novelTele Chapter 8 Underground Fortress Project
Chapter 8 Underground Fortress Project
When Li Xiaming opened his eyes in the morning, he rubbed his face and looked at the windowless room, suddenly feeling a bit depressed.
"Let's go for a walk. Now that Brother Lu has agreed to let me move around near the base."
Li Xiaming put on his coat and jogged out of the base, intending to go for a morning run in the green hills and clear waters near the base.
As soon as they stepped out the door, a loud buzzing sound came from above.
Li Xiaming looked up and saw several helicopters buzzing as they flew low overhead.
He looked into the distance following the helicopter's silhouette and saw billowing dust rising from the mountains surrounding the base.
At some point, all the trees on the two nearby mountains were leveled, and a wide temporary asphalt road was laid.
At this moment, a long line of heavy trucks and construction machinery is winding its way into the mountain valley.
Looking down from his vantage point, Li Xiaming saw countless workers wearing safety helmets, resembling a highly organized ant colony, visibly assembling large pieces of machinery and transporting them to an underground tunnel.
"I haven't left the house for just two days, could I have time-traveled again...? How was this built? Could it have happened in just these last two days?!"
While I was still in a daze, I heard footsteps behind me.
Li Xiaming turned around and saw Lu Yi wearing a dark gray tracksuit, jogging over.
"Are you stunned?"
"Brother Lu, this project is..."
Lu Yi followed his gaze to the bustling construction site, took a breath, and said:
"You've been staying indoors these past two days, so you don't know, but we're currently building underground shelters all over the country."
"Is it to withstand an ice age apocalypse?"
"That's right. The extremely cold surface is not suitable for production, let alone for people to live on, so we are preparing to move underground to preserve our strength."
Li Xiaming was not surprised by this plan. In the previous timeline, after the Ice Age, humanity gradually abandoned the surface and moved to various underground bases to survive.
However, after the Ice Age, it will be difficult to organize and mobilize such a large-scale project to expand the underground base.
So most of the people didn't have time to move underground, and then...
Thinking of this, Li Xiaming became somewhat worried.
"Brother Lu, is a month enough time to build an underground shelter large enough to accommodate most of the population?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yi gave Li Xiaming a strange look.
"The majority of the population?"
"So you really can't do it?"
"No, I just feel that Xia Ming, you've underestimated our country's infrastructure capabilities."
"Our goal is to protect all our compatriots; we will not abandon any University of Tokyo citizen!"
We need to move everyone from the surface to the underground; a month will be enough!
Lu Yi clenched his fist, a peculiar light gleaming in his eyes.
"Of course, I'm not saying this out of blind confidence, but because experts have calculated it."
"It is certainly not enough to build underground shelters from scratch."
However, we can expand and renovate existing air-raid shelters, large underground parking lots, underground shopping malls, and even subway networks in various provinces and cities across the country.
"After the glacial apocalypse, there is definitely enough space for all our compatriots to take refuge!"
"That's amazing."
Li Xiaming was amazed by the country's mobilization capacity.
"Xia Ming, you haven't had breakfast yet, have you? Looks like you won't be able to go for your morning run today. Come eat with me."
"Um."
Li Xiaming followed Lu Yi into the base's canteen and found that the once abundant pastries and meals at each serving station had now been uniformly reduced to two eggs with fried dough sticks and soy milk.
Lu Yi served Li Xiaming his meal, and the two sat down with their plates.
Lu Yi asked with a smile:
"You don't think it's stingy to eat this much, do you?"
"Brother Lu is joking."
Li Xiaming shook his head and said:
"During those two years of the Ice Age, people were so hungry that they would even eat cockroaches. I almost starved to death several times."
"Back then, I wouldn't trade a single egg for gold."
Lu Yi nodded, his expression becoming serious:
"It is precisely because of concerns about a food crisis following the arrival of an ice age that a unified food rationing system has been implemented nationwide, and hoarding and speculation are being severely cracked down on."
Not only food, but other daily necessities are also being gradually incorporated into the unified distribution system; the country has entered a state of full preparedness.
Li Xiaming was somewhat surprised: "So fast?"
"Won't this cause public panic?"
He recalled how, in the past, a simple rumor circulating online, such as that the seawater was being polluted by bacteria and that there would be a salt shortage, could trigger a salt-buying frenzy in supermarkets.
Li Xiaming's neighbor has been hoarding salt for ten years and still hasn't finished it.
However, what Li Xiaming could think of, the experts already had contingency plans for.
Lu Yi smiled, his tone steady:
"Don't worry, we are gradually demystifying the truth about 'Ice Age' by disseminating it from the provincial level down to the next, while simultaneously mobilizing the entire society."
Grassroots staff will fully cooperate to ensure a smooth transition and prevent large-scale panic or security problems.
Everything is progressing smoothly.
"However, while there are no problems domestically, things have gotten out of hand abroad."
Lu Yi opened the tablet and handed it to Li Xiaming.
Looking at the chaotic comments on the internet, Li Xiaming immediately wore the expression of an old man on the subway, as if he had seen something dirty.
A human rights organization stated: "Terrible! The University of Tokyo is building the largest underground prison in history, intending to imprison everyone. People will lose their freedom and all privacy! This is a human rights disaster!"
"Todai is awful! We have to stop them!"
CCB Times: "The University of Tokyo is constructing massive underground fortifications, which only serves to create global anxiety; the University of Tokyo is disrupting global order!"
Unofficial reports claim: "Tokyo University's excessive infrastructure spending may cripple its finances! Tokyo University is doomed!"
A netizen from the US Federal Republic commented: "What is the major move by the University of Tokyo trying to guard against?!"
A netizen from the United States commented: "I don't understand why the University of Tokyo would do this. Are aliens about to attack?"
A Korean netizen commented: "Is the University of Tokyo going to collectively play the role of groundhogs? Stuffing hundreds of millions of people into burrows? This is probably the funniest joke of the century (laughing and crying emoji)."
Sakura netizen: "Uneasy! Very uneasy!"
"The University of Tokyo is definitely building a large-scale underground military facility! We must demand international intervention to verify this!"
A South Vietnamese netizen commented: "What's there to be afraid of? This kind of show of force is definitely not aimed at small countries like ours..."
"But it's right that you Japanese are feeling uneasy; we wouldn't blame you for hitting us!"
A South Korean netizen commented: "I also agree with attacking Japan! But Japan is so weak, is it really necessary for the University of Tokyo to make such a big fuss?"
Sakura Netizen: "Baka! We are strategic allies with the United States Federation, invincible in the world!"
Before you kimchi eaters criticize us, you should take care of your northern neighbors first!
A netizen from the North commented: "A humorous old Japanese man."