Time passed quickly in the depths of her cultivation.
When the last trace of the potion’s power was completely absorbed, Su Wan slowly opened her eyes.
The advancement was a success!
A presence distinctly different from before naturally emanated from her body.
This was a field formed naturally after the elevation of her life level and mental intensity.
The changes in Su Wan were obvious.
Her eyes were brighter and clearer, and the aura that had been slightly outward-radiating due to her initial ability awakening was now completely restrained within her body.
She had successfully stabilized her strength at the Level 2 Early Stage. Her surging mental power and strengthened physique gave Su Wan an unprecedented sense of control.
Just as she was carefully experiencing this new power, the system notification sounded at the perfect time:
【Ding! Detected that the host has completed the Main Quest “Rise of the Shelter.” The random lottery chance is ready. Would you like to use it now?】
With a thought from Su Wan, an ethereal wheel appeared before her eyes.
The reward areas on the wheel were shrouded in a hazy glow, making the specifics unclear, but the prompt text appearing beside it was enough to make Su Wan’s heart race.
【Possible rewards include: powerful individual equipment and weapons, special talent/unit recruitment orders, system hidden function/authority unlocking (unknown surprises), and more...】
Every option was priceless and would provide a massive boost to the development of the shelter or Su Wan’s own improvement.
“Draw,” Su Wan commanded.
The ethereal wheel immediately began to spin at high speed. A few seconds later, the wheel slowed down, and the pointer finally glided past those tempting physical reward areas, coming to a steady stop on a blank space.
When the pointer stopped, the blank space suddenly lit up with golden patterns!
【Congratulations to the host! Lottery reward: Unlocked system hidden authority—Basic Infrastructure Expansion!】
【Authority Description: Centered on the currently bound building, “Terminal Station,” this allows the host to perform physical expansion and construction of the shelter on surrounding land that meets specific conditions.】
【Main functions include:】
Land Leveling and Solidification: Consume Points to transform designated areas into foundations suitable for construction.
Standardized Modular Construction: Allows the construction of standard residential units, public facilities, and basic fortifications.
Supporting Facility Connection: Newly built areas can be connected to the Terminal Station’s existing energy, water supply/drainage, and management systems.
【Usage Prerequisite】: The host’s total Points must reach 100,000 to activate this authority for the first construction.
Subsequent expansion scale and complexity will consume corresponding Points and potentially required special resources, such as specific building blueprints.
【Ding! Detected that the host has unlocked a key development authority. Issuing the next stage Main Quest.】
【New Main Quest: Foundation of the Shelter】
【Quest Content: Successfully recruit and accept five hundred new Official Tenants.】
【Quest Time Limit: 30 natural days in this plane.】
【Quest Rewards】:
—Points +50,000.
—Unlock 【Building Overall Strengthening Module】 blueprint (can further improve building defense, energy efficiency, and environmental adaptability).
—Unlock 【Basic Ecological Cycle System】 blueprint (includes basic air circulation, water purification, and small planting units, significantly increasing shelter self-sustainability).
—Obtain 【Special Supply Crate】 ×1 (randomly drops scarce resources or blueprints urgently needed for the current development stage).
【Failure Penalty】: Points -30,000, operational efficiency of all existing facilities reduced by 30% (lasting 15 days), and the difficulty of the next Main Quest will be increased.
As the new quest was issued, Su Wan immediately pulled up the system panel to check the current status:
【Current Bound Building: Terminal Station (12-story unfinished building)】
【Total Rooms: 144 (12 rooms per floor × 12 floors)】
【Occupied Rooms: 55 (due to families or teams sharing rooms, actual tenant capacity used is 100)】
【Vacant Rooms: 89】
【Current Points (changing in real-time): 19,500 (rent, service fees, and sales profits are continuously being credited)】
【Current Total Tenants: 112】
【New Quest Requirement for New Tenants: 500】
【Points required to activate “Basic Infrastructure Expansion” authority: 100,000】
“500 new tenants...”
Even according to the most compact sharing arrangements, the existing 89 vacant rooms could probably hold another 250 to 350 people if squeezed; there was still a gap.
However, the quest time limit was 30 days, and her Points were steadily growing with the activities of the existing tenants.
As long as she continued recruiting, even if living conditions became temporarily cramped, reaching the population target was entirely feasible.
More importantly, once her Points broke the 100,000 mark and unlocked the 【Basic Infrastructure Expansion】 authority, she could open up new residential areas next to the Terminal Station.
She could build more standardized housing to completely solve the accommodation problem and even plan functional zones, developing the shelter from a single refuge building into a fully functional small community!
Looking at the continuously growing Points on the system panel and the new Main Quest waiting to be completed, Su Wan realized that relying solely on the two robots, C1 and C2, to efficiently handle the increasingly complex management affairs of the shelter was starting to leave them stretched thin.
In particular, the rapid influx of new tenants, information registration, material management—including gold recycling—and the preparation work potentially needed for future expansions all required more efficient automated management units.
Thus, Su Wan spent Points to exchange for two more butler robots from the system, setting their codes as C3 and C4.
Su Wan quickly organized the most urgent tasks for the shelter and assigned missions to each of the four robots.
With the four robots each performing their duties, the entire shelter could be maintained with high efficiency.
Su Wan also realized that besides the accumulation of “hard power” like population, resources, and infrastructure, mastering comprehensive intelligence and information about the Apocalyptic Plane was also key to the shelter’s long-term survival and development.
Rather than passively waiting for fragmented information to arrive, it was better to proactively establish an intelligence gathering system.
And the tenants, whose numbers were growing daily, were the most extensive source of information.
They came from all over the Ruin Zone, and some might have even drifted from the Outer City or even the edges of the Inner City, each possessing different sights, knowledge, and survival experiences.
She immediately used the system connection to add a new core instruction to C4: the collection of apocalyptic intelligence.
“Targeting all tenants, establish a long-term and paid collection of valuable intelligence regarding all aspects of the Apocalyptic Plane.”
“Based on the value of the intelligence, provide the provider with a corresponding amount of Star Coins as a reward.”
Soon, the residents of the shelter discovered that another long-term valid task had appeared on the Mission Board:
“Provide valuable intelligence—everything you know about this world might be exchanged for Star Coins!”
Rate on N.U.
