269: It's time to go out and upgrade

Tian Ming merely replied indifferently, leaving Ji Ruping unsure how to respond.

"Boss, don't you have any instructions regarding this?"

Tian Ming raised his eyes, looked at Ji Ruping, and after a moment of silence, said, "You're doing very well. Keep it up and strive for even greater achievements."

"The Underground City is progressing very quickly now, Boss. Why don't you come and take a look?" Ji Ruping suggested.

"I don't have time to look. If you have time, go to Dongshan Base and discuss with Ouyang Jie. We will first connect our Underground City with Dongshan Base's Underground City. Then, using Dongshan Base as a springboard, we will expand the Underground City. Any problems that arise, I will solve them," Tian Ming said slowly, looking at Ji Ruping.

Ji Ruping was startled. The East Sea City Shelter is nearly five hundred kilometers in a straight line from Dongshan Base. Even if tunnel boring machines were used to dig from both ends, it would take one to two years to connect them.

Seeing Ji Ruping's confusion, Tian Ming said, "Go boldly and negotiate. Prepare everything. For the connection, I will do it personally. I plan to gather all the survivors worldwide and build a technologically-centered underground empire. A single tree cannot stand alone; humanity's strength must be united."

As soon as Tian Ming said this, Ji Ruping became a little excited. She quickly asked, "Did the Alliance agree to this? Their underground base is also very complete. How could they possibly spend more effort building a new underground base?"

"That's not something you should consider. What you need to consider is how to haggle with those old guys. Study hard, ponder how to manage tens of millions of people in the future. If you can't manage them, I'll find someone else to do it."

Ji Ruping was overjoyed and quickly said, "Boss, don't worry, I will definitely not disappoint you."

Tian Ming waved his hand at Ji Ruping and said, "Go. From now on, you and General Manager Meng can make your own decisions regarding the Shelter's affairs. If you encounter problems you can't solve, then come find me. Now, this area of ours is relatively safe, so it's time for me to go out and level up, and deal with those high-level Corpse Kings."

Ji Ruping nodded slightly and said, "Boss, rest assured, we will definitely not disappoint you."

After Ji Ruping left, Tian Ming stood up and walked out of the office. Looking at the busy crowd inside the Shelter, Tian Ming let out a long breath. The location of Shen Yuan's main body still couldn't be discovered because his detection ability was too short-ranged.

If he could absorb some more Red Crystal Cores and extend his detection ability to cover hundreds or even thousands of kilometers, then finding the Lawrence Family's secret base would no longer be a problem.

A glint of light flashed in Tian Ming's eyes. He needed to level up properly. He would go out and clear out all the high-level Corpse Kings. He wondered how much that would increase his detection ability.

Tian Ming's figure instantly vanished, and soon, he appeared above Donghai City. Looking at the city below, a strong sense of emotion surged in his heart. This city, once so prosperous, had now become so desolate.

Originally, there were still zombies in this city, but due to Tian Ming's deterrence, they had all migrated out. The entire city was empty, and most of the supplies had been transported away by the Shelter.

Tian Ming landed in the city. He closed his eyes slightly, and various metal elements within a thirty-meter radius were attracted, condensing behind him. Iron, copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, nickel, cobalt, and even rare metals like gold, silver, and titanium—all these metals condensed into standard metal ingots behind Tian Ming.

Tian Ming transformed into a human mining machine, slowly wandering through the city. Before long, buildings that had lost their steel support collapsed with a roar, and Tian Ming returned to the Shelter with hundreds of tons of various metals.

After storing these metals outside the Shelter, Tian Ming entered the city again. He went back and forth like this until metal ingots covered the entire perimeter of the city wall.

The Shelter had many new residents, and they had often heard the original residents boast about Tian Ming's power, but these newcomers generally didn't believe it. If he were truly that powerful, why would the Shelter's Underground City still need to be built by themselves?

It wasn't until today, when those new members saw Tian Ming bring back hundreds of thousands of tons of metal ingots in one afternoon, that they were completely convinced. These metal ingots were transported into the Shelter in batches, then entered the newly built factories, and were processed into various metal products by automated metal forging machines.

The previous efforts of the Shelter had also been quite effective. With so many small automated factories established, basic industrial products were already self-sufficient, and they could even manufacture weapons and ammunition.

As dusk approached, Tian Ming stopped. This round of raw material replenishment would allow the Shelter to operate for quite some time.

After completing all this, he pushed open the office door again.

He saw Shen Yuan sitting in front of the computer, chin resting on her hand, looking at the 3D model on the screen—a completed section of the Underground City. Seeing Tian Ming enter, she looked up and revealed a sweet smile.

"Boss!"

"I still prefer it when you call me hubby!"

Shen Yuan's face flushed slightly as she said, "Alright, hubby, you replenished the production materials for the Shelter. Are you preparing to go out?"

Tian Ming smiled calmly and said, "Yes, I'm going to find trouble with the zombies. My current control range is 30 meters, and my detection range is about 6 kilometers. I'm going to find some second-generation zombies to acquire white Red Crystal Cores and expand my detection range."

Shen Yuan nodded slightly. As soon as Tian Ming mentioned detection range, she understood that he wanted to find the Lawrence Family's secret base as soon as possible to rescue her main body.

Seeing Shen Yuan's expression return to normal, Tian Ming said, "I don't know how long a twenty-fold Superpower Potion can extend the life of a clone, so I plan to take you with me!"

A hint of joy appeared on Shen Yuan's face, and she quickly said, "Are you serious? Taking me with you would be inconvenient. By yourself, you can run nearly two thousand kilometers in a minute. With me, we'd have to take a flying car, at most..."

Tian Ming smiled slightly: "It's not slow either. Fly higher, and we can still fly at five or six times the speed of sound."

"Will I be a burden to you? I think I'd better not go. I'm just a normal person now. If we encounter a Corpse King like Jiang Chen, I might..."

Shen Yuan actually wanted to go with Tian Ming, but her current clone had no special abilities. As an ordinary person, if she stayed by Tian Ming's side, it would be fine if they encountered ordinary zombies, but if they encountered someone like Jiang Chen, she would only distract Tian Ming.

Shen Yuan's words made Tian Ming ponder for a moment. If they encountered Jiang Chen, he indeed couldn't protect Shen Yuan properly.

Shen Yuan smiled faintly: "Hubby, you should still go alone and level up well. I'll wait for you here." As she spoke, she placed a radio receiver with a specific code into Tian Ming's hand.

"I made this at the Shelter's small electronics customization factory. In places where the Alliance's communication signals can't reach, high-power radio is the most reliable. If something happens to me, I'll send you a specific signal, okay?"

Tian Ming smiled and pinched Shen Yuan's face: "It has to be you; you're the most considerate."

"Of course!"