“Alright. If you think of anything else or need something, just contact Chen Shen at any time.”
“Take some time to rest. There’s no need for you to do anything for now. Your body needs to heal.”
After he discovered the plans that the foreign races had over the next month, and had arranged for Connie to recuperate with her clansmen, the anxiety that weighed down on Su Mo’s heart finally dissipated.
The current status of humans on the wasteland was indeed precarious. However, as long as they survived until the arrival of the ocean disaster in 18 days’ time, they would obtain at least ten days of safety and respite.
Until then, hundreds of millions or even billions of humans would migrate together in groups. With the protection of large-scale official shelters, they would not go down without a fight.
Besides, as he looked at the shipyard below the cliff, Su Mo was already imagining the foreign marine races piloting small wooden boats, while he himself piloted his destroyer around arrogantly and without a care in the world.
“Development is good, but we have to take things step by step.”
“We still have to activate the robots quickly. Plus, building the ship and making more ammunition can’t be delayed.”
He walked back down the Iron Rock Mountain with a spring in his step. The heavy mood when he first climbed the mountain was no longer there. Before long, Su Mo arrived at the shipyard.
Half a day had passed, and it was already one in the afternoon.
After seizing the supplies of the Zeus Shelter invaders, the members of Hope Village ushered in a brief period of harvest.
This could be seen from the lunch meal.
The hundreds of pounds of chilled beef seized from the Zeus Shelter invaders were simmered in a large pot, together with potatoes, and were added to the usual serving of noodles.
A bowl of spicy, yet delicious, beef potato noodles was completed!
The cooks in Hope Village were from the north and hence their food contained heavier seasoning; Su Mo could smell the food even from a great distance.
“Hey, I’m guessing that the people from the Zeus Shelter never thought that they would end up on the receiving end of things!”
Su Mo’s appetite was stimulated when he saw Moore, who was not even hungry, finished three huge bowls. He walked up and didn’t stop eating until he had finished two bowls of the noodles.
After the meal, and while the other looted supplies were still being calculated, the afternoon interrogation session began under the scorching sun.
Chen Shen was worthy of carrying the word “trial” in his name.
Whether it was the Lioness or these thugs, he gave full play to his talents.
Without the constraints of the law, the interrogation process went smoothly under the guise of “accusation” and “violence”. Almost everyone from the Zeus Shelter ended up confessing to their crimes.
The crimes ranged from serious ones, where a leader abused and killed dozens of people at every turn, to minor ones where a cook took two or three lives.
Facing Chen Shen’s methods, they begged and cried as they tried to obtain a sliver of hope to survive by accusing everyone else.
Even though Su Mo consciously restrained himself from intervening, Chen Shen handled it well. Su Mo then summoned all the members of the current intelligence department of Hope Village and held a brief meeting with them.
At present, the head of the intelligence department was Pei Shao, and his subordinates were three villagers who were assigned to their duties.
For Hope Village, which had a population of only about a hundred people, having an intelligence department with four people was already sufficient for ordinary operations.
However, as Hope Village had only been established recently, it was necessary to take care of both exploring the nearby terrain and patrolling the perimeter daily within a six-mile radius.
The task was a little daunting for a department with only four people.
Therefore, during the first internal meeting that Su Mo attended in Hope Village, he pushed for another three other villagers to be assigned to the department.
Of the three, two were college students who often stayed up late surfing the net, and had the patience to sit still and stare at the chat panel for hours on end.
The other person was a woman in her thirties. In the personnel list submitted earlier, her score for attention to detail was as high as 82 points, which indicated her suitability for work in the intelligence department.
After making those arrangements, Su Mo gave instructions for the first intelligence collection exercise.
“First things first, focus on gathering information on the people who often appear in the World Channel recently, and encourage all humans to migrate to the New World in groups. Record their information in a file and report it to Pei Shao every three days. After confirming the accuracy of the data, Pei Shao will personally hand it over to Chen Shen.”
“Secondly, summarize the locations and coordinates of human gathering points after the ocean emerges. The more detailed the better. At the same time, try to verify the combat strength rankings of shelters made by those idlers on the World Channel to create an accurate database for Hope Village.”
“Thirdly, try to gather information regarding battles fought between humans and the foreign races that appear on the World Channel to the best of your abilities.”
There were three instructions. While the other two only needed to be completed to the best of their abilities, Su Mo emphasized and insisted upon the completion of the second instruction.
There were still a lot of tasks to be completed.
However, morale was high now that Hope Village had just won a victory, and all the villagers readily accepted their tasks and responsibilities.
“Good. It’s alright if all the intelligence collection takes some time; the accuracy of the information is paramount. Don’t just collect information for the sake of collecting.”
“Work hard. Where there’s effort, there will also be a reward!”
Su Mo patted both the excited college students and smiled. He then opened the door of the shipyard and signaled for the meeting to end.
Everyone left quickly but, before everyone had left, Zhong Qingshu ran over as if she could not wait any longer, and closed the door behind the last person.
“How is it? Have you figured out the plan of the foreign races? I watched it all unfold the entire morning and I feel like they’re about to go crazy soon!”
“Are we going to increase the scope of surveillance? Otherwise, if a large troop gathers around us, we’ll definitely be in deep trouble!”
The attack on Zeus Shelter gave everyone a wake-up call.
A surveillance range of about 30 miles was enough for ordinary days.
However, when migrating and traveling, this range would only provide a buffer for perhaps an hour or two at most in the event of an attack.
If the follow-up strategy was not good enough, they would come under attack.
Zhong Qingshu was looking far into the future, and she knew exactly how serious the hidden dangers were.
“Don’t worry. I’ve already discovered most of their plans. Come over and I’ll tell you all about them!”
He waved his hand and motioned for Zhong Qingshu to sit down, before starting to talk about the information he had obtained.
Though he naturally omitted Connie’s connection to his shelter, as well as what the exact details of saw and heard in the palace.
After he provided a detailed description of the chat channels of the foreign races and their three-stage plan, Zhong Qingshu’s expressions transitioned rapidly.
She went from feeling anxious at the start to feeling strange in the middle. She then gained some understanding at the ending and finally fell into deep thought.
After Su Mo finished talking, the shipyard’s control room fell into silence. Zhong Qingshu was quiet and Su Mo did not urge her to speak.
Around four to five minutes later, Zhong Qingshu awoke from her contemplative state.
“So, the current situation is that those on land are plotting a scheme against those in the ocean, and the higher-ups of mankind are plotting a scheme to kill and eradicate everything, and those who remain unaware of the situation are left waiting to die?”
“How is the Cursed Tiger clan so sure that the foreign marine races have no countermeasures prepared, and that they won’t catch a few land creatures as moles and figure out their plan?”
“There are too many flaws in this plan. Even considering it as a rough plan doesn’t make logical sense!”
Different from Su Mo’s result-oriented thinking, Zhong Qingshu’s mind was more detailed and process-driven.
After hearing her words, Su Mo also felt that things were somewhat fishy.
“While it cannot be denied that no one knows what the foreign marine races are scheming and what they’ll do, they are a key variable that cannot be ignored when making any plans for the upcoming disaster.”
“If we factor them in, then I’m afraid that this plan won’t even get off the runway. All the foreign marine races will find out about their plan simply by relying on the chat channels, or even by capturing just one or two land creatures!”
“Unless…”
“Unless they have a method to avoid the detection of the foreign marine creatures and keep them from finding out about the plan!”
Hearing Su Mo’s words, Zhong Qingshu shook her head calmly. She pulled out a book and a pen from her storage space.
As she opened the book, Zhong Qingshu quickly found a page that was densely packed with symbols. After a quick look, she spoke calmly.
“First of all, according to my data collection over the past few days, coupled with the information you just provided me, human beings are the ones who are taking the initiative to walk into the trap in order to attempt a counterattack. You can clearly see some shadows manipulating the public from behind. If this is indeed the plan, then the official shelters should have the weapons and firepower to protect themselves.”
“Secondly, if the terrestrial races really want to drive humans into the ring of encirclement according to their plan, relying solely on some insignificant spies to instigate it would be useless. The only way for it to work is to have those hundreds of large-scale shelters take the lead so that these people won’t be excluded from the scope of being called traitors.”
“Thirdly, I don’t recommend that you participate in this battle. There’s no issue when it comes to bringing your sister back, but there are too many variables at play here when you’re in a battle that involves humans, terrestrial races, and the foreign marine races. Even just the problem of the God of the Ocean that’s about to awaken is a huge issue in itself. Unless you have…”
Zhong Qingshu did not finish her sentence, but her meaning was obvious.
This was a big pit. A huge muddy pit.
Once someone fell into this pit, whether by chance or by intention, even if one had endless magical powers, there was no escape from getting oneself embroiled in a messy situation.
The best way forward now was to be wise and play safe; to bring his sister back, go into hiding, and flee to the New World as soon as possible.
However, such persuasion was wasted when it came to Su Mo.
“Hey, you don’t have to talk me into doing things like that. I’m not the cynical youth you think I am. Besides, I have not once thought about saving all humankind or devoting myself to their survival.”
“It’s their own business if they want to participate. The only thing I’m trying to do is…”
“To stay alive!”
Su Mo’s gaze looked unhurried as he stroked the buttons on the control dashboard of the shipyard, staring at the scaffolding from behind the blast-resistant glass.
Whether it was the old Zhong Qingshu or the present one, even though her considerations were very detailed, she would never be able to grasp the bigger picture like Su Mo could.
The courage to act when faced with life and death situations, and the foundation of the system, were what Su Mo possessed.
Su Mo obtained extraordinary insights by personally weathering through each crisis that happened along the way.
Those insights not only gave him courage, but also increased his “field of vision”.
“Qingshu, this wasteland may indeed seem large to you, and that there’s room for us to flee everywhere.”
“However, sometimes, it’s small too; so small that, if there’s a catastrophe, we won’t be able to escape death even if we hide in the corners of the world.”
“Sometimes, it’s not that I don’t want to escape, but rather that there are forces and consequences that keep me from escaping!”
“The way for us to survive is to neither hide nor run, but to rely on our own two hands to fight our way out.”
