The red dot in the corner of the monitor screen is still flashing, once, pause for two seconds, then flash again.

Chen Hao stared at it for a long time, then suddenly smiled. He raised his hand and gently tapped the table. The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear enough in the quiet control room.

"That flashing light just now wasn't a malfunction," he said. "It was part of our survival strategy."

Nana turned her head, and the indicator light on her eye lit up slightly. She didn't speak, but her finger was already sliding across the control screen. The screen changed, and a timeline chart slowly unfolded, spanning the entire screen.

Susan put down her pen and moved forward a bit. Carl also stopped spinning the small parts in his hand and stood up straighter.

"Starting from the thirteenth wall reinforcement," Nana said, "we have completed 27 physical structure upgrades, 19 system response optimizations, and 8 rounds of emergency procedure drills."

The nodes on the chart light up one by one, like a line crawling forward. Some nodes are marked in red, representing the problems encountered at the time—power outages, landslides, signal interference. But each red dot is followed by a green dot, indicating a solution or improvement.

“We’ve been constantly moving,” Chen Hao said, leaning back in his chair. “Even when it seems like we’re not doing anything, we’re actually accumulating experience.”

Susan nodded. "I used to think that as long as the wall was thick enough, that would be enough. But this time I realized that just having a wall isn't enough; people have to know that this wall is not to be trifled with."

“And we can’t just rely on real stuff,” Carl added. “We also need to know how to act.”

“The more convincing the performance, the less money you spend.” Chen Hao laughed. “When I was a kid, I would trick my mom into thinking I had finished my homework with this trick—I would put my schoolbag down, open my notebook, and bite my pencil in my mouth, making it look like I was busy. But I hadn’t actually written a single page.”

There was a moment of silence in the room, then Susan laughed first, followed by Carl, and even Nana's lips lifted slightly.

"So we're professional con artists now?" Carl asked.

“No.” Chen Hao waved his hand. “They are professional defensive actors. We don’t cause trouble, but anyone who wants to try it out should be prepared to be surprised.”

The laughter lasted for a few more seconds, then slowly stopped.

Susan frowned. "But what if the next person isn't an ordinary person? Like a madman, or someone who's not afraid of death?"

No one answered immediately.

A few seconds later, Chen Hao stood up, walked to the main control panel, and pressed a few buttons. The screen switched to a panoramic model of the base.

“We have three lines of defense,” he said. “The first line is psychological. Signs, lights, and broadcasts are all ineffective, but they can stop most people.”

He tapped the screen, and the model zoomed in.

"The second layer is solid. The wall is now 3.7 meters high, with a thickened base and an anti-climb coating on the outside. The tunnel entrance has a double door, with the inner door having a locking function. All windows have been replaced with reinforced panels, and the sealing has been tested three times."

Carl added, "The trap zone has been re-wired with tripwires connected to alarms, not power sources. It will still sound even if the power is off."

“The third line is for emergencies,” Chen Hao continued. “The backup lines can last for six hours, and our water and food reserves are enough for twenty days. In the worst-case scenario, we can retreat into the core area and wait for the outside world to pass.”

Susan looked at the screen and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

“In other words…” she said, “we didn’t just rely on luck.”

"Of course not," Chen Hao laughed. "We did everything we could, and then chose the easiest way to finish."

Nana then pulled up a video. "This is a record of the evolution of our defenses, starting from five months ago."

The scene came to life. First, it showed the initial, rudimentary fence; then the first alarm system installation; next, the tunnel excavation process; and finally, the deployment of this psychological deterrence measure. Each stage was accompanied by textual annotations indicating the time and key decisions made.

As the video ends, the last line appears: **Current defense index: 78% above the security threshold**

The room was quiet for a while.

Then Susan whispered, "So we really did it."

“Not only that,” Chen Hao said, standing in front of the screen with his back to them, “we’re much better than when we first arrived.”

He paused for a moment, then said, "Back then, we couldn't even close the door properly, and rain would flood the house. Now? There's a crowd of people outside looking at the 'High Voltage Danger' sign, afraid of stepping on the wrong step."

Carl grinned. "I thought I was the only one who was afraid of that brand."

“Who wouldn’t be afraid?” Susan said. “If it had a skull and lightning bolt symbol on it, I would walk around it too.”

“So,” Chen Hao turned around and leaned against the table, “we’re not the ones who build walls, we’re the ones who build homes.”

After he said that, no one responded, but the atmosphere changed.

The previous ease is still there, but there's something else added—a sense of security.

Nana started archiving in the background, marking today's log as "Defense Assessment and Confidence Rebuilding".

Susan opened her new notebook and wrote a few words on the first page: **Draft Plan for the Future**

Carl then pulled a small part from his pocket, a leftover from modifying the flash device. He held it in his hand, examining it from all angles.

"Three months later," Chen Hao suddenly said, "I want to try growing something."

"Plant?" Susan looked up.

"Yes. We'll set up a rainwater harvesting system first, then build a small shed to try growing drought-resistant crops. This place gets enough sunlight, and as long as the water supply is stable, it might work."

“We should also draw a map,” Carl said. “We should do a simple survey of at least ten kilometers around. That way, we won’t be running around aimlessly if we have to move someday.”

"Regarding energy," Susan added, "we could try wind power. The mountain pass there is windy all year round; building a small generator might be able to supplement the electricity."

Nana looked at the three of them and said, "I suggest that the above projects be included in the next phase of the priority list and implemented in stages."

"Don't rush," Chen Hao waved his hand. "Let's stabilize things first. Whether it's farming or power generation, it all has to be based on safety."

He looked at the monitor screen. The green dots were flashing regularly, indicating that everything was normal in all areas.

“We’re not afraid of people coming now,” he said. “But we need to make them remember forever—this place is not to be trifled with.”

Susan closed her notebook and finished the last sip of water.

Carl tossed the small part once, caught it, and tossed it again.

Nana's eye indicator light turned a stable blue, indicating that the system was running smoothly.

Chen Hao sat in the control chair, a pen in his hand, his gaze fixed on the hand-drawn panoramic map of the base on the wall. The map showed signs of modification; several new markers had been added, indicating the locations of recent upgrades.

He watched for a while, and then a smile slowly crept onto his lips.

“Actually,” he said, “I’ve always felt we’re pretty unlucky.”

Others are watching him.

"When I transmigrated here, I had no resources, no helpers, and not even a proper tool. At first, I spent my days fixing the leaky roof and catching the rats that were running around."

"But thinking about it now," he chuckled, "when things really get really bad, nobody dares to mess with us."

Carl hummed an off-key tune, tapping his fingers on the edge of the control panel to keep time.

Susan put the empty cup into the recycling bin and casually put the pen back into the pen holder.

Nana is synchronizing data; the progress bar is at 80%.

The lights in the control room were very bright, casting everyone's shadows on the floor.

The green dot on the monitor screen continued to flash regularly.

Chen Hao lowered his head and casually wrote three words on the paper:

**Afraid of saving money**

After he finished writing, he neither crossed it out nor circled it; he just left it on the corner of the table.

Carl suddenly stopped humming and looked up.

"You said..." he began, "what if there are even more people later on?"