Cave Refuge

The outside temperature was still dropping relentlessly; however, for ordinary people, it made no difference whether it was minus 30 or minus 80, as long as they didn't go outside.

Standing on the platform outside the refuge center, Dong Tianyu carefully removed his long robe, instantly greeted by a bone-chilling cold. A shudder ran through Dong Tianyu.

But no sooner had this feeling started to manifest than a surge of warmth sprouted from within his body, dispelling the invading cold. After the heat had dispersed the cold within his body, it continued to move along his capillaries, reaching various parts of his skin and firmly holding the cold at bay.

'Looks like the seventh level of Qi cultivation has made me immune to hot and cold.' With a casual punch, Dong Tianyu managed to create a sonic boom - his body had already transcended the limits of ordinary humans.

Months of meditative practice had made the spirit power within Dong Tianyu more substantial.

After the recent lunar new year, all in Pengcheng had gradually become accustomed to life in the underground refuge.

Thanks to the maturing mushroom cultivation technology, the days of steadily depleting food reserves were over, and the city of Pengcheng was regaining its original vitality.

During his recent visit to his parents, Dong Tianyu heard shocking news from his father.

The Grand Summer Headquarters had issued an order. All cities were to clear up their highways; after the lunar new year, Kyoto would deploy convoys to explore all the prefecture-level cities nationwide.

The primary purpose of the expedition was to share the latest research findings from the Kyoto research institute. It would also redraw urban communication circles based on current circumstances and examine the living conditions of residents in each city's refuge centers.

Of course, Kyoto also invited all the cities to arrange their vehicles to join the national tour. In the post-disaster era, communication between cities had been restored, but there were very few substantial exchanges.

If Dong Tianyu was living in a communal refuge like he did in his past life, he wouldn't have paid attention to this news or even known of its existence.

But now that he knew, his mind began to race.

Why would Kyoto arrange a national convoy tour at this time? Was it to confirm that Grand Summer was still under the control of the officials?

Dong Tianyu had no idea what the vehicles from other cities looked like, but those from Pengcheng were all steam-powered.

Although they ran on fuel and coal, the driving force for these vehicles was still steam power.

Contrary to the steam-filled vehicles seen in films and television, the steam cars refurbished in Pengcheng utilized the constant temperature technology previously used in houses to wrap excess steam around the vehicles via a piping system.

The high temperature from the steam in the pipes not only blocked the external chill but also raised the outdoor temperature.

And when the steam came into contact with the cold air outside, it would condense into a liquid, flow back, and then re-enter the steam engine for reuse.

Because of this, the vehicles currently running in Pengcheng appeared somewhat bloated.

But due to the immature steam technology, these vehicles couldn't be used for a long time at high intensities, nor could they be turned off.

The vehicles couldn't be used at high intensity because Pengcheng's current reserves were insufficient, so the cars would require a resting period of low temperature after driving for a few hours.

The reason they couldn't be turned off was straightforward. The temperatures were too low outside. Once the engine was off, the pure water in the steam engine would freeze. The expanding ice would not only damage the steam engine but also accelerate the deterioration of the steam engine when it was restarted due to the rapid changes in temperature.

The fact that Kyoto was deploying a convoy to tour the country suggested that Kyoto had mastered vehicle retrofitting technology.

Moreover, since each city would need to supply the convoy, this also meant that the convoy was testing whether or not the cities still obeyed Kyoto's commands.

However, these matters were of little importance to Dong Tianyu. The last time he visited his parents, his niece caught a cold. Although he promptly traded two cans for medicine, it reminded Dong Tianyu of his plan to go to the eastern district's pharma storehouse.

Because of his strengthened physique from his practice, Dong Tianyu had forgotten about medicine and had overlooked his parents' situation. His parents were still mortal beings.

Anyway, the officials had cleared the third ring highway, so it should be quite convenient to get there now.

Despite his search over several months, Dong Tianyu hadn't found an ideal vehicle. He settled for something similar to a 4.2-meter-long van and used that for conversions.

Name: Puppet Car (Low-end Ink Instrument)

Usage: Vehicle

Speed: 80 km/h (Theoretical maximum speed)

Durability: 500,000 km (Theoretical limit)

After the conversion, there was hardly any change in appearance, but there were many changes inside. The operating system became a rod-controlled system similar to Flow-Horse. All the original functions of the vehicle disappeared, turning into rows of seats like those in the officials' minibuses. These rows of seats could be tucked into the chassis by a mechanism to free up space for cargo.

Since he hadn't found a satisfactory vehicle, this puppet car would have to do for now.

Now, the outdoor temperature had dropped to around minus 80 degrees Celsius, which wasn't much different from the temperature on the wandering tiny planet. But while that planet was covered in ice and snow, Pengcheng remained as it was before, strangely free from frost.

Although there was no navigation, Dong Tianyu knew the route to the eastern district quite well. Hence, he reached his destination without much difficulty.

However, upon seeing the gaping open gates, Dong Tianyu knew he was late.

After touring the warehouses, Dong Tianyu confirmed this fact — besides himself, probably only the officials had the capabilities to clear this place.

Dong Tianyu left empty-handed and drove to the pharmaceutical factory.

Upon arriving at the factory, Dong Tianyu confirmed his suspicions once again. All the medicines in the warehouse had been cleared out.

'I refuse to believe that I can't use traditional medicine for alchemy without Western medicine.'

An irritated Dong Tianyu moved everything that could be moved from the pharmaceutical factory into his cave mansion for absorption.

The idea of converting pharmaceutical machines only flashed through Dong Tianyu's mind momentarily, then was forgotten.

Mainly because Dong Tianyu believed he would acquire a pill furnace for alchemy in the future. After all, who would use technology to refine pills after choosing the mystic path? Especially since normal medicine was of no use to him.