My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely!

by Stayrr

As disaster was about to strike, a group of survivors transmigrated into a desolated world and were challenged to a game of survival. From terrifying acid rains, to endless natural disasters, the heavens burn while the earth scorches, radiation is rampant, and nobody is spared from the dangers of this hellscape. The only way one survives is by building a shelter and slowly upgradin

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My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely! #Chapter 301 - The Grand Hope One, The Villagers' First Experience! - Read My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely! Chapter 301 - The Grand Hope One, The Villagers' First Experience! Online - All Page - Novel Next

Chapter 301: The Grand Hope One, The Villagers' First Experience!

The bright yellow waterproofed paint, combined with various paint markings, gave this steel destroyer an extremely rugged look and feel.

It had a three-story tower-style structure. The first story was where the core of the entire warship was, which was responsible for the ship's navigation as well as the regulation of the entire ship's operating system.

Currently, all of the mechanical structures on the first floor had been completed. Once Su Mo moved the computer over and installed it as the ship's core, the ship could then run its programmed operations.

Up on the second floor was the ship's command room, divided into two sections inside.

The inner section was the conference hall to be used by the leaders for meetings. The outer section was an open-air war room that had a clear view of the surroundings for when battles occurred.

The third floor was Su Mo's captain's room. When there were no battles happening, staying here allowed him to oversee the operations of the whole ship, ensuring that there would be no issues while sailing the seas.

When battles happened, it could also instantly transform into a tower observation command room, providing an excellent vantage point for the weapon stations below.

Aside from this third floor, going even higher, there was a large platform where the fire-control radar system was located as well as various monitoring devices that had been currently installed.

Through the monitoring devices, the image could be transmitted over to the bridge in real-time, which would allow the operating system to evaluate the threat and make the corresponding adjustments in real-time.

Compared with the configuration of modern warships, although the Hope One had a disadvantage in terms of radar technology, and also lacked adequate firepower, in terms of artificial intelligence, it was not very far behind.

Of course, having gone through the robot workers' hands, the warship had successfully derived two special abilities.

Once Su Mo installed the operating system and turned on the engine, allowing the electricity to connect through the whole ship, he would be able to examine the entire ship's properties panel.

When that time came, as long as there was an outstanding ability, it could instantly make up for the disadvantages it had!

As the owner, during the construction of this ship, Su Mo had already adjusted the design countless times. Now, he naturally felt like he had come home and did not feel even the slightest sense of unfamiliarity with his surroundings.

As for the leaders who were responsible for furnishing the ship's interior, they had come up several times as well during these past two days and had a certain understanding of the ship's structure above the main deck.

At that moment, before the villagers below came up, Pei Shao jumped up deftly to the bow and pulled out the large flag he had prepared much earlier from his storage space.

Like the specifications in ancient times, this flagpole was not long. It was only 1.5 meters in length. Placed on the railing, it would be around 3.5 meters high once installed.

However, the surface of the flag was not small compared to the flagpole. It was a flag that met the standard size of 288 centimeters long and 192 centimeters high.

Moreover, the flag's material was very luxurious too, a special waterproofed cloth emblazoned with navy blue.

On the front of the flag, the word 'hope' was written, and on the back was printed the word 'Su'. When the wind blew, it looked extremely domineering!

"Hey, this isn't bad. This money was worth spending!"

Seeing this flag, Su Mo—who had walked to the open-air war room with the other leaders—also nodded in satisfaction.

For the ship's furnishings, money could be saved in other places, but he definitely could not scrimp on the flag.

It followed the same principle of the battlefield; even if the people died, the flag could not fall.

On the sea, this big flag represented Su Mo and represented Hope One.

As Hope One became more famed and acclaimed, this flag would also carry the soul of the entire ship, making anyone who dared attack it shiver at a glance!

Moreover, the flag still had the most important function of…

Uniting people!

Seeing this flag, the villagers who had not boarded the ship yet paused in their steps.

When they first joined the Candlelight Shelter, though everybody had been moved, they did not have the feeling that they were returning home. It was like they had gone to a hotel for a few nights' stay and, upon finding a new place, they went off elsewhere.

Later on, when Chen Shen and the others joined, the old villagers had reluctantly taken on the leadership of the shelter, and they did not have a strong attachment to the shelter.

Their sense of belonging was so weak that, if they had tasted defeat in battle, everyone would have taken their belongings out, divided their stuff, and gone their separate ways to each corner of the earth.

These kinds of things, as the leaders of the shelter, Wu Feiguang and the others were aware about as well, but they were helpless and had no way to improve the situation.

This was because none of them were natives of the land. All of them had been transported over from Earth and had been regular people who had their own thoughts and principles.

Unless they used force, the shelter had no way to ask to keep these people from leaving and had no authority to make them cooperate.

Fortunately, not long after, Su Mo arrived!

As the village's spiritual figure, once the first day's gathering was finished, Wu Feiguang and the rest realized in shock…

That all of the villagers' mental states had changed!

Compared to their state of being ready to flee the moment they were attacked, after Su Mo finished his speech that night, even though everyone was hungry, in their eyes, Wu Feiguang could clearly see…

Hope!

Not hope for the village's future!

Instead, it was a hope to obtain the chance to follow Su Mo!

It was this change that allowed Wu Feiguang to fully understand the importance of having a spiritual figure.

That night, the village leader position was changed and officially given to Chen Shen.

After that, they experienced the harvest and then moved, establishing Hope Village.

Now, once they saw the flag, no words were needed any longer.

A strange sense of belonging and pride took root and sprouted very quickly in every villager's heart, like a seed that went through the welfare disaster, blossoming and bearing fruit.

"This is our village!"

"This is our ship!"

When the first person yelled those two sentences, everyone instantly felt the shift in atmosphere and shouted together at the top of their lungs.

"Yes, this is our ship!"

"This is the ship that we are going to head to the new world in!"

Other shelters had small wooden boats. The better ones at most had a medieval-style sailboat that were more than ten meters long; which was considered an achievement.

However, their own shelter…

Had a motherf*cking modern warship!

The difference was so huge that there was no need for any comparison. Hearing the villagers' sky-shaking cheers and roars below, Chen Shen guaranteed on the spot:

If someone dared to stand before the villagers at this moment and said anything bad about Hope Village, the villagers would definitely go up and fight them to the death without a second word.

This pride and sense of belonging definitely did not allow the existence of someone insulting it!

After a four-to-five-minute period of roaring, where close to two months' worth of suffering and struggling had been vented, the boarding ceremony resumed.

This time, everyone's steps were a lot faster.

After about 10 minutes, when the last villager had stepped onto the deck and stood in line…

The ship tour officially started!

Standing in the open-air command room on the second floor, all of the leaders lined up there while Su Mo stood in front of the rails.

Standing here, he could see all the villagers below, and the villagers could see him standing there above too.

After Su Mo nodded and observed them for a few seconds, the village chief Chen Shen walked out from the line.

"Reporting to the captain."

"Hope Village's chief Chen Shen, representing all the villagers here, is requesting a tour of Hope One. Please allow it!"

"Allowed!"

With this short ceremony, as permission was given, Qi Qin—who was sitting on the first floor—pulled the lever.

Wham!

On the main deck, as the lever was pulled down, an opening "appeared" on the steel deck, revealing the path down below the deck.

Following this path, they could reach the core of the ship straightaway.

"Everyone together—two people in a row, ten people in a line—enter the cabin!"

The cabin door opened, and with Wu Feiguang's shouts leading the lines, the villagers who had lined up started entering the cabin in an orderly fashion.

Down the passageway from the main deck, on the first floor, was where the most important part of the ship was—the living area.

Unlike the stable and comfortable experience on a large luxury oil tanker, on a warship, the living area below the main deck was the most important place.

As it sailed the seas, the ship would constantly be rocking.

Additionally, because the warship was originally meant for battle, everywhere that the eye could see was covered in metal.

In a place like this, if one fell, the lightest they would get off with was some blood, perhaps even a fracture in severe cases.

Hence, Su Mo had arranged for the robot workers to cover most of the sharp corners in the living area with cotton to ensure that nobody would get hurt from falling down.

Everyone's enthusiasm was naturally high as they toured the interior of the ship.

Just as they walked into the cabin and the lines dispersed, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see that the first floor was where they would be living in the future.

"Huh, my name is marked here! This is where I'll stay."

"This is mine. Chen Yi, the two of us are in one room, come and see!"

"Which female room doesn't have enough people? I don't mind sleeping on your floor."

"F*ck me, you guys, go in and see, this room is so big!"

In the first floor's living area, there were four people assigned to a room.

The space was about 20 square meters in size. Although it was not considered spacious in modern times, it was a top-class luxury in a doomsday setting like this!

From the first room, there were a total of 35 dormitories that had been fully furnished and could fit 140 people, and then there were 15 other rooms on standby in case new people joined.

After these 50 rooms, rooms 51-60 were public areas.

They were: male and female shower rooms*2, male and female bathrooms*2, laundry room*1, medical room*1, kitchen*1, freshwater tank*1, small gym*1, and small living room*1—a total of ten rooms to cater to the crew's daily living.

From 61-64, four rooms were opened up to use as meeting rooms for the crew to gather together and hold impromptu meetings.

Of course, with so many rooms, the price for that was that all the sports venues a modern ship had, such as a basketball court, badminton court, and entertainment venues, had all been left out.

In the wasteland, activities like this used up too much physical strength, and with the possibility of danger occurring at any time, there was no need for them.

It was enough to have the gym to let the crew have simple exercise activities.

Beneath the living room, which was also the main deck's second lower floor, was the place where supplies were stored on the ship.

The four large compartments were empty. From left to right, they were the stowage compartment, damage control deck, ammunition space, and oil stowage compartment.

Although no supplies had been moved in yet, it could be deduced from the full five-meter height of the bays how spectacular they would be when they were packed full in the future.

As for the third floor, it was the captain's cabin as well as the ship's core.

The enter ship's power system and pipeline network was located here, which would supply the rest of the ship.

In one morning, after touring the ship, the time had reached 11 o'clock in the morning.

The cook was also on the deck, using the temporary stove to make fragrant mutton soup!

The mutton here was naturally also a gift from the Zeus Shelter. On this festive day, it had been taken out and stewed into a rich soup.

Every villager could get a bowl and, after finishing it, they could get off the ship with a warm body and full stomach!

"Not bad. The whole schedule was arranged very well."

"Starting tomorrow, we can start loading the supplies. Oh, yeah, I need to leave some weapons behind before I leave the village."

Sitting in the open-air command room on the second floor, after watching all the villagers leave the ship, Su Mo straightened his body and stood up.

Guns were always a sensitive topic.

Before order in the village had stabilized, Su Mo had been extremely strict on gun control.

However, now that all the villagers had settled down, in addition to the fact that he was about to go on a long voyage, he had to leave weapons behind for the villagers to protect themselves.

After he said this, Chen Shen beside him stood up at once as well and nodded fervently.

"Alright then, Brother Su, I'll go with them to deal with some things. I won't linger now."

"Go ahead!"

As the disaster was just about to arrive, it was not just Su Mo who was busy. There were still two stages of construction work that had yet to be completed here at Hope Village.

After watching Chen Shen walk down the wooden stairs and get off the boat, Su Mo watched as the crowd started to return to Iron Rock Mountain, but he did not get offboard. Instead, he focused his consciousness and opened his friends list to send a message.

Not long after, Pei Shao and Zhong Qingshu, who were in charge of intelligence, quietly sneaked back on board the ship.

They were still on the second floor, but this time, they did not choose the open-air command room.

After making sure nobody would eavesdrop, the two of them went into the conference room.

The moment they entered, seeing the two of them deep in thought, Su Mo was startled and started to feel a little like something was wrong.

"You couldn't find them? They're around 20 thousand foreign race creatures. There's no way they could vanish without a trace, right?"

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Chapter 302: Wasteland Edition: Lurking and Searching

There were originally three people under Pei Shao. When they went out to collect information for the first time, Su Mo added another three.

So there were seven of them in total.

For a village of only 150 people, it was more than enough to put seven people to work on intelligence.

If Zhong Qingshu, the outcast, joined them, it would be eight in total.

Even if they had no prior experience, how could there be no trace of a huge army of possibly twenty thousand foreign race creatures at all after careful scouting?

However, the fact of the matter was that, after Su Mo spoke, it was not only Pei Shao who was silent but, Zhong Qingshu, who was an expert at information collection, also had a look of contemplation on her face.

"Not hundreds, not thousands, but twenty thousand of them!"

"It's a whopping twenty thousand. Their daily consumption of resources would be in the hundreds of units, but you can't find this huge team?"

Seeing how Su Mo was a little furious, Pei Shao could not stand the pressure anymore and spoke with an awful look on his face:

"Leader Su, it's not that our people didn't search well and nor were we infiltrated by the foreign races. We've driven Earth Tiger and traveled all over the area within a 200-kilometer radius for the past few days."

"…I even secretly withdrew some supplies and bought a voice recorder and put it in the car, but I didn't find any issue with our people."

"…there's really no sign of the foreign races within these 200 kilometers. Not to mention any creatures, even the food scraps left behind after their march were nowhere to be found."

After he spoke, Pei Shao immediately took out a huge map from his storage space and spread it out on the table in the conference room.

The map illustration placed the Underground Shelter at the center and had mapped out all the terrain within a range of 200 kilometers.

From the ups and downs of the terrain to the iconic landmarks; all the places in the north, south, east, and west were marked clearly.

Even if a layman stood here and looked at this map, he would be able to see how much effort had been put into it.

Besides, there were dozens of route lines marked with arrows on this map.

Those lines were the routes the intelligence team had traveled over those days, and they basically covered all locations within 200 kilometers.

"Leader Su, I've personally driven over to see all the locations marked on this map. I can assure you that there's not even a single feather spotted there!"

As if afraid that Su Mo would not believe him, Pei Shao continued elaborating. He provided detailed accounts of the surrounding terrain, beginning from the nearest 30 kilometers, and stated what he had seen and heard.

Since receiving Su Mo's request for a survey mission eight days ago, all other work in the intelligence organization had been put on hold.

There were foreign races near the village!

Their numbers might be around twenty thousand!

Those were Su Mo's original words. After hearing that, Pei Shao would have been scared to the point of peeing his pants on the spot were he not an old soldier.

Hey man, a large number of foreign race creatures have gathered around us. What was the point of collecting other intelligence now?

If they could not figure out where the enemy was within that day, it was possible that their enemies would already be standing in front of their houses the next day.

For this reason, after Su Mo granted them the right to use Earth Tiger, the intelligence team drove the car around and began surveying the surrounding 100 kilometers around Hope Village.

They took turns driving for three days.

Apart from the necessary mealtimes where everyone would stop to eat some dry rations, the rest of the time they were either back on the road or carefully looking for any traces on the ground.

Pei Shao was an old intelligence soldier who had been professionally trained, hence he knew the importance of time in this situation.

Therefore, the seven of them in the intelligence group did not sleep or rest more than what was necessary. They hung around the wasteland for four days and four nights, and surprisingly surveyed the entire 100 kilometers on wheels and their feet.

But the result was…

Nothing!

Not to mention traces of the twenty thousand foreign race creatures, not even one of their scouts could be seen.

However, what allowed the intelligence team to go beyond the 100-kilometer radius and continue their investigation was not Su Mo's determined tone, but the "unusual" factors that were outside the norm.

Although no trace of the foreign race creatures was seen within those 100 kilometers, similarly the ordinary animals and mutant creatures seemed to have disappeared too.

Ever since Su Mo notified them of the presence of the foreign races' army, apart from the fact that there was still life in the basin, the rest of the place looked dead and eerily quiet.

On the fifth day, after spending half a day reporting all their findings, the intelligence team slept for a long time during the day and set out in Earth Tiger again, taking advantage of the night.

This time, it was not only the seven of them. Zhong Qingshu joined the team and the eight of them expanded their exploration range from 100 kilometers to 200 kilometers.

With the experience they gained, the exploration speed was much faster this time.

In just three days and three nights, not only did they explore all the places within a 200-kilometer radius, but they also explored several dozen, or even up to a hundred kilometers, in certain directions where there might be possible ambushes.

The exploration team rushed back yesterday before dawn, but the result was disappointing as always.

"Have you scouted these directions?"

Su Mo frowned while sitting at the table after he pointed to a location on the map and received a nod of affirmation from Pei Shao.

The foreign races' collective attack was already discovered when Connie the Lioness' panel was bound for the first time.

Su Mo did not think much of the news at first.

After all, the current level of firepower of the Underground Shelter had reached a high level and the preliminary defense lines had also been constructed.

With these defense lines, Su Mo was not fearful of even three to five thousand teams of the foreign races, let alone one or two of them.

But the problem arose here…

Eight days ago in the morning, when Su Mo connected to Connie's game panel again like usual, he suddenly saw something strange on the World Channel.

In the past, the foreign races would mention Su Mo several times from time to time as they chatted, even when the conversation was dry. They would express a sense of fear toward him.

However, it was surprising that today, several of them who were once afraid of Su Mo "jumped out" and talked freely about him on the World Channel.

This tiny change might have been disregarded by other people, but with Su Mo's keen senses, he suddenly sensed something fishy.

After continuing to observe for nearly an hour and summing up all the sentences that mentioned Su Mo…

A huge problem was found!

The foreign races were clearly not afraid at all. During the time when Su Mo was not checking, they had received some news.

It was this very news that had given them courage.

In the face of desperation, Su Mo, who felt a huge threat looming, immediately took the risk and did something.

He contacted Clark!

It was naturally more difficult for an ordinary foreign race member to add someone from the Royal Clan as a friend, but seeing as Connie possessed the identity of a foreign race residing around the basin, it was an extremely easy and simple affair.

Su Mo, who was disguised as Connie the Lioness, finally established a preliminary connection with Clark after adding him as a friend and sending him some irrelevant information about the basin to prove his identity.

Through the brief conversation, not only did Su Mo understand why the other foreign races had no reason to fear him now, but he also received important news that not even the other foreign races knew of!

Twenty thousand!

There were a total of twenty thousand foreign race creatures near the basin who were planning to attack him. On top of that, three of the participating foreign races had a strength score of more than one.

Compared to the lion people's score of 0.003, this number was astonishing.

This time, even if Su Mo remained calm, he did not dare to sit still and wait for the foreign races' army to attack.

One moment Su Mo was agreeing with Clark to quickly retreat 200 kilometers away from the basin, and the next moment he was already disseminating the information.

With that, the intelligence team set out!

Two exploration expeditions and 200 kilometers covered. According to the routes led by Pei Shao, they had covered almost the entire 200-kilometer radius. If even this could not lead them to find even a single trace of a foreign race…

Did it mean that Clark was deceiving them?

In the conference room that was large enough to fit more than twenty people, with Su Mo deep in his thoughts and Pei Shao explaining, all the locations within the 200-kilometer radius were gradually forming into a three-dimensional picture in their minds.

Su Mo already had a complete understanding of the basin's topography as early as when the ruins of time appeared.

From the basin, the terrain in the north-south direction was high on the south and low on the north. A terrain such as this would mean that there were only two places that could possibly hide an army of twenty thousand.

The first place was a large valley formed by geological events that stretched out 120 kilometers north of the basin.

At one end of the valley near the basin, the water would be 26 meters deep, and once it entered the valley, the depth of the water would reach 52 meters.

Besides, there were many rocky protrusions about 10 to 20 meters high around the valley. In the future, Su Mo would probably take this route when heading toward the Tundra Shelter to ensure that the bottom of the ship would not collide with any of those protrusions.

If the foreign races could predict the direction Su Mo would take, then this place would be the easiest to set an ambush and was also the easiest to hide in.

The second place was 135 kilometers down south. It was a large natural underground cave with jagged rocks and many winding paths.

If the foreign races thought that Su Mo was going to the new world instead of heading to find his sister, this cave could also accommodate twenty thousand of them, making it an excellent location for a sneak attack.

However, given Su Mo's emphasis on those locations, when Pei Shao and the others crossed the entire valley and explored the large cave on foot, they could not even find a trace of the foreign races.

At this time, seeing that the two potential locations showed no signs of the foreign races, it was difficult to find them in the remaining locations.

Pei Shao finally finished talking about the last location after a 40-minute-long explanation, and the large conference room that could fit twenty to thirty people fell silent.

Su Mo was deep in thought, and so was Zhong Qingshu. Pei Shao was the only one who had a bitter look on his face and looked out the window from time to time, it was uncertain what was on his mind.

For an old scout like him, there were only three possibilities on why they could not locate their enemies…

Firstly, there was no enemy at all. The information they had received was false.

Secondly, the enemy's ability to hide was excellent, and their current methods alone were insufficient to detect the enemy's specific location.

Thirdly, the enemies were not yet in position and were still making their way there. The scouting radius was not large enough and was naturally impossible to locate the enemy.

"We should no longer be confused on whether the foreign races are really there or if someone else made them up to deceive us…"

"…there's indeed something strange going on near the basin!"

After a long silence, Zhong Qingshu, who had been in constant thought finally spoke up and denied the first possibility with her opening words.

Finding no trace of biological activity within 200 kilometers of the basin was something unusual in its own right.

Even if there were no enemies there, this point was enough to raise suspicion and highlight the need to scout the area.

"As for whether this large number of foreign races are on their way or are lurking around…"

"I'm more inclined to…the latter!"

"However, in terms of their numbers, we might have gone down the wrong path in our previous judgment!"

"Huh?"

Seeing how Zhong Qingshu was about to begin reasoning with evidence, Su Mo immediately sat up straight and paid greater attention.

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Chapter 303: Art of War, Lure the Snake Out

In addition to Pei Shao, Zhong Qingshu had also followed the intelligence team around, seemingly a pointless addition to the team.

However, the fact that she was speaking up now meant that she had obviously discovered something that the intelligence team did not.

Judging from prior experience, Zhong Qingshu already had a definite guess and hypothesis regarding the situation.

With a faint smile of joy, Su Mo's mind quickly went to work as soon as he heard they might have gone down the wrong path, trying to figure out the meaning behind Zhong Qingshu's words.

The disaster was near.

If this twenty-thousand strong army of foreign race creatures were not located soon, and carried out a surprise attack on the basin a day before the ocean disaster…

By then, Su Mo's main concern would no longer be about fighting a tough battle, but rather about how much trouble it would cause if the conditions required for Hope One to set sail were destroyed.

"Our initial judgment was wrong…"

"But which part of the initial judgment was wrong?"

"The number? Motive? Or the purpose?"

While pondering this sentence and looking at the chaotic yet complicated directions and topography on the map, Su Mo kept thinking about what went wrong.

The preliminary assumption on their numbers came from Clark.

The number "twenty thousand" also came from his lips. As for the other supporting evidence, only the fearlessness and disregard of other foreign races on the World Channel toward Su Mo hinted toward its truth.

But were there really twenty thousand of them?

Or did it mean that there would soon be twenty thousand?

"Do you mean that they might have already finished concealing themselves, but their numbers are still far from reaching this amount?"

Suddenly, Su Mo recalled the situation where the lion clan once defeated the kobolds in a battle and had afterward summoned a portal at their shelter. From this, he seemed to have grasped a hint of the truth surrounding the situation.

If they had not concealed themselves perfectly, Cursed Tiger's Clark surely would have not arbitrarily said twenty thousand.

The other foreign races would not have received the news as openly either.

After all, if this assault could not take Su Mo down, it would be a heavy blow to the morale of the foreign races.

"There are still some possibilities…"

"…firstly, the army successfully concealed themselves underground in a location that cannot be detected by regular means, but unlike humans, they have the means to survive without having to eat or drink…"

"…secondly, they've accumulated tons of rewards from battles between races and, when the time to attack comes, they'll open up the portal to summon their clan members and attack aggressively…"

"…thirdly, they will only gather and attack after the ocean emerges and are unable to mount the attack before this happens…"

"…among these three, the third one has the lowest probability when compared to the first two. Unfortunately, we don't possess sufficient intelligence or the means to observe them…"

"…but since we're already at this juncture, do you think that this question still holds any significance?"

After she finished talking, Zhong Qingshu loosened her grip, closed her notebook, and left Su Mo some time to think.

"Of course it's significant. Twenty thousand isn't a small number!"

"If we don't figure out their strategy and location fast, it will be too late once they arrive undetected and directly summon twenty thousand foreign race creatures in our territory."

Pei Shao on the side reacted and spoke out urgently even before Su Mo had the chance to respond.

From what Zhong Qingshu said, if their numbers, their hideout, and even their strategy were meaningless…

Then what else could be meaningful?

If they waited foolishly in the basin for the enemy to attack, when the time to battle actually arrived, they would then naturally know their opponent's strategies and methods.

However, since things would have already reached the stage of close quarters combat at that point, what was the point of knowing how the opponent concealed themselves?

What was the use of establishing an intelligence department?

If that was the case, it would be better to disband it and strengthen the manpower of the combat organization instead and fight head-on.

Seeing how Su Mo did not stop the conversation nor continue it, Zhong Qingshu smiled slightly at the "anxious" look on Pei Shao's face, but did not say a word.

Being the intelligent person she was and, having been in contact with Su Mo for a long time, she had a certain understanding of Su Mo's method of problem-solving.

Besides, she was certain that Pei Shao had missed the point.

For someone who possessed greater knowledge about the secrets of the wasteland and the exchanges between the foreign races, Su Mo could definitely think of a way forward. All he needed was little guidance to expand his perspective.

"If the numbers are pointless…"

"Then we're only left with the motive and purpose…"

"What's their motive? What's their purpose?"

Su Mo began thinking more deeply as he pulled the map over, examining the topography markings and the several entrances or exits indicated on the map.

"Their motives are very clear. I have great influence among humans, and they know that I may have the ability to change the battle's outcome…"

"Therefore, in the plan drawn up by the Five Royal Clans, I most likely am an important factor. If they do not restrict my actions or movements, and I enter their planned battle, it's very likely that the battle's outcome will have too many variables.. This motive of theirs is pretty clear…"

"…beyond this motive, what's their purpose? What is the task that the Five Royal Clans assigned to them?"

The development of modern weaponry, be it fighter jets, naval warships or even land-based forces, placed a large emphasis on a particular element.

Invisibility!

Invisibility here did not mean disappearance, but rather the ability to avoid the detection of one's enemies.

In modern warfare, being invisible to the enemy basically meant that one would have a ninety-nine percent chance of victory.

However, there was no such convenient technology during ancient times.

Before the scout discovered the enemy's movement, the most important measure of the strategist's ability and leadership was…

Prediction!

Prediction did not mean making random guesses, but to figure out what was on the opposing strategist's mind and their purpose.

Once the strategy of the enemy's attack was successfully predicted, the team could prepare in advance, set a trap, and wait for the enemy to jump in obediently.

"If the mission given by the Five Royal Clans is me, it would be extremely difficult for them to attack in the early stages while everyone in Hope Village is around…"

"…even if they feel that their numbers are huge and that they would win this battle, they still have to consider whether I still possess the God-slaying missile that can bring them down with us…"

"…after all, they have their own goals too, and they're not slaves to the Five Royal Clans. Who would be willing to die if they could live?"

By hypothesizing, the first thing that could be determined was that the foreign race's purpose for the attack was not Hope Village, nor was it the Underground Shelter, but rather Su Mo himself who could affect the battle's outcome in the wasteland!

"Well, since the target of the mission goal shouldn't be to kill me, nor to cause grievous harm and damage to me, it can only be…"

"To prevent me from going to the center of the battlefield?"

Seeing Su Mo grasp the point, Zhong Qingshu's face immediately lit up with a smile and she quickly continued the conversation:

"Yes, their goal is very clear—it's you. Their goal surely isn't to kill others and survive…"

"Instead, their goal is to stop you…"

"…you being alive and operating the destroyer, or even bringing everyone in Hope Village to migrate, does not affect the foreign races' plan…"

"…there's no difference to them whether you're dead or alive as long as you don't go where they don't want you to…"

"…even if you really do, just let them know that you won't go, and I guarantee you that it won't even be a problem for these foreign races in hiding to send you off…"

Currently, there were only three people in the village who knew of the foreign races' plan—Su Mo, Zhong Qingshu, and Connie.

With Pei Shao present, Zhong Qingshu pointed to the north of the conference room, once again presented things vaguely, and did not fully clarify what she said.

From the very beginning, when the number "twenty thousand" was stated, everyone went down the wrong path because of their incorrect thinking…

Including the intelligence organization.

The foreign races were not machines, nor were they zombies who were unafraid of life and death and only wanted to eat people. They had an IQ and goals.

To the foreign races, there were at most 150 people. including Su Mo. in Hope Village.

Compared to the other shelters, even if the foreign races were fools, they would understand that the harvest and risk involved in this attack were not proportional.

Why would they assemble to attack Hope Village?

Just to take revenge on Su Mo?

To take revenge on Su Mo for killing Heavenly Dog Pseudo God?

From analyzing their motive and purpose, the possibility of them directly launching a surprise attack was a big "0"!

"Because there are battles between the foreign races that reward the winning races, they aren't united…"

"…but when there's a common cause, everyone can still gather together on the surface while hiding their evil schemes in their hearts!"

"However, what could the Five Royal clans offer in order to get them to listen and participate in this plan?"

"How much would it take to convince them to launch a suicide attack and let an army of twenty thousand die out there? Can the Five Royal Clans bear this?"

"The answer is no!"

Zhong Qingshu stretched out her hand, took the map, and folded it into several halves.

After folding it, the only thing visible on the map was the path to the outside world through the Great Canyon.

Their field of vision became much clearer this time.

"Faced with a situation where they are unaware of which direction their enemy plans to go, if they wanted to mobilize a team of twenty thousand to encircle your position and force you to proceed in their desired direction…"

"Forget the Five Royal Clans, even Zhuge Liang or Sima Yi wouldn't have the ability to do that…"

"…this is why we made the wrong judgment from the very beginning. We've seriously misunderstood their purpose and the mission assigned by the Five Royal Clans…"

"What they wanted to do was never to eliminate us, but to stop us…"

"…from going through the Great Canyon exit route…"

Zhong Qingshu no longer spoke. She picked up a pen and drew a straight line from the Underground Shelter to the Great Canyon. She then passed the baton to Su Mo.

At this point, even though Pei Shao still looked confused at the side with his face expressing:

'Who am I?'

'Where am I?'

'What are they doing?'

As the recipient of the information, Su Mo fully understood and comprehended what Zhong Qingshu wanted to express.

The foreign races would not attack.

They would not stop him as long as he did not take that route and used other routes to reach the battlefield.

In other words, they were like roadblocks. You did not need to understand where the roadblocks were now or how they would suddenly appear when you passed them.

You only needed to know that they were there.

"So, is the method for us to find this ambush team before the disaster also this simple?"

"I only need to drive Earth Tiger through the Great Canyon road and they will automatically emerge by themselves…"

"…right?"

Knowledge was power.

As long as there was sufficient intelligence information, it was easy to reach a conclusion given the advantages of combining modern military systems and the ancient art of war.

"Right!"

"However, I don't recommend that you lure the snake out now, it's too great of a risk…"

"…without the home-court advantage, it's difficult for us to secure a clear victory in this battle…"

"…if you don't want to witness sacrifices…"

Looking at Pei Shao on the side who still looked like he was dreaming, Zhong Qingshu's gaze pierced through the porthole and looked toward Hope Village.

The meaning was self-evident.

This battle could be fought, but there was no need for it.

The gains were not proportional to the risk the foreign races would have to shoulder if they forcibly attacked the basin, but the same was also true for Su Mo if he wanted to attack the Great Canyon.

Every villager sacrificed was an unredeemable loss for Hope Village.

There was a high possibility that, even if the battle was won, the number of villagers who would survive…

…would even be half of the current population!

"No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. Who said I was going to bring the villagers along into the battlefield?"

"It's not easy to lure the snake out, you know. Give me some time tomorrow, no, before the disaster strikes. Find me the specific location of this army of foreign races…"

"…not only will I walk through this canyon, but I'll also even walk for all the foreign races and humans to witness!"

As his voice fell, he saw Zhong Qingshu's expression was the same as Pei Shao's. There was a look of confusion.

Su Mo laughed out loud, stood up, and announced the end of the meeting.

This was the stealing of heaven's secrets. They really stole "heaven's secrets" this time!

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Chapter 304: Development! Matter Conversion Engine!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Since the foreign races' location was known, as well as the conditions under which they would emerge, even though the threat of the concealed army was very frightening, Su Mo had the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman. As long as they were in the talisman's simulation world, the foreign races' army would have their disguise stripped away and exposed once he successfully arrived at the Great Canyon.

Hope One's maximum speed was 31 knots, which was around 60 kilometers per hour after conversion.

The Great Canyon was 120 kilometers north of the basin. Even if he did not use the special ability "Charge", he could still reach the location in around two hours.

If they did not have to take any detours when the ocean emerged and traveled in a straight line, three hours was sufficient to enter the canyon and even cross most of the distance.

Furthermore, if the foreign races wanted to set up an ambush in the canyon, based on the terrain markings on the map, there were only two opportunities.

The first was at the canyon entrance.

There were many rock formations located at the canyon's entrance. If they ambushed him here, they could guarantee that Su Mo could not immediately change directions and flee after the battle started.

However, there was an issue here—from the foreign races' perspective, Su Mo who had just entered the canyon would definitely be on high alert, and it would be too easy to fail to capture him during the ambush.

Then there was the second opportunity.

Around 72 kilometers into the canyon.

There were also many rock formations here, and they were on either side of the canyon, making it look like a pocket with its sides covered.

It would be easy for the ship's hull to run aground on the rocks while sailing here, so it was also an excellent ambush position.

After passing this point, even if he chose not to continue through the canyon, as long as he was a little more careful, he could also switch routes toward the sides to head up north. Even if the foreign races wanted to ambush him again, it would be a pipe dream.

Hence, during the three simulations provided by the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman, he only had to get to this location once.

After that, finding the foreign races' actual location would be very simple, and he would not need the intelligence team to investigate late into the night.

"But, Leader, 20 thousand…"

"No 'but's. Believe me, they can't hide from my eyes!"

Seeing Pei Shao's hesitant appearance, and then looking at the adorable blankness on Zhong Qingshu's face, Su Mo smiled and sent the two of them off the ship.

Nine hours, three simulation chances.

If he could not sail Hope One into the Great Canyon with so many chances, then there was probably no need for the foreign races to even bother with him.

However, if he could succeed even once, then there was a very high possibility of ending this threat before the disaster even started, or taking advantage of the information gap to catch them off-guard when the disaster arrived.

"I have to hurry up and carry out the simulation tests. I haven't done any of the sea trials for Hope One yet."

"Even whether it can successfully enter the sea once the ocean emerges is still uncertain. Each day I delay the tests is a problem in itself!"

There were seven days until the disaster. After discovering that the enemies would not attack them, Su Mo involuntarily raised his fist excitedly as he stood alone on Hope One, watching as Pei Shao and Zhong Qingshu's figures disappeared into the distance.

He had waited nearly a month for the day he would go out to sea.

In this half a month or so, it was only after he opened the game panel every morning and checked on Su Chan's condition that Su Mo was able to suppress his restless heart and continue working.

Now, once he installed the engine, and after he finished modifying and adjusting the autopilot system for Hope One at night, Hope One could then officially enter the testing stage.

Whether it was a donkey or a horse, he would find out after these tests!

Striding back to the bridge on the first floor main deck, after flipping the switch in a hidden compartment, a large entrance large enough for one person opened in the corner of the bridge, revealing a path downward.

This place was the escape passage that Su Mo had designed himself within the scope allowed by the blueprint design.

It connected to Hope One's bottommost floor—the engine room.

The place with the thickest steel plates in this ship was the engine room.

If he hid inside, even if a missile exploded outside, the three-meter-thick steel would guarantee that as long as he was not within the explosion radius, he would definitely survive.

Moreover, once someone hid inside, it was not as if they were stuck inside a steel cage. Upon confirming that there would be no second explosion outside, they would be able to escape by pressing a button in the engine room.

This room could instantly be transformed into a small submarine. The matter conversion engine would continue to serve as the core of the submarine, providing energy for the small propeller hidden behind an iron box that could also be extended out during critical moments, enabling him to quickly escape the battlefield.

'While I'd rather not trigger an event flag, I still hope that, in this life, I won't ever have to use this thing.'

'Otherwise, if I lose Hope One, my combat strength will decline by 90%.'

Su Mo thought to himself as he walked down the steel stairs.

The ocean was not like the land. Even with Hope One that had an outer layer that was a full half-meter thick, he could not sit back and relax.

As someone who could not swim and had not spent much time at sea, Su Mo was still full of awe and fear toward the ocean.

Though his awe turned into mild excitement when he reached the engine room.

Without a doubt, this engine room was simply too safe!

Currently, all the internal wiring of Hope One had been completed according to the blueprint design's specifications.

Together with the power of the modular shipyard, Hope One currently had many features created with black technology that ordinary people would not be able to understand.

For example, the two pipes placed in the engine room.

The first pipe was pure black with a lightning bolt printed at the top of the pipe opening.

In this pipe, several energy transmission lines had been integrated, and the interior of the pipe was embedded very securely within the steel of the hull.

It was not an exaggeration at all to say that, even if the ship sank, it was impossible for any of the energy transmission lines to fail; they would definitely hold on till the last moment.

The second pipe was pure blue, and the pipe opening was at the bottom, connecting straight to the bottom of the ship!

Through this pipe, the seawater under the ship could be continuously pumped up and sent into the engine room to provide free energy for the matter conversion engine.

Between these two pipes, there was a 3*3 empty space which was where the engine would be.

"The outboard motor obtained from the Lioness is too small, but after it was upgraded, its energy output was strengthened correspondingly.

"I hope the matter conversion engine's energy conversion rate doesn't let me down!"

Because the engine needed to be installed before it could be used, and since he would have to spend 2000 Disaster Points if he wanted to move it after installation, Su Mo had not tried it out yet since receiving this item.

He also did not know anything about the engine's efficiency rate of converting water to energy.

Hence, it had become his greatest desire and excitement to install and try out this engine that integrated the black technology of the future.

As he watched the empty space, Su Mo focused his mind, summoning the storage space and revealing the things placed inside.

Among them, the 1 cubic meter-sized, box-like Civil Type II—Matter Conversion Engine was the most eye-catching!

Focusing his mind, he picked up the engine and moved it into the space he had prepared for it in the engine room.

At the same time, the game prompts sounded:

[Record: It has been detected that the rating of the current vehicle is...rare. After the engine is installed, there is a small probability that the rating of the vehicle will be upgraded again.

[Record: It has been detected that the current vehicle is a naval vessel, and its scale is larger than miniature. It is compatible with the engine and has a greater probability of generating special properties.

[Record: It has been detected that the current vehicle has been constructed with semi-modular technology. After the engine is installed, the conversion efficiency of the engine can be slightly improved.

[Record: It has been detected that the current Civil Type II—Matter Conversion Engine (Rare) has been placed in the appropriate vehicle with binding conditions. Will you bind it?

[Record: Please choose carefully. Once bound, it will cost 2000 Disaster Points to uninstall it again, and there is a small probability that the engine durability will be lost when doing so.

"There's even something good like this. It can produce a 11 equals to 2 effect?"

Seeing the game's five prompts, Su Mo—who had still been uncertain—was instantly excited.

An engine, no matter in what vehicle, was where the soul was.

If the sports car brand was not discussed, in measuring the performance of a car, the first thing everyone would mention was definitely the engine.

Six cylinders? Could that even be called a sports car?

Eight cylinders? That was just an entry-level sports car.

Twelve cylinders was the little brother in front of a sixteen-cylinder!

Similar to sports cars, when it came to battleships, the engine was no less important than the existence of weaponry.

Now, however, with the matter conversion engine that could stand at the top of the food chain, Su Mo no longer hesitated and confirmed it in his mind.

Boom!

As he confirmed it in his mind, it was like thunder had struck the ground.

Invisibly, waves of energy seemed to form in the room. At the same time, the engine, which was originally a small box, 1 cubic meter in size, began to undergo a transformation that seemed to come from a sci-fi story.

Rays of blue light glowed and erupted from the outer shell like waves.

When penetrated by the light, the size of the box gradually grew, like a sponge filling with water.

Fortunately, he had made preparations. After seeing that the reserved 3*3 space had been fully occupied, Su Mo did not panic. He pulled the two pipes back and gave the engine transformation more space.

3.5*3.5…

4*4…

4.5*4.5…

5*5!

…

Seeing the size of the engine becoming bigger and bigger, to the point it nearly took up half the space of the engine room, Su Mo instantly gained confidence regarding this engine's power.

While building Hope One and watching this 80-meter-long warship rise from the ground, even though most of the villagers had enough confidence in Hope One, a few military fans who liked to browse the web and Tieba still had a trace of worry on the inside.

There was no flue, no pressurized cabin and no boiler cabin.

As a large ship, without the most important element of power, could it be that they would have to learn from the ancients and row out to sea?

Of course, Su Mo was included among these. Before he actually saw the 6-meter-long, 5-meter-wide and 4-meter-high engine before him, he had also been worried.

An 80-meter-long ship like this, if the matter conversion engine did not supply enough power, even if a suitable ship engine was modified by the system, the resources it would need to run would have been an astronomical figure.

Calculated at the current rate, the Underground Shelter could only produce 90L of diesel per day. Even if he saved up for one full year, he would not be able to make up the fuel needed for a month out at sea.

Now, however…

Seeing that this matter conversion engine occupied two-thirds of the engine room, all the anxiety weighing on Su Mo's shoulders disappeared without a trace.

All that remained was…

Excitement for the ship's properties!

"Now, I only need to connect the operating system and electricity supply. Tomorrow morning, no…"

"Tonight!"

"Tonight, I'll install the operating system and see just how strong this Hope One that I've spent so much money and energy on is!"

After trying to connect the two huge pipes to the engines according to the markings, Su Mo could not help shaking at the thought of how Hope One would look like when it went out to sea!

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Chapter 305: Everything Is Ready, Time To Test it!

Su Mo needed Hope One desperately!

The villagers needed Hope One a lot too!

This ship carried up to a hundred people's hopes and carried Su Mo's dreams for the future!

He climbed the stairs, taking quick steps. Unlike the uncertainty he had while descending, this time, as he ascended, Su Mo felt completely relaxed.

In reaching this step, thousands of difficulties and obstacles had been overcome. The toughest, darkest days were finally coming to an end.

He just needed to stay strong for a little while longer in order to welcome the day of the "harvest".

"The autopilot system is only missing the final logic algorithm at the moment. If I don't take it into consideration, I can finish everything before 6 pm."

"When that time comes, I only need to mount the weapons on their corresponding ports to begin the first round of testing."

"Oh, right. I should get the supplies on board too. Otherwise, Hope One would really be an empty vessel in the talisman's simulation world."

The autopilot system's modification was not difficult!

For this part of the system, a large part of the code came from the ship operating system that had been created on Earth.

He would only have to make minor adjustments to it for Hope One before installation.

Furthermore, only 10% of the parts that required modification were left.

At the rate he was progressing, it would take half a day at most for him to complete the modifications.

When the time came, he would only have to do a round of testing and debugging in the simulation world and, if it could be used, he could then install it straight onto the ship and complete this ship's second phase of…

Refinement!

As for the fire-control system currently onboard the ship, because there were no matching rockets or missiles, the vertical launching system would only be for display for the time being.

The eighteen ports used to mount the machine guns had all been completed. Once the machine guns were mounted and connected to the main fire-control system, it could then be used.

For this first test, in terms of firepower, he was not completely without options.

As he pondered, he patiently locked up all the equipment, and then shut the doors on the bridge, leaving only the passageway toward the warehouse open.

After giving Chen Shen the signal to move the first batch of supplies up the ship, Su Mo descended the wooden stairs and returned to the shelter.

On the third floor of the Underground Shelter, the computer desk that Su Mo had personally crafted and worked on for more than ten days now had some grease and food residue on it.

However, for a workaholic, this was not a problem. After sweeping away all the clutter, Su Mo turned on the computer.

The compiling software written by Blazeland's top scholars was very easy to use. The interface was simple and clear, and it also came with a simulation test.

After drinking a glass of psychic energy water to restore his condition, the lines of code on the computer monitor started to move.

The only remaining modification left to complete was the operating system's logic algorithm.

For large ships, more than 90% of the autopilot system data came from the various radars' scanning.

Using the data from the radars, the logic algorithm would make a decision, and then carry out a series of accelerations, decelerations, steering, or other movements.

Aside from this, apart from manual human intervention, the data returned by other devices was basically not used.

A design like this could guarantee 100% data effectiveness, while maintaining an extremely low probability rate of accidents. It was far more reliable than humans operating it manually.

However, unfortunately… Hope One was not capable of this!

After everything was accounted for, only five radars were installed on Hope One.

The central fire-control scanning radar—though it could scan the surrounding environmental data as a secondary function and transmit it back to the main system for analysis in real-time…

Something like this would still be workable when the ship was not in combat, but once it was, the data inside would be processed and screened into primary and secondary priorities before transmission.

The environmental data scanning function would be relegated to secondary priority, and the radar would automatically allocate computing power to track the enemy's movements.

At this time, if he relied purely on the environmental data returned by the radar, the autopilot system was likely to err due to insufficient data, which could result in unimaginable consequences.

As for the obstacle avoidance radars on the bow and stern, as well as on both sides, those were even more unreliable.

They were the same as the reversing radar. It could only play an auxiliary role at best. If one relied on a reversing radar to steer, was that not courting death?

Hence, for logic algorithms, Su Mo could only find another way, boldly adopting what warships had never dared to use before…

Real-time image analysis!

The three ultrahigh-definition surveillance cameras on the shipyard were dismantled by Su Mo after the hull was manufactured and installed onto the bow and stern of Hope One.

Aside from that, thanks to Hope Village's purchasing department, he received four more low-quality surveillance cameras.

Although these cameras' resolution were not as good, they could still be used when installed on both sides of the hull.

Relying on these cameras, the ship would be able to construct an image analysis that encompassed 75% of the entire autopilot system.

The remaining radar data accounted for 20%.

As for the final 5%, Su Mo boldly assigned it to the all-rounder robot worker that had been upgraded twice.

This was a bold attempt, so bold that even if modern Earth's technology had been developed for another ten or twenty years, there would still be nobody crazy enough to hand over control of a battleship to an AI like this without reservation.

Still… Su Mo did it anyway!

Moreover, during the process of modification, Su Mo even realized that not only did this kind of thinking not cause problems, but it unexpectedly caused things to proceed smoothly.

Whether it was to transmit a simulation screen for logic testing, or to directly enter the results to see the operation process, with the addition of the robot worker in the system, in up to 179 simulation tests, the threat to Hope One turned out to be "0"!

With the mechanic's steering logic algorithm and the data collected by the system, they produced an unbelievable "chemical reaction".

Su Mo did not know if a change like this at this current stage was good or bad.

However, in general, if it could still perform like this after it was installed on Hope One, it would definitely be a big step on the long road toward autonomous piloting!

"The ethical obstacle avoidance component is completely unnecessary when it comes to the doomsday ocean."

"Hope One can't risk it. Even if it produces other unimaginable consequences, I cannot hesitate at all!"

After deciding to toss this component aside, Su Mo's modification speed increased even further.

His fingers flew across the keyboard like he was arranging flowers, making waves of keyboard typing sounds.

As the clock in the gym ticked on, there was a tense atmosphere in the Underground Shelter as if he was racing against time.

On the second floor, the four little ones were not idle either.

This time, the four little ones needed to get on the ship as well and become the first batch of "crew members" in these early stages.

Moreover, because he was going out to sea this time not only to get his little sister, but also to locate the God of the Ocean, Su Mo had already decided ten days ago that, as he was going out to sea this time…

He was not going to bring any villagers!

Including Zhong Qingshu, all the villagers would guard Iron Rock Mountain, waiting for Su Mo to come back.

Among them, because he could not determine the Lioness Connie's loyalty, he purposely did not arrange any authority or missions for her, only regarding her as a moving foreign race game panel.

The four little ones all had to make themselves useful on the ship.

Inside the crop culture room on the second floor, sitting underneath the sunlight shining through the window, Moore was flipping through the Chief Mate's Manual written by Su Mo. Moore occasionally furrowed his eyebrows or made happy hooting noises.

For a lightning bear warrior, operating and controlling a large ship like this was absolutely outside the scope of his capabilities.

However, with the increase in IQ brought about by the long-term consumption of psychic energy water and the special tasks arranged by Su Mo, it was just to Moore's taste.

He, the chief officer, did not need to be responsible for sailing, but rather the other thing second to sailing on the ship…

Battle!

The moment he got on the ship, regarding firepower and weaponry, before Su Mo mastered it, it would all be Moore's responsibility.

Whether it was the combat agents' assignments, replacement of the agents' batteries, or even the choice of the target—it was all up to Moore's judgment.

At the same time, because of the shortage of manpower, Moore also needed to serve as the chief engineer of the entire ship, leading the bionic mechanics to conduct regular maintenance on the ship's machinery, electrical equipment and system.

This manual covered all the relevant knowledge he needed. After Su Mo translated it into layman's terms, though Moore found it difficult to understand, as long as he put in effort, he would be capable of understanding it.

As for Oreo, she was the ship's second mate.

In front of her, she had the Second Officer's Investigation Manual.

Taking into account Oreo's natural talents and inability to speak, Oreo only needed to be responsible for the investigative tasks and the inspection of the hull in detail.

Of course, these two parts on a modern warship normally required 20-50 people to do, but now, with the robot workers, Su Mo could save a lot of manpower.

As for Big Spark and Little Spark, their assignments were a lot simpler.

As the supply officers on the ship, they were responsible for taking care of the crops transplanted on the ship to ensure that the plants could grow and provide enough fresh food for the expedition.

The man and the four little ones all had their assignments. These days as the disaster approached, the Underground Shelter that had carried Su Mo's first dreams had become fully idle.

The gym, which used to be his regular haunt, was now covered in a light layer of dust.

The stove had not been used for more than ten days, and Su Mo did not even plant another batch of crops in the large-scale vegetable culture medium.

Before the disaster arrived, all leisure activities, and all things that wasted time, were put on hold.

On the second floor, aside from the occasional gurgling noises from the psychic energy water well, only the breaths of the four little ones as well as the sound of constantly flipping pages could be heard.

On the outside, upon receiving Su Mo's signal, Chen Shen had arranged for the first batch of supplies to be put on board.

These days, the production of steel plates—regardless of cost—plus the consumption of Hope Village's third construction phase, resulted in a huge demand for basic materials.

Hence, after measuring the carrying capacity of Hope One and considering the most necessary basic materials for heading to the New World after, Su Mo simply waved his hand and bought a large number of basic materials from the trading market, greatly increasing their reserves of resources.

Among them, copper and iron were naturally the main resources.

However, others such as wood, stone, aluminum, steel, grease, electronic components… and other miscellaneous items were not left out either.

These things' prices were currently extremely cheap. Buying them ahead of time would result in a loss.

By carrying them with him to the New World, there would be no need to worry about a shortage of materials for the development of the shelter's territory during the early stages.

Soon, the first batch of supplies that needed to be brought up was loaded onto the ship by the villagers…

Sitting on the third floor of the shelter, Su Mo's work had reached the final step.

At present, all the codes had been sorted out and revised. The compilation software had not warned of any errors either and could be loaded into the simulator for debug testing at any time.

At this point, as long as it could be run successfully without any logical abnormalities based on the data given, he could then directly board the ship to commence testing.

With the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman, Su Mo had the capital to make mistakes and did not have to be as careful as modern testing methods at all.

Everything was ready. He only needed one more thing.

After seeing that the entire program was completed and had been imported into the simulator, he started a new round of testing.

Sitting before the bench, Su Mo took a brief nap, recovering the mental energy that had been spent due to continuous programming.

The first test mainly focused on going out to sea and the ship's navigation capabilities at sea.

According to the model simulation in the computer, there would not be any major problems during this step, but it was inevitable that some unexpected situations would occur.

Moreover, because it was the talisman simulation world, aside from Su Mo who was able to enter, the others like the four little ones or the villagers would be isolated and blocked, unable to enter.

When encountering any situation in the talisman's simulation world, everything would require Su Mo himself to adjust and record the details, hence his mental state was of utmost importance.

Fortunately, the testing speed was not quick; it required a full hour and a half.

Given such a long time, in addition to the psychic energy water's regenerative properties, by the time the testing completed and the beeping noises started…

Su Mo, who was lying on the bench, had recovered his energy to its peak state!

"That's it! All three simulation tests passed!"

"I can start the real testing on the ship with Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman tonight!"

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Chapter 306: Hope One Turned Orange!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The wasteland did not have the conditions required to provide a physical test environment for Hope One. Regarding the system's debugging testing, Su Mo chose the extremely cautious triple test.

Cutting out all the entertainment systems and only installing an autopilot system, with the current computer's configuration, in the continuous load testing, even if the load percentage often went above 60%, overall, the performance line still presented a healthy arc on the graph.

Compared with this arc, the concurrency testing arc on the other side was also not too bad. During the enemy encounter simulation, Hope One could make timely course adjustments to avoid obstacles.

As for the most important simulation for the number of extreme steering errors, it remained at a steady "0".

After he recorded all the simulation data changes in his notebook, Su Mo immediately stopped waiting and turned off the power, dismantling the entire computer.

He had busied himself for more than ten days waiting for this moment.

However, when he actually put the computer into the storage space, as he stared at the empty computer desk, Su Mo could not help feeling a sense of anxiety.

In others' eyes, he was an almighty super soldier. No matter whether it was gun usage or wilderness survival, he was adept at them all.

However, only Su Mo himself knew…

The first time he sailed a ship would be on this 80-meter-long, elegant Hope One!

"If I went back to Earth and said that the first ship I ever sailed in my life was a destroyer, I'm afraid even my old dad would think I was a braggart!"

Thinking about how the most amazing thing Papa Su did in his life was touching a tank and helicopter—and he would even often brag about it at the dinner table—yet now Su Mo was about to set sail on a destroyer, this strange experience made Su Mo smile, and the uneasiness in his heart dissipated significantly too.

Going up to the second floor, the cooks had already sent his meal over.

However, strangely, the four little ones did not choose to rush to eat today. Instead, they continued sitting beneath the turned-on lights to read the manuals Su Mo wrote.

As they were going out to sea soon, it was not just Su Mo who felt a sense of urgency.

To Moore and Oreo, the assignments weighing on their shoulders were also very heavy.

Choosing not to disrupt the four little ones' studies, after Su Mo took out the portion for himself from the container, he sat on the already dusty dinner table and silently ate his final dinner before "going out to sea".

Su Mo did not eat much of this meal. With two cabbage tofu buns, a few pieces of beef, and a bowl of rice porridge, he already felt that his stomach had almost reached its capacity.

Su Mo knew that this was the inevitable result of one's stomach twisting when one became nervous.

However, when he returned the container to its original spot, Su Mo's eyes did not waver any longer and were now shining brightly as if displaying the words "Go Forth Bravely" in capital letters.

'What's there to be afraid of? If I can't sail it today, even if I have to fix it with survival points, I still have to somehow sail this ship out to sea."

'If I don't have enough survival points, I'll take a risk and lure these foreign races out. I don't believe that the living can be suffocated by the dead.'

Quietly giving himself a couple sentences of encouragement, after he once again confirmed that the things he had to bring up into the ship for testing were all in the storage space, Su Mo closed the shelter's gate and strode out.

In the Shifting Skies and Still Earth Model, the wasteland nights would normally arrive later, but once it reached 6.30pm today, the horizon started darkening.

The spotlights that would usually turn on at this point did not emit light anymore after the ship's construction was completed.

Seeing Su Mo coming from a distance, Chen Shen—who had been waiting—quickly went up to greet him and gave him a brief report on the supplies' loading status.

The first batch of supplies loaded onto the ship contained pretty much no valuable items.

There was just some food, namely the cabbage that the Hope Village cooks pickled over these few days so that it would not go bad when stored in the warehouse.

"Good, not bad. What our Hope Village needs are strict rules and regulations as well as this kind of efficiency."

After affirming Chen Shen's leadership as well as the villagers' efficiency, Su Mo's words did not stop as he continued:

"Tonight, I have one more very important assignment to give you!"

"Say it, Brother Su!"

"From seven o'clock, everywhere within two kilometers of Hope One is under martial law. Without my orders, nobody can enter this perimeter."

"Dispatch the militia. It's not a drill this time—what I need is martial law enforced!"

Seeing Su Mo's stern face and hearing his tone laced with killing intent, Chen Shen did not immediately accept and get to work as he usually did.

Instead, his expression changed as if he had thought of something…

"Brother Su, could it be that tonight…"

"That's right. Tonight is the most important moment for our Hope Village. I don't want anyone to disturb me!"

The moment he heard that it was indeed as he was thinking, Chen Shen, who had already prepared for this for more than ten days, did not waste any more time.

After a standard salute, Chen Shen pulled out his gun from the storage space. His movements quickened as he ran toward the village.

Hope One was going to be tested!

This was something that was of utmost importance to not just Su Mo—it was an important matter that was related to the survival of more than a hundred people in Hope Village.

In these past few days, while the villagers worked as usual, they would not speak of this.

However, when it was time to sleep at night, they often thought about it so much that it was hard to fall asleep.

Including the leaders, everyone was afraid that Hope One would encounter some difficulties and problems, wasting the tens of days of preparation beforehand.

Even Chen Shen, who had made countless testing plans in his head, could not help feeling a sense of excitement and giddiness when he heard Su Mo's words.

He knew what drastic changes would take place for humans in the upcoming ocean disaster if the testing succeeded.

Even more so, he knew what kind of great future awaited them by following Su Mo if Su Mo could construct even this kind of destroyer.

"Brother Su… you must succeed!"

Even as he ran till his chest felt like it was about to burst, and despite his entire body shuddering from the lack of oxygen, Chen Shen did not halt his steps.

He knew Su Mo definitely would…

Succeed!

…

Su Mo was unaware of what the others were thinking as he sat at the head of the ship and watched the sun set over the horizon. He opened the door to the bridge and sat inside without hesitation.

At the moment, Hope One had still not been connected to electricity. It had to be connected to the matter conversion engine before it could supply power endlessly.

After bringing out a robot worker and instructing it to illuminate the surroundings, he set up and assembled the computer, and then pressed the button to access the engine room.

Whir…

Whoosh!

As the iron plate slowly retracted to reveal the passageway, he glanced at the main brake switch and, after ensuring that it was locked in position, Su Mo descended the metal stairs to the engine room.

At present, the water suction pipe was currently unusable as the ocean had not yet emerged.

If he wanted the engine to provide energy to activate the ship, he would have to manually input resources into it.

After thinking about it, Su Mo took out a 50L container of diesel and poured it down the inlet.

After closing the inlet, he tried pressing the start button on the matter conversion engine.

Sure enough, a panel that looked like it had come from the same technology era as other modules slowly unfolded from the side of the engine.

"Compared to the motor-pumped oil well's panel, the matter conversion engine's panel is a full five times its size. It can be compared to a 30-inch television. Not bad, not bad."

With the idea that bigger was better, upon seeing the panel's size, Su Mo was secretly a little delighted.

However, when he saw the data shown on it, Su Mo's delight transformed into deep worry at once.

50L of diesel could start this engine and get it running but, unfortunately, it could only maintain the engine's operations for 1 minute and 20 seconds before this bit of diesel was depleted.

At present, while he still could not see just how much power it could provide, this rate of depletion meant that the engine's rate of consumption was like a bottomless pit.

If not for its ability to convert water into energy, relying on just diesel, even if Su Mo sold off everything, he would not be able to gather enough resources for a voyage out to sea.

"It seems that diesel shouldn't be used. Should I try putting something else in?"

Closing the panel, he opened the inlet again. Staring at the various random things placed in the storage space, Su Mo started testing them out.

Iron. One kilo was put in. 1.8 seconds, pass!

Copper. 2.2 seconds, pass!

Wood. 0.9 seconds, pass!

Plastic. 1.1 seconds, pass!

Wheat. 0.3 seconds, pass!

…

Water, 0.65 seconds!

…

After trying out more than ten things with a kilogram as the basis, copper seemed to be the most energy efficient resource. One kilogram of copper could operate the engine for 2.2 seconds.

However, this bit of time was just like dousing a burning car with a cup of water.

"Amazing. In other words, 1000 units of copper can only run the engine for 30-plus minutes. This is a bit too much, isn't it?"

Seeing each item's data, Su Mo kept shaking his head and crossed out everything other than the water.

For water's energy conversion ratio, 0.65 was enough!

The medium-sized pump installed on Hope One could pump 65 tons in one hour, which came up to around 1080 kilograms in one minute.

Deriving things further, 18kg of water could be pumped in one second, which could sustain the engine's operations for 11.7 seconds, which was completely sufficient.

Of course, there was still another killer trump card in Su Mo's hands at the moment.

Once again closing the panel, after opening the inlet this time, Su Mo did not add any other random stuff.

Instead, he took out the current most valuable resource in the Underground Shelter…

Psychic energy water!

This mysterious water that was full of psychic energy had gained even more mystical abilities after receiving a second upgrade.

Even if he did not test it, it would definitely be No 1!

Still, though his heart ached, he still had to test it.

After pouring one liter into the inlet and covering it with the cap, when he opened the panel this time, the measurement unit displayed on the panel had changed drastically.

The various materials he added in previously used seconds as the unit of measurement to calculate the increase in operation time.

This time however, strikingly, on the panel's statistical data display, Su Mo saw hours!

Moreover, the number in front of the hour was not small either—it was a full 1.8!

"One liter of psychic energy water can run the engine for 1.8 hours. I only need to provide 13 liters of psychic energy water for a day's use.

"Although it's not just a little bit stronger than the other materials, this is still not as worthwhile as using water!"

Once he got on the ship, the psychic energy water well could not be brought along with him. This meant every use of one liter would reduce his reserves of this unreplenishable strategic resource by one liter.

Su Mo was not wasteful enough to use this precious strategic resource as fuel. Aside from urgent situations, he would still use water 99% of the time.

"Still, since it will supply power for quite a while now, I can start the testing immediately."

Pressing the start button on the panel, he heard the matter conversion engine gradually start to make a clanging sound.

Su Mo no longer hesitated and quickly returned to the first-floor bridge.

Starting up the matter conversion engine required three minutes. After three minutes, the entire ship would be fully-powered and ready-to-go.

When that time came, Su Mo only had to flip the main switch, and the entire ship would be electrically-powered.

This destroyer that had been constructed using over 100-thousand units of various resources would shine with its own light in front of everyone!

One minute…

Two minutes…

Sitting at the bridge, he watched the clock count down and heard the clanging sounds in the passageway below get louder and louder. For some reason, Su Mo's heartbeat slowly calmed down.

"90 thousand units of iron, 30 thousand units of copper, high-strength steel plates that the modular furnace produced, four robot workers that labored tirelessly, and the modular shipyard operating around the clock.

"From the beginning, it was I who witnessed its birth, and it was I who witnessed its fall!"

"This ship has consumed too much of my blood, sweat, and tears. There's no justification or reason for it to fail."

"Hope One, rise up for me!"

As he waited quietly and listened to the clanging sounds from the engine room finally quiet down, Su Mo's closed eyes abruptly opened, shining with an extremely confident light.

His upper arm moved his forearm, and his forearm moved his hand. The moment his palm touched the switch, Su Mo used his strength, and the "switch" symbolizing the birth of "Hope One" was finally turned on!

Boom!

It was like thunder rumbling in the air.

At this moment, after the switch was flipped, not only was the ship shaking, but the entire sky seemed to tremble!

The small basin seemed to have taken on a burden it should not have.

The scaffolding supporting Hope One also started making indescribable creaking noises, as if they would collapse at any moment.

The sunset on the horizon was long gone. Amidst this pitch-black night, it was as if Hope One had come to life, shaking non-stop on the ground!

This scene instantly stunned the hundred or so villagers under the night sky!

They raised their torches with gleaming eyes.

They knew that tonight…

It could only succeed! It could not fail!

However, in the next second, as the earth quaked, they suddenly realized that the dark sky had brightened out of the blue.

They turned around curiously…

Then a scene that all the villagers would never forget was seared into their minds like a branding iron…

Hope One was shining!

Like a large beast, Hope One was pressed to the ground and was bursting forth with a deep purple light!

"Quick, look! What's that?"

The deep purple light was not piercing, but the villagers facing the ship were shocked to notice…

Where the flag propped up on the bow of Hope One, dots of orange light were gathering.

Compared to the purple, the orange was very weak, so weak that it was as if it would be extinguished at any time.

However, in the next second, before more villagers could take a closer look—as if it had received some sort of assistance, the orange light…

Turned Hope One orange!

Chapter 307: Legendary, The Beginning Of The Overlord Of The Ocean!

Dark purple color?

Orange color?

As they observed the bright orange color that had almost enveloped the entire ship, the villagers who had no idea what it signified were cheering loudly anyway, but for the leaders who knew the details, there was astonishment etched on their faces…

Twelve days ago, they had just obtained the black pot, recliner chair, and lamp from the Zeus Shelter assailants.

Then, as they appraised all the attributes, the glow manifested by the items had blinded their "eyes".

However, right now…

The moment they saw the 80-meter long Hope One, with its whole body glowing with a bright orange color that only an epic-quality item would possess, a bold guess crossed their minds.

Almighty Su…

Built an epic-quality ship?

D*mn, did it make any sense?

???

Everyone was looking at each other.

There was confusion all over Qi Qin's face, while there was bewilderment in Pei Shao's eyes. Chen Shen was feeling completely dumbfounded from head to toe, and even Zhong Qing Shu who was standing in the corner had a look on her face…

A look that screamed, 'Am I dreaming?'

Epic-quality!

What concept was that?

Within the current wasteland world, although epic-quality items and equipment were extremely rare, some people were still lucky enough to get their hands on one.

However…

This was a man-made epic-quality item!

Not to mention now, even after half a year in the future had passed, or a year after, no one else would possess such capabilities.

Moreover, it was an epic-quality item with a length of eighty meters. How terrifying would its special abilities be? Even though its attributes could not be seen yet, it was still more than enough for everyone to wildly fantasize and speculate.

However, it happened just when everyone thought that Hope One was almost completed, and that there would be no further changes.

All the villagers' yearning eyes were on it. The bright orange color that danced on every steel plate was like a wanderer who had just returned home, jumping and dancing atop each steel plate.

It was as if Hope One had erupted into the bright orange-colored flames, as the lights were constantly burning on it.

Every once in a while, the flames would intensify and the bright orange-colored glow would brighten up a little.

As the earth below them trembled, the lights that covered the steel beast flared up again excitedly!

Once…

Twice…

Thrice…

After the flames flared up three times, it was still the flag that exuded the brightest orange color. Once again, the villager who had first noticed the changes in color, was shouting again.

"Holy sh*t, it's turning gold! Gold!"

"Our Hope One has turned gold!"

"D*mn, isn't this the legendary gold color? Is Almighty Su a pay-to-win player?"

Wow!

This time, even the militia who had still been guarding their posts when they heard about the bright orange color, could no longer suppress the excitement in their hearts once they heard about the so-called "legendary gold" and sprinted forward, afraid that they would miss seeing this once-in-a-lifetime scene.

Without the leaders controlling them, more and more people were gathering in front.

It was as if they were in a market, everyone was buzzing, shouting and cheering.

When the militia hurried there from far away, looking at the facial expressions of the few leaders, they surprisingly found out that…

Compared to the ordinary villagers, these leaders seemed to be…

Even more shocked?

The head of the village, Chen Shen, had turned into a sculpture; he stood frozen on the ground, with a look of disbelief on his face.

Pei Shao, who was in charge of intelligence, was slumped on the ground, without anyone helping him up as he kept on trembling.

Qi Qin, who was responsible for ensuring order in the village, seemed like he was suffering from polio, leaning against the people behind him, unable to move.

Even Wu Feiguang, who was mature and experienced, was no better than the others. He sat on the ground, unsure of what he was mumbling to himself about.

Gold color…

If epic-quality was orange…

Then gold could only be…

…

…

The villagers below sounded like they were already celebrating New Year but Su Mo who was sitting in the cockpit had no clue about what was taking place outside.

Besides, as Su Mo sank into the chair, his eardrums were constantly being bombarded!

The moment he turned on the main switch, it was as if the game was convulsing as it began to broadcast madly.

It did not even wait for Su Mo to focus his thoughts; the game panel popped out by itself, and began to violently shake continuously, as if Su Mo had broken some rule.

Such strange changes, this was the first time it had occurred.

Having the system as his support, he sat on the ground, receiving the spam-like notification from the game. After he figured that there was nothing wrong with Hope One, Su Mo did not panic as he waited silently.

The color manifested by the ship could not be seen from inside.

Sitting here, and staring outside of the window, thinking about the grade and attributes of Hope One, although Su Mo held some guesses in his heart, he could only leave the specifics of it to luck.

Fortunately, as time passed, the game notifications that kept on repeating finally came to an end.

At least, the panel was no longer shaking, and Su Mo was finally able to see what was on it clearly.

"Good gracious, there are thirty to forty notifications. The completion of Hope One this time seems even more terrifying than the killing of the Heavenly Dog Pseudo God."

"Looks like epic-quality to me!

"But hopefully… This was the ship—Hope One—that I've put so much effort into. Don't let me down!"

The shaking game panel and the notifications had finally stopped.

Su Mo could no longer suppress the excitement in his heart as he clicked on mentally; the messages began to pop out rapidly.

[Record: Player "Su Mo" has been detected to have successfully completed… the construction of the Mini Destroyer Blueprint (Rare).

[Record: A level three Mini Destroyer (Rare) has successfully been manufactured. You may utilize the function "vehicle" to check out the attributes of the vehicle.

[Record: During the process of making the vehicle, it was detected that player "Su Mo" implemented modern scientific concepts and modular technology. Your vehicle has gained additional bonus stats x2.

[Record: Error… Error…

[Record: A rare-quality vehicle has been detected to possess epic-quality attributes. As the current level of the vehicle has been grossly miscalculated, a second analysis of the vehicle has begun…

[Record: Vehicle level successfully analyzed. Current vehicle level has been automatically adjusted to… epic-quality!

[Record: Player "Su Mo" has been detected to have successfully created an epic-quality vehicle, and the vehicle will automatically receive bonus stats 1 as a reward.

[Record: Player "Su Mo" has been detected to have successfully broken through technical limitations and has become the first person to create an epic-quality vehicle in the wasteland; automatically rewarding a title x1.

[Record: During the process of manufacturing the vehicle, the contribution level of player "Su Mo" reached 93%; automatically rewarding epic-quality bonus stats x1.

[Record: Error… Error…

[Record: Current epic-quality level three destroyer fulfills the prerequisites to upgrade to "legendary" level. Automatically upgrading level…

[Record: Vehicle level successfully analyzed. Current vehicle level automatically adjusted to… legendary!

[Record: Player "Su Mo" successfully skipped a level and created a legendary-quality vehicle. The vehicle will receive bonus stats x1 as a reward.

[Record: Player "Su Mo" has been detected to have successfully broken through technical limitations and has become the first person to create a legendary-quality vehicle in the wasteland; automatically rewarding title x1, automatically rewarding high-level lucky draw chance x1.

[Record: …

…

A series of thirty to forty notifications flooded the panel from top to bottom. When Su Mo saw the legendary level notification, even though he had undergone a drastic change in his mindset, at this moment…

He still could not suppress his inner emotions and roared.

"F*ck!"

"Legendary!!!"

"I created a legendary-quality vehicle!"

"Aaaaagh!"

He didn't need to calm down, nor suppress his emotions. Seated at the bridge where the robot workers were, Su Mo shouted out loudly; he had to get it out of his system.

With every shout, the pressure that Su Mo had been suppressing in his heart, ever since he had been transported to this "man-eating" wasteland, lessened a little.

With every roar, the countless busy days and sleepless nights; all the efforts had turned into sweet dew that nourished Su Mo's dried-up heart.

No one knew, and no one would understand.

If Hope One was a failure, it would have been such a huge blow to Su Mo.

Also, no one knew about those unremarkable ten days of hard work; days where he seemed invisible to the villagers; days where no one had any idea of how stressed out Su Mo was while he was working inside the shelter!

The crisis threatening humanity!

His sister's plight!

The game's oppression!

All those fetters, and all those obstacles, the heavy burden…

They who knew nothing, feared nothing!

From previously having the mindset that, somehow, there would be people who would deal with all these problems, up to this point, where he had gradually become that particular "person"!

No one knew that, for an ordinary person who lived on Earth, how "difficult" and how "painful" it was to undergo such a transformation!

Fortunately, the legendary Hope One had appeared; the Hope One that carried all of Su Mo's dreams…

It…

Had finally arrived!

Su Mo closed all the notifications and hid all the lucky draw notifications that blocked the game panel's main interface. Su Mo saw the new big function that showed up on the game panel directly…

Vehicle!

It was exactly like the creation, trading, and chatbox functions on the game panel; the vehicle function took up a similar space, indicating its importance.

He focused his mind and clicked on the newly-appeared vehicle function solemnly, and a brand new panel popped out.

On this panel, there was currently a small dot glowing, on which were written the words—Add bound vehicle: Click to add a bound vehicle into the function.

Su Mo had thought that Earth Tiger and King Kong would appear on it, but both of them did not manage to enter the add to list. Only the level three Mini Destroyer that had a golden-red glow was ranked first.

"It looks like this new vehicle function will only allow vehicles that achieve a certain level to be added in. It sort of smells like contempt and disdain."

After getting through the excitement that flooded his heart, although Su Mo was still excited, he was still able to suppress it.

It would not be a big deal if the list did not include the lower grade Earth Tiger and King Kong.

Only when he had reached the new world, he would be able to make an epic-quality Earth Tiger or even a legendary-quality Earth Tiger; there was no rush to do this.

Instead, as Su Mo used his mind to select the level three mini destroyer, and after he chose to add it as a bound vehicle, an "old friend"—the naming interface—popped out.

Without hesitation, in the input column, Su Mo used his mind to write in a flamboyant manner the characters for:

Hope One!

Then, like the flickering ripples of flowing water, the vehicle function rebooted automatically. When it switched on again, Hope One had appeared on the list, showing that viewing was available!

"It's legendary-quality after all. Give me some awesome attributes!"

"It'd be best if it could knock some God of the Ocean, who's a pain in the *ss, down on the ground!"

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Chapter 308: 67 Knots! Seven Shocking Abilities!

Human insecurity primarily stemmed from the denial of one's own efforts.

In modern society, there were barely any examples of someone putting in a lot of effort without receiving the corresponding payoff. Yet with the media's malicious manipulation and promotion, it was constantly being talked about and emphasized.

To gain the public's attention, the media would even use the core statement of "your efforts may not pay off" to write the news.

This caused most modern people who were under such influence, except for a small group of determined people, to somewhat lose their confidence.

Fortunately, the golden-red colored Hope One was like a shot in the arm and, as the properties panel expanded, it made all the self-doubt and self-denial that Su Mo felt disappear.

[Level 3 Destroyer—Hope One (Legendary)]

[Description: Every magnificent poem has a final chapter that leads to the ending, but every legend that was engraved on the monument will be remembered forever. This is a simple-looking destroyer on the outside but, on the inside, it has been infused with unimaginable power. Even the Gods will tremble when faced with this great power! Remember, when you see this flag with golden-red color glowing at sea, if you are the captain's friend, then it will be your hope amidst the darkness. However, if you are the captain's enemy, then just pray that you will be able to escape quickly!]

[Basic Attributes: 84.3 meters long, 12.9 meters wide, 21 meters high, 4.8 meters draft, 6900 tons full load displacement]

[Durability: 30000/30000]

[Speed: Cruising speed (33 knots), Maximum speed (45 knots)]

[Rare Facilities: Civil Type II—Matter Conversion Engine, R33 Shipborne Vertical Launching System, Hope flag]

[Damage Output: 0.24 (Except for collision)]

[Cruising Range: ]

[Special abilities]

[Charge (Rare): Consumes 5% ship durability to lock in a target direction and launch a 5 minute-charge (Cruising speed: 55 knots). When it collides with the first object, it releases the accumulated energy and the ship's cruising speed will return to normal (Can only be used once every natural day, 3 charges can be accumulated, Cooldown time: 24 hours)]

[Porcupine (Rare): When an enemy attacks the ship's hull, the hull produces an energy resonance at an unstable frequency, slightly reducing the damage inflicted by the attack on the hull. There was a small probability of the attack's damage backfiring on the enemy (Passive skill. Cannot be upgraded)]

[Sea Breaker (Rare): The perfect streamlined body of the ship gives it the ability to break waves. When sailing on calm seas, cruising speed increases by a constant 5%. This ability can be adjusted within a certain range based on how intense the ocean environment is. The highest speed boost is capped at 50% (Passive skill. Cannot be upgraded)]

[Comfortable (Rare): The thick armor plating not only provides sufficient defense for the ship, but it also provides a stable center of gravity for the ship. If the storm level outside the ship is lower than 3, the people in the ship will not feel the pitching and rolling of the ship. When the storm level is higher than 3, but lower than 12, the pitching and rolling effect is reduced by 50% (Passive skill. Cannot be upgraded)]

[Potential (Epic): The upgrade of the hull would not affect the current attributes of the ship (Passive skill. Cannot be upgraded)]

[Genesis (Epic): As the overlord of the ocean, when "Hope One" is sailing on the sea, it will receive the nourishment of the ocean. Every natural day, the ship will recover 5% durability, which can be accumulated. Maximum stored capacity: 30% (Passive skill. Cannot be upgraded)]

[Hope (Legendary): As a legendary-quality ship, "Hope One" has already obtained the ability to lead a fleet. After the fleet that centers on Hope One has successfully been built, and if that fleet meets the requirements, this ability can be triggered. All the ships within the fleet will enjoy a 30% of Hope One's additional bonus attributes (Trigger requirements: Unknown)]

[Legendary Upgrade: Locked]

Four rare-quality abilities, two epic-quality abilities, and one legendary ability.

The seven special abilities had completely fulfilled Su Mo's fantasy for a legendary-quality ship!

"It's a pity that, among the 7 abilities, only Charge can be used actively."

"But the passive abilities are pretty good too. It looks like they don't have much game-changing ability in the current phase but, in the long term, they are much stronger than the active skill!"

Leaving aside the legendary ability—hope—that could turn the tides of war immediately, just simply talking about the sickening epic-quality special ability—Genesis—was crazy enough.

It could store 30% of the ship's durability, which meant that Su Mo would own a superb trump card.

Based on the calculations of the Hope One's attributes, if it was used, 30% meant that the skill would be able to recover 9000 points of durability instantly, which was equivalent to the durability of three and a half rare-quality destroyers; it could be described as an ability that could drive the enemies into despair.

As for another rare-quality ability—sea breaker—it caught Su Mo's attention as well.

In contrast to pure numeric value bonuses, percentage bonuses were even scarier.

After the Hope One had been upgraded further, the legendary level increase of base ability would slowly become terrifying.

Cruising speed of 33 knots, with a maximum speed of 45 knots.

Compared to the previous blueprints for the level 3 destroyer, which had only 30 knots or more, the legendary Hope One was a few times faster, and it was even faster than the level one destroyer in the initial blueprint!

However, even with such cruising speeds, it could still receive the sea breaker's additional buffs.

During the days when there was no storm, Hope One's cruising speed would increase to 34 knots, with a maximum speed of 47 knots.

However, once the seas became rough, if it could gain the full buff from the sea breaker ability, Hope One's cruising speed could increase to 50 knots right away.

As for the maximum speed…

67 knots!

Good gracious, what kind of concept was 67 knots of maximum speed?

The fastest warship in the world was Caneda's FHE 400, and its maximum speed was only 63 knots.

Converting the 67 knots of speed on land, it was equivalent to 120 kilometers per hour on the road!

Imagine if you were sailing on the sea when the storm struck, your boat was drifting up and down, and could turn over anytime. You would need to put in a hundred percent of your concentration to make sure the boat does not turn over.

However, at this moment…

A heavy destroyer that weighed thousands of tons, covered in special steel plates that were half a meter thick, with a length of 80 meters, and a 6-meter draft, suddenly streamed past in front of you at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour…

This feeling…

This image…

Was way too f*cking amazing!

"I should stop thinking. If I continue thinking about this, I'm going to get high!"

He had just simply thought about how the Hope One would perform at sea, and a smile was already lingering on Su Mo's face.

"Previously, the durability of the rare-quality ship was only 2500. Now it has become 30000; it is over ten times more durable."

"If the enemy wants to break through my ship's defenses from the outside without using any special methods, I'm afraid it would take them years to chisel through a single half a meter thick steel plate!"

Su Mo touched the steel plating that covered the bridge where he was seated. He was very satisfied with the attributes of the ship.

Hope One, whether it was its power, defense, combat capabilities, resilience, or its special attributes…

All of them had reached their peak.

Not to mention surpassing it, even if someone rebuilt another one right now, without the bonuses provided by the game, Su Mo had no confidence that he would be able to successfully replicate this "miracle".

However, currently Hope One still had one disadvantage, which was…

Firepower!

In the area of construction, Su Mo had invested too much into it; whether it was his time, effort, or even survival points.

Given such an investment, even though he had obtained a steel beast—the Hope One—in terms of the technological development of weapons, he had not progressed from the time he had taken care of the kobolds.

Previously, he had manufactured machine guns and packs of explosives; it had been almost a month, and things were still about the same.

At this point, it would become a big disadvantage when he participated in a war out at sea.

"Fortunately, after sailing out to sea, anything related to the development of construction can take a temporary break."

"In terms of firepower, I need to complete the upgrade to level five shelter as soon as possible and create a small and medium-sized laser manufacturing machine to create the rocket missiles required by the RPG and vertical launching system.

"If I can, I will invest more survival points into missiles."

"Hope One must possess combat capabilities that can reach hundreds of kilometers away!"

Su Mo looked at the various attributes of Hope One. The only thing that was rated poorly was the damage output of the ship. He pondered and stood up at the same time.

Around the whole ship, given the situation that the vertical launching system was still currently unusable, in the previous design, Su Mo had designed 18 weapon ports in total.

There were four of them at the ship's bow, and four of them at the stern of the ship. The other ten were situated based on the 52 method, scattered around behind the ship's guardrails.

Along the 80-meter long hull, there would be a notch to mount a Type-80 machine gun every 10 meters.

He only had to open the notch and mount the gun onto the turret before closing the notch, creating a rotating machine gun turret.

Although such a design could protect the ship temporarily, it could not be used forever, so he had to upgrade and replace it quickly.

At the very least, he had to think of a way to upgrade the caliber of the machine gun as soon as possible. Otherwise, just by relying on the caliber of the Type-80 machine gun, it would not cause any significant damage during the ocean war!

The completion of Hope One had made Su Mo's mind more and more resourceful.

After checking several times that there were no hidden dangers in the ship's attributes, he closed the secret door that led to the engine room. Then Su Mo opened the door of the bridge on the first floor and strode out.

Tonight, the test would be focused on the navigational status of Hope One.

The firepower aspect was not the main point, it only required four upgraded combat agents, who were responsible covering all directions of the ship, to conduct a combat drill and that would be enough.

He took four machine guns out and, after he ordered the robot workers to head to the specified locations to mount them, Su Mo waved his hand, and three robots that were not yet upgraded, along with the all-powerful combat agent that was used to guard the shipyard, appeared on the deck.

1440 survival points were spent.

As a green light shone, the eyes of the three normal robots were no longer glazed over; it was as if they had given a soul and had been brought to life.

"You will be guard No 1." After he pointed at the agent that was upgraded twice previously and assigned a serial number for it, the remaining three agents sequentially gained their new names.

"No 1 will be in charge of the bow, No 2 the stern, No 3 the port side, and No 4 the starboard side… Now go!"

Having a complete logical analysis system, and under the guidance of their "boss", the four agents rolled on their tracked wheels happily without hesitation and disappeared from Su Mo's sight.

He waited until everything was done and then informed Chen Shen to continue enforcing order among the villagers. Su Mo glanced at the wasteland ground under the ship, he took out the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman from the storage space without hesitation.

Whether Hope One was a donkey or a horse, he would soon find out.

To figure out whether the legendary Hope One was strong or not, he would only truly know once the ocean emerged and he took the ship out to sea.

For the first sea trial, Su Mo did not expect too much. He only needed Hope One to enter the sea smoothly, and that would be considered a success!

Whether the ship would be able to make it to the Great Canyon or not was not vital to the initial data collection of this test.

"The talisman's simulation world…"

"I choose to…"

"Enter!"

Boom!

Once Su Mo said that, after his previous experience, this time, when he touched the ocean pattern on the talisman, he hurriedly retreated.

It was still the same familiar blast but, this time, given the situation that Su Mo was fully-prepared, it only made Su Mo stumble momentarily before he regained his footing.

In an instant, the talisman that was in the air had disappeared, replaced by a door with a flashing blue-colored glow that showed up on the deck of Hope One.

The door was not big, but it was large enough for a person to go through it.

With utmost confidence and without hesitation, Su Mo took a step forward and plunged into the door!

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Chapter 309: The First Sea Trial, Captain Su Mo!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Crash… Whoosh!

Compared to the previous time, where Su Mo had been knocked out and had entered into the talisman simulation world unknowingly, this time, as he stepped into the glowing door, Su Mo was shocked to find…

Even though he had not passed out, other than retaining his sense of hearing, which could hear the waves crashing into the reef, all his other senses seemed to have been stifled by some mysterious force.

Su Mo's mind transmitted signals ordering his eyelids to open, but the weight on his eyelids felt like a mountain was weighing down on them, and they did not budge one bit.

Startled, Su Mo tried raising his arms as well, but his consciousness instead informed him that he seemed to have no arms.

???

If this was an RPG game, three question marks were sure to be floating above Su Mo's head at the moment.

Also, the thing that was more unbearable than this scary 'feeling' was that he clearly felt something scanning him, examining him as if it was looking for something.

Su Mo really wanted to open his mouth to protest but, once again, his consciousness informed him that he did not seem to have a mouth, so Su Mo could only shift his focus helplessly elsewhere.

He tried to summon the game panel but, as he had expected, there was no response. It appeared that he was even closer to 'dying' than when he had entered the ruins.

Fortunately, when he tried to call upon the system, the system panel did not fail him as it popped open.

The system panel materialized directly within Su Mo's mind since, under the current circumstances, he was unable to open his eyes. The system panel emitted a fluorescent green light, illuminating the darkness around him.

"Thankfully, the system panel seems to be working as usual, and there are no danger warnings. This likely means that the situation I'm in is within controllable limits and should be fairly safe!"

"The question is, what is this thing that is scanning me looking for?"

Thanks to the fluorescent green light, Su Mo could barely see what was before him in the darkness. It was a shadow.

It was this shadow that was scrutinizing him, and it was the one responsible for Su Mo's feeling of being scanned.

Since he could not examine it in detail, after he made sure over and over again that this shadow did not mean any harm, Su Mo relaxed temporarily as he waited patiently for the scanning process to end.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

The sound of crashing waves was like a lullaby to him, as the sound echoed at a constant beat and tempo.

Since the scanning process was taking far too long, Su Mo gradually drifted off to sleep after once again making sure that he was not in danger.

The scanning eyes seem to also detect the change in Su Mo. After a few more glares, it had also calmed down, and everything was quiet again.

…

Su Mo had only slept about four hours a day for the past ten or so days.

This time, since he did not have anyone around to disturb him, and since he did not have to worry about oversleeping, Su Mo rested comfortably.

It was so comfortable that, before Su Mo was rudely awakened, he did not have any dreams while sleeping.

"Warning, warning, warning! Current entry time countdown 08.59.59!"

"All living beings within 100 km of the Host have been forcefully ejected. Any living beings outside said perimeter will not be affected."

"When the Host is not in combat, the Host can opt to exit at any time to preserve the remaining time."

…

"Warning!"

…

The loud warning that repeated itself three times managed to wake Su Mo up, even though he was still fast asleep just a second ago.

However, following this emotionless voice, all the senses that had been lost previously were now all back!

His hands were around, and his legs as well. Su Mo opened his eyes, took breaths, and the ability to move his body had finally been returned to him!

Also, when his line of sight finally cleared up, Su Mo found himself back on Hope One.

Even the position where he laid down, and the position he had entered the glowing door, remained the same!

Still, there were still some clear differences in the environment.

The moon that had been above him in the main world was pure and bright, untainted. The moon that was currently hanging above his head was an eerie scarlet, making everything its light touched tinged with a trace of a 'bloody scent'.

"Sigh! The last time I came here, I entered this place and passed out. This time, even though I didn't pass out, I slept through the entry process!"

"What a joke!"

He could not find out the secret behind the talisman simulation world despite having entered it twice.

Fortunately, this time, the talisman did not play dead like the last time. After it showed a warning of its own accord, Su Mo managed to capture some information.

"Firstly, all living beings within 100 km of me will be blocked off. Since it did specify that it only applies to living beings, everything that's alive should be included in this clause."

"Secondly, I have to be in a non-combat state to exit the simulation. As such, I have to be really careful when I visit the Grand Canyon, otherwise, if I'm caught by the foreign race creatures, I'll have to waste a few hours there."

"Thirdly, the time which I've entered the talisman simulation world should be similar to the last time, which is only about half an hour until the disaster strikes!"

After patting the dust off his body, Su Mo yanked himself up by grabbing onto the guardrails beside him.

Su Mo did not waste any more time after analyzing the few notifications. He directed his focus on something else as he stood up excitedly.

The scarlet crescent moon was here, meaning that the disaster was not very far away.

This time, the talisman was still in a flawless state as it had just initiated its mission, which was to bring its user here.

It was also the same as last time. After three minutes, the game panel that was locked finally came back online. With a beep, it popped out.

On the top right-hand corner, it was exactly as Su Mo had predicted it to be. These were the final moments before the ocean disaster struck.

[Countdown to the next disaster event: 00:26:35]

[Disaster Event: Awakening of the God of the Ocean.]

[Current sea level: 18m]

"The sea level is at 18m. Currently, the drainage capacity for Hope One should be around 3000 tons with a 3.5 m draft."

"However, considering the fact that the source of the disaster is still unknown, I'll need time to come up with a perfect strategy for it!"

Closing the game panel, Su Mo grew anxious as he looked at the countdown timer. He had less than half an hour to prepare, so he took large strides towards the bridge on the first floor.

No matter whether it's a small boat weighing a few tons or a large ship weighing a few thousand tons, both would rely heavily on 'luck' and 'skills' in order to successfully be able to go out to sea.

That's right, sometimes, 'luck' played a bigger role than 'skills' when it came to a ship entering the water.

A small boat weighing a few tens of tons would flip upside down, and a large ship weighing a few thousand tons would topple over sideways. It was not an uncommon occurrence for boats to sink as soon as they entered the sea.

Su Mo was extremely clear on what the military methods for warships to enter the water were since he had conducted some information exchanges with the Tundra Shelter.

There were two main methods a warship could enter the sea, which were further categorized into five different options.

Of these two methods, the one with a lower risk, the dock method, was eliminated since its corresponding components and structures were extremely difficult to construct, and the wasteland's surroundings could not accommodate it. What was left for Su Mo was the slipway method.

The slipway method was categorized into three different options.

The first option was the same one that Hope One was using, which was to reverse into the water.

The warship was constructed on the dock with the stern facing the sea.

When the water level was high enough, at the right angle, the fenders would open.

Then, the ship would be able to slide down slowly along the slope that was built prior to that. This option would produce a large amount of buoyant force and could prevent the rudder, propeller, and other components from being broken in the process of sliding the ship down.

The second option was the "side glide". This was riskier than the reverse option.

The warship was built on the dock, and a short sideways slope was built on the ships' side. Then, a force on the other side would be exerted onto the ship.

Due to the nature of gravity, the warship would glide along the slope into the water and would rely on the hull's buoyancy to correct its position automatically after entering the water.

This way would easily cause damage to the shape of the hull and also the above-mentioned components. This was why this option demanded an extremely high level of quality when it came to the design and workmanship of the warship, and this option was usually favored for use on smaller warships.

The last way was the 'swinging' option. Since it did not have any prerequisites, it was completely disregarded by Su Mo.

Of the three options, Su Mo had chosen the 'reverse' options because it presented the least risks.

Despite that it was not totally risk-free.

If the water from wasteland's ocean disaster would not come the same way as the flood previously, which was by the water coming in from afar, but instead water would rise up from the ground, elevating the sea level, then under the factor of constant buoyancy, the 'reverse way' would lose its advantage and cause the entire boat to be stuck at the shore, and it would eventually… Topple over!

"According to the calculation models, I need to wait for the sea level to reach 3m before I can turn the lever on for the ship to tilt, and wait until the sea level is 5m to activate the sloped slipway."

"Before all these could happen, the water in the hull should not exceed 2m, or the sliding angle of the ship will likely cause more problems."

"If there were any mistakes that occurred, the propelling strength of Hope One would mean that being stuck on the shore would not be a huge problem, but toppling over would be!"

In the talisman simulation world, Hope One had already been simulated, but the generator slot was still empty.

As Su Mo quickly made his way to the engine room through a secret passageway from the bridge, he took out a liter of psychic energy water and poured it into the generator. After all these steps, Su Mo was left with 20 minutes till the disaster.

In these twenty minutes, Su Mo needed to get the following done:

He needed to first turn on the main switch and activate the autopilot system. He also needed to turn on the fire-control radar to examine the scanning data, activate the operating system to manage the data from the various ship devices, check the other switches around the entire ship, close off the passageways that led downward from the main deck, as well as 37 other major and minor things to do.

If he had to do it alone, it would have been impossible for Su Mo to finish every single task, even if he was ten times more efficient.

Fortunately, the four robot workers that were fixing the ship were not considered living beings, and they provided significant assistance to Su Mo.

After entrusting the ship-related tasks to the robotic workers, Su Mo made his way to the third floor and turned on the fire-control radar of Hope One.

After five seconds of waiting, the radar started to beep slowly. Then, Su Mo went back to the first floor and turned on the system to receive data from the radars.

It was Su Mo's first time starting up the entire ship, and even though Su Mo's actions seemed a little awkward and lacked finesse, he had the form down, and it made him look like a trained captain!

The training and information did not come from the system, but rather from the transmission of knowledge when he used the destroyer's blueprint design, as well as his intimate knowledge of Hope One's construction and design.

Based on this knowledge, Su Mo fiddled around with the controls, turned on all the switches, and watched the program he so painstakingly coded to come to life.

In the program he coded, Su Mo was daring enough to include the majestic name of the 'Huaxian Water God', a name derived from a favorite word of the Huaxians, which was 'auspicious'.

The image depicted in the operating system was from the famed fairytale of a demigod knocking down a mountain that, in actuality, was a pillar that propped up the skies!

"Operating system Water God has successfully launched. The transmission of data from the radar has been successfully received!"

"Transmission of data completed. Model analysis activated, connecting with the launching protocol…"

"Hope One 3D model structure building is successful!"

"Hope One model structure building within a 500m perimeter is successful!"

"Slide launching switch checked. Sloped slipway activation switch checked."

…

"Hope One: all power-related switches checked…"

"Hope One: all machinery-related switches checked."

"Error report 351. Robot number two, please take note. Robot number two, please head to the drainage room on the third floor to check the switch!"

"Error report 669. Robot number four, please take note. Robot number four, please bring tools to the right-wing obstacle detecting radar to fix the ossies."

…

This was the first time Su Mo was activating the operating system fully on Hope One and he certainly did not expect so many error reports to pop up even before he went out to sea.

These problems did not occur while they had undergone their previous simulated tests.

When it came to the actual activation, devices, signals and data overlapped with each other since they were interconnected, which caused problems to occur.

Su Mo looked at the remaining sixteen minutes on the clock and ordered the four robots to finish what they needed to do. Su Mo, who was initially sitting in the bridge, was forced to exit to help them with the repairs and fixes as well.

Fortunately, the problems that arose were minor problems. Also, the robots worked pretty quickly.

By the time Su Mo rectified some errors on the deck and returned to the bridge, the other robots were already done with their fixes as well.

"Four minutes left. Phew… Fortunately, everything was still completed within the timeframe!"

"We can't wait anymore. Restart the checking process, quickly!"

"Water God operating system relaunching tests…"

After receiving a flurry of inputs from Su Mo's fingers on the keyboard, the operating system activated the final round of checks.

Three minutes left: Checking progress at 23%, no errors as of now.

Two minutes left: Checking progress at 69%, the green indicator lights are all still on.

One minute left: Checking progress at 92%, still no error reports as of now!

22 seconds…

When Su Mo saw that all the green lights were illuminated, and that the Water God operating system had successfully transitioned into its launching protocol, he did not wait any longer and scrambled out of the bridge.

Time was of the essence but, fortunately, Hope One was built on firm foundations. At the very last minute, the program was launched!

In the last twenty seconds, Su Mo quickly made his way to the bow, and the fourth disaster on the wasteland finally…

Kicked off with a bang!

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Chapter 310: Frightening Disaster! The Path of the Legends!

[Record: 5 seconds until the 4th disaster 'The Awakening of the God of the Sea' is here. All humans, kindly make the necessary preparations.

[Record: Disaster countdown… 4 seconds…

[Record: Disaster countdown… 3 seconds…

In the talisman simulation world, Su Mo only had access to the game panel's basic information. All other functions like the World Channel, the creation function, the trading function, storage space, and many more were all locked.

As usual, the disaster countdown that would appear on the game panel when a disaster was about to strike was still present.

Su Mo had no idea where the floodwater would come from.

All he could do while he was on the bow was to grasp the guardrails tightly as he looked around anxiously.

Up until the transmigration, there were two theories on how the ocean on Earth was formed. Since both theories had some form of evidence backing them up, they enjoyed varying degrees of support among the populace.

The first theory was the less popular one. According to sources, the theory mentioned that most of the water on earth came from the cluster of asteroids that crashed into Earth about 3900 million years ago.

These asteroids carried large amounts of water, and it was due to this that the oceans were eventually formed on Earth.

When someone heard about this theory for the first time, it would seem to make a lot of sense. However, after the advancements in research and the increase in contrasting findings, it was found that there were too many paradoxes present within this theory, and it had slowly devolved into the equivalent of the 'flat Earth' theory, which was a theory supported by only a minority of the populace.

The second theory was the famous theory that claimed that water 'emerged' from the ground.

It was said that asteroids, which were made of water-containing minerals, bombarded Earth, and that the kinetic energy from the collision was converted into heat energy.

The radioactive elements in the rocks emitted heat energy as well when they were gathered together, causing the temperature of Earth to increase so much that magma was eventually formed.

Then, all sorts of chemical reactions happened that caused water to seep out of the minerals within the magma and, after Earth's crust was formed, the water evaporated into the sky in the form of clouds, and oceans were eventually formed after the subsequent rainfall.

In conclusion, oceans were formed from prolonged rainy seasons.

"The water from this ocean disaster did not emerge in the same way as it did during the previous World Extinction Flood."

"Could it be…"

Su Mo looked at the finished countdown, and the surroundings that had remained calm and quiet thus far, and felt a sense of foreboding in his heart.

If the water this time around emerged from the horizon like the previous Punishment Disaster, it would still be okay.

All people needed to do was to survive the first wave, and then they would be able to drive their handmade vessels out into the water and float all the way until they discovered land again.

However, if it were to come like it did in the story of Noah's ark, where the flood occurred due to the pouring rain…

The transitional disaster would be the ones to end the lives of the wasteland's living beings this time around!

"Oh no! If the flood is going to be the result of rain, how terrifying must the rain be to be able to create something of this magnitude…"

"Let's not think about Hope One's drainage abilities for now. If it really rains and forms new seas and oceans, then everything would depend on the lay of the land."

"When the time comes…"

As Su Mo watched the dark clouds gather in the sky, and the scarlet crescent moon emitting a ghastly glow from within those clouds, he could not help but feel goosebumps rise.

The humans' fourth disaster: 'The Ocean Disaster'.

If the flood that would cover about 80% of the entire wasteland were to truly arrive as a result of rain, the saying from Dolly Parton might be true and fitting in this scenario. 'If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.'

"No, the disaster and the game should be two individual entities!"

"The game has no say about the disaster, and it has no influence over the disaster."

"The purpose of the disaster has always been to destroy every living creature on this wasteland!"

After this sudden revelation, Su Mo, who was in the talisman simulation world, shuddered uncontrollably.

Despite what was happening at that moment, wth a thought, he could escape this terrifying world behind with ease.

However, he could only go back in time seven days…

After seven days, in the real world, all human beings and the living creatures of the wasteland would face this catastrophic disaster!

The rain would fall like a waterfall from above in large volumes.

Those who were on their vessels wanting to set sail from the outset of the disaster…

Those that did not have a cover over their heads as they awaited the incoming disaster…

Both would just be smashed into pulp by the pouring rain!

"F*ck, how could I have forgotten? My radars and the structures on Hope One's decks have no safety measure against such an onslaught at all!"

"If the rain was going to fall so heavily, it would render them useless and done for immediately the moment they are exposed!"

In less than a minute, the dark clouds above Su Mo's head had clumped together so thickly that the skies were nearly ink-black.

Without hesitating, he ran towards the bridge.

The greatest concern currently was not whether Hope One could be launched into the sea successfully, but if it could survive and protect its core components in the upcoming soul-shaking rainfall.

If everything on deck was destroyed, even if the vessel could float when the sea level rose, with the help of buoyancy, it would be meaningless.

Su Mo ran frantically.

Very quickly, the bridge was just right before his eyes, and Su Mo ran with all his might toward it!

However, just as he arrived at the bridge, and before he could close the door…

The skies turned bright!

A bolt of lightning that was so majestic it seemed to blind the entire wasteland struck from the southernmost edge all the way to the northernmost edge of the wasteland, illuminating the entire wasteland as it went by.

It was accompanied by thunder so loud that it felt like it could cause eardrums to pop. With a bang, the rain had come!

The first second of rainfall did not seem to be a heavy downpour. It had at most the same intensity as a usual drizzle. It covered the entire wasteland and the droplets were just a little more densely packed than usual.

Alas, this only lasted for… Three seconds!

In three seconds, the drizzle went up a notch in terms of intensity and droplet density.

"Destroyer, turn on all the lights of the entire boat, put the engine on standby mode, activate the radar to start analyzing a 1 km perimeter around the ship. I need the data of all landscape changes within a 1 km perimeter."

"Activate all the real-time image analysis cameras and show me the visuals of each and every corner of Hope One!"

"Record down the degree of impact on the deck and the analysis of the rainfall and drainage. Calculate the data model in real-time and get back to me!"

As the rain continued to increase in intensity, Su Mo, who was at the bridge, did not panic since he knew it was just a simulation. He continued to run the operating system hastily.

After inputting a few commands, the fire-control radar that was on the third floor had already started running.

Electromagnetic waves that could not be seen by the naked eye were constantly being transmitted and received.

All eight spotlights that were on the front, back left and right of Hope One had already started working as well, illuminating the entire boat; especially the areas that were covered by the cameras!

At the same time, as Su Mo anxiously waited, the cameras in charge of the real-time image analysis at the bow and stern of the boat had begun to operate, transmitting the video feed back to Su Mo wirelessly.

In just two minutes, compared to the light rain at the beginning, the current rainfall volume had begun to increase, and it was gradually developing in a direction that was incomprehensible to humans.

The one good thing that Su Mo noticed was that the operating system was not affected by the increasingly daunting surroundings.

The data transmission was calculated based on the degree of impact on the deck per unit of time and the outflow of water of the drainage system.

The rainfall increase was very stable, almost as if someone was manipulating it, but after seeing the calculation model data, Su Mo's expression finally relaxed.

"Every three seconds, the rain will increase by a notch in intensity."

"If it increases according to this rate, it is expected that by the fifteenth minute, the rainfall would reach the intensity level of a waterfall, and that its duration will be 10 seconds. Even if the rain stops by then, the unprotected fire-control radar will definitely not be able to withstand it based on the current impact model calculations."

"But there is a good chance that the bridge will survive!"

Even though the impact of enduring a waterfall-like rainstorm would be terrifying, the captain's room on the third floor and the meeting room on the second floor of Hope One were not shoddily constructed.

They were made with various one-meter thick steel plates, and their structures were cleverly designed to disperse force, which should allow them to withstand the continuous bombardment of the waterfall-like rainstorm for ten seconds without problems!

Moreover, according to the real-time image analysis, Su Mo saw hope for human beings to be able to overcome the disaster this time.

The advent of the sea was not just through the rain. This time, through the zoomed in video feed transmitted by the high-definition camera on the bow of the ship, it could be visibly seen that water was also seeping out from the ground.

Although the rate at which the water seepage occurred looked slow at the moment, it was the same as the rain, which upped its intensity level every three seconds.

Under this 'double-whammy' method, as long as the "waterfall" above their heads would stop, the sea level would rise sharply to more than five meters in half an hour if it was according to the terrain and topography of the basin area!

By that time, Hope One would then be able to go out to sea, and other humans would also have the possibility of surviving this disaster!

"It's different from what I expected, but it also shows me the way out to sea."

"All I need to do when I go back to the real world is to dig a deep pit where the stern is and, when the time comes, this pit would provide the perfect conditions for me to reverse Hope One out into the sea!"

"It looks like it won't be a problem for me to go out to sea manually, even without the system's assistance!"

After discovering how the fourth disaster would unfold and the direction in which Hope One could be improved, Su Mo's expectations for this simulation had been met.

The next thing to do was to try to steer Hope One out to sea in such circumstances!

If Su Mo managed to achieve this, it would be considered a hugely successful enterprise during this simulation. If Su Mo were to fail, it would also be a valuable, practical experience.

With this thought in mind, Su Mo's mentality gradually turned optimistic as he carefully adjusted the bearings of the entire ship.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier!

There was also more and more water oozing from the ground!

The drains on Hope One's main deck gradually reached their maximum capacity, and every time they were drained, they made terrifying whirring sounds.

Sitting at the bridge, Su Mo already had water pooling at his feet past his ankles without him realizing it.

Fortunately, the main unit was set up on a shelf three meters high above the floor, so there was no need to worry about it for the time being.

Su Mo became extremely focused as every second passed.

While recording the precious experimental data on the notebook with a pen, Su Mo nervously observed the changes in the outside world and the model diagrams calculated by the operating system.

In the 9th minute, the heavy rain outside began to completely exceed the parameters of any prior human knowledge.

According to the current volume, the rainfall outside would definitely exceed 3,000 mm within 24 hours!

In the 12th minute, before the most terrifying torrent of rain came, the fire-control radar caved in. After sending the final transmission of data to the operating system, it collapsed under the onslaught of the rain!

After smashing the fire-control radar into pieces, the rain continued unabated as it assaulted the main deck fiercely, making distressing rumbling noises as the radar fell.

13 minutes and 40 seconds in, other than the two modular cameras at the bow and stern, which were taken from the shipyard, all four other cameras purchased from the trading market had stopped working. They were either washed away by the rain or the line had been disconnected.

14 minutes and 25 seconds in, the height of water in the bridge surpassed Su Mo's thigh.

In desperation, Su Mo could only put away his record book, stand on the steel plate of the dashboard, raise the monitor used to display the analysis data of the OS high, and continue to memorize the data mentally.

In the 14th minute and 39th second, both the cameras at the bow and stern also announced the completion of their missions one after another after a roar, ending their final video feed transmission.

At this time, Su Mo had no means of observing what was going on outside, because…

The water in the bridge was already close to two meters high!

The main power switch responsible for the entire ship was just two meters away. Due to the protection measures set earlier, the whole ship would start to lose power in ten seconds.

In the 14th minute and 51st second, the ship lost power. With an eardrum-bursting creaking sound, all the lights on Hope One went out. Since there were no backup power reserves, the OS also took a bow, ceasing operations after the main power switch had given way.

Taking advantage of the final second before the power disappeared, Su Mo jumped up frantically and threw the monitor onto a high platform that was three meters above the ground.

In the 14th minute and 57th second, as Su Mo silently counted the time until the most terrifying torrent of rain would arrive, he grasped the handles beside him tightly to secure his footing as he prepared to exit at any time.

"If I exit now, I would've just lost an hour of time."

"But if I choose to exit now, I would still have to face the same thing next time. I might as well give it a try!"

There was no electricity, no radar, no data, and no operating system!

The entire Hope One has become a floating wreck, even if it was a legendary one, it seemed extremely small under the onslaught of a natural disaster like this.

Su Mo opened the properties panel of Hope One in the game panel and counted silently. Once the 15th minute arrived, Su Mo would be fully prepared.

However, Su Mo nearly passed out from the force of rainfall's impact!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

As every second passed, the sound that emitted from Hope One's body sounded like the rumbling of drums that had been transmitted directly into his eardrums.

The durability of Hope One on the properties panel was also falling rapidly at a value of almost 1000 points per second.

In just five seconds, the water level that was originally only around Su Mo's waist rose tremendously and was now past his chest.

Gritting his teeth, his hands that were firmly grasping at the handles to anchor himself had already started bleeding from all the friction. Even so, Su Mo held steadfastly to the steel frame as he tried to keep his body stable.

In the sixth second, there was an ominous crash, announcing the 'demise' of the captain's room on the third floor.

Fortunately, there was still a meeting room one floor above the bridge, which was still standing!

"Hope One, give me all you've got and hold on!"

Su Mo roared silently in his heart as he felt Hope One slowly shaking because of the rising sea level and the buoyant force of the water beneath.

The reason legends were remembered was because…

After they were born, everything they would experience were horrors that surpassed the imagination of ordinary human beings!

It would be the same in the future!

It was the same right now!

The boat was a legend!

And so was the captain of the boat!

Carrying the soul of the entire ship, when the last second was over, and when the 15th-minute and 10th-second's mark came, Su Mo was already bleeding all over from the vigorous vibrations and shockwaves that had been transmitted into his body while still holding on tightly to the steel frame unwaveringly!

When it was finally 15 minutes 11 seconds into the disaster, just like the operating system predicted, the disaster finally exhausted itself. After dishing out the final waves of impact of its 'fury' and 'rage'…

The rain…

Stopped!

---

My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely! #Chapter 311 - Keep On Charging Forward, The Tenacious Hope One!! - Read My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely! Chapter 311 - Keep On Charging Forward, The Tenacious Hope One!! Online - All Page - Novel Next

Chapter 311: Keep On Charging Forward, The Tenacious Hope One!!

Gurgle…

Gurgle…

After the waterfall-like sound of rain stopped crashing down on the deck and overhead, the only sound left was that of water running down the drains of Hope One.

The rain came fast and caught a lot of people off guard.

It went away just as quickly, without a trace.

Were it not for the water beneath him and the ringing sound in his ears, Su Mo would have thought that he had imagined the whole thing.

After 15 minutes and 10 seconds, within three seconds after the final wave had descended, the rainstorm stopped abruptly. It was as if someone had pressed the stop button somewhere high in the sky.

The black clouds that shrouded the sky also faded away at an incomprehensible speed, revealing the silver moon again that had returned to its initial hue.

"Whew…

"Whew…

"It's a good thing that we were so used to the Underground Shelter's 4.2m height that we changed the bridge to this height as well. Otherwise, we'd be…"

As Su Mo looked down at the rainwater below that had almost overflowed past the 3m high steel frame, he gasped out two ragged breaths with his heart still pounding.

He never would have guessed that the disaster would have arrived in such an outrageous manner.

Rain like a waterfall descended from the sky onto the ground below.

It happened in such a way that even an intelligent person would never have predicted!

He could only imagine how bad it would be for a person with an ordinary ship who did not know what was going to happen. If a ship as powerful as Hope One had its durability worn down by more than twenty thousand points, dropping it to below ten thousand points, then such people would stand no chance whatsoever against the rainstorm.

If the rainstorm had continued for another 20 seconds, at the rate Hope One was going, with the many holes torn through the deck, the entire ship's structure would have been smashed to bits and torn apart by the torrential rainstorm.

If things proceeded as such, without any changes, it would have been a glorious victory for the terrestrial foreign races.

After the fifteen-minute rainstorm, perhaps only one out of ten thousand humans would survive.

Su Mo pondered that fact as he waited for the water level to drop.

Hope One's drainage capacity was good and, had it not been faced with a rainstorm, the rainwater in the bridge would have lowered by two meters every three to four minutes. It was clear that the water level was falling at a considerable rate.

With the help of the portholes that had been pushed open by the rainwater, the bright moonlight shone through and Su Mo made out the patches of blood on his face.

"I can't just wait this out. I must hurry and check and fix the damage that's been done to Hope One. Otherwise, the damage this time would've been suffered for nothing!

"We'll just use this rainstorm as a test for Hope One to simulate how I should handle such situations when at sea!"

As the rainwater continued to drain out, gradually lowering the water level from neck-level to waist-level, and then back down to feet-level, it was akin to walking out of a swimming pool.

Without the water's buoyant force to support him, every step Su Mo took felt like he was carrying the weight of a thousand catties.

In addition to that, the feeling was coupled with the pain from the internal injuries he had suffered due to the impact…

The soreness he felt was indescribable.

Even so, at this point, he could not afford to worry about such things!

If he could not handle it in the simulation world, how badly would he fare in the real world?!

That was why he had to hold on to the thought that "what did not kill him would only make him stronger", and if it was really so bad, he could just quit.

After the water level had reached his calves, Su Mo used all his might to move through the water. He pulled open the metal door of the bridge and strode out.

Whoosh!

Without the metal door in the way, the water in the bridge drained out faster.

At the same time, he found out that he had underestimated the damage the rainstorm had caused. Right after he stepped out and saw the current state of Hope One, he could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.

"Hiss…

"Seriously? Even a cannon blast would not have done such damage to the ship, given the strength and thickness of Hope One's steel plates!"

Under the moonlight, from the bridge below, the extent of the damage stretched all the way to the ship's bow.

The entire place was a mess.

Gone were the beautifully painted lines on the deck…

Instead, large holes the size of cars were all over the main deck, revealing the crew's living quarters directly below it.

That was not all. After carefully walking up to the holes, Su Mo was shocked to find that the damage extended beyond the main deck; even the flooring of the crew's living quarters below had been destroyed, revealing a cavernous hole that led straight down to the ship's warehouse compartments.

Most of the supplies that he had brought onto the ship were now submerged in water, bobbing happily from side-to-side with Hope One's every sway.

In the water, Su Mo could even see a few components of the fire-control radar, which had clearly been torn apart, beyond repair, mixed in alongside the other debris!

"Sh*t!"

"If I hadn't simulated the disaster using the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman, I would've happily sailed Hope One out to sea for an expedition."

"Who would've thought that, as soon as this rainstorm descended, my ship would be on the verge of disintegration even before sailing out to sea! I just can't believe it!"

As Su Mo looked at how miserable Hope One looked in his simulated environment, he did not know whether he should be thankful or in grief.

However, walking around the ship, Su Mo gained some ideas on how he could protect himself against the rainstorm.

"Actually, I don't think the rainstorm that almost took down Hope One is impossible to withstand. All I need to do is to make a boathouse to shelter the ship."

"And I can even add some shock mitigation elements and materials to the boathouse to help it withstand the rainstorm."

"If I design the boathouse with the flood in mind as well, then Hope One can easily sail out of the boathouse when the rainstorm ends!"

The sea level, which had been rising for eighteen minutes, was now just over two meters high.

Judging by the rate at which the sea level was rising, it would only take another twenty minutes or so for it to rise to four to five meters high.

Once the sea level exceeded five meters in height, Hope One could then sail out to sea.

'Yes!'

Despite the fact that Hope One was currently in such a miserable state, Su Mo decided to try sailing out to sea with the mindset of going all out.

At the very least, before quitting, as long as Hope One was still standing, Su Mo decided that he would keep going and finish all the tests he had planned.

Since it was a simulation, Su Mo decided not to clean up the water in the second or third decks, and just threw all the debris on the deck down into the hole.

Su Mo's initial dream of setting sail was back!

At that moment, after five minutes of draining the rainwater, the bridge was wet and slippery, but there were finally no more pools of water pooling inside.

As Su Mo stepped onto the slippery floor, he slid down the stairs after opening the secret door to the engine room.

"It's a good thing that the thick steel plates in the engine room and the original foundation of the ship kept this place safe and unscathed."

Since the secret door in the bridge was made to be concealed and had waterproof sealing, not only were the stairs dry, but there was nothing inside the engine room that made it seem like the ship had just survived the onslaught of a torrential rainstorm.

Despite the absence of electrical supply, it glowed a deep blue hue as it worked quietly like normal.

The powerful engine would continue to provide a steady output of energy for the entire ship until the liter of psychic energy water that Su Mo had poured in as "fuel" was used up.

After he tried to switch on the pump, Su Mo finally felt relieved; the pump warmed up for a minute and he gratefully realized that it was working fine as well.

"There's no such thing as a child that cries every day or a gambler that loses every day!"

"If things are already this bad, I'm sure it can only get better from now on!"

On the top deck, Hope One was in a state of disrepair, having lost its radar, and with the bridge in shambles. However, the engines and pumps were still going strong!

As long as he could restore power to the ship, he still had a chance to take it out for a spin!

"Let's see, I should have instructed Chen Shen to stock some extra supplies for the damage control deck before I got on board earlier!"

Even though the storage space could not be opened, Su Mo was in no hurry. After making his way back to the first floor through the staircase, he managed to slowly descend the large hole all the way down to the leaky warehouse compartments.

The supplies used to repair Hope One were marked with a yellow exclamation mark and had a waterproof canvas laid over them, making it easy to find.

With little effort, Su Mo managed to pull out some tools that were used to get the power up and running again.

"Now this is just rude. Why can't I use the system in the talisman's simulation world?"

"If this was truly the wasteland, all I would need is five thousand points to repair these damaged parts and I wouldn't be in such a mess right now!"

While he was in danger earlier, he could have summoned the system.

In this simulated world, however, he was not sure if the system was blocked, or was just too lazy to come out, because no matter how much Su Mo tried to summon it, nothing happened.

After he got all his tools, there was not much to repair as Hope One's power transmission cables were all embedded in the steel plates.

Even without the help of the robot workers, Su Mo managed to make temporary repairs to the broken parts by fumbling around a little bit.

The longest these temporary repairs would last was probably three to five days, and the shortest probably at least one or two days, before it completely fell apart. Even so, it was more than enough time for the current situation he was in!

Tss…

Bang!

With the main switch turned on again, the entire energy circuit first underwent a slow process of self-diagnosis, as Su Mo watched expectantly, before it showed that everything was perfect and that it was able to function steadily!

With the power restored, the spotlights that had previously been turned off due to the temporary power cut began to slowly turn back on again.

"Hehe, three of the eight spotlights survived. Not bad. Not bad at all."

As he watched the deck light up outside, Su Mo let out a loud laugh. It was a silver lining and the gloom he had felt during the previous rainstorm was all gone.

It had been a tough ride, but he still managed to pull through!

Compared to the torrential rainstorm, sailing out to sea was going to be easy-peasy!

After Su Mo turned around and wiped off all the water on the dashboard, he climbed up with the help of the steel frame and managed to take down the monitor he had thrown up earlier, and rebooted the operating system.

At the moment, he was going into this blind without the fire-control radar's topographical scanning or the cameras transmitting data for real-time image analysis.

The only thing he had were the four sensory radars mounted on all sides of the hull which could detect terrain up 50 meters away from Hope One, which would provide him with some rudimentary data.

In order to sail out to sea, he had to switch it to manual mode. It was up to Su Mo to judge when he should launch it based on the minimal data he had and the actual situation he could see outside!

"The waterline level on the left side of Hope One is now 3.84 meters and the right side is now at 3.15 meters. Even though the difference of nearly 0.7 meters is kind of bad, this will have to do for now!"

"OS, when the water level on the left side is at 4.14m, launch the ship on the slideway!"

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Chapter 312: A Dragon Diving Into The Sea, Mission Complete

After running some calculations to determine Hope One's buoyancy, sliding the ship into the water in reverse seemed to be the best way to do it.

There was another way, which was to have Hope One fastened upright to the boathouse and wait for the water levels to rise to an optimal level before lowering it into the water. However, Su Mo immediately vetoed that method.

For now, the only way to keep the ship in place was to use the modular shipyard's scaffolding.

The quality of the scaffolding was quite good and its structure was stable. With the modular shipyard's capability, nothing would cause it to collapse as long the level of impact did not exceed the structure's breaking point.

It was because of black technology like this that Hope One could properly sit half a meter above the ground, waiting for the waves to come.

It would be a crazy idea to ignore the scaffolding and use the boathouse instead to raise Hope One four meters high above the ground.

Firstly, they neither had the materials nor the environment to construct a boathouse like that. Second, lowering the ship straight into the water was not that much more convenient than reversing the ship into the water anyway. That method might be more useful only when dealing with larger ships.

With Hope One's tonnage right now, there was absolutely no need to use a method like that.

He busied himself with work, and more than an hour had passed since he had entered the simulation world.

After Su Mo ran more than ten times back and forth between the guardrails and the captain's seat, the water had finally risen up to the optimal level for the ship to be released.

The water on both sides of the ship had dropped to 0.4 meters, but Su Mo could still feel the ship tilting to the right.

This was both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.

The good thing was, the buoyant force of the water was getting stronger and stronger, so Hope One could make use of that force when being launched into the sea.

However, the bad thing was that, if he lacked precise control when launching the ship into the water, it might very well capsize because of that same buoyancy!

"Let's just hope that the water that is displaced by the hull is similar to what it would be back on Earth."

"If the buoyancy simulation fails, things will become more dangerous this time around!"

This was the first time that a sea appeared on the wasteland, so he could not have gone into the water to test it previously. Su Mo could only hope that the buoyancy of the water in the wasteland was similar to that of Earth's.

If not, they would have to start all over again if they were wrong about the buoyancy of the water.

Thankfully, the water was rising quickly. The data on the radar was beeping more frequently as Su Mo ran back and forth. The readings were at 4.15m already!

Boom!

The tracks that were placed behind Hope One started to creak eerily when the OS started lifting it up.

Hope One was less heavy than it was on land with the water's buoyant force supporting it.

The entire process of lifting it up made him fearful.

"I have quite the problem here. When I first designed it, I only considered the height of the water, so the model only calculated the ideal water level to release the ship. It ignored the possibility of the water rising inconsistently."

"If I take this factor into account when building a new model…"

"Forget it, I'm already in this deep, let's go all-in!"

Adding another factor and tweaking the model would take quite some time, so Su Mo stood up and took control of the ship from the OS.

The tracks were already rising, but the current rate was nowhere close to enough!

Releasing the rear fenders and reversing the ship straight into the water at this rate would mean that the launch would exceed the OS's safety limit.

Even if the launch was destined to fail, the OS would not have attempted something as crazy as that, so Su Mo would have to operate and control the launch manually.

He stared at the screen, eyes fixated on the buoyancy data of both sides of the ship.

It had just been raining outside so the weather was cold, but Su Mo was sweating profusely.

An object would float if the buoyancy force exerted on it by the fluid balanced its weight. According to FB = mg and the ship's displacement of 3000 tonnes, they would need 3107 square meters of buoyant force.

The buoyancy data would change by four digits every passing second.

The front, back, left, and right sides of the ship would have to be balanced for Hope One to even have a small chance of successfully being launched!

If not, going straight into the water would be akin to throwing caution to the wind.

Su Mo did not want to bet everything on his first try. Even though he saw both sides of the ship reach an optimal state of balance, he still waited patiently.

"Two percent deviation on the left side."

"The stern is good!"

"Let's go for it! Full speed!"

Since the stern of the ship had recorded optimal numbers on the dials, waiting any longer might just be counterproductive. Su Mo gave the order and grabbed the lever beside him.

Creak…

Slam!

The tracks rose ever so slowly; they were not even completely raised, but the rear fenders were being released at quite a rapid rate!

After Su Mo released the rear fenders, they completed their descent in a short few seconds.

At the same time, he lifted up a metal cover on his right and carefully hit the red button inside of it. A thunderous sound outside of the bridge soon echoed.

The sound came from a remote explosive planted near the stress points of the scaffolding. It was not a huge explosion, but it was enough to hopefully blast the scaffolding in a way that it would slowly collapse.

At that moment, Hope One lost its support and tilted backward with a slight imbalance on its starboard side.

Without imaging data to tell him what was going on and no data from the fire-control radar, all he had to work with was data from the sensory radar to simulate the condition of Hope One at sea.

However, the data displayed on the screen was not all that sunshine and roses either.

The gradient of the ship entering the water should not have been more than 25 degrees, but now Hope One was sitting at 35 degrees. If things went on like this, there was a very good chance that Hope One would capsize.

Besides, the track was not completely raised and the rate of the ship's descent was too fast, so they had to wait.

Su Mo finally managed to calm himself down as he stared at the data on the screen. At that moment, more and more information from the destroyer's blueprint design popped up in his mind; he even remembered the crucial points of controlling the entire ship.

It did not matter whether they were modern ships equipped with autopilot systems and other technologies, or ancient keelboats powered by pure human muscle.

The ability of the captain was not measured by how well he could control the ship on a normal journey, but by how well he could stand out…

Under such dire circumstances!

Of course, Su Mo might have thought twice if this was a real-life scenario, but now that everything was part of the simulation world…

"Start the engines! Full power and full speed! Fire her up!"

As the data started to go crazy, a grin appeared on Su Mo's face as he shoved the lever that controlled the ship's output to its maximum without a care in the world.

While going into the water, using kinetic energy to help the ship find its balance was nothing short of insanity.

But Su Mo… still did it!

As the lever was pushed, the engine revved up and the entire contraption burst forth with unimaginable light and heat.

The energy passed through the thick cables at the bottom of the ship, activating the motors, which in turn made the blades spin wildly.

Splash!

Splash!

The fan blades were just slightly longer than 3 meters and the sea was just 4.5 meters deep when the ship entered the water, so blades made a huge whirlpool as they spun, stopping Hope One on its way down.

"Good! More power! Keep pushing!"

That amount of force from the motors brought Hope One's angle from 37 degrees to 28 degrees. Besides, the force gave Hope One the crucial 18 seconds that it needed after entering the water…

Su Mo was overjoyed as he gave control of the ship back to the OS and stepped out of the bridge.

At the same time, the bow of the ship tilted upward away from the water while the stern dipped five to six meters deep into the water because the ship had entered the water too quickly, on top of being tilted on the sides just a while ago.

Hope One needed a large amount of force in order to get into the water, so the only way to accomplish that was to generate a huge amount of thrust at the bow of the ship and push it into the water. The ship could then use the buoyant force of the water to float itself.

There was no other way to generate such a huge amount of force.

When Su Mo saw the skill panel of Hope One light up, he was excited, so he made his way back to the front of the ship, and held the flag in his hand.

There were only three seconds left out of the eighteen precious seconds that the engine and motor had provided the ship with.

The rear of the ship had sunken seventeen meters deep into the water.

However, Su Mo was not at all hesitant as he stared at the flag glimmering red and golden. He shouted,

"Hope One, forward…"

"Launch!"

Boom!

He had never seen how this mysterious energy would manifest, so he was utterly stunned when he saw the golden-red light blitz from the entire ship!

At that moment, the 80-meter long Hope One exploded with light, illuminating the entire skyline!

At the same time, there was no need for any other force. The energy seemed like it had come from the heavens, pressing down on the bow of the boat at Su Mo's command.

The stern of the ship that had been initially submerged seventeen meters deep, after receiving that sudden force, went down even further to forty meters!

However, the buoyant force was still at play, so the moment the stern of the ship touched the bottom of the ocean, Hope One seemed to fly up into the sky.

Boom!

Splash!

The stern of the ship resurfaced above the water, crashing against the surface with so much force that the water splashed high up into the sky.

In addition to that, the force on the bow of the ship kept going, instantly pushing the ship at an incredible speed away from the scaffolding into the distance.

When the stern of the ship was pressed into the ocean, Su Mo was flung over the side of the ship, hanging on to the guardrails.

However, the moment the ship bounced back to the surface, the force reversed in direction, throwing Su Mo back onto the deck.

It was like going on a roller coaster ride. Before Su Mo could admire the power of the mysterious force, the ship flung upward as it changed its position.

Hope One was glimmered red and golden, rushing forward at a speed of 55 knots!

"My goodness!"

"It worked!"

After Su Mo was flung around twice, his right leg contorted into a "Z" shaped fracture.

Su Mo, despite his pain, was able to experience how powerful the force was when Hope One entered the ocean.

One minute, the 80-meter long ship was on the verge of tilting over.

The very next minute it was speeding across the surface of the water at 100 kilometers per hour.

Su Mo was temporarily crippled, and there were holes and cavities all over the ship. Hope One looked like a dragon diving into the ocean, which made Su Mo realize what a "legend" really was!

In five minutes, Hope One skimmed the water right beside the basin for 9 kilometers before slowing down.

As the ship's speed gradually decreased, the golden-red light on the ship dissipated as well, returning to the flag held in Su Mo's hands.

"Good…"

"Good girl. When Hope One goes into the water, that's where she earns her name!"

Su Mo was stunned as he noticed the shelter and Iron Rock Mountain had disappeared from his sight. He analyzed the area around him and realized that he had arrived near the carp lake in just five minutes.

This speed… really was amazing!

However, when Su Mo stared at his half-crippled body, he had no choice but to smile while staring into the distance.

He had completed all of the objectives of his first test session.

Going into the water, piloting under extreme conditions, and even responding to damage; all the tests were completed.

However, relying on his "blind" OS to pilot the ship into the canyon would prove very difficult. He felt scared just thinking about it.

"Not bad, I only spent two hours this time around, I still have seven hours left."

"With what I know right now, I will pass the simulation without any injuries for sure next time!"

"As for now…"

Su Mo laughed as he saw himself inching his body forward using only his left hand, as he exclaimed internally…

Exit!

Chapter 313: New Bug, Seven Ideas

The last time Su Mo entered the simulation world, he was knocked out cold. It was also in that exact state that he had come back to the real world.

After he muttered "exit" internally, Su Mo opened his eyes in an attempt to observe what kind of method would be used to transport his body between the dimensions of both worlds.

However, the miraculous talisman disappointed him this time around.

After he chose to exit, a golden light appeared in the sky and crashed down onto the ground.

The light was blinding, causing Su Mo to shut his eyes. He reopened them when the light dissipated, but he was utterly shocked to find himself back on Hope One!

It was a familiar place with a familiar view.

This time, however…

The destroyed fire-control radar, the crushed captain's quarters, the main deck that had been riddled with holes, and the damaged wires…

Everything that was damaged had been restored to their original state!

Everything was so peaceful in the main world, so peaceful that it left Su Mo in somewhat of a daze.

"I used to think that the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman was just some really good technology, but it seems that this thing must also be related to the miraculous authority somehow."

"I am very sure that this talisman has some huge secret hidden behind it."

After returning to the main world, Su Mo's body was no longer crippled.

He felt an unlimited amount of energy pouring through his body, so Su Mo straightened himself, stood up, and caught the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman that was still dancing in the air, examining it closely.

It could replicate what would happen during a disaster so realistically. Besides, all the damage, even death, could be nullified with just a thought.

This amazing feature was beyond Su Mo's current level of comprehension.

With the information he had at hand, only the miraculous authority could explain everything that was going on.

After some thought, Su Mo realized that he had a chance at exploiting a bug!

"If the talisman resets every single living thing within a 100-kilometer radius of me, then I just have to ask a villager to wait outside that radius."

"And after I enter the talisman's simulation world, I'll just use a walkie talkie and I will find out if this is part of the real world or just a simulated one."

"Besides, I can ask the villagers what events transpired before any disaster strikes. This would mean that I can predict the future!"

"In that case, if I tell Chen Shen to go explore the canyon and contact him after I enter the talisman's simulation world, I can find out beforehand the results of his exploration."

"But won't that create a paradox?"

Su Mo leaned against the guardrails as he stared at the 7 bars of energy on the talisman. After thinking twice, he decided against the idea of exploiting this bug.

He had no other choice!

He was too weak right now. He had to put his life on the line for just one voyage. Even if he could figure out what the talisman really was, or exploit the bug, that would not make any significant difference anyway.

Besides, if he violated any rules in the process, the talisman's energy might be reset to zero. If that happened, Su Mo would not be able to conduct any more tests, and that would be disastrous.

"I'll make note of this and leave it alone for now. I can save this for later!"

For security reasons, Su Mo chose to only make a mental note of his thoughts regarding the talisman. He then put away the talisman itself into his storage space. At the same time, he searched his memories for information on how to modify and improve Hope One's design.

"First, I'll have to create a protective cover so that Hope One doesn't crumble under the torrential rain."

"Second, the OS still needs some improvement. The logic algorithm it's using is impractical. It will go crazy if there is a problem with the raw data, so it has limited functionality. I'll just have to use survival points to improve it if I really have to."

"Third, I'll have to build a ditch for the ship to reverse into. With the simulation's data, I have to make sure that Hope One gets out into the sea undamaged."

"Fourth, I need to add more structures to strengthen the hull so that the steel plates can be used to their full potential. I can't let the same thing that happened in the simulation happen again. The steel plates were not destroyed, but they were broken at the joints."

"Fifth, I have to make another fire-control radar. If the current one goes out of commission, it's akin to Hope One being blinded in one eye, crippling the OS!"

"Sixth, I need to find the factors that caused the errors at the beginning of the simulation, archive them and repair them to prevent those errors from happening again."

Discovering six ways to improve Hope One from just the first test was an amazing outcome.

Thinking of those six ways, Su Mo stared at the bright lights on Iron Rock Mountain just two kilometers away.

There was a distant look in Su Mo's eyes. A seventh idea had popped into his mind.

"Even though Hope Village sits on top of Iron Rock Mountain, it's not at risk of landslides."

"However, the villagers dug through most of the mountain so that they could live inside, so they need a protective cover built as soon as possible."

"They only have a gazebo right now, and that alone would be destroyed after 13 minutes of rain, much less the total 15 minutes of torrential rain. When the water starts surging into the cave after two minutes, it will kill everyone inside…"

"As for the other humans…"

Su Mo had a headache thinking about the upcoming natural disaster and the current plight of these mortal, ignorant human beings.

Even though he had the legendary Hope One by his side, Su Mo was still quite cautious and reverent toward the ocean and the incoming disaster. He simply wanted to be as careful as he could.

However, among the humans, at least 30% of them did not fear disasters any longer since obtaining a bountiful harvest from the welfare disaster previously.

If one opened up the chatroom at any time of day, all they could see inside were words of hubris and ignorance.

The people were talking about annihilating the d*mned foreign races and how the new world belonged to the humans.

They also talked about gathering together in the billions and suppressing other beings so that they could get rich afterwards.

Some even relished the idea of opening up the wasteland!

If Su Mo had been influenced by some cunning person to keep the news of the upcoming disaster from humans, in six days…

15 minutes would be all it took to send everyone into the afterlife!

The other 70% of humans would be dragged into oblivion as well.

"Forget it, I need to plan this properly. I just have to wait until I get more data from the second test, and only then will I figure out how to tell these people about it!"

He wrote down every single piece of information in his notebook and threw it into the storage space.

The last time he entered the simulation world, he had spent 2 hours' worth of energy in there but, in the real world, only two minutes had passed.

Since he spent time on his investigation inside the simulation this time, Su Mo took out the old phone and re-checked the total amount of time he spent:

49 minutes!

If Su Mo ignored the time spent inside the simulation, he spent 47 minutes on his investigation and leaving the simulation. Even though he did not take up that much time, it was still a good reminder for him.

The simulation world's time will always change, so he had to be careful whenever he decided to enter!

Su Mo walked down the stairs while storing that piece of information inside his head. He then descended down the stairs of Hope One to the area below the ship that had been cordoned off.

After almost an hour of waiting, order had been restored to the chaotic mess in front of Hope One.

When Hope One achieved its legendary status, the ship glimmered with light for three minutes, and that was the exact time that Su Mo binded Hope One. Hope One's light started to coalesce…

Toward the flag at the bow of the ship!

At that moment, everyone was curious, but they soon went back to their posts after Qi Qin returned to his senses and commanded them to do so.

Within a two-kilometer radius, everything had gone back to normal after the cordon was removed.

As Su Mo walked down the ship, the first two people he saw were Chen Shen and Zhong Qingshu. They were walking toward him anxiously.

"Whoa… Big Brother Su is back. How was the test…?"

After the burst of light receded, Hope One remained as dark as night itself, and not even the spotlights were lit up.

Chen Shen stood at the bottom of the stairs, having no idea as to which areas did Su Mo carry out his test, so he paced back and forth anxiously, trying to suppress the anxiety within him.

He lifted his head and suddenly noticed Su Mo walking down toward them, and was surprised.

"It was successful?!"

Zhong Qingshu "knew" more than Chen Shen did.

She guessed the outcome the moment she saw the smile on Su Mo's face.

As Su Mo looked at the villagers surrounding Hope One, he felt a warmth in his heart as he told them:

"Let's have a meeting. I want everyone from the leadership team to be at the meeting room in twenty minutes!"

"Alright!"

"I'll let everyone know right away!"

Su Mo watched Chen Shen rush away while he brought Zhong QIngshu with him as he left for the shipyard.

He had tested many things this time around, and Zhong Qingshu was smart, so she would be able to infer what had happened if he gave her even the slightest clue. Heck, her inference might even be pretty close to the truth.

Since that was the, Su Mo openly described the upcoming disaster to Zhong QIngshu.

He told her everything from the storm that would wipe out 90% of all life, and the land that grew more unstable as it rose with the water levels.

Besides the process of how Hope One managed to endure the disaster, Su Mo described everything he knew.

Zhong Qingshu took a minute to compose herself from the shock, but she was also smart enough not to ask about how Su Mo found out about those natural disasters. Instead, she lowered her head and began to think.

Su Mo noticed the expression on her face and did not rush her. He opened the door to the shipyard, turned the power on, and sat down; waiting for the other managers to arrive.

All in all, humans had only experienced three disasters.

One of them was a disaster that brought them good fortune, so technically that one did not count.

This was in stark contrast to Blazeland, which had encountered tons of disasters, and where it had taken many years for it to progress to the ocean disaster that opened up the New World. Thanks to Su Mo, however, the problem at hand was getting bigger and bigger.

The welfare disaster ensured that humans had sufficient resources, but the important thing was those resources could not easily be turned into combat strength within such a short period of time!

The Underground Shelter and the well-protected Hope Village might barely survive the disaster.

Most of the humans, including the foreign races, would have to succumb to the upcoming disaster!

It seemed that every lone wolf wanted to improvise and modify their shelter into a raft to float across the ocean.

Most of the other shelters would not fare too well either. Steel and wooden boats alike were made very crudely, causing the people a lot of problems every day.

Even the terrestrial foreign races were trying to learn how to swim and thinking of ways to learn from humans to construct their own boats.

Of course, if we fast forward things into the future, with the current amount of resources that humans had at the moment, even lone wolves would be able to develop metallurgy on their own and the bigger shelters would be able to achieve much more.

By that time, everyone would have been confident in getting through such a disaster, however terrifying it may be.

Yet now…

Su Mo watched as the leaders walked into the meeting room with excitement in their eyes. He nodded lightly and the worry in his heart dissipated significantly.

From birth, every living moment felt like a struggle in the dirt or trying to crawl in the dark. They lived on the verge of extinction.

It might be a huge asteroid that would do them in, or perhaps a shockwave from outer space, or even an ancient germ lurking under some glacier.

Any "typical" disaster would wipe out the humans from the face of the Earth.

This upcoming disaster was no exception. If humans could not get through this, they would be doomed to extinction.

However, if they did…

That would be a transformative, life-changing step for humankind!

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Chapter 314: Savior or Leader?

Chen Shen, Pei Shao, Zhong Qingshu, Wu Feiguang, Qi Qin, Hong Kangcheng, Chen Yi…

As Hope Village developed faster and faster, there were already eight members in the leadership team, including Su Mo.

Everyone sat inside the meeting room; the atmosphere seemed almost as if they were holding a big meeting in some huge multinational company.

However, it was obvious that everyone was excited!

The completion of the legendary Hope One and the successful testing of the ship were achievements that would have sent the team over the moon if they weren't already so familiar with Su Mo's previous heroics.

"Ahem, silence everyone!"

Once everyone was seated, Su Mo and Zhong Qingshu said nothing. Instead, Chen Shen stood up and rapped on the metal board.

At that moment, the sound of heavy breathing in the room seemed to stop as everyone else held their breaths, creating an atmosphere of pin-drop silence.

Everyone sat properly, shifting their gazes to their leader, Su Mo.

"I called you here today because I have both good news and bad news!"

"I see that you're all quite excited, so I'll hold onto the good news for now. Bad news first!"

Everyone in the room had been living on the Doomsday wasteland for the past two months. After giving it some thought, in terms of the details, Su Mo decided that there was no reason to hide it from them.

He had to tell everyone everything about the impending disaster!

Regardless of what the higher-ups were thinking, these normal citizens were "living under a rock"!

Whether on Earth or on the wasteland, all they ever wanted was to…

Survive!

Besides, Su Mo did not want this piece of news to be announced by the shelter. He wanted to do it himself!

This was why there was no reason to hide the facts from them.

"Kangcheng, how much resources can we allocate to building defenses for the village!"

The moment he said those words, Su Mo noticed the smile on the other person's face turn rigid.

Building defenses?

What did he mean by that?

Everyone was sharp, so they all suddenly realized what his words meant the moment he said them. They were no longer as happy as before.

"Leader, even if I say we don't have many resources to build the village defenses, we will still have to get the defenses done even if it means cutting down on food!"

"Even if I go out and tell everyone and take their food so that we can build the defenses, I think they'll be willing to do so!"

Despite Hong Kangcheng being almost 50 years old, he had the ferocity and drive that surpassed even the younger people.

He had control over all the resources. Su Mo trusted him, and the villagers also trusted him.

Su Mo saw Hong Kangcheng stand up and announce that with much respect, so he nodded affirmatively back at him, signaling for him to sit down.

"Since we have enough resources, I'll be straightforward with this then!"

"The ocean disaster that comes in six days is not as easy as we thought it would be. If we don't handle it correctly, most of us will be wiped out一"

"When the disaster strikes, we will have to go up against a rainstorm that lasts about fifteen minutes. Within those fifteen minutes, there will be at least 1500 millimeters of rainfall."

"But that's not important. After the fifteen minutes is over, we'll have to go through 10 seconds of torrential rain that will crash down on us like a waterfall. The impact of this wave of torrential rain is terrifying. Without the proper defenses, we will be crushed into pulp the moment the water hits us.."

Clunk!

Knock knock!

The moment he said those words, everyone stood up in horror apart from Zhong Qingshu.

They stared at each other, and everyone could see the terrified look on each other's faces!

On Earth, 250 millimeters of water within 24 hours was already classified as a disaster, signaling everyone to be prepared for it.

If the water was ever predicted to be more than 400 millimeters in depth, they would not be able to escape even if they left the area immediately!

Now they were up against 1500 millimeters of water within 15 minutes, in addition to the crushing rainfall that had the force equivalent to a thousand-meter waterfall.

How…

How could they hold this off?

"Lea-leader, are we really… going up against this disaster right now?"

Qi Qin gulped as despair showed on his face. Su Mo did not hesitate and nodded affirmatively.

Naturally, no one dared doubt anything Su Mo said, given his long-standing reputation on the wasteland. Instead, they began to consider his words and think about what would happen next.

Just thinking about it, if Su Mo had not told them about this, then the villagers who lived on Iron Rock Mountain would be…

Completely wiped out!

Yes, against such a disaster, no one would be able to survive without the proper preparations!

"What are you guys worried about, the sky is not falling down on us just yet. Sit down!"

"Since Big Brother Su called us here, he surely has a way to resolve this issue!"

Once Chen Shen noticed that everyone was shaking uncontrollably, he roared at them and they sat down without question.

However, there was a trace of fear in his eyes as well.

He was a university student, so he knew very well how much force a thousand-meter high waterfall could exert!

While he reassured the others that Su Mo had a plan, he was also consoling himself at the same time.

"Don't worry, didn't Almighty Su say that he had some good news too!"

Zhong Qingshu, who sat in the corner, spoke up when she noticed everyone focusing so much on the need to construct the defenses.

Her words were much more effective compared to Chen Shen's attempt.

When they heard her words, they waited with anticipation; the expression on their faces "begging" for it.

As Su Mo noticed the look on everyone's faces and the cunning expression on Zhong Qingshu's face, he shook his head and stood up.

"The rainstorm might be scary, but we have six days to prepare for what's to come."

"However, do you think the bad news that I told you is bad in its entirety?"

He glanced across the room and noticed that Chen Shen was the first person to react. He mused over Su Mo's words. Su Mo was not in a rush, so he stood near the window and gazed into the distance.

He could not blame the others for having such pessimistic thoughts.

After all, it was natural for them to think that way given their current predicament.

In the morning, they might have been thinking about what to eat for lunch and what other useful things to build.

At night, they were instead forced to think about how to go up against such a horrible disaster while still making the most of the situation.

They needed some time to recompose themselves.

Of course, whoever could do so the fastest would be destined to survive longer in the wasteland and climb up the ranks within Hope Village quicker.

"There's money to be made in information, however, 99 percent of the time, you won't earn a lot of money or reputation simply by selling information."

"If that's the case, what would happen if we announced this news to everyone else for free?"

Everyone muttered to themselves while Chen Shen sat in his seat, when suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

At the same time, he realized what Su Mo meant by "good news".

"Big Brother Su was never worried about how we would get through this disaster. He has absolute confidence that we will."

"He was thinking about… development!"

"Grabbing every opportunity to develop is the best way to survive on the wasteland!"

Selling information for money was the dumbest idea ever. If anything went wrong, the number of people on the wasteland would be greatly reduced, and would in turn drastically impact their future income.

However…

Hope Village had the advantage of possessing this piece of information, so they could use the information in a different way to generate income from it.

That income would come from…

"Defenses!"

"We can study and sell defensive structures and equipment!"

"With this disaster, Hope Village's resources will skyrocket to another level!"

Before Chen Shen could say anything, Pei Shao, the head of intelligence, stood up and roared, interrupting everyone else's train of thought.

As he had been collecting more and more information throughout these days, Pei Shao, as the head of intelligence, knew just how much space humans had in their houses!

From lone wolf to small, medium, and large-sized shelters.

These people were weak, so it would be very difficult for them to construct suitable structures strong enough to get through the disaster.

The "resources" they had on hand were quite plenty. If Hope Village capitalized on this opportunity, they would be the first on the market once word of this gets out.

They might just be able to obtain an unimaginable amount of resources!

After the initial scare, everyone began to look lively after Pei Shao's enlightenment; opening their eyes and changing their perspectives.

They discussed among themselves about the defensive structures, sale of materials, and how to make a name for themselves.

The answers to those questions quickly formed during that brainstorming session.

After listening to them for a while, Su Mo realized that Hope Village would be able to think of ways to figure this out and that they did not need him around, so he smiled and brought Zhong Qingshu out of the meeting room with him.

They walked along a pipeline beside the shipyard, climbed onto the bottom part of it, and sat down.

Above them were the stars in the sky.

Underneath them was a vast expanse of land.

The wasteland wind blew dust and sand along with it into the distance.

Who knew that this peaceful scenery would transform into a living hell six days later.

"So you've made up your mind?"

"In this wasteland, everyone can tolerate heroes. They tolerate the idea of heroes saving the day and whatnot. Hell, they might even support and encourage you, putting you on a pedestal and worshiping you as they would a god."

"However, if you want to go beyond that to become a leader, to have authority, the people won't allow that to happen…"

He pointed at the land to the side. Even though Zhong Qingshu did not say anything, it was clear what he meant by that.

Su Mo was getting more and more popular!

Su Mo initially had a few hundred thousand people behind him, which had expanded to tens of millions of people. One could even say that he had the largest "fanbase" throughout the entire wasteland.

Up to this day, there were no authorities that stepped up to stop them.

It was not like they did not know about this, nor did they lack the ability to do so. It's just that they…

They needed Su Mo, the hero!

"What do you think the best outcome would be if we announced this news and went to the new world?"

Su Mo looked back, but did not give her an answer outright. Instead, he asked her a question of his own; a question for the ages.

Making the announcement to the people of wasteland was easy. Just one text message would do the job.

As for reminding Hope Village about what was to come, they simply wanted the villagers to obtain more resources for themselves and develop faster.

However, was it just as simple as announcing the news?

Would the higher echelons of society, who were willing to sacrifice most of humankind just to wipe out the foreign races and get tons of treasures so that they could rapidly develop, even tolerate a "savior" who was a figure of authority?

For example, if Su Mo correctly predicted this disaster which led to many people surviving, surely his reputation would skyrocket throughout the wasteland. As a result, everything that Su Mo said would be very convincing and persuasive.

Then…

If Su Mo said, "Humans cannot band together, but have to live on their own in order to survive?"

If the official organizations' plan was foiled by the distribution of this information, would they even stand for this?

"You have the choice of passing the message to the official shelters and allow them to inform the people themselves."

"But it would be of no use. If you tell them the information, then you would already considered a ticking time bomb. They would worry that, one day, you would destroy humankind's plan."

"You don't have to think of them that badly, actually…"

"They're already doing that, aren't they?" Su Mo waved at her. He noticed her hesitation, so he might as well interrupt her to get his point across.

"Let's go to the new world and we'll split it among ourselves."

"You'll take a piece of land, and I'll take another. Isn't it just like a real-time strategy game?"

"This is not some stupid novel. It won't be that easy once everyone starts fighting each other for their own benefit!"

"Besides, ordinary people would not be concerned about the grand scheme of things. Instead, what they needed was…"

"Someone who could lead them and teach them how to survive!"

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Chapter 315: To Transcend Into A God, Be Unorthodox.

"Survive, eh? That's right. Any normal person would want to survive!"

"However, there were always some people who would dream of creating their own dictatorship, or of immortality, wanting to use the game to go above and beyond life itself."

"Are they wrong for doing so, though?"

Without Su Mo to lead them, the noises in the meeting room below them slowly got louder and louder.

With Chen Shen mediating the meeting, they were intensely debating among themselves as to how to obtain the most benefits from the information about the disaster, which would subsequently improve Hope Village's living conditions.

Under the cold wind of the night, Zhong Qingshu suddenly understood Su Mo's wisdom and what he considered to be important.

"The times have changed, but they never fathomed, and nor will they ever, the kind of secrets this wasteland holds."

"Everything that they want and everything that they're doing right now is just mimicking whatever happened, or would have happened, on Earth."

"And what I want to do is to completely shatter this dream of theirs and stir up chaos across this wasteland. Those with power will rise, and those without will fall. No one should dream of using something like Earth's rules to suppress me!"

"As for what happens in the meantime, we'll figure it out as we go!"

Su Mo noticed Zhong Qingshu's silence as she stared at him, as if she had just discovered the other side of him, so he laughed and stood up.

With Blazeland as an example, if the people still wanted to follow the old ways and band together, then they would lose control over their own fates. Su Mo would definitely not trust people like these.

Because of that, given the current conditions, all Su Mo wanted was…

To maintain the status quo!

There was a limit to the number of people being transported to the new world. If a disaster's death toll exceeded a certain threshold, a new batch of people would be let into the wasteland.

As for the mass migration to the New World this time around, even in the best-case scenario, there would be at least 20% to 30% of casualty rate in the process.

In that case, the game would let the rest of the humans on Earth into the New World.

Papa and Mama Su were 54 years old, so there was a large chance that they would be among the next batch of people to be sent in after arriving at the New World.

At that point in time, Su Mo would have nothing left to worry about once he was reunited with the rest of his family.

Besides, he had the legendary Hope One, the dangerous "God of Cooking" status—which was a ticking time bomb—as well as the mysterious system with him!

If he tried to act like a normal person instead, avoiding everything that was happening around him, it was more than likely that things would backfire and he would be…

Deserted by everyone around him!

Thus, announcing the news to Hope Village was Su Mo's first step in getting everyone to hop onto his bandwagon.

"Alright, I know what you're going to say, but even if I want all the foreign races dead, I wouldn't choose to do it like this!"

Su Mo paused when he saw Zhong Qingshu hesitating to speak. He then pulled her up and hopped off the roof with her.

There was a spy among the humans.

Since the foreign races have a game panel of their own, if the humans found out about the disaster, the foreign races would find out as well in time.

However, in the absence of a concrete solution to deal with the marine foreign races, it was counterproductive to sacrifice possibly billions of humans in exchange for the destruction of the terrestrial foreign races.

This particular topic was also being discussed inside the meeting room.

From the initially dispirited discussion to a livelier one now, in regards to what boon this disaster might bring to Hope Village, even a fool would realize…

How important Su Mo's message was!

"Alright then, if everyone has everything figured out, get back to work then. Just tell me if you need any tools. Hope One's second test will be carried out tomorrow night."

"I will announce the news within three days. Before that, the buffer period that we're giving Hope Village is the most precious resource we can give them."

Going up against this disaster was both easy and hard at the same time.

The time left for the other humans to prepare themselves was not long—three days—which would be enough to guarantee everyone's survival as well as ensure that Hope Village would be the first to the market.

Besides, based on the village's current level of development, they no longer had to rely on Su Mo for specific instructions on what needed to be done.

After more than ten minutes of brainstorming, the leadership team finally figured out the preliminary plan to manufacture the tools and equipment needed to resist the disaster.

The tensile strength of every material differed; some are higher and some are lower.

All Hope Village had to do was to find a material with the highest tensile strength, think of a way to quickly mass-produce it and put it on the market first, raking in the maximum amount of profit from the first wave of buyers.

What happens after that would not matter, even if it meant that other competitors entered the same market. Even if they lost out on the competition in the later phases, the profits they earned would last them a very long time.

"Very well, Big Brother Su, we'll get to work."

"We'll do a beautiful job this time around!"

Su Mo watched as the men left the room with Chen Shen leading them. He bid Zhong Qingshu goodbye and began walking toward Iron Rock Mountain while the sky was still bright.

He had many problems at hand to deal with, but none that were overly critical.

Whether it was building a second fire-control radar, or finding out and repairing the error readings recorded by the OS, or digging a ditch, all of these were easy for him.

However, the question of how to survive the torrential rain was the most important one.

"If we build a huge boathouse-like shelter, with Hope One's size and volume…"

"Materials would not be a problem, but time would be insufficient…"

Eighty meters long, 21 meters high and 14 meters wide. Building a steel shelter over the ship would take up a lot of time and materials.

With their current manufacturing rate, the earliest they could finish building the shelter would be on the day of the disaster itself.

If they suddenly found out that there was something wrong with the shelter, then there would be little to no time left to modify the structure!

"We'll just have to be unorthodox and come up with some other ideas!"

Staring at the foot of Iron Rock Mountain, Su Mo noticed a light in the Lioness Connie's cave.

A novel idea suddenly popped up in his mind. Su Mo grinned as he quickly followed the path at the foot of the mountain and "crawled" inside.

Knock!

Knock knock!

"Come in…"

After turning herself in and getting used to life in Hope Village, Connie the Lioness had also slowly adapted to the customs of humans.

Before opening the door, no human would ever think that there would be a foreign race creature sitting inside the room.

After getting her permission, the wooden door swung open as Su Mo pushed against it. Connie had something on her mind, and was clearly surprised to see him here.

"Su Mo… what are you doing here?"

"Growl… growl…"

After acknowledging the terrifying power of Hope One, Connie the Lioness concocted a plot the moment she returned to the village.

She even forgot to eat her lunch because she was so deep in thought.

In the beginning, when she cooperated with the humans, while Connie thought that there was a difference in power between both sides, she felt that if she was presented with the opportunity, she could use her summoning abilities to even the odds.

However, when she realized that Su Mo's power was way above hers, and the fact she would never catch up to him, she was stunned, anxious even.

The most crucial factor in a cooperative relationship was…

Giving each other benefits!

Su Mo gave her a conducive environment to live in as well as protection, all so that she could lead the lion people to glory.

But what could she give him in return?

Just the shelter core of a foreign race?

After figuring it out, she realized that if some other "vixen" appeared, they could easily take her place.

She felt a great sense of danger, and that emotion overrode her primitive instincts.

To the point that she almost leapt off the ground the moment she saw Su Mo.

"Don't worry, you've not eaten yet, right? Why don't I bring you out for some supper!"

Su Mo's grin grew wider as he heard the growling sound coming from Connie's stomach.

The human and the Lioness walked out of the cave toward the resources room and grabbed some meat, seasoning, and a barbecue grill.

Su Mo then brought Connie to a spot on the top of the mountain.

From their position, they could clearly see Hope One in its entirety. They could also see everything around Iron Rock Mountain, and the development that was going on in Hope Village.

"I haven't cooked for over ten days, and the first meal's actually going to be a barbecue with you!"

They piled on the charcoal, built a fire, seasoned the beef, and pierced the meat skewers into the ground above the grill. Su Mo then sat down, stretching his back.

The seasoning was nothing special.

However, with the addition of some psychic energy water as the main ingredient, it somehow was irresistibly attractive to all living things, except if one drank the psychic energy water on a daily basis like Su Mo did.

However, Connie the Lioness was not paying attention to that. Instead, she simply stared worriedly at Hope One; various thoughts running through her mind.

Pop!

Su Mo took out two bottles of beer, pulled off the cap, and put them on the stone block in front of the grill as he lay down beside Connie, looking at the moon.

"You've seen our ceremony today. I heard that the lion people did not give you a ceremony of your own, right?"

He took a big gulp of the beer, savoring the sweetness of the malt on his tongue. Su Mo smacked his lips as he started the conversation.

Connie did not answer immediately. Instead, she mimicked Su Mo's actions, taking a huge gulp from her bottle.

Cough cough…

This was her first experience with alcohol, so she had not expected that flavor at all. She could not help but cough to relieve herself of the weird taste in her mouth.

"A send-off? No, we don't do that!"

"Once we were chosen to go to another world, we were already considered dead…"

Alcohol opened up the hearts of men, and it affected the lion people in the exact same way.

As Connie drank, she began to talk more and more.

"Chosen? I thought you guys wanted to come here of your own free will?"

"Of course not. No one would want to come to this murderous, disaster-ridden world. Every single one of my people who were chosen were bawling their eyes out."

"Utterly useless!"

Connie used that phrase well after familiarizing herself with the human language. If it were not for her "lion" characteristics, no one would be able to tell that she was a foreign race creature.

"Were you chosen, then?"

Su Mo paused, drank a sip of beer and asked Connie that question after he listened to her mock her fellow lion people.

"Of course not. I came here because I wanted to. I was one of the youngest among my fellow lion people, so there was no way that I would ever get chosen to come to this god-forsaken land." Connie waved at him proudly.

"I know you're curious as to what we foreign races are looking for when we come to this wasteland. You don't even need to ask. I can tell you why right now."

"The thing that we are looking for is…"

"An item that allows us to transcend into a god!"

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Chapter 316: Oreo? The Secret to The Aliens' Powers!

"An item that allows one to transcend into a god?"

Even if Su Mo tried to control his emotions, he could not help but be shocked at what Connie just said.

From what he knew, having a certain amount of authority would make him a "god".

This information was supposed to be a secret, but it seemed that the foreign races were already aware of it; it was even their primary objective in coming to the wasteland.

This was too much information for him to handle!

"That's right, Ever since I was born, no, ever since I inherited my memories, I have been abiding by our deity's prophecy very seriously, just like my ancestors."

"We have been born and sent into the wasteland generation by generation to find the god-transcending item prophesied by our deity."

"But it's a shame that the lion people… have never been able to find it despite all these years!"

"It was because we did not manage to find the god-transcending item that the blessings from our deity got weaker and weaker and, correspondingly, so did our powers."

"If we had found it thousands of years ago, the Lion people might still be one of the kings of this wasteland today!"

Sip by sip, Connie finished the contents of the little, green beer bottle in her hand.

Beer was a beverage unique to Earth. It had a weird initial taste, but the more she drank, the more Connie found it hard to stop.

Su Mo casually handed her another bottle together with some grilled beef. After that, more exciting secrets started pouring out of Connie's mouth.

"When I first heard of the god-transcending item, I of course wanted to find it. After all, who wouldn't want to become a god?"

"However, I don't even know what this god-transcending item looks like despite my inherited memories and my people's description of it!"

"Its name is all I know!"

"In fact, that was all the foreign races knew about it. We don't have any more information. That is because every single god-transcending item looks different, so they will exist in varying different states."

Connie viciously bit down on the beef and gulped down the beer. Su Mo was pretty surprised to discover her chatty side.

Were it not for the night wind in the wasteland and the sight of Hope One standing tall in the distance, this would be exactly like how he would be drinking and having fun with friends back on Earth.

"What about you? Didn't you say you came of your own free will? Did you come for the purpose of becoming a God?" Su Mo asked as he gulped down some beer.

"I'll admit it. Before I came here, I did have such a dream."

"But now, to become a God? Do you really believe in such things?"

"Su Mo, you've got to be kidding me. I have never seen a god before in my life. Oh, more accurately, you have killed one of the only gods I've seen in my life."

With complicated emotions on her face, Connie stood up and started to dance on the side of the platform.

If a human were to dance like that, it would have looked really weird.

However, her moves were accompanied by gusts of little green wind, making her look all the more mysterious.

"What if I told you that I'm going to look for the God of the Ocean after the disaster strikes?"

Hiss…

His words had the same effect a pause button would. Connie, who was in the midst of dancing happily, stopped abruptly.

The little gusts of wind around her dissipated as well, and even the little green bottle in her hand fell to the ground with a thud.

On her face was a look of shock and questioning.

"What? You are going to look for the God of the Ocean?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to go to the New World?"

Connie had seemed slightly tipsy initially but, at this moment, it was clear that…

She was sober!

If Su Mo went ahead and searched for the God of the Ocean before knowing the foreign races' plans beforehand, that was fine. However, given that he now knew…

This was akin to suicide, right???

"You already know that there's a tiger in the cave, but you're still going inside. Not bad, Su Mo. Do you know what kind of enemies you're going up against while looking for the God of the Ocean?"

"Isn't it just the Five Royal Clans? What's there to be afraid of? Besides, you just mentioned that tens of thousands of years ago, you lion people were royalty!"

"But look at you now. That means that even royalty can be defeated."

"Plus I have your help, don't I?"

He waved at her and picked up another skewer of grilled beef. Su Mo ate and drank as his words were filled with confidence and gusto.

"It's just… the Five Royal Clans…"

"With my help…"

His words made Connie the Lioness' mouth contort in anger.

The expression on her face turned from shock and anger to sad laughter.

"What use am I to you? My subordinates are completely useless anyway. I have a chef who is crippled in one leg, and an archer who is blinded in one eye."

"My goodness, I even spent 50 points for a chip just to train that one. You're relying on them to kill whom exactly?"

"The Cursed Tiger? Or the Crystal Dragons?"

"We will be skinned alive if that's the case, and since you have killed a god before, they will assume that you have a god-transcending item with you and things will take an even worse turn. We will be hunted by millions of those lunatics!"

Ever since Connie joined Hope Village and learned the human language, she also "learned and refined" her use of the language.

She was helplessly angry. and her hair could not help but stand on its own as if she had just been combed and groomed.

"No no, please do not belittle yourself. We need you very much right now."

Su Mo could not help but smile once the Lioness took the bait. He stood up and walked over to her.

"Look at Hope One over there. That is one legendary ship!"

"Trust me, if you give it just a little blessing, we can control it and sail it on the ocean."

"Forget about the foreign races, we can even kick the Five Royal Clans' butts with it."

"Your chef will get the chance to cook different kinds of foreign race creatures while your archer will become the pride of the lion people!"

"And you, Connie, you can also complete the objective that you came here for!"

Su Mo exaggerated things and coaxed her; he did not give an ounce of respect to the Five Royal Clans. His words seemed to have been suddenly imbued with a sense of bravado and arrogance.

"Didn't you want to… become a god?"

"If you follow me, there will come a day when you become the Lion God!"

Su Mo stared into Connie's eyes, and the intense look in his eyes made Connie feel tense herself.

"So…"

"Can I live with the villagers on the mountain if I give Hope One a blessing?"

Connie could not help but step back as she gulped nervously, staring at the "crazed" Su Mo.

There are lunatics everywhere, and everyone was afraid of being associated with one.

As for the Five Royal Clans, the repressed sense of fear inside her said that…

Even with Hope One on their side, their chances of winning such a battle would be zero if they did not have the numbers to back them up.

"Oh, my dear Connie, how could you say something so heartbreaking?"

"Don't you want to join us in destroying the Five Royal Clans?"

"As the leader of the fallen lion people, you shall spit in their face and tell them that they had their time ruling, and that it's now time for yours!"

"Isn't that exciting?"

"I don't want to go…" Connie stepped back again and realized that she was on the edge of the cliff. There was fear and horror in her eyes.

"No, you want to go!"

Su Mo pulled Connie in the front of the grill and looked at her intensely.

"No, I don't want to."

"No, you want to!"

After making sure that the look in Su Mo's eyes was not at all fake, Connie decided not to run away anymore.

"Can't you do this without me?"

"No, we cannot!"

Connie asked him a serious question, and Su Mo gave her an equally serious response.

The aroma of grilled beef wafted in front of them, but neither of them were in the mood to eat.

They stared at each other, and in the end…

"But I'm just a lion priest, my blessing…"

"No, your blessing is enough. Besides, didn't you say that you will be rewarded for every battle you win? I'll bring you along during my battles, and your rank will skyrocket in no time!"

Every word Connie said was met with Su Mo's rebuttal.

However, Connie suddenly thought about the lion clan's blessing in the Underground Shelter and shook her head. She looked deflated as she sat down.

The green bottle that was sitting on the ground was picked back up before all of its contents had spilled onto the ground.

Connie "despondently" took a big gulp as she picked up a skewer of beef and viciously bit into it.

"Su Mo… do you know where we foreign race creatures get our powers from?"

"Oh?" Su Mo looked over, pretending to be curious.

In the past, these weird and mysterious powers seemed to be hidden behind an invisible "shroud" that was cryptic and enigmatic.

However, after becoming the "God of Cooking" Su Mo already had some speculations about them.

"Our powers do not originate from our deities, and nor do they come from cultivation. Instead, the game…"

"The game is the one that gives us our powers!"

"Our powers, weak or strong, are dependent on the deity's blessings. The moment we entered this wasteland, we had to fight for ourselves."

"I did not become the youngest lion priest ever because of my talents or good luck, it's because of my… parents."

Connie's eyes looked like gemstones right now, glimmering under the moonlight.

A reminiscing expression appeared on her face, but when she mentioned her parents, she suddenly stopped talking about it and changed the topic.

"Every clan has a "quota" for every batch sent in, but these quotas can be accumulated and used in one go."

"The lion people have fallen because we accumulated a hundred and eighty-nine batches of lion people. Twenty thousand lion people were sent in all at once and, after that, a hundred and fifty thousand followed. But for some reason, the hundred and seventy thousand lion people… are all dead!"

"It was because of that incident, the core of our lion people and all our warriors had been lost. Our deity was greatly weakened, and even the land we lived in was devastated."

"Of course, the other foreign races did not fare much better. Other than the Five Royal Clans, who sent in the minimum number of people that time, all the other foreign races were just like us, sending in accumulated batches of people as well."

A simple beer could have such an amazing effect when used at the right time.

Su Mo noticed that Connie was spewing out so many secrets, so he could not pass up this opportunity as he pressed on.

"Why did the Five Royal Clans choose to send in the minimum number of people?"

"I don't know. We used all of our resources coming here. After all, it was the deity's prophecy, so we have no idea what happened during that battle."

"As for my parents, they were sacrificed…"

"Enough of that, let's talk about powers. After we lost, the deity gave us another prophecy."

"After that, each time we entered the wasteland, we would only utilize 10% of the available slots and resources we had. We would accumulate the remainder for the following batches. If the lion people who were sent in managed to reach a node, or gain more points by winning battles, we would increase the amount of resources and reinforcements allocated to them. If things went wrong, then we would give up on that particular batch."

"If you told me twelve days ago that you were going to bring me into battle, the lion people would have invested more resources into me and given me more power. I would have been very happy then."

"But now… you know…"

Tears streaked down Connie's face as she looked at the sky. Who knows whether it was because she was grieving her family, or whether it was because her people had given up on her.

Conflicts in the animal world were much more cutthroat than ones between humans.

They know nothing about emotions nor pride. All they cared about were… benefits!

If you could contribute to the clan, they would invest in you and make you stronger.

If you weren't worthy, then they would give up on you and wait for the next batch.

"Is there no other way to increase your powers?"

Su Mo hazarded a question after he saw Connie like this.

The method to increase one's powers was not like how he had initially thought; killing other creatures for experience.

Winning battles seemed like the only way to gain more power, just like in a video game.

Like Connie said, you had to show your worth to your clan in order for them to invest in you but, after they gave up on you, there really was no other way.

However, Connie's answer stunned Su Mo.

"There is, but the answer lies within you… no, to be specific, it lies within Oreo!"

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Chapter 317: Family, Black Technology Initial

"Oreo? What does increasing your power have to do with Oreo?"

Despite having obtained secrets that no other human in the wasteland would likely discover for years, Su Mo looked dazed and confused when Connie shifted the topic of discussion over to Oreo.

Oreo had been hatched from a pet egg that dropped from the Abyssal Dragon Zeta. Although it had been a little mysterious, there was nothing mentioned about it being able to affect the powers of the foreign races in the wasteland.

Other than the fact that, after she absorbed the Heavenly Dog Pseudo God's divinity, she gained…

Wait for it…

Divinity!

As he saw the concealed smile at the corner of Connie's mouth, Su Mo immediately associated Oreo receiving the Heavenly Dog Pseudo God's divinity with the changes in her properties panel; and the cogs in his mind began to turn.

Man! Connie sure was tough to handle!

Her ability to hold a back-and-forth argument like this was indeed outstanding!

Had it not been for the discussions he had with Zhong Qingshu, it would be impossible for him to know Connie's true thoughts based on his previous interactions with her.

After pondering on the matter for a while and discovering that the matter was a straightforward one, Su Mo no longer held back and immediately asked:

"Are you really going to betray your clan?"

"Think this through properly, but don't regret it later!"

"No, I'm technically not betraying my clan. Ever since they gave up on me, they took my name off the book. In other words, I don't belong to any clan now."

Seeing how Su Mo guessed her heart's intention, Connie did not seem surprised, but continued to speak frankly:

"The lion clan can't afford any further losses. We can't offend any other foreign race, otherwise, it'll be a huge challenge for the next wave of clansmen coming over…"

"…therefore, even if they find out that I've taken refuge with you now, they won't be able to say anything about it because I no longer have any relationship with the clan thanks to that ridiculous rule they came up with to cut their losses since the clan was defeated in battle."

"About ten days ago, after I was completely cut off from any contact with the clan, it became possible for me to utilize all the remaining points, trade with the other clans using points to exchange for the human language chip to learn by myself. I can even exchange basic skills for these…these fools, who don't know why they were abandoned, to allow them to learn…"

"…and, as long as I belong to a clan again, all the points I earn in the future can be used to improve my own strength through the game panel without having to contribute anything back to the clan at all!"

Connie's expression was obvious when she told him everything about her current situation, clearly stating her alienation from the lion clan.

Compared with the insincere surrender from before, she indeed had fully given in this time.

There was no backing from the lion clan, and no new strength to supplement her growth.

In other words, she had fully accounted for her own value and completely handed her destiny over to Su Mo.

"That's not right. How did you get those points? You can directly increase your strength by relying on points?"

Su Mo had already thought of more questions as he fiddled with the grill.

"Using two methods. The first one is the same method as humans, we can receive points by overcoming disasters…"

"…the second method is to achieve victories in battles against the other clans. Points will be rewarded according to the magnitude and results of the battle…"

"…the points obtained in these two situations cannot increase one's strength directly, but there are exceptions!"

"If you let me join Oreo's clan now, and let her allow me to perform a sacrificial blessing and elevate my rank, I'll be able to use the points to make up the gap in strength."

Connie's eyes were on fire. The moment when she mentioned the sacrificial blessing, there was only fervor in her eyes and an unabashed desire for power.

At the same time, there was also a trace of wild ambition that ordinary lion people, or even ordinary foreign races, did not have at all!

Her sense of ambition was strange. It was stronger than the White-Robed Kobold, who held unimaginable levels of piety toward the Heavenly Dog Pseudo God, and who was forever dedicated toward the future of the kobold clan.

In contrast, Su Mo did not find any loyalty toward the Lion God expressed on Connie's face.

If he read between the lines, Connie even seemed to exude some "gratefulness" for being able to leave the lion clan?

"What can you bring to the table?"

As he sprinkled a handful of cumin and watched the sparks below violently ignite, Su Mo did not rush his words or his decision; no emotion could be heard in his tone of voice.

After Oreo consumed the the Heavenly Dog Pseudo God's divinity, she gained:

[Ability 4: Oreo? Clan? (Pseudo): Creature has the right to create its own clan.

He had previously thought that it was a useless ability. However, now it seemed that not only was it useful…

But to ordinary foreign races, it was a form of "honey" that was fatally attractive!

If those foreign races who were defeated in wasteland battles and abandoned by their own clan could join Oreo's clan like Connie…

They would not have to worry about not being able to achieve great things!

"I can persuade more foreign races to join Oreo's clan. I can help you build a loyal and devoted foreign race army. I can provide stronger blessings…"

"…I can make Oreo's clan the only Royal Clan there is. I can command more foreign races to help you find the God-transcending item!"

"We can gather the abilities of many different clans, creating different ability combinations, and deriving more magical powers!"

"Besides…as my strength and status rises, there will be no second voice in this wasteland, and everyone will have the same master…"

"…which would be you, Su Mo, if you're willing!"

Connie was buzzing with excitement as she spoke those words, more excited than when she had heard Su Mo's proposition a few minutes ago.

Both sides were giving "empty promises" to the other, trying to sound out information from the other.

The difference was that, this time, Su Mo was the one who was moved first.

The foreign races' abilities were extremely amazing. From the kobold's fireball to the lion clan's wind ability, to the Cursed Tiger's curse powers and the great strength of the Taurens…

It was these outrageous skills that made the foreign races such a force to be reckoned with!

If Su Mo could obtain a foreign race army of his own and find a way to analyze their strange abilities, and perhaps even use those abilities to fuel his development and growth…

He could easily develop some science fiction mystical technological structures and devices alongside researching cutting-edge technologies.

Although these mystical structures and devices could not fundamentally solve the problem of the wasteland's disasters, they could be sold to other humans!

Not only could they be exchanged for a great number of resources and good things, which would create a positive cycle that ensured the rapid development of the primary technological development pathway, but they were also extremely useful in their own right and would allow more humans to survive the natural disasters!

"If I can control the foreign races from different environments and use their mystical abilities to develop a magical tower, humans will never have to be afraid of being frozen to death…"

"…when the weather is hot, I can mimic the lightning storm from Red Alert and simply create an artificial thunderstorm…"

"…as for planting, I can use it to a temperature-controlled farm that won't be affected by pests, fluctuating weather conditions, or any external problems, just like the one in Stardew Valley!"

"We can even decipher the true source of the foreign races' powers and research an energy battery that can store greater amounts of energy and perhaps even resolve the problem of energy once and for all!"

"…"

In Connie's eyes, Su Mo looked like he was serious about grilling the beef in front of him, while at the same time weighing the real benefits of letting her join the team.

However, if she was patient enough, Connie would be able to tell from the slightly charred beef that Su Mo's heart was not at peace!

"Tell me, what's your purpose?"

"Purpose?"

Seeing how Su Mo finally took the burnt beef off the grill and handed her a few pieces of them without looking, Connie frowned as she ate while thinking.

One-piece, two pieces, three pieces…

Objectively speaking, the burnt beef tasted bad, chewy, and stuck to her teeth.

However, despite this, Connie involuntarily ate half of the plate of meat skewers while remaining deep in thought.

Her expression went from resentment and hatred at the very beginning, to slowly turning calm, and finally returning to one of unwillingness.

"My purpose is simple. I want to have enough power to find the Lion God myself!"

"I want to know the reason for the great battle. I need to know what the conspiracy is behind this and why so many people have to die because of it!"

"What if the Lion God won't tell you?"

"I'll kill him!"

Seeing how Connie gritted her teeth, Su Mo drank the last sip of wine in the small, green jar and stood up laughing.

Both her parents had died, and undertaking a mission to find the cause of the battle back then would need a certain amount of luck and strategy.

On Earth, Connie's status as an orphan would have qualified her for the standard protagonist template.

As for the information and promises that Connie had given him, Su Mo was extremely satisfied with them.

"There's no time to lose. Since you've made this decision, let's get on with it!"

As everything had been fully negotiated, this meal was now meaningless.

The time for the second test was tomorrow night, and all preparations for it had to be completed tonight and during the day tomorrow. Time was of the essence.

Su Mo extinguished the charcoal flame and left the stove on the ground for the militia members to clean up. He then walked all the way toward the Underground Shelter together with Connie.

Speaking of his control over Connie's shelter core, which he had previously obtained, it would be calculated at 70%, which was not too far away from achieving total control.

Therefore, after Connie decided to abandon the lion clan and chose to become a part of Oreo's family, that percentage would rise all the way to…

95%!

All it would take was a little more effort, and it was not impossible to achieve 100% and drag Connie along onto the battleship.

Therefore, regarding the disaster six days later, Su Mo did not hide the details and directly repeated the information along the way.

Compared to the people in Hope Village, Su Mo spoke more attentively this time, as Connie was one of those who would head out to sea with him.

From the changes before the disaster to Hope One's performance during it; as well as the general description of the disaster's strength.

Moreover, Su Mo made no secret of his idea to use blessings to withstand natural disasters.

"That's impossible. We cannot withstand such terrifying disasters by solely relying on my strength…"

"…and this isn't limited to me. Any other foreign race would die facing a torrential rain like this at this stage!"

Her reply was exactly as he expected.

Simply relying on the blessings to withstand the torrential rain descending from the sky head-on was indeed a little excessive.

However, Su Mo began laughing as he looked at the Underground Shelter that was already in front of him.

"Oh, Connie, this is the first lesson that I'm going to teach you today…"

"…after joining my shelter, 'science' is what we truly are pursuing; other things are tools used to complement science!"

"Ever heard of why 'the eye of the hurricane is calm'?"

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Chapter 318: First-level Access, Reward Choice!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Science?"

Seeing Connie's puzzled expression, Su Mo smiled without saying a word. He did not specifically say what needed to be done, but instead quickly turned the dials to enter the password and winded the winch to open the main gate of the Underground Shelter.

There was only a dim wall lamp hanging next to the stone door in the garage on the first floor. The huge place looked mysterious and daunting.

Seeing how Connie the Lioness was like an old granny entering Grand View Garden and looking around in silence, Su Mo also became interested:

"Ever since this shelter of mine was built, you're the first to come down to the second floor apart from Oreo and the others…"

"…I used to think that this person would be a human being, but it turns out it's you. This really is a machination of fate!"

She had completely learnt human language and understood Huaxian idioms.

Connie's eyes widened as she felt the breeze blowing next to her gradually turned into a whirlwind which carried the dust inside the garage outside, as Su Mo deliberately showed off.

"It turns out that the wind ability can still be used this way without a special technique. How in the world did you get your hands on the blessings of the lion clan?"

"Oh my God, it can even be manipulated like this, and you even set up a timed activation loop."

"How is this happening?"

Seeing how astonished Connie was, and after gaining a sense of accomplishment in his heart, Su Mo pushed open the stone door that led to the second floor.

Over the past few days, to cope with the upcoming disaster this time around…

Not only was there a delay in the progress of weapon development in the shelter, but even the overall development speed of the shelter had also been brought to a halt for more than ten days.

Despite this, after passing through the stone passageway to reach the second floor, Connie still clicked her tongue in wonder.

"Oreo, Moore, you have company!"

Seeing the lights still turned on in the crop culture room, and the food baskets still showing no signs of being opened, Su Mo touched his head in a daze.

Oh, man…

Underground Shelter ()

Top Student Shelter ()

The four little ones' enthusiasm and propensity for learning was immense as they unleashed their "light and passion" in preparation for heading out to sea.

Fortunately, as the central lights turned on, and after Oreo smelled something familiar, their happy time of learning finally ended.

With a sense of curiosity, they looked at the lioness who followed behind Su Mo at the same time.

The four little ones came out.

Two chickens, a bear, a dog, and a lion.

It was said that animals had inexplicable ways of communicating. After seeing how everyone began making eye contact and kept transmitting information, Su Mo waved his hand, went down to the third floor, and passed the floor to Connie.

Connie might be joining the shelter in a completely different manner, but in the end they would all end up as a family of sorts.

However, for now, the process of establishing authority and acknowledging who was boss had to take place.

In terms of qualification, Oreo was undoubtedly the well-deserved boss, and Moore had become the second boss in the shelter because of his recent outstanding performance.

Big Spark and Little Spark were not too bad themselves. As the first wild animals to join the shelter, they had now become the third and fourth in charge.

As the last one to join, perhaps Connie's status would improve a little when others were added to the shelter in the future.

Su Mo felt tickled as he listened to the sounds of chaos on the second floor. He took out a bottle of iced cola from the storage space and sat in front of the workbench while drinking.

The previous statement to Connie about the eye of the hurricane was simply him spewing nonsense.

The things he said about wanting the blessings of the lion clan and using them to withstand the terrifying disasters were all idiotic nonsense.

Before he had enough power, even if he had the technology and understood the principles, he could only build everything theoretically through models and analysis.

Even if he attained the current lion priest's level of blessings and did a reversion upgrade again, it would still be far from enough to withstand the impact of the disaster's torrential rain.

Yes, from the very beginning, Su Mo's thoughts on surviving the disaster without any casualties was not to protect Hope One from any harm…

Instead, it was for…

Genesis!

"In the first test, since Hope One only needed to have water under the bottom of the hull to automatically activate the Genesis special ability…"

"…so if I create a body of water large enough for Hope to sit in, I'll be able to accumulate to 30% of stored durability before the disaster strikes…"

"…relatively speaking…if I can maintain the damage done to Hope One from the rainstorm below this value, I can ensure that the ship emerges unscathed."

As he sat at the workbench and sipped the coke, the tiny bubbles bursting in his mouth as he felt the accompanying sugar rush, Su Mo was not worried about whether he would be able to sail the ship to the Great Canyon during the second test session.

The unequal flow of information not only gave Su Mo an advantage over ordinary people, but also allowed him to come up with preemptive strategies to counter and mitigate the disaster.

However, regarding the specific design to accomplish this, Su Mo remained very focused and began constructing it on the workbench.

Despise the enemy, but pay attention to their strategies and tactics.

Su Mo wanted to teach the army of foreign races that were lying in ambush near the basin a public lesson on livestream to strike down their morale and obtain the third airdrop reward.

With Connie now joining him, Su Mo's thoughts changed slightly as he focused instead on slowly drafting the design.

Despite the change in focus, Su Mo still wanted each and every one of the twenty-thousand strong army of foreign races to stay behind forever.

It was not for the treasure chests that he could obtain from slaying these foreign races, nor was it to improve Connie's strength to improve and thereby strengthen the shelter.

Instead it was for…

Reputation!

There was no way he could subdue and convert more foreign races to his side if he had no reputation!

As for whether this reputation was unparalleled due to righteousness or due to ferocity, it did not matter.

It was a long night. As time passed, the noises on the second floor gradually stopped.

He kept himself in suspense regarding the agreement between the four little ones and Connie, leaving it for tomorrow. He was sleepy after working until midnight and slid over from the workbench to the small bed.

Within a few minutes, Su Mo quickly fell asleep from the mental fatigue he had accumulated during the day.

This kind of work-rest routine was a "good" habit that he had cultivated while working in the shelter over the past ten days.

When no one was interrupting, even if Chen Shen and the others were busy working outside, laying in his bed, Su Mo could still sleep very peacefully.

It was not until 7:50 in the morning that he slowly opened his eyes.

Getting up at this hour every day not only helped to alleviate the lack of oxygen in his brain caused by sleep, but also allowed him to check the daily system announcements at 8 o'clock and get out of bed feeling refreshed.

Lying on the bed, Su Mo sat up and opened the system panel energetically after staring aimlessly at the ceiling until 7:59 a.m.

The legendary Hope One was completed yesterday, so Su Mo was already full of anticipation regarding the size of the reward he would receive for achieving this momentous milestone.

"I still have a bit more than 28,000 points. If I can get another 10,000 points today, I might be able to save up 50,000 points before heading out to sea!"

Every time the second hand on the big clock placed in the living room ticked over, it seemed as if a big drum was beating within Su Mo's heart.

As he suppressed his excitement, seeing that there were only two seconds left, Su Mo could not help but take two deep breaths and focus his attention fully on the system panel.

Clang!

It was neither fast nor slow. As soon as the clock struck eight and rang, a brilliantly bright golden light delivered the daily system announcement on time.

Without hesitation, Su Mo looked at the completely different colors on the usual announcement prompt and instantly moved his fingers, which were trembling with excitement, to open the message.

[Doomsday Calendar Month 2, Day 17]

[You participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony of your subordinate village for the first time (Survival points 100)]

[You have gained insight into the movements of an army of foreign races near the shelter (Survival points 200)]

[Your villagers have hope ignited for the future; they feel that they will live a happy life under you (Survival points 1000)]

[The first large vehicle you built was finally completed. This is a moment worthy of celebration. Remember, Captain Su Mo is here! (Survival points 2000)]

[You have successfully discovered the details of the upcoming disaster and worked out the corresponding response strategies. This change in mentality is worthy of celebration (Survival points 500)]

[You have completely subdued the first foreign race member who sought refuge with you—Connie the Lioness. Your team has become even bigger (Survival points 500)]

[Scanning the host's living environment. Survival points are being evaluated. You obtained 832 survival points today.]

[…]

[Congratulations, Host Su Mo. It has been detected that you have successfully built the first legendary-level vehicle. Your strength has perfectly passed the system's first-level permission review.]

[Congratulations, Host Su Mo. For the following reward, you will have the right to make your own choice.]

[Please note that your choice is not irreversible. During the selection process, Host Su Mo can choose to change choices at any time without any restrictions.]

[Option 1: Obtain 50,000 survival points.]

[Option 2: All-category creation lucky draw chance *1.]

[Option 3: Creation lucky draw matching the legendary vehicle Hope One *1 (Choosing this option will allow you to use 1000 points to redraw the lucky draw once. Unlimited usage.)]

[Countdown for the current selection: 96H]

…

Final settlement: Survival points 5132

Remaining survival points: 33362

"First-level permission review?"

"A full 50,000 survival points reward?"

Looking at the daily system announcement prompt that was completely different from before, and the selection panel below…

After experiencing the "confusion" of having one million disaster points fly away, seeing the fifty thousand survival points option made Su Mo subconsciously want to select it!

However, as his gaze continued downward, and seeing the rewards for the second and third options, Su Mo was shocked again.

"F*ck! One all-category creation lucky draw chance?"

"And also a lucky draw that can be repeated endlessly with survival points?"

Although he knew in his heart that there would be great rewards the first time a legendary vehicle was built, even if Su Mo did not usually have trouble making decisions…

He could not help but be stunned by the three reward options he had at this moment.

Oh, man, there was a possibility of drawing a big trump card in the creation lucky draw!

If he chose this reward and drew a Dongfeng Missile, let alone a foreign race, he would not even be afraid of the gods that were backing them!

Besides, if he could get more awesome things in the creation interface, the shelter might be able to directly take the express route to meteoric success!

With this kind of temptation, even Su Mo who never liked to gamble could not help but feel tempted momentarily.

"If the 50,000 survival points option represents stability and means that one could steadily improve their strength if they chose it…"

"…then the all-category creation lucky draw chance is a gamble, using one's own luck to gamble for a chance at all or nothing. If the bet works out, you win a fortune, but if your bet turns sour, nothing changes…"

"…but what does this third option represent? A compromise?"

As he was trying to organize his thoughts on the third option, a new description popped up.

"Hey, there might be something good. Even if I don't choose, I can check out the prizes for the lucky draw first…"

"…this is simply more conscientious than Old Ma's in-app purchase system!"

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Chapter 319: Adding the Soul of the Ship, A Solo Battle

If one were accustomed to "rewards" on Earth, one would find the "rewards" offered by the system rip-offs instead. Despite this, Su Mo happily tapped on the system's rewards screen when it appeared.

Dong!

A dull noise sounded. Unlike the piercing bright light that burst out when he switched scenarios in the Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman, the system's location change was clearly of a much higher class.

In Su Mo's vision, the bedroom gradually vanished, replaced by the exact same scene as the previous creation prize-drawing opportunity.

Except that, as cards danced in the air, right above it at the center, Su Mo saw…

Hope One!

There was a small replica model of Hope One shining with a reddish-gold light, looking extremely vivid and life-like.

Moreover, as the light above Hope One glimmered, the cards below also seemed to be undergoing some sort of rapid screening process. All the cards that shone with light remained while all the cards that did not were removed.

In just a few seconds, only cards that lit up with colors were left in his field of vision.

"Let me see. What kind of rewards related to Hope One can I draw?"

Before he opened the prize draw function, Su Mo could randomly draw any of the cards and flip them over to see their properties.

Thinking that he would leave it up to fate, Su Mo arbitrarily chose a card and examined it casually.

"This model is just this? It's still a wooden ship. Making it look so mysterious, isn't this just… F*ck me!"

"This is… the Flying Dutchman?"

A blueprint of an 18th-century wooden ship was printed on the unremarkable card. Looking at it for the first time, it seemed like nothing special.

However, once he read the description underneath, anyone who had seen the Pirates of the Caribbean films would have received quite a shock.

Although the ship in the movie looked weak, its ability to sail underwater and ferry dead souls was simply incomprehensible.

And what this card corresponded to was the Dutchman's sea-diving ability.

"As long as I use the card on Hope One, Hope One can move around freely a hundred meters or more under the surface of the water?"

"The people inside wouldn't be affected in any way? It would be akin to sailing on calm waters?"

"There's even this kind of abnormal ability?"

Releasing it in shock, as he watched it return to the pile of cards and disappear with a spin, Su Mo once again drew out a card, not giving up.

"Moby Dick? What a familiar name. What's this now?"

Staring at the large ship on the card that looked a little like an anime drawing, Su Mo lowered his gaze toward the card's description.

"Enlarging ability. It can magnify the proportions of my Hope One by ten times?"

"F*ck, ten times? Wouldn't Hope One become an 800-meter ship in that case?"

Seeing that the source cited at the bottom of the card was from a certain One Piece anime, Su Mo silently released it and watched it return to the pile.

"If this lucky draw has this rule this time, wouldn't that mean…"

Drawing a few cards in one go, not looking at the pictures, Su Mo's gaze went straight to their descriptions at the bottom.

"Triangle—the ability to go back in time. I can turn back time every three natural days to restore supplies to the quantity it was a day ago."

"Noah's Ark—the ability to never sink. Even if the ship is broken into pieces, it will float on the ocean's surface forever."

"The Black Pearl—portability. After going onshore, I can store the ship in a bottle and bring it with me."

"Land of the Rising Sun's Yamato Battleship—after use, I can obtain an 18.1-inch (460mm) cannon that matches perfectly with the Hope One."

"Luxury cruise—after use, the entire ship can be refurbished, greatly improving the quality of the ship."

After drawing five consecutive cards, there were both fantasy-based cards and technological-based cards.

Some were more combat-oriented, some increased the ships' maneuverability, while others were more for comfort.

In order to determine these were not big prizes that the system purposely put out, after choosing to return these cards, Su Mo drew out ten cards and started evaluating them in detail.

For every card, Su Mo did not observe the source or picture, only choosing to examine and deduce the properties that brought benefits to Hope One.

At this time, as the cardinal number became larger, the enthusiasm in Su Mo's eyes gradually receded.

What replaced it was brimming "interest"!

"So the related creation prize draw function the system was talking about was this."

"I can draw various kinds of ships using this prize draw and take their best ability and attach it to Hope One."

"The more amazing the ship drawn is, the more amazing the ability I can add onto Hope One."

"Moreover, I only need 1000 points to draw another one again until I'm satisfied!"

Putting the final card with a picture of an origami boat on its back, Su Mo waved his hand and chose not to draw a prize just yet, and closed the prize draw page.

He got out of bed, washed up, and ate the breakfast the Hope Village cook sent over.

Sitting at the table, seeing Su Mo mechanically eating as he was deep in thought, the four little ones and Connie also noticed Su Mo's abnormal state.

Still, under Oreo's leadership, nobody made any sounds to interrupt Su Mo's thoughts.

After more than ten minutes of eating, aside from chewing noises as well as Moore's occasional snores, the shelter was unusually quiet.

After eating, he passed the food basket over to the newly-joined Connie to tidy up.

Returning to the workbench, Su Mo's mood returned to its usual calm state.

Taking out a notebook and pen, Su Mo flipped over to a new page and started carefully evaluating the three choices' pros and cons.

"Firstly, the all-category creation chance that depends on luck can be eliminated immediately. For the current me, 50 thousand survival points are too precious. If I gamble and end up with a terrible result, it would mean that I would've lost an opportunity to increase my strength."

"Among the remaining choices, both the 50 thousand points and the prize draw related to Hope One are viable."

After eliminating the all-category creation chance, Su Mo's spirits lifted, and he started to calculate just what sort of boost 50 thousand points could provide.

If he used them to upgrade things…

50 thousand points could upgrade the autopilot system once.

The fire-control radar on Hope One could be completely replaced as well with a model that was not too far off from Earth's current standard.

It could even be used to upgrade and seal all the outer welds and joints of Hope One and transform them into a completely integrated design that would strengthen the level of the ship's defense.

If he was talking about upgrading specific technological pathways…

He could push the weapon technology pathway into the era of small- and medium-caliber machine guns or derive small-caliber main guns for the ship.

"Taking all these options into account, 50 thousand points would probably give me a 30% increase in strength. If the points don't reach that percentage, then I will have to be more cost-effective in choosing upgrades!"

As he was about to go out to sea, the only things that would increase his strength would be weapons and other derivatives that could be attached or added onto the ship.

The third option not only represented a tasty "delicacy", but also the key to opening "Pandora's Box".

Nobody could overcome the temptation of possibly winning big a second time, and Su Mo was no exception!

It was very possible that, in a moment of irrationality, setting aside whether or not he could draw something good, that he would put all his survival points into it.

However, correspondingly, there were exceptions to this as well.

"There's no rush. I can wait until tomorrow, after I finish the second round of testing tonight, to use the prize draw chance."

"If I sail into the Great Canyon and am not able to deal with the foreign races' tactics, then I'll take a gamble and draw a prize."

"If I can deal with it, then after five draws, if I don't obtain enough to increase my strength by more than 30%, then I'll stop there!"

Getting up, after keeping the book full of calculation formulas and words in the storage space, Su Mo strode out.

It was early morning in the basin area, and with five days to the arrival of the disaster, there was a trace of urgency in the air.

After studying the area and depth to be excavated last night, and handing over the plan to Chen Shen, Hope Village's old master then started work with the excavator early today.

Seeing the large ditch being dug under the stern of the Hope One, Su Mo was quite satisfied.

In the doomsday wasteland, having a few capable subordinates to help would always be better than doing everything personally.

Before he completely grasped the energy technique and created a fully-automated production line, people would be the greatest resource when it came to productivity.

The reason he did not choose to use 50 thousand points to ascend the technological pathway previously was also because of this.

Going out to sea this time, Su Mo planned to collect a few defeated foreign race creatures and take them in as "lab rats" to study. In terms of collecting talent, Su Mo did not want to be left behind either!

Using survival points to advance the level of technology he had access to would still be alright if it was an unknown field of science.

However, it was not worth it to use it to push forward technology that already existed on Earth that would fall behind in comparison to the "black technology" of the wasteland.

Thus, Su Mo would rather save the survival points he currently had rather than waste them here.

Standing on high ground, after directing the villagers conducting the excavation work for a while, Su Mo walked toward the ship's bow. He observed Oreo's gang as the newly-appointed Connie performed the first large-scale blessing.

After being kicked out of the lion clan, Connie joining Oreo's family did not cause much of a stir at all.

This was not just because Oreo was a god without any trace of god-like abilities, but also because Connie's power was weak. The addition of a newbie to the group would not garner any attention.

Even if she was considered weak…

She was still technically ranked just below Oreo in the clan…

Before she had enough Disaster Points to increase her own strength and develop even more abilities…

The current her today and the her from yesterday were no different.

After watching her sing and dance around the ship for a while to cast the blessing, realizing that there was nothing that he could learn from the process, Su Mo shook his head and walked over to the top of the Iron Rock Mountain again to observe the development progress of Hope Village's "impact-absorbing facility".

The pavilion on Iron Rock Mountain's platform had been quickly demolished last night.

On the mountain, the villagers had already started their second round of work.

The steel plates left behind from the previous shipbuilding process were also approved for use by Chen Shen and taken out from the supplies warehouse. They were fixed to a few of the weaker spots to strengthen its defense.

They had also constructed three drains overnight, which had been put on hold previously, which connected directly to the bottom of the mountain.

All the villagers were busying themselves. Under the leadership of their leaders, they quickly completed all the assignments given.

Nobody would have thought that, in just half a month, this Iron Rock Mountain that they settled in arbitrarily would have transformed like this.

Although he had to keep suffering the villagers' "attention", Su Mo was not troubled.

He very much enjoyed this subtle change in his own territory.

From the development of the Underground Shelter, to the gradual construction of Hope One, and to Iron Rock Mountain gradually becoming a fortress…

Su Mo could sense that this basin area was once again bursting with "vitality"!

Compared to the dead silence before the previous disaster arrived…

This atmosphere made Su Mo feel like he was not the only one "fighting".

After walking down to the end of the mountain road that had been cast in cement, in the village's main meeting room, Su Mo saw more than 10 people in a heated discussion.

These people were the elite members of the shelter; people who had completed their tertiary education.

Even if they did not fully understand the technology, they knew how to examine things scientifically and adhered to the principle that three average minds put together could outsmart Zhuge Liang, and they looked the part too.

After watching for a while and noticing the few already completed items on the table, Su Mo did not enter to disrupt their discussion. Instead, he silently walked in the other direction down Iron Rock Mountain.

This was Su Mo's first time being a "leader".

However, based on Papa Su's business undertakings overseas, passing on a little knowledge from his several decades of experience in the business world, Su Mo was not entirely helpless when it came to village management either.

Of course, the type of management method he was using was one that could not be copied back on Earth.

"Second test—I hope that it will go a little better. At least let me see a bit of hope of capturing a foreign race!"

Everyone was working hard. Su Mo also returned to Hope One and switched on the electrical power, continuing to fix the issues onboard the ship.

After spending half a day, Su Mo chose to personally fix the errors discovered through the first test previously.

Of course, this much time was not wasted for nothing. After successfully identifying the crux of the problem, in just twenty minutes, Su Mo fixed it successfully.

As the saying went, a little bit of hard work could prevent lots of trouble in the future!

In the remaining half a day's time, aside from going down to guide the workers' excavation duties once, in the remaining time, Su Mo put all his thoughts into improving the OS.

The current OS logic was still too rigid. When multiple requirements conflicted with each other, it easily reached its max processing capacity and froze up.

Moreover, aside from the fully-automated autopilot system, the OS did not have a semi-automated mode that would allow it to be used as an auxiliary system to aid Su Mo when he took manual control of the ship.

These problems needed to be solved urgently.

Fortunately, once the main structure was completed, adding new functions would not be too difficult. Upon receiving the news that Connie's blessing was done, Su Mo also just so happened to have just completed the semi-automatic auxiliary system design.

Walking out of the bridge, he saw the sun that had hung at the horizon the whole day had once again gone down, and the night was falling over the wasteland yet again.

After sending the exhausted Connie back to the shelter to rest after the blessing was completed, Su Mo picked up the food bowl that was still a little warm and quickly dealt with dinner.

It was the usual few pieces of beef, a couple of steamed buns, and a small side dish.

Chewing on the last few pieces of beef, he finished the Malanshan Erguotou that Chen Shen sent over last time.

Feeling his energy recover, Su Mo did not choose to rest. Instead, he walked straight out of the shelter gate.

The beginning of a new world—this solo battle—was once again, on this cool windy night in the wasteland, going to…

Start!

Chapter 320: Status Promotion, Ocean Wind!

If one wanted to succeed, one would have to suffer through a lot of hard work.

Having downed an entire 52-degrees, 265ml bottle of Malanshan Erguotou, Su Mo wobbled along for some time. His gait slowly turned steadier as he forced himself…

To sober up!

This was the only benefit Su Mo had gained from drinking psychic energy water and recovering using the Mountain and Sea Painting Scroll card countless times.

He could somewhat control the acceleration of his blood circulation, quickly metabolizing the alcohol in his body.

With this kind of ability, if he could return to Earth, Su Mo would definitely be hailed as an "alcohol god" who would not get drunk even after consuming a thousand drinks.

However, on this wasteland, Su Mo was very clear that…

While drunk, he would not have to think of the kinds of pain he would later encounter in the talisman simulation world tonight.

However, when sober, the nightmare of having his whole body fractured and partially crippled could possibly "return"!

In the distance, the old master operating the excavator was still determinedly working through this dark night.

Seeing Su Mo coming over, he hastily went over to greet him. "Leader, the excavation you ordered last night, along with the assignment of building a… ditch—we've already finished the excavation. We've even completed the initial hardening of the dirt wall at the sides with the extra materials from the village. We've finished the initial construction of the ditch as well. Now we just need to wait for the water to be prepared at the village to fill it up. Timing-wise… it would probably take an hour."

He knew that when Su Mo came over, it would be to start the testing process.

Although the villagers had already long understood Su Mo's character, the old master was still a little nervous when speaking as the work had been delayed.

Hearing this, Su Mo only shook his head. "No worries. The construction timeframe I gave you was to complete it before nine tonight. It's just past seven now. If you're on track for your tasks in the future, you don't have to be afraid of me. It's fine. Go back to work!"

Waving his hand, under the old master's grateful gaze, Su Mo took one step at a time up the sturdy wooden stairs onto the ship.

Tonight, there were quite a few final tasks to complete before the second test.

Aside from activating the durability accumulation of the ship's Genesis ability, regarding the blessing Connie had enchanted the ship with, Su Mo had to upgrade and strengthen it again.

Although the lion priest's wind ability had been significantly improved in terms of programmability, in terms of actual strength, it was only sufficient for some ventilating and dust-cleaning chores.

Even Connie herself could only cast some ordinary wind magic to speed up movement speed.

Using this kind of blessing to resist the waterfall-like torrent of rain from above was akin to using a praying mantis's arm to block a car.

Fortunately, as Su Mo focused mentally and glanced through Hope One's properties in the system, a familiar transcendental blessing page popped out.

[Transcendent property: Gale (lv1) – Growth potential (two and a half stars)]

[Transcendent origin: The growth potential should have been a two-star ability, but with the talent of the priestess Connie under the god Oreo, the potential of this blessing increased by half a star. Within a certain range of the blessed object—Hope One—the power of the blessing can be controlled Hope One's captain, Su Mo. Please explore further to discover the specific functions.]

[First upgrade option: Upgrade the blessing. Increase the blessing's level from Lv1 to Lv2, enhancing the current abilities of the blessing to a certain extent. Expands the range of the blessing. There is a very small probability that the blessing will mutate and derive a second ability. (1180 survival points required)]

[Second upgrade option: Blessing reversion. Transform the blessing from the lion priest's blessing to the lion high priest's blessing. 100% chance of a second ability being derived. Moreover, there is a very small probability that the blessing's potential is increased and derives a third ability. (3800 survival points required)]

[Third upgrade option: Status promotion. Promote the rank of the Priestess Connie from lion priestess to Oreo's Saintess. There is an extremely high probability that the blessing's properties and potential are greatly improved. Moreover, during the first upgrade, there is a 100% probability that the blessing's properties will mutate, merging with the blessings the shelter currently has. (Survival points required 6850)]

[Comment: A Saintess, come get it!]

"Huh?"

Su Mo stared at the third upgrade option in shock.

In previous blessing upgrade processes, he had never seen such a strange upgrade option offered.

Based on the meaning of the words, the status promotion option was an upgrade that was not hard to understand.

It was because Connie had now joined the Oreo clan, so her identity was no longer that of a normal lion priestess anymore. She would now also have the heavy status of Saintess.

As the closest existence to the god, even if this status was just a title—like holding the emperor's edicts to command the princes in his name—it still had pivotal importance.

"And the third option can actually merge the shelter's blessings. Doesn't that mean…"

"It can merge with the mermaid's ability?"

The moment he thought of the three abilities the shelter's mermaid blessing brought, Su Mo could not help but get excited.

If Hope One could obtain the mermaid's foremost waterproofing ability, if the whole was submerged, a shield of water would automatically be formed.

Su Mo did not know whether this shield could stop the impact of the waterfall-like torrent of rain but, if it was used during a voyage out to sea, that would be awesome!

"Luckily I got Connie to join before the blessing. I never expected that there would be so many benefits to her joining the Oreo clan. It seems that, if I have time in the future, I have to properly dig through the hidden secrets behind all this."

Rubbing the rough and uneven welded joints on the guardrails, Su Mo did not hesitate and immediately chose the third upgrade option.

As the man who had spent 20 thousand points on just the training ground, although spending close to 7000 points was quite a steep price, it definitely could not be considered painful!

Even after deducting such a large expense, he still had 26 thousand survival points remaining, which was still an ample amount!

"Waterproofing and favor from the marine races… please don't make it the underwater breathing ability!"

"Upgrade!"

The Underground Shelter's mermaid's blessing currently had three kinds of abilities. The second ability was underwater breathing, which was a completely rubbish ability for a ship to have.

However, as long as it fused with either the waterproofing ability or favor from the marine races ability, he would have gotten himself a steal.

As if it heard Su Mo's prayer, in the void, a green light slowly appeared and connected Hope One with the Underground Shelter in the distance.

In a scene that only Su Mo could see, the Underground Shelter's shelter core slowly floated out and gradually flew onto Hope One.

The mermaid water that currently occupied 60% of the shelter core, with the assistance of the system, spilled out endlessly in blue brilliance on top of Hope One.

Connie's blessing on Hope One—small whirlwind—also jumped out curiously from the captain's quarters. It hopped into the blue light and started bathing in it.

The green whirlwind that could be seen by the naked eye was no longer purely green after bathing in the light, instead taking on a blue hue.

Moreover, as time passed gradually, the small whirlwind that had originally been about the size of a bottlecap had grown into the size of a fist.

Su Mo could clearly feel that the blessing had undergone tremendous growth, and was several times stronger than the lion clan's wind ability in the Underground Shelter, which was floating around the small whirlwind, like a child pouncing into their mother's embrace, continuously pouring into it.

Hope One, covered by the blessing, shone with a pale green-blue light!

"This feeling is too right, too right!"

From the originally purely technologically-operated warship to the current incorporation of a mystical blessing, the reddish-gold light strengthened on the flag at the bow of Hope One.

With the retraction of the green light, the upgrade was completed!

Su Mo eagerly focus mentally again and summoned the new blessing's properties.

[Transcendent property: Ocean Wind (lv3) – Growth potential (four stars)]

[Transcendent origin: According to ancient folklore, the God of the Wind and the God of the Ocean controlled their own divine realms and did not interfere with each other. Therefore, the God of the Wind's wind became sourceless wind when it reached the sea, and the God of the Ocean's water became sourceless water when it reached the sky. Over time, the ocean's environment became worse and worse, occasionally setting off extinction-grade tsunamis. Later, under the main god's witness, the two gods signed a contract and created a new god position to control the water and wind on the ocean, calling it the God of the Ocean Wind.]

[Transcendent ability 1: Ocean (When on Hope One, the captain will have weak water controlling abilities and can control water on the surface of the ocean to a certain extent. Note: The current ability can only be used when the captain is on the sea. On land or under the sea, the default power is -100%).]

[Transcendent ability 2: Wind (While on Hope One, the captain will have considerable wind controlling abilities and can control wind above the surface of the ocean to a certain extent. Note: The current ability can only be used when the captain is on the sea. On land or under the sea, the default power is -100%).]

[Transcendent ability 3: Goodwill (As Hope One carries the blessing of the mermaid clan, it naturally receives the favor of marine creatures).]

[Comment: Please answer: Is the God of the Ocean Wind's appearance a conspiracy against the God of the Ocean or is it to weaken the God of the Wind?]

"A conspiracy against the God of the Ocean or to weaken the God of the Wind?"

Unlike previously, the system gave a rare question in its comment, and it was even an understandable one.

Ignoring the new abilities because they were temporarily unavailable due to the limitation of being at sea, Su Mo started thinking carefully.

The goal of going out to sea this time was the God of the Ocean.

Seeing that the system had given some information beforehand, as a liberal arts student, Su Mo was sensitive enough to read between the lines.

"Based on the current ocean and land area comparison, the ocean will occupy 80% of the wasteland. The God of the Wind would lose control over such a large area, which would seem like it would weaken it but, in fact, it had no control over the wind when it reached the sea previously, so giving up on such a large area of wind wouldn't hurt at all."

"But the God of the Ocean—even if its water reached the surface of the sea, it still had the right to control it. The addition of the God of the Ocean Wind position is equivalent to directly stripping off part of the God of the Ocean's authority—this would be weakening."

"Moreover, this God of the Ocean Wind is definitely a winner in life. It actually controls such a large territory and is pretty much invincible!"

"However, here's the problem. Who is this main god being mentioned here?"

To the humans who lived on the wasteland, each so-called god was a ticking time bomb that was able to cause 500 thousand disasters at any time.

Quietly recording the doubts he had and his analysis into his notebook, looking at the God of the Wind and the main god that were added into his records of godly positions, Su Mo stood up.

"If I can find the God of the Ocean when I go out to sea this time, perhaps I'll be able to find the answers to my questions."

"Now, however… I should collect my thoughts and return to the second testing!"

Having gone through the delayed upgrade, seeing that Hope One's new properties panel had already lit up, Su Mo no longer dallied and collected his thoughts, returning to the bridge.

At the same time, the mysterious Divulgence of Heaven's Secret talisman once again flew out. With a thought from Su Mo, the door of light opened once again.

Glancing behind him, with absolute confidence, Su Mo took a step forward.

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