I Have an Idea

The dire lack of manpower had been vexing Tang Yu all this time.

 Not only did it mean he couldn't effectively use all his guns, more importantly, it also meant that he had too few people to transport things, limiting the speed at which he could gather resources.

 Tang Yu tapped his finger against the table. "We have to draw survivors to us, not just wait around."

 Survivors would occasionally arrive at the original shelter. For example, the original group of survivors he had belonged to had learned of the shelter and rushed over. But there was nothing definite about this matter, and with the vacation villa in its current state, it was hard to say if any survivors would still come.

 Chen Haiping thought about it. "Maybe we can use the broadcast."

 "Radio? Weren't the signals cut off later?"

 Chen Haiping organized his thoughts before speaking. "In truth, the signals were never really cut off. However, after the apocalypse, a new substance appeared in the air. This substance seems to make it very difficult for electromagnetic waves to move through the air. This makes it extremely difficult to transmit signals.

 "In the early stages of the apocalypse, the signal transmissions were already very weak, but it was still possible to barely receive signals. Later on, the interference grew stronger and stronger, until ten-some days ago, the power interfering with the signal grew much stronger, causing almost all the signals to be cut off.

 "I say 'almost' because it's very difficult to send signals to other shelters, but it's still possible to transmit a signal to a certain distance around the shelter. And I recall that there's a signal tower in the vacation villa."

 Tang Yu nodded to indicate that he understood. "In the past, the news that there was a shelter here was sent from this signal tower, right?"

 But to his surprise, Chen Haiping shook his head.

 "The message was sent by the government. In the early days, the government appealed to everyone to set up shelters, even airdropping supplies such as food, guns, and ammo to them. This is what allowed small shelters to resist the demonized beasts.

 "Accepting survivors was also a demand from the government. Wang Tai only accepted several thousand survivors after bowing to official pressure, but ever since the signals were cut off, the government's influence has been dwindling, and the food Wang Tai was giving to the survivors was also shrinking…"

 Tang Yu hadn't known about this before. He had not imagined that there had been so many reasons behind the construction of a shelter.

 The plan was approved, but he still felt that it wasn't enough.

 The radio waves couldn't travel far enough, and one needed a corresponding receiver, such as a radio. Many survivors didn't have such things.

 He needed to broaden his channels a little more.

 "I've got an idea. Old Chen, do you recall how there used to be billboards everywhere before the apocalypse? I'm thinking that we can set up a billboard of our own."

 "A billboard??"

 Chen Haiping was dumbstruck.

 Roger's face might as well have been a giant question mark.

 …

 …

 There was a very large clearing behind Villa No. 1.

 It was here that the tavern and workshop had been constructed.

 This time, Tang Yu planned to build the market next to the tavern.

 At the market, not only could he purchase resources, he could find rare materials, forging blueprints, skill runes, and other such things. It was one of the three most important buildings in the early construction period of his domain.

 "Constructing the market costs three hundreds of Origin Crystal and one hundred units of Wood."

 From the outside, the market appeared like a small kiosk.

 The inside was about the same. There was a counter which was divided into ten partitions. The contents of each partition would refresh with different products every day.

 Wood Resource Pack (100 Units), Price: 10 Origin Crystals.

 Remaining: 10

 Stone Resource Pack (100 Units), Price: 20 Origin Crystals.

 Remaining: 10

 Iron Resource Pack (100 Units), Price: 50 Origin Crystals.

 Remaining: 10

 Fire Wolf King's Pelt, Price: 250 Origin Crystals.

 Remaining: 1

 …

 …

 Basic Warrior Automaton Blueprint, Price: 600 Origin Crystals.

 Remaining: 1

 "Found it!"

 Tang Yu rejoiced. The chances of getting a basic automaton blueprint weren't low, but he hadn't expected to get it on the first try.

 I truly have some lucky blood in me!

 With this blueprint, he could use the workshop to build basic warrior automatons. The automatons produced would have the strength of a Tier 1 Awakened. Not only would they have a certain level of battle intelligence, they would be unkillable so long as their cores were not destroyed. Thus, when it came to an actual fight, an automaton would be stronger than an ordinary Awakened.

 But he cared about this blueprint not because of the automatons' fighting power.

 It was more for their labor.

 These automatons were strong, didn't complain, and didn't get tired. Were it not for their lack of intelligence and limited movement, he wouldn't even need the moving team.

 The three core buildings that a Level 1 domain could construct had all been built. Tang Yu felt like he needed to carefully plan how he would spend the remaining several thousand Origin Crystals.

 He didn't have many resources left and couldn't build much. He could use this time to make a plan for his domain's development, choosing which of the many buildings available to him would help out the most before going back to building.

 …

 A small town sat several dozen kilometers from the vacation villa.

 The small town had only two entrances. The rest of the area was surrounded by a wall made of compacted earth and steel rebar. From a distance, it seemed like some slumbering black beast.

 People came in and out of the entrances. There were ragged survivors who had come from far away, and there were also fighters with guns or swords on their backs, going out to search for resources or demonized beasts to hunt, or returning.

 This was the Lindong Shelter, the largest shelter in the Lincheng region!

 Lanxi Garden, in the Lindong Shelter, had been a high-class residential district of the original Lindong County, and it had now become the living area for Lindong's officials.

 Inside a villa beside a gurgling stream, a middle-aged man looked out the window, his brow slightly creased.

 The evening sun slowly slid down the horizon, already half immersed. In the distance, the survivors who had gone out were on their way back. The wilderness was at its most dangerous at night. All teams would choose to return to the shelter on time rather than spend the night in the wilderness.

 This included the team he had dispatched.

 The route between Lindong and the Origin Crystal vein had been rather safe, and for Han Jing's team, there was basically no threat at all. He had estimated that, whether or not the Origin Crystal vein had been found, his team should have returned to the shelter long ago.

 But now…

 "Is there any news?"

 Lin Wei seemed to be talking to himself, but a human figure suddenly appeared behind him, their face indistinct and their voice scratchy. "There is still no word."

 "Do you think they interfered?"

 The 'they' Lin Wei was talking about were the other big bosses of similar status within Lindong. Only they could draw his attention.

 The black silhouette behind him hesitated. "It doesn't seem so. Only trustworthy people were sent for this mission, so there is no chance of the news being leaked. Moreover, the wilderness is vast and there are so many routes to pick from. Even if the others wanted to set a trap, it wouldn't be easy.

 "But… it is hard to say anything about Wang Tai. He could have leaked the information."

 Lin Wei coldly laughed. "That fellow wouldn't dare, nor did he have a chance to leak anything. But he's got some guts for daring to make demands of me.

 "Send a search team. Investigate the entire route. I need a thorough report!"

 Lin Wei's body radiated an imposing pressure.

 He did not care about whether Han Jing's group was dead or alive, but as for that Origin Crystal vein, so long as there was even the slightest chance, he wanted to control it!

 "With this Origin Crystal vein, Old Ghost Lu, I won't need to see your face anymore!"