Time slowly passed.
The wind and snow wandering between the mountains grew increasingly fierce.
In the extreme cold.
Large swathes of the Underworld Flowers, which had only just begun to sprout, were buried under thick snow.
They had survived their most dangerous phase.
Meanwhile, the special nutrients they extracted gradually converged deep underground towards the Magma Canyon, using the sounds in the air as a bridge.
At a certain moment.
In the lava lake flowing across the surface of the Magma Canyon.
A purple crystal's surface.
Suddenly developed dense cracks.
Then, they gradually stretched and elongated, forming a worm-like shape.
A few minutes later.
It wriggled slightly, slowly moving to the boundary between the lava lake and the shore.
Little by little, it burrowed into the hard rock.
The next day.
After breakfast prepared by Chen Xin.
Su Wu arrived at the control center.
Before handling the daily affairs of the shelter, he decided to check on the movements of the Amethyst Crystal Entities.
Soon.
His initially casual attitude was replaced by seriousness.
According to the detectors deployed in the Magma Canyon.
The Amethyst Crystal Entities, which should have only moved passively in response to earthquakes or lava, had gained the ability to move actively just a few hours prior.
They could even traverse through rock layers.
By now, it was estimated that over a thousand Amethyst Crystal Entities.
Had spread around the depths of the Magma Canyon.
And this was only within the first 50 meters underground.
In deeper areas, beyond the scanning range of the mass-produced crystal detectors.
The number of Amethyst Crystal Entities quietly spreading was completely unknown.
At that moment.
Su Wu felt extremely troubled.
If they were on the surface, it would be manageable, but spreading from underground.
How could he defend against that?
However, amidst the bad news, there was some good news.
The total number of these evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities clearly had an upper limit.
In the lava channels leading deep underground, there were still a large number of Amethyst Crystal Entities that had not undergone any changes.
Additionally, the active movement speed of the evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities was extremely limited.
Averaging only 30 to 45 meters per hour.
Much slower than a tunnel boring machine.
"Lock onto all underground Amethyst Crystal Entities and deploy armor-piercing shells."
"Change the patrol route of the Pioneer-class Land Destroyer to head to the Qinling Mountains in advance."
With a grave expression.
Su Wu first issued two emergency orders.
Regardless of the actual situation, cutting off the visible spread was definitely the right move.
Upon receiving Su Wu's authorization.
The firepower platforms on both sides of the Magma Canyon.
Fired dozens of specially designed armor-piercing rockets towards the canyon floor.
Seconds later.
Amidst a series of muffled explosions.
An area near the lava lake on the canyon floor.
Instantly experienced intense tremors.
Even causing the nearby lava lake to boil over.
Over a thousand initially evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities.
That had struggled to traverse the rock layers for half the night.
Were completely annihilated in the explosion before they could react.
A dozen kilometers away from the Magma Canyon.
The massive Pioneer-class Land Destroyer slowly turned in the white snowy wind.
Crushing through an irregular ice layer.
Rumbling towards the Magma Canyon.
The extreme cold and the obstacle of the snow.
Could not hinder this steel beast created by humanity's most advanced technology.
As it approached.
Information from deeper underground began to continuously appear before Su Wu.
"Nothing here, nothing here either."
Su Wu compared the holographic map.
Watching the data transmitted by the Pioneer-class Land Destroyer, the weight in his heart gradually lessened.
Thanks to his timely discovery.
The situation underground had not yet reached an uncontrollable level.
The activity range of the Amethyst Crystal Entities.
Was still confined to the area around the Magma Canyon.
However, the subsequent situation was not optimistic.
In the depths below 50 meters, there were over 12,000 Amethyst Crystal Entities spreading in all directions.
Moreover, the total number of these evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities.
Was still increasing over time.
Dozens more Amethyst Crystal Entities began to emerge from the lava lake of the Magma Canyon every minute, burrowing into the rock layers on the shore.
"We need to find a way to stop these things."
To be honest.
Su Wu did have weapons capable of attacking several hundred meters underground.
Even if he gritted his teeth and used the orbital strike from the Eden Satellite.
Leveling the entire Magma Canyon wouldn't be too difficult.
But it would be largely meaningless.
The origin of the Amethyst Crystal Entities was likely the same as the lava's origin.
From the asthenosphere, 80 to 400 kilometers below the surface.
At such depths.
Not only is it impossible to eradicate them, but even reaching that depth with an attack is infinitely harder than reaching the heavens.
"Completely eradicating the Amethyst Crystal Entities at their source is almost impossible."
"The only thing we can do."
"Is to try to intercept them in the shallower regions closer to the surface."
"And prevent them from developing further."
Su Wu carefully considered the situation.
Trying to find a solution.
When his gaze inadvertently swept over the average movement speed of the evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities on the statistical list.
A flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in his mind.
Reminding him of a certain construction tool.
The tunnel boring machine.
A tunnel boring machine equipped with a vibration crusher could dig up to 15 kilometers of underground material transport channels daily.
In terms of movement speed, it was almost ten times faster than the evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities.
Making it the perfect hunter for them.
"If we want to eradicate the Amethyst Crystal Entities underground."
"The tunnel boring machine only needs to retain the front drill bit and basic mobility."
"Its movement speed could be even faster."
"And the cost isn't too high."
"Given the hardness of the Amethyst Crystal Entities, once we find them."
"Just let the drill bit crush them a few times, then transfer them to the incinerator to burn for a while."
"Easily killing their activity and obtaining the largest number of remnant materials."
The more he thought about it, the more suitable it seemed.
Su Wu immediately pulled up the design software.
On the spot, he began drawing the blueprints for a new type of tunnel boring machine.
A dozen minutes later.
The design for the new modified tunnel boring machine, named the Amethyst Hunter Type I, was freshly completed.
It was then handed over to the Super Factory.
To be prioritized for production.
At noon.
After the first Amethyst Hunter Type I rolled off the production line at the Super Factory.
And was transported to the Magma Canyon by the snow transport vehicle waiting outside.
The tension and pressure that had weighed on Su Wu all morning were completely lifted.
With this specialized tool for underground operations.
Even if all the Amethyst Crystal Entities evolved the ability to move actively, they wouldn't escape his blockade.
"However, just having interception tools isn't enough."
"We also need to strengthen early warning."
"We need to use Survival Points to enhance a third crystal detector."
"This one can be mounted on a Multi-Wing Drone."
"Allowing it to patrol a wider range beyond the Pioneer-class Land Destroyer's patrol area."
"This way."
"It should be enough to ensure absolute safety within a 100-kilometer radius."
"As for areas further away—"
"We'll see when the time comes."
After dealing with the new threat posed by the Amethyst Crystal Entities.
Su Wu opened the underground map of the entire Jianghe City.
After this incident.
He vaguely realized that the safety level of the subsidiary shelters might be much lower than he had imagined.
If the Amethyst Crystal Entities evolved again in the future, gaining some new ability he couldn't anticipate.
It was possible that before he could respond.
All the subsidiary shelters in Jianghe City could have been overrun by the Amethyst Crystal Entities.
"Farming can be done anywhere."
"And even if it's temporarily destroyed."
"We can use the food stored in the warehouses to tide us over until new plantations are built."
"As for the activity areas, their purpose is to relieve residents' mental stress."
"It's good to have them, but it's not a big issue in the short term."
"At worst, people can squeeze in and rest in the previously built activity areas."
"Looking at it this way."
"Any new spaces developed in the Farmhouse Shelter underground can temporarily abandon other functions and be used entirely to build Standard Dormitories."
"With the current construction speed of 2.2 million square meters per day."
"Enough to accommodate 1.8 million new residents daily."
"Almost enough to directly house all the migrants from other regions moving in later."
Su Wu abandoned his previous balanced plan of simultaneously expanding living and food production areas.
Once again choosing a strategy prioritizing population intake.
Concentrating everyone in the safest Farmhouse Shelter as much as possible.
As for the series of hidden dangers and pressures this would bring.
He would find ways to deal with them later.
After all, no situation could be worse than everyone dying.
"The plantations corresponding to the population size cannot stop construction."
"But they can all be moved to the subsidiary shelters, where the remaining space is sufficient to accommodate these new plantations. At most, the risk of destruction is slightly higher."
"Also, the current 8-hour labor system."
"Is already somewhat insufficient."
"Mining, factory production, guarding, combat, shelter construction, etc., all require a large workforce."
"After all, if the development speed isn't fast enough."
"And those Amethyst Crystal Entities break through the blockade, submerging the entire Farmhouse Shelter."
"The consequences would be too severe."
"In the face of such life and death situations, human rights and labor laws have to take a backseat."
"From now on, everyone's daily labor time will be forcibly increased by two hours. Additionally, they need to work an extra 4 hours in the game to ensure sufficient Spirituality output."
After careful consideration.
Su Wu formulated a new labor law.
This unprecedented and stringent new regulation, to be implemented in the Farmhouse Shelter, which was about to gather half a billion people.
Would undoubtedly have a massive impact.
It meant that at least tens of millions of people would, from now on, have almost no time left for themselves apart from eating and sleeping.
Consequently, various aspects such as love, marriage, childbearing, internet, and cultural development would all come to a standstill.
"Anyway, even if we leave enough time, there's nowhere for shelter residents to have children."
"Let's focus on development for now."
"When we've built enough single rooms and family apartments, we can consider these future issues."
Looking at the rules he had personally modified.
Su Wu ultimately felt they were too harsh. After some thought, he added a supplementary clause.
During the two extra hours of forced labor, workers would receive double the amount of Contribution Points.
And these Contribution Points.
Would have higher privileges.
Allowing them to exchange for higher-grade food, education, medical services, and other luxuries from the shelter authorities in as short as a few months, or at most a year.
"All for survival—"
Over the next few days.
Due to the new labor law and the continuous influx of a large number of new residents from the Kuangjiang River Basin and the surrounding areas of Yu'an City through the first large-scale population transfer.
The development speed of Jianghe City once again increased by a level.
The halted excavation of the 8th underground level of the Farmhouse Shelter resumed.
At the same time.
With the completion of the 6th underground level of the Farmhouse Shelter.
To save time, the increasingly large engineering team simultaneously began excavation work from the 5th to the 1st underground levels.
These measures combined increased the Farmhouse Shelter's expansion speed from 2.2 million square meters per day to over 3 million square meters.
While the Farmhouse Shelter's scale continued to grow.
Su Wu's military strength also saw a terrifying increase.
The number of Heavy Main Battle Spider Robots exceeded 10,000, and the number of Multi-Wing Drones and Express Delivery Drones reached 200,000.
The number of ordinary Spider Robots even surpassed one million.
However, unlike the first two, which were almost purely for military use.
Only 300,000 of the ordinary Spider Robots were off-duty, responsible for ensuring the safety of surface transport teams and blockading the Qinling Mountains area.
The remaining 700,000.
Were still participating in various labor tasks.
Additionally, there were Machine Dogs, numbering several times more than the ordinary Spider Robots, serving as auxiliary combat and labor tools.
Widely used in every corner of Jianghe City.
Many ordinary people who hadn't entered the remote control center or been assigned Exoskeleton Armor, needing to participate in physical labor, would be assigned a Machine Dog.
To increase their labor efficiency.
Meanwhile, the Amethyst Hunter Type I tunnel boring machines, used to clear the evolved Amethyst Crystal Entities capable of active underground movement.
Had also been produced in the hundreds.
They operated like miniature underground trains, tirelessly shuttling through the de
pths of the Magma Canyon.
Constructing a tight underground defense network.
Preventing any Amethyst Crystal Entities from appearing within 5 kilometers of the surface.
As the price of such rapid expansion.
Su Wu's hard-earned resources from the Kuangjiang River Basin and the Yu'an City area were largely depleted.
Even the once abundant ordinary steel became somewhat scarce.
(End of Chapter)