As for why Li Tiang chose Donghua Village as the location to build the Shelter, he naturally had his own considerations.
The geographical conditions of the Shanghai Shelter were far too poor.
Although it was the economic center of the Great Xia Nation, due to its latitude, once the apocalypse truly arrived, temperatures in the Shanghai area would plummet to minus sixty or seventy degrees Celsius, or even lower.
The higher the latitude, the lower the temperature.
Such extreme cold was simply unsuitable for long-term human survival.
Staying in the Shelter with energy for heating would be fine, but what if there were shortages of energy or food? What then?
It was important to remember that the Shanghai area had tens of millions of people, and even after the meteorite impact, many would still survive.
The daily consumption of supplies for so many people would be enormous.
If these supplies couldn't be replenished over time, collapse would be inevitable.
During the Extreme Cold Apocalypse, forget about replenishing supplies—even normal activities would be impossible.
If normal activities couldn't be carried out, then exploring the post-disaster world would be out of the question.
Without the ability to explore or connect with the outside world, obtaining supplies from beyond would be utterly impossible.
Although current human technology could theoretically allow survival at minus one hundred degrees Celsius, it would require massive amounts of supplies and energy.
First, you'd need advanced insulation materials, right?
Then there would be heating systems, life support systems, and so on. At the very least, you'd need a stove—but where would these things come from?
They would all need to be produced.
Once industry ground to a halt and normal production became impossible, even the largest stockpile of supplies would eventually run out.
Building the Shelter in Dongjiang City, Guangnan Province, had many advantages. For instance, the extreme cold here would likely only reach around minus sixty degrees Celsius—much better than the Shanghai area.
Moreover, earthquakes were less frequent here, and their magnitude wasn't as high, resulting in relatively minor damage.
Most importantly, there would be no direct meteorite impacts. In Li Tiang's future memories, Guangnan Province only suffered strikes from a few meteorite fragments ranging from tens to hundreds of meters in diameter—no massive fragments.
In contrast, the Shanghai area was hit head-on by a meteorite fragment nearly a kilometer wide.
Many other fragments also fell into the sea east of Shanghai, triggering tsunamis and earthquakes.
Under these combined effects, even the well-prepared Shanghai Shelter suffered severe losses, which ultimately led to its downfall.
After selecting the Shelter's location, the two of them discussed the specifics of its construction and the supplies they would need to purchase.
Song Weiwei listened quietly nearby.
After about half an hour of discussion, Li Dong suddenly asked, "In your future premonition dream, what else did you see?"
Truthfully, Li Dong didn't care whether his younger brother had received prophetic dreams or had been reborn from the future—as long as he was his own flesh and blood, that was enough.
"I saw disaster, destruction, and death," Li Tiang replied, a trace of sorrow suddenly appearing on his face.
In his future memories, he had been well-protected, never having to fight others for supplies or endure the scheming and infighting.
However, Li Tiang was well aware of the various situations both inside and outside the Shelter.
As a high-ranking official and senior researcher at the Shanghai Shelter, he was responsible for maintaining its normal operations, as well as the design and maintenance of certain weapons. Therefore, he had access to far more information than the average person.
Next, Li Tiang began describing to Li Dong the impending disasters: extreme heat, torrential rains, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis.
There were also solar anomalies, solar storms, Irradiated Creatures, and Zombie-like Monsters during the Extreme Cold Apocalypse.
As for human evolution, mutations, and awakenings like those depicted in novels and movies—of course, none of that existed.
Just thinking about it, it was impossible for things like evolution, mutation, or awakening to occur. If such things were real, people would have long since flocked to the North or South Pole to undergo evolution, mutation, or awakening in advance—or perhaps built a scorching furnace to burn themselves alive.
Extreme heat wouldn't cause mutations; it would only turn people into cooked meat.
The same went for extreme cold—it would only turn people into popsicles.
Those severely contaminated by radiation would only suffer deformities and dissolution, with lifespans much shorter than ordinary people.
"It's that serious?"
Listening to his brother's explanation, Li Dong finally realized just how severe the coming disasters would be.
Under the relentless strikes of these calamities, even if the current population of Blue Star managed to preserve a few hundred million people, it would only be by the grace of heaven.
Li Tiang nodded, then proceeded to explain his plan for building a Shelter to his older brother.
"Such a massive undertaking—constructing a Shelter this large—would require at least tens of billions just to make a dent," Li Dong gasped after hearing his brother's plan.
The plan involved hollowing out the entire mountain east of Donghua Village, then digging dozens of meters underground to build a massive Shelter spanning over three square kilometers.
And this Shelter wouldn't just be a single level.
A year and a half might not even be enough time—unless they mobilized a massive workforce and resources, working around the clock in three shifts.
The sheer scale of this Shelter would far surpass the largest air-raid shelter in the country, even doubling the size of the largest subway station in Daxia.
"Tens of billions… Brother, how much can you pull together right now?" Li Tiang frowned at the figure, completely unprepared for the staggering cost.
And this was just a preliminary estimate—not even the final expenditure.
"With all my savings over the years, at most eight billion. And I'd have to sell a few buildings in Pengcheng to scrape that together."
"That's nowhere near enough. Wait—I have an idea. Listen, Brother…"
Then, Li Tiang laid out his own plan for making money—exploiting information asymmetry.
For example, shorting certain stocks, investing in oil before prices skyrocketed, then cashing out after a few profitable trades.
Under the influence of various disasters, the prices of oil, gold, and food would inevitably surge.
Investing in foreign grain and purchasing large quantities—as long as they could transport it back to Daxia, the country would absorb it all, no matter the amount. The same went for oil.
After all, Daxia was already a major grain importer and the most populous nation, consuming vast quantities of food daily.
It was also a massive oil consumer.
Whatever surged in price, they would invest in.
By leveraging information asymmetry, turning tens of billions into hundreds of billions—even trillions—would be no problem.
Moreover, they could exploit information asymmetry to short other countries' stock markets, earning substantial foreign exchange to purchase large quantities of resources.
Of course, the execution would be far more challenging.
Implementing this would be fraught with difficulties.
Meanwhile, Song Weiwei occasionally chimed in with her own perspectives.
The three of them discussed until past 1 a.m. before retiring to their respective rooms.
Tomorrow would bring separate responsibilities for each of them.
Li Dong in particular had numerous business matters to attend to—navigating social connections, sending gifts to grease the wheels, calling in favors, and leveraging various relationships.
His schedule became packed instantly, leaving no time even for workouts.