September 14, 342, 6:00 AM.
The east was already showing the pale white of dawn, and the sun was about to rise.
On the broken road, a group of over a dozen people, ragged and staggering, moved forward.
"Boss, when will we reach F City base?"
A thin young man asked weakly.
"Soon, we're almost there. We'll make it before the sun is high!"
The middle-aged man, called "Boss," reassured him.
Ever since the G City shelter collapsed and its people scattered, they had been wandering in the wilderness for over ten days.
Most people from the G City shelter chose to flee south, towards Hailing City.
However, Hailing City was too far.
They had no confidence in reaching it on foot.
Although the G City shelter officials had a conflict with the F City base before its collapse, they decided to give it a try, taking the salvaged scrap they could collect, and heading north.
After all, F City base was the only place where they could exchange scrap for various supplies.
This group of a dozen people was just a vanguard; more people were following behind.
They hoped to encounter convoys from the F City base on the road, relay the news about their scrap, and hire F City base vehicles to pick them up.
Unfortunately, they had not encountered any convoys heading towards the G City shelter along the way.
Watching the sun slowly rise in the east, the middle-aged man, known as "Boss," cursed inwardly:
"It's all the fault of those useless higher-ups in G City! Why couldn't they just trade fairly? Why did they have to be opportunistic and offend people from F City base? They've caused so many deaths..."
Just then, someone shouted, "Boss, look! F City base!"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man strained his eyes and indeed saw the high towers emitting electromagnetic pulse shielding, standing tall on the endless plain in the distance.
"Quick! Speed up!"
The group, unable to hide their joy, quickened their pace.
Soon, they arrived at the heavily guarded cold storage wall.
This cold storage wall was formed by a row of 5-meter-high cold storage units tightly fitted together.
On the outer perimeter, people in specialized mechanical exoskeletons were patrolling.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Upon seeing the group of over a dozen people, those in specialized mechanical exoskeletons immediately approached, asking warily.
Although criminal gangs around F City had been largely eradicated in the past three months, they still maintained necessary vigilance.
The middle-aged man quickly replied, "We're from G City."
"G City?"
Upon hearing this, the people in specialized mechanical exoskeletons became even less welcoming.
They said, "Our base announced long ago that we would not conduct any transactions with anyone from the G City shelter. You've come for nothing, so leave now!"
The middle-aged man hastily explained, "The G City shelter has collapsed!"
The people in specialized mechanical exoskeletons were also surprised by this news.
The collapse of a shelter was no small matter.
Glancing suspiciously at the middle-aged man, they eventually led the ragged group to the main gate.
They took out their walkie-talkies and reported the incident at the South Gate of F City base.
At this moment, Tang Li happened to be at the exchange point of the F City stronghold.
Looking out from upstairs, she could only see a dense expanse of solar panels.
From June 14th to September 14th, these three months were the hottest part of the extreme heat season and the peak of the severe drought.
Due to the lack of water resources, many shelters across the country had collapsed.
The collapse of shelters led to an influx of refugees.
Therefore, in these three months, F City base had taken in over a hundred thousand refugees.
These people survived by collecting scrap and selling supplies, and they were unwilling to leave F City base for official shelters.
Tang Li had never expected that what she initially intended as a "post-apocalyptic shopping mall" would eventually become a base with a population of over a hundred thousand.
They were unwilling to be sent to official shelters!
In fact, some of them had come out of official shelters themselves.
There was no choice but to let them temporarily reside in camps around the exchange point, which was the original small county town of F City.
However, Tang Li, being reborn, knew that a major earthquake was coming, making it unsafe for these people to live in multi-story buildings.
So, she replicated various cold storage units and refrigerated truck containers from her spatial dimension to serve as residences for these refugees, charging a certain fee for them to live there.
Solar panels could also be installed on top of these cold storage units and refrigerated containers, providing sufficient power for the air conditioning and electromagnetic pulse shielding.
As for the other buildings in the county town, they were gradually dismantled.
Just as Tang Li was observing F City base below, Tang Guo approached her and informed her about what had just happened outside.
"The G City shelter has collapsed?"
Tang Li sighed with emotion upon hearing this outcome.
"Since the G City shelter has collapsed, from now on, treat refugees from G City the same as other refugees."