Doomsday Calendar Month 4 Day 8, there were 11 days of preparation before the next disaster on Month 4 Day 20.
“Get ready. I’ll send you there in about two or three days. It’s very likely that you might not be able to return during this disaster. Are you mentally prepared?”
“Shelter leader, I’ve no problems going there, but my only concern is my brother…” Hao Qiang nodded and answered.
“Rest assured. We’ll raise you to A-level talent. Depending on your performance in Freedom City, we will also equally reward you.
“Your brother’s talent level should be B, right? We’ll allow him to inherit your talent level benefits so he can enjoy A-level treatment, and double it as your share!”
During the construction of the basin, unlike the previously shared benefits of the whole community, the villagers were now entitled to their own private assets, and the resources within the territory had started to grow gradually.
They were also able to implement a few taxes and fees accordingly.
Take food as an example. In the past, the people who ate less were dissatisfied because they had to share the meal expenses with the big eaters.
The majority of the villagers were satisfied and complimented the newly implemented meal fees charged daily.
Of course, as the village’s leader, a certain amount of material storage and processing fees were also collected.
This is where the talent level evaluation played a big part.
The fees charged would vary depending on one’s talent level.
For example, a B-level would have to pay 8% of the fee, whereas an A-level would only need to pay 4%.
Although the living expenses were not high, it was inevitable that there would be a gap between the two levels after the various fees, and it was difficult to have a visual representation to reflect the differences.
However,the difference between the levels would be noticeable after the accumulation of miscellaneous expenses such as accommodation fees, farm equipment usage fees, land management fees, and so on.
Meanwhile, the only tax fee currently implemented was a medical tax, which generally meant that when someone got sick, the village would collectively assist them through it.
There was no charge for medical treatments, but there would be a certain fee for medical assistance according to the subsequent amount and period.
However, the territory lord, Su Mo, would contribute the most significant portion of the fee, whereas the sick villager would only have to pay the remainder.
It was also considered a welfare benefit for the villagers.
The benefits of a higher talent level would be greatly reflected in the medical tax.
B-level talents would need to pay 15% of their medical tax while A-level talents paid only 8%, which was a significant difference!
“Thank you, shelter lord! I’m relieved!”
Hao Qing nodded in satisfaction and expressed his excitement after hearing that his benefits had risen to A-level and that his brother could also enjoy his benefits.
“Wait, young man! Don’t be too happy yet!
“You have to pass my tests before you’re allowed to sneak into Freedom City and implement the series of plans that the shelter lord had explained to you.
“A real secret agent mission won’t be as easy as the simulation, where the other party won’t doubt your identity even if you do outrageous things and accept it by default. If you were to go like you are now, I promise you, you’ll be thrown out of the city before you even have the chance to blend into the community.
“You’ve still a lot to learn to become qualified as a spy that lurks in an opponent’s quarters!”
Su Deben’s words were full of wisdom as the most experienced fighter in the basin.
Hao Qiang nodded obediently and calmly accepted his shortcomings.
Those who grew up in the 90s watching spy movies knew it was not easy to become a spy that hid in enemy territory.
Su Mo had relied significantly on his abilities, along with the group of mercenaries and Turner by his side in disguise to eliminate any suspicion during the early stages when he snuck into the base of a foreign race.
It was as Su Deben had said.
Even if Hao Qiang entered with his mark in the highly vigilant refugee camp, his sneaky actions would arouse the others’ suspicion.
It would be a slight loss if the spy was sacrificed, but if the news that the basin could crack marks was revealed, it would be over for them.
“Anything can happen in a short moment, and time waits for no one! Go back and pack your stuff, then report back!
“By the way, don’t tell your brother about your departure. We’ll take care of it!”
Su Mo continued to explain some relevant precautions and sent Hao Qiang away. He glanced at the task list that was finally emptied and turned his gaze outside to see afternoon was already approaching.
Su Mo let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed on the sofa in a relaxed manner.
“What’s up? Are you tired?” Lu Kuan approached.
“A little. I’ve been really busy running errands every day. I’m not physically tired. I’m mentally exhausted!”
Su Mo gulped the warm tea on the table.
The sunlight shined through the shelter door onto him, and he slowly closed his eyes.
The days when he could comfortably relax alone in the shelter were gone, and now that they were in a collective group, those days were never coming back.
Every day, they had new goals and challenges.
Even lying on the sofa and dozing off for a while had become a “luxury”.
The territory had grown tremendously, and its resources had increased. The technology was moving forward without stopping.
However, life in the underground shelter remained the same as two months ago. The only entertainment was swiping through the game and system interference.
Su Mo had to admit that after finishing all the troublesome tasks, he did feel a little exhausted.
“Exhausted? It’s about time you burn out after working for such an extended period. The territory is everyone’s, but your life is your own. You should take a break.
“Besides, the two-month-long winter is coming soon. Although our current preparations are not highly abundant compared to other territories, they’re already sufficient.
“I’ll have someone set up the solar panels tomorrow and bury the wires to have basic electric through the night.
“When the time comes, with electricity, we can get more work done without the need to heavily rely on human resources.”
Lu Kuan, who had regained his human form, sat beside Su Mo and comforted him.
He basked in the warm sunlight, and the warmth reminded him of things in his memories.
In the past, he was a robot without any sense of touch and did not need human enjoyment. After waking up from his forced sleep, the first thing that he thought of was work.
When he got tired from work, he could press a button and fall deep asleep.
Naturally, he had no interest in thinking about entertainment.
However, after gaining his human form, he suddenly realized that Su Mo, as the territory lord had the same schedule as his robot form from the beginning to the end.
He never rested and never stopped!
The way he worked was simply inhuman, and he had crazy self-control!
Lu Kuan pondered on his thoughts as Ai Jianfeng suddenly approached.
“Although aren’t enough materials stored in the village for us to build a modern smelting factory with a fully automatic assembly line, making a blast furnace won’t be a problem anymore. If our progress is fast enough, I can get the people to set up the furnace and produce our first steel material in the basin!
“We’ll be able to make reinforced concrete and can finally start building solid infrastructure as soon as the long winter is over!”
More gratifying good news.
Although smelting was not Ai Jianfeng’s expertise, as the most qualified mechanical major, it was within his capabilities.
“The time will come soon. It’s just a few more days till winter comes. I’ll take a very good rest.
“However, we’re still short of three last moves. We have to do it no matter what in the next ten days!”
Su Deben understood the two’s good intentions and came in to also persuade Su Mo. However, the latter waved his hands, and his chaotic thoughts were clear again.
Before winter came, there were three final things that the shelter lord had to do.
First was the development task. They had to develop a plan for their future development and send Hao Qing over to Freedom City.
It was best to stabilize their growth to ensure that the Fire Exchange could secure a stable position after spring came so that they could deliver resources to the basin without pressure.
The second was the investigation mission. It was necessary to visit the ancient Ent neighbors whom they had never met before the disaster approached.
It didn’t matter what they gained, but they at least needed to know the other party’s bottom line so that they would not be too unpredictable.
So, even if winter came, they could use this information to roughly speculate on the possible actions of the other party during the winter.
The third was a strategic mission. The relationship with the neighboring dwarves was already irreconcilable, and war would inevitably break out between them.
Their plans would need large amounts of coal resources.
They needed to attack Black Stone Base Camp to complete the first two tasks if they had enough time.
They would not only be able to seize a batch of resources but also find out more of the dwarves’ secrets as long as they successfully conquered the base camp.
The three tasks were all time-sensitive tasks and made it impossible for Su Mo to rest now.
The three remained silent for a while and finally nodded in response to Su Mo. They understood the strategic significance of the tasks.
“In that case, the progress on our side can’t be delayed. I’ll go to the virtual reality and construct a training scene.”
“I’ll come with you. We need to develop the battery technology to significantly increase our energy so that we won’t have to limit ourselves indoors anymore.”
“Then I’ll gather people to start pouring the mold now and strive to complete our preparations by tomorrow!”
Su Mo could not stay idle and knew that it was not the time to enjoy himself. The three self-delegated their tasks and started to get busy.
The garage, which had been filled with noise, returned to a deserted state once again.
Su Mo had already gotten used to the feeling and did not feel lonely.
He lay down till five o’clock in the evening. He took a quick nap, and after the sky was dark, he stood up and walked toward Fruit Tree Mountain.
The early stages of the territory were filled with enormous changes almost every day.
Su Mo walked through the village and passed the center of the underground shelter. The team responsible for the road construction had already begun their work. The efficiency was outstanding.
With their current progress speed, they would be able to roughly upgrade at least five kilometers of the area starting from the basin’s center with moisture resistance.
Additionally, it would lay a solid foundation for future conditions.
On the right side of the village, the untouched land yesterday had already been completely dug out.
They were relying on the water resources that they had accumulated and the freshwater from the freshwater lake. The entire crop field had been thoroughly irrigated, forming a clear boundary with the surrounding area.
It would only take another day or two for the early winter wheat to be planted and become the first crops to be cultivated in the basin.
Meanwhile, mining workers could be seen on top of Iron Stone Mountain.
It was not difficult to mine the ore that was lower than level five hardness with the tools they had acquired before. However, there was an inconvenience because of the insufficient storage space on their transportation, slightly delaying their process.
The construction of the monument that Su Mo had ordered yesterday was already in preparation.
There was a pile of stones that were prepared in the back of the village.
The average height of the famous stone statues on Easter Island was about seven meters and weighed about 35 to 50 tons. Those statues were enormous!
To sculpt a gigantic 20-meter tall stone statue with purely natural stone would require about 100 tons of stones. That would be impossible without modern technology.
Therefore, Su Mo completely dismissed the idea of using only natural stone statues after giving it a thought.
Instead, he decided to use a combination of clod, stones, and a steel structured frame!
The plan was to build a steel structure of about 20 meters high and fill the interior of the structure with clod and support the weight of the stones.
This would significantly decrease the inconvenience of having to find and move stones.
The construction period would also be significantly shortened and completed within ten days.It would take a primitive community a few decades to construct a monument!
Su Mo looked around the village and the projects one after another.
The vast field was filled with thousands of people, and it looked like ants walking back and forth. The view was magnificent.
Unfortunately, it was not disaster time, and they could not live broadcast.
Su Mo enjoyed the current scene alone as he stood on top of Fruit Tree Mountain.
‘There are still too few people. Compared to the tens of thousands of people in Freedom City, the progress of more than 1,000 people in the basin is much slower.
‘It would be great if we could find a way to gather more people!’
Similar to a simulation game, the number of people also greatly affected the progress bar to unlock new points.
It would be impossible to develop the infrastructures they were working on if they only had 100 people.
‘The infrastructure development would definitely be incomparable if we had 10,000, 50,000, or even 100,000 people!’
Before the population reached a standard amount, villagers were equal to a scarce resource that would have to be strategically conquered and accumulated!
‘We can only rely on the information channels from Freedom City.
‘However, in order to gather a large number of people, the resources in the basin would need to be able to keep up with it. We will have to guarantee an adequate meal for everyone at least.
‘Without enough to eat, it’s impossible to talk about construction and development!’
Su Mo silently thought about the plans for the basin and started to patrol Fruit Tree Mointan’s peak.
To achieve the best results, they must ensure that their first rice leaf seeds were harvested.
Therefore, sunshine, nutrition, or other factors must be considered.
Fortunately, the ground on Fruit Tree Mountain was extremely fertile after the last upgrade.
Su Mo easily located the space with the best sunlight, took out a rice leaf seed, and planted it.
Next, he took out a small bottle of precious level 2 psychic energy water and poured it directly onto the seeds.
‘Grow up quickly! The whole hope of the village depends on you!’
Light blue spots oozed out of where the water was poured and looked like little fairies floating in the air.
Su Mo glanced at the seed with anticipation and surrounded the seed’s location with a fence, then strode down the mountain.
He had done everything as perfectly as possible for the day.
Next, it was a waiting process for winter to end and spring to come.
That was when the basin would be like the seed buried deep in the ground and sprout out new life!
