Chapter 386: Stripping Silk From Coc.o.o.ns, The Last Moment Before The Storm!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
There were countless real-life examples on Earth that proved that, when human beings had to make a choice, if there were no extraordinary external factors affecting their decision, their choice would definitely be to…
Put their own interests first!
Hence, although there were many people in the game’s World Channel clamoring for an all-out war with the foreign races, wanting to win the first battle as proof that humankind had arrived at this new wasteland world, Su Mo had every reason to believe that, when the actual war began, at least 80% of these people would run away faster than rabbits.
It was not that Su Mo lacked faith in the survivors on this wasteland, it was just the way things were.
Before they arrived at the wasteland, back on Earth, these people might have been white-collar workers, students, ordinary workers in a car repair shop by the highway, or even owners of fly-attracting roadside eateries.
During these two months on the wasteland, they learned to survive, they learned how to build s.h.i.+ps, they learned to adapt to a completely different lifestyle and work in teams. They learned how to be strong and live on!
However, if one were to really ask them to fight against those scary-looking foreign races who seemed unafraid of death, that would practically be asking for the impossible!
The ocean had never been the home turf of humankind.
The battle was also destined to be a brutal one.
Human lives that were usually so precious would instantaneously become another statistical number in a real war.
If it started according to the schedule predicted by those in the higher echelons, this great war would take the place of the tsunami disaster.
The final result would be that humankind’s death toll would be lowered by a mere few percent, but there would still be a large number of human souls lost at sea.
Exploiting the game’s mechanics to create such a “perfect” scenario was something that was almost impossible to achieve!
Unless…
“The appearance of this tsunami disaster definitely did not come out of nowhere. There must be some people with malicious intentions behind this. Based on the current situation, there’s a ninety percent chance it wasn’t the result of human actions.”
“In that case, the remaining two possible culprits are the foreign marine races and the foreign terrestrial races.”
“In regards to the foreign terrestrial races, the early arrival of the tsunami disaster would be of little benefit to them. Their s.h.i.+ps would also be affected by the tsunami, and their combat strength would be reduced by more than 30%. It can be considered a situation that would deal a blow to others, but wouldn’t benefit them in the slightest either.”
“However, for the foreign marine races, the early arrival of the tsunami disaster would not only strengthen their home ground advantage, but also allow them to quickly complete their arrival process and gain the upper hand.”
Even though he was lying in bed, at this moment, Su Mo’s mind was still running at full speed, and various thoughts were beginning to stream out at a rapid pace.
One after another, invisible threads of information seemed to solidify and float past Su Mo’s eyes, connecting together and automatically undergoing a.n.a.lysis and extraction.
In the past, if the quantum processor in Su Mo’s brain was equivalent to a Pentium single-core CPU then, even if some algorithms were set up, it would not be able to process much information.
However, with his recent all-round improvements in physical fitness, and the addition of the t.i.tle of Ocean Admiral, Su Mo’s brain structure had also begun to undergo some invisible changes.
These subtle changes might have only upgraded his brain’s quantum processor from a single-core processor to a dual-core processor, but Su Mo could already feel the difference, as if a limiter had been released, allowing him to “see” and process more information.
“The real target of the foreign terrestrial races would definitely not be the G.o.d of the Ocean. Their goals aren’t so lofty, and they have neither the resolve nor the cohesion to accomplish such a goal.”
“And their previous marine hunting plan should have been leaked to the foreign marine races by now.”
“If I think about this situation from a different perspective, what would I do if I was a leader of a foreign marine race or a foreign terrestrial race?”
After asking himself that question, the circ.u.mstances of the entire situation gradually became clear, and a previously translucent thread of thought slowly turned tangible as Su Mo continued his a.n.a.lysis.
As long as this thread of thought could be determined, the current situation on the wasteland ocean would be revealed in its entirety before Su Mo’s eyes.
The final goals of these two groups of foreign races would also be completely exposed.
This…
Was a “lifeline” in Su Mo’s eyes!
At five o’clock in the morning, the most important 10% of the entire sequence of events had been deciphered by Su Mo!
At 5.48 am, when the sky on the surface of the sea began to turn bright, there was another small breakthrough in the progress of his a.n.a.lysis of the sequence of events. He had now deciphered about twenty percent!
Almost every second, the information he collected from all over the wasteland would rapidly flash through Su Mo’s mind. The useless information was discarded, while the useful information was compiled.
It was even to the point that a few words would be extracted by Su Mo from a single sentence that might contain some information, which were then pa.r.s.ed together with information extracted from the next sentence, forming new clues.
Even if one used the game panel’s filter function, thousands of messages would still fly across the screen in a single minute in the crowded World Channel.
The bits of news that were revealed in these messages were not spared by Su Mo during what was destined to be his second sleepless night.
Conducting a detailed a.n.a.lysis was like stripping silk from a coc.o.o.n, which was usually most difficult right at the beginning.
Toward the later stages, the difficulty of deciphering the information would sharply decrease as the amount of a.n.a.lyzed information increased.
By the time the alarm rang at 7 o’clock in the captain’s quarters, Su Mo had already deciphered up to 70% of the crucial sequence of events.
The reason why it stopped there was not because of the alarm clock either. Rather, it was because, in order to complete the a.n.a.lysis, he needed the final piece of evidence to verify his conjecture!
As for the source of this piece of evidence, it was the still yet-to-be seen…
Foreign marine races!
“Now, I just need the last critical piece of information!
“As long as I can capture a foreign marine race commander, one with a core, I’ll be able to connect to their shelter core and find out the information I need.”
“There might not even be a need to sacrifice human lives to start this war of the three races!”
Clenching his fists slightly and toying with this bold idea in his mind, Su Mo let out a long exhale of breath to calm himself down.
Gradually, as time pa.s.sed, Su Mo finally started feeling sleepy. He did not resist the sensation, as he fell into a deep sleep on his bed.
…
On the other side, most of the human survivors floating around in the ocean finally ushered in a rare moment of respite this morning.
On the third day of the tsunami disaster, although the height and the degree of fluctuation of the waves had increased even further, there was one piece of news that prompted some cheer among the survivors.
Starting from 8 o’clock in the morning, the duration of each phase of the tsunami disaster would be increased from half an hour to an hour.
Previously, it was a half-hour of tsunami waves, and then a half-hour of respite. Now, it was an hour-long tsunami, followed by an hour-long respite.
In terms of time calculation, the total duration of respite each day was still 12 hours.
However, for the survivors who had already been kept on tenterhooks for two days, this change was enough for everyone to revive their spirits, igniting new hope!
Furthermore, aside from this change, after two days of the survivors gathering up, the number of lone wolves on the ocean had also decreased. Instead what roamed the ocean now were fleets of various sizes.
Under the official shelters’ rallying cry, with s.h.i.+ps of these large shelters as the backbones, “large nets” were quickly “cast” in the Regional Channels to gather everyone together.
Those with small numbers, comprising teams of ten or twenty s.h.i.+ps, used hemp ropes to link them to each other, ensuring that when the waves came, everyone would be able to support each other and stay together.
Those with large numbers, such as the Tundra fleet, directly purchased iron chains forged by the enduring faction and tied all of their large and small s.h.i.+ps together, allowing the larger s.h.i.+ps to act as anchors and s.h.i.+elds for the smaller s.h.i.+ps.
Nevertheless, for the ordinary survivors, today’s changes were indeed a welcome change for the better.
However, for those in the know among the middle and higher echelons, such a change heightened the sense of impending crisis in their hearts a little more.
Inside Tundra One of the Tundra fleet…
On this fifty-meter long s.h.i.+p of the line, an urgent meeting had already been called just after 8 o’clock in the morning.
Unlike Hope One’s s.p.a.cious conference room, Tundra One’s war room was only about ten square meters in size.
As it was a wooden battles.h.i.+p, there was only one small window in the war room, which made the interior look extremely dark.
Outside the war room, there were about thirty people standing around.
Some of these people were smoking pipes, some were picking at their feet, some were silently flipping through a book in their hands, and some were anxiously a.s.sessing the situation in the outside world.
They were all captains of the small boats in the fleet. For the time being, they were not yet qualified to enter the war room, so they could only wait outside for the “big shots” to come up with solutions and results.
Switching the perspective to inside the war room, there were more than ten people inside the dim room at this moment.
Contrary to the quiet waiting on the outside, the “big shots” in the war room started kicking up a fuss as soon as they arrived!
“Shelter Leader Lu, as I said last night, continuing on like this will definitely not work out. You can see it now, right?”
“It’s still alright with the large and small s.h.i.+ps connected together. We can still maintain the size of our defensive perimeter but, if you let these raft teams follow us, not only will our defensive perimeter expand almost tenfold, it will also create pressure for us in terms of supplies and resources.”
“If we maintain this current situation for another day, no, another half a day, with these raft teams holding us back, there’s no way we can shake off these squads of foreign races following behind us.”
“The moment we give them the opportunity, or if they discover a loophole in our defenses, these rafts teams would become their breakthrough points!”
A bald, s.h.i.+rtless man shouted as he slammed his hands on the summary report of yesterday’s battle that was on the table in the center of the war room.
Before Shelter Leader Lu could even say a word in response, someone stoody up next to the bald man. He was a thin, yet tall and unusually fit man.
“Yes, Shelter Leader Lu, Zhang Long is right. Our kindness is now an act of irresponsibility to the people on the s.h.i.+ps. If we don’t shake off these foreign races, one day we’ll be threatened and devoured by them!”
“On the first day, there were only two squads of foreign marine races behind us. Just overnight, it increased to six squads, an addition of a full four squads. I have a hunch that the reason why they’re not attacking us yet is not because they’re afraid of our firepower, but rather that the other squads they contacted have yet to arrive.”
“Once they gain enough momentum, we might not be able to escape even if we wanted to!”
The tall man’s speech seemed to trigger something and, instantly, another four people stood up to state different reasons.
These reasons ranged from concerns that chaos would lead to gaps in the chain of command, to insinuations that such people would simply flee in the face of danger, to statements that those who achieved great things would not let the minor details hinder them, or even that the road to success was paved with sacrifices…
The reasonings offered by each speaker were different, but their goals were one and the same…
Abandon the raft team!
Abandon the raft team that was currently following the Tundra fleet; the raft team that numbered close to five thousand!