“Military force….”
Repeatedly chanting these two words, Su Mo thought about the plans for the future he had previously and was a little surprised.
A few days ago, he was still a gentle and meek citizen from Earth, thinking about how to survive in this cruel wasteland.
Tens of days later, he was now considering using military force to protect his interests and development.
This transformation of mentality was not unpleasant.
At the same time, thinking about it, it was extremely reasonable!
In the beginning, after arriving at the Doomsday wasteland, people would always hold the mentality of a citizen; thinking about how to survive, how to live more comfortably, and how to withstand the next disaster.
With a mental state like that, there would not be any inclinations toward fighting for hegemony. At most, everyone would only be occupied with thoughts of how to protect themselves better.
Now that he had met the basic objectives of his development plans, and with the accumulation of so many advantages from before, with the system’s help, Su Mo was fully qualified to start having new ideas!
“If military force is to be used, then it is not logical for me to guard such a huge territory alone. Even with the help of my father, the family would only have two combat personnel. To strategize within a distance of tens of kilometers and battling against hundreds of people, our numbers would be far too few. It definitely won’t work!”
Before the development of technology, the size and numbers could still influence the balance of battle.
For example, if there were a group of kobolds without the leadership of a kobold mage, perhaps if there were forty or fifty warrior kobolds in the attacking group, Su Mo could use his advantages and equipment to defeat them without fear at all.
However, if those forty or fifty kobolds were increased to four or five hundred kobolds, even if Su Mo was a robot, he would not have the courage to challenge the army of kobolds.
“To develop science and technology, upgrade the science and technology tree, and establish factories to increase production yields in a sustainable cycle; these all require a large number of people.”
“To guard a territory, protect its resources from others, and have sufficient strength to deter the enemy; these too require a large number of people.”
“To upgrade shelters, develop stronger anti-disaster technology and structures also requires massive amounts of survival points and materials; these also require a large number of people to achieve.”
Analyzing each statement one by one, Su Mo’s affairs were all jotted down into the diary.
If civilization had already been established, and the home ground was still Earth with a functional government leadership, Su Mo naturally would not have such thoughts.
Unfortunately, after arriving at the wasteland, human beings were left in a precarious situation and the government had disintegrated. If one wanted to live in this doomsday wasteland and establish themselves by their own power, then one had to have a schedule and plan of action!
“I should first find myself some candidates and wait until father arrives to help me advise on these matters; he analyses people very accurately. By then I would be in charge of external combat and the scramble for resources, while father could lead people to build and develop territories. While waiting for me to collect resources for upgrades, he could be in charge of managing the internal affairs!”
“In this wasteland, I will use the advantages gained over this period to expand as much as I can. Before becoming the strongest, I cannot relax even for a day!”
At this moment, Su Mo was very thankful that he was not alone in the fight.
At least in hindsight, the situation would be more reliable with the help of his family rather than entrusting his back to a stranger in the doomsday world.
Once again making sure that everything had been recorded down, Su Mo took out the steamed pot of buns and put them aside. He extinguished the firewood and started training.
The body is an asset.
Especially in the doomsday wasteland, he could not afford to skimp on training it even just a bit.
Without the development and innovation of mechanical technology to cover for the weaknesses of the human body, physical training and development became paramount; the stronger one’s body became, the greater their chances of survival.
“The speed of my training is still too slow. To begin with, the process of increasing physical fitness is something that improves over time. Perhaps I am being too impatient.”
Over the past few days, the increase in strength had been minimal and not as satisfying as the substantial increases he gained after entering the ruins twice previously.
Su Mo could not help but feel a bit anxious.
“To speak of personal combat abilities, I only have a set of basic grappling moves. To beat the kobolds, this would still be considered passable, but its usage would be less viable against someone with physical strength similar to mine!”
While doing push-ups and burpees to strengthen his cardiovascular system and increase his lung capacity, Su Mo thought about the different combat options he had.
The grappling moves were easy to use, especially once you captured the essence of a maneuver. If they were used flexibly and in combination, it did have the ability to be lethal.
However, grappling was different from those ancient martial arts, which were all about killer moves. The essence of grappling centered around the concept of “suppression”.
When used against the enemy, there were very few killer moves.
When he fought the enemies earlier this morning, Su Mo could feel the slowness in his actions and thoughts in his head when faced with many kobolds.
Su Mo found it more efficient to hold a spear in his hand and stab them indiscriminately rather than using any skills.
This delay in reactions and thoughts was very dangerous, especially in battle, where indecisiveness could lead to a lost opportunity or even being killed by others.
“Should I search the trading channel for marksmanship or ancient martial arts skills to practice?”
As soon as the thought emerged, it instantly began to grow wildly in Su Mo’s heart.
Su Mo stopped working out after he thought about it carefully. He found the idea to be indeed feasible!
There were many fake martial arts styles on Earth. Many people thought that there were no genuine martial arts that existed but, in fact, there were many wonderful people who really did possess them.
They would not show their faces in public, but in certain places, depending on the family or the martial arts school, real “killer moves” were passed down from generation to generation.
Ordinary people would normally not have access to these people, nor would they be able to understand their true abilities.
However, with the current situation in the wasteland, everyone was connected by the World Channel, being the primary platform for communication.
Furthermore, everyone was working hard every day just for a morsel of food. Perhaps someone possessed such useful skills but lacked food, and they might consider making an exchange?
The more he thought about it, Su Mo excitedly opened the World Channel as he looked at the big white steamed buns that were still warm on the chopping board.
After thinking about the wording, and editing the order of the words, Su Mo’s message appeared on the World Channel.
[Su Mo: Looking to purchase a combat technique. Requirements: Can be successfully learnt and practiced, has high lethality and is an inherited technique. Preferably a spear or marksmanship technique, though fist techniques are welcomed too. Not techniques that are used to strengthen the bodies of elderly people! Open worldwide. If you are interested in sending me a private message, feel free to add me as a friend. Replies on the World Channel will not be entertained!]
After sending the message, Su Mo took one glance at the scrolling speed of the World Channel screen, before choosing to send the message once more.
At this moment, most people on the World Channel first noticed an extremely dazzling “No. 1” title sign, and then after seeing Su Mo’s name clearly, the World Channel went into a frenzy!
These days, every time Su Mo appeared on the World Channel, he would bring up a topic for discussion by the people.
The last time was a warning against evildoers, which disappointed many people who were hoping to trade for something.
However, this time, after seeing Su Mo’s message about trading, this group of people instantly became energetic, and the scrolling speed of the World Channel screen suddenly increased rapidly.
[If one doesn’t understand, one can just ask. What kind of combat technique? I, Mona, Chongyun, Keli, Wendy, and Master Lu played thieves. I feel my abilities are good!]
[Almighty Su, I have a secret combat technique that has never been disclosed. 365 postures, each of which can make your “enemies” never want to stop. Now if you want to buy it, I will give you a method to strengthen your kidneys. Guaranteed that you can take off happily at night every day for 365 days!]
[Su Mo, lad, I am the head of the Hunyuan Xingyi Tai Chi School, Ma Guobao. Traditional kungfu speaks of strength and accomplishes great tasks with little effort. Even more than two hundred catties of British strongmen can’t hold against a single finger of mine. If you ask whether I can represent traditional kungfu, then the answer is no. However, if you want to learn martial arts, I have the unique Ma-style Tai Chi Fist Technique, as well as the lightning five-strike, which has never been passed down to others. If you are sincere, add me as a friend and we will chat privately!”
[The 145th generation descendant of the Yang Family Spear came to visit… Uh, if you have to ask what the Yang Family Spear Technique is, then I can only say that my surname is Yang! The technique I am using is the Yang Family Spear!”
[I have a pistol. Does Almighty Su want to exchange something for it? It’s useless for you to learn kungfu. Outside seven steps, the gun is fast and, within seven steps, the gun is even more accurate and fast. If you buy my gun, who dares to show you kungfu? You will be able to destroy him right away!]
[It’s almost the year 9012. Are there still people who don’t know that kungfu is made up to deceive people? You ask me if I believe it? If you give me food, I will believe it, if you don’t give it to me, I won’t believe it.]
…
There were many talented people on the World Channel, and all kinds of information flooded forth like a tide, refreshing on the screen rapidly.
Once they had passed the most difficult period, most people were just trying to have some fun amidst the hardship, at least on the chat channel, and things were much less hostile than before.
When it comes to setting trading conditions, Su Mo was smart enough to directly set the threshold for offers.
Only those who actively added him as a friend for private messages would be chosen to make a deal.
After the update, adding strangers required points. Those who wanted to beg or talk nonsense would be rejected before reaching this threshold.
There was no private message for the time being, but Su Mo did not panic. He sat on the stone bench and waited patiently.
Not everyone would stay on the chat channel all the time to check the news, but Su Mo believed that as long as one person in a gathering spot or shelter saw it, everyone would quickly learn about the request through word of mouth.
The advantages from earlier did not only bring Su Mo the convenience of walking ahead of everyone, but it also brought with it a lot of other advantages.
This was the benefit derived from strength and the added value brought about by status and glory.
Sure enough, after a while, the game panel notified him of incoming friend requests. Opening the panel, and after taking a closer look, Su Mo laughed.
“Sure enough, everything… is under control!”
