Chapter 106: Survival Begins as the Snow gets Heavier!
“Mmhmm, I’ll put my armor in the storage s.p.a.ce for the time being. I’ll only wear it when I need it. It’s much too bulky to wear armor in this kind of weather!”
He reached out to fiddle with the heavy plate armor momentarily. After hesitating for a bit, Su Mo finally chose to only wear the combat uniform.
It was freezing cold, so most creatures would hide themselves. Therefore, there was really no need to put on his armor.
He went to his command room and turned on the TV to observe the surroundings for a while. After confirming that there were no creatures within a one kilometer radius, Su Mo switched it off and shouted toward the inside of his shelter.
“Oreo, I’m ready. Do you want to go out? We’re heading to the Deep-sea Shelter!”
As soon as he said that, Oreo, who was still in the bedroom playing with Big Spark and Little Spark, scrambled out.
That speed… Su Mo was amazed when he saw it!
“Woof! Woof! Awoo!”
Oreo opened her mouth wide and barked loudly a few times to indicate that she was ready.
When Su Mo saw what Oreo was like, he smiled, opened the door, and walked out.
As soon as he entered the pa.s.sageway, he could clearly feel the temperature drop. The feeling was even more obvious when he pa.s.sed through the second entrance.
“That’s weird. It’s daytime. Why does it feel even colder than last night…”
Before opening the door, Su Mo turned on the electric heating switch on his waist. As he gently pushed down, the heating device started whirring.
A little more than ten seconds later, Su Mo almost moaned comfortably when the first gust of hot air filled up his combat uniform.
“7355600…”
After Su Mo keyed in the combination lock’s pa.s.sword on the stone door, there was a clatter and, as the bolt made a crisp sound, he began to open the door slowly.
Suddenly, a gap appeared along the door.
A gust of wind mixed with snow burst out from the crack, rus.h.i.+ng into the deepest part of the pa.s.sageway.
The more the door was opened, the louder the howling wind got.
The agile Oreo lowered her head, hurriedly drilled through the open gap, and rushed out.
After Su Mo opened the door wide enough for him to pa.s.s through, he hurriedly stepped out, closed the door quickly, and pushed the bolt back in.
Su Mo turned his head and looked into the distance…
Compared to the image he saw on the TV, using his own eyes to see the world that had turned into ice and snow was even more shocking.
The vast plains had been fully covered by a thick layer of snow.
As he looked around, everything was white. Even the withered yellow weeds from before had also been crushed beneath the weight of the snow at this moment.
Su Mo reached out his hand and tried to catch one or two snowflakes, and was shocked to find that they were large snowflakes!
“That’s fast! It’s only been an hour or two. I can’t believe that the snow has gotten so much heavier. Could it be that because it’s after eight o’clock, it technically counts as the seventh day?”
Su Mo looked up at the sky. It was a pity that snowflakes were falling everywhere from the sky and dark clouds covered the sun, making it difficult for him to even catch a glimpse of sunlight.
It had not been snowing for long either. It started in the early hours of the morning till now, but there was already a thick layer of snow on the ground.
There is an old saying that goes: one does not feel the cold when it snows, but feels the cold when the snow melts.
With the constant warmth coming from within his combat uniform, Su Mo did not feel that cold.
After Su Mo walked to the Earth Tiger, he stretched out his hand and brushed off a layer of snow from the front winds.h.i.+eld.
“Good thing I upgraded the buggy. Otherwise, I would’ve frozen into a popsicle if I drove an open air buggy in this weather!”
The Earth Tiger was a purely mechanical device which was even equipped with wipers. However, in that kind of weather, Su Mo could only clear off the frost on his winds.h.i.+eld by hand.
After clearing the snow off the window and opening the car door, Su Mo went inside and started the engine to heat up the car.
“Hey, where’s Oreo?”
When Su Mo saw that Oreo did not fly into the car as usual, he got out curiously and looked around.
On the hill atop the shelter, Su Mo saw Oreo standing with an aloof expression, raising her head and staring into the distance.
From his point of view, he could only see Oreo’s back.
“Good dog, you look so handsome! Did you become wiser?”
When Su Mo saw the harmonious and beautiful scene between the sky and the ground, his image of Oreo instantly became better.
It even gave off a sense of illusion!
It was as if, between the sky and the ground, Oreo had power over the ice and snow.
The heavy snow was a disaster for other creatures, but for Oreo, it was as if it had been made just for her!
“Enough, Oreo. Let’s go!”
Su Mo cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled up the hill.
After hearing Su Mo’s call, Oreo turned her head swiftly and ran down the hill as she howled.
For some reason, the moment Oreo turned around, Su Mo seemed to see a vague white snowflake imprint on Oreo’s head.
“Hey, what’s that? Am I imagining things?”
After Oreo ran toward him, Su Mo lowered his body and curiously examined Oreo’s dog’s head.
It was a pity that the snowflake imprint that appeared unexpectedly was no longer there. It felt like he was just seeing things.
“It was probably a reflection or something. It seems that the snowy sky affects your sight as well!”
After he shook his head, he put Oreo into the pa.s.senger seat before fastening his own seat belt. After waiting three to five seconds, Su Mo slowly s.h.i.+fted the gear into drive.
He stepped on the accelerator and Earth Tiger slowly moved forward.
The snowy road was slippery. Although Earth Tiger had all-terrain tires, Su Mo did not dare to drive too fast. He kept it at a speed of about 20 yards per second and moved forward slowly.
It was snowing outside and there were no buildings or obstacles, so he drove the car leisurely on the plains.
Su Mo would normally have wanted to drive a few rounds to feel the charm of the wasteland, had it not been for the lack of air conditioning in the car.
“Oreo, I think you’ve recovered your intelligence after being in the snow. You look so elegant.”
After he turned his head, Su Mo looked at the dignified-looking Oreo in the pa.s.senger seat curiously.
There were still bits of snow sticking on top of her soft black and white fur that had not melted, and glittered under the light.
Besides that, there was also a sense of elegance and wisdom within her little dark eyes.
Su Mo did not recognize that dog as Oreo based on her usual playfulness on normal days.
After Oreo heard what Su Mo said, she whimpered and p.r.i.c.ked up her ears, as if she had heard something.
“Hmm? Is there something wrong?”
When Su Mo saw how Oreo acted, he instantly became alert as well.
However, Oreo just shook her head and continued to look as if she was listening to something.
At that moment, Su Mo, who still thought that the open fields were unpredictable, immediately s.h.i.+fted his gaze forward, squeezing the steering wheel and focusing on the road ahead.
The distance between the two shelters was not very far. Even though he drove at only 20 yards per second, the Deep-sea Shelter on top of the small hill appeared in front of their field of vision within a few minutes.
Without getting out of the car, Su Mo cautiously circled around the area and tried to enter from behind the Deep-sea Shelter.
It was not until Oreo shook her head in affirmation that Su Mo unfastened his seat belt and opened the door to get out of the car.
Along the way, the tire tracks on the ground were slowly covered by the heavy snowfall.
He pulled out his electric crossbow, turned it on, and waited for the self-check to beep for three to five seconds before cautiously walking forward.
Compared with the Underground Shelter, the Deep-sea Shelter had already acc.u.mulated a thick layer of snow on the door of the second floor because of its topography.
He walked up to it and could even hear the puffing sounds of snowflakes being squeezed to the side.
He pressed the mechanism next to the main entrance on the second floor and, after entering the pa.s.scode, the hinge plate popped up. He put his weapon away and Su Mo used his strength to open the door.
After not going there for two days, the Deep-sea Shelter still looked the same.
As he opened the door, he could hear the rumbling of the motor-pumped oil well.
After observing the layout of the shelter for a while, as well as the traces of dust, Su Mo calmed down.
When he walked over to the oil well, Su Mo focused mentally and his consciousness sank into the storage s.p.a.ce of the motorized well.
Diesel, 103L!
Toluene, 4.2kg!
“Since I won’t be taking Earth Tiger out for the next few days, I can save up some diesel as reserves and it would be a good idea to use it for power generation instead.”
Before taking out the oil barrel,Su Mo took out a small container and filled it with the toluene after filling up the oil barrel with diesel.
After putting the two items into the storage s.p.a.ce, Su Mo walked downstairs.
In the dim Deep-sea Shelter, there was no light. After taking out his flashlight, Su Mo felt around for the hinge plate to the first floor and opened up the cellar door completely.
A breeze mixed with snow floated into the cellar and a magical scene happened.
After reaching the dividing line of the door to the outside, there seemed to be an invisible film that blocked the entry of the snowflakes. Only a little breeze blew in, blowing on Su Mo’s face.
Su Mo tried stretching out his hand and caught some of the snowflakes. When he brought them inside, the film did not respond at all.
“What a magical ability! It’s a pity that I can’t enjoy this enchantment in the Underground Shelter’s pa.s.sageway!”
After Su Mo stepped out of the cellar door on the first floor, he walked to the back of the hill and effortlessly parked the Earth Tiger into the cellar.
As he looked at Earth Tiger sitting in the center, he patted his hands in satisfaction and lowered the cellar door again.
Even though the snow had not gotten that bad yet, it was already starting to get difficult for Earth Tiger to continue roaming around the wasteland arrogantly.
He knew that he had to wait until the disaster was over and until all the ice and snow melted. Before then, Earth Tiger would have to stay here, so he would not be able to travel long distances for a while.
After walking back up to the second floor, Su Mo went out through the door after he repeatedly made sure that the oil well was operating normally, and that there were no problems with the other things.
After he turned the mechanical wheel for a bit and was about to close the door, Oreo, who had been laying low on the top floor, suddenly rushed down and barked softly.
“Is there danger?”