Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle

On the next morning, everyone was a bit taken aback after realizing that winter had arrived. They didn’t notice it at all until they felt the coldness within their rooms.

Shane stepped out of his quarters just past 5 AM, and his breath was already misting. The world had turned white overnight—thick snow blanketed New Genesis Shelter… As people started waking up to work, the shelter was filled with muffling sounds as the snow was slowing their movements.

This was a rare phenomenon in this world where weather patterns had long since gone erratic.

’Is this a bad omen?’ Shane mused as he looked at his surroundings.

He wasn’t sure if this heavy snow would be advantageous for them or not. After all, although it would slow the movements of the Zombies, it could be said the same for them.

To be exact, Shane wasn’t sure if his Warden Units would be fine in this twelve-inch snow. He hadn’t tested these units in such conditions after all.

Their creations were hastened, and there was still plenty of room for improvement. Perhaps, the only thing that they could really trust was the A.I. chip installed in them. Thanks to his Anima Store and A.I. Cloud, the main component of the Warden Units was easily resolved.

However, Shane wasn’t sure how they would do in changes in the environment like floods, snow, or even just heavy rain.

For now, he had to inform Arial that they would have to consider this matter when preparing for a strategy against the Zombie Wave.

”Do we have enough coats for everyone?” Shane muttered to himself as across the plaza, he saw that the chefs were already at work, their massive cookfires were already giving warmth to the place…

Soon, the scent of sizzling Ironhide Pumpkin and meat stew, roasting Glowroot Carrots, and other food wafted throughout the shelter. Some of them were leftovers last night but they should still have plenty of supply.

Just as Shane thought about the coats that they would probably need during the Zombie Wave, he already saw his tailor team moving around, distributing reinforced thermal coats.

There was no need for instructions at all. These coats were also quite good and looked expensive. They were thick, fur-lined, and stitched with special thread for those without high Strength stats to resist the cold.

”Boss!” One of the tailors tossed Shane his own coat—black, with a high collar to shield against the wind. Although he could ignore the cold with his Strength and Cold Resistance, he decided to wear it to ensure his people would also wear one.

Of course, some other residents had different methods of resisting the cold with their current abilities.

This was especially for the Super Soldiers and Knights.

They barely noticed the cold, their enhanced physiques shrugging off the frost easily. A few even trained shirtless as steam started rising off their skin as they sparred.

Well, they had a special type of body, and the Knights actually possessed Aura.

The Elves, on the other hand, were naturally attuned to harsher climates. It seemed that they even liked the cold. They moved through the snow as gracefully as ever…

Because of that, Shane only had to worry about the ordinary survivors like those who were working in the farm, kitchen, forge, and in other factories…

There were even some weaker or newer guards who were huddling near fires, clutching mugs of Golden Feather Tea for warmth.

Shane’s gaze swept over them all.

They were all surprised about the weather, but nonetheless, they were able to easily adapt on their situation.

Then, he turned toward the Portal Hall at the shelter’s main building.

’I need to check the others’ situation.’ Shane mused as he felt that it was necessary to see his other shelters.

Soon, Shane passed through the portal leading to the Silver Mine Camp.

”—Lord Shane!”

Minerva was shocked as she saw Shane coming out of the portal. She was actually planning to visit him right now as per Diana’s orders.

Shane was also a bit surprised as he didn’t expect that someone would welcome him.

After all, there weren’t a lot of people using the Portal, so there wasn’t really a need to guard the Portal Hall, especially with such a talented woman like Minerva.

Her talent would be wasted guarding this Portal.

”What are you doing here?” Shane asked as he glanced at her prosthetic left arm.

The advanced limb—crafted by the experts from the Ivory Gear Shelter and thoroughly improved by himself, was already on a different level compared to the ones sold by Lord Kang Zhen.

”I was instructed by Miss Diana to give you this supply of Spirit Stones. The miners received some of those Dragon’s Veil Elixirs and worked five times harder. We have plenty of supplies right now. You can consider selling some of them in the Marketplace or whatever you want.” Minerva said as she took out five sacks of Spirit Stones.

Shane was shocked as he didn’t expect to have so many Spirit Stones, it had only been a week since the last supply was given to him.

”Thank you, I will use them well. How about the shelter’s supplies? Do you have enough?” He asked.

”Yes… There’s no problem.”

”I see… How’s the situation here?” Shane asked.

”Our perimeter’s secure. We also distributed our coats or jackets to everyone. It’s probably about six inches of snow… And the mine… You probably heard it, but we hit a new vein last week. They were mostly High-grade Spirit Stones. But we didn’t have the time to dig them yet since they were breaking most of the miners’ pickaxes. Right now, we only have two talented miners who were able to mine those High-Grade Spirit Stones, so don’t expect too much.”

Shane’s eyes lit up as soon as he heard this. Most of the High-Grade Spirit Stones in his possession were from Treasure Chests and system rewards.

After all, the mine that they have could only produce low-grade Spirit Stones and a few mid-grade ones.

”Pickaxes, huh… I wonder if we could fix it just by upgrading them… Are there any other concerns at the mining site?”

”No,” Minerva said. ”But we’ve got scouts watching for cave-ins or… other surprises. So there’s nothing to worry about.”

Shane nodded after hearing this.

He was really satisfied that Minerva was here helping Diana manage the Shelter.

Minerva wasn’t just Diana’s assistant after all.

She was a one-woman army before she was recruited by Lysandra and stayed here.

Furthermore, she had four Survivor Talents, including Combat Precognition and a dozen Survivor Skills.

After having a chat with Minerva about the status of the Shelter, Shane decided to visit the Mining Site.

***

’This entrance had become larger…’

”Right, you mentioned only two people can mine the High-Grade Spirit Stones… Who are they?” Shane asked.

”Ahh… It’s the leader of the Miners that you have assigned yourself, Mew… There’s also a recruit who had arrived from the Mysterious Fog called Hassan.” She replied.

Shane wryly smiled as he had almost forgotten Mew. In any case, now that she mentioned it, Mew was indeed a previous slave working here in the mining site, and he simply gave him a job and status as a free resident of the shelter.

As for the recruits being given to his Shelters every five days, he could no longer monitor. After all, with four Shelters, it means four new people every five days…

He could only trust the leaders of each shelter to manage these people well.

Shane had then descended into the Spirit Stone Mine, and he felt the powerful Spiritual Energy inside…

It wasn’t as holy as the Mana in Fairy Realm, but it definitely gives a similar vibe in the surroundings if he ignores the bad scenery of this place.

”Right… Rylen, that boy with the talent to find Rare Ores… Is he helping here?” Shane asked.

Minerva smiled as she could recall the young man with his little sister Aria, who could grow plants.

These two siblings were actually quite incredible. With their presence, the mining and crop production were doing well.

Though they do not have fertile land like the Springriver Manor, they still have Aria, who could help them grow crops. Though it was limited due to her Mastery of the skill, it was still very useful.

”Those two siblings were helping us every day… Diana was taking good care of them and receiving special treatment. Sir Bart would also come and visit them from time to time to give them grape juice.”

Shane gently nodded as he knew that Diana wouldn’t mistreat those two.

In any case, Shane was soon escorted by Minerva to the area where the High-Grade Spirit Stones could be mined. It might be an incredible area, but if they weren’t able to collect it, it would be such a waste.

At this time, Shane must find a way for them to extract the high-grade Spirit Stones…