Chapter 257: Relocation! Candlelight’s Hope Lifted!
Su Mo focused and opened up the game panel’s trading market.
The trading market had been updated to only require tax and no Disaster Points. Su Mo narrowed his eyes and looked over.
Sure enough, the current price of basic materials was dropping in a downward trend.
Many people even wrote words like “Ma.s.sive Clearance Sale” under their trade descriptions.
Of course, as a “gift” from nature, these basic materials merely took a bit of labor and time to collect.
Labor and time were always the most worthless things for refugees in the wasteland.
Since these were things that they could not bring along, they would not suffer a loss as long as they managed to sell them.
“I should probably wait and check the price again when I wake up tomorrow!”
It was almost three-thirty in the morning. Lying on the slightly lonely bed, Su Mo checked the prices on a few pages of the trading market before he started feeling drowsy.
He resisted the drowsiness and pulled up his friends list. After locating Chen Shen’s profile photo and typing out a long list of things, Su Mo finally shut off the game panel in satisfaction.
“Everything is in place—work will begin tomorrow!”
After making sure that everything had been arranged, Su Mo picked up the cup on the bedside table and took a large gulp of psychic energy water to aid his sleep. Hearing the sound of Moore’s snoring from the second floor from time to time, Su Mo’s breathing gradually turned heavy.
After coming to the wasteland, people like dignitaries, trillionaires, or even those with neurasthenia, would surely get a good night’s sleep after undergoing a full day of physical work.
In less than three to five minutes, the Underground Shelter fell silent, like a giant beast creeping on the wasteland, constantly gobbling up the incoming darkness.
Su Mo naturally had no idea that, on this very night, the wasteland was not peaceful at all.
For the foreign races, life would not be easy for them after eliminating the human race in their vicinity.
Without human farming skills, even the lucky ones would struggle to find fruit trees to feed on.
The unlucky ones could only eat gra.s.s.
As for some of the carnivorous foreign races, except for a few strong ones like the minotaurs, most of them would have to go to bed hungry and survive this difficult night.
Like what Su Mo expected, humans were not the only one who had found out about the new ocean update. The foreign races had learned about it through other channels as well.
After the initial panic pa.s.sed, all the foreign races began to prepare the necessary supplies to cross the ocean to the new continent.
However, what were they supposed to do if they did not have food?
They were left with no other choice but to rob others. Foreign clans would rob each other and humans; humans would fight back and eliminate the foreign clans; foreign clans would clash and humans would wait for a chance to strike back…
From today, every location aside from the basin area that had been cleaned up completely, was destined to descend into b.l.o.o.d.y war before the ocean emerged!
The night was long and the light of dawn seemed so far away; seeming like it might never s.h.i.+ne on the wasteland again.
Fortunately, the gray clouds in the sky finally dispersed, allowing the moon a brief moment of glory to s.h.i.+ne on the wilderness below.
Time pa.s.sed and, in the blink of an eye, it was already six o’clock in the morning, and the familiar sun rose again into the sky and began its typical routine for the day.
On the plains, everyone in the Candlelight Shelter woke up early in the morning.
After surviving three disasters, and with Su Mo’s help, every refugee had been able to collect 100 disaster points to open up their own storage s.p.a.ces.
From the moment the ordinary refugees of the Candlelight Shelter woke up, they received a set of brief instructions and excitedly began to pack up the things they had acc.u.mulated in the wasteland over the past month.
Of course, there were not many things. Aside from one or two items of clothing as well as some food acc.u.mulated during the welfare disaster, there were many more miscellaneous items instead.
The guards at the shelter were sitting on a boulder at the village entrance, each of their eyes filled with fiery pa.s.sion, enthusiastically sharpening the iron spears in their hands.
Clattering sparks burst from the grinding stones that fell to the ground ever so often. Even though the grinding hurt their hands, they kept at it as if fueled by boundless energy and enthusiasm.
However, whether it was the guards or the ordinary people, they all shared something in common—their eyes would glance over from time to time at…
The kitchen!
People regard food as their primary necessity, and the safety of the food was a top priority.
After the morning announcement of the preparation of a large meal, all the cooks began anxiously preparing enough food supplies for over a hundred people for this day.
After the snow-white dough had risen, it was made into large white steamed buns, combined with the tantalizing aroma of noodles that could make any person drool.
The steamer was placed atop of the burning firewood and, in no time at all, the food was piping hot.
Fresh cabbage and carrots were rinsed with water, and then cut into small strips. A sprinkling of chili pepper, salt, and vinegar were added before being stirred a little. With that, two fresh dishes were ready.
Soybeans were placed in water and cooked until they were soggy. The hot steam wafting out of the pot carried an incredible fragrance that swept through everyone’s noses.
The stimulation and promise of good food distracted even Chen Shen, the current steward of the shelter, from his morning duties.
After eight o’clock, it was time for breakfast. Other than the several necessary security guards, everyone else grabbed their own benches in tacit understanding and sat in the “large square” at the center of the village.
Everyone had obtained a brief set of instructions in the morning, coupled with words and speculations pa.s.sed among the people, most already knew what was going to happen after this day.
However, they were still eagerly awaiting the announcement of the milestone event that was to be announced at the village’s first major a.s.sembly.
Even the fragrance coming from the kitchen was nothing in comparison.
“Ahem… Silence, everyone!”
Seeing that everyone had taken their seats, after each team leader was done with their respective headcounts, Chen Shen cleared his throat and stood on the raised platform.
Chen Shen was not very tall and was roughly 175cm or so. After working in the fields for quite some time, his face had grown tanned, which also cast off his image as a youthful student.
After earning Su Mo’s “trust”, even his actions seemed to exude a hint of leaders.h.i.+p.
As soon as those words were said, the Candlelight Shelter refugees immediately fell silent.
All of a sudden, all that remained was the sound of everyone’s slightly heavy breathing.
“From the looks on your faces, I’m sure you can guess the reason why we’ve gathered everyone here today!”
“That’s right. This is the first, as well as the last, Candlelight Shelter general a.s.sembly!”
Swoos.h.!.+
Clap, clap, clap!
Before the sentence was finished, a round of applause broke out below. The refugees clapped their hands so hard that their palms turned red, their faces full of excitement.
Some of the cooks in the kitchen could not help but poke their heads out, listening attentively while clutching the rags in their hands.
Candlelight Shelter was doing just fine, so if this was the last general a.s.sembly, did that mean…
“Silence!”
Seeing how chaotic the scene was becoming, the chief of security barked out an order and the applause stopped. Once again, the crowd cast their eyes on Chen Shen.
“Last night, the game informed us that the second major update will soon arrive. The ocean will emerge and our homes are at stake!”
“Now, the first item of this general a.s.sembly will be to vote and find out how many people are willing to go to the new continent, and how many aren’t!”
Unlike meetings in the civilized era, where loads of bullc.r.a.p that lasted forever were spewed before finally concluding with the few keywords at the end, the wasteland’s general a.s.sembly went straight into the decision-making agenda after just two to three sentences.
However, surprisingly, after Chen Shen was done speaking, the crowd did not respond and the place was engulfed in ear-deafening silence.
After observing their reaction, Chen Shen was in no rush and waited patiently.
After about ten seconds, seeing that no one spoke up, a man sitting in the middle of the back row stood up with a smile.
“Mr. Chen, we’re not in the position to decide whether we want to go to the new continent or not. You should be the one making such major decisions. Let Almighty Su decide things for us.”
“If Almighty Su wants me to go, then I will go even if it means risking my life. If Almighty Su doesn’t want me to go, then even if you take us there, we will only end up getting beaten up!”
“That’s right. If Almighty Su goes then we will; if he stays, then we stay.”
“How should I put this? We will never lose our way if we follow Almighty Su. Had it not been for him, our Candlelight Shelter would have nothing to eat!”
“I vow to follow Almighty Su my whole life. If he wants me to go east, then I will never go west!”
“If Almighty Su wants us to leave today, then I will pack my things and follow him. If Almighty Su tells me to stay, then I will float behind him when the ocean emerges.”
“…”
Swoos.h.!.+
As soon as someone took the initiative to speak up, the crowd was filled with emotions and everyone started clamoring and waving their arms.
In the eyes of the refugees, the Candlelight Shelter’s leaders.h.i.+p team was superb, but when compared to Su Mo, they were nothing but lackeys!
Only by keeping up with Su Mo’s footsteps would one be able to survive, live a much better life, and rebuild their homes in this doomsday wasteland!
Surprisingly, Shen Chen did not stop them. After the crowd yelled continuously for about a minute and everyone agreed on the same thing, he finally made a slight downward hand gesture.
All of a sudden, the experienced military management eventually calmed down all the villagers.
“Since everyone is willing to leave with Almighty Su, I will now announce the second thing!”
“Last night, Su Mo, Big Brother Su specifically sent me a text message to inform me of a few things.”
“The first thing is related to the relocation issue that everyone is concerned about!”
Chen Shen glanced around, deliberately stressing his words when he spoke about Big Brother Su as well as the specifically-sent text message, which left certain uneasy refugees struggling to catch a breath.
“Do not worry about migrating everyone here because Almighty Su will soon build a wars.h.i.+p that’s sufficient to accommodate everyone. As a conservative estimation, this wars.h.i.+p will be…”
“Eighty meters long!”
Buzz…
Expecting a commotion, Chen Shen looked astonished after seeing the reaction of the crowd below.
Silence…
An ear-deafening silence…
In the past, the villagers would have cheered in excitement when they heard shocking news like that.
Now however, when everyone heard that there was an eighty-meter long wars.h.i.+p in the making, both the prison guards and the general public were dumbfounded!
This was just like a child fighting with another child only to get beaten up by the other party’s father with a stick as punishment. Then, the child’s own father told him not to be afraid and watch him take revenge…
The child expected his father to take out a gun, which was already shocking enough.
However, the child’s father ran about recklessly and drove a tank over, stopping right before the idiot’s face!
Such contrast would leave even the strongest person out there dumbfounded!
“Secondly, the relocation will not begin immediately after the ocean emerges. Almighty Su cares for everyone and plans to go to the ocean first himself to seek justice. Before the tsunami, he will bring everyone to the new continent.”
“…”
“Therefore, we will first move to Iron Rock Mountain near the Almighty Su’s shelter during the transition.”
“We will also mine enough iron ore to build wars.h.i.+ps!”
“After breakfast today, the first round of relocation will begin. You are only allowed to keep one-fifth of miscellaneous goods in your storage s.p.a.ce and use the remaining s.p.a.ce to transport food. Any questions?”
Chen Shen announced a few specific rules and regulations for the relocation.
After everyone nodded their heads to indicate that they understood and had no questions, Chen Shen put his notes back into the storage s.p.a.ce while staring at the villagers down below.
There was a proud and superior tone in his voice:
“From today onward, the Candlelight Shelter will become a thing of the past, but the candle flame which symbolizes hope will not be extinguished just because of that.”
“Hold this tiny flame because we’re about to embark on a new journey in the development of the next shelter.”
“The new name of the village will be announced at a general meeting to be held by Almighty Su after the relocation is complete!”
“Now, all of you, get up and go to the dining hall—it’s time we have a feast!”