Wasteland for All: I Can Infinitely Upgrade My Vault

Having gathered the resources to upgrade the shelter, Zhongli arranged for Wu to lead all the cyber slaves to continue scavenging for steel and alloys.

Bring your own resources to the command center to upgrade the shelter.

After resources were allocated, a system notification sounded.

[Ding, the conditions for upgrading the shelter have been met. Confirm the upgrade?]

【Sure!】

[Ding! Shelter successfully upgraded to [Small Shelter]. Public support +1, Shelter reputation +10.]

[Sanctuary Reputation: Wasteland Dust - 10/100 (At this reputation tier, there is a very low chance of attracting 1-3 refugees to the sanctuary each day)]

Although still a speck of dust in the wasteland, the shelter has shed its dilapidated state and now has a foundation for survival. Please choose a development trait for the shelter.

[Ding! Shelter trait successfully obtained. Please choose one carefully.]

[Beast Warriors: Power comes from the wild, glory from battle. Post-battle rewards +5%, Runes and loot gained +3%.]

[Dark Brotherhood: The shadows beneath the light are the true reality of the world. Territory detection range +500 meters; no enemy unit can hide within this detection range.]

[Mobilization and Inspiration: No powerful enemy can shake our faith. The State Religion and the Political Commissar stand with us, for glory! When territorial units focus fire on the same target, each soldier's damage increases by 1 in that order.]

Zhong Li pondered for a moment and decisively chose Mobilization and Inspiration. For no other reason than that the Spirit of the State Religion, the Political Commissar's Inspiration, and the accompanying chaplains and combat nuns perfectly suited the current style of the refuge. Moreover, the effect was very powerful, increasing damage by 1 for each target targeted. That is, after he attacked a target, if Hong Luan attacked that same target again, the damage would increase by 1 point; and if Huo Wu attacked again, the damage would increase by 2 points.

When non-elite soldiers in this territory focus their fire, such as six or seven shelter guards, the damage is considerable, adding an extra 5 points of damage. Even against a mutant mini-boss, they can deal significant damage.

Zhong Li then checked and found that upgrading to a medium-sized shelter required 100 members. Even if they received 3 refugees per day, it would still take a month to upgrade.

The upgrade wasn't urgent, so Zhongli returned to Ye Wei's tent. The stench of blood inside was even stronger. Huo Wu was wiping her blood-stained, fiery red longsword, Duan Hong, clearly having just dealt with the minotaur's blood.

Then Zhong Li squatted down next to Ye Wei and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Ye Wei smiled gently and said, "I feel much better now. After giving Huo Wu my blessing, the countdown has still increased to 4 hours and 17 minutes."

Zhong Li tried to check Ye Wei's attribute panel, which was still blood red [Cannot be looked at directly, cannot be perceived (extremely deadly)]. These bloody words seemed to have a layer of blood mist swirling on the surface.

Well, Zhong Li figured he probably wouldn't be able to see Ye Wei's attributes anytime soon. There are too many indescribable things in this world; knowing less is a form of protection for oneself.

Zhong Li relaxed a bit and comforted Ye Wei, "Don't worry too much. Let's replenish our strength and then go clear out the ratman dungeon immediately. As a dungeon, it must have a lot of monsters inside, and we can collect a lot of blood."

Ye Wei smiled gracefully and said, "Yes. I believe our condition will definitely get better and better. By the way, Master, the resource synthesis chamber has started generating its effects. Hong Luan has retrieved all the food produced; you can try some."

Hongluan immediately picked up a black military backpack and placed it in front of Zhongli. Inside, a large bag of compressed biscuits was neatly stacked.

[Ding! You have obtained 100 Beginner Compressed Biscuits (Type C)]

Zhong Li's eyes lit up immediately. Compressed biscuits! He had previously thought they were made from starch or similar raw materials, but he hadn't expected them to be directly synthesized into compressed biscuits. This thing was even more advanced than he had imagined.

Zhongli gave Hongluan and Huowu two pieces each, saying, "With this, we won't need to eat that disgusting dried mutated meat anymore. However, given the Holy Maiden's physical condition, it would be best to find her a kettle and boil the compressed biscuits in hot water."

Many water bottles were lost during the clearing out of scavengers, but a clean water source is still nowhere to be found.

Ye Wei said considerately, "It's alright, the polluted water doesn't affect me much. Besides, I've been sitting here the whole time, so I'm not very hungry."

Huo Wu ate her compressed biscuits expressionlessly, silently replenishing her strength. Hong Luan, on the other hand, frowned slightly and said, "The humidity in the air is very high, which means there might be a plentiful water source not far away. I think if we explore a little further, we can find a clean water source."

The downside was that their water buckets were all broken, and even if they weren't broken, the water they drew was polluted water from a ditch, licked by all sorts of mutated creatures and wild animals, just like the puddles in the African savanna during the dry season. Zhong Li didn't really want to drink it.

Finding a water source is another top priority for the shelter.

As Zhong Li was still munching on a compressed biscuit, pondering the upcoming work arrangements at the shelter, a system announcement suddenly sounded:

[Gaia Wasteland Announcement: One thousand survivors have successfully upgraded their shelters, sowing seeds of hope across the wasteland. The first phase of Project Wasteland has been successfully activated. Through the exchange and interaction, sparks have ignited, civilization has been born and developed, and the [Civilization Exchange Module] and [Skynet Trading Module] are now officially open.]

Zhong Li immediately opened the two modules to take a look. The interface was simple and easy to understand. As the names suggest, they were the [Communication Module] and the [Trading Module].

However, the cost of using such a high-level communication platform is extremely expensive!

The [Communication Module] is divided into several modules: [Civilizational Exchange], [Wasteland World], [Regional Center], and [Private Channel].

The fees are increasingly exorbitant: a single sentence in the [Private Channel] costs 1 rune; in the [Regional Center], each word costs 1 rune, with a limit of 100 words; and in the [Wasteland World], a single message costs 100 runes, with a limit of 50 words. As for [Civilization Exchange], it simply displays a message indicating insufficient permissions for Zhongli, preventing entry.

The [Trading Module] is relatively simple, allowing items to be traded between different shelters. There's a 10% transaction fee, and if the fee is less than 100 runes, it's calculated as 100 runes. Those hoping to reap the world's wealth here with just a bottle of water should forget about it. They probably can't even afford the transaction fee.

However, even with such a demanding and expensive price, not everyone can use it. You must upgrade your shelter to small or above to have access to these two modules.

In other words, as of now, only 1000 elites who possess both luck and ability have the right to use it.

The exorbitant cost of 100 runes in the [Wasteland World] channel is simply prohibitive for most people.

The [Communication Module] had been open for two or three minutes, but the [Wasteland World] channel remained empty. Even after Zhong Li finished eating the compressed biscuits, no one uttered a single word. The [Regional Center] was even more deathly silent. Zhong Li even wondered if there was another shelter in this area besides himself that could squeeze into the 1000 available spots.

Zhong Li had finished eating and was about to close the [Communication Module] when a message suddenly appeared in the empty [Wasteland World] channel.

[Lu Qing: I'm truly at my wit's end. My husband is bleeding profusely; he used all his strength to save me and is about to die. Does anyone know how to save him?]

[Lu Qing: [Shelter Guardian Contract Scroll] x3. If anyone can provide an effective method, I am willing to offer these three precious scrolls as a reward! I will never go back on my word! Otherwise, I will die with my lover!]

200 runes! This woman is really willing to pay any price.

The [Wasteland World] channel remained empty. Those elites aiming for the top 1,000 to upgrade their vaults wouldn't waste their precious resources on meaningless conversations or hysterical questioning. After all, there had been many signs before the apocalypse. And no one would offer an answer without certainty.

Zhong Li thought for a moment and decided to give it a try, typing: "You can try soaking him in the blood pool; that should stop his injuries."

Zhong Li Ken replied, certainly not because he was moved by her love.

Instead, Zhong Li felt that the injuries she described were somewhat similar to Ye Wei's. So he decided to test the waters and see if this method could stop the bleeding. If so, it would mean that the struggle between darkness and crimson might not be as hopeless as imagined.

On the other hand, Zhongli had nowhere else to use these runes, so he decided to take a gamble. He was betting that the other party was sincere and, as an elite, understood the importance of credibility and wouldn't break their promise.

He lost 100 runes in the bet, but it won't affect his current development much. He can just consider it spending 100 runes to show off in front of everyone and boost his reputation.

If he wins the bet, he will immediately gain 3 shelter guards! This will greatly help his early development and the efficiency of exploring the ratman dungeons.

It's incredibly profitable.

A moment later, a system notification sounded: [Ding! You have received 3 copies of the [Shelter Guardian Contract Scroll] from [Survivor Lu Qing]. Accept? (Transaction cost 100 Runes, already paid by the recipient)]

【take over!】

[Ding! Survivor Lu Qing requests to add you as a friend.]