After returning from Heavy Knight's shelter, the engineering robot had almost finished building the geothermal generator model.
Su Wu thought for a moment and decided not to contact Ye Luoshuanghua immediately.
He instructed the construction robot to remove the Heavy Knight's battery pack for charging and, in the process, transferred the 20 kilograms of smokeless gunpowder to the mechanical manufacturing center.
"New manufacturing task: assault rifle x1, with 500 rounds of 7.62mm bullets."
After replenishing the critical gunpowder raw materials, with the help of engineering robots and sufficient metal, the mechanical manufacturing center was now capable of producing real military firearms and ammunition.
Considering the need to escort materials in the future, Su Wu decided to manufacture a fully automatic assault rifle.
"The total value of this transaction with the official is as high as 7 million."
"For any individual right now, even for small and medium-sized shelters, this is a huge fortune that can't be ignored."
"It's hard to say that no one will take the risk and try to rob us on the way."
"The assault rifle is the last line of defense."
"I just hope I won't have to use it."
The manufacturing process of firearms wasn't complicated.
More than half an hour later, Su Wu received the brand-new assault rifle and two boxes of 100 rounds of ammunition.
He didn't wait for the remaining ammunition to finish production.
Instead, Su Wu controlled a construction robot to take the rifle and two boxes of ammunition to the ground for a simple test. After confirming the performance was fine, he placed them in the truck's cab.
Then, he drove the truck, reversed it to the underground floor's exit of the shelter, and prepared to transport the upgraded geothermal generator.
At this moment, another problem arose.
After installing the geothermal generator in the truck's compartment, there was not enough space to fit another one.
"Upgrade the truck."
After thinking for a moment, Su Wu chose the simplest and most direct solution:
Smash the survival points.
He upgraded the medium-sized truck to a large truck, adding temperature insulation to the vehicle as well.
"The temperature will become more extreme in the future."
"The transactions between shelters won't stop easily."
"The sooner we get the transport tools upgraded, the sooner we can start benefiting."
The upgraded large truck had a 20-ton load capacity. Its body became larger, and the compartment grew longer. It blocked the exit passage on the first floor of the shelter, which led diagonally upward, making it almost impossible to pass.
After several construction robots loaded the two geothermal generators into the truck's compartment, the large truck emitted a low hum, symbolizing its start, and it automatically began to drive slowly toward the surface without anyone controlling it.
"Let's go."
"Destination: Jianghe City North District, Shelter No. 9."
Back on the second underground floor of the shelter, Su Wu returned to the control center, opened the electronic map, located the address given by Ye Luoshuanghua, and sent a dispatch order to the large truck that was ready to go.
Under the dim sky, the silent suburban rocky beach was once again illuminated by the dazzling high beams.
The huge steel truck, towing an equally large drilling rig, crushed the ashes and dust on the road like snow. It moved silently toward the distant city.
Half an hour later, the truck passed through a burnt ruin and stopped in front of a subway station. Several young men and women in military uniforms, who had been waiting there, came forward to greet them.
"Ye Luoshuanghua?"
Su Wu jumped out of the truck, with the construction robot sitting in the driver's seat, and greeted the young woman leading the group. She had a heroic air about her.
"It's me."
"My real name is Ye Xi."
Ye Xi nodded with a smile. She looked at the tough construction robot with some regret.
"I thought I'd get to meet the real person, but I didn't expect it to be a robot."
"It's enough for it to work."
Su Wu didn't mind. His eyes swept over the waists of Ye Xi and the others and noticed they all carried portable cooling devices, which resembled waist bags. While these devices were not completely useless, given the fine sweat still dripping from their foreheads, the effect was clearly underwhelming.
"You go inside and wait for a bit. I'll move the goods down."
"Do you need help?"
"No need."
Su Wu's tone was casual.
There were two construction robots with the truck this time, and both the geothermal generator and the drilling machine were equipped with movable universal wheels. Moving everything into the shelter didn't require additional help.
The only concern was whether there was enough space inside the official shelter to fit a large drilling machine.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work."
Ye Xi didn't insist. To be honest, she didn't want to stay outside either. With the temperature being so high on the surface, even standing there was uncomfortable. It would be a blessing to use as little energy as possible.
Before leaving, however, she seemed to remember something. She handed Su Wu a string of passwords.
"Oh, by the way, this is the wireless password for our shelter."
"Make sure to switch it."
"Otherwise, you might not be able to contact your robot once you're underground."
Su Wu raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised.
"Is there no direct internet access in your shelter?"
This was important to him.
Even the large trucks, modified using survival points, had a higher signal range than drones and robots. Still, their communication was limited to radio frequencies, and this became a serious issue when going underground, where thick rock layers blocked signals.
Su Wu would need internet access to control his construction robots.
"There are too many people. Generally, only the management and a few external liaison specialists have access."
"But there is also an internal intranet."
"We can still call each other, check announcements, and download some public information."
Ye Xi explained. At that moment, a bead of sweat fell into her eye. She wiped it away with some distaste, then turned to walk toward the depths of the subway station, eager to leave.
"Let's talk later. We'll wait for you downstairs."
"Okay."
Su Wu responded. He watched Ye Xi walk away, thoughtful. He considered her to be a spoiled rich girl, but the fact that she could maintain such a casual attitude while serving in the doomsday army suggested her family background was anything but ordinary.
But none of that mattered to him. After briefly pondering, he quickly dismissed the thought.
He left the unloading process to the artificial intelligence.
Seizing the opportunity, Su Wu got up and poured himself a glass of iced cola.
The cold, bubbly drink refreshed him. After seeing enough of the dry, hot environment outside, even staying in the control room with its central air conditioning, where the temperature was always as comfortable as after a light spring rain, still left him feeling a little restless.
Su Wu needed to divert his mind and relieve the discomfort.