Chen Yun rose and swept all the furniture in the living room into his “space.” In an instant the room became a bare, empty rectangle.

He waved his hand again. Bundles of fire‑retardant wiring, PVC and PPR pipes of various diameters, and an assortment of fittings and valves materialized in the center of the room. The once‑empty space was now piled high with a chaotic jumble of supplies.

“First things first: get the water‑and‑electric lines installed.”

The basement now consisted only of its skeletal framework. The wall material was too strong to let him cut channels for wiring and piping by hand, so he would have to spend points to enlist the system’s help.

Placing his palm on a wall, the system’s pale‑blue translucent panel flickered into view. He focused his mind and tapped Reinforce.

A metallic voice rang in his head:

Do you wish to perform a basic reinforcement on the current base?

Detected wiring, PVC pipes, and other materials. Consume these items to execute a targeted reinforcement?

Reinforcement direction: water‑and‑electric completion.

Points required: 100.

Without hesitation, Chen answered, “Yes.”

Confirm reinforcement. Consuming survival points: 100.

Reinforcing…

Reinforcement successful!

The progress bar filled, and the haphazard heap of cables and pipes vanished by more than half. The lighting shifted, too: the dim, yellowish glow gave way to a softer, brighter illumination. All the exposed, rust‑stained wires, aging pipes, and faded sockets and switches that had been jutting out of the old house disappeared. In their place were flush‑mounted, factory‑standard switch panels and outlet plates, each fitting perfectly into the walls.

In the corner of the living room, a compact distribution box materialized within the deep‑gray wall, its door sealed tight. Chen looked up at the ceiling. The antiquated incandescent bulbs that had hung there were gone, replaced by rectangular flat‑panel lights set into the ceiling, casting an even, gentle light.

He gathered the remaining supplies back into his space, left the living room, and descended to the basement.

What he saw made him freeze.

Across the deep‑gray walls, ceiling, and floor, countless luminous lines and nodes glowed in soft white and pale blue. The lines formed an intricate, glowing web.

He walked around the basement, studying the glowing markings on the walls. The white nodes corresponded to sockets and switches; white strands converged on the distribution boxes embedded in each functional‑area wall, then extended to the ceiling fixtures and wall panels. The pale‑blue strands traced a parallel network for the water system, weaving through floor and walls and leaving numerous connection points in every zone.

In short, the white lines represented electricity, the blue lines water. Both networks—electric and plumbing—ultimately fed into the energy, water, and waste zones on the second underground level.

After circling the entire space and mentally mapping the circuits and pipelines, the glow on the walls gradually faded, returning the walls, floor, and ceiling to their original dull gray. The basement fell into darkness, but the positions of the sockets, switches, distribution boxes, and reserved interfaces remained clearly marked—proof that the base’s water‑and‑power layout was now complete.

Chen tried flipping a wall light switch, but nothing happened. He moved to the entrance and opened the distribution box embedded in the entry wall. The leftmost breaker was labeled in tiny characters: External Circuit.

“This must be the connection to the public grid, just like the house above,” he thought.

He flipped the breaker up, then pressed the nearby light switch. A soft, warm glow instantly filled the empty space.

“Got it—this breaker links to the municipal grid. The other breakers probably lead to the underground energy zone, but there’s no power there yet.”

He turned and headed down to the second underground level.

The energy chamber was a hollow shell.

“The skeleton is in place, the veins are laid out—now it’s time to install the heart.”

He summoned from his space four diesel generators, two gasoline generators, plus the corresponding fuel tanks and battery banks. Without hesitation he placed his hand on the central diesel generator and thought, Consume the other generators—perform a comprehensive reinforcement.

The system prompted:

Consume the other generators and comprehensively reinforce the selected diesel generator?

Points required: 250.

“Yes,” Chen affirmed.

The progress bar filled in an instant. The view blurred, then snapped into focus. The six generators, tanks, and battery packs had been replaced by a single, massive silver‑gray rectangular power unit, roughly two meters high, two meters wide, and over four meters long. Its surface was riddled with high‑efficiency cooling fins; honeycomb‑shaped intake and exhaust ports gave it a sleek, industrial look. One‑foot‑square LCD panels formed the control interface on its front face.

Thick power cables ran from the unit’s output ports into the wall, fitting perfectly. A new holographic panel popped up:

Advanced Fuel Generator

Diesel tank capacity: 1,000 L

Gasoline tank capacity: 750 L

Battery bank max storage: 200 kWh

Thermal efficiency: 85 %

“Even the manual’s included,” Chen muttered, impressed. “Eighty‑five percent thermal efficiency—no wonder this is a system‑grade product.”

He rose and moved to the adjacent water zone, which was equally empty.

Summoning five one‑ton stainless‑steel water tanks, three multi‑stage filtration and UV sterilization sets, plus pumps, pipes, pressure vessels, and spare filter cartridges, he set them up just as he had with the power unit.

Placing his hand on the central filtration system, he thought, Consume the other filtration units—perform a comprehensive reinforcement.

The system asked:

Consume the other filtration systems and comprehensively reinforce the selected unit?

Points required: 250.

He confirmed, and the blur cleared again. A towering, silver‑white cylindrical metal column—about five meters tall and two meters in diameter—had replaced the separate pieces. Near its base, a massive translucent cylindrical tank, also about five meters tall but five meters in diameter, stood side by side.

On the left side of the silver cylinder were several large pipe fittings labeled “Inlet.” The majority of the zone’s existing pipes were now neatly welded to the rear of the cylinder, forming a seamless network. On the right side, additional large pipes extended from the silver column to the translucent storage tank. From the back of that tank, robust pipes stretched back to the remaining wall fittings.

Another holographic panel appeared:

Advanced Water Purification System

Maximum production: 100 L/min (pure water)

Storage capacity: 100 tons

“System‑grade again—still beyond anything I could have built on my own,” Chen said, a grin spreading across his face. “Tomorrow I’ll start filling the tanks with municipal water. After the collapse we’ll rely on meltwater, and if points allow, we can drill a deep well later.”

He stared at the massive purification setup, feeling a surge of achievement and reassurance. The lifeline of water and power was now humming, at least in theory.

Leaving the water zone, he walked straight across the corridor to the farm area.

Next up: the farm.