Chapter 472 Powerful! The Multiple Uses of Virtual Reality!
The expedition oath was declared, and the new talent level reward mechanism was announced.
After that, the official launch of Hope One’s voyage to the New World was concluded.
The villagers that attended the ceremony dispersed swiftly as they laughed and chattered on the way.
Soon, the deck was empty aside from the few men that stood by Su Mo’s side.
Chen Shen took two steps forward and spoke. “Shelter Leader, we’ve completed the task you assigned to us previously. We’ve completed a basic exploration of the areas mentioned.”
A table materialized.
On the table, a large map materialized as well.
After Su Mo had set sail, the villagers of Iron Rock Mountain had not been entirely trapped on the mountains.
By the fourth day, they had crafted a robust and sturdy wooden raft.
They would set sail at dawn and return when the skies were dark. Within a radius of three hundred kilometers, they explored the surroundings of the basin area.
They did not treat their exploration mission like a stroll in the park.
Instead, they fully committed themselves and dived into the waters to examine and record the terrain of the area, as well as the items and resources they came across.
After the God of the Ocean titles appeared, the bulk of Iron Rock Mountain’s villagers managed to upgrade their titles to the second level
A dozen or so villagers even managed to upgrade their titles to the third level.
This was a huge help to the exploration mission.
Various methods were undertaken to accomplish the exploration mission. After pooling together their findings yesterday, a large map that comprehensively detailed the surrounding terrain of the basin area was produced.
Su Mo’s eyes attentively brushed over the map.
He immediately noted the plentiful petroleum tucked underneath the ground.
Through the game panel’s resource function, Su Mo had previously managed to catch a brief glimpse of the petroleum in the surrounding area.
However, looking at this map, Su Mo finally realized that the size of the petroleum field was staggering!
The land that spanned two hundred square kilometers was home to a vast supply of black-gray petroleum that was embedded underneath.
Based on the extraction efficiency of the motor-pumped oil well in the Underground Shelter, the petroleum could last the next ten years or so.
Taking into account the likely increased extraction efficiency in the later stages, the petroleum field could still fulfill the demand for energy in the basin area for the next couple of years.
“We need to take it with us. It’s our most valuable riches. Our voyage to the New World depends on it. We must never let it go!”
Su Mo took a pencil and started making marks on the map.
An outline was formed. It appeared slightly crooked, but it comprehensively encompassed all the areas with the black resource.
“There’s a natural gas field buried underground two hundred and fifty-six kilometers away. The amount of natural gas contained within the field is approximately one hundred and fifty thousand cubic meters.”
“Even if we approximate that each cubic meter of natural gas can burn for half an hour, the volume of this field is still staggering. It’ll be of great help!”
In the modern era, a common household of four would only consume between four hundred to six hundred cubic meters of natural gas annually.
If it was averaged out to five hundred cubic meters per family, one hundred and fifty thousand cubic meters of natural gas could still supply the three hundred families, or twelve hundred people, continuously for over a year.
There would naturally be losses during the extraction process of the gas. Even so, this natural gas field would still retain its potential value, and was valuable enough to be brought along “A small coal mine? Bring it along!” “A small, good-quality stone reserve, bring it along!” “A forest of red pine trees? Too bad, too bad. The pine nuts could be eaten as medicine. Its wood could be used to craft furniture. Unfortunately, these pine trees have been submerged under the ocean for too long. The roots are probably dead. Too bad there isn’t another way!”
The basin area was a barren plain.
However, the soil outside of the basin area was not cursed with the same infertility.
The saying that all extremes will eventually revert in the opposite direction seemed to hold true in this situation. Within a radius of three hundred kilometers, there were altogether thirty or more locations containing resources that varied in size and quality, as indicated on the map.
After deliberating on his choices, Su Mo eventually selected nine of them to bring
along.
The nine resources were the petroleum field, coal mine, natural gas field, stone reserve, Black Soil land, saltpeter mine, sulfur mine, iron mine, and copper mine.
The total area covered two hundred and thirty square kilometers.
“Shelter Leader, each shelter’s initial exploration radius only covers 50 kilometers. Considering that the size of the territory increases by twenty kilometers for every shelter level, isn’t this area too large?”
Glancing at the map that Su Mo had drawn, Chen Shen hesitated briefly, but his silent concerns were voiced out by Pei Shao, who was standing next to him.
Two hundred and thirty square kilometers…
If that was the exploration radius, then the shelter would need to be upgraded to level 9.
For the survivors currently on the wasteland, level nine represented an unfathomable barrier.
It could take half a year, or perhaps a full year, to even come within reach of this level.
“Don’t be alarmed. We’ll bring along whatever that needs to be brought along. Furthermore, who said that we’re only limited to fifty kilometers!”
He grinned vaguely as he looked at the faces of the few people around him, whose faces now bore a hint of realization. With a smiling expression, Su Mo nodded his head, but did not explain anything.
Currently, his shelter was level six and had an exploration radius of one hundred and fifty kilometers.
It was short of the two hundred and thirty kilometers he needed, but all the resource locations were still generally encompassed within.
“That’s enough. I’m about to activate the transfer process. You guys should go and prepare to enter virtual reality and join the training session.”
“By the way, Qi Qin and Shen Ke, you two stay here. I have something to assign to you two!”
Su Mo put away the map, greeted a few others, and headed toward the conference room on the second floor.
The New World…
Chen Shen had supplied him with some information about the New World, but the overall situation of that place was still covered by a shroud of darkness.
This lack of information and clarity made Su Mo uncomfortable.
Hence, after careful deliberation, he finally uttered a few words as he looked at the two people sitting in front of him. “Qi Qin. Shen Ke. You both possess a steady and firm character, and I am confident in your ability. Therefore, I am about to assign you a new mission.”
The two of them nodded simultaneously; their ears perked up in anticipation of the mission that was about to be assigned to them.
“Currently, Sun-chaser is sailing alongside Hope One. Every day, Hope One needs to stop midway to recharge the energy needed for training purposes. This will take six hours, during which Hope One will remain in one place.”
“We need to think about how to utilize this time. We can’t just sit around and wait. At the very least, we need to be able to obtain more news and information about the New World.”
“Therefore, you two should… bring along ten men. Bring along whatever weapons and items you need as well. Use Hope One’s radar system to locate those who might have probably escaped from the New World and interact with them. Try to extract as much information as possible from them!” Shen Ke nodded her head. “What if they are adamant about not telling us anything? Or if they purposely tell us fake information?” “It doesn’t matter. Your priority is to avoid conflict if possible. We still have plenty of time to look for others. We will likely meet someone that is willing to talk!”
Su Mo shook his head; he understood what Shen Ke was getting at.
Since the World Channel no longer existed, he could secretly send men to capture these people. He could interrogate and torture them
-and no one would ever know. However, once there was a first time, there would always be an excuse to repeat it a second time.
It was likely too, that once he got used to these underhand tactics, he would lose sight of his bottom line and end up adopting extreme methods to achieve his goals.
Su Mo was not a pedantic person but, if the circumstances did not call for it, he preferred to maintain his bottom line.
“Yes, we understand!”
Su Mo stood up. He watched as Qi Qin and Shen Ke steadily left the room and nodded to himself before returning to the conference room. It was easier for him to accomplish things now that he had people under his command.
Lu Yongyi had sent all the finest talents he had gathered aboard Hope One.
These talents saved Su Mo plenty of effort, and allowed him to spend time attending to other matters.
He sat in front of the table and took out the map again.
Looking at the map, he pondered over his plan in his head. After ensuring there were no problems with it, he focused his mind as he looked at the view through the porthole window.
He summoned the game panel. Currently, the game has not completed the version update. Most of the functions at the top were still grayed out and inaccessible.
However, as Su Mo focused his thoughts, a new panel popped out.
Impressively, it was the option to transfer territories.
It was just as Chen Shen had said. The functions described within this option were not complicated. It was like drawing on the map in the sense that he only had to circle out the selected area.
However, the option to transfer to the New World was not the same as the rest. The landscape of the New World was not a uniform circle. Instead, it was a quadrilateral shape with parallel sides.
The sides at the top and bottom were longer, whereas the ones on the right and left were shorter.
Within this quadrilateral shape, an area that extended five hundred kilometers from the perimeter into the polygon was grayed out, indicating that it could not be selected.
Extending beyond that, the legend markers were decorated with an assortment of colors.
From a single glance, Su Mo saw no less than two thousand legend markers. This meant that there were at least two thousand territories that had taken root in the New World.
“Eh, they’re all quite smart. Most territories are exactly forty-nine kilometers apart. Not too far, yet not too near.” “My territory will require two hundred and thirty kilometers, which means I can only transfer to…”
Browsing through the transfer selection map, seven marked locations were now flashing. These locations piqued Su Mo’s interest.
Among the seven locations, the latter four were all barren land situated at the edges of the polygon that did not seem to possess many resources.
However, among the first three…
The first was situated right in the center of the New World; no one had dared to select this place.
If any conflict were to occur, this place would be attacked by enemies from all sides.
The second location was located at the bottom right of the New World.
Like a mixed fruit pudding, this location was surrounded by an assortment of different colors. This meant that plenty of the weaker foreign races had gathered around this location.
The third and final location was located on the right off-center section of the New World.
On the map, the terrain could not be discerned clearly, but it could be seen that there were mountains and rivers around it.
This place was the source of all rivers in the New World. It was also the central point of the entire topography of the New World.
Based on a study of the Feng Shui of that region’s terrain, the resources here would be the most abundant. Naturally, the competition here would be intense too.
“How should I choose?”
“This is troublesome. The three former locations are exceptional when evaluated on their own, but it becomes difficult to decide when they are compared with each other!”
Su Mo stared at the map; his hands quickly scribbling notes onto the paper.
Since he could not make a decision on his own, considering that Su Deben, the big boss of the Expeditionary Army, was currently onboard Hope One, Su Mo decided to get his advice and thoughts on the matter.
After a while, Su Mo finished marking out the entire map of the New World.
He stood up and made his way to the second floor of the deck, which had now been converted into a small warehouse that housed a virtual reality laboratory. He found the robot he was looking for.
“Lu Kuan, can you switch with Uncle Su? I need to discuss something with him.”
Lu Kuan nodded his head. “Okay, hang on!” Lu Kuan briefly vibrated before disconnecting. Then, the robot activated Su Deben’s brain using bio-electricity and formed a connection with it.
“Uncle Su, this is a map of the New World. These are the places we can transfer to. Currently, I have marked out three locations that I like. Could you advise me on which to select?”
“Three locations…” Su Deben took the map that Su Mo handed to him; his gaze was now filled with curiosity.
The next second, just as Su Mo had predicted, Su Deben too experienced the same indecisiveness.
“These three locations are all decent. Given our current strength, at the center, we won’t have to worry about our enemies surrounding us in the early stages. The large number of territories there might even dissuade people from attacking.”
“Bottom left. There are only the smaller foreign races here. We can use our early-stage advantage to annihilate them and clear out any threats around us within a short period of time.”
“Finally, this off-center right location. It looks as if there are dangers from all sides, as well as larger and stronger territories. However, the larger they are, the more cautious and reluctant they will be!”
“Why don’t you simulate this in the virtual world? Try and see which spot offers the best development pathway?”
Amazed, Su Mo asked, “You can even use it like that?”
Ever since Su Mo understood the working principle of virtual reality technology, he merely treated it as an educational tool.
Su Deben’s advice had enlightened Su Mo. Now, it was apparent that virtual reality had other uses!
“Ha ha. You underestimated our virtual reality technology. Even though it is a device that deceives the five senses, it is still equipped with computing capabilities. We can input the current situation on the map and simulate a general scenario for calculation purposes.”
“After the simulation is completed, its computing algorithm will automatically provide us with a prioritized list of choices. Why don’t you try it out first?”
“Sure!”
