At this time, in the central cities of major continents worldwide, the first batch of residents had begun moving into official shelters.
These residents were primarily politicians and scientists, with relatively few wealthy individuals among them. It wasn't that the rich were unqualified to enter—rather, most of them preferred to build their own private shelters.
This was one of the main reasons why abandoned air-raid shelters in mountainous regions had been highly sought after on the market for quite some time.
Compared to those wealthy individuals, Su Wu's failure to secure an ideal location in the mountains didn't seem unfair at all.
In the Jianghe City Doomsday Survival Preparation Group, Wang Jianguo—the steel plant director who had invited Su Wu into the group—shared some updates on the official shelters in Jianghe City.
He explained that most of the city's underground parking lots and shopping malls had been repurposed into shelters, with subway tunnels integrated into the design. The resulting underground space was vast, almost forming a small subterranean city.
But...
"The scale is large, sure," he commented. "But they still have to house three or four million people while maintaining some level of production. The living space for each person is ridiculously small. Six-person, or even ten-person dormitories, might become the norm."
Compared to that, even the most basic private shelter was practically paradise.
"It should've been completed long ago," someone else chimed in. "It's already the 9th. If they delay any further, something big might happen."
The speaker, a group member named Heavy Knight, sounded worried.
Relocating three or four million people from their homes to an underground shelter might seem simple on the surface, but anyone with management experience knew how complex and chaotic such a process could become.
If they fell behind schedule, even the remaining 20 days might not be enough to complete the transition.
Another member, Tiancheng Architecture, responded casually.
"Not really an issue. A lot of these people just need to go upstairs or downstairs. Worst case, they leave their belongings behind and run—most should be able to reach the shelter in a few minutes."
His reasoning seemed sound at first glance, but it completely overlooked the challenges faced by the elderly, the sick, and the disabled.
If those groups were ignored, tens of thousands of them could be left behind and perish.
Of course, in a doomsday scenario, the idea of survival of the fittest wasn't exactly shocking. Even in peacetime, the rich didn't always care about the lives of ordinary people. When the world was on the brink of collapse, the gap between the wealthy—with their private shelters—and the common citizens would only widen further.
"By the way, how reliable is the official intelligence?"
The question came from a member named Zhuang Gongzi, who was suspected to be a wealthy second-generation heir.
"Supposedly, we have at least 20 more days to prepare," he continued. "But it's already pushing 40 degrees outside. My whole family was forced to move into our shelter early, and now we can only manage our employees remotely."
Not everyone in the group was concerned about the survival of the general population.
For someone like Zhuang Gongzi, the biggest problem wasn't food or safety—it was the fact that he couldn't go out for a race or attend a party.
Su Wu's eyes narrowed slightly.
"40 degrees?"
He glanced at a thermometer hanging outside his bedroom window.
It displayed a real-time temperature of 42 degrees—two degrees higher than what Zhuang Gongzi had reported. It had already surpassed Jianghe City's historical record.
And just yesterday, if Su Wu remembered correctly, the high had only reached 34 degrees.
Overnight, the season had shifted from early summer to the peak of midsummer.
Su Wu stood up and opened the window.
A wave of heat surged into the room, instantly raising the temperature by several degrees.
"It's already becoming unsafe for people to work outdoors for extended periods."
As he carefully observed the changes in temperature, his gaze drifted past the small courtyard below and toward the distant mountains.
A faint glow of flames, accompanied by thick gray-white smoke, was rising into the sky.
It was a wildfire.
Under normal circumstances, forest firefighters would be dispatched to contain it.
But now?
With the government preoccupied with shelter construction and mass relocation efforts, there was little chance that resources would be allocated to extinguish the fire.
"If I remember correctly, there's an air-raid shelter in that mountain," Su Wu muttered to himself. "A wealthy investor bought it along with the land."
Would it survive the fire?
Su Wu knew the location well—he had originally considered settling there himself.
Unfortunately, he had lacked the financial resources and had been too late to the market.
Now, it seemed like a blessing in disguise.
As the wildfire spread, it would bring extreme heat, toxic smoke, and deadly gases.
For any shelter within its range, these were nightmare-level threats.
If their air purification and ventilation systems weren't properly designed, they wouldn't survive.
Shifting his gaze, Su Wu looked at the exit passage of his own underground shelter.
A small transport vehicle, loaded with gravel and soil, slowly rolled out.
Despite the extreme heat, the AI-controlled engineering team was still operating at peak efficiency, steadily expanding the underground space.
"By tonight at the latest," Su Wu estimated, "the second underground floor will be complete."
"Then, with two days for interior modifications, I'll be able to move in whenever I want."
The second underground floor spanned 650 square meters—50 square meters more than the first floor.
That extra space was primarily allocated for a power room and a water storage facility.
The power room would house a new geothermal generator, sharing the same underground pipeline as the existing one on the surface. Additionally, there was space reserved for two more generators in case future expansion was necessary.
The water storage room would contain a pump and a purified water tank.
The pump would continuously extract groundwater, which would then be filtered and stored to supply the hydroponic farm on the first floor and the living quarters on the second floor.
As for the main living area of the second floor, Su Wu had divided it into several sections:
A living area, containing three bedrooms, an entertainment room, a living room, a dining room, a bathroom, a toilet, and a kitchen. A control center, where he could monitor and manage the shelter's operations. A mechanical manufacturing center, for constructing and repairing equipment. A storage room, for daily necessities. A water storage tower, for additional emergency reserves.
This would be the space where Su Wu spent most of his daily life in the future.