Chapter 204: Clue, World Of Talismans!
“A flood… a catastrophic flood. The welfare disaster has disappeared and all that remains is this catastrophic disaster!”
The blood-red countdown was emotionless and threatening. Su Mo’s heart twisted seeing the welfare disaster’s green, hopeful, color replaced by this ominous red countdown.
He tried opening the game interface’s chat function. When he realized the chat function had been sealed off, Su Mo could only turn his attention elsewhere and try to see if any other functions could be turned on.
Creation, locked…
Trade, locked…
Storage s.p.a.ce, locked!
When he summoned the extraordinary strength of the Underground Shelter, nothing happened at all!
Having been used to the game panel’s various functions, upon discovering that all the functions had vanished, Su Mo finally realized why so many humans chose to abandon the shelters created by the game and gradually distance themselves from the game panel’s functions.
If one was overly reliant on the conveniences that the game panel provided, at key moments like this, they would be helpless in the face of disaster.
If not for the psychic energy water being able to quickly heal injuries, Su Mo would also only be able to lie on the ground and watch wide-eyed as the water flooded into the Underground Shelter and drowned him to death.
“d.a.m.n it, what exactly happened? Why can’t I remember the days leading up to the disaster? Have I entered a completely different s.p.a.ce?”
The memories in his brain seemed to have been forcibly pulled away. Just a second ago, he had still been on the third floor of the shelter, eating deliciously sweet boiled cabbage and summoning the system to appraise the talisman.
Then in the next second, he suddenly fainted and, when he woke up, he was suddenly faced with the arrival of a catastrophic flood.
“Could the disaster have happened in advance because I touched the talisman? Or have I been lying here unconscious for weeks?”
Feeling his body regain some strength, he grabbed the edges of the psychic energy water well. Su Mo tugged at the rope forcefully, and a bucket filled with psychic energy water slowly dragged up.
In his frantic state, Su Mo paid no heed to the sweetness of the psychic energy water at all. He laid beside the bucket and gulped down the clear water inside rapidly.
The strong effect of the psychic energy water could be compared to drugs, and because its energy was so special, its healing effects were almost instantaneous!
Unexpectedly, after drinking 300ml of psychic energy water, no major changes occurred immediately, hinting at the serious nature of his injuries. Despite that, it still hydrated his parched body.
“Is this the real world? Or is it a fantasy world created by the talisman?”
Sitting on the ground, he felt strength returning to his arms and legs. Su Mo’s mind worked quickly, as he tried to recall the events that led up to this predicament.
However, with the pressure of the countdown weighing upon him, Su Mo was unable to focus and calm himself down; the blood-red numbers ticking down slowly in his mind!
“F*ck it! No matter whether it’s real or fake, I must think of a way to leave quickly and climb the iron ore mountain. Otherwise, when the flood arrives, I’ll have nowhere to run.”
He rested for another five minutes, allowing his injured body to regain movement capabilities. Ignoring the need to gather supplies, Su Mo took large strides and dashed toward the first-floor garage while covering his head!
While his body was not at its peak state, he wasn’t slow either due to his enhanced physical capabilities.
In a short while, he reached the first floor and turned on the lights on the wall. He could now see the first floor’s condition clearly.
The floor, walls and ceiling were covered in a thick layer of grey dust, indicating a state of disuse and disrepair.
It was to the point that, when he looked carefully, he could see flecks of dust swirling about in the air that were kicked up by his vigorous movements.
Everything inside, including Earth Tiger, was covered in a layer of dust.
Based on the thickness of the layer of dust, the Underground Shelter seemed to be untouched for at least half a month.
Staring at the disaster countdown at the top right corner of the game panel, Su Mo was not in the mood to speculate about what had taken place in the Underground Shelter either.
Quickly moving forward, he pulled on the winch. With creaking sounds, the large gate of the garage slowly started rising.
At the same time, the rustling breeze of the wind blowing wildly against the tree branches outside, as well as the light of blood-red moon, crept in.
“This… this is the Underground Shelter?”
Before opening the door, Su Mo was one hundred percent certain that this was definitely the Underground Shelter, but when he opened the door and saw a completely foreign outside world, he started to doubt himself…
Dense trees populated the surroundings, whose tree trucks measured two meters in diameter at their thinnest, and seven meters in diameter at their thickest.
Different plants covered the previously barren ground, and the jade-green tree leaves shook in the wind. The lush green expanse stretched over the entire surrounding terrain!
If not for the blood-red moon in the sky, the current situation could have been described as a scene in a fairytale forest.
[Record]: The World Extinction Flood Punishment Disaster will arrive in 10 minutes. All players, please prepare your disaster resistance measures.
[Record]: Once again, all players, please be prepared!
The piercing game notification echoed into his ears. Su Mo continued to evaluate his surroundings as every second counted.
After turning on the lights and quickly identifying the path through the forest, Su Mo turned around decisively and rushed toward Earth Tiger.
Su Mo was grateful for his habit of always leaving things prepared. Currently, Earth Tiger’s fuel tank was already full of diesel, and the key was in the ignition as well, allowing him to set off at a moment’s notice.
“Although the game panel’s storage s.p.a.ce can’t be opened, at least Earth Tiger’s storage s.p.a.ce is working and actually contains a lot of fast food!”
When he attempted to open Earth Tiger’s storage s.p.a.ce, there was a flash of light, and the storage s.p.a.ce was opened.
Moreover, inside the s.p.a.ce were supplies that Su Mo had no impression of at all.
Boxes of hardtacks were piled together, engraved with the brand of the civilized era. At the same time, there were a few boxes of unopened Yibao mineral water and Farmer’s Spring mineral water mixed together.
With these, as well as sufficient energy reserves, Su Mo did not hesitate any longer; he only had nine minutes left on the countdown. He stomped on Earth Tiger’s gas pedal, and the person and vehicle shot forward like an arrow leaving the bowstring!
With the bright headlights and the blood-red moon illuminating the way, night in the wasteland was as clear as day, allowing him to easily navigate through his surroundings.
Following the trampled path in the forest, after figuring out the route toward the iron ore mountain, Earth Tiger dashed forth with a roar.
He was racing against time, racing with life and death. Motivated by the ever-decreasing disaster countdown, Su Mo’s driving skills seemed to receive a boost. He spent just five minutes completing a drive down a path that would usually be difficult to complete in twenty minutes.
The iron ore mountain still towered over the wasteland, 40 meters high.
This height was not quite enough to face the flood’s high tide that would reach 38 meters at its peak, but considering the flat terrain that was within a 200-kilometer radius, this place had become the final and only hope for survival!
Su Mo carefully drove up the winding mountain road, as he inspected the completely different topography and terrain below.
The barren basin at the moment had already been transformed.
Everywhere the naked eye could see was pretty much completely covered in green trees. Even in the distance, there was a river that was five to six kilometers long, meandering through the forest.
“Just what exactly happened? Why is there such a big difference from my memory?”
As Earth Tiger climbed higher and higher, Su Mo’s field of vision became even wider. At the same time, the height brought with it a sense of safety, gradually soothing the panic in Su Mo’s heart.
After driving Earth Tiger up to the platform at the peak of the mountain, Su Mo hurriedly opened the car door and stepped out eagerly to observe just where the flood, that was two minutes away from happening, would come from.
Currently, the view from the mountaintop was extremely broad. Under the illumination of the blood-red moon, Su Mo was able to distinguish his surroundings clearly.
“It seems this place has already undergone the welfare disaster, which is why it’s facing the flood disaster next!”
Aside from the few remote corners that still had a bit of snow left, most places were covered in trees and signs of plant activity; almost all the snow from the blizzard disaster had melted.
Based on this line of thought, the flood definitely was not the frightening result brought about by the evaporation of ice and snow.
“The water of the Yellow River comes from the sky?”
He had no equipment with him, just the big, bare stone platform and Earth Tiger. Su Mo had rushed here hastily and did not bring along any supplies to prepare any sort of disaster resistance measures, so he could only sit on the ground and quietly wait for the disaster to arrive!
It was different from the anxious waiting before the blizzard previously. Surprisingly, sitting on the high platform this time, Su Mo’s heart quickly calmed down and he managed to pick up on details that he had not noticed earlier in his haste.
“If this truly was the real world, the game panel might be blocked, but the system definitely wouldn’t be. Even the talisman couldn’t stop the system from evaluating it, so how could this world possibly do so!
“Either the system is too strong and the thing that mimicked this world doesn’t have enough energy to replicate the system, or this thing can’t detect the system at all and has naturally removed it from existence in this world.”
It had looked like the real world on the way here, but as Su Mo closely observed the situation and thought things through, many doubts began to surface.
Although this world had worked very hard to mimic what Su Mo was familiar with, the closer it looked to the real thing, the more it would expose the small flaws and differences, making this world feel neither here nor there.
From the weakness he felt, to the location the psychic energy water was placed; the various fast food items stored in Earth Tiger’s storage s.p.a.ce; and finally the path toward the iron ore mountain outside the forest—things had looked seamless, but it all went against a very important principle:
The development and possibilities brought about by the system!
“If outsiders were unaware of the system’s existence, then this current situation would be the optimal solution, since everything was prepared for escape and survival.”
“However, in reality, if I had the system, the supplies in Earth Tiger would absolutely not consist solely of food. The tank for psychic energy water would not have been placed in the corner either; it could fall over at the slightest push. This forest is even more unbelievable—how could I have planted such trees that can only be used for ornaments!”
Once he was 80% sure that this world was fake, Su Mo stared at the countdown patiently. He stood up with interest and looked into the distance.
10…
8…
4…
3…
2…
1…
The twelve o’clock chime sounded on time throughout the heavens and the earth. As the light of the blood-red moon suddenly flickered, turning the world darker, a surging wave suddenly appeared at the end of the horizon…
The catastrophic flood had finally arrived!