Chapter 197: Selection of Seeds, Historic Collaboration!
“To travel thousands of miles to pick up younger sis, I must first have enough ammunition. Only ammunition can guarantee my safety while traveling!”
“Therefore, during the first batch of planting, I should start thinking of ways to plant cotton, and strive to get enough raw materials to make lots of bullets and explosives!”
Other types of plant seeds on the market were being swept away by the large shelters. There were even dozens of shelters that had spontaneously formed a major alliance in this chaotic market to purchase and resell a specific seed type.
However, there were a few plant seeds that were still in a state where no one cared about them!
Among those were cotton seeds!
In the early stages, when everyone did not have enough to eat, planting cotton without transportation facilities and market demand was equivalent to economic suicide! Plus, sowing cotton without sufficient moisture was difficult.
“If no one buys cotton seeds, that would be a bargain for me. I can plant large amounts of cotton. Besides guncotton, I can also make clothes.”
“When everyone’s first set of clothes is almost worn out, perhaps I’ll be able to bring some to the trading market and sell them.”
After suppressing his speculative imagination, Su Mo did not go directly to the trading market to purchase seeds, but secretly jotted this entry down in his diary.
Now was still not the craziest period for the seed market!
“If I had a million points, I could sweep the goods from the market without hesitation, but I only have around three thousand, so I still have to hold back for now.”
Looking greedily at the market transactions for a while, and finding out that 1kg of cotton seeds was being traded for 100g of food, Su Mo resisted the urge to buy them directly and turned to study other crops.
As the welfare disaster approached, until the last minute ticked over, the difference in seed prices would never reach its extreme limits!
If a large number of cotton seeds were purchased, the transactions would surely be discovered by those with intention, and these “financial ghosts” would intervene in the market and drive up the prices frantically.
On the contrary, if a large number of goods began to be moved at the last minute, the “funds” in these people’s hands would already be fully occupied. That time would be Su Mo’s showtime!
In addition, the craziest seed prices on the market were the three familiar varieties on Earth.
Potatoes, spring wheat, and… rice.
Among the three, the most prominent spring wheat had reached a sky-high price of one catty of seeds being traded for ten catties of food. With the addition of express delivery charges, it was prohibitively expensive for ordinary people.
“The price of spring wheat is too high. It is impossible to plant large amounts of spring wheat. At this point, I just want to plant a large number of plants and harvest them.”
“Only the last road left belongs only to me!”
Such a market was unexpected even for Su Mo.
The more humans that survived, the harder it would become to predict the market based on human resources.
Su Mo continued to peruse the prices of all the plants to make sure that he remembered and familiarized himself with each of them. Then he closed the game panel automatically.
In his diary, Su Mo began to consolidate the current seed reserves in the shelter:
The “strong disaster-resilient” version of wheat seeds from the first prize draw when he gained the Deep-sea Shelter, totaling 25kg.
High-yield, low-disaster-resistant dry rice seeds, totaling 50kg, were obtained from opening the dozens of bronze treasure chests.
The New World rewards for his three new plant varieties, from which he received a total of 5,000 high-nutrient Huaxia’s No.1 large tomato seeds, 500g plump and juicy Chinese cabbage seeds, and 15kg of high-yield garlic seeds.
Currently, these seeds were all the shelter had as seed reserves. Five acres of black soil land was more than enough to grow these, but it would be a little stretched if he were to cooperate with the shelter in the west.
However, it wasn’t as if there was no way to deal with the situation at all, just that there were still risks a.s.sociated with it!
“As long as I can plant excellent-quality crops when the welfare disaster commences, I can use the new seeds obtained from the harvest and perhaps set aside a large number of excellent-quality seeds to plant the next day to expand the production level on the third day.”
“But it’s still too risky!”
“In the best-case scenario, I can obtain the “time currency” that Zhong Qingshu mentioned in advance so that I can try cultivating them before the disaster strikes.”
It takes 100% effort to grow excellent-quality crops. Su Mo was not clear about the exact requirements, but it would not be a simple matter to devote a hundred percent of himself to this simple mechanical task.
As for upgrading, Su Mo tried to scan the seeds with the system, but found that the seeds were just like the ordinary equipment from before. After the system failed to recognize them, Su Mo had to give up this path.
“I can’t be impatient, after preparing enough ammunition tonight, tomorrow I will drive the excavator directly to the shelter in the west for a face-to-face negotiation!”
“We would be bound together for both good and bad, so I hope they can understand this truth too!”
Calming down, Su Mo observed the growing pile of guncotton. Then he moved the stool aside, turned on the laser manufacturing machine, and put the materials into the machine.
Sufficient power, good materials, and a complete production line…
The identical bullets were carved with Su Mo’s unique mark, and they popped into the collection bucket and were neatly arranged.
Seeing that more and more 7.62mm bullets were being manufactured, Su Mo laid on the chair in front of the workbench and closed his eyes.
The sound of bullets popping into the box was jarring, it could even be said to be noisy.
However, it was precisely this kind of sound, that was full of “power” and “strength”, that brought more ease than silence in the doomsday wasteland.
…
The moon set and the sun rose.
When the sun’s rays appeared on the horizon for the first time, Su Mo’s biological clock, trained over the many days in the wasteland, woke him up gradually.
From lying on the chair to lying on the table, his unnatural sleeping posture had obviously caused Su Mo some back pain, but he was extremely comfortable on the inside.
Two large buckets with 6000 rounds of yellow-orange bullets were in displayed front of him.
The scent of heated metal had yet to dissipate as well!
After inhaling it greedily once, he beckoned for the lion clan’s wind ability to clear away the dust and smell, and the three underground floors felt clean and fresh again.
Su Mo took out the psychic energy water and drank it. Stretching his waist, he stood up and walked up to the second floor.
Ever since she inherited the divinity of the Heavenly Dog, while Oreo had no changes in her IQ, she had become more and more humanlike.
When she found out that Su Mo was sleeping, she did not bother him mischievously. She even acted more like a parent, bringing the noisy Big Spark and Little Spark to the second floor to play among themselves.
After routinely checking that there was no danger within a kilometer’s radius near the shelter, Su Mo opened the doors of the shelter one by one and returned above-ground.
The sky was clear and the breeze was refres.h.i.+ng.
The morning sun brought warmth to all people, the blue sky and white clouds blended peacefully, and the cold weather seemed to be gradually receding.
If not for the white snow covering the land, it was hard to imagine that there had been a terrible blizzard that could have wiped out half of mankind just a few days ago.
The dirt path leading to the Black Soil Land was slightly moist under the nourishment of the melting ice and snow.
“Okay, very good. Such moist land is good enough for planting, and every plant can receive enough water and nutrients!”
Lowering his body, Su Mo turned over some of the soil with his hands and found that some plants had not completely died in the cold winter and were re-germinating. The feeling of joy was spreading inside Su Mo.
After the barren basin was moisturized by the snow, the cracked ground began to heal. It became hard to notice its previous barren state.
Except for lots of sand and rocks, it was not any worse than the fertile plains in the west.
Stopping and going along the way, Su Mo walked to the end of the dirt road that had been opened up.
Looking around the pleasing Black Soil Land of five mu, Su Mo returned along the path he came from. It was 8am when he arrived back at the shelter.
[Doomsday Calendar Month 1, Day 26]
[You cleared a dirt road leading directly to land resources in front of the shelter, developing a transportation route. (Survival points +30)]
[Lying on the chair, you had a good night’s sleep, and your overdrawn mental exhaustion has been completely restored. (Survival points +10)]
[You have uncovered a certain secret, but have not completely solved it. The satellite base awaits your exploration. (Survival points +20)]
[You have bred three brand new varieties of plants and received a lot of rewards. You are very happy. (Survival points +200)]
[You have successfully achieved the world’s first and highest glory and opened the profession rankings. Among all the wasteland humans, your prestige is spreading across the world. (Survival points +1000)]
[You were successfully promoted to an advanced-level gardener. The path of gardening is getting wider and wider. (Survival points +500)]
[Scanning host survival environment. Survival points evaluation in progress. 341 survival points gained today.]
…
Total calculation: Survival points +2101
Survival points remaining: 17976
As a standard “web resource expert”, Su Mo felt a burst of happiness from the bottom of his heart when he saw the survival points counter approaching the 18000 mark!
According to the standards specified by the system, the fourth function should be activated when he collected one hundred thousand survival points.
At present, there were no pressing demands for the shelter, so Su Mo simply decided to save them up. When it became necessary to use the survival points to expand the combat ability or productivity of the shelter, he would invest in it and strive for greater benefits.
“Before the welfare disaster strikes, my survival points should be able to break through to about 20000. I can finally be free of the most difficult days from the early stages!”
From hanging by a thread in the early days, where every single survival point counted, to now having close to 20000 survival points, whether in terms of his mental or physical state, Su Mo had achieved an amazing level of growth!
From being just an ordinary company employee on Earth, a low-level white-collar worker with a monthly salary of 30000 to 40000 yuan a month, to becoming an idol wors.h.i.+pped by billions of people in the wasteland.
Having undergone this transformation, Su Mo was satisfied with his achievements thus far!
“It’s time to contact the shelter in the west. Before the next disaster strikes, my stand-alone game will finally be connected to the LAN!”
Swallowing the last bite of his pancake and drinking some psychic energy water, Su Mo focused mentally, and the game panel quietly emerged.
The friends’ list containing hundreds of people popped up. In the list, he found Zhong Qingshu’s avatar. Su Mo smiled indifferently and then dialed the first friendly phone call that could be recorded in the history of the wasteland!