Outside the shelter.
The sky was still covered in low, black clouds, casting an oppressive darkness over the land. Visibility was extremely low.
The ground on both sides of the road was blanketed in gray-white embers, remnants of destruction. Everywhere he looked, there was a sense of desolation and extinction.
Even the wind had fallen silent, as if nature itself had given up on this place.
Click!
A faint mechanical friction echoed through the quiet wasteland.
A robot with a thick, sturdy frame slowly emerged from the inclined passage leading underground, stepping into the hot and lifeless world above.
It came to a stop, its high-definition camera eyes scanning its surroundings with night vision assistance. The images were instantly transmitted to its intelligent core, which processed them in mere milliseconds before formulating the simplest and most efficient movement route.
Move forward.
Bypass the discarded steel heap.
Enter the temporary carport.
Climb into the truck's cab.
At the same time.
Inside the control center on the second underground floor of the shelter—
A monitor flickered to life on the unattended console.
On the screen, the artificial intelligence Luo Tianyi faithfully refreshed the real-time status of every active task.
"Construction Robot A04 is entering the lift platform… Leaving the shelter… Entering the truck cab..."
"Surrounding environment: Safe."
"Calculating route... Destination: Heavy Knight Shelter."
. . .
. . .
By the time Su Wu finally got up, he had already slept quite well.
After a quick wash and a satisfying breakfast, he made his way to the control center.
He checked the screen—
The medium-sized truck was already nearing the entrance of Heavy Knight's shelter.
Su Wu switched to the chat software and sent a voice request.
"Hello, I'm here. Can you come out now?"
A few seconds later, the other side picked up.
"Give me half a minute. I'll be right there."
The Heavy Knight's voice was direct and powerful.
In the background, hurried footsteps could be heard—he was obviously running toward the exit while answering the call.
Su Wu liked straightforward people.
"Alright, I'll wait."
Through the truck's camera, he soon saw a small shop on the street with no signage.
A moment later—
The shutter door suddenly rolled up, and a forklift carrying a neatly packaged cargo drove out.
"Over here."
Su Wu honked the horn, signaling his location, while the construction robot climbed down from the truck's cab.
On the forklift, a middle-aged man squinted at the robot with a hint of confusion.
"You're… Su Wu?"
His eyes lingered on the robot's exposed skeletal frame. It clearly didn't have space for a human operator inside.
"This is a remote-controlled robot."
"I'm still in the shelter."
Su Wu explained briefly while remotely controlling the construction robot, helping load the cargo from the forklift into the truck's compartment.
The air temperature had already soared to 65 degrees Celsius.
Every extra second spent outside increased the risk of heatstroke. This was no place for idle chatter.
"Damn, he's actually using robots..."
"That's insane."
Even in the short time since he stepped outside, Heavy Knight was already drenched in sweat. Yet, he seemed unbothered by the heat—his eyes were glued to the construction robot like a child seeing their favorite toy.
There was pure envy in his expression.
It was his first time seeing such an agile and advanced robot in real life.
"Are these all the batteries you need charged?"
Since Heavy Knight showed no intention of heading back inside, Su Wu controlled the robot to point at the truck's cab, signaling for him to follow inside.
The truck had been modified as a survival vehicle—
Its cab was fitted with a high-quality air conditioning system, designed to function in extreme heat.
Of course, since it lacked special insulation materials, it couldn't compare to the cool and comfortable environment of the underground shelter.
At best, it was simply better than being roasted alive outside.
"Thanks."
Heavy Knight didn't hesitate. He jumped off the forklift with a swift motion, strode over, and climbed into the co-pilot seat in just a few steps.
The moment the cool air hit his forehead, he let out a deep exhale, looking as if he had just escaped death.
The over-60-degree heat outside was nothing short of torture.
"These are the batteries."
"I also put the payment inside."
"Twenty kilograms of smokeless gunpowder—all military-grade."
This was the trade deal they had negotiated last night.
Initially, Heavy Knight had offered a replica military pistol along with a few boxes of ammunition as payment for the charging and transportation service.
However, Su Wu declined.
Guns weren't difficult to manufacture—his engineering robots could easily build one.
Instead, he requested something far more practical: raw gunpowder.
"How strong is it?"
Su Wu asked, genuinely curious.
As someone born in peacetime, military-grade explosives had always felt like a mysterious and distant concept.
"If used properly, it could blow up a building."
"It's seriously powerful."
Heavy Knight made an exaggerated gesture, then added—
"But using it just for explosions would be a waste."
"It's best used for making bullets—stable, reliable, and efficient."
Su Wu nodded.
He didn't need the reminder—he had already planned to use the gunpowder for ammunition production.
"You know a lot about this stuff. Were you in the military industry?"
"What? No way! You're overestimating me."
Heavy Knight laughed and shook his head.
"I was just a lazy landlord living off rental income from my family's buildings."
"I only know this because I had too much free time."
He then pointed out the window, towards a row of six- to seven-story residential buildings across the street.
His expression turned nostalgic, even melancholic.
"This one… that one… and that one over there."
"All of those used to be ours."
"Back then, collecting rent was such a hassle—knocking on doors, dealing with all kinds of people…"
"Now? I'd give anything to go back to those days."
After spending just ten days in his underground shelter, Heavy Knight had already tasted the bitterness of loneliness.
Especially during the time when the internet went down—
It felt as if he had been abandoned on a deserted island.
The sheer isolation had been suffocating.
"Multiple buildings..."
Su Wu didn't know how to respond.
After all, his own shelter had only been funded by the sale of a single 100-square-meter apartment.
If this apocalypse had never happened—
He would have never reached Heavy Knight's level in his entire lifetime.
It was clear—
Anyone who could build a shelter in this new world wasn't just "lucky".