After Xiaomei left, the bedroom became quiet.

The extreme heat disaster had just arrived, and even at night, the temperature was unbearably hot. Zhang Shi felt a wave of sweltering heat sweep over him and immediately turned on the air conditioner.

A gust of cold wind blew, and Zhang Shi immediately felt his mind clear. He suddenly remembered that he hadn't signed in yet.

"Indeed, people can think better in a comfortable environment."

I checked in through the system interface, and today's check-in item was quite novel.

The system notifies you that you have received the following rewards for checking in:

[Fortress Blueprint (Pink) x1: An essential blueprint for upgrading a level 5 shelter. Using this blueprint will upgrade your shelter to a fortress.]

Zhang Shi then remembered that as the natural disaster progressed to the next stage, the conditions for upgrading the shelter should have been unlocked.

Upon opening the shelter interface, the previously grayed-out icons indeed lit up.

Level 5 shelters are similar to Level 4 shelters; there is no fixed template. The specific style to be upgraded depends entirely on the design drawings. However, the material requirements are astronomical, and Zhang Shi has never even seen some of the materials before.

"This fortress is quite good; it suits my current style perfectly. I'll close the gates and develop steadily for now, then make a splash when the time is right."

Zhang Shi couldn't help but let his mind wander, imagining the shelter developing into a village, a town, or even an empire, and a surge of pride welled up in his heart.

...

Zhang Shi was awakened by the heat in the early morning.

Even with the air conditioning on, Zhang Shi's pillow and bedding were still soaked with sweat, and the entire bedroom was baked by the high temperature like a steamer.

Zhang Shi felt his throat was red and swollen, and his lips were extremely dry. He quickly turned down the air conditioner temperature and gulped down a large bottle of purified water before getting out of bed to check on the situation.

Pushing open the window, a wave of heat hit me, and the sun overhead was blazing. I estimated that the outside temperature must have reached 40 degrees Celsius.

Worried that his farmland and livestock would be affected, Zhang Shi quickly put on his clothes and went downstairs to check. Lao Bai and Xiao Mei, who had been waiting, followed him downstairs when they saw him hurrying down.

After being exposed to the sun for just half a minute, Zhang Shi felt a burning sensation on his skin. Thinking of the delicate crops, Zhang Shi quickly rushed into the greenhouse to check on the situation.

Upon entering the greenhouse, the temperature dropped noticeably, but the crops inside did not wither and were still growing well, indicating that the farm owner module was working effectively.

Zhang Shi had initially hesitated, worried that the scorching sunlight might adversely affect the plants, and unsure whether to remove the greenhouse. Now, seeing that the crops were unaffected by the high temperatures, he made up his mind and packed the greenhouse into his backpack.

The scorching sunlight instantly beat down on Zhang Shi, making him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Hey, I've suffered a lot so that you can enjoy real sunlight."

Zhang Shi didn't want to linger in the sun, so after giving Lao Bai and Xiao Mei some instructions, he went back to the poultry shed.

As soon as Zhang Shi entered, he was pleasantly surprised. The two chicks had grown up without him noticing, their bodies covered in gray-black feathers, and they were now leisurely strolling around the poultry house. Upon seeing Zhang Shi enter, they quickly walked up to him, waiting for their owner to feed them.

Zhang Shi demonstrated his daily work to Lao Bai and Xiao Mei, then returned to the villa with the two robots.

Zhang Shi asked Xiao Mei to prepare breakfast, while he went to the bathroom to take a cold shower to cool off from the summer heat.

Xiao Mei prepared cold noodles for breakfast. Zhang Shi took a bite and gave it extremely high praise. To create such a delicious dish using the ingredients available in the shelter, Xiao Mei's culinary skills were quite impressive; she truly lived up to her reputation as a god-tier robot.

The robot didn't need to eat, so Zhang Shi still ate alone. The sweltering heat greatly reduced his appetite, so he ate even more slowly.

Opening a chat channel at random, you'll find, unsurprisingly, various complaints about the weather, along with all sorts of recruitment messages for forming cliques.

The number of survivors has dropped to less than 4,000. It seems that everyone has figured out how to play the game and knows that it is difficult to cope with the various dangers in the wilderness world on their own. So they have started to team up and stick together for warmth.

Chen Beipan: The largest mutual aid society in this district is recruiting, welcoming elite survivors from all walks of life. The society already has over 200 members, and the president himself has twice ranked second on the leaderboard. Those interested, please send a private message with your attribute panel.

Liu Yu: The Light Alliance is recruiting, with no entry requirements or conditions. There are no requirements for using [Outposts], and merging shelters is entirely voluntary.

Zhang Shi glanced around and saw some organizations like the "Heaven and Earth Society" and the "Brotherhood Alliance," but most of them were just trying to take advantage of the situation and cheat people out of resources. Only Chen Beipan's and Liu Yu's organizations had truly established themselves in the area.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

It was a video call from Zhao Feng.

Zhang Shi answered the video call, and Zhao Feng's panicked face appeared on the screen, with plumes of thick smoke behind him and the faint crackling sound of flames burning.

“Stone, help! The woods next to me are on fire, and it’s about to reach my shelter.”

Zhang Shi was startled. He quickly prepared some useful items from the warehouse, then took out the Traveler's Handbook and applied for teleportation.

A flash of white light, and Zhang Shi reappeared. A thick cloud of smoke filled his nostrils, causing him to cough violently. Looking ahead, he saw that the woods were ablaze. Zhao Feng was digging a firebreak in front of his shelter, trying to stop the fire from spreading. Unfortunately, one person's work was too slow, and the fire had already reached the base of the shelter's wall along the grass.

Zhang Shi coughed as he quickly stepped forward and pulled Zhao Feng out.

"Are you out of your mind? The fire's already spreading! Run!"

Zhao Feng's shelter faces a small river and is backed by a dense forest. Now, for unknown reasons, a wildfire has suddenly broken out deep within the forest. The current dry and humid weather meant that the fire quickly spread to the vicinity of the shelter, catching Zhao Feng completely off guard.

Zhang Shi remembered that he still had a resource card. He tried to place the river behind the shelter to form a buffer zone, but found that there was not enough usable area, so he had to give up the idea.

The two stood by the river, watching helplessly as their shelter was engulfed in flames.

Zhao Feng's skin was red from the heat, perhaps from the smoke. His eyes were filled with tears, and he clenched his fists, staring intently ahead.

His pet leopard was also in a sorry state, its body covered in patches of black and white, lying silently beside Zhao Feng.

This was only the first day of the extreme heat disaster. Zhao Feng watched helplessly as his shelter, to which he had devoted countless efforts, was burned to ruins. It's not hard to imagine the grievances and resentment he felt.

Zhang Shi patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.

"It's good that you're alright. Don't be discouraged. With your brothers here, everything can start over."

Zhao Feng shook his head and replied somewhat dejectedly.

"Everything is gone, everything is gone, how can I start over?"

Zhang Shichui punched him.

"Don't be discouraged. I already said I'm here for you. At worst, you can come to my place, and we can form an alliance. We'll still be living the high life, right?"

Zhao Feng looked up at Zhang Shi, and his tears finally broke free. He grabbed Zhang Shi's fist and burst into tears.

Zhang Shi smiled helplessly.

"Stop crying, pack your things and come to my house. It's so hot, I'm practically dried out."