While Lana was building the library, Kris and Hans were putting together a list of things they needed for their shop to make candy. They were thinking fudge, taffy, marshmallows, chocolate covered fruit and a few things they didn't want to name just yet. Kris was actually excited because she felt she would be truly appreciated here. At dinner, she provided the list to Lana while wringing her hands afraid Lana would shut it down. It was a pretty extensive list between equipment and ingredients. It wasn't that the equipment was expensive but she had listed a whole bunch of candy molds, baking pans and a high-end taffy puller so it would last a long time. Lana took the list and glanced at it lightly and nodded.
After they ate, Lana asked them to follow her to the command post to make this purchase. The couple watched as Lana selected the items, buying the highest quality. She didn't stop at the end of the list. Lana went back and got molds for various holidays and some really cute things. She spent three times as much as they requested her to. They didn't want to be exceptionally in debt to her but when they saw what she was getting, their faces were shining with their huge smiles. She also bought them a few confectioner cookbooks. She had some in the library but she wanted the couple's business to start off on the right foot since they were going from preparing them for the kids to selling them. In total, she spent 20,000 credits on their start-up costs which she felt was pretty cheap.
After one more week, Lana had the whole shelter above ground built and furnished. She was exhausted and took a day off to sleep, not that her body gave her much choice. It took two full weeks of pushing her ability each day but she got it done. She could now shift her focus to helping below and teaching martial arts. She had also truly learned the value of Qi and was going to teach it to all her family members. The earth users still had 2 more weeks worth of work below the shelter but progress was being made. Plumbing would also take two more weeks but those houses that were occupied had priority, including those temporarily manned by the earth users.
Lighting would take about a month so Almin would remain busy. It also meant she didn't have access to Max during that time. When she left to take the earth users home, Max would have to be with her so Almin would not be able to work during that time. He would join the security team for that period. She was also getting to the point where she would need more of those blue crystals that were fuel for the ship. Paul said they would last for one month with daily use. She had been using hers for months but not daily. Her new members Lonnie and Pap were earth users so they could help with crystal extraction but she needed the walls up around that vampire settlement before then. She would only allow Dobin near that area.
Alto also figured out a way to get water to the houses rather than having to use the well. He told Lana once the pipes were in for the drains, he'd get water coming in. No one was complaining. Most felt they were living in paradise at this point.
In the third week, Lana received a message that Alex had her equipment ready. She didn't want to go just to turn around and go back again so she informed him she would pick the stuff up when she brought the earth users home.
While Dilly waited on her equipment, she made baby clothes for Lana as well as maternity clothing fitting a Family Head. She also created regular clothing to put in the front of her shop for sale.
Lana spent the two weeks teaching martial arts after breakfast to those not working below. Qi class was before breakfast. Both classes were mandatory regardless, under the age of 6 were excepted. She wanted her people to be able to protect themselves if the shelter was ever attacked.
The walls below were finally done and an exit was created on the other side for hunting. Lana was going to take the earth users home but before leaving she needed to take Dobin to where he could find those blue crystals. He promised to have enough by the time she got back. They then had a meeting with all the travelers.
"In the morning, I will be leaving to take the earth users home and bring back Dilly's equipment so she can make beast clothing. As you can see, I'm in need!" she pointed to her growing baby pooch. "You may go to the other side using the tunnel below but make sure you remember where you come out. There are other underground areas that are dangerous. I will remind you, this is a red portal planet. If you are not yet a C-rank, stay on this side. I will be creating quests tonight so you can go hunting now. Those of you who obtained crystals protecting the earth users can now put them in. I know several of you got to engage what we call shadow wolves."
The command post erupted in cheers.
"Your ranks should not be effected with the time off because I put in the system that quests were on hold. I will be lifting that hold tonight. I still need someone who can be a second in command that doesn't leave the shelter but right now, Dobin and Kattie will be working together in the times that I'm away. I'm looking for a specific skill set so I don't want anyone to feel slighted. The jobs you all have right now, I would prefer to keep you doing."
"Oh, maps and materials! I don't have any handouts just yet. What you can do is download the map that the military made of this planet. The area around the Bree shelter is great for the newer travelers. The other shelter, they don't know we exist and it needs to stay that way. We do need to explore the planet more but I want to be part of that team."
There were protests from pretty much everyone. Only Shalt, Dobin and Alto kept quiet.
She took a deep breath and continued, "I understand I'm pregnant and going out is risky. There are things I can do to mitigate the risk that others are not able to do. Yet. I promise I will weigh all risks I take but you must accept my choices with this regard. If you cannot respect that, I don't want you on my team when I'm out there." She had daggers in her eyes as she stared each one in their eyes to ensure they understood her position. "That being said, I want you to stay as safe as you can out there. If you need anything from the Crow's base while I'm there, I need that list at breakfast. If there are no questions, go rest and enjoy your evening. I need to get these quests put in the system."
Lana put quests in for the crystals from the snakes she saw on the other side that were basic tiers. They were all over based on what the plants told her. She realized going by memory could cause a problem so she pulled up the information from the military and put all those beasts in there. She also created a quest to take the scanner out. They would get paid based on what new things they found but only in the discovered area at the very edges of the current known area. She created another and set it as a high-level quest requiring at least one B rank to be present. She created another B-rank quest to finish exploring the underground area and take out anything there. She did this in case they needed the expansion room.
In addition, she and Shalt got 3 more king tier crystals in the last two weeks.