Chapter 485 Learning From The Strength of Others, The Basin’s First “Neighbour” (Two in One)
Huff!
Oof!
A loud creaking sounded before gradually stopping.
Covered in sludge, the garage door of the Underground Shelter opened fully, revealing its slightly darkened interior. “Master, we’ve… we’ve come home!”
Moore hoisted the shovel on his shoulder, his face alight with excitement; his eyes were shining As far as he was concerned, this was where he had been born. It was also his only home in the entire world.
This place held a special significance in his heart!
However, without waiting for Moore to spring into action, Su Chan-who had been waiting at the back all this time—did not restrain her excitement. She dashed forward eagerly.
A second later, the stench of waste oil that had been left for ages in the machinery and the smell of mold from the still-damp interior surged out!
Su Chan, who had intended to run in immediately, hurriedly started coughing and retreated.
“Hack, cough. What a stench! Big Brother, did you bury a bomb inside?”
“Ha, young lady, you don’t know what you’re saying. This is such a familiar smell. In the future, even if you wanted to, you won’t get to smell it again!
“You agree too, right, Oreo!”
His enhanced body now possessed a powerful sense of smell.
This sense of smell allowed Su Mo to easily differentiate the familiar smells within.
There was the smell of Earth Tiger.
There was also the smell of King Kong’s bucket.
There was the reek of petroleum that seeped past the stone door. There was even the distinct sweet smell that emanated from the psychic energy water well. Su Mo watched as Oreo kept barking, dashing inside as if she could not wait. After inhaling a deep breath of air in enjoyment, he stroke inside the shelter.
Poof!
The battery that had been left untouched for more than a month still had plenty of power reserves.
As Oreo skillfully used her claws to flick on the power switch, the three garage headlights on the first floor blazed on! The lights revealed the contents of the garage. Lying dormant within were several iron beasts silently crouching on the ground! Standing at the doorway behind everyone, Su Chan had intended to wait for the smell to abate first. However, when she saw so many modern vehicles, her eyes immediately… Widened!
Normally, only men understood vehicles crafted from machinery, and only they would enjoy and appreciate these massive toys. However, to the humans who had survived in the doomsday world for a couple of months, it did not matter whether they were men or women, young or old. The minute they saw these things, they felt only one thing
Familiarity!
It was as if they had returned to Earth!
“Haha, the gas tank should be empty by now. When we revive our production force, I’ll take you out for a spin!” Su Mo patted Earth Tiger’s hood and listened to the clang of the metal outer skin. As his reactions caught up, he suddenly became aware that happiness was truly that simple! In the wasteland, he had a sturdy base, as well as his family and his loyal iron vehicles. These clearly mundane, ordinary days held a sense of blessed happiness that was completely different from before! “After the next disaster finishes, dad and mom will come here. We’ll live here together as a family! “No one will ever be able to stop us from advancing! “I want this territory to have towering steel cities that belong to mankind!”
His words were like an exclamation.
At the same, it was also a goal that he had set for himself.
Watching as Su Chan nodded fervently, clenching her small fists, Su Mo smiled. Striding toward the stone door, he slowly pushed it back This time, the sound of the friction between the door and the ground stopped. Thanks to the mermaid’s blessing, the smell spilling out from the two floors beneath was considerably less pungent.
As Su Mo manipulated the wind ability of the lion clan to blow through the area, the air became fresh and clean.
The air now carried a faint and pleasant scent of stone, similar to when the shelter had been newly constructed. “This is the second floor of our home. Usually, Oreo, Moore, Big Spark, and Little Spark live here. “This is our oil well, this is our psychic energy water well, and this is where we position our generator…”
Su Mo walked through the Z-shaped corridor as if he were introducing the place to guests, watching as Su Chan nodded in a cute, lovable manner.
Every spot that Su Mo walked them through, he would begin explaining in lecture-style. First was the oil well that had been idle for more than a month. After the first input of manual power, the control panel popped up. “Since our base needs to be constructed, the first thing we need to consider is diesel. “Then we need to consider that when it snows heavily, we might have to use gasoline as a firestarter to ignite some things. Therefore, our selection for the second question is diesel.
“For our last selection, we can select… asphalt!”
He pondered over the selections for a while and browsed through all the items that could be produced. In the end, his choice was still asphalt.
Regardless of temperature drops, heavy snow, or rainstorms, once the magnitude of these disasters was too great, road problems within the territory were inevitable. Never mind hunting and working; even regular movement would be heavily impeded.
They had to start accumulating resources now.
In 10 days or more, even if the asphalt was not enough for paving the main roads, by combining it with more gravel, there was still enough to pave a few important places.
The second thing that had to be activated was the generator.
Even though the generator set consumed an enormous 300 thousand watts of energy and an astounding amount of fuel, its power generating efficiency was exceptional.
As the generator began to rumble, the power output indicator turned green. Satisfied, Su Mo made his way to the last area. “Don’t be fooled by the many items in our house. This psychic energy water well here is the real treasure. Its value is entirely comparable to… “Ten, no, hundreds of bases like ours here!”
He lowered the bucket that was suspended in midair. After using the system to check that the well had resumed normal operations, Su Mo let out a long sigh of relief.
“So the psychic energy water really is drawn from a well. I used to think that…”
“Don’t tell me you believed what the rest said
—that I drew the water from a fountain of youth that was dug out from the underground ruins?”
Su Chan might as well have had the words “That’s what I thought” imprinted on her face.
Seeing this, Su Mo scratched the back of his head and laughed.
Before the World Channel was closed down, everyone had varying opinions about this miraculous psychic energy water. Number one-Su Mo had brought this water out for sale on the very first day. Therefore, it was not very feasible that Su Mo had dug a well.
Number two-this water had effects that no ordinary water could ever compare itself with. Drinking this water would cause scabs to form immediately on minor wounds. Common colds or flu could even be cured in minutes.
Number three-in the subsequent days, Su Mo had stopped selling this water. These three points combined led the crowd to a unanimous conclusion. Most of them started to believe in the fountain of youth story that had originated from goodness knows where. They adamantly believed that Su Mo must have found an underground ruin at the beginning of the game and obtained all the treasures within.
This fountain of youth, then, was one of those treasures.
Word of this story got around very quickly indeed.
Since Su Mo had strictly ordered Moore—who knew the truth—to keep it a secret, even Su Chan had been completely in the dark.
“Truth to tell, it’s not a bad thing that they’re saying this. Let everyone think that the psychic energy water has been depleted; that will be our best safeguard. “Furthermore, the psychic energy water produced is still insufficient. We’ll have to think of a way to start it again further down the line.
“However, at this stage, we have plenty of it for our everyday use!”
As they talked, the bucket had already filled up with three to four mouthfuls of the precious liquid. Glancing into the interior of the well, which seemed to be formed from blue dots of light and was as stunning as the starry galaxy, Su Mo put the cover back on and proceeded to the third floor.
“This is where we usually rest. I’ve prepared a room for you.
“Here, this side room is yours. Not too bad right!”
Despite saying that, as they turned the corner into the room, Su Mo could not help but awkwardly rub his head upon noticing the saltpeter that was piled up in there. Amused by the sight of this, Oreo, who was following beside them, began to bark in amusement. “Our house may look like it’s decorated in Syrian style now… “But I have many tools here. When I have time, I’ll cover up the walls, pave the floors, and install the lights. I guarantee our home will look like a villa!”
Su Chan shook her head. “No, Big Brother, I’m very satisfied with this room. I’m absolutely certain mom and dad will be utterly satisfied with it as well. “Our shelter embraces the global community, and it’s a luxurious shelter that countless others are fighting to enter. I think that at this stage, we should not prioritize our own comfort or indulgence. After all, there’s heavy snow imminent. With a thousand over people, our shelter certainly… In between speaking, Su Chan’s face was full of concern.
She had witnessed the decline of law and order and witnessed cruelty first-hand. Even a child of the civilized era who had never experienced hardship and failures would grow up extremely quickly and shoulder their own responsibilities. Having survived in the Tundra Shelter for a long period, Su Chan knew better than any lone wolf how insignificant humans were in a disaster.
The thought of enduring 7 days of heavy snowfall had usurped her initial excitement at entering the shelter.
Like the villagers outside, an emotion called “anxiety” surfaced in her heart once more.
However, in the end, she could not finish her sentence.
This was because she noticed that Su Mo, who was standing in front of her, showed no traces of worry or even confusion on his face.
It was as if he knew he would win, like a commander who had utter confidence and faith in his eventual triumph.
Su Mo nodded. “I’m aware of everything you’ve mentioned. I understand your concerns as well, but now that we’ve arrived in our territory, you only need to remember one thing from today onward. “Other people might have failed, but that doesn’t mean your Big Brother will!
“Here, I don’t want to see you worrying every day like when you were still in the Tundra Shelter. You only need to eat well, sleep well, and do the things you like. This alone will be my biggest motivation!”
It was just like Su Mo’s bravado back in the day when he had stood in front of the kobold castle and shouted that they were merely false gods, barking mockingly.
While he spoke, he had turned and was already on his way out.
However, watching his departing figure from where she was standing behind, Su Chan stood immobile.
After a while, she finally smiled.
Having someone looking out for her was…
Truly wonderful!
“Chen Shen, first take out the tents from our reserves and set them up. Everyone’s tired after a day and a night of walking. We’ll have a long planning session tomorrow! “Oh yes, dispatch three scouting teams. We must take advantage of the Rapid March buff while we still have it and clearly ascertain the situation in the areas surrounding our territory.
“If there’s time, try and put together a map of our territory as soon as possible. Right now, don’t worry about the heavy snowfall coming in 10 days!”
In no time at all, they had entered the basin.
Everyone who had been hurrying along the way for more than a thousand kilometers seemed to collapse. They all lay by the foot of Iron Rock Mountain and rested.
As they rested, a few stoves were set up as well. Curls of smoke began rising into the sky with the gentle breeze. Su Mo caught the scent of smoke and fire as he stood at the peak of Iron Rock Mountain and leisurely issued his orders.
Standing behind him was the entire current leadership team of Hope Village. There were 16 people in total. After Chen Shen had acknowledged Su Mo’s orders and swiftly departed along the mountain trail, the rest of the management team suddenly went quiet. “What’s the matter? Are you all at a loss after seeing this wilderness?” It was still alright when standing below.
From above, however, all that could be seen within a radius of three to four kilometers was saline soil where not even an inch of grass could grow. “Shen Ke, tell us—in the remaining 10 or more days, how should we construct things to successfully survive this disaster!” Since no one spoke, Su Mo immediately picked the left-most person to ask.
At this point, everyone reacted. However, the one thing in common was that they were not looking at Su Mo. Instead, they focused their gaze on Shen Ke’s face.
“If it were me…
“Currently, everyone essentially still has remaining cores. If we pool it all together, although it would be difficult to build individual houses for everyone, we could still construct one or two hundred houses easily.
“We have quite an abundance of basic supplies. Once we’ve solved our housing problem, we won’t have a shortage of food. Furthermore, we can utilize the time to set up several infrastructure models. As long as we collect enough materials, we can immediately start the construction work.
“As for the 7 days of heavy snowfall, from the game’s compensation choices… we can select camphor trees and cut them down to store as firewood reserves. When the snow comes, we can use the wood as fuel for warmth. There’s a high chance that we’ll weather this disaster until the next time…” When Shen Ke started initially, she could still reason things out as she spoke. In fact, the rest had nodded along in agreement as well.
However, when she brought up the next disaster, she stopped. They were literally being asked to make bricks without straw.
Right now the entire territory was completely barren, and they could not leave to explore the outside world. They also could not take a sustainable development path and grow by leaps and bounds in 3 to 5 years. Surviving this first disaster was not hard. However, once the next disaster hit… that would be awkward indeed!
“Excellent. This idea is feasible. Come, Zhang Long. Tell us your ideas!” With the construction ideas that the ship’s crew had previously provided, along with the dozens of cards currently in the storage space, Su Mo already had some things in mind.
However, in construction, it was best to pay attention and learn from the strengths of others.
Now that Su Mo had singled him out, Zhang Long took a step forward with a frown. “Shelter Leader, my idea is similar to Shen Ke’s.
“The natural resources we have now in our territory are few and far between. If there were a large forest of trees here, we wouldn’t be in this state. However, we can think of ways to go outside our territory and use machines to extract resources. The resources can then be used to compensate for what we lack here currently. “In fact, this Iron Rock Mountain that we’re standing on-maybe we could think of a way to find out if there are any large gathering points that lack iron. We could extract some from this mountain and send people out to…
“Trade!”
Wow! Zhang Long’s idea stunned everyone. The rest of the hitherto-silent leadership team instantly had a strong and heated response. Trading
Selling off the iron.
This was something the rest had never even thought of. In the Doomsday world, in simple terms, iron was a normal metal resource.
More seriously, however, trading iron was a traitorous act of financing the enemy, just like in the olden days.
It was highly possible for the enemy to use the extracted steel to forge weapons and invade one’s territory.
“Not bad at all. Since we’ve already decided to come to the New World, we can’t be complacent and stay locked up in our own territory. “Zhang Long, this idea of yours is splendid!”
Players that exited their territory would instantaneously have their cores revert to unowned status.
For instance, if Su Mo exited the territory, the underground shelter would immediately crumble.
Furthermore, the further players were from their territory, their individual status (energy, stamina) would significantly be weakened based on their skill.
In other words, if anyone dared to leave…
Once they did not return for a long period, they would be no different from a useless person.
Outside their territory, machine power was the only thing that was not restricted. This was the reason why the foreign race had decided to revive Old Era Technology. Even Zhang Long’s absurd idea was accepted by Su Mo. Encouraged by this, the rest immediately began chipping in their ideas without holding back.
After a while, as everyone discussed merrily, Chen Shen returned from carrying out Su Mo’s orders.
This time, he brought back news that shocked the rest!
“Shelter Leader, our scouting team has returned. On the east side… at 135 kilometers, they discovered…
“A large camp! “Apparently, they found traces of human activity!”
