Chapter 5

After unloading all the supplies at the warehouse, Hayley moved the big generator into her inventory.

Luckily, she had plenty of space in her inventory.

Not long after, she returned to her base. She placed the generator in the innermost storage room of the fallout shelter.

Ding! [One thousand-kW generator detected. Reward: Indestructible, lowest-energy-consumption generator!]

Hayley's jaw dropped.

She stared at the generator, now looking like it was coated in silver. Its strength and durability were immediately way beyond what they had been. And the best part? It was indestructible!

Normally, generators needed maintenance to last long, and Hayley had only been hoping to make it last. However, the system had upgraded it automatically.

Amazing!

She moved on and installed the surveillance cameras on the wire fences she had set up yesterday.

Her tunnel hideout was in a perfect spot. Trees circled it, the main road was about a mile away, and a side road wound into the forest after about 500 yards. No one would ever notice a tunnel covered in wire here.

It wasn't noticeable at all.

The cameras covered every corner inside. Once she connected them to the generator, she could monitor any intruder—human or otherwise.

Immediately, the cameras and electrified fences powered up. Her computer screen filled with tiny surveillance feeds, one for every angle.

Then, the system chimed.

Ding! [Monitoring and electrical grid system detected. Reward: Monitoring system upgraded! Coverage of the surveillance cameras increased 10x and can automatically detect all living and non-living entities! Electrical grid system upgraded. Maximum shock output: 10 thousand volts!]

Hayley stared at her screen, astonished.

She zoomed in on one camera. The pixel clarity was ten times better than before. Her 300-foot range camera now stretched a full mile, letting her see the road through gaps in the trees.

A bird tried to land on the fence. It hovered and chose a spot—and with a loud zap, dropped straight down.

Hayley's eyes glinted. Perfect!

This defense was lethal. Anyone trying to break in? Instant death.

"Summer, stay away from the fences, okay?" she warned.

"Woof!"

Upgraded Summer had grown bigger and smarter, more intuitive than before. Hayley ruffled its head, then pulled out the stuff from her old fridge from her inventory. They ate together.

After the meal, she got back to organizing her base. Even cleaning the fallout shelter earned rewards.

She cleared the water well and trimmed overgrown weeds.

Ding! [Water well upgraded. Reward: Independent mountain-range clean water source!]

Ding! [Weed coverage reduced. Reward: High-quality soil! Crop yield increased 100x! Growth speed increased 10x!]

Hayley grinned. She now had clean water and rich soil.

Her base was getting stronger and better every day. Soon, she could grow her own fresh fruits and vegetables and be self-sufficient. She made a mental note to buy seeds next.

Ten days passed. The apocalypse was less than three days away.

For the past seven days, Hayley ran six miles around the shelter every morning. Her stamina skyrocketed, and she learned the terrain perfectly.

Her tunnel hideout sat deep inside the mountain. She had strung barbed wire from the middle of the slope all the way around, like a crown of steel.

On one side, the wire ended where the cliffs dropped off so sharply that no one in their right mind would try to cross. And if somebody thought about coming in from the far side of the mountain? Forget it—that climb was even worse!

Behind the bunker, the ground rose steeper than the front, choked with bushes and trees that made it nearly impossible to push through.

The only real threat was fire.

Wildfires were always a big deal, and the only real way to stop one was to chop down a whole stretch of trees for a firebreak.

But if Hayley cleared that many trees, her location would be exposed.

After thinking it over, she decided against it and started sweeping away the dry leaves and fallen branches around her bunker instead. Cutting trees was off the table—it was too risky. In the apocalypse, people were scarier than fire. A stranger showing up was way worse than any disaster nature might throw at her.

She had to remember what mattered most.

And honestly, forest fires didn't just spring up out of nowhere. The ground was damp, and clearing the brush lowered the risk enough.

So Hayley worked her way outward, carving a clean path around her bunker. That was when a voice chimed in her head.

Ding! [Fire hazard reduced. Reward: Nothing inside the cleared zone will ever burn!]

Hayley couldn't help smiling, impressed by how awesome the perks were. Her shelter's safety was leveling up big time.

Now that the biggest threat was eliminated, she immediately threw herself into other work.

Every inch she cleaned and every fence she reinforced improved the defenses of her base, making it stronger and stronger.

Meanwhile, her deliveries kept coming. During the day, she worked in the shelter. At night, she went to the warehouse to pick up packages.

She had installed massive cameras at the warehouse entrance, and Summer helped guard the place. It was peaceful now, so people wouldn't dare steal with a huge dog watching.

The delivery guys always unloaded truck after truck, then left as soon as they were done.

At night, Hayley would go over everything and pull them into her inventory, then carry them back to her base.

Ding! [Warehouse full.]

All 100 tons of pasta, 1,000 boxes of instant noodles, 200 boxes of sausage, 100 boxes of pickled vegetables, and over 20 thousand meal packs were neatly stored in the innermost warehouse.

Ding! [Reward: Super warehouse! Food remains permanently fresh!]

The massive metal doors now looked like something from a bank vault. Not even professional explosives could open them—only Hayley's iris could.

Inside, all items were sorted and stored. And the best part? Permanent freshness and no spoilage!