Apocalypse Survival: Starting with a Shelter

"After the earthquake damaged the cooling system, the area's temperature rose sharply."

"The increase showed an accelerating trend with almost no pauses in between."

"In the first minute after the incident, residents began noticing changes in their environment."

"However, no one realized the severity of the situation. They continued their routines as if nothing had happened."

"By the third minute, a repair team arrived at the scene and began troubleshooting."

"By the seventh minute, the repair team realized the issue was beyond their capabilities and reported it to higher-ups. By this time, signs of heatstroke were appearing among residents, and panic began spreading in certain groups."

"By the twelfth minute, the already-damaged generator showed signs of overload, eventually catching fire and exploding. A large portion of the residential area lost power."

"By the thirteenth minute, the management office recognized the danger and attempted to activate backup generators. The attempt failed."

"By the fifteenth minute, some residents stormed the management office. Discovering that the staff had donned heat-resistant suits and were preparing to leave, they engaged in violent conflict."

"By the sixteenth minute, someone accidentally triggered the emergency isolation button during the chaos. The battery-powered emergency system began sealing off connecting tunnels to other underground zones."

"The residential area became an isolated and enclosed space."

"By the twentieth minute, temperatures reached a critical level, and residents began showing signs of life-threatening conditions."

"By the twenty-fifth minute, most residents lost their ability to move."

"By the thirtieth minute, the area's temperature matched the surface, and no significant signs of life were detected."

The rescue team pieced together the incident through remaining surveillance footage and communication logs, compiling it into a detailed report for Jianghe City's officials.

One high-ranking member of a major shelter later shared the report in the elite chat group, drawing widespread attention.

The residential area itself was not significant, but its fate was strikingly representative of what could occur in other shelters. The scenario was terrifyingly easy to replicate, sparking concern among all who read it.

"The advantages of underground shelters are becoming less significant."

"It seems the key to maintaining a functioning underground shelter now hinges entirely on cooling systems."

Su Wu felt a wave of apprehension.

This dependency was dangerously fragile. If cooling equipment failed, there was no buffer, and the result would be catastrophic—a disaster capable of wiping out an entire shelter.

"I need to install a backup cooling system. I can't rely solely on the central air conditioning."

While his central air system was strengthened with survival points, making it more reliable than most systems in this world, it was still a single point of failure. Even during the recent massive earthquake that damaged the control center, the system had remained operational.

Yet it was not invincible. A backup system capable of maintaining minimal survivability would be simple and inexpensive to construct. For Su Wu, this was a straightforward task.

His gaze lingered on the final image in the report—a photo of the residential area plunged into darkness. Recalling the report's details, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow for the thousands who spent their final half hour in despair.

However, tragedies like these were a grim norm in the apocalypse. With time, they would become easier to accept.

July 26th

The surface temperature stabilized, staying above 90°C. While this prevented further escalation, the unrelenting heat was hardly cause for relief.

One small consolation for Su Wu was the increase in his Disaster Coexistence Trait multiplier, which rose to 0.03 due to the worsening external environment. This granted him an additional three survival points daily, nearly matching his fixed base income.

The harsh environment also forced changes in the Lime Shelter. Survivors relocated to the shelter's lower levels, halting all outdoor activities and large-scale construction or farming efforts. They huddled in cramped underground spaces, subsisting on stored food and facing an uncertain future with growing fear. With no other options, they clung to the faint hope provided by the shelter's internet.

On the network, people found solace in connecting with others, reminiscing about the past, and holding onto slivers of hope for the future. Su Wu noticed the increased activity on his internet platform. After some thought, he decided to expand its reach by constructing a new communication tower at the watchtower base, located 13 kilometers from the main base.

This move pushed the internet closer to the heart of Jianghe City, significantly increasing its coverage area.

With the addition of the new communication tower, the internet's coverage extended 13 kilometers deeper into the city, reaching nearly half of Jianghe's urban area. This expansion boosted the network's user base from tens of thousands to over a million.

The flood of voices created a burgeoning virtual community, no longer a small, localized network. However, the internet's growing prominence inevitably attracted attention from both official authorities and other private shelters.

Soon, Su Wu was contacted.

"So, you want me to impose some level of content moderation," Su Wu said.

"Yes," came the reply from Ye Luoshuang, a representative he was familiar with.

This time, however, she wasn't just representing her shelter but the entirety of Jianghe City. Her role had been elevated, giving her newfound authority.

"Certain sensitive information can easily become distorted and exaggerated as it spreads. This, in turn, can destabilize internal shelter environments. It's best to cut off such content at the source."

On the screen, Ye Luoshuang's expression was tinged with both respect and a hint of disbelief. It was hard to fathom how, in just over a month, Su Wu's shelter had grown from a small outpost relying on geothermal generator sales to acquire resources into a force capable of influencing over a million people.

Even more remarkable was its military strength, which compelled Jianghe City's upper echelons to negotiate with him directly.

--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there 

patreon.com/LegendaryTL

Thanks!