A light chuckle drifted from the elevator’s ceiling speakers.

“Dear administrator of Shelter 404, if you’ve made it this far, you must’ve already earned that glorious title from your supporters. Allow me to address you as such.”

Hearing that, Chu Guang couldn’t help but laugh. Clearly, the First Administrator didn’t really understand human nature, and had underestimated how much people loved their saviors.

Forget unlocking B7. A year ago, people were already worshipping him in every possible way. Some of the titles were so explicit they made him blush just hearing them.

As if giving him time to reminisce, the voice paused, then shed its humor and continued in a calm, storytelling tone.

“But that’s nothing to be proud of. Everything has only just begun, hasn’t it?”

“We’ve merely cleaned up the mess at our doorstep, while there are still hundreds of others out there just as large, and five light-years away, an even bigger one is watching us like a tiger eyeing its prey! Everyone might think It’s dead, but I will never be that naive. To believe you can kill an opponent you’ve never even fought before, with a weapon you’ve never used, that’s wishful thinking. Though I hope you won’t repeat my mistakes, there’s one thing I do want you to learn. Never place too much hope or fantasy in uncertain things.”

“I worry about you, my successor. Perhaps I overthink it sometimes, and since I chose to believe in my descendants’ wisdom, I should trust more thoroughly... But our chances are few. A single small mistake could ruin an entire meticulous plan, so please understand why I’m so cautious with my investment in you.”

“But since you’ve made it this far, successfully used the card I left on level B6, I have every reason to believe you’re the one I’ve been waiting for... You should be capable enough not to ruin everything by taking over my work.”

“In short, you’re already a mature game designer. You should know how to pay yourself by now... So it’s time I hand over the most precious level B7 to you!”

“Use it well. I’m counting on you.”

The voice faded.

At the same moment, the elevator doors slid open, and an immense space unfolded before Chu Guang’s eyes.

Like the other levels, it was circular, but its size was staggering. It was as large as two indoor stadiums put together!

Yet what astonished him even more than its scale were the machines filling that vast space, each one completely different in shape and design.

There were cylindrical smelting furnaces, conveyor belts lined with flexible robotic arms, and countless other contraptions whose functions he couldn’t even guess.

Those devices weren’t linked in a straight, traditional assembly line, but arranged in a spiderweb pattern radiating outward from the center.

From any point on the network to any other, one could trace endless combinations of workflows.

All those complex industrial processes had been compressed and folded into the narrow underground space, managed by a unified intelligent terminal.

Even without full knowledge of the technology of the Prosperity Era, Chu Guang instantly recognized what level B7 was for.

It was a factory!

The shock in his eyes gradually gave way to uncontrollable excitement. Chu Guang stepped forward, leaving the elevator, and approached the nearest terminal.

As his fingertip reached out, a faint blue holographic window flickered to life before him.

At the same time, a hologram of a mechanical composite bow appeared, its sleek frame hovering in the air.

Staring at it, Chu Guang immediately felt a rush of familiarity. Then it hit him. It was the same bow used by Ample Time since the server opened, and the one he nearly worn-out, Daybreaker!

Good lord!

Chu Guang was stunned.

Just as he’d suspected, the random prizes he had drawn from loot boxes before were all manufactured in level B7, in their production plant!

Realizing this, Chu Guang couldn’t help but call out instinctively, “Little Seven.”

A bright, energetic voice answered in his ear. “I’m here, Master.”

Chu Guang paused, then asked, “Can you connect to this level’s database?”

Each floor of Shelter 404, aside from the main server, had its own local database accessible through administrator privileges.

He had already shared the level B7 access credentials with Little Seven moments ago to help it analyze the level’s functions faster.

As always, Little Seven didn’t disappoint, within moments, it had finished the scan.

“All done, Master! Would you like Little Seven to explain this level’s functions to you?”

Hearing its proud voice, Chu Guang nodded. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

“No problem! It’s an honor to serve Master!” Its shy, cheerful voice echoed in his ear before switching to a more serious tone.

“... Level B7 serves as Shelter 404’s Manufacturing Center. Its primary function is to produce essential goods, replacement components, and security equipment based on imported blueprints and standardized raw materials.”

“The industrial programs on the Manufacturing Center’s server can automatically compile production workflows compatible with the entire system once a design blueprint is uploaded. After that, all you need to do is feed in the raw materials to get standardized finished goods.”

“You can think of it as a more advanced version of a black box. While it’s not the most efficient in terms of material and energy consumption, it’s capable of providing high-quality industrial goods to shelter residents even without a full production chain.”

“The floor is divided into three sections, a food processing area, a medical supplies area, and the largest, a small-to-medium machinery and microelectronics area.”

“Each section has its own raw-material input and product output terminals, connected both to the underground cargo elevators and the main elevator to level B1. The latter’s control authority has already been transferred to you, but the elevator leading farther downward remains locked.”

“Little Seven guesses that the lower elevator probably leads to waste disposal or a storage facility. Oh! Also, there are several recently manufactured finished products still on the production line... Huh? They look just like the ones you pulled from the loot boxes!”

Little Seven’s confirmation cemented Chu Guang’s deduction.

From that, he could even infer that the raw-material reserves in the shelter’s lower storage bays were likely nearly depleted.

After all, it was just a shelter, not Doraemon’s pocket, nor a wish-granting machine. Without continuous external resource input, its output was bound to have limits.

The First Administrator’s decision to hand over control of level B7 now likely had something to do with that.

Chu Guang opened the [Administrator Allowance] tab in the shelter’s system. Sure enough, the number inside had changed, its former digits replaced by an infinity symbol.

He and his players had already built a massive settlement above the shelter. The daily missions that once pushed them toward the surface had long since become their real daily lives. The allowance itself no longer mattered.

With or without rewards, they would keep working, keep uniting the survivors of the Wasteland and rebuilding their home.

Just as the First Administrator had said in his message, Chu Guang was already a mature planner, capable of paying his own salary.

Honestly, he had never quite understood that mysterious man who always spoke in riddles, nor forgiven him for not even leaving behind a comfortable chair to sit on.

But now, a quiet realization surfaced in his heart.

What he had once yearned for and failed to obtain... had never been an obstacle to the New Alliance’s rise.

Perhaps that was the best outcome after all.

His throat tightened slightly, and he sighed to himself.

If only he could meet that man one day... He owed him at least a meal, for all that unseen effort.

Collecting his thoughts, Chu Guang turned back to the terminal. “Little Seven, help me check... what’s left in the production inventory, and what blueprints are preloaded in the database.”

“Okie dokie!”

Almost instantly, a pale-blue holographic interface unfolded before his eyes.

The grid-like layout looked like an RPG inventory space, each slot displaying an item and its description.

According to Little Seven’s scan, there were roughly 2,000 kilograms of medical supplies, 10,000 kilograms of small-to-medium machinery, exoskeletons, drones, rifles, and so on, and nearly 50,000 kilograms of food, especially lollipops!

If exchanged for credits, those supplies would be worth at least tens of millions of points.

And more valuable than all of that were the design blueprints and production schematics stored within level B7’s database!

Among them were Ample Time’s Daybreaker mechanical bow, Old White’s Thermal Cutting Axe, Night Ten’s Model-15 Python Gauss Rifle, Even Chu Guang’s Nitrogen-Powered Hammer and the Hummingbird drone.

A year ago, the New Alliance would have been completely incapable of handling those blueprints, not even several Yin Fangs could’ve made use of them all.

But now, the New Alliance had its own research and development institutes, a semi-complete industrial production network, and stable material supplies. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The immense trove of technical data stored in level B7 would elevate the New Alliance’s technological strength to a whole new level.

“... Jackpot.” Chu Guang couldn’t help but murmur as his finger slid across the holographic list, eyes gleaming at the dazzling array of items.

After admiring his loot for a moment, he issued his next order. “Little Seven, notify Yin Fang. Tell him to forget the scrap from downtown and come to level B7 immediately, I’ve got good news for him.”

“Also, send some people from the logistics department. Deliver the medical supplies to the New Alliance First Hospital, and list the equipment in the NPC shop.”

“Okie dokie! By the way, Master, what prices should we set for the NPC shop gear?”

Chu Guang was about to say they should set it the same as before but then remembered many of these were once limited-edition lottery exclusives.

That complicated things.

Set them too high or too low, and people would complain, and individually pricing each one would be a nightmare.

He thought for a moment, then recalled Luca’s recent suggestion to establish a public holiday and festival to celebrate the end of the tide.

The idea struck him immediately, and a smile spread across his face.

“Don’t list them yet. Here’s what we’ll do. Pick one of each item, mark it at 150% of its cost price as a base value, and auction them off during the celebration event, limited to one purchase per person.”

“We’ll run this kind of welfare auction several times. Let the players argue among themselves about the price. Once the market stabilizes and they’ve fought it out enough, we’ll take the median of the final bids, add purchase requirements like rank and contribution level, and put them in the NPC shop.”

Little Seven was stunned for two full seconds before responding, “Uhhhhhhhhh, alrighty!”

As expected of its master... His methods for redirecting player outrage were getting more and more sophisticated.