Ai Jianfeng’s theory was not hard to understand.

When electricity was first developed on Earth, because of the various limitations, scientists had to find a substance that could accommodate and transmit energy to perfectly solve the humans’ energy shortage.

Centuries have passed, and those who pointed out the problem were replaced over and over again. The development of material science had also taken an enormous leap into space and exploration of other planets, yet the problem could still not be solved. Eventually, it progressed to a worse state.

Before the transmigration happened, energy was still an unsolved problem for those on Earth.

The energy problem was sustainable in Huaxia where it had maintained a stable cost. Even when there was an energy consumption limitation, the matter could be easily solved.

In the other regions beyond Huaxia, however, you would be able to notice the extreme energy shortage from the skyrocketing prices of energy!

Even if there was not an energy shortage, the breakthrough in energy storage was still extremely significant as the benefits that it would bring were beneficial to various technological advancements.

Solving the energy shortage allowed astronautics to advance into an era of interstellar exploration.

Weapon engineers would be able to make nuclear weapons a thing of the past and popularize weapons that utilize propulsion or incredible speed.

Medical science could research connecting a human’s energy supply to body parts and receiving energy transmission from external substances so they no longer had to suffer from pain.

Biological studies…

…

A breakthrough in energy supply would easily open up doors for other technological progress.

These massive technological developments were still a dream at the current stage of the territory.

It was like…

“Huh? Uncle Ai, are you saying that it takes ten tons of heatstones to restore energy throughout the territory?

“Ten tons is a lot. According to our current six points per day, eight hundred grams will take about… let me think about this.

“It’s going to take us forever to get enough heatstones!”

Su Chan tilted her head, thought about it after understanding the importance of the heatstone mine, and raised a critical question.

Heatstones were not like iron ores, where small mines had three to five million tons of ore, and large mines could go up to tens of millions of tons.

The headstones in the entire basin’s ground would add up to only fifty tons, and they had not even come up with a solution for mining them.

Ai Jianfeng scratched his head awkwardly as he looked at Su Chan’s serious expression.

“Well, about that, there will always be more solutions than problems!

“When I first set foot on the path of scientific research, I was overwhelmed by obstacles as well. My mentor once told me…”

Seeing that Ai Jianfeng changed the topic and started his “storytelling mode” to educate students, Lu Kuan, who was watching, could not suppress himself and burst out laughing.

Ai Jianfeng was bothered by him, and they started a new round of arguments.

Lu Kuan, who regained his body, had a complete personality change compared to ten days ago.

The gloominess that surrounded him was gone, replaced by cheerfulness and confidence in the future.

These two scientific research scholars, who were both over 50 years old, were acting like children.

Su Mo raised his head and was filled with joy as he watched them bicker.

“The level of the heat stone mine isn’t really that high right now. I have my ways to upgrade it, but it’ll probably take some time.

“Our plans to harvest them will not change, but we should implement quantity control. I hope that we can have a breakthrough in the energy shortage as soon as possible and at least improve the lifestyle of the people first.

“Without energy, we can only rely on manpower to develop the basin, which will be too slow.”

Su Mo stated his definite opinion.

The two research scholars immediately halted and turned their heads toward him simultaneously, both with different reactions.

Lu Kuan clenched his fist and threw it toward the air.

“I knew it! This foreign object that we’ve never seen before can be upgraded! The current absorption capacity is too small, but if we could double it, no, at least increase it by 50%, it’s unimaginable how much it can do!

“In half a month, we’d even be able to restore the power in the village with me in charge!”

“Lifestyle? Su Mo, don’t tell me we’re taking in more people into the territory?” Ai Jianfeng asked thoughtfully.

“Yes, I’ve already got concrete information about a human gathering place. They have a population of about 30,000 people. We can try to explore the place after the winter is over. We should try to at least increase our numbers to 3,000 to 5,000 people!

“When that happens, food won’t be the only problem, and it would also be essential to provide jobs for them. I’ve made some preliminary plans…”

‘When I was alone, every time I returned to the shelter, it was my time to go through my gains and have a good rest.

‘Things are different now. After returning to the territory, before I can warm my seat, there are already many things for me to settle, and there’s no time for me to stop.’

Su Mo thought to himself and was happy with the packed schedule.

The three instantly set aside everything and discussed the various details of the plan until the announcement for mealtime came from the village.

“Let’s head over and continue during the meal?”

The two research scholars stood up and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, let’s do that! Ever since I regained my physical body, I’d get so hungry if I skip a meal!”

“Let’s go have dinner together, Su Chan!”

The gloomy, snowy days had passed, and the clear sunny days called for an inexplicably good mood around the village.

They closed the shelter door and continued chatting as they stepped on the thin snow.

Soon, the group of four arrived at the newly built canteen located at the backside of the village.

“Shelter leader, over here!”

The simple canteen constructed from wood was not huge but it could accommodate 70 tables, which was enough space for 800 people at a time.

Su Mo turned to Chen Shen, who was waving excitedly at him, and laughed because he could not suppress the warm feeling in his heart.

When playing a construction simulation game, the strength of the territory, the living conditions of the people, and some subtle changes could only be represented by meaningless numbers.

The achievement of reaching a certain level where the basic demands have been met, and the gameplay restricted any further advancements, felt dull.

The feeling was different in reality.

Although the new wooden tables and chairs in the cafeteria had rough craftsmanship, they were much better than having most people squatting while eating previously!

The colorful ceramic plates and bowls on the table were not the most aesthetically pleasing but satisfied the people’s desire for a better lifestyle.

It was unbelievable that this place was desolate about half a month ago. The place was starting to take shape and was likely better than some poor villages on Earth.

Marshal Wang, who was surrounded by the crowd, felt shocked by the environment of the place.

He watched as Su Mo greeted every villager with a warm smile and acknowledged them by nodding as he walked into the canteen.

Despite being mentally prepared, he was taken aback by the situation and subconsciously stood up with an uneasy expression.

“Don’t worry. Sit down and eat!

“You’re lucky to have survived so many places. I hope you’ll cherish your life and be more mindful when doing anything in the future.”

The prejudice in Su Mo’s heart was gone after he learned the reason Marshal Wang had betrayed the human gathering place.

Unlike the villagers in the basin, Marshal Wang was merely the epitome of most people outside in this post-apocalyptic world.

He was guilty of wrongdoings, but he had not made a terrible mistake. It was not unforgivable.

As long as he was willing to shoulder the responsibility of leading the way to the gathering place and saving the struggling survivors before the situation worsened, he would be the hero who saved their lives.

“Come on, just take a seat. You’re such a strange person. Would it make you feel better to squat?”

Seeing that Marshal Wang finally sat down in embarrassment, Chen Shen instantly instructed the villagers in the back to serve the dishes.

It only took a moment for dozens of people to start spilling out to serve the prepared food skillfully.

Stir-fried cabbage, garlic sprouts, mixed vegetable pancakes, and a bowl of beef soup per person.

They were able to make do with whatever they had in the basin.

The fresh food resources in the basin had basically run out, but the chefs still cooked fancy dishes to their best ability because Su Mo had returned.

Two dishes with a soup that included meat were already considered an “extravagant” meal!

“How many fresh vegetables do we have left?”

Su Mo asked as he grabbed a vegetable pancake and chewed on it.

The vegetable pancake had a higher nutrition content and was much more satisfying than steamed bread.

However, the vegetable pancake was a bit crunchy because the vegetable roots were not completely chopped into tinier pieces.

The random vegetables were non-toxic but tasted slightly strange. The taste of each bite was different because various vegetables were mixed in the pancake.

“We have about two tons. It’s enough to last through the winter!

“Besides, our newly reclaimed land is already being used for agriculture. We planted the cold-resistant seeds you gave us, so you don’t have to worry about vegetables, shelter leader!”

Su Yuan held his chopsticks and gave a precise answer.

Th answer unintentionally exposed a problem in the basin.

They had a meat shortage!

Unlike vegetables that could be planted and induced mutations to generate special varieties, resolving the meat shortage would require large-scale farms and animals that could breed in order to meet the need for meat!

In addition, a meaty animal species would likely have a growth cycle of more than 100 days.

There was no current or future solution for a source of meat products.

Even after six months or a year, it would be difficult to fundamentally resolve the problem.

“Marshal Wang! The gathering place that you were at, how did you guys resolve food problems?”

Su Mo took a sip of the soup and asked him again with determination as he glanced at Marshal Wang, who silently wiped his tears while chewing the food.

The food consumption of more than 1,000 people in the basin required about 1,300 kilograms of wheat and nearly 50 kilograms of vegetables daily.

Any less and everyone would have to cut down on their intake, starving while they worked.

In the long run, the villager’s physical fitness would drop and it could lead to a series of diseases.

“Almighty Su…I mean, Shelter Lord.”

Marshal Wang was startled by Su Mo’s sudden question and wanted to stand up to answer him.

However, after seeing Su Mo’s compassionate eyes, he gulped down the vegetable pancake in his hand and responded with a complicated expression.

“Shelter leader, you might be unaware that those… who came to the New World to try their luck are basically people who were unlucky during the welfare disaster or were unable to acquire resources for whatever reason.

“There were no saved-up supplies, nor the conditions for development or progress. Anyone who wanted to live either had to scavenge for loot or… steal!

“There were those who formed groups and robbed the bases of foreign races, some robbed the foreign caravans, and there were plenty who robbed their own people. Many waited for another group to rob another race, and then they would attack and intercept the goods from them.

“Other than those people, some p*ssies who bullied the weak and feared the powerful specialized in robbing the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Those rotten people deserve to die!”

The reality of Marshal Wang’s experiences were things that the people sitting around the table had never seen nor heard of before in the doomsday wasteland.

Li Hu, who was the most knowledgable and experienced, subconsciously frowned as Marshal Wang continued to describe the chaotic situation in the gathering place.

“30,000 was the population of the place when I left. Based on the daily recruitment, I can assume that the number has only increased and not decreased. It’s highly likely that they have reached 40,000 people by now!

“The territory established a co-governance council which is managed by 16 territory lords, and each of them manages different hills and valleys.

“There are only one to two thousand people who are engaged in production in the territory. The rest are either robbing or scavenging for loot and ancient relics!”

Su Mo was suddenly intrigued by this piece of critical information.

He heard the words “ancient relics”, and he paused for a moment when Blazeland flashed across his mind.

He suppressed his urge to ask questions because of the crowd around them and continued to listen to Marshal Wang’s description of the territory.

“They were successful and stole a lot of resources when the foreign bases were unprepared initially, but after some time, the other territories started to take precautionary measures.

“The subsequent missions ended up with heavy casualties, and everyone turned their targets toward foreign caravans that passed through to explore their opportunities.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a long-term solution. The caravans started to avoid passing through after being robbed a few times. It would be risky to explore further lands, and the situation only grew worse.

“I’m afraid those people will likely…starve to death this winter!”

Humans were living beings and were compassionate to others.

The atmosphere around the table suddenly went silent, and everyone shuddered as he mentioned, “starve to death”.

“Have they not thought about moving out of the mountains to reach other human territories or leave the New World and journey the depths of the ocean?” Shen Ke questioned immediately.

“Of course they did. However, other human gathering places won’t provide you with food resources. You’ll have to hand them a huge amount of resources as your ticket to enter their shelter and be protected. You have to solve the problems of food and accommodation yourself, which makes it no different than being in the mountains.”

“What’s worse is that it was easy to get on the New World, but it’s not easy to leave. You’ll need a capital of resources to be able to return to the oceans, right? Unfortunately, more than 80% of these people aren’t in possession of that much!”

Everyone fell silent after Marshal Wang’s reply.

Marshal Wang did not speak any further and lowered his head to greedily slurp the soup with an unreadable look in his eyes.

The territory of the Almighty Su and the other human territories of the New World were two diametrically opposed extremes.

He saw hope and the perfect envisionment of the human gathering place in everyone’s eyes in the basin, who had just arrived in the New World.

‘They have a powerful lord who presides over the territory’s decision-making, enough defense forces to maintain the security inside the territory, and suitable jobs for everyone to shine.

‘The most important necessities, food, and accommodation are also taken care of, and they even f*cking have… heating systems!

‘In addition, they have a bright future and countless opportunities.

‘There’s no such thing as heaven, but this feels like heaven because I’ve been through… hell!’