Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Shelter Expansion
The contents of the entire room were strewn about chaotically.
Bena had seen this sort of thing many times before.
In fact, he knew from the door he had just come through that the entire space was upside down.
The building had flipped a full 180 degrees when it collapsed. What was once the ceiling was now the floor, and the floor had become the ceiling.
Looking at the utter mess, Bena felt a headache coming on. Finding anything useful in these conditions would be a hassle.
But a hassle or not, he had to bite the bullet and get to it.
Bena rummaged carefully, and soon, a blueprint caught his eye.
He was a rough, uncultured man who couldn’t read a lick, so of course, he had no idea what was written on it.
However, he did know that a complete blueprint like this could fetch a good price from some of the larger organizations. It was said to be related to pre-Cataclysm technology.
In the past, he and his group had no way to trade these blueprints with the major organizations for anything useful.
But this stuff was as good as hard currency; it could be paid to the raiders as part of their monthly tribute.
At first, Bena considered leaving the blueprint behind. After all, he still had no way to contact those major factions, nor did he need to pay any monthly tribute.
However, it quickly occurred to him that since this thing was related to old-world technology...
’...then might it be useful to the Overseer?’
’After all, there was plenty of high-tech equipment in the shelter.’
At that thought, he hastily stashed the blueprint in the pack on his back. After another careful search confirmed there was nothing else of value, he left the room.
... ...
「Inside the Shelter」
Ye Yun stared at the blueprint in his hand, an expression of unconcealed joy on his face.
"Bena, you’re my lucky star! To get such a great haul on your very first trip out!"
[Schematic: Repair Bot (White)]
[Description: A schematic for crafting a Repair Bot (White). Can be crafted with the corresponding basic components.]
He had been planning to build a[Repair Bay]for some time. After all, with the exploration and combat of the past few days, Unit 1 and Unit 2’s durability had visibly decreased, even if they showed no obvious signs of damage.
Unfortunately, the[Repair Bay]itself required a repair bot to construct, which was why he had been unable to build one.
But now, he had the most important component: a repair bot. And even better, it was a schematic.
This was even more useful than finding a fully assembled repair bot.
After all, once he learned the schematic, it meant he could mass-produce them.
After yesterday’s mutated cockroach attack, the various shelters had all suffered some degree of damage.
Structural damage could be fixed with construction bots and a bit of power, but when it came to their bionics, everyone was helpless.
This was especially true for the many shelter overseers who hadn’t strengthened their bionics beforehand. Their combat power was insufficient, and even if they survived by using Lei Hu’s "meat shield" strategy...
...the durability of the bionics they used as shields had inevitably plummeted.
If these severely damaged bionics couldn’t be repaired, they would most likely be useless for future exploration.
Ye Yun immediately learned the schematic.
[You have learned the Schematic: Repair Bot (White).]
[You have acquired a new schematic.]
[Repair Bot (White)]
[Production Requirements]:
[Power: 10][10/10]
[Construction Bot: 1][1/1]
[Basic Component Requirements]:
[Damaged Circuit Board (White)]x10[10/10]
[Damaged Battery (White)]x5[5/5]
[Rusted Trigger (White)]x4[4/4]
[Broken Wooden Handle (White)]x4[4/4]
[Broken Iron Wire (White)]x5[5/5]
... ...
’Good. It doesn’t require many parts, and I have all of them in the warehouse.’
[Assessment Type: Production]
[Assessing production risk...]
[Item for production:[Repair Bot (White)]]
[Assessment: 100% chance of obtaining a White-grade item. Risk Factor: 25%.]
He tweaked the recipe and quickly arrived at the perfect formula.
Ye Yun clicked "Produce." Ten minutes later, a multi-legged robot about the size of a hot water kettle appeared in the warehouse.
Now that he had a repair bot, the next step was naturally to put it to use.
However, it was only when Ye Yun opened the construction list that he realized something.
He had built the[Science Lab]yesterday to produce the Rad-Clear for Bena, which meant he had used up the last available construction slot in the shelter.
He didn’t panic, though.
Ye Yun looked at his system interface.
Shelter
Used Slots: 7
Available Slots: 0[+]
Food Reserves: 25/100[+]
Freshwater Reserves: 25/100[+]
Power Reserves: 400/400[+]
Medical Supplies: 0/100[+]
Construction Bots: 2
Bionics: 2
Shelter Members: 2
Ye Yun clicked the[+]next to "Available Slots."
[Increase the number of shelter construction slots?]
[This expansion requires one construction bot to work for 24 hours and will consume 100 Power.]
Ye Yun found the cost of the upgrade acceptable.
He had upgraded the shelter’s power capacity before.
The first upgrade had taken two hours and cost 50 Power.
The second upgrade’s cost had doubled to four hours and 100 Power.
Following that pattern, the next time he wanted to expand the shelter’s construction slots, it would likely cost 48 hours and 200 Power.
For an ordinary shelter overseer, this might not seem like much.
The power wasn’t a major issue; the trading post was flooded with Power Cubes. It was a buyer’s market, with far more supply than demand.
However, the construction bot’s time was incredibly precious to Ye Yun.
This was true even though he had two construction bots. With his vast collection of perfect schematics, almost every production run represented a net gain in resources.
But he had no choice but to upgrade now. All the existing structures in the shelter served a purpose, so he couldn’t possibly demolish one to make room for the new Repair Bay.
His mind made up, Ye Yun didn’t hesitate any longer. If it took 24 hours, so be it.
He immediately hit "Confirm."
One of the construction bots immediately got to work.
Seeing how satisfied the Overseer was with the schematic he had found, Bena was overjoyed.
"I’m glad you like it, Overseer. It’s just part of my duty."
After saying that, he hesitated for a moment.
Ye Yun noticed Bena’s expression. He arched an eyebrow.
"If you have something to say, just say it."
Bena gritted his teeth and pulled out the iron box he had carefully hidden away.
"Overseer, I have something here. I found it a while back when I was scavenging. I think it’s a real treasure, but I’ve never figured out what it is, and I didn’t dare show it to anyone."
"See what you make of it. Of course, if it’s useful to you, Overseer, then I want you to have it."
Bena’s words piqued Ye Yun’s interest.
"Alright, let me see it."
