There were no calendars in the mountains, and it was impossible to know the time during the cold season.

In the wasteland, there were no smartphones, internet, and other things to pass the time. Neither did they have any entertainment to relieve their loneliness.

Every minute and second felt painfully long.

In reality, it was quite the opposite.

Every day went by quickly.

Almost to the point where most people did not even realize what they had done until the date on the calendar had already changed.

It was already a new day, filled with new joys and busyness.

Time flew by quickly, and it was already the last day before the disaster of the long winter.

After the power turned on last night, most people were excited for most of the night but soon returned to their usual calm and busy schedules.

At this stage, there was no corresponding power equipment, and the changes to the villagers’ lives were insignificant.

It could only be considered a collective milestone for the territory.

The basin would need much longer to achieve and complete the goal of returning the lives of the villagers to the era of modern civilization.

The clock hand pointed at six in the morning.

The noisy alarm clock awakened Su Mo, and he opened his eyes in satisfaction.

‘This is great! The spiritual rain brought on by Oreo’s statue has a great effect on me!

‘The internal wounds and the root cause of my body’s cell aging have improved by at least 20% after showering in it only once! It’s a miracle!”

Just like yesterday, Su Mo woke up without the unbearable headaches he usually had every morning.

Su Mo instantly performed a system analysis on himself.

He glanced at the body’s age on the screen, and his heart filled with joy when he saw it return to age 38.

“Hey, Su Chan! Why’re you awake so early today?”

He continued to appreciate the values on the panel for a while, then had to resist his urge to open the game panel.

Su Mo prepared to get up and get dressed when Su Chan’s face peeked out from the bedroom door.

She smiled like a little honey bee that got up early to harvest some honey. Her whole body radiated with sweetness.

Su Mo glanced at her for a moment, and the corner of his lips formed a smile.

“The ruins didn’t appear today, did they?”

Su Chan stuck out her tongue because Su Mo had easily seen through her.

“You can guess everything right! You’re so boring!”

It was the last day before the disaster struck, and for some particular reason, a territory’s core energy reserves would be drastically depleted.

The game will protect cores with an owner, and there would be no energy loss.

Those without an owner would be in trouble. After being absorbed, those with insufficient energy would directly fall into the wasteland world, producing a similar effect to becoming a ruin.

‘It seems I might have added too much energy to Ma Fei’s ruins the last time. The energy had yet to be used up until now. I really shot myself in the foot this time…

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway. With such little energy, even if it survived this time, it won’t be able to get through the next one.

‘There’s no rush!’

Su Mo thought to himself, and the smile on his face did not diminish as he put on his clothes and stood up.

In fact, he wanted to continue to say that even if they could not explore the ruins of the basin, there were still the ruins of Candlelight Village which might be unlocked for them to enter.

However, he held himself back very well.

The reason for him to do so was simple.

Everyone, including Su Chan, was thrilled that the ruins did not appear.

It was because Su Mo had been very busy and working really hard lately.

They wanted him to take take a moment to rest and enjoy the winter on this day before the impending disaster.

“Okay, don’t worry about me. I said I’ll give myself a vacation, not put myself in prison.

“Don’t worry. I know when to stop!” Su Mo walked outside the door.

He thought about it for a while and chose to pat Su Chan’s head with a hint of pampering in his actions.

After his last conversation with Jiang Chu, the God of the Ocean, Su Mo’s heart was filled with endless questions and the urge to explore the ruins of time.

He wanted another chance to meet Zhong Qingshu again to ask her how many relatives she had and where they might have gone.

He wanted to obtain more time currency to grow the plants into maturity.

No matter how dangerous it was, Su Mo was willing to risk going inside if there was a chance.

He did not want to lie to his family.

Su Chan’s smile stiffened, and she was visibly uncomfortable, wanting to say something but could not speak up.

Su Mo also did not give any further explanation.

Survival in the doomsday apocalypse was like rowing against the current, and if you were not advancing, then you were going backward.

When you made appropriate choices to stay in place and look back on the past, you would be able to clearly identify the previous imperfections and improve them slowly.

However, when you encountered an opportunity and chose to stay still, using such an excuse to justify your actions would eventually lead to death!

Su Mo washed up.

He neatly put on his gear and left a few guns hanging on the wall.

After the whole process, Su Mo checked the time to find that it was just a little after seven in the morning.

He stretched his body and ascended to the first floor to open the shelter’s main door.

After the number of people in the shelter increased, Lu Kuan and Ai Jianfeng took the initiative to move out themselves.

The shelter had once again returned to the usually tranquil atmosphere again.

At the same time, it seemed slightly lonely.

However, for someone like Su Mo, who was secure in himself, the loneliness was comfortable to him.

Outside the door of the shelter, it was a work field. It was his territory.

Inside the door of the shelter, it was his personal space. It was his safe haven.

The clear distinction between the two gave him a unique sense of comfort and allowed him to switch between work mode and personal time more easily.

‘In the future, when the basin meets the basic conditions…

‘The factories will also be separated from the residents’ accommodation area so that they have a stronger sense of belonging and approval toward the basin.’

“Hey, good morning, shelter leader!”

“Morning, shelter leader!”

It was only seven in the morning, but the villagers were already crowded around the basin.

Seeing Su Mo leave the shelter, several people in the distance waved their hands excitedly and shouted to greet him.

When Su Mo glanced over and greeted them back, they quickly turned their heads shyly to hide the excitement in their hearts.

‘People usually try to cram before the exam.

‘Never would I have expected to see such a lively scene before the disaster!’

Before Su Mo had returned to the shelter the previous night, he made a trip to the resource department and specifically gave orders to not assign any tasks today so that everyone could have a good rest the day before the disaster.

Who would have thought that even when villagers were not assigned tasks, they were willing to work for no compensation and even gave it their very best?

After seeing such a grand scene, those blood-sucking capitalists in a civilized era would definitely be claiming that these villagers were…

Posing!

.

‘Forget it. Let them stay occupied if it pleases them. All the important tasks have already been completed anyway!

‘It wouldn’t be good if they get sick from the boredom!’

Su Mo circled around the village and went to the cafeteria to have his breakfast.

It was only seven forty in the morning after he had finished.

He waited till eight o’clock to finally receive the daily system announcement and reviewed the points.

Afterward, he wiped his mouth and walked out of the canteen.

A breakthrough in achieving electricity was counted into the points harvested yesterday, and the reward was 3,000 points.

The points obtained from powering up the village were counted in today’s daily system announcement, totaling up to 2,000 points.

Both added up to 5,000 points.

Counting the previous total balance, the survival points had returned to a little over 10,000, which was good news.

Meanwhile, the territory points accumulated in the past two days was as high as 14.9 points.

This total amount was by far the most accumulated points since these points first appeared.

‘Should I use it…’

Su Mo sat on the hillside behind the village and pondered on the thought for a while but eventually resisted the urge to use it at the moment.

The current points were not only enough to upgrade the resources of the territory, it was also capable of increasing the territory’s potential.

It could even change the weather, increase the territory area, change the territory terrain and improve the level of special attributes.

With money in hand, one need not panic.

The disaster was coming.

He had to save some survival points for the winter and some territory points just in case.

The specific upgrades could wait until the overall disaster situation stabilized. Then, he could make a one-time investment to maximize the speed and stability of every step they took!

‘Usually around this time, if the ruins opened, there would definitely be some signs.

‘Is it because I moved the territory site? I wonder what’s happening with Candlelight Village. They haven’t shown any signs of emerging.”

Su Mo walked to Magoo’s shelter and looked into the distance.

He narrowed his eyes, and a slight uneasiness emerged in his heart.

It was not strange that Ma Fei’s ruins did not open up because there was energy protecting it.

However, the time ruins had not opened either, which meant that there might have been a change in the rules within this period.

He took out the small notebook that he carried around with him and started recording the weird changes on a page in the middle.

Then, he stood up and walked into the village again.

One should take notes and continuously gain new insights from past materials.

When the chance to encounter something new occurred, the answers usually lay within the pattern of it.

A good memory was not better than writing it down. When you went through it enough times, you would find the internal rule and the reason for the change, which would lead to a deeper meaning behind it.

Su Mo was on guard for one thing. One crucial thing.

His memories!

With the system, Su Mo was not worried that the game would threaten his personal safety.

However, no one could guarantee that the game might use some strange methods to insert some unusual things.

With his notes and logs in the system, he could instantly check if something like that were to happen.

‘I probably won’t even use it.

‘Those who are reckless are the ones that get hurt first. It’s always good to be prepared!’

As the fastest growing individual among billions of human beings, Su Mo had the power of the system to ensure his safety.

However, those around him, including Su Chan, Lu Kuan, Chen Shen, Su Deben, and others, could easily get played by the game.

He had to be prepared for it.

…

Su Mo headed back to the village.

Regarding the new structure of the leadership and the way they handled some miscellaneous tasks, Su Mo was able to get a better insight into it after being more engaged.

In terms of personality, Chen Shen was indeed not suitable for the position of the village chief.

He was good at focusing on development and humanistic care. He also had unique insights into the development of the territory and some minor details.

However, on the other hand, he lacked a vision for the overall situation of the village and was not able to move forward with a greater vision in mind.

Therefore, there was a need for a deputy village chief to assist him and solve this issue.

‘Marshal Wang is a good fit.

‘He used to forge ahead and has solid external combat experience. He also had appropriate ways to deal with internal management, plus the ability to get along with anyone. He has unfortunately encountered great difficulties, and it sharpened his temperament.

‘He might be able to help make up for Chen Shen’s deficiencies if he were to come back safely.’

Letting the lord who once led thousands of people to be the deputy village chief was not a job unworthy of his talent.

After all, the development between the two could not be compared. Once the basin recruited more people in the future, the number would definitely be much higher than it was now.

‘As for the head of the resources department, it would be a good idea to have Shen Ke fill in the position. As the only woman in the leadership, she is very detailed and is not afraid of going through the trouble of dealing with the resources.

‘When the time comes, we will arrange Su Yuan as the deputy head of the resources department, and the two will have ten staff members under them to fully enrich the resource department!’

The resource department did not need any major changes.

The rapid progress of various constructions in the basin during this period was owed to these two individuals’ significant efforts.

On the other hand, the task department and resource department would have negotiated. The responsibility to delegate the daily tasks could not be handed to the resource department alone as the authority they held would be too concentrated.

It would increase the burden on the two and increase the possibility of internal corruption.

The responsibility had to be taken away from them.

It was easy to choose a candidate for the task department. Wu Feiguang, who was the former village chief of Candlelight Village, was perfect for the role.

‘The former intelligence department has now been expanded and renamed the information department. Those in charge remain unchanged. Qi Qin will still be the head of the department and in charge of this aspect of the work.

‘However, I still need an intelligence team that is loyal to me and takes orders directly from me. It’ll be like a disciplinary committee, specifically responsible for monitoring the village. As for the person in charge…

‘Pei Shao!’

Pei Shao was the one who led the team to investigate and ambush the basin the last time. He was one of the closest confidants of Su Mo.

Su Mo had no doubts when it came to Pei Shao’s loyalty.

He was also confident and approved of Pei Shao’s abilities!

‘Oh, right! There is one more important department, the villagers’ union.

‘I not only want to hear the opinions conveyed by the leadership but also the ideas conveyed by the villagers. Their feedback cannot be ignored!’

It was important to allow those at the base to have a place to voice their opinions!

At the same time, it was necessary to control these people to ensure that no one secretly set off a wave of dissatisfaction or rebellion.

This was something that had to be carefully handled.

Su Mo gave it a thought and decided instantly.

Chen Shen’s two relatives, Chen Kai and Chen Yi, plus Hong Kangcheng, were the last of the four veterans who had been recruited from Candlelight Village.

One elder and two youths would be a great mix of experience and enthusiasm. This job would not be a problem for them.

In the end, all that was left was the research department.

This department was relatively lax, and all scientific research scholars who had been resurrected from the brain box were allowed to join, as well as Ai Jianfeng’s disciples.

In terms of management, since everyone had no ambitions and their only hobby was studying new fascinating things, Su Mo directly appointed Lu Kuan as the department head.

He left the internal matters to them to decide and would go through the final report submitted to him for review.

Su Mo wrote his final thoughts on the piece of paper, and after making sure there was no problem, he closed his book, and his heart was finally relaxed.

The first stage of the restructuring of the basin had finally taken shape.

The main structure of the village would remain unchanged, and the highest authority was still the shelter leader, Su Mo, who basically had the power of an emperor. His one vote would have ultimate power in making decisions in the basin.

The village would have several subordinate departments— the Village Council, Armed Forces, Resource Department, Information Department, Research Department, Task department, Supervision Department, and Villagers’ union.

Eight main departments!

Among them, the authority of the Village Council was the highest, and they had jurisdiction over all the subordinate departments. However, when it came to confidential issues, it was necessary to seek approval from Su Mo and it would be disclosed after the approval.

The Armed Forces were relatively independent, straying outside the village, and under the direct command of Chen Shen, Li Hu, Su Deben, and Su Mo.

In the Resource Department, small amounts of resources could be collected with the note of the department head, Shen Ke, or the village chief, Chen Shen. To ensure that each account is stated clearly, any request for large amounts of resources had to be reported to Su Mo for approval before it could be taken out and used.

The Task Department, after work every night, would have to hold a meeting to determine the number of resources and task requirements, and jointly formulate task details after the negotiation was completed.

The Supervision Department had the right to inquire about all the leadership in the village. Unless the other party held a secret note approved by Su Mo, nothing could be concealed or falsely reported.

The Research Department was the only department under the direct jurisdiction of Su Mo. Any requests would have to go through the review of the village chief and deputy village chief before reaching Lu Kuan. Su Mo would have the final say on whether something was to be implemented.

The Villagers’ Union would collect opinions and feedback from the villagers, coordinate the collective dissatisfaction among the villagers, collect the latest news from villagers and also ensure internal harmony.

The eight departments were the building blocks that branched out in the village and would have to supervise and help each other.

‘Based on the current system as our foundation, we will continue to optimize the future, create more departments, and accommodate more talents.

‘Give me twenty years, no, ten years!

‘I am fully confident that I’ll be able to build a hundred thousand-level or even a million-level super city here!”