Currently, including Han Chong himself, there were 92 surviving residents in the Refuge. Only 6 armed security guards remained, and Military Officer Zhang Zhen had not returned to the Refuge, so it was likely he had met with misfortune. Han Chong wasn't worried that the mutated humans could break through the Refuge's main gate; even if they managed to break through the surface metal manhole cover and reach the Refuge's entrance, that 40-ton alloy gate was not something they could open.
Although the Refuge had a small farm, it could no longer produce enough food due to insufficient energy. Algae cultivation was still somewhat normal, but it wasn't a long-term solution, as the fusion core fuel stored in the Refuge would only last until 2263. Even with careful use, it would only last one more year. Once the time came, they would either have to go out and seek a chance at survival or turn the Refuge into a tomb and end their lives within it.
What Han Chong could do now was to calm the emotions of the surviving residents as much as possible. If the internal affairs of the Refuge were not handled well, the people inside might start fighting over food even before the energy ran out.
The Refuge Director's office was usually empty. Han Chong had only entered it a few times during the routine inspections every three years. Today, however, he sat alone in the office, deep in thought for a long time, not even leaving when the Refuge's AI reminded him repeatedly that it was mealtime.
"I really want a cigarette!" Han Chong lay on the chair, staring at the ceiling, recalling that before he entered the Refuge, the sky was blue with white clouds. This time, after returning to the surface, he could only see a dull yellow sky and green radiation clouds. He had originally thought that being the director of this Refuge was just a way to pass the time, but he never expected to have to worry so much now.
Just as Han Chong was filled with emotions, a virtual projection suddenly appeared in front of the desk—the virtual image of the intelligent AI in the Refuge. It was a young girl with a bun hairstyle, wearing classical Hanfu, looking about seventeen or eighteen years old.
"Director, survivors have come down the elevator," the AI reported the situation outside the Refuge's gate to Han Chong.
"What! Survivors? Are you sure!" Han Chong found it hard to believe what the AI said.
"Yes, there is one survivor, Researcher Gu Yunyun, personnel number 10096-11, and ten unidentified armed soldiers who came down the elevator with her," the AI replied.
At this moment, Feng Jun and Gu Yunyun were standing outside the Refuge's main gate. The maglev elevator took only three minutes to descend to a depth of one thousand meters underground.
Feng Jun stood at the entrance of the Refuge, looking at the alloy gate in front of him, marveling at the power of future technology in the Doomsday, capable of constructing such a massive Refuge a thousand meters underground. The Refuge's gate was shaped like a circular gear and could only be opened from the inside.
"Standing here means we've entered the monitoring range of the Refuge's central computer. Our every move can be seen by the AI inside," Gu Yunyun said.
"So we can directly communicate with them? Will they open the door directly when they see you?" Feng Jun asked, standing in front of the gate.
"Only the Refuge's Director has the right to communicate with people outside the gate, and whether to open the door is also up to him. However, the people inside have no choice now; they will contact us very soon," Gu Yunyun said.
To the right of the Refuge's main gate was a small IEM terminal, which was the only way to communicate with the outside world after the Refuge was sealed. Feng Jun stood patiently in front of the IEM terminal as Gu Yunyun instructed. Soon, the IEM terminal's screen lit up, and Han Chong's image appeared on the screen.
Their conversation proceeded quickly. After only asking about Feng Jun's purpose and Gu Yunyun's condition, Han Chong decided to open the Refuge's gate. Although Han Chong did not believe what Feng Jun said, he had no better option. The Refuge could only sustain itself for a little over a year, and staying inside any longer was meaningless. And according to Gu Yunyun, this person named Feng Jun was likely a powerful warlord in the outside world. Although his character was unknown, seeing that he actively rescued Gu Yunyun and brought people to rescue the surface Refuge survivors, he shouldn't be too bad.
The door bolts were pulled out, and then the mechanical device slowly rotated. The 40-ton alloy gate slowly opened, and the appearance of the Refuge finally revealed itself before Feng Jun's eyes.
Han Chong had already brought 6 armed security guards to stand behind the gate to welcome Feng Jun, while the residents of the Refuge stood in line a little further back. They craned their necks, curiously scrutinizing Feng Jun and the soldiers who walked in from outside the Refuge.
Feng Jun stepped into the Refuge, which was completely different from the underground bunker he had imagined. After entering the gate, there was a very spacious hall. The walls and ceiling were all made of an unknown alloy. There was no light source visible on the ceiling, but the hall was very bright, seemingly using some unknown lighting technology.
"Hello, Mr. Feng Jun... I don't know how I should address you, um ~ I mean your title in the outside world. Should I call you Marshal or General?" Han Chong proactively walked over to greet Feng Jun, but from his words, it could be heard that Han Chong seemed to regard Feng Jun as a warlord of the wasteland.
"Just call me Boss, that's what they usually call me," Feng Jun patted Han Chong's shoulder and said, "You made a very correct decision; this saves me a lot of trouble."
Han Chong smiled and said, "As long as you can treat the survivors in the Refuge well, that's enough. After all, you and Gu Yunyun have told me about the outside world. Being able to live normally is enough. There are still 92 survivors in the Refuge, including 25 scientists from various fields; the rest are ordinary survivors. They may not be able to accept the truth of the outside world and still harbor some illusions about the existence of the government."
"That doesn't matter. The outside world will make them adapt passively. And the wasteland doesn't support idlers. I believe they will adapt very quickly. After all, before coming down, I just rescued a group of people from a Refuge, and they are now deeply grateful to me," Feng Jun understood Han Chong's concerns, but he didn't care about it at all. What a joke, no matter what world it is, you can only adapt to this world, not make this world adapt to you. If they hadn't met Feng Jun, the people inside the Refuge might not have had a good outcome.
Han Chong only smiled helplessly after hearing Feng Jun's words, then looked back at the residents peeking from behind. He had done his best and everything he could. Immediately after, Han Chong proactively transferred control of the Refuge. With just a few taps, the director's control authority was transferred to Feng Jun's IEM terminal.
Having completed this task, Han Chong breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if the heavy burden on his shoulders had finally been lifted. The remaining matters were no longer his responsibility. Han Chong turned around, ready to stand aside.
"I need to familiarize myself with the structure of the Refuge. You can show me around first," Feng Jun called out to Han Chong.
Gu Yunyun had been in hibernation ever since entering the Refuge, so she wasn't very familiar with its internal structure. Therefore, Feng Jun called out to Han Chong, intending to have him lead the way and give him a good tour of the Refuge.
The underground area of the Refuge spanned a total of 100,000 square meters, with two underground levels. The first level housed the hibernation pods and living storage areas; the hibernation pods for two hundred Refuge residents were on the first level, which was also where they would live after waking up. Slightly different from the life support pods Feng Jun had seen, these hibernation pods were giant tanks. Once a person lay inside, they would enter a state of low-temperature hibernation, allowing them to spend over a decade inside without aging.
Feng Jun opened a hibernation pod and found nothing peculiar, just a human-shaped indentation inside the tank. Feng Jun even lay in it to try it out and found it quite comfortable. The material inside the hibernation pod was very soft; after Feng Jun lay down, the indentation automatically adapted to Feng Jun's body shape. As for the hibernation function, Feng Jun did not experience it.
There was nothing special to see in the living area and storage area; the storage area held survival supplies. The second level was the research area and the location of the Quantum Computer. In the actual timeline, Quantum Computers were still at the conceptual simulation design stage, but in the Doomsday timeline, Quantum Computers had been fully applied to scientific research and military aspects.
The research area was divided into many compartments. These rooms were used for different studies: medicine, chemistry, physics, all kinds of rooms were available. Feng Jun couldn't understand the complex instruments, so he went directly to the room where the Quantum Computer was located.
Unlike the traditional computers Feng Jun imagined in his mind, the Quantum Computer was not a single machine but an entire room. To enter the Quantum Computer room, one needed the authority of the Refuge Director. Upon entering the room, what came into view was a transparent sphere, two meters in diameter, floating in the air. Many transparent optical fibers connected the top and bottom ends of the sphere, and some electric arcs occasionally flashed from within.
Inside the room, there were also two small robots suspended in the air, with triangular bodies and a large blue eye in the center, and a mechanical arm extending from below the body. Blue rays occasionally projected from the robots' eyes, continuously scanning the central sphere, and occasionally, they would poke the surface of the sphere with their mechanical arms.
Feng Jun wanted to get closer to observe, but a transparent glass barrier stood in front of him.
"Boss, it looks amazing, doesn't it? The first time I saw it, I also wanted to get closer to observe, but the environment for storing the Quantum Computer requires absolute cleanliness, and contact with living organisms would contaminate the Quantum Computer, so we can only observe through the glass," Han Chong explained from the side. Even in the Doomsday timeline, the Quantum Computer was a precious technological creation. If he hadn't temporarily served as the Refuge's Director, Han Chong estimated he would never have come into contact with a Quantum Computer in his lifetime.
The working principle of Quantum Computers is based on phenomena such as quantum superposition and quantum entanglement. Through the operation of quantum gates (quantum logic gates), precise control of quantum bits can be achieved, thereby performing complex computing tasks. To perform complex computing tasks, using light for computation is the best choice, so the main components of the entire Quantum Computer are made using optical lenses. However, with careful observation, one can still find many tiny golden components within the transparent sphere; these are the computing chips within the optical lenses. Feng Jun needed to activate his Blood Eye state and use dynamic vision to barely make them out. These tiny golden components were embedded within the glass sphere, and some currents were transmitted between them.
