"Captain Qin, this contribution point... we just joined today, we don't have any yet..." Chen Jing asked somewhat embarrassedly.

"Don't worry," Qin Lan smiled, "Mr. Lin has already considered this. All new members will have a small amount of free contribution points every day during the one-week adaptation period, enough for you to order a vegetarian dish and a soup. Of course, if you want to eat meat, you'll have to wait until you start working and earn your own contribution points."

I see.

This system not only guarantees everyone's basic survival, but also uses more delicious food as bait to motivate everyone to work hard.

The design is absolutely flawless.

When it was their turn to get their food, Pang Dahai's rugged face emerged from behind the steam. He grinned, revealing a set of white teeth: "Hey! New girls! Welcome, welcome! Come on, don't be shy, try my cooking!"

Without saying a word, he filled everyone's plate with white rice and poured a spoonful of fragrant minced meat stewed with sweet potato on top.

"Brother Dahai, this is against the rules..." Qin Lan tried to stop him.

"Hey! What rules and regulations!" Pang Dahai waved his big iron ladle: "This is my personal treat, it's not on the public account! The girls just arrived, we need to let them know how good our shelter is! They need to be well-fed to have the energy to work, right?"

Li Luoshen and the others were flattered and quickly expressed their gratitude.

They carried their plates full of food and sat down at an empty table.

Across the table were several combat team members wolfing down their food, each of their plates piled high with braised python meat.

The glistening, savory pieces of meat looked so delicious they made my mouth water.

"It smells so good..." Xiaoya held her plate, took a deep breath, and a happy expression appeared on her face.

She scooped up a spoonful of white rice soaked in minced meat broth with a wooden spoon and carefully put it into her mouth.

The sweet aroma of the rice, the soft and chewy texture of the sweet potato, mixed with the savory flavor of the meat gravy, exploded on her taste buds. A warm current rose from her stomach and quickly spread throughout her body.

"Ugh... It's so delicious..." Xiaoya's tears flowed uncontrollably.

This is not just the taste of food; it's the taste of safety, the taste of hope.

Seeing her sisters wolfing down their food, Li Luoshen picked up her plate as well.

She ate slowly and carefully, wanting to etch this hard-won happiness into her memory little by little.

She noticed that although these combatants ate heartily, not a single grain of rice wasted. After finishing their meals, they would conscientiously take their plates and utensils to the designated recycling point.

The entire cafeteria was lively yet orderly, brimming with vitality.

This is the order that Lin Feng created.

The next morning, while it was still dark, all the new members had already gathered in the central square when the assembly bell rang again.

After a night's rest and a hearty meal, their mental state was completely different. The fear and unease on their faces had largely faded, replaced by a sense of eager anticipation.

Lin Feng remained standing on the high platform, with several core members of the shelter beside him—Qin Lan, Pang Dahai, and Li Xiangbin.

"Today is your first day integrating into the shelter." Lin Feng's voice clearly reached everyone's ears: "Your task is simple. Get familiar with the work and use your sweat to earn your first reward."

His gaze shifted and landed on Sun Wei.

"Sun Wei".

“Here!” Sun Wei immediately stepped forward, straightening her back nervously.

"Come with me." After saying that, Lin Feng looked at Li Xiangbin and said, "Old Li, you come too. I have some new ideas that I need the help of you two engineers."

Then, he gave Qin Lan an order: "Qin Lan, you are in charge of the work arrangements for the rest of the personnel. On the east side of the shelter, a new piece of land needs to be cleared to build a dormitory area for the new members. Today's main task is to clear the snow and gravel from the ground. Go to the warehouse to get the tools. After completing the task, you will be responsible for evaluating your contribution points based on the amount of work done."

"Yes!" Qin Lan accepted the order.

Soon, led by Qin Lan, the new members received tools such as shovels and carts, and marched in a large group towards the reserved plot of land on the east side of the shelter.

Li Luoshen and Chen Jing were also in the queue. They carried heavy shovels, but their hearts were filled with enthusiasm. The feeling of being able to build their future homes with their own hands was incredibly reassuring.

Meanwhile, Sun Wei, filled with trepidation, followed Lin Feng and Li Xiangbin toward the most central area of ​​the shelter—Lin Feng's private "workshop," a place shrouded in mystery.

It was a huge, windowless black stone building; just standing at the entrance, one could feel an invisible, awe-inspiring aura.

"Boss, did you call us here because you're building some new, big gadget?" Li Xiangbin rubbed his hands together, his face full of excitement. He loved doing "inventions" with Lin Feng the most; every time, it opened his eyes to new possibilities.

Lin Feng did not answer; he simply reached out and placed his hand on the massive metal door.

"Buzz..."

The doors slid open silently to both sides, revealing a space that was far more expansive than anyone could have imagined.

Sun Wei gasped.

What did she see?

Various metal ingots, some she recognized and some she didn't, were piled up like mountains, each radiating a different luster.

Further away, there were even several giant machines that she couldn't understand at all, machines that seemed to come from a science fiction movie.

"Today, we're going to build two things." Lin Feng's voice broke Sun Wei's shock.

He walked to the center of an open space and stretched out a hand.

"The first thing is the future economic core of the shelter."

As he spoke, a pile of silver-gray, unidentified metal ingots slowly floated up from the ground.

They melted and coalesced in the air, turning into a sphere of liquid metal.

Under Lin Feng's mental control, the metal sphere continuously stretched, deformed, and reassembled. Countless precise gears, drive shafts, and molds were created "out of thin air" at a speed visible to the naked eye, and then assembled together seamlessly.

Sun Wei's eyes widened like saucers; her professional knowledge as an engineer was completely overturned at that moment. This was no longer "manufacturing," this was "creation," a power only a god could possess!

In less than ten minutes, a complex machine, full of industrial aesthetics, rose from the ground and appeared in front of the three of them.

"This...this is...a coin minting machine?"

Sun Wei stared in astonishment at the clear groove on the machine used to press the mold.

“That’s right.” Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction: “The shelter needs a stable, reliable, and counterfeit-proof monetary system. Contribution points are just a unit of accounting; we need physical currency to facilitate internal circulation.”

He flicked his finger, and a fist-sized piece of special metal, emitting a faint golden light, flew into his hand.

"This is a special alloy that I found deep underground, and I call it 'Austin'."

Lin Feng showed the two the metal in his hand: "Its properties are very stable, it is not afraid of severe cold or scorching heat, it will not oxidize, and it has extremely high density. Most importantly, it is very difficult to mine."

He fed the gold into the feed inlet of the minting machine and then started the machine.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

With a crisp metallic clang, brand-new, gleaming gold coins rolled out of the discharge port and fell into the collection box below.

Li Xiangbin quickly picked one up.

The coin feels slightly heavy in the hand and has a warm, smooth texture. Even in the low temperature inside the workshop, it doesn't feel cold or sticky at all.

The obverse of the coin features a bas-relief of Lin Feng's well-defined profile with sharp eyes, below which is a string of numbers representing the year.

On the reverse side of the coin is the symbol of the Sanctuary, a shield guarded by a crossed sword and warhammer.

The entire coin is as exquisite as a work of art.

"From today onwards, this coin will be the sole legal tender in our shelter, which I call the 'Shelter Gold Dollar'." Lin Feng's voice brooked no argument. "One Gold Dollar is equivalent to one contribution point. All future settlements will be made using Gold Dollars. I will announce this to all members: no one is permitted to mint these coins privately; any counterfeiters will be executed without mercy!"

"Yes!" Li Xiangbin and Sun Wei responded in unison, their voices filled with shock.

They knew that from this moment on, the first truly meaningful economic system in this desolate alien world was born.

...

Meanwhile, on the construction site to the east of the shelter, Li Luoshen and her sisters were working hard.

Clearing snow and gravel is a tedious and laborious task, but no one complains. They work in groups of three or five, some shoveling gravel into carts, others pulling the full carts to the designated dumping point.

Sweat soaked their foreheads, and the cold air made their cheeks red, but their faces were filled with genuine smiles.

"Sister Luoshen, what do you think... our new house will be like?" Xiaoya asked breathlessly as she pushed the cart with difficulty.

Li Luoshen wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, looking at the flat, open land they had cleared with their own hands, her eyes filled with longing: "I don't know. But since Mr. Lin built it himself, it must be the strongest and warmest house in the world."

"Yes!" Xiaoya nodded emphatically. "I hope... I can have my own window so I can see the sun every morning."

"Yes, it will definitely happen," Li Luoshen said with a smile.

Just as they were taking a break, Lin Feng appeared at the edge of the construction site.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and stood respectfully at attention.

"Well done." Lin Feng's gaze swept over the cleaned land, and he nodded in satisfaction. "I've seen all your hard work."

He walked to the center of the construction site and stood still.

"Now is the time to witness a miracle."

He slowly closed his eyes.

The next second, everyone felt the ground beneath their feet begin to tremble slightly.

"Boom..."

A dull sound came from deep underground.

To everyone's utter astonishment, the ground before them seemed to come alive. Soil and rocks rolled and separated on their own.

Huge stones rose from the ground, like building blocks shaped by an invisible hand, automatically cutting, polishing, and piecing together to form an incredibly solid foundation.

Then, more soil was compressed and solidified, mixed with an unknown gelatinous substance extracted from the ground, forming smooth, mirror-like walls with a faint earthy yellow sheen.

This is a miracle!

The women forgot to breathe; their minds were blank as they stared blankly at rows of brand-new, neatly planned houses that sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Lin Feng did not complete the house all at once.

He only constructed the main framework, walls, and roof of the house. The detailed interior decoration would require further manual labor.

But that's already shocking enough.

In just one hour, the basic structure of more than twenty terraced houses, each capable of accommodating two to three people, was clearly presented to everyone.

"My God..." Chen Jing muttered to herself, adjusting her glasses, "Is...is this the power of 'God'?"

“Our…our house…” Xiaoya was so excited she was incoherent. Pointing to the brand-new little houses, her eyes glistening with tears, she cried, “Sister Luoshen, look! Our house!”

All the new members were ecstatic. They erupted in thunderous cheers and rushed toward the buildings that still smelled of earth, touching the solid walls like children and imagining what it would be like to live there in the future.

Li Luoshen did not move.

She simply stood there, gazing intently at the man who still had his eyes closed and was suspended in mid-air.

She finally understood Lin Feng's intention.

He made them clear the land with their own hands and work hard, and then, with miraculous skill, built their homes before their very eyes.

This is not just about demonstrating strength, but also about planting a seed called "belonging" in their hearts.

They have poured their sweat into this land; they have witnessed the birth of these houses.

From this moment on, this place is their root.