Chapter 548: Failed Disguise, the First Encounter With a Human Territory Lord!
Mashal w.a.n.g’s “free speech” did not last for long.
The atmosphere around the table became increasingly gloomy.
He immediately realized that his words might have shattered the fantasy of those in the basin.
These people had lived in a peaceful territory and could never imagine how miserable the lives of the other survivors were outside their territory.
Compared to the peaceful situation in the basin, the chaotic situation in Origin Territory was far beyond their comprehension.
Marshal w.a.n.g held back when sharing about the despairful situation.
He wanted to tell them about the real situation and the endless war happening within the territory.
That place was h.e.l.l, and it was a human graveyard compared to the basin.
He held back seeing because of how generous Su Mo had been toward him.
Marshal w.a.n.g was like a beast licking its wounds as he lowered his head and began concentrating on the soup and rice in front of him.
Meanwhile, Lu Kuan noticed the weird atmosphere and quickly stood up, cleared his throat, and interrupted everyone deep in thought.
“Don’t just sit still thinking about it. Eat when there is food and work when there is a job to get done. What qualifications do you have to survive this apocalypse if you haven’t prepared yourself for it?
“The current situation isn’t that extreme yet! I’ve seen far worse than this before!
“Families separated and killed happened was so common. Camps with ten thousand people were infiltrated and destroyed overnight. A hundred acres of agriculture fields being burned in an instance was also normal!
“Think about being exposed to 80-degree heat or -100 degree winter, magnitude 14 windstorms, magnitude 10 earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, full-scale pandemics, and even a meteor impact…
“The desperation of the current situation is nothing compared to these!”
Lu Kuan continued to speak as if afraid that everyone did not believe his stories, and started to educate the people.
“Can you guys even imagine how terrifying it was when the temperature reached 80 degrees?
“It didn’t just suddenly rise but started from 20 degrees, gradually rose 5 degrees every hour, and continued for 12 hours. It tortured your mind and made you break down on the inside.
“You witnessed with your own eyes the water around you evaporating into the air, and the agricultural land cracked open to the point where the territory had become a terrifying desert with no gra.s.s overnight!
“Of course, I’m not talking about those who were able to hide underground and had insulation measures.
“At the start of the sudden temperature changes, most of the people experienced their bodies losing moisture, and gradually dehydrated skin. They became increasingly thirsty and lost consciousness, then turned into mummified corpses!”
Marshal w.a.n.g’s description of the current state of humanity was miserable but incomparable to the picture that Lu Kuan had painted.
Those who were present swallowed their saliva almost simultaneously, unsure whether to laugh or cry when they thought about the terrifying scene where a person evaporated into a mummified corpse in the blazing temperature.
“I’m sure everyone is aware of the truth that life is short even though it feels like forever!
“It doesn’t matter if we’re comfortable right now. Our situation would change overnight and wouldn’t be much better than these people if a devastating disaster suddenly fell upon us!
“Especially with how you all are reacting to it! You’re feeling sorry for them after hearing the sh*t that happened to them. Soon if something bad were to happen to us, we won’t be the ones sitting here feeling sorry for other people, we’ll become ones that people are feeling sorry for!”
Lu Kuan scolded them without consideration for other people’s reactions. After speaking, he sat down and buried his head in the porridge. He was like an old Frakeinstein with a bad temper.
Su Mo, who sat beside him, understood Lu Kuan’s intentions and quickly took over the conversation.
“Lu Kuan is right. Everyone here would be in trouble if something happened to the basin. We’re all ordinary people in the face of natural disasters and have to be prepared to fight for our survival.
“However, there are also different ways to survive. Some people regret the decisions they’ve made until the day they die, while some live their best lives forever at their peak.
“You guys don’t have to worry about Origin Territory. I already have a plan, and since we’ve got a lack in population, we can’t spare such an opportunity to recruit people from such a highly populated place!”
Any hint of immaturity in Su Mo’s actions and words was long gone, having developed the basin to the current scale.
He could immediately make a decision to send troops to Origin Territory during the winter and have large-scale recruitment.
However, he did not want to come off as overly dictatorial and take away the villagers’ autonomy, turning them into puppets without souls.
Leading a team was easy, but building up a team was difficult.
Fortunately, after putting in a lot of effort, the people had become eager and excited to experiment with new things.
Su Mo nodded in satisfaction.
A few moments later, after the twists and turns that happened during breakfast, it was time to begin their daily work routine in the basin.
Su Mo did not interfere with the work schedule set by the leaders.h.i.+p the day before and quickly waved for the people to go on with their work.
Next, he invited Marshal w.a.n.g to walk around the basin.
It was already eight o’clock in the morning. The sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly in the sky, and the rays of sunlight illuminated the basin.
Without modern industrial pollution, every breath of the heated winter air was incredibly fresh and refres.h.i.+ng!
Looking around the basin, the white snow in the distance was dazzling under the bright sunlight with a crystal-clear texture to it.
The gra.s.s nearby was covered in morning dew from the snow and looked like they had just taken a shower!
It had only been four to five days but the environment of the basin had undergone tremendous changes. They were imperceptible but truly existed with the addition of the territorial attribute of the Little Blessed Land.
“Marshal w.a.n.g, what do you think of my territory?”
They stepped on the snow on the way to the top of Iron Rock Mountain, which was 20 meters high. Su Mo sat down and crossed his legs, and his graceful aura radiated.
“It’s very strong. It’s my ideal territory!”
“Hmm? In what sense is it strong?”
Su Mo’s eyes flickered as he turned toward Marshal w.a.n.g and motioned for him to sit beside him.
Anyone who was familiar with Su Mo, such as Chen Shen, would immediately understand that his curiosity was raised just by looking at his reaction.
However, Marshal w.a.n.g was not closely acquainted with him yet and sat down without taking notice.
“Several powerful foreign territories surround this location, so there won’t be a need to worry about the invasion of smaller territories in the earlier stages.
“On the way here, I kept track of the size of the territory. From the border to the village is at least a hundred kilometers away, which is very advantageous to reduce unnecessary trouble.
“The environment in the territory is exceptional and very fertile. There will definitely be bountiful harvests from agriculture…
“The leaders.h.i.+p is filled with good people that have good intentions for the basin, and their management is…
“Although it’s a small population, everyone is filled with faith and strength…”
Once again, being in close contact with the infamous Almighty Su of the humans made Marshal w.a.n.g misunderstand the intentions. He simply threw out empty words and cliches, pretending to be talking eloquently.
Su Mo smiled but did not interrupt his performance.
He waited until Marshal w.a.n.g poured out everything he could and then finally asked him.
“What about compared to your territory?”
Boom!
Marshal w.a.n.g was still thinking about how to flatter Su Mo when suddenly his question fell like thunder from the sky, making Marshal w.a.n.g’s mind go blank.
“Compared to mine…” he uttered.
Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widened, and he turned to Su Mo with a shocked expression.
“Tell me about it. I’ve not seen many territory lords in the New World, but you’re the first human lord I’ve encountered. To be honest, I’m really curious!
Su Mo pointed in the direction of Freedom City and then toward the ents’ territory.
He withdrew his gaze and glanced at Marshal w.a.n.g.
“Su… Shelter leader, how did you find out…?”
“Ha! You don’t really think I’m that stupid, do you?”
Seeing Marshal w.a.n.g’s stuttering and overwhelmed face, Su Mo covered his face with a sad expression.
‘Fine. Maybe I put on a really realistic performance and made him think I was a fool!’
“Well, first of all, it would be impossible for you to hear about the Demon clan and pinpoint their exact location if you were just an ordinary person.
“Second, I don’t believe an ordinary person would have your physical condition or mental strength. You still had faith to survive despite being captured in the capital of a foreign race.
“Thirdly, you knew too much about Origin Territory. Your description of the territory did not match your statement during the interrogation that you were there for only five days.
“Fourthly, you had sympathy for ordinary people. A person fighting for survival would not have such compa.s.sion for others and would instead relate to their misfortune.
“Fifthly, to put it nicely, you speak in a very clear and coherent manner, able to maintain a proper balance in what to say and what not to say, but to put it in a bad way, you have a way of impersonating whoever or whatever race you’re interacting with. That’s not an ability that can be trained overnight.
“Sixthly, you said your wife and children were… but an ordinary person could never survive in the New World with the burden of his wife and children…
“Seventhly…”
“…”
Su Mo thought about it as he spoke and shared around sixteen suspicions about him.
When the first two suspicions of him were mentioned, cold sweat broke out on Marshal w.a.n.g’s forehead. His heart pounded hard, but he quickly thought of an explanation.
His words that were at the tip of his tongue were swallowed back after Su Mo stated the sixth suspicion about him.
He would have been able to explain one or two abnormalities, but five or more were no longer just speculations but concrete evidence!
Marshal w.a.n.g had not expected to have exposed himself so many times and began to listen attentively to the things that aroused suspicion as stated by Su Mo.
Su Mo ended with the last one, and Marshal w.a.n.g had completely given up. He did not struggle nor did he explain, and simply acknowledged his ident.i.ty.
“It’s pointless to keep up with the act since it’ll just waste our time.
“As expected from the Almighty Su. You’re right. I’m not just an ordinary person. I’m the territory lord of Origin Territory!”
Marshal w.a.n.g waved his hands in the air and opened his storage s.p.a.ce, taking out proof of his territory lord ident.i.ty.
An ordinary person that had yet to place a core would have a simple tortoisesh.e.l.l with no characteristics.
The tortoisesh.e.l.l would show cracked lines if it were a used and damaged core.
A territory lord’s tortoisesh.e.l.l would gradually be given life and begin to extend to other parts.
Although Marshal w.a.n.g’s tortoisesh.e.l.l was cracked, which meant his territory was destroyed or invaded, the flesh and blood that derived from the tortoisesh.e.l.l were enough to prove his ident.i.ty.
“There are sixteen lords in the Origin Territory. I used to be ranked fifth. The mountain I occupied was Mount Nine, and I was in power for 51 days!”
“The territory had a population of 4,600 people. 1,450 of them were good fighters, and the rest were ordinary manufacturers.
“At its peak, there were 140 ordinary wooden houses in the territory and more than 400 average caves. The food supplies were enough for everyone to eat for 32 days, and our weapons and armors were enough to equip 6,000 people.”
Su Mo was mentally prepared for the shock of another territory’s resources and population exceeding the basin, but when he heard the numbers from Marshal w.a.n.g, he subconsciously clicked his tongue.
“That much?”
“Definitely more!” Marshal w.a.n.g nodded.
“The reason we came to the New World was not that we were courageous, but because we were very fortunate in the early stages.
“I only had around 600 people under my wings, and I could not go anywhere with these people, so we wandered everywhere and would dig up any exposed ruins. We would also attack any foreign race base camps we found. Our development was insanely fast.
“My team grew to about 2,000 people in about a few dozen days, and some foreign races with populations of only a few hundred would flee when they saw us.”
Marshal w.a.n.g smiled as he recalled his glory days, and after he thought about the downfall, he smiled bitterly and sighed.
“Afterward, more and more powerful foreign races landed, and our good days were over.
“We fought our way through and didn’t have many casualties the first few battles. We were able to stabilize the hearts of the people, but in the later battles, we faced casualties totaling one-fifth of the group, and more than half of my people decided to quit and join other places. The rest who stayed lost their will to fight and just wanted a place to settle down.
“I was left with no choice as their voices surrounded me. I went everywhere to inquire about other humans and finally found a few groups of people who shared a common goal, then traveled together to the Great Mountain!
“During the trip, we took advantage of our numbers and attacked a few foreign races to acquire their resources. The alliance allowed everyone to s.h.i.+ne in different aspects, but the mutual trust built during this period was precisely the reason for our downfall!”
Marshal w.a.n.g reached out into the void and retrieved a rolled-up paper from his storage s.p.a.ce.
He swept away the small pebbles on the snow with his hands and spread out the map in front of Su Mo.
“This is the Great Mountain that you explored?”
“Yes, this is the approximate topography of the Great Mountain. The marked places on the map are places we have explored!”
Su Mo glanced at the map and recalled the time when he had the chance to momentarily see it before transferring the territory location.
He was able to confirm the authenticity of the map instantly.
It was real and much more detailed than expected!
“These red dots are the locations of the ruins you’ve found?”
Marshal w.a.n.g made an affirmative noise. “According to the value and type of relics, we divided them into three categories. The red circle represents ordinary ruins, which are basically of no value, and most were left behind by those who failed to survive in the past.
“The red triangle represents the medium-sized ruins, and we found many valuable things. You could even find survival resources such as guns if you were lucky.
“The red cross represents dangerous ruins. Although there are many highly valuable things inside, going in would cost your life!”
Su Mo pointed at a red exclamation mark and asked, “What about this place?”
“This place… was the cause of our tragedy!”
Successful people would brag about their courage to secure an opportunity when they had nothing.
Those who suffered great calamities would never share their miserable past.
However, Marshal w.a.n.g had already dropped his guard in front of Su Mo.
“Let me guess, the cause of the tragedy had something to do with… Blazeland?”
“You… how did you… Nevermind…Yes, it’s related to Blazeland!”
It was like playing chess, your opponent would be able to predict your next move.
Hearing that Su Mo had once again predicted his story, Marshal w.a.n.g felt like even his boxers’ color could be seen through.
“This place was the first dangerous ruins that we jointly explored, but I don’t know what happened while I was still inside. Chaos had broken out outside. My mountain had already become a battlefield by the time I came out,” Marshal w.a.n.g explained.
“Someone wanted to take my wife and children as hostages to make me surrender, but I’m no idiot. I knew they would not let them go even if I were to go back and surrender. My only hope was to escape and wander around for help!
“After that happened, I found the Demon clan and wanted to use them as my weapon to save them, but in the end…”
Marshal w.a.n.g stopped at the word “end”, and showed a hint of despair on his face.
His expression quickly changed into an inexplicable emotion after seeing Su Mo’s face.
In the end, he was not able to get the help of the powerful Demon clan and accidentally found the territory of the strongest human, Su Mo.
How could such an opportunity be simply described as “good luck”!
“So you’re not clear on what happened to the territory?”
“Yes, I don’t know what caused the fight!”
He shook his head honestly and wore an extremely sincere expression.
Su Mo’s eyes twitched as he watched Marshal w.a.n.g’s seemingly honest reaction.
Before this conversation, Origin Territory was still an easy target to recruit people to Su Mo’s basin.
Thinking of the others living in the brain box and Ma Fei’s description of the people from Blazeland, Su Mo opened his mouth.
“Would you dare to go back and see the situation if I gave you a troop?”
“Yes! I don’t even have to wait till tomorrow. I could even depart right now!”