While the transport vehicle was busy transferring supplies,
the precious engineering robot belonging to the engineering team and the engineering robot of the manufacturing center were also dispatched to the ground by Su Wu.
Their task was to operate the drilling machine to drill holes, then nail steel bars and ropes to reinforce the cement and steel on the ground.
This might not completely ensure the safety of the supplies, but it could at least reduce some losses.
It was the best solution available at the moment.
Of course,
there were also disadvantages to this.
The engineering robots themselves were expensive and sophisticated. If something unexpected happened during the construction process, they could only be repaired using survival points.
To some extent, this was a risky and somewhat desperate measure.
In the dim farmyard,
as the two engineering robots entered construction mode, high-energy lasers occasionally shone brightly in the darkness.
A large number of steel bars were driven deep into the ground, then welded together by the engineering robots to form a solid steel mesh cage that secured piles of cement and steel plates.
More than half an hour later,
seeing that the engineering robots had completed the scheduled tasks ahead of time with higher efficiency than expected,
Su Wu decided to make use of the available materials and instructed them to continue welding iron plates onto the steel cages. This would enhance their wind resistance. At the same time, he also began reinforcing the two-story houses.
The two-story houses on the surface were natural shelters. If possible, Su Wu didn't want them to collapse in the storm.
By the second hour after the material transfer began,
the previously mild wind had gradually intensified.
The wind force increased from level 8 to level 10 and was now approaching level 11.
The construction robots that were still operating on the ground began to show obvious movement deformations, and their work efficiency visibly declined.
"It's time to retreat."
Su Wu was not greedy. He decisively ordered the construction robots to lock the house doors and, before leaving, drove the van parked in the simple carport back to the shelter with the engineering team.
After two hours of transportation,
the old household appliances in the yard, as well as other miscellaneous acquired items, had been mostly moved to the fourth underground floor of the shelter.
Most of the materials stored in the houses had also been relocated to the living area and manufacturing center on the second underground floor.
With the ground reinforcements in place,
there was almost nothing to worry about in the coming storm.
However, it was at this moment that Su Wu realized something—
the large truck he had ordered to return earlier had still not arrived.
A sense of unease crept into his mind.
With a bad premonition,
Su Wu attempted to contact the large truck through the console.
Under the illumination of its headlights, a vast expanse of ruins appeared on the screen.
"The road is blocked?"
Su Wu's heart sank, sensing the urgency of the situation.
Judging from the scale of the debris, it would take at least a few hours to clear a passage.
Watching the two construction robots on the truck struggling to move stones in the strong wind,
Su Wu didn't dare waste any time. He quickly opened the map of Jianghe City and tried to find an alternative route.
Fortunately, the large truck was still on the outskirts of the city. Su Wu quickly found another possible path.
"Take a detour immediately."
He submitted the new route to the artificial intelligence and ordered it to execute the plan without hesitation.
Following Su Wu's command,
the two construction robots stopped their work and slowly returned to the truck's cab.
Then, the large truck's taillights flashed as it began to turn around, heading toward an unknown, longer route.
Ten minutes later,
a billboard and various debris swept up by the strong wind appeared ahead, once again blocking the road.
Faced with this situation,
Su Wu remained silent for a moment and did not order another detour.
It was already too late to change routes.
The wind outside had reached level 12 at some point.
The howling gusts battered the truck, causing the fully loaded vehicle to tremble slightly from time to time.
Taking another detour at this point might not be any safer than finding shelter in the city.
Su Wu zoomed in on the screen.
Compared to the endless ruins from before, this obstruction was relatively small, covering only about 20 meters of the road.
If they acted quickly, they might be able to clear it before the real storm arrived.
But there was another problem—
how to clear it.
The large truck was purely a transport vehicle with no special features.
And with such a strong storm outside, Su Wu didn't dare send out the construction robots.
If they made a mistake and failed to clear the path in time, the robots might be swept away by the wind and lost forever.
Bang!
A loud noise came from the roof of the truck.
Startled, Su Wu quickly switched to the roof camera and discovered that a billboard had fallen from above, crashing onto the vehicle.
Fortunately, the truck was reinforced with additional armor, and its body was made of high-strength alloy.
The impact had not caused any significant damage.
After this unexpected incident, Su Wu dared not risk sending out the construction robots.
If one got hit, it would mean the loss of precious survival points.
"If the truck can't clear the way by itself..."
"Why not just send another vehicle for support?"
Abandoning the idea of solving the problem with the large truck alone, Su Wu turned his attention to the special transport vehicle parked in the shelter.
This tracked vehicle, designed for demolition, excavation, and transportation, was highly efficient at clearing roadblocks.
The only concern was whether the approaching storm would allow it enough time to operate.
"I hope it's not too late."
Su Wu glanced at the time—it was 2:47 AM.
There wasn't much time left before the officially predicted strong storm arrived.
Gritting his teeth, he decided to take one last gamble.
On the surface,
the shelter's heavy iron door, partially buried under sand and gravel, opened once more.
An unmanned tracked vehicle emerged, pushing forward against the raging wind.
"The wind speed is 34 meters per second."
"Stability remains largely unaffected."
Seated in the control center, Su Wu closely monitored the special transport vehicle's status and breathed a sigh of relief.
After all,
it was a tracked vehicle. While its weight wasn't as massive as a large truck, its stability in a storm was just as reliable.
A dozen seconds later,
after adjusting to the harsh conditions,
the special transport vehicle accelerated to its maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour and raced toward the stranded large truck in the city.