69: overnight

Shen Yuan looked at Tian Ming, her eyes full of confusion. Iron Man? With the current conditions, trying to hand-craft something like that was basically a pipe dream.

"Can't make it," Shen Yuan said, shaking her head repeatedly.

"Why not? Hardware and everything else aren't a problem!" Tian Ming asked.

Shen Yuan couldn't help but roll her eyes: "Two problems. First, the mecha's energy source, it would at least need to be nuclear, right? Second, how do you solve the human-machine interaction system? One overload during flight, the outside is intact, but the person inside is dead."

Tian Ming said blankly, "I don't understand!"

Shen Yuan said helplessly, "Boss, just stick to building conventional aircraft. Taking too big a step can cause problems."

"Then if I wear looser pants, won't it not cause problems?"

...

"Then you might as well not wear any!" Shen Yuan was somewhat speechless.

"That won't do, wouldn't I be exposed?"

"Boss, if you don't start talking properly, I'm really going to ignore you."

This Boss was truly speechless. Why did she end up with such a speechless Boss?

Tian Ming said seriously, "It's already dark. How much longer do you need?"

"Hmm, two and a half hours, I guess!" Shen Yuan looked at the progress and said.

"Then it looks like we'll have to spend the night here. I'll go charge the batteries. You work a bit harder tonight and copy more data to take back."

Upon hearing that they had to spend the night there, Shen Yuan was not too happy and said, "Overnight?"

Her stomach rumbled. Shen Yuan looked up, gazing pitifully at Tian Ming.

"Here, instant noodles!" Tian Ming casually duplicated two buckets of instant noodles.

"I came here to work, and all I get is instant noodles?" Shen Yuan pouted, looking displeased.

"Here, canned beef." Tian Ming then took out two boxes of canned beef. Then two boxes of coffee, two cans of yellow peaches, two sausages...

"Enough, enough, I can't finish it all!"

Tian Ming then stopped duplicating, tore open the instant noodle packaging, and with a wave of his hand, a stream of water entered the noodle bucket. Soon, it heated up and boiled, and a bucket of noodles was ready.

The two ate and chatted like this.

"Boss, actually, I think you, in social terms, are quite a loser," Shen Yuan said while eating her noodles.

"You eat my food, drink my drinks, and still call me a loser. You really don't put me, your Boss, in your eyes, do you?" Tian Ming wasn't angry. After becoming powerful, his mind had also broadened.

Shen Yuan smiled and said, "No, don't misunderstand, I didn't mean to belittle you. If it were someone else with your superpower, they would definitely only care about themselves and would never build a Shelter or support such a large group of survivors?"

Tian Ming pouted and said, "Don't think of me as so noble. I'm not that noble. I just feel that hiding alone is too lonely and boring. Enjoying things alone is too dull; it's better to enjoy them with others."

"Pfft!"

Tian Ming looked at Shen Yuan, puzzled, "What are you laughing at?"

"Boss, this is your loser side. It's also fortunate to have you. Otherwise, my brother and I, even with our knowledge, would become worthless in the Apocalypse. The industrial system has collapsed. No matter how much you know, you can't recreate the glory before the Apocalypse." Shen Yuan's tone changed, becoming somewhat heavy.

Tian Ming was silent for a moment and said, "I'm not like you. Before the Apocalypse, I was just an ordinary person, and life was much harder than it is now. Now, things are much better. At least, I have the final say in the Shelter."

Shen Yuan glanced at Tian Ming. She sighed and said, "Boss, I miss my parents a bit. I don't know if they are still in this world. My brother and I both have virus antibodies, so I think my parents should too. This world stopped too quickly, and I didn't even have time to contact them."

As Shen Yuan spoke, her eyes reddened a bit. She sniffled and slurped her noodles.

Tian Ming looked at Shen Yuan, reached out, and gently patted her shoulder, comforting her, "It's okay, they must be in an official Shelter. They must still be alive. Once our Shelter is complete, I will definitely go to other Shelters to recruit people. We can look for them then."

Shen Yuan nodded and said, "I hope so."

As night deepened, Tian Ming set up a bed, and the two took turns copying data. They copied all night until the next morning, when all the necessary data was complete.

As dawn broke, Tian Ming was in good spirits, while Shen Yuan, with dark circles under her eyes, lay on the bed, not wanting to get up.

"Let's go, back to the Shelter," Tian Ming said.

"Oh, I'm so sleepy, let me sleep for another half hour!" Shen Yuan said.

"Then I'll go back by myself."

Hearing Tian Ming say that, Shen Yuan reluctantly climbed up. She swung her fists in the air at Tian Ming. Sometimes, this Boss was too annoying and not considerate at all.

The computer and the copied data disks were placed in a backpack, which floated directly beside Tian Ming.

"You always come up with new tricks," Shen Yuan said, looking at the floating backpack, shaking her head with a wry smile.

"Do you want to carry it?" Tian Ming retorted.

Shen Yuan immediately fell silent and followed Tian Ming downstairs, and the floating backpack also followed Tian Ming directly downstairs.

"Boss, I have a question. You said you can levitate objects, so why do you need to install thrusters on cars? I thought you could just directly control the car to levitate forward."

Tian Ming rolled his eyes and said, "The relative position of the things I levitate depends on my control range. This bag is stationary relative to me, so when I walk, it walks too. Aren't you silly? When I'm in the car, I and the car are one. To change the car's position, I have to change my own position. I and the car are one, so there's no reference."

Shen Yuan smiled and nodded, "Isn't that the concept of a reference frame from junior high? Thank you, Boss, for clarifying my doubts."

The two came to the stairwell. The high-voltage zombie, after a night of discharging, was already out of power and frozen solid. Tian Ming directly wrapped the zombie in metal and then levitated it in front of them.

Moving objects this way depended on volume, not mass. As long as the volume did not exceed Tian Ming's control radius, he could directly move it.

After the two got into the car, Tian Ming welded the high-voltage zombie to the car roof, and then they both got in. The lift thrusters sprayed high-speed air currents, and the flying car slowly ascended, then disappeared into the sky.

...

Below the female dormitory of the Shelter, there was a large puddle of frozen, bloody ice slag, and the person lying on this ice slag had a shattered head and a twisted body, the ground a mess.

Director Han's Enforcement Team had just been established when they encountered someone jumping from a building.

Beside them stood Aunt Lin. She cowered, not daring to look Director Han directly in the eye.

Director Han squatted down. The person no longer had facial features and was impossible to identify.

Zhang Hao, who was beside them, said, "Captain Han, no need to look. It's Yang Qian."

Director Han asked with a cold face, "Why did she jump?" Aunt Lin, who was beside her, timidly stepped forward.

"Liu Yu's matter was spreading like wildfire in the Shelter, and everyone was pointing fingers at her, so..." Aunt Lin lowered her head, her voice very small. As a Dama of the Shelter, Aunt Lin's mouth had not stopped on Yang Qian's matter.