I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 820 - 718: Return to the Research Center

After Chen Xin restored the operation of the high-speed rail station, it became a crucial material transit point for the Dongting Lake Battlefield.

The train station in the city center was too close to Dongting Lake and had been designated as part of the war zone. Although the battle lines later advanced and the area was built into a defensive line, the city center station was abandoned due to safety concerns over material transport, and instead, the high-speed rail station was expanded to meet the demands of the battlefield’s material distribution.

Originally consisting of only three platforms, the station has now been expanded to seven platforms, allowing twelve trains to arrive simultaneously for loading and unloading goods, playing a vital role during the previous war.

After all, this was the nearest location to Junshan Island, serving as one of the main battlefields for the Dongting Lake Battlefield, with enormous consumption of ammunition and other supplies that were entirely reliant on this station for supply and transport, marking its importance.

However, now that the war is over, the once busy train station has become much quieter, so much so that when Chen Xin’s subordinates from the research department arrived by train, they found only their train at the platform.

"I didn’t expect that after fleeing so desperately, there would be a day to return," one researcher in the cabin reflected emotionally, looking out at the clean platform through thick double-layer glass, remembering the chaotic scenes during the evacuation.

His companion, sitting beside him and having been transferred to the research department later, had not experienced the evacuation from two years ago, and curiously asked, "Was our research center here before?"

"Yes, our research center used to be here. It was a very large area, almost one-tenth the size of the current Dome City," the researcher introduced the past scenario to his companion proudly: "Back then, our research center had excellent conditions, with its own ecological planting greenhouse and small dome, and a specially constructed Energy Tower for heating and power supply to the center.

Moreover, there was a special forces unit stationed right outside the research center for security. If it weren’t for the outbreak of alien invasion, there could have even been a railroad directly connecting to the center...

Alas, unlike now, the research center doesn’t even have enough test space, with multiple project teams needing to take turns using the laboratory! Fortunately, Academician Chen reclaimed the original place, so we could move back!

Hearing this, his companion displayed a surprised expression on his face.

Although he knew the research center led by Chen Xin held a significant status before transferring to this department, he hadn’t realized how privileged they were two years ago.

This made him very curious and asked, "Given such great treatment before, why is space so limited for experiments in the new city now? Our center should be rather important for the country, right? Aren’t things like the Land Ship, Mobile Base, and Titan developed by our center?"

"It mainly has to do with Academician Chen spending an entire year in Europe last year!" said the researcher with a sigh: "With the highest department leader absent, our research progress lagged significantly, causing a backlog of work. Moreover, Director Tang, only being in a management position, couldn’t make many decisions for Academician Chen, which led to delays."

While Chen Xin was in Europe, Tang Tang managed the research center, but since her rank was insufficient, she could only report issues upwards without influencing the decisions made above.

Chen Xin was different; wielding different authority allowed him to make decisions directly on matters that Tang Tang needed multiple rounds of negotiation or debate with higher departments.

This resulted in delays for establishing the expansion plans for the research center’s office location in the new city, until after he returned and the war ended, leaving the issue unresolved.

Yet no consideration is needed now for expansion because Chen Xin reclaimed the original research center. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The original research center had no land restrictions; it was built large with comprehensive facilities, enough space to accommodate the entire research department.

Unlike Dome City, which due to design constraints, became very crowded upon accommodating excess populations beyond its design capacity, and the office location of the research center in the new city ended up being just two buildings not originally intended for research, lacking space for everyone.

This was an unforeseen issue perhaps, since Dome City was initially meant to be a planned ecological city to test the operational feasibility of the Ecological Dome model, with no anticipation of entire city populations moving in, resulting in populations far exceeding original design limits.

Previously, during wartime, people tolerated the crowded environments, knowing the ongoing warfare.

But now that the war is over, these previously shelved problems have resurfaced, requiring systematic resolution.

"Speaking of which, we can move back to the original research facility, but what about all the people in the new city? They were relocated from here, but now the city has largely been converted into a defensive line, and they won’t have a place to return to, will they?" On the way to the research center after leaving the train station, the companion asked the researcher about this issue.

On this matter, the researcher wasn’t sure either; shaking his head, he said, "Perhaps only Academician Chen would know. But I reckon there might be reconstruction of the city or building a new dome here? I recall the original plan was to construct a dome city cluster, unfortunately, the outbreak of war delayed that plan."

"A dome city cluster? Was there a plan to build multiple domes back then?" The companion, intrigued by the information disclosed by the researcher, pursued further inquiry.

The researcher nodded affirmatively, sharing the initial plan: "Academician Chen initially proposed the Dome City plan, aiming to build multiple Ecological Domes to explore how humans and nature can coexist harmoniously, facilitating ecological recovery studies for Blue Star post-long winter.

At the time, I was involved in this project; the current city is merely the first dome, and the plan was to construct three to five more domes around it, but the alien invasion delayed that..."