to 20,000 contribution points to the shelters that made the greatest contributions in this cleanup operation.

This number might not seem significant at first glance, but in terms of purchasing power, 2,000 contribution points were enough to buy 700 to 800 kilograms of rice. Even for a shelter, this was a substantial amount of wealth.

At the same time, compared to the generous ranking rewards for shelters, it was much harder for the workers participating in the cleanup to earn contribution points.

Take Su Wu's convoy as an example. From the moment they entered the city and started accumulating contribution points, nearly four hours had passed, and they had only earned around 2,000 points in total. According to this rate, workers from other shelters, risking their lives and enduring the scorching heat, earned at most 70 contribution points per hour per person.

Additionally, the construction equipment and vehicles were generally provided by the shelters they belonged to. The rental costs deducted from their earnings further reduced their actual income—sometimes barely covering a day or two's worth of food.

They were essentially trading their lives for sustenance.

Su Wu shook off his wandering thoughts and continued directing the special transport vehicle to clear the road.

Since reaching the official shelter entrance in a short time seemed impossible, he decided to settle in for now. He let the special transport vehicle continue clearing debris while loading high-quality construction waste onto the large truck behind.

Once the truck was full, it would return to the shelter with the materials.

There was no point in leaving the resources behind.

Time gradually approached midnight as the cleanup efforts in Jianghe City's urban area continued.

A new day had arrived.

Alongside the routine daily basic rewards, Su Wu's system log quietly refreshed with a notification unlike any before:

[Successfully survived a destructive disaster. Survival points +30.]

"There are rewards for surviving disasters?"

Su Wu raised an eyebrow at the unexpected message. Several intriguing ideas suddenly popped into his mind.

However, now wasn't the time to test them.

He shifted his gaze to the end of the system panel, where his reset survival points had now risen to 33.

"Perfect. I was worried I didn't have enough survival points."

Switching the main screen on the console to the manufacturing center, a brand-new special transport vehicle body appeared on display.

Next to it, models of a mini excavator and a gravel truck sat quietly, awaiting orders.

These were the results of the engineering robots' work during their free time when supplies were sufficient.

Originally, Su Wu had planned to wait until the next day when he had more survival points to upgrade them gradually.

Now that he had unexpectedly gained a generous amount of points, the plan had to be accelerated.

After patiently waiting a few minutes for the engineering robots to complete the final finishing touches on the special transport vehicle, Su Wu quickly walked to the manufacturing center.

Spending a full 20 survival points, the three vehicles—previously just unfinished models—were engulfed in a white glow as they upgraded, completing their missing core components.

Once the upgrade was finished, Su Wu didn't even bother running performance tests. Instead, he immediately assigned them tasks via his tablet.

The special transport vehicle was sent to the river, replacing the mini excavator and transport vehicle to handle sand and gravel excavation.

The gravel truck and mini excavator were sent to the fourth underground floor to join the engineering team in construction.

Due to its size and weight, the special transport vehicle was significantly safer in the wilderness and river than the fragile mini vehicles. The risk of accidents caused by uneven terrain was almost nonexistent. Additionally, its massive carrying capacity—comparable to a large truck—meant its efficiency was several times greater than the previous mini excavator and transport vehicle combination.

Higher efficiency meant less time spent working in hazardous environments, reducing overall risk.

In other words, the addition of this special transport vehicle drastically lowered the cost of collecting building materials.

Meanwhile, the gravel truck was a specialized engineering vehicle designed to break through hard rock layers underground.

Previously, the engineering team had only one gravel truck, which served as the backbone of the entire operation. In many cases, the efficiency of the team's underground excavation was directly tied to the efficiency of this single vehicle.

With a second gravel truck, plus the already oversaturated number of construction robots—and the mini excavators and transport vehicles soon returning from the river—the engineering team's construction speed would effectively double.

If everything went smoothly, this lineup would allow them to complete the excavation and construction of the fourth underground floor in at most two days.

As for the mini excavator, its role in the growing engineering team was becoming secondary due to its smaller size. The newly added one was more of a backup—useful for specific tasks, but expendable. In the event of an accident, its loss wouldn't significantly impact the shelter's operations.

"Once the fourth floor is completed, there will be enough space to install large industrial equipment."

"At that point, I can start researching mass production of construction robots."

"Or at the very least, manufacture some robotic dogs or large automated vehicles for simple labor tasks."

If the first three floors of Su Wu's shelter were comparable to a self-sufficient manor, then the fourth floor marked the transition from a manor to an industrial town.

His plan was to build a small industrial zone there, integrating disassembly, metal smelting, and component manufacturing lines.

On a large scale, previously collected scrap materials would be broken down and refined into base resources, then mass-produced into standardized parts for assembling various mechanical equipment.

This would mark the transition from a handcrafted workshop to an industrial production facility.

Once that happened, the shelter would officially step onto the fast track of development.