Surviving the Long Night: Starting from the Gas Station and Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 12 Upgrade: Solar Energy and the Night Visitor

As Lu Sheng reached out his hand, half of the steel piled up in the warehouse transformed into streams of light, rose up, penetrated the roof, and merged into the solar panels.

"Small solar panels are about to be upgraded to medium-sized solar panels, with upgraded technology, making them more robust and durable, while the scale will be increased by 100%. Please select the enhanced entry:"

1. Good things come in threes: The number of solar panels increased by 50%, reaching three times the original area.

2. High-quality batteries: The solar panels will use a new type of tandem battery, which increases power generation efficiency by 50% and has the characteristic of absorbing a wide spectrum, making it more efficient in low light environments such as dawn, dusk, and cloudy days.

3. Intelligent Control: The system incorporates intelligent power optimization devices, upgrades its architecture, and intelligently controls power generation, increasing output while also supporting capacity expansion and component replacement.

Looking at the three entries, Lu Sheng glanced back at the top of the warehouse, where the empty area was roughly twice the size of the solar panels.

After a moment's thought, he came to his senses and chose the high-quality battery.

Subsequently, the entire solar cell array transformed into streams of light, reorganized its shape, and one new solar panel after another took shape again, extending backward along both sides of Lu Sheng.

When it finally took shape, it was twice the size of the original.

Lei Zhaowu, standing behind Lu Sheng, was dumbfounded. He had seen construction-type awakened individuals before, although the way each person's abilities were expressed varied depending on their personality.

But Lu Sheng's methods were faster and smoother than any other awakened person he had ever seen before, all done in one go, as if by divine craftsmanship.

If Lu Sheng hadn't told him beforehand that the steel plates piled up in the warehouse were materials, he would have almost thought he was seeing something created out of thin air.

"Alright, are you done?"

Lu Sheng stood up, turned around and looked at Lei Zhaowu, who then came to his senses.

"Yes, absolutely! Young Master Lu, your methods are truly brilliant!"

Seeing that the other party was already addressing him as "Young Master," Lu Sheng quickly waved his hand:

"What nonsense! If you really want to advance your career by currying favor with Lu Yuexin, then stop mentioning those three words. Nobody in the Lu family likes to hear someone call me that."

"Alright, alright, Brother Lu, I misspoke, please don't take it to heart."

Lei Zhaowu raised his hand to apologize. He had read Lu Sheng's information on the way here and knew how Lu Sheng was regarded within his family.

But at this moment, he threw away everything he had seen, because the person in front of him was no longer the same as before.

Lu Yuexin was just using him like a dog. If you want a reliable backer, you have to place your bets when that person is still insignificant.

Later, Lei Zhaowu got into the small truck. He wanted to stay a little longer, but Lu Sheng had no intention of keeping him, so he had to say goodbye for the time being.

However, after calming down, he realized that he would be a supply transporter for this area from now on, and he would see Lu Sheng all the time.

Whether it's observation or courting, there will be plenty of opportunities.

"Lu Sheng, he went to the rooftop with you, and he seemed like a completely different person."

Watching the small truck disappear at the end of the road, Lin Ran commented:

"To be opportunistic."

"In a place like this, it's always better to have more friends than more enemies. I'm going to get back to work now."

Lu Sheng patted Lin Ran on the shoulder, turned around, picked up the electric hydraulic shears that were placed in the corner, and walked towards the place where he had previously left the trolley.

Lin Ran watched his retreating figure, sighed, picked up the claw hammer placed to the side, and turned to look at the wall that bulged inward.

She felt overwhelmed.

Time passed quickly, the sun began to set, and Lu Sheng dragged his heavy cart back to the warehouse.

Today, Sun Zhiyuan and Lei Zhaowu delayed us a bit, but fortunately, the tools were powerful and the ruins were full of treasures, so we still managed to collect five units of steel.

After parking the cart, he noticed that the layout of the room had changed.

The two inward-protruding gaps were filled with enough sandbags. Lin Ran narrowed the exposed steel bars inward to secure the sandbags.

The gaps that were originally blocked by these sandbags were repaired by Lin Ran. Since they were all small gaps, she repaired them very well.

Upon seeing Lu Sheng return, Lin Ran reported to him:

"The entire wall is deformed, and it's impossible to repair it with just a claw hammer. We can only hold it in place for now, and it'll be fine for now. We'll figure something out later. Give me some time, and I'll think of a solution."

"You've done very well. Just keep it up for a few more days."

Seeing the condition of the wall, Lu Sheng knew that it was virtually impossible for Lin Ran to restore it to its original state on her own.

But he can see more things than Lin Ran.

"The refueling warehouse can consume 3 units of steel and 5 units of wood for repair and reinforcement."

Compared to the original, much less material is needed for repair and reinforcement.

Lu Sheng has already figured out a compromise: tomorrow he will collect some wood and have Lin Ran repair all the small gaps that can be fixed, further reducing the materials needed for repair and reinforcement. Then, he will upgrade his abilities to renovate the warehouse.

He walked to the battery box and saw that the battery level was 90%, indicating that it was charging.

Lu Sheng didn't need to recall the previous charging efficiency to know that it was much faster than before the upgrade, and what made him even happier was that the battery capacity was still increasing.

Although the power generation efficiency will be much lower in low light environments, it is still better than before when it could not generate electricity at all in low light.

After plugging in the electric hydraulic pliers to charge, he returned to the front gate, closed and locked it, then went to the cashier to check his balance. After last night's bountiful harvest, he arrived at the 810 credit point.

If the deficit is covered, there's no need to worry about the legal department coming to cause trouble, but the money must be put back on the shelves by the end of the month; using it again would be considered misappropriation.

This feeling of not being comfortable spending money is unpleasant. Thinking of this, Lu Sheng suddenly turned to look at Lin Ran, his eyes lighting up.

My own account isn't free, and neither is hers.

Before long, the long night arrived, and Lu Sheng and Lin Ran continued to take turns in the same order as before.

Lu Sheng remembered Lin Ran's words from that morning: the man-eating rat horde had scattered due to the death of its leader, but other nighttime beasts would come to this area to hunt them.

He was recalling every common nighttime beast in his mind when he suddenly heard the sound of a motorcycle screeching to a halt outside.

Boom, boom.

A knocking sound followed.

Lin Ran was about to respond when she saw Lu Sheng looking at her with his finger to his lips. Lin Ran nodded and chose to remain silent.

Boom, boom.

After knocking a few times and receiving no response, a lively female voice rang out from outside the door.

"Hello, hello, can you open the door? I'm here to open a shop, but the folding house I ordered is a bit late and won't arrive until tomorrow."

"Can I sleep here for one night? We'll be neighbors from now on, so it's a good opportunity to get to know each other. I can pay you."

The voice outside the door sounded more human than the mysterious old woman who had knocked on the door last time, but what the other person said made Lu Sheng feel like he had seen a ghost.

He hardly gets any customers passing by here in a month. Why doesn't she say she wants to install an elevator on the moon?

Suddenly, the person outside stopped knocking. Lu Sheng thought she was about to leave, but then he heard her shouting "One, two, one, two" to encourage herself.

After listening for a while, Lu Sheng determined that the sound was coming from a gradually upward direction, and that the person was climbing the wall towards the roof.