Chapter 249: Terrifying Thickness, The Unprecedented 490mm
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Once his ideas had connected, the following plan swiftly emerged in Su Mo’s mind as smoothly as flowing water.
Through the use of the Mountain and Sea Painting Scroll card in the ruins of time previously, Su Mo had already become completely familiar with the topography of the 300 kilometers surrounding the Underground Shelter.
If there were no issues in the talisman’s simulation of the disaster, within ten minutes, the water in the areas nearby the Underground Shelter would accumulate to a depth of ten meters.
The sunken terrain of the low-lying land aside—which was the main reason water would accumulate there—the plains would be flooded with water at least eight meters deep on the first day itself.
Within 300 kilometers, if he followed along the west side and kept going upward, the topography would get higher to a certain extent—but for this monstrous flood disaster, it was entirely insufficient!
If he wanted to survive within these perimeters, he had to find a mountain!
Either that or… build a small boat.
However, if he did that, wherever he drifted would truly be up to fate and the heavens!
Therefore, by moving all the refugees in the Candlelight Shelter to Iron Rock Mountain, he would have sufficient free labor to mine enough iron ore to build the destroyer, and also to build a “fortress” that could withstand the flood for half a year.
The plan was sound! He could kill two birds with one stone!
“Once the furnace is operating, it can produce one unit of steel in five minutes. If I calculate based on 12 hours of work a day, in 13 days—less than 14 days—I can gather the necessary steel.”
After calculating the specific time and realizing that he only needed less than half a month to gather enough materials, Su Mo was relieved and no longer worried.
Based on the previous pattern, there would probably be a month—30 days—of preparation time, or a month and a half—45 days—from this disaster until the next.
Given this period, all of mankind could rely on this round of supplies for a buffer and mass migrate from the wasteland to a place where they could hide from the flood.
After half a year, when the flood receded, they could come back to dry land and start a new round of development.
“If the Tundra Shelter can’t find a suitable mountain when the time comes, perhaps I can still think of a way to help them.
“After all, as long as I can build a large, sturdy ship, there’s no way that I won’t be able to last for ten days or more.”
He applied the worst-case scenario to everything. Even if the Tundra Shelter did not have any topographical advantages within a few hundred kilometers and could not find a high enough mountain to avoid the flood, that did not actually present a very big problem either.
After all, this disaster was just a flood for now. However high the flood rose, as long as it was not a tsunami, the impact would not be that frightening.
Even if the flood reached three or four hundred meters at its highest downstream, Su Mo was still full of confidence given the implementation skills displayed by the Tundra Shelter.
Glancing at the time and realizing it was still early—and since Moore still had not returned yet—Su Mo turned the switch on and fired up the furnace for the first time.
The storage space in the chute was very large. After putting in 100 units of iron and copper in one go, Su Mo started creating for the first time.
After choosing and confirming the creation of 400 Mpa steel, a new creation window popped up.
The new window contained not only the steel data that consumed Su Mo’s attention but also design settings!
“Great! This time, it’s finally given me something worth working on, and it’s not trying to pull some kind of game monopoly anymore.”
In this game that transported everyone to this wasteland, the most basic unit of measurement was forever a mystery.
As long as they were different types, one unit of measurement could be a lot or very little.
For example, one unit of copper and one unit of iron were not on par with each other.
What was even more unreasonable was that the weight for one unit of a shrub and one unit of a Chinese fir were both different.
During the creation of the steel plates, what Su Mo feared most was that the game would overstep its functions and create steel blocks. That would be extremely problematic.
Fortunately, although he could not fine-tune the data for the time being, he could still design the steel as he wished.
“If 2000 units aren’t enough, I’ll make 3000 of them!
“The length and width of the steel plates aren’t important. What’s crucial is that I need to get them to maximum thickness to ensure no one can attack and enter from under the hull.”
As far as safety was concerned, Su Mo was exceptionally cautious.
He raised his hand and first dragged the sliders on the bars for length and width to the minimum value, then directly adjusted the slider on the thickness bar to the maximum limit.
After reconfirming that there were no issues, Su Mo pressed the red “create” button simultaneously with both hands, and the control panel automatically slid away. The furnace’s first creation had begun.
Rattle…
Rattle…
As the sturdy pipeline transported the supplies that had been placed in the chute, the reaction furnace in the middle of the furnace also began its work.
Since it was enveloped in a large, heavy outer shell, during the catalytic process, it was impossible to see how the reaction furnace was operating when viewed from the outside.
Aside from occasional rattling noises that set one’s teeth on edge, the iron and copper that went into the reaction furnace seemed to have gone into a different dimensional space—they made no sound at all.
Every minute, the furnace’s four thick copper and iron pipes would belch forth bursts of white gases to dissipate heat, and the temperature in the first-floor garage began to rise as well.
However, the miraculous thing was, when he put his hand on the side of the furnace or even directly on the reaction furnace, he still could not feel any hint of rising temperature.
From top to bottom, this miraculous outer shell was like a large slab of marble—apart from being smooth, it was also sleek!
Rattle… rattle…
Now that he was anticipating the result, the five minutes of waiting time felt longer.
He fiddled with his watch and waited until sounds of endless tearing, pushing, and pulling came from the furnace, signaling that the creation process had entered its final stage.
At the rattling sounds that heralded delivery, Su Mo happily used his mind to open the storage box connected to the back of the furnace.
As expected, the module that delivered the steel plate was also extremely unusual.
A gleaming, high strength steel plate now lay there, obviously significantly larger than the conveyer belt.
Sensing that Su Mo wanted to take it, his storage space automatically opened, and the steel plate inside the furnace flew out, landing firmly on the ground.
“F*ck me, this furnace really is that powerful!”
The thick steel plate on the ground looked very hefty even at a glance. Su Mo attempted to pick it up but was shocked to discover that even with his current strength, he could only lift a corner of it.
If he wanted to carry it, unless Moore were here, he would have to rely on machine tools or the storage space for transport.
When compared with 13 units of iron and 1.5 units of copper, this creation…
Was not a loss at all!
Returning to the third floor, he located the good-quality tape measure that he bought in the previous seed trading. In one stroke, Su Mo had the basic data for one steel plate unit on paper.
The total length of this 440 Mpa steel plate was around 1353 mm, and its width was 765mm.
Based on the materials that had been put in, these two numbers were hardly significant, but in terms of thickness—which Su Mo was most concerned about—the furnace had executed his design perfectly.
It was 490 millimeters thick!
It was almost half a meter thick. What was the logic behind this?
In the history of human naval ships, even the largest first-class battleship—the Yamato, a super monster with a full load displacement of 72 thousand tons—only had armor plating that was 410 millimeters thick.
In battle back in the day, this steel beast had taken on 10 torpedoes and 24 bombs before finally being sunk.
Now, however, if the mini destroyer that had yet to be built could have armor plating 490 millimeters thick, never mind the small marine creatures—even if all the foreign marine races gathered, Su Mo would have the confidence to go up against them.
“It looks like my previous estimate was slightly off. If this steel plate is to be used in the rear of the ship, it should start with 2500 units.
“Based on this weight, the ship can remain steady even if its displacement is above 2 meters, much less 1.5 meters.”
Using the storage space, he moved the steel plate to the corner of the first-floor garage. When the furnace turned off, the roaring sound stopped.
All the fuel currently in the shelter still had to be supplied to a few automated machines to ensure the biggest benefits from the welfare disaster.
When the disaster ended and all the food was stored away, the extra fuel could then be fully utilized to generate power for full-scale work, creating enough steel plates to build the destroyer.
“All the wasteland refugees have currently just managed to be able to have enough to eat. I’m anticipating there probably won’t be much time for development before we face the flood either. Mankind will only be able to welcome the first wave of development when the flood recedes.
“When that time comes, resources will definitely be the first thing everyone fights over. Whoever obtains the most resources will be the one who can get a bigger share of the market and… even develop faster.”
Countries on Earth had all been established using resources to define national borders.
Only with resources could one possess territory, and only with territory could assembly points of a certain size be gradually formed, as more people slowly gathered.
“Lucky I found the motor-pumped oil well Magoo left behind so I can stay ahead of everyone else. In the future, as long as I can keep upgrading the oil well, using it won’t be a problem for three, five, or even ten years, given the current oil production capacity in the low-lying land.
“In addition, with the miraculous Resource Reserve Recovery Card, this oil is basically inexhaustible!”
Su Mo began putting together some of the things he intended to bring out for planting later. When he heard the sound of Moore honking Earth Tiger upon his return, Su Mo set aside his sentimentality.
Luck was very important to a strong person, but hard work on top of that luck was even more important!
Calling Moore and bringing the seeds he had packed, Su Mo arrived at the edge of the black soil land and started planting for the last time before the end of the disaster.
All the Chinese medicinal herbs accounted for a substantial amount of ground—a full two mu of land.
Now that he had some previous experience in sowing, when he planted medicinal herbs and fruit trees that had a better chance of surviving, there was a small wave of increase in quality as well.
From his initial forays into excellent-quality gardening, he could occasionally produce something rare-quality in these later stages as long as he focused on it completely.
By the time all five mu of land had been fully sowed, the sky had darkened once more, and a busy day had passed yet again.
Was he tired?
The answer went without saying.
Seeing that Moore had collapsed inert onto the ground beside him, Su Mo reached out a hand and gently stroked the bear’s normally hard-to-reach head.
If he did not have Moore’s help, planting these five mu of land by himself would have taken at least two or three days.
Now the planting had speeded up, although he was exhausted half to death.
However, most of the various plants already sprouting under the earth were the greatest consolation for both man and bear.
The trunk of the rare-quality apple tree currently extended to over a meter high. In fact, it was even growing taller, sprouting branches at a rate the eye could see.
The rare-quality apricot tree with its faster growth rate had already passed the early stages, and pale flowers were starting to gather on its branches, emitting an alluring fragrance.
Some of the Chinese medicinal herbs that matured faster could be harvested early tomorrow morning. Herbs like ginseng, where the value was higher the more mature they became, were frantically absorbing the nutrients in the ground.
“In this new land, it would be so wonderful if there were no disasters!”
Standing up and welcoming the twilight that descended at sunset, Su Mo let out a long-drawn sigh, then led the four little ones onto the path back to the shelter.
Once today was over and tomorrow came, after such a long period of hard work, it was finally time for the energy fruit, spring wheat, vegetables, and cotton, as well as various fruit trees and medicinal herbs…
To be harvested!
