Chapter 495 Unique Architecture, Special Development Route!
After the reporting came to an end, Su Mo adjourned the meeting. In an instant, the group of the over twenty-something members of the leadership team filed out, leaving behind the robot controlled by Su Deben on the main deck.
Rolling up to him, a smile was evident upon the robot’s face as it said, “Su Mo! You really are the most incredibly unique leader I’ve ever
seen!”
Su Mo raised his eyebrow and replied, “Oh?” Once he was finished, he noticed Su Deben’s laughter echoing from the side, and then he also started laughing out loud. On some level, Su Mo himself was “unique”.
What set him apart from normal territory lords on the leadership team was that Su Mo could transparently say he had no personal ambitions for power. Waking up to the possession of unrivaled power under the wide sky, or falling asleep on the laps of countless beauties… Whether it was the thought of having everything as far as his eyes could, or dreams of seeing everyone bowing at his feet…
He never had any of those.
It was actually the opposite. As the light drizzle of rain moisturized his face, as he rested his weight on the guardrails of the deck, looking out at the people below working hard tirelessly, and sniffing that earthy scent of dirt that came and went.
Su Mo enjoyed this unique feeling of bliss, almost like an outsider, which gave him an inexplicable sense of pleasure. “You’re right, I am indeed unique. It’s just that this world keeps driving me forward.” “If there was ever a day I could rest, I’d really like to just lie down here, enjoy the cool breeze, savor a good pot of wine, and admire how the wind blows and the clouds move.”
“Without anything to get in the way, I’d sit and stay here alone. How cool would that be?” “No, you’re wrong!”
Su Deben extended his hands to feel the few falling rain droplets, and then shook his head saying, “Su Mo! This life you speak of is precisely the kind that only those people you talked about before would be able to enjoy!”
“In all my years, among all those I’ve met, you’re still very unique!”
“I’ve not seen even a sliver of potential to succeed within you, but I’ve always seen the belief for success within you.”
Su Mo smiled. “Belief? Is it due to my overconfidence?”
Su Deben blinked his eyes, “No, I don’t think it’s that. There are many out there with the potential to succeed, many who could pursue their ambitions with reckless abandon, many who could handle things with care and caution, and many who had the bravery and courage to push forward with no fear whatsoever. There are so many of these people that I could talk about them for an entire day.”
“On the wasteland, however, they’ve all been defeated without exception!”
“That is because they don’t have that absolute belief in success. Even as they rushed forward into war with other living beings, and contested the world before them, they still lived in fear and doubt every night within the crevices of their hearts.” “You are different.”
“I can see that from within your soul…” “Victory?” Seeing a dumbfounded expression on Su Mo’s face, Su Deben came up beside him behind the guardrails. “The faith for victory can be transmitted to others. When you look at those villagers below, can you see a shred of despair about the future among any of them?” “When you look at this leadership team, even though they are aware that the basin area is surrounded by tens of thousands of foreign races lurking about, do they exhibit any signs of cowardice?”
“We can build houses and homes, and we can set up defensive structures and measures, as well as make preparations to invade our enemies. These are all things we can plan and develop step by step.” “Despite that, faith really is the most valuable thing!” The way Su Deben spoke was free and full of emotion. Though Su Mo wanted to point out that, just a few hours ago, the messages and words picked up by the system panel from some of the villagers were still mired in “pessimism”, in the end, he contemplated the idea behind Su Deben’s words, and balanced it with the information he received from the system.
Su Mo still managed to hold back his words because he understood what Su Deben was trying to say.
“Uncle Su, you don’t have to worry, I won’t fall so easily. I know you’re afraid that the pressure might come crashing down on me all of a sudden, and that our territory would suddenly fall apart, right?” “You can rest assured on this front. It’s just a few foreign races. I really don’t even hold them in high regard. They aren’t worthy of being our opponents!” Some thousand men were up against tens of thousands of foreign races.
However, seeing Su Mo’s confidence, Su Deben smiled without making a sound and heavily nodded.
“On the other hand, even though we obtained two tons of charcoal to tide us through this winter, our situation’s still looking rather
grim.”
“At the moment, we don’t have enough construction materials to make enough houses for our population of a thousand people or so. Even if we start logging for wood now, the poor weather will delay the drying of the wood, which means that it won’t be ready in time to construct the houses.”
“If we use concrete, that could possibly work, but things like rebars require materials we can’t afford or don’t possess. This may prove to be quite troublesome.”
On Doomsday Calendar Month 4, Day 18, the New World’s first disaster would strike.
There were fifteen more days until the heavy blizzard disaster.
Excluding the day of the disaster itself, there were only two weeks left to build the necessary.
Within this period of time, the villagers would have to finish building their shelters, while also building the camp’s enclosure, basic defensive structures, and the basic work structures as well.
Time was of the essence!
Coupled with the fact that there were still some who lived in tents, housing was the most critical and urgent issue to be resolved.
“It’s going to rain tomorrow, so even if we logged the wood needed, the weather won’t give us enough time to dry them adequately.” Building houses with wet logs would make them easily susceptible to insect infestations, and the logs could end up warping, cracking or shrinking
Even though the wood from the basin area’s resource nodes was of great quality, it would still need at least half a month to process before it could be used for construction.
“When it comes to concrete, things are easier since we have the relevant tools and machinery. I have the complete set of blueprints with me, and it’d be really easy to modify them to suit our needs.”
“The difficult bit is the supply of materials for the later processes. We don’t have a stable or sustainable source for concrete aggregate, not to mention concrete houses would still require quite some time to dry even after being fully built.” “It wouldn’t really work given the current rainy season.”
Su Deben said, “So, our only remaining option is to build dirt houses?”
“Dirt houses would be easy to build and have good insulating properties. The problem is that it’s difficult to renovate and remodel. You would have to tear them all down in the future.”
Dirt houses were an integral part of Huaxia’s architectural history. In the olden days when technology was lacking, reinforced concrete could not be made, production capacity was low, and bricks and wood were prohibitively expensive. People were poor, and they could only afford to eat what they foraged from the mountains and forests on a day-to-day basis.
Stone was relatively scarce in the northwestern plains, and it was inherently difficult to process, while other forms of bricks were also unreasonably expensive. However, the northwestern plains had thick layers of earth, with large amounts of soil that could be easily molded and cast. Farmers could use molds to make mud bricks cheaply.
Thanks to this, mud bricks became the primary building material for walls among the poor.
Even up to the eighties, the northwest still had villages that built houses and walls using mud bricks.
Only after the economy took off did they slowly transition to brick houses, and then to concrete houses.
It was a shame that its weaknesses were also readily apparent. Mud bricks also needed a long time to dry. If not, when they got wet afterward, their strength would reduce and would potentially cause the houses to collapse easily.
Given the current weather, dirt houses were also not a viable option that the territory could consider.
When it came down to it, there was only one other option outside of using the game panel to create a shelter…
“Uncle Su, are you aware of prefabricated houses?”
It was a familiar yet unexpected term. Seeing that Su Deben shook his head, Su Mo tried using gestures to show what he was talking about. This time, realization dawned upon Su Deben and he nodded. “You’re talking about those modular homes with steel frames?”
“Yes, that’s the one.” “It would be no issue for us to manufacture steel, and we could even work out additional design factors that would add some insulative materials to the structure.”
“The important thing is that the steel frames are very convenient in terms of mobility and renovation.”
“In addition, we can connect the houses to the central boilers to ensure sufficient heating during the winter. Furthermore, using prefabricated houses would also prevent differences in design and construction in terms of the build specifications of the houses, which would otherwise potentially cause difficulties in standardizing the heating system.”
Su Deben used a mere ten seconds to digest the two overarching plans sketched out by Su Mo.
In the meantime, his robot eyes glowed brightly as they scanned the ground below to collect data. In the eleventh second, the robot sighed as a human would
“This plan could work and it would lay a stable foundation for our territory. We just need to do a little work to prepare the ground to build the houses on.”
“What would be difficult to accomplish would be manufacturing the steel frames and putting up the actual structures…” Su Mo shook his head. “That’s not a problem!”
“By tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, I’ll figure out a way to communicate with the Ents. If they’re willing to provide labor to help us, the construction process will not require the use of machinery!”
He looked as if he had no plans but, in reality, everything was under Su Mo’s control.
Way before he even reached the New World, he had made speculations regarding the map’s geography and figured things out. For now, the Ents were nothing but a pleasant surprise.
If he really could get his hands on cheap, affordable labor to replace machinery, the basin area’s development would progress past the initial stage and step squarely onto the path toward civilization.
Then, on this wasteland, these villagers would really be able to showcase their innate potential. Their ability would widen everyone’s perspectives.
The moving work lasted until six o’clock in the evening
Once the glass brain box and the whole slew of other research instruments and devices were transferred into the garage of the Underground Shelter, Su Mo walked out again holding an umbrella as he wiped away the sweat and rain droplets from his forehead.
Just as the system’s weather report predicted, the drizzling showed no signs of stopping and would only get worse as time went on.
On the mountain path of Iron Rock Mountain, there were densely packed villagers working to transport their food reserves.
Thanks to their preparation beforehand, the interior of the mountain was resistant to moisture, making it a good temporary storage facility for food and grain.
Once Hope One had its contents unloaded, it swiftly became smaller and disappeared from everyone’s sight. Even though Su Mo wanted to stall for time to allow everyone to enter the ship’s cabins for a good night’s rest on this rainy evening, the game would not be so forgiving.
Everyone just assumed that Su Mo had stored the ship away again, but only he knew that the thirty-day period of the Thousand Realm Traveler ability had already begun.
Hope One had been confiscated just like that!
“Leader, the ground is very wet. If you factor in the rainwater, our tents aren’t equipped to shelter us from this kind of weather conditions. We can only move up the mountain!”
“Between the fruit tree mountain and Iron Rock Mountain, both mountains should be able to accommodate the majority of the villagers!”
With a fire in his belly, Chen Shen rushed over from afar wearing a raincoat and carrying a waterproof flashlight.
Bad things always came in pairs, if not more. The basin area’s previous alkaline soil had cracked open. Even if it possessed the potential to be slowly restored, with such heavy rainfall, the soil could only loosen up and become damp inevitably. Even if there were waterproof tarps covering the ground, things would still be tough. The only solution was to move to higher ground. “Where’s the rice? Quick, get the stove on the heat! We have to prepare hot food for everyone to eat. If people start catching colds it would be bad!” “I’m on it! I’m on it! We even caught all the fish we needed! With all the cooks on duty, the dishes will be ready to serve in an hour or
so!”
Pointing at the smoke from the cooking condensing on the waterproof awning, Chen Shen violently wiped off the moisture off his face. After that, two people headed toward Iron Rock Mountain hastily.
On the way, they could see all the villagers drenched from head to toe, yet still displaying expressions of eagerness and perseverance. He thought of the messages and words communicated by the system to him earlier that day, which showed the villagers’ eagerness for their mundane, yet joyous future.
Su Mo opened his mouth, but before he could speak, it transformed into a long sigh.
The pressure weighing on one person’s shoulders could not be compared to that of a thousand people.
Of course, he could return to the warm Underground Shelter and feast on some fish soup to ward off the cold. He could flip through his books delightfully and leave everything else to the leadership team.
However, once he thought of the tired bodies and shivering bones of the villagers, who had worked through the rain and still had to rest in a damp tent at night, he just could not sit idly by!
“No wonder the system gave me the option to change the weather. This rain can really lower one’s morale in the same way a tough battle could!”
He marched and marched until he reached the top of Iron Rock Mountain, and then gazed upon the curtain of rain that reached the skies and beyond.
He clenched his teeth, and then summoned the game panel. In exchange for the confiscation of Hope One, the game had provided three different options for specialized architectural structures. These were a weather observatory that could accommodate 20 people, a farm tool manufacturing center that could house 300 people, and a training ground that could accommodate up to 450 people!
Among these options, because he had the system, the weather observatory would naturally be the first option he would pass on. Regarding the other two options, Su Mo had previously had some reservations.
However, now, because of the open-air layout of the training ground, the only feasible option was the farm tool manufacturing center. “I choose the farm tool manufacturing center. It shall be positioned… there!” His finger pointed towards a place not far away from Iron Rock Mountain, which was also situated at a high altitude.
Seemingly reacting to Su Mo’s wish, a green building displayed by the game panel on the map synchronized with its construction in reality. Right after that, five seconds after he confirmed his choice, the game panel vanished. What replaced it was—shuddering sounds of rolling thunder! Almost immediately, every villager on the mountain path stopped in the tracks and tried to figure out the origin of the sound curiously.
Tragically, not everyone had the abnormal visual acuity of Su Mo.
Under the dim lighting, all they could see was a blurry image of a building being built incredibly quickly out of nowhere!
“Leader… Leader…We…”
“I’m aware, rest assured. When everyone finishes moving the stuff, we can gather up over there. Tonight, for everyone outside Iron Rock Mountain, we can squeeze together a bit and live inside there temporarily.”
Seeing Zhang Long frantically running up the path, Su Mo smiled and led the crowd to walk downward.
The straight-line distance between the two locations only required less than ten minutes to traverse.
From a high vantage point, the way the structure was built seemed ordinary but, from close up, it made Su Mo gasp at the power brought about by authority.
The whole center extended to an area of about a thousand five hundred square feet.
In its description, it was stated that it could house three hundred people. However, in actuality, more than a thousand people could fit inside the structure.
The main entrance of the compound had a huge plaque that read “Agricultural Tool Manufacturing Center”, those four words.
It had eight steps, and two solemnly built stone lions, giving it the feel of an administrative office from ancient Huaxia.
When they went inside, things felt a lot more ordinary. Other than the brick and stone ceiling used to shield against rain, it was just an empty compound. When the wind blew, it felt like a haunted house from a horror movie.
“Go! Carry our generators and lights over here!”
Calling for Qi Qin and ten others to quickly leave the premises, with a flashlight in hand, Su Mo explored the entire compound.
Remarkably, the center really had a center. Ignoring the surrounding walls and ceiling above their heads, the structure’s interior resembled a huge plaza. Other than the lines drawn on the floor, which were outlined in five-square-meter grids, of which there were 300 such grids, the game was so stingy that it did not even provide them with any tools.
On the other hand, the fact that this courtyard was as empty as it was became the villagers’ “life-saving straw” to shelter from this unfortunate weather.
After the generators were brought over, and the lights arranged so that no corner remained unlit, the busy villagers then followed his command and inquisitively came over with umbrellas in hand.
th
a
Once within the premises, one could feel the warm, dry interior. Without exception, everyone’s eyes became wet and moist. What followed was a tacit understanding between everyone that emerged from the bottom of their hearts.
Everyone did not immediately fight for their own spots, but quietly stood in front of the building to change into brand new, dry clothes and shoes before walking inside carefully.
Seeing Su Mo and the leadership team standing in the middle, the villagers surrounded them in a circle of their own volition.
Other than leaving a path for the ones at the center to walk out, it took less than half an hour for the compound to be filled up with over a thousand villagers. “Such a blessing! The days ahead can only get better!”
Su Mo could see a simple “happiness” on the face of every villager. This was to say they were still happy despite not yet possessing proper shelters, not being able to eat meat, and even not getting to take a warm bath after all that work.
It was just that, given this terrible weather, simply having a dry courtyard to rest their feet, with warm walls around to heat them up, was already a step up from sleeping in a wet tent.
This was already the greatest blessing! “Let’s go! Let everyone rest! We, the leadership team, will bring fish soup over for everyone!”
Picking up the raincoat on his side with everyone’s silent gaze set on him, Su Mo led by example and walked out. After he walked out, no further than ten meters, the compound that had been silent, where only breathing sounds could be heard, became noisier, just as expected. “Thanks, Leader! In this kind of weather, hiding out here is so freaking awesome!” “After sleeping in that tent last night, my whole body was covered in goosebumps from all that shivering. I can finally have a good night’s rest tonight!” “This is so cool. It’s not even a little wet inside here. Even lying on the floor seems as comfortable as lying on a mattress.”
“If only we could have some hotpot to eat. Just imagine it! Getting to eat hotpot in this weather…”
“Hey! Stop dreaming! In this kind of weather, having meat soup would already make my heart soar with happiness!” “I can almost smell it already! It smells like fish soup. It’s so fragrant that I can barely think clearly anymore.” “Are you serious? Fish soup?”
The villagers’ words were filled with joyous thoughts of the future.
Hearing their words, Su Mo did not stop walking, but a subtle smile emerged on his face.
After a while, the first barrel of fish soup was carried to an empty spot within the compound; the intense fragrance of the soup seemed to spread out for miles.
Everyone started to cheer in excitement.
For the first time, Su Mo felt a heavy responsibility weighing down upon his heart, yet at the same time, a feeling of exhilaration was bursting at the seams of his heart!
Compared to the cold, mechanical statistics and data of the population in a simulation game, within this compound, Su Mo felt something completely different, that is to say —a collective sense of pride!
SC
It was an emotion rooted in the genes of every human present.
“Maybe this is my actual transformation from lone wolf to territory lord.”
“This feeling really does move me somehow!”
He issued the command and announced that everyone could start eating. Seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces, the shivering of the hands holding their precious bowls of food, Su Mo sat on the raised platform with his thoughts flying all over the place.
Before this, he still had not decided what path to lead the basin area down, or what merchandise to trade with the foreign races at the borders.
Right at this moment, watching villagers gulping down the fish soup with faces full of contentment, Su Mo abruptly decided.
If the basin area was to be developed, it could not use ordinary methods. It had to follow a path of its own making, which incidentally was the path that Huaxians were best at!
“Delicacies!”
“We’ll use our best dishes to conquer all the foreign races on this continent.”
“Attributes, taste, and effects will be our selling points! Since no one’s tried this path before, I’ll be the first person to eat crabs!” (T/N: Being the first to eat crabs means using a method others deem foolish; taking a daring risk and being the first person to do something new)
“With the wasteland authority’s assistance, I don’t believe that there’s no door I can’t open in the New World!”
Su Mo chowed down on the fish soup Shen Ke passed to him, silently envisaging a scene in his imagination where the foreign races from all over the New World would seek after the basin area’s delicacies.
Su Mo started to laugh heartily!
