Cave Refuge

Although Dong Tianyu didn't pack any water, he did pack five one-liter bottles of high-concentration, edible alcohol.

This had two uses: it could be used to clean wounds, or diluted with water to quench their thirst in place of any other drink.

At a time like this, talking about whether it is healthy or not is pointless. Even if someone were explicitly told it was industrial alcohol, they would still gulp it down to quench their thirst.

It's not that Dong Tianyu was stingy with alcohol. It's just that the cost-performance ratio of alcohol was too low. Cheaper alcohol could potentially be adulterated with drinking alcohol, so it was better to give pure ethanol directly, as it occupies less space.

After packing these items, Dong Tianyu looked at the remaining space in the bag. Based on his parents' sizes, he fetched a few sets of thermal clothing from the Black Tortoise Warehouse.

These clothes may not be enough for his parents to venture outside the Refuge Center, but they would certainly prevent them from feeling cold inside the center.

Dong Tianyu didn't know that the outside temperature had plummeted to minus sixty degrees, even reaching negative sixty-four or sixty-five degrees.

Still, the temperature in the underground Refuge Center managed to stay at around negative ten to twenty degrees. He wasn't sure how the Officials managed to make the difference between the inside and outside temperatures reach about one hundred degrees.

Having taken care of food, clothing, and shelter, Dong Tianyu had everything prepared except for transportation. As transportation is impossible at the moment, what remained was accommodation.

He was unsure about the hygiene conditions inside, so he didn't pack any soap. Instead, he packed ten regular bars of soap, as toothbrushes and toothpaste would be too conspicuous. So, he packed two bottles of mouthwash instead.

Just when he thought it was about all, Dong Tianyu, after careful consideration, also packed two manual razors, along with a few boxes of blades.

Not knowing if the Refuge Center was receiving electricity, he also included an electric hair clipper with batteries and a manual clipper for haircuts.

With all these preparations, Dong Tianyu decided to first deliver these supplies to his parents. If something was still missing, he could make another trip.

Of course, the best-case scenario would be to bring his parents to live with him.

Because he was going to come into contact with others, Dong Tianyu wore several layers of clothing over his robe, even adding an outer space suit-like outfit.

Ordinarily, wearing this many layers should feel suffocating, but the magic artifact robe he wore was self-regulated. It could keep warm and cool him down too, which meant that even with the space suit on, Dong Tianyu didn't feel stifled at all.

Under normal circumstances, the nearest underground subway Refuge Center to Dong Tianyu's cave mansion was the Outer Ring Refuge Center, which was three subway stations away from People's Square Refuge Center, where his father was.

For ordinary people, the best route would be to first enter the nearest subway station Refuge Center and then proceed to their destination through the underground subway network.

But once inside the subway network, Dong Tianyu would have to rely on his own two feet. So, after only a moment's hesitation, he decided to drive the Mustang directly to his parents' Refuge Center.

Although the Mustang didn't have a high top speed, now that there were no traffic jams, its moving speed could always be maintained at the maximum. Therefore, the journey didn't take as long as he'd imagined.

After retracting the Mustang into the Shadow Space, Dong Tianyu put on his backpack and slowly walked towards the subway station Refuge Center.

The subway station Refuge Center originally had three entrances, but to maintain insulation, two of them were sealed off, leaving only a few small ventilation passages.

Of course, the ventilation of the underground Refuge Center did not mainly rely on these vents. When the subway station was first established, considerations had been made for underground ventilation, so there were dedicated ventilation passages for air circulation.

The remaining entrance to the subway station was also semi-closed because it was frequently used. Hence, the insulation measures were the same as those used in the previous shopping malls – a non-porous layer of hard plastic on the outside, a thick layer of cotton curtain in the middle, and an additional layer of insulation cloth on the inside.

These triple layer curtains didn't completely block the cold air from outside, but they did a good job of insulating heat, making a noticeable difference despite their bulkiness and unsightly appearance.

As soon as he pushed through these heavy curtains and entered the Refuge Center, he saw two gatekeepers positioned at the entrance.

On seeing Dong Tianyu in his space suit, they looked surprised. They were not unfamiliar with this suit – they'd seen it often while on duty.

However, usually only the Officials' liaison officers wore this suit when they ventured out. Ordinary people wrapped themselves up tightly in layers of clothing.

But when Officials' personnel came, they usually arrived via the underground passage first, took on their tasks, and left the subway station Refuge Center. They only returned here after completing their tasks to exit through the subway network. Recently, nobody had heard of any liaison officers visiting their place.

So, one of the gatekeepers very discreetly pressed the alarm button on the wall.

The two gatekeepers picked up their weapons and watched Dong Tianyu cautiously, asking out loud, "Who are you? Why are you here?!"

Looking at the weapons in their hands, Dong Tianyu had a bad feeling. Even though the tensor baton was standard-issue, he didn't believe that the items he had sent to his relatives were also available to others in this Refuge Center - especially not with the same brand and size.

However, Dong Tianyu didn't say anything. He simply pressed a button on his suit to detach the hood from the jacket and removed the full-face helmet.

When Dong Tianyu removed the hood to reveal his face, the gatekeepers immediately relaxed. After all, a person willing to show his real face was likely not there to pick a fight.

Before they could continue their questioning, several fully armed soldiers emerged from the Refuge Center.

Standing at the entrance, Dong Tianyu was taken aback by this sight and had a sudden urge to turn around and leave.

However, seeing his father and other relatives among the crowd, Dong Tianyu dismissed the idea of leaving. No matter how one looked at it, leaving at this point would impact his father and the others negatively.

The people coming out of the Refuge Center, relieved upon seeing only Dong Tianyu at the entrance, realized that the situation probably would not escalate as it had a few days before.

Under normal circumstances, such a situation should not have alarmed the soldiers. At this time, soldiers would only patrol the residence and the entrances and exits of the subway network.

Outside, due to the weather conditions, ordinary people simply could not operate, so they did not arrange for patrols.

But who would have thought, a few days earlier, a group of people had stormed in. Was it because they were frozen outside or something? Brandishing a couple of machetes, as soon as they entered, they declared that this place now belonged to them. Anyone who disagreed could step forward to discuss it with the blades in their hands.