And with all the survival points accumulated over the past month, which had been largely untouched, Su Wu decided to invest them all.
He added an advanced version of a super-large 3D printer and a multifunctional CNC machine to the manufacturing center.
These new machines boosted the production speed of high-precision parts by five times, and now Su Wu had the capability to produce 100-nanometer chips and flexible screens.
With these added capabilities, Su Wu could begin mass-producing mobile phones and wearable devices like wristbands with screens.
Though the self-manufactured phones might still lag behind the pre-apocalypse models in terms of performance, by making the devices slightly larger, they would still allow for smooth internet browsing and gaming.
"The key components of the phones, the chips and screens, need to be made using the 3D printer."
"Max daily production capacity is limited to around 20,000 phones."
"Considering the need to expand the engineering team, part of the 3D printer's productivity will be occupied."
"Right now, the actual production rate is only about 15,000 phones per day."
"At this rate, the phones produced in the next month or two will only be enough for internal use."
In Su Wu's plan, the phones produced by the manufacturing center would be provided to severely infected people who had lost their devices.
They would be able to use them to complete daily tasks in a game Su Wu created, paying back using the game currency in installments.
With a phone, these people could pass the time online, and with the standard dormitories providing more room to breathe, even though they couldn't go out, it would no longer be unbearable for most.
And paying for the phone with game currency was, in effect, like hiring them to play games.
In reality, not everyone was fond of using phones to play games, especially when phones were so precious in the apocalypse.
Even with Su Wu monopolizing the internet and promoting gaming through various channels, the total number of game players had just barely surpassed 50,000, contributing a meager 0.5 points of spirit income per day.
Given this, actively hiring shelter residents to play games seemed far more efficient.
As for the resources spent on this, Su Wu considered them as a necessary investment in research.
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On the new first floor core area, Su Wu didn't make significant changes. He simply transformed the rooms left over after relocating the manufacturing center into extensions of the living area.
Among the additions were a luxurious large hot spring pool big enough for swimming, a professional dance room and recording studio, plus a living material storage area.
Su Wu, now the head of a 150 million strong force, had seen the Farmhouse Shelter expand into a massive underground refuge, measuring 100 meters in diameter, 84 meters high, and almost as large as an aircraft carrier.
In such a massive space, adding a few insignificant areas, like a large hot spring, to improve his daily living experience could hardly be called wasteful, it was practically frugal.
The dance room and recording studio were for Chen Yue and Chen Xinyue. Prior to this, Chen Yue's daily practice room had been converted from what was originally a bedroom. It was cramped and occupied one of the only two spare bedrooms, forcing both sisters to sleep in the same room.
With extra space now available, it was only right to improve their living conditions.
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"Also, the newly added space outside the core area of the first floor doesn't have an immediate use."
"Let's just expand the hydroponic farm."
Though Su Wu's affiliated shelters were still facing significant food shortages, the new space on the first and second underground floors seemed irrelevant in comparison.
Whether used for fast-growing crops or not, it would not impact the overall system significantly.
Considering that the environment for fast-growing crops was less than ideal, with many pests like mice, worms, and insects, Su Wu decided against turning the living area's outer space into another planting field.
Instead, he chose to expand the hydroponic farm, cultivating flowers, fruits, rice, and various vegetables.
Naturally, Su Wu's indulgence ended there.
With the first phase expansion of the Farmhouse Shelter completed, he promptly started the second phase expansion.
In the second phase, the shelter's diameter would increase from 100 meters to 500 meters. Each floor's area would grow from 7,850 square meters to 196,250 square meters.
At that point, each floor of the shelter would be three times the size of the entire Farmhouse Shelter.
This massive new space in the second phase expansion would be prioritized for creating new fast-growing planting fields until they could ensure food production for 1.5 million people.
Once that was accomplished, Su Wu would turn to reintroduce the meat chicken farms and regular vegetable gardens that had been removed, slowly replacing the fast-growing crops with more sustainable options.
By then, the residents of the affiliated shelters would be able to live at standards close to pre-apocalypse conditions, rather than merely subsisting.
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"In the future, all food needs from the affiliated shelters will be handled by the second phase expansion of the Farmhouse Shelter."
"Main industrial production will be focused on the Manufacturing Center in underground level 2 and the ordinary industrial production zone on underground level 5."
"Other affiliated shelters will be gradually converted into residential zones, low-end industrial production centers, and remote control centers."
"They'll also have some basic facilities like water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants, maintenance workshops, and high-pollution furnaces."
Though the Jingyuan Shelter now occupied an area almost equivalent to 200 Farmhouse Shelters,
with the engineering team expanding rapidly, it was almost certain that the Farmhouse Shelter would soon surpass Jingyuan Shelter, becoming the largest shelter in Su Wu's control.
And that wouldn't be the end—it was only the beginning.
The Farmhouse Shelter would continue to expand, eventually surpassing the combined space of all affiliated shelters and even the offic
ial shelters of Jianghe City, becoming an enormous underground stronghold.