Chapter 341: Basin Area, Wait For Me To Come Back!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was like New Year’s Day, but it was not.
The villagers roared with emotion. Even though he had already descended the mountain, Su Mo’s enhanced hearing could discern the sounds.
After giving Chen Shen the last few task a.s.signments and dismissing him, Su Mo very much appreciated this “final” night in the basin area.
Tomorrow morning, all the supplies and equipment that could be taken from the Underground Shelter would be moved onboard Hope One.
When afternoon arrived, after taking the last psychic energy water with him, the Underground Shelter would be neatly covered in steel plates that had a hardness level of 8 and enter a completely sealed state.
At that time, even if Su Mo wanted to enter, it would require a lot of effort, let alone any ill-intentioned enemies.
Once it was sealed, it would kickstart the final countdown to Hope One entering the ocean.
Counting all this, only 12 hours remained of Su Mo’s time on land!
Entering the code again, he pulled on the winch to open the alloy gate up, revealing the slightly overcrowded garage interior.
Currently, aside from two rotary tillers on Iron Rock Mountain, Earth Tiger, King Kong, and the harvester had all been stored in the garage.
After going out to sea, these land-bound vehicles would temporarily lose their utility, so Su Mo did not have any worries when it came to leaving them within the shelter under the ocean.
After shutting the alloy gate behind him and putting a few of the tools that had fallen off back onto the shelf, he pushed open the heavy stone door and then walked downstairs.
On the second floor, the lights were still lit.
The 300kW generator ensured a steady supply of power to the shelter. Along with the motorized oil well that was running 24 hours daily, the noise these two devices made was substantial. However, instead of making Su Mo annoyed, it made him feel quite at home instead, basking in the warmth of a familiar environment.
The big one and the four little ones were sitting in the crop culture room as usual, surrounding the large vegetable culture medium that currently did not have anything planted, as they studied seriously.
Seeing Su Mo come in, all of them simply raised their heads and greeted him before once again becoming absorbed in their books.
As their trip out to sea was imminent, even without human intelligence, they were well aware of their responsibilities, so even the playful Moore had sat down to study seriously. One could tell how much pressure they were under.
Choosing not to bother them, Su Mo nodded lightly, and then went down the second floor’s steps to his own residence.
“It would have been fine if Zhong Qingshu had not mentioned anything yesterday, but now that she has, this place does indeed feel a little shabby.”
“It’s as if I bought a rundown house and moved in prematurely. There’s nothing here, but I’m still fine with being poor and happy every day.”
Touching every part of the part.i.tion he could see with his own eyes, Su Mo laughed as he complained.
It was the final night. There was nothing urgent to do, so Su Mo took out a chair and started earnestly tidying up his stuff.
The few hundred good-quality daily household items he had obtained previously definitely had to be brought onboard the s.h.i.+p.
All the ammunition, packs of explosives, sh.e.l.ls—none of them would be left behind either.
The workbench would also definitely have to be moved and brought along with him. As for the 300 Disaster Points he needed to spend in order to move the small laser manufacturing machine, Su Mo waved his hand and chose to spend it.
The price to recreate that machine from scratch was far too high. It greatly surpa.s.sed the 300-point expenditure.
Moreover, for the subsequent upgrade of the small-medium laser manufacturing machine, after so many days of collecting resources and parts, he had long obtained the required materials to upgrade it. He only had to wait until the shelter’s level was high enough, after which he could proceed with the upgrade immediately.
As for the large items that would be left behind, the furnace needed both materials and a power source. Adding in the fact that moving it required too many Disaster Points, he could only abandon it for now.
Once he left, the oil well definitely had to be turned off. Like the psychic energy well, it would wait here until its “master” returned.
Fiddling with these things until early morning arrived, after packing up all the stuff in sacks and placing them in the living room, Su Mo once again inspected everything to make sure there was nothing left behind. He then clapped his hands in satisfaction and went over to the stove to start boiling some water.
With the a.s.sistance of the lion clan’s wind ability, the speed at which the water heated up was extremely rapid. Seeing the rising steam in the bath barrel, Su Mo slowly dipped his feet inside it.
“Ss… Nice!”
To modern day people, it was very hard to imagine what it felt like not to bathe for ten or twenty days.
However, to a little leader who was busy as a bee on the wasteland, every bath experience was one that made him feel as if he had been given new life; relaxing his mind and spirit from head to toe.
From the storage s.p.a.ce, he brought out a ca.s.sette player that had long been made obsolete in the civilized era.
Then he took out a Jay Chou tape.
After inserting it inside the ca.s.sette player, Su Mo pressed the play b.u.t.ton, and the device started working, as Jay Chou’s music and vocals started playing throughout the Underground Shelter’s three floors.
He listened to the music as he bathed. After that, he quickly changed into a set of clean and comfy pajamas at one o’clock in the morning, and floated lightly to his little bed.
It seemed that even this wooden bed, that had been built on the first day he arrived in the wasteland, was gradually becoming unable to withstand Su Mo’s increasingly strong physical body.
As Su Mo flipped himself over, a few wooden joints would make creaking sounds.
However, lying on top, as he heard the familiar creaking sounds, Su Mo’s mood quickly calmed down, and he entered a state of slumber.
Hoo…
Hoo…
Deep breathing sounds traveled from his stomach to his nasal cavity, then went from his nasal cavity back to the rest of his body.
Even if nearly 99% of the people in the world outside were putting in overtime, burning the midnight oil in last-ditch efforts before the disaster arrived, the 146 people in the Underground Shelter and Iron Rock Mountain each slept steadily and sweetly.
A quiet, peaceful night…
At 7.30am, his biological clock once again woke Su Mo from his slumber before his alarm clock rang.
Unlike how it usually was, this time, Su Mo did not crawl up out of bed immediately. Instead, he turned over and resumed snoring.
Eight o’clock…
Nine o’clock…
9.30am!
Although his mind no longer had any trace of sleepiness, lying on this shabby bed, the happiness in Su Mo’s heart rose rapidly; like a straight line in a linear quadratic equation.
Of course, simply being able to have the freedom to “laze around in bed” was a very luxurious thing in the wasteland.
Su Mo stayed in bed all the way until 10 o’clock in the morning, when he felt his entire mental state fully change, after which he slowly climbed out of bed and gulped down the psychic energy water on the bedside table.
Half of the breakfast that the cooks sent over had already been demolished by the one big and four little ones. The leftovers were still warm from being stored in the insulated container.
A bowl of Qishan Saozi noodles, which was very famous in the Guanzhong area of Shaanxi, could be seen inside the container.
The noodles were thin and long, as well as uniform in their thickness. The meat was fresh and fragrant, and the red oil floated on the surface. The soup was sour, spicy, robust and refres.h.i.+ng.
This was the kind of noodle that would not become limp even if it was left for a very long time. It held a very important position in Guanzhong’s cuisine.
No matter whether it was a wedding or a funeral, New Year’s or holidays, babies’ full moon celebrations, the elderly folks’ birthdays, farewells to relatives and friends, as well as other important occasions, this noodle dish would always be present.
Then there was the garlic that the villagers had grown over at the foot of the mountain, which were pickled in sugar.
He took a bite of noodles, then a bite of garlic, and then a mouthful of cuc.u.mber.
Even after Su Mo ate until he was 90% full, he still felt unfulfilled.
“Phew. Staying here in the shelter, the food is too good. When I go out to sea alone, I have to start cooking for myself again.”
Regrettably, he put the bowl and chopsticks back into the food basket. Looking at the supplies that had been packed, but not yet loaded, Su Mo started the final preparations.
Opening the door, he found that Earth Tiger had already been driven to the entrance.
A distance away, he could see quite a few villagers strolling about in the basin area on their day off, gazing at the surrounding scenery of the wasteland.
However, everyone stuck to a rule, which was to keep a distance of 500 meters away from the Underground Shelter to give Su Mo enough s.p.a.ce and privacy.
He loaded up the supplies onto the vehicle and, in two trips, he moved all the packed-up supplies...o...b..ard the s.h.i.+p.
On the third trip, he brought along the workbench as well as the small laser manufacturing machine up to the meeting room on the second-floor deck.
On the fourth and fifth trip, the remaining basic materials that were piled beside the Underground Shelter that had not been used up were brought onto the s.h.i.+p by Su Mo and tossed into the damage control storage compartment.
After this trip was completed, it was already 12 o’clock in the afternoon, which was exactly the same as how he had planned things out.
Before he slept last night, he had halted the furnace’s production of ammunition, making it produce 200mm-thick steel plates instead.
Now, at last, there were enough steel plates in the garage waiting for Su Mo to use them to seal off the Underground Shelter.
“Everything has been brought up, right? Have you confirmed that nothing has been left inside?”
Seeing the big one and four little ones shaking their heads, Su Mo no longer hesitated and summoned the system directly, close to the roaming villagers, and in plain sight of Connie.
After all this time, Su Mo had already realized that other people could not detect the system’s green light at all.
Every property and upgrade panel that appeared before his eyes were completely invisible to others.
Moreover, with the game panel acting as a perfect disguise, others could also easily come to the conclusion that the shelter suddenly being covered in steel plates was something achieved using the power of the game.
The green light waxed and waned, and the shelter properties panel that he had not seen for a long time appeared once again.
[Underground Shelter… – Su Mo]
[Description: This is a stone shelter made from heavy stone. In the face of natural disasters, a shelter like this can provide a safe haven. Please work hard to keep upgrading it. It will be the key to gaining a foothold here in the wasteland!]
[Upgrade option one: Iron shelter…]
[Upgrade option two: Reinforced concrete shelter…]
[Upgrade option three: Structured shelter…]
[Upgrade option…:]
[Upgrade option twenty: Psychic energy shelter…]
[Comment: Keep upgrading your shelter. Perhaps you will discover even more secrets!]
“Upgrade? Even more secrets?”
Glancing through the comment provided by the system, Su Mo was a little surprised.
“I will definitely upgrade it, don’t worry! Once I come back from this voyage, I’ll renew my efforts to make you the strongest shelter in the wasteland!”
Stroking the “stone house” that had blessed and cared for him for nearly two months in the wasteland, and thinking about the dozens of thugs who had met their demise here, Su Mo switched to the panel with the independent upgrade options with a thought.
After paying 350 survival points to cover the manual labor costs of the renovation and installation of the steel plates, the steel plates placed on the ground began to dance about.
Under the binding of the green light, the steel plates began to slowly adhere themselves to the stone walls, merging into them in an instant, as if the two had originally been in such a symbiotic state.
As for the lower floors of the Underground Shelter, a few of the steel plates turned illusory and pierced through the layers of wall and soil straight to the lowest floor to seal it completely.
By the time the green light had disappeared, the Underground Shelter had officially entered its sealed state.
Before Su Mo reactivated it himself, there would not be a second person entering this place as it would have sunken completely under the ocean.
Furthermore, if Su Mo perished on his ocean voyage, when the next generation arrived, perhaps this place might become a “treasure trove” that would make them jump for joy.
Now, however…
Shaking his head lightly, he got in the car. Taking the big one and four little ones along as he whistled lightheartedly, Su Mo drove to Hope One.
Moving out all the remaining supplies from the car onto the s.h.i.+p, he then handed the car to the militia members standing guard in front of Hope One and got them to drive it back. Su Mo then stepped onto the wooden stairs and had once again returned to Hope One.
At this moment, all of the preparatory work had been completed.
The remaining time left for Su Mo to prepare before it reached 12 midnight was close to 11 hours.
He spent two hours bringing Moore and Connie around to places on Hope One that could possibly be impacted and damaged by the rainstorm and covered them with a layer of absorbent gum. After that, Su Mo took out the safe house he had purchased and started patiently erecting it.
Even though the Genesis ability’s progress bar was already full, if he could use such a “cheap and reliable” way to overcome the disaster, then Su Mo would not choose to fight the disaster head-on either.
At 4.50pm, all of the work to sh.o.r.e up Hope One’s disaster resistance defenses was completed.
Going down to the engine room, he checked through all of the cabins from the bottom floors to the top. After that was done, it was already six o’clock in the evening.
He followed the stairs all the way back up to the captain’s quarters, which currently still had a rigid wooden bed frame inside, and drank a few gulps of psychic energy water to quench his thirst. Su Mo then started busily decorating the captain’s quarters.
He took out the brand new bedding the villagers had prepared, placed the old sofa he had taken from the Underground Shelter onto the ground, and then took out a folding table and spread it out.
Seeing that the captain’s quarters now had some life and color, Su Mo was about to continue tidying up when he heard a noisy racket outside.
Sticking his head out to take a look, Su Mo could not help but shake his head.
Yesterday, all the villagers, including the leaders.h.i.+p team, had been “pretending”, trying to create a festive farewell atmosphere.
However, at the last second, just as he was about to leave, these people could not help but break that “pretense”!
Banging on two gongs, all of the villagers lined up. Standing below Hope One, they started shouting along to the rhythm of the gongs.
“Leader… we await your return!”
“Leader… is invincible on the ocean!
“Leader… is invincible on the wasteland!”
As each sentimental sentence rang out, standing on the Hope One that was twenty meters high, Su Mo could faintly see some people start to subtly wipe away tears. Some had their faces raised to the sky as they tried to stop the hot tears from rolling down their faces.
It was different from chasing celebrities in the civilized era. With such a serious atmosphere, Su Mo did not feel a hint of embarra.s.sment. Instead, his heart pumped waves of pa.s.sion into his body endlessly.
Standing at the front, the cooks took heavy steps up the stairs to hand over the last meal Su Mo would have in the basin area.
“Leader. This is the last meal. It’s a little simple. Please don’t mind it.”
“The dumplings inside were personally m-made by everyone. Leader, when you go out to sea, you m-must take care!”
After she spoke, this cook, who was not yet 30 years old and could still be considered a young maiden, ran down the stairs crying.
Clearly, the villagers had agreed that they could not cry today.
She did not want to break the rules.
She did not want to let Su Mo see her crying even more!
After watching the cook return to the ground, he looked at the uneven dumplings that varied in size in the insulated container, and then looked at the crowd who were still shouting below.
For some reason, the corners of Su Mo’s eyes started itching a little as well, as if sand had gotten into them…
Su Mo had been avoiding it the entire day, but could finally not escape this “farewell”.
Seeing the crowd below, Su Mo could not control his emotions. He stood by the rails and used the greatest strength he summoned since he had been born to shout, “Go back!”
“You all have to be well! Wait for me to come back!”
“Help me take care of the basin area! Don’t let anyone come in!”
“Tell them with your fists that this is Almighty Su’s domain, that this is our…”
“Territory!”
The crowd below also started using all their strength at this moment to yell out in unison.
“Leader… we’ll wait for you to come back!”
“The basin will wait for you to return!”
Boom!
With the sound of the gong, it was like the beginning or renewal of a new world.
This moment, in the records of the people in the future…
Was the day…
That humans, in the wasteland, for the future…
Had finally firmly moved forward!