Chapter 342 - The Tiger Enters The Mountain, and The Dragon Enters The Sea!
Chapter 342: The Tiger Enters The Mountain, and The Dragon Enters The Sea!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The villagers finally left in the end. Their repeated shouts were as if they were talking to themselves, and were also as if those words had been firmly “affirmed” by Su Mo.
These wasteland humans’ desire to survive was rekindled over these two months, so this little disaster would not destroy or hamper these stubborn survivors.
As for the two surviving lion people among the crowd of villagers, Connie also let out a roar full of sadness and relief at them from a distance.
This indescribable roar represented a lot.
It was Connie’s way of saying goodbye to her past self, and also her putting the official full stop on her relationship with the lion people who had raised and then abandoned her.
This was the sign of loyalty that Connie gave to Su Mo and to Hope Village.
After the torrential rainstorm ended, the two lion people would be quietly deceived by the villagers into drinking the poison that Su Mo had prepared long ago.
The effects of this poison were extremely strong. Although it could not reach the point of blood gurgling in their throats, it would produce a sleeping pill-like effect in its early stages, allowing the two lions to return to the Lion God’s embrace after sleeping without suffering or pain.
After these two lion people died, it would also trigger the genocide rule of the ocean game version, allowing Su Mo receive the one-time right to transfer his shelter and the surrounding terrain within five kilometers of it.
Of course, Su Mo neither agreed nor disagreed with Connie’s decision. He gave her this last dignity.
“Let’s go. We’ll eat first, then after we’re done, we can rest in preparation for the advent of the disaster!”
Standing with Connie and Moore alongside Hope One’s guardrails, he watched as everyone’s figures grew smaller and smaller as the crowd went back to Iron Rock Mountain and split up. Su Mo “pretended to be relaxed”.
“Leader, this time… will we succeed?”
Seeing Connie look in the direction of the ruins of the lion clan’s base camp with a complicated expression, Su Mo paused and did not answer her immediately.
He knew what Connie meant.
Her question was not asking whether Hope One could hold on or whether the six of them would be able to successfully go out to sea when this disaster arrived at 12 o’clock.
It was also not about whether Hope Village could successfully survive and guard the mountain during this disaster period as they waited for Su Mo to return.
What Connie really wanted to ask was…
About the future!
A question about mortals becoming gods, the God of the Ocean awakening, the war between foreign races, and the endless natural disasters in the future.
After completely breaking off her connection with the lion clan, faced with these huge matters coming one after another, the only ones Connie could rely on were Oreo and…
Su Mo!
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, Connie. If humans spent their entire lives chasing results, then such lives would be too tiring and boring. Sometimes, even if we encounter highs and lows along the way, or perhaps even don’t succeed in achieving our desired result, we might still obtain something even better and more rewarding than our initial goal!”
“Come. Learn from me—set your goals a little closer to home.”
“For example, over the next 15 hours, you can think about just how we will twist up the Five Royal Clans’ faces.”
“Or how should we spread our Oreo’s great doctrine and religion among the plethora of foreign races!”
After saying this, seeing that Connie looked a little stunned but had also recovered a spark in her eyes, Su Mo laughed as he brought the insulated food container into the captain’s quarters.
Needless to say, if a leader’s scorecard was 100 points, the previous Su Mo would probably only manage to get 30 or 40 points. However, after this long period of learning and practicing, in just two short months, the current Su Mo would easily score enough points to pass!
Hearing Connie chase after him from behind, as well as her footsteps that had become light, the corners of Su Mo’s mouth pulled up subtly as he laughed.
Though the insulated container did not look big, there were many things stored inside.
In the five-tiered container, aside from the three dishes in the bottom layer, which were a plate of cold pork ears, a plate of stewed edamame, and half a catty of beef dipped in sauce, Su Mo saw another bottle lying flat…
Maotai baijiu!
It was obvious that the villagers were clued in on Su Mo’s habit of having a couple of sips of alcohol when he ate and pitched in to send him this bottle of “precious goods”.
The remaining four tiers were full of dumplings.
Judging from the appearance of one of the container’s layers, there were at least 300 dumplings piled in a pyramid.
“Come, come. One layer for each of us. Hurry up and eat, or it won’t taste good later!”
Seeing Moore’s drooling appearance, dividing the meal this way, everyone found their first meal in the captain’s quarters to be quite delectable.
A mouthful of dumplings, a bite of beef, and then a sip of alcohol.
Unlike the other people on the World Channel who were, at this moment, so anxious to the point that they could not eat or drink, Su Mo, who had already been through three simulations in the talisman simulation world, had 120% confidence in Hope One.
Sitting on the couch and looking out through the porthole, this meal had quite a different taste and feeling.
Happy moments were fleeting. Once this meal was done, and after he emptied the bottle of Maotai in his hand, it was already 7.20pm.
There were only the final 4 hours and 40 minutes remaining until the disaster arrived.
The silvery-white moon in the sky had already gradually started taking on a bloody red hue. As the sun on the horizon sank, the outside world seemed to reflect a little bit of the murderous atmosphere
As Hope One’s chief officer, after Moore finished eating, he consciously went to the cabin beneath the main artillery and started familiarizing himself with it according to the usage methods written in Su Mo’s manual.
Second officer Oreo and third officer Connie also did not remain idle. One of them went to the bow and the other to the stern. Like security guards, they started continuously patrolling the route.
Big Spark and Little Spark knew that they would only be causing trouble on the deck and ran over to the crop culture room beneath the main deck with self-awareness. They started carefully preparing to plant the large-scale vegetable culture medium that had been moved over.
As Hope One’s captain, witnessing this scene, Su Mo felt gratified.
After tidying up everything in the captain’s quarters, closing the door, and arriving at the first floor’s bridge, Su Mo debugged the OS and then started dealing with the remaining unfinished tasks one by one.
At the moment, because there was no longer a need for the robot workers in the shelter to continue collecting cotton and creating ammunition, there were seven robot workers on standby onboard the ship.
Making these few robot workers maintain the 80-meter long Hope One was a little too much. Adding in the maintenance and operation of the main cannon into consideration, this number was completely insufficient.
Hence, sitting inside the bridge, as Su Mo waved his hand, six of Ma Fei’s robots that had not undergone any upgrades appeared on the floor.
He did not spend much. By spending 610 points for each robot worker, after 2660 survival points vanished, a bright green light shone and the robot workers on the floor started to quickly evolve.
As usual, the outer shell dissolved, and then human-like arms and legs grew out.
This time, given that he already possessed robot workers that were familiar with the operations on Hope One, after the robot workers that had been upgraded twice transferred over the information and data, the six robot workers could all dive straight into work first thing without affecting the operational efficiency of the ship.
If one was going to do something, one had better see it through to the end.
Watching the number of robot workers increase, Su Mo also took out four more robot workers and, spending 480 survival points on each, or a total of 1920 points to upgrade them, four more combat agents were born.
After deducting the 5580 survival points he had just spent, because he had just received an increase in survival points to a little over 25000 points, he was now left with 20200 survival points.
“It’s 10 thousand points more than my previous estimate! It seems the ship’s other locations can also undergo some minor upgrades too!”
With plenty of survival points, Su Mo had long found some of the “outdated” parts of Hope One unsightly and, now that he had this wealth, he naturally would not be stingy in spending it.
The first things he upgraded were the four old-fashioned cameras on the port and starboard that had been sourced from the trading market.
The image quality was blurry at night and, at a distance further than 25 meters, was equivalent to mosaic censorship. The information that could be transmitted to the OS was pitifully minimal.
Once the wind blew, it was almost as if the cameras had Parkinson’s disease, with the images shaking like crazy.
It occasionally disconnected from time to time, before automatically restoring itself even when nobody repaired it.
Regarding these problems, Su Mo naturally would not think to keep using them “until their last breath”.
After exiting the bridge, he quickly went over to the first spot.
The last high-precision camera left on the modular shipyard had been removed in the morning and had been placed right here.
As for the remaining three, with a thought from Su Mo, green light flew out quickly and summoned forth the properties upgrade panel.
[360-degree HD camera]
[Description: A semiconductor imaging device. Due to long-term improper use and the harsh surrounding external environment, the internal components have undergone severe wear and tear and need to be repaired or replaced urgently.]
[First upgrade option: Night vision camera (Repair the damaged components of the camera, upgrade the camera’s lens module, increase the resolution and signal-to-noise ratio slightly, greatly improves the camera’s backlight compensation and enhances its night vision ability). Survival points required (1020)]
[Second upgrade option: Strong surveillance camera (Replace the internal components of the camera, increases the energy consumption of the camera slightly, replace the lens, replace the camera mount, greatly increases the observation range of the camera, greatly increases the signal-to-noise ratio, and slightly improves the performance of the CCD sensor). Survival points required (1880)]
[Third upgrade option: Eye in the Sky (A revolutionary camera. Greatly increases the normal monitoring range to three kilometers, and the night monitoring range to 400 meters. Algorithmic image compensation analysis can be performed. Greatly improves night vision ability, clarity, and image sharpness). Survival points required (2750)]
[Comment: What boy would not want a camera that can scan QR codes from three kilometers away?]
“Oho, the system can even upgrade it to an Eye in the Sky that is used to monitor cities.”
“It’s true that once you have survival points, you can do whatever you want!”
In the civilized era, on the highest building in every city, there was a government-installed camera called the “Eye in the Sky.”
Compared to the cameras sold on the market, the Eye in the Sky’s viewing range could reach up to 3 kilometers. Only a few were needed to cover the entire city.
Now, seeing that the system could actually upgrade the camera to an Eye in the Sky, Su Mo did not hesitate and immediately decided on the third upgrade option.
After putting in the maximum materials that could be added, the price for a single camera decreased by 235 points and could not be reduced any further.
A heart-wrenching 7545 points flowed out of his survival points balance. Seeing the remaining 12665 survival points left in it, Su Mo started quietly waiting for the upgrade to finish.
Compared to original cameras, which were about the size of a fist, the Eye in the Sky’s size was not small. It was around the size of two basketballs.
The lens on it also transformed into a set of two lenses and could utilize a built-in chip. After the images from the two lenses were integrated and analyzed, it was then transmitted to the OS.
Although the resolution was still a little poorer than that of the modular shipyard’s cameras, in terms of visual distance, it completely crushed the former’s range of 500m!
After putting the three newly-upgraded cameras onto Hope One’s port and starboard, returning to the bridge, Su Mo reviewed and mentally calculated what the ship still lacked.
“There shouldn’t be any problems regarding the hull with the protection of the safe house and absorbent gum. This time, my focus only needs to be on protecting the radar, and it should be all good.”
“The warehouse below the deck, as well as the supplies in it, have already been fixed, and there have been no problems so far.”
“The mechanical parts of the entire ship have already been inspected in the afternoon, and the bionic mechanics are even doing a second detailed inspection. Even if I am really unlucky and encounter some unfortunate mishap, unlike how it was in the talisman simulation world, I can repair things at any time using the system, so I don’t have to worry about this either!”
From the bottom of the ship to the deck, from each room inside to the steel plating on the exterior, everything had been inspected.
Su Mo seemed to be sitting in the captain’s quarters lazing around, but the Bluetooth earphones he was wearing transmitted the results of the methodical inspections of the bionic mechanics in real-time.
After a round of patrolling, realizing that there were temporarily no places that he had to spend more points on, with a heightened sense of excitement, Su Mo gently keyed in a few instructions into the keyboard.
Currently, the fire-control radar overhead had effectively transmitted information on the ship’s surroundings to the OS.
In the OS’s modeling, the entire Hope One, along with the surrounding terrain in a one-kilometer radius, was displayed in detail.
Seeing that the time had just only passed 8.30pm, picking up the sailing information that he had summarized from his previous review, Su Mo began to read it carefully.
One learned new things by reviewing the past. Even the most amazing doctor, when the circumstances were right, would pick up books and materials to read before an operation.
Every revision was invisibly progressing the ship sailing experience bar under Su Mo’s status column.
Su Mo read it seriously, as time flew by in the outside world.
Seeing that the OS was already issuing the prompt that there were only ten minutes remaining before the disaster arrived, Su Mo worked his slightly stiff shoulders and exited the bridge.
In the distance, the Hope Village’s spotlight had been fully lit. Like in the talisman simulation world, a large building now covered the surface of Iron Rock Mountain.
Before this, Su Mo had been uncertain what this was, but it was now evidently clear to him.
This was a safe house!
A safe house that could cover half of the entire mountain!
“OS, turn on a spotlight. Direct it at Iron Rock Mountain and flash it three times consecutively.”
After Su Mo spoke into the Bluetooth earphones, the spotlight on the port side slowly began to turn, shining a beam of light that displayed the “Tyndall effect” toward the mountain.
On the opposite side, the villagers who were controlling Hope Village’s spotlights also excitedly turned their spotlights over after receiving Su Mo’s instructions.
They also gave three salutes!
“Not bad. After preparing for so long, it seems it’s finally time for the real test!”
Smiling, it was as if Su Mo’s eyes could see the nervousness and excitement on every villager’s face in the cave from the two-kilometer distance.
Seeing that only five minutes were left, after bringing the big one and four little ones into the bridge and locking the watertight door, Su Mo’s spirits instantly tensed up.
“The sliding fender switch and the sliding track start switch have been successfully overhauled!
“Hope One’s electrical power has all been successfully overhauled…”
“Hope One’s mechanical switches have all been successfully overhauled.”
“Hope One’s sea entry mode is already in the warm-up state, awaiting data transmission…”
“…”
Pressing various buttons, Su Mo’s movements were very practiced. There was no trace of him being a newbie captain at all.
This confidence and this natural flow of actions dazed the chief officer Moore, who had yet to actually go into action.
Even Connie’s gaze was full of worship!
Three minutes…
Two minutes…
Staring at the countdown on the clock, Su Mo’s heart was very calm and not at all anxious.
When the sound of rain echoed outside, Su Mo opened his eyes abruptly, and two rays of divine light shone from them.
The eye of the typhoon defense mechanism started up…
The wind wall barriers entered their warm-up state…
Through the terrifying disaster, the one big and four little ones quietly held their breaths. They watched the “scene from hell” transmitted from the image analysis on the screen while admiring Su Mo’s confident actions.
Finally, the 15 minutes were up!
However, unlike the talisman simulation world, Su Mo had constructed 21 barriers over the radar.
15.03, there were still 17 wind walls remaining.
15.06, there were still 12 wind walls remaining.
15.09, there were still 6 wind walls remaining!
15.11, the disaster was over, and there were still…
3 wind walls remaining!
“Just this?”
Seeing that the outside world no longer had a trace of rain, even though his waist hurt from the pressure of the safety belt, the corners of Su Mo’s mouth curled up involuntarily.
He had overcome this wave!