Chapter 244: We Have Got To… Go Back To Earth!
Despite possessing the Mini Destroyer blueprint design, Su Mo was unable to examine its specific properties until he fulfilled the necessary requirements and activated the blueprint design.
However, he was able to roughly infer the amount of materials necessary for a complete reproduction of this destroyer and its performance capability based on the graphic reference on the blueprint design and by comparing it with an actual destroyer.
The vessel was about 100m to 120m long with a draft of at least 5m. Its cruise speed was about 18 knots, with a maximum speed of 28 knots or higher.
As for the weapons that the destroyer would be equipped with? That went without saying.
To perfectly recreate this seabound steel beast, the first thing to consider was not the required materials or its production quality, but rather the number of crew members required to operate it, which numbered at least 200 trained personnel.
Of course, when Su Mo had gotten his hands on the blueprint design, he did not even think for one second that he could perfectly recreate such a monstrosity.
His initial thought process regarding the best way to construct the destroyer was simply to reduce the s.h.i.+p’s size by one-third, according to the scale shown on the blueprint design, which would keep the length of the s.h.i.+p between 30 to 40 meters with a draft of at least 1.5 meters.
This was one way to ensure the stability of the s.h.i.+p’s structure. It would also greatly reduce the amount of materials required and the s.h.i.+p’s fuel consumption while sailing.
“That’s true. Building a s.h.i.+p is not something that can be accomplished with the efforts of just you and that bear. When the time comes, if you really want to build and pilot a large s.h.i.+p, you’ll only have two options to choose from.”
“First, you can try your best to get your hands on a computer, and from there code a program to a.s.sist you with the navigation and controls, which will save yourself both time and energy.”
“Second, you can choose to bring some people along; Chen Shen and his group at the very least. You’ve also got to bring a few sailors along to a.s.sist you, though even with their aid, you’ll still be the one responsible for piloting the s.h.i.+p.”
“So in order for the second option to be viable, your piloting skills have to be up to the mark, as controlling and operating such a large s.h.i.+p is no simple task!”
Zhong Qingshu’s remarks stemmed from her rational perspective of things, and her thoughts and words always helped Su Mo discover the crux of the problem at hand.
On Earth, many s.h.i.+ps were equipped with an autopilot system that greatly reduced the captain’s burden of controlling and operating such vessels.
In addition to this, the majority of the crew could only be placed in charge of smaller and less important segments of the s.h.i.+p’s operations, while only a few were qualified and capable enough to actually a.s.sist with the s.h.i.+p’s critical operations and functions.
This was even more so for people like Su Mo, who would have to recruit his crew from among the limited population of the Candlelight Shelter’s refugees, many of whom were unlikely to have any experience or expertise in sailing.
“Computer…”
“Autopilot…”
Computers were essential for him to progress and advance his level of technology as well as for the construction and operation of a s.h.i.+p that could travel for thousands of miles over the seas.
In modern technology, a computer was something that was undeniably crucial!
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We can figure these things out after I’ve actually successfully recreated the s.h.i.+p. Besides…”
“We don’t even know when the next disaster will occur!”
While there could be a computer lying somewhere around the Liangfang Town ruins, given that he could do nothing about it at present, Su Mo decided not to pursue things further and ended the topic with a shrug.
In the wasteland, it seemed that only the basin’s black mist ruins, and none of the others, could transport a player to a timeline that was similar to Earth’s.
It was better if fewer people were aware of this information, which would reduce the possibility of this secret being exposed to the public.
In that regard, Su Mo was pretty good at safeguarding his secrets until he was fully capable of dealing with the ramifications; suppressing his urge to tell everyone, even though he was itching to do so.
Everyone had their secrets in the doomsday wasteland.
Su Mo had some, Zhong Qingshu had some, and even the refugees who were hard at work in the fields would probably have had some kind of ‘adventure’.
However, at that moment, as the afternoon drew near, the time to harvest the second cycle of crops had finally arrived!
The spring wheat harvested in the first crop cycle, other than those that had been traded and those that were used as seeds for the second crop cycle, had yet to be threshed, and had been placed at the edge of the field and piled up into a small mountain.
In the fields, the wheat was growing taller and taller every four to five minutes, especially those that were planted earlier.
At this moment, the combine harvester was already rumbling its way through the fields, with a bunch of people following behind it, seemingly astonished as they watched the wheat that was being ejected from the grain bin.
Even the usually pungent diesel fumes did not seem to hinder the excitement of these refugees.
“Brother Su, we’ve harvested the wheat from the second crop cycle. This time, our yield per acre averaged about 1890 catties per mu! What an excellent harvest!”
Chen Shen, who was at least four to five shades darker, rushed over ecstatically with a sweat-soaked notepad in his hands.
As he flipped through his notepad, he started reporting the total yield from each mu of land.
This was a complicated and boring segment, but Su Mo enjoyed listening to it.
When they heard that there were a few mu of land that had yielded a whopping 2,100 catties of wheat, even Zhong Qingshu let out a yelp.
Some people acquired knowledge faster than others, while certain people specialized in certain professions while others specialized in other professions.
There were a few farmers amongst the refugees with a level of expertise far greater than Su Mo, who was merely dabbling in the field.
From seed selection to sowing, to watering and fertilization, refining every step of the process had resulted in a high yield rate of up to 2,100 catties of wheat per mu.
Without hesitation, Su Mo immediately showed his appreciation for their efforts in a tangible manner.
“I have decided to reward all farmers in the fields who produced more than 2,000 catties per mu with 100 catties from my portion.”
Chen Shen nodded solemnly and reverently after hearing what Su Mo had said.
The carrot and stick approach.
Even if Chen Shen was thinking out of his *ss, he would still be able to foresee how these people would react after receiving news of Su Mo’s 100-catty token of appreciation.
“By the way, remember to control everyone’s rice intake tonight. If people who have been starving for long periods of time eat too much and eat too quickly, they can easily fall sick!”
As Su Mo watched the bunch of starving, frail refugees, he reminded them once again as his eyes then fell upon the flour grinder that had been carried out and plugged in.
Up to this point, the welfare disaster could already be considered a successful venture.
Over the next two days, all that remained was to slowly figure out how to maximize the yield of this harvest to acc.u.mulate enough food supplies for several years to come.
After reminding Chen Shen of a few more things that came to mind, Su Mo waved his hands and signaled that the reporting segment was over.
However…
Chen Shen, who stood beside Su Mo, did not simply leave like he usually did, but stood there timidly and seemed to mutter something quietly, as if he had something on his mind that he did not dare to say.
This odd sight caught Su Mo by surprise but, before he could speak, Zhong Qingshu spoke up on his behalf.
“Eh, Chen Shen? Why are you being so shy in front of our Almighty Su?”
“We’ve all seen the effort and hard work that you’ve put in over the past few days. Whatever it is, just spit it out!”
A kind and timely aid.
At the same time, it gave Chen Shen the courage to speak.
He twisted his s.h.i.+rt, seeming to have come to a decision on something. Chen Shen, his face laced with grime and sweat, looked up and stuttered, “B-brother Su, this is something that everyone wants me to ask you… Could you please go back a little later tonight?”
“There’s a little something that all of us wish to convey to you for the help Brother Su has extended to us over the past few days. We’re all very grateful!”
“More than a hundred people have come up to me since yesterday, asking me to put in a word with you.”
Chen Shen scratched his head and mustered up all his courage. Under Su Mo’s scrutinizing eyes, Chen Shen gave it his all and spat everything out in one breath.
Right after that, Chen Shen closed his eyes as if he was ready to die and waited for Su Mo’s final verdict.
Awkwardness!
Awkwardness in capital letters!
After rolling his eyes at Zhong Qingshu and glancing at Chen Shen, who had his eyes tightly shut and teeth gritted, Su Mo waved his hands exasperatedly.
“Fine. Go do what you have to do. Just tell it to me straight next time!”
“Don’t make it a matter of life and death!”
It was not a very good thing for a leader to be overly idolized.
Sure, there were some exceptions to this situation. For example, in western sects that follow the tenets of faith, this would be something rather familiar.
Leaders of such a sect could quickly gather power and influence under the authority of made-up G.o.dly spirits and package themselves as physical manifestations of said ‘deities’ to rule and reign over their congregation.
However, based on the structure of the Candlelight Shelter’s leaders.h.i.+p, if Su Mo was overly idolized, he would easily lose control over his lower-level subordinates and, if there was disharmony and strife in the middle levels, it was likely that Su Mo would lose the hearts of the people, and end up being shunned and betrayed.
This was something that Su Mo temporarily had no good way of dealing with. He could only think of an alternative method of resolution after he had gotten his sister back, and after he had built a large-scale shelter.
After dismissing Chen Shen, Zhong Qingshu also left to fulfil her border-patrolling duties.
Moore was working hard in the fields and Oreo was nowhere to be found, presumably either playing around or patrolling.
Su Mo was left ‘alone’.
“I wonder how Sis is doing over there. Would she be involved in farming at the Tundra Shelter as well?”
“What a difficult journey it is to find my loved one stranded thousands of miles away!”
p.r.i.c.ked by his conscience, Su Mo brought up his friends list. Su Chan’s avatar was still glowing green, which meant that she was still alive.
“At times I find myself wis.h.i.+ng that the upcoming disaster would not be a flood, but at other times I end up wis.h.i.+ng that it is!”
“Alas, humans are both selfish and selfless creatures.”
Su Mo looked at the commotion at the entrance of the village, where people were trying to set up the flour grinder, and decided to forgo his emotional anguish. He walked up to them and helped them out.
The working principle behind the flour grinder was not complicated. Firstly, under each of the traditional two internal and external grinding heads, circular choke rings that were the same thickness as the height of the grinding teeth were added.
These would prevent grain that had not been sufficiently broken up between the grinding teeth from pa.s.sing through, which would allow the grain to be grinded further until it turned into fine powder.
As the flour grinder was powered by electricity, a bag of wheat would only take tens of seconds to grind.
Despite being a first-time user, it was easy for Su Mo, as the manufacturer, to finish setting up what the refugees had been working on for the past twenty to thirty minutes.
The diesel generator in the Candlelight Shelter had been purchased from the trading market while they were gathering resources after the harvest that morning.
The diesel was poured in and, after it was switched on, the flour grinder was plugged in and started to spin quickly.
Thump, thump, thump, thump…
A drum-like sound rang out through the land.
Not only did it shock the women who were operating it, but it also attracted the attention of the refugees who were still working in the fields.
“The flour grinder is working. F*ck!”
“Wuhu, Qifei, we’re having noodles for dinner later!”
“I wanna eat three bowls, no, five bowls! I will eat till I’m full today!”
Adults would still be able to suppress their excitement, but the teenagers were the ones that started with all the yelling that brought the level excitement in the atmosphere up a notch.
People who had a clear line of sight of the flour grinder were still working hard with a hoe in the fields, but their thoughts had already strayed elsewhere.
Whoos.h.!.+
Whoos.h.!.+
A bag of wheat with bran was poured into the feed bucket, and as the grinder worked, it began to peel and grind the wheat kernels quickly.
A few seconds later, when the first wisp of white flour appeared in the collection bucket, all the refugees who could see the flour, including the four women who were operating the machine, nearly cried tears of joy.
A young woman, under Su Mo’s encouraging gaze, grabbed a fistful of flour and ran toward the fields, shouting as she cried.
“We have flour! We have white, snowy flour!”
The shrieks of the woman were not that loud, and only a few people could hear her but, at that very moment, when people saw the white, snowy flour in her hands, the sound of her feeble voice was instantly and magically ‘amplified’.
“We have flour!”
One person, five people, ten people, fifty people…
When all of the refugees in the field started to shout, the wind on the plains seemed to blow a little faster as a sign of encouragement for this bunch of hardworking people!
After a whopping five minutes of shrieking, everyone stopped and continued on with their work. No one was certain who started it, but a wave of new shrieks rang out.
“Al hail Su Mo! All hail the Candlelight Shelter!”
“The wasteland belongs to us humans! The wasteland belongs to Almighty Su!”
“If you follow after Almighty Su, life on the wasteland isn’t that hard! If you work with Almighty Su, the wasteland is practically a treasure trove waiting for you to harvest!”
“All hail humankind! We will conquer this land, we will conquer this continent!”
“We want to go back to Earth!”
Were they really thinking about conquering the wasteland right as their food supplies were secured?
Despite living hand-to-mouth each day, they still harbored the hope of returning to Earth?
If keyboard warriors were present in the wasteland, these adorable refugees would have been insulted to the point of questioning their own intelligence and doubting their own existence.
However, on the Hope Plains, where Su Mo could cover the entire area under his wings, there was no one around to sneer at the refugees’ dreams, and no one to mock the ‘arrogance’ of the people.
From the fields to the village, one could hear uniform chants about returning to Earth echoing.
When it was almost harvest time, the slogan of ‘we want to go back to Earth’ had become the eternal pursuit of these refugees.
The heavy desire hanging in the atmosphere even moved Su Mo, who was looking out into the distance.
In his heart, where only Su Mo could hear himself, one hope-filled statement and oath after another rang out.
“They’re right!”
“This doomsday wasteland isn’t a home for us humans, and this blue sky is definitely not the skies above our Earth.”
“This generation, and ten generations after that, as long as we humans do not go extinct…”
“Our ultimate goal is to…”
“Return to Earth!”