Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Do I Look That Funny?

Silas Hawthorne’s expression was perfectly calm. "There are, but you know how society is over there."

No one will do something if there’s no profit in it.

Theodore Frost couldn’t help but chuckle. He turned and pulled out a file. "For that batch of supplies tomorrow, send someone from the Space System to bring the items back. However, the Sterling Group said that they also have a shipment in that warehouse, so they’re sending someone over too."

"Right. You handle it."

Silas Hawthorne didn’t concern himself with anything else and went back to the work at hand.

"What’s the temperature outside?"

"Negative fifty-four degrees. It will break negative sixty degrees Celsius within three days."

The man’s voice grew colder and steadier. "How’s the progress on the snow tunnels?"

Soon, a city-wide map appeared on the large screen, marked with a series of red lines. These were the planned tunnel routes—red for unexcavated, and green for completed.

"Currently, only one tunnel leading to the nearest food company has been completed. The rest are still being excavated."

"Very good. Maintain this pace."

This was the best method of survival in the apocalypse they had devised.

The depth of the snow would only continue to increase, growing ever thicker. The snowpack itself provided insulation. In The Frostwastes, where temperatures dropped to negative fifty or sixty degrees, voles and rabbits used the frozen snow layer to stay warm.

If they could, so could humans.

The proposal had been approved long ago, and the equipment and robots were already prepared. The country had been vigorously developing its robotics industry in recent years, which was now proving useful.

"We just need to get the generator from the warehouse thirty kilometers away."

Someone muttered under their breath. Silas Hawthorne said nothing, simply turning to look at the large screen behind him. It showed the shelter’s main hall, which was now filled with tents. People were huddled together for warmth, each eating their distributed meal. It couldn’t compare to what they ate at home, but it kept them from starving.

As for the temperature, it was impossible to maintain the warmth of a heated room, but it was at least warmer inside the fallout shelter than outside.

Silas Hawthorne glanced at the temperature displayed on the screen: 7 degrees Celsius.

It wasn’t warm, to be honest, but at least they wouldn’t get frostbite, let alone lose their noses to the cold.

After everyone had finished eating in shifts, the lights were turned off uniformly at nine p.m. Many people had trouble adjusting, as they were used to going to sleep late at night. But it was quiet and cold all around, and there was nothing to do but sleep.

Soon, snores began to fill the air. The days of warm rooms and eating whatever they wanted were gone forever. What lay ahead was a long period of life underground.

Sue Lawrence’s family shut their door tightly.

Dinner wasn’t great. Although they received A Level meals for donating half of their assets, the dishes and flavors were a far cry from what they were used to at home.

Their standard portion was one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, a side of soup, a bottle of yogurt, and a banana.

This was already very good. Elliot Lawrence had come back and said that the C Level meals served outside consisted of only one vegetable dish, a side of pickles, and a bowl of watery soup.

Hearing this, no one said anything. It was the apocalypse; they were lucky to have anything to eat at all.

Not wanting to waste food, Sue Lawrence also took some fried chicken wings from her dimensional space, giving everyone a pair—one wingette and one drumette.

The door was closed, so no one could see inside. They all ate carefully and meticulously, leaving not a single crumb behind.

Vincent Lawrence said as he ate, "I used to look down on this kind of stuff, but taking a bite now... it’s so delicious!"

Sue Lawrence just laughed.

After the ordeal of the past few days, of course everything tasted good.

Once they were full, they all went to sleep early. They had things to do tomorrow.

The fallout shelter’s schedule was surprisingly wholesome.

Lights out was at nine p.m. sharp, with only the emergency lights remaining on. At six-thirty a.m. sharp, the main lights came on, illuminating everything inside and out.

Thus, everyone was forced to adapt to the shelter’s schedule: wake up at six-thirty in the morning, sleep at nine at night.

Soon, everyone went from their initial difficulty adjusting to complete adaptation. They even began to sleep soundly and found their energy levels had improved considerably.

In the morning, Victor Keller was waiting at the entrance of the fallout shelter with his team. Today, they were heading out thirty kilometers to retrieve the supplies stockpiled outside.

When Sue and Elliot Lawrence arrived, there were already quite a few people there.

Tiana Lynch was standing beside Jason Sterling. Seeing Sue arrive, she even greeted her warmly. "Sue, did you sleep well last night?"

As she spoke, she grabbed Sue’s arm and lowered her voice, speaking at a volume only the two of them could hear. "I know you have a Superpower."

Sue: !!!!

A jolt of shock went through her, but her expression remained completely blank. Tiana Lynch stared at her face, seeing not even a ripple of emotion, and was instantly bored.

’But so what?’

She continued her hushed taunts, "It’s just the Healing Skill and Ice Control Skill. Not as impressive as my Superpower. I obtained the A Level Investigation ability, so I can see your Superpowers with ease. So, Sue, stop pretending. You can’t hide it from me."

Sue: ...

She suddenly felt calm.

’So she didn’t see my Raider Superpower after all,’ she thought. ’All this time, she only saw the Healing Skill and Ice Control Skill I plundered.’

’What about all the other entries on my status? Things like [Cat’s Hearing (70%)], [Underwater Breathing (Ten Minutes)], [High Efficiency Swimming: I’m a happy little fish], [cricket’s jumping power], and the [Ant’s Perception and Pheromone Communication Ability] I just got?’

’Hmm, these seem to be categorized as Skills, not Superpowers. So, Tiana Lynch’s ability can only see Superpowers?’

’Then why can’t she see the Raider Superpower?’

As she considered this, she began to study Tiana Lynch intently. ’Did no one notice her activating a Superpower right here? Does that mean my own activations would also go unnoticed?’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

At this thought, a slow smile spread across her lips as she directly activated a Skill: Eye of Barrier Breaking.

’Alright, let’s see what kind of amazing investigation Superpower Tiana Lynch actually got.’

Soon, a line of small text appeared above Tiana Lynch’s head: [A Level Investigation]

[A Level Investigation: Can investigate the target’s Superpowers (Cannot investigate Superpowers of a higher level than the user)]

The text in the parentheses was gray, meaning that without the Eye of Barrier Breaking, that line of gray text would be completely invisible.

Seeing Tiana Lynch’s smug face, she understood.

’No wonder she can only see my low-level Superpowers. She didn’t see a single one of my S Level ones.’

Sue maintained her smile, choosing not to use her Raider ability. For one, it was useless; she already had the Eye of Barrier Breaking. For another, Tiana Lynch would easily notice. If she really wanted it, the safest option would be to kill Tiana first.

Tiana Lynch’s expression suddenly turned cold. "What are you smiling at?"

’This is so weird,’ she fumed. ’Why does Sue just smile instead of getting angry every time I provoke her? Do I look like a clown or something?’