Chapter 350: Another Upgrade, The Perfect Disguise!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As the saying went—comfort, curiosity, and copulation were the primary production forces of mankind.
If one were to look at things from the perspective of fire usage, fire-making technology was developed for survival by people of those times. That was the most basic human need which had to be solved.
From the perspective of food, the invention of various seasonings had resolved the human demand for delicious flavors.
Since manual work was inefficient and tiring, humans invented machinery as a subst.i.tute for using their hands, which not only greatly improved efficiency but also freed humans from a lot of predicaments.
Since human calculating efficiency was too low, mankind also invented computers to subst.i.tute for the human brain, which helped them complete many tedious tasks.
Therefore, on this grand occasion of wasteland s.h.i.+pbuilding, now that everyone had abandoned the need for ‘comfort’, the first wave of responses was hard to believe.
Su Mo slept comfortably until two o’clock in the afternoon. It was only when he was lying in his comfortable, warm bed and browsing routinely through the World Channel that he discovered the terrible situation that the ordinary humans were currently facing.
At seven or eight in the morning, when all the villagers of Hope Village checked the news, they could still find one or two serious threads talking about actual important things amid the overwhelming complaints, albeit with difficulty.
However, at this point in the afternoon, after the sun blazed overhead, Su Mo checked for nearly twenty minutes, but he could not see a single serious piece of news.
“Last night, I thought that Sun Xian’s wooden raft with its tires was the most primitive boat, and the ride experience was extremely bad.
“Now, though, it seems that these large sand s.h.i.+ps aren’t any better. Over a dozen people are crowded into a s.p.a.ce of less than ten square meters, and you can’t even stretch out to go to sleep. These conditions are really far too awful!”
Like the notorious slave trade of years past, everybody’s current situation in the wasteland was no better than it had been in those days!
In other words, it was the previous expectations about going to sea which had caused humans to be optimistic. This had led to the current disparity between their views and what was actually going on, which made it very hard to accept reality.
Setting out to sea and being on a s.h.i.+p was not like playing “survival on a raft”. It took much more than just a click of the mouse or typing on the keyboard to travel on the ocean.
Seasickness could really…
Cause death!
The instinctive reaction, when faced with such extremes in terms of s.p.a.ce and pa.s.sengers, was that one’s experience of traveling on a s.h.i.+p swiftly went downhill.
Currently, in the World Channel, most of the people complaining were pa.s.sengers on the sand s.h.i.+ps.
In contrast, the raft—a conveyance formatted using a system core—highlighted certain advantages, as well as the reason for the game’s selection.
It was open and ventilated on all sides, and the people sailing on it could focus, immersing themselves body and soul into drifting on the sea.
This was the same as car drivers not getting motion sick. With this kind of mental concentration, the symptoms of seasickness would be greatly reduced, and it was possible to resume a normal life.
On the other end, however, the sand s.h.i.+p’s tonnage was insufficient, and it was extremely difficult for air circulation to occur in the lower watertight deck.
Under such circ.u.mstances, even people who were not seasick would feel dizzy due to the acc.u.mulation of carbon dioxide and the reduction of oxygen after staying on board for a while.
In this case, never mind combat—if one could even pick up weapons and rush out, one would be considered in good physical condition.
“This won’t do. I need to find a way to ask Shen Ke what the situation is on Tundra One!”
The more one was concerned about something, the more frantic one would feel!
After arriving on deck, Su Mo took delivery of Chen Shen’s supplies and sent back a message saying that everything was fine. He then looked at Shen Ke’s avatar and began quietly murmuring.
Having taken into consideration that Hope One’s position could not be exposed for the time being, Su Mo texted his question after carefully phrasing it.
On the other end, Shen Ke was not surprised by this. About five minutes later, he transmitted over a piece of good news.
Like ordinary s.h.i.+ps, Tundra One had also encountered seasickness on a large scale.
However, a s.h.i.+p of the line was over ten times more stable than a sand s.h.i.+p.
Coupled with the 150 seats reserved previously, Tundra One had enough s.p.a.ce and places for these ‘sick pa.s.sengers’ to rest.
In addition to this, because Tundra One was an official s.h.i.+p, they were notified in time the minute the seasickness flared up.
In the early stages, the medical staff on board gave some degree of treatment to the individuals who were seasick.
At the same time, Tundra One did not raise its sails and head to the battle location at full speed but drifted slowly on the sea instead. This allowed everyone to adapt to the motion of the water first.
Therefore, after about half a day, Tundra One’s condition was considerably better than that of the ordinary shelters!
“Gaze into the distance, take a deep breath and relax, and find a position in the middle of the s.h.i.+p…
“But it’s still best to try and find some medicine for seasickness?”
When he saw the message that Shen Ke sent over, Su Mo logged into the market curiously and searched for the currently available stock for seasickness pills.
The main reason for seasickness was that on a s.h.i.+p without windows, everyone could feel they were moving, but they were unable to see it.
The inner ear communicated this information to the brain, which sensed the movement, but the eyes were telling the brain that everything was stationary.
This inconsistency led the brain to conclude that:
[I am hallucinating! → Toxic substances cause hallucinations! → I have ingested toxic substances! → I have to spit it out! (Legendary logic)]
It was because of this logic that corresponding seasickness medicines had been developed.
Everyone had different theories—some medicines functioned on the same principle as ginger, some could numb the nerves in the intestines, and some could suppress the alarm signals in the intestines and stomach, but the final effects were still related to the brain.
It was difficult to produce chemicals that affected the brain safely from scratch, so most of the stock on the market had been obtained from treasure chests.
“One unit of seasickness medicine that can be used for half a day costs 200 catties of food. That’s not too expensive, and for those who need it, that’s definitely not an issue.
“After taking seasickness medicine, however, there’s no way to train one’s ability to adapt to motion on the sea. If one wishes to slowly accustom one’s body to seasickness, one will still have to endure and go through it.
“Therefore, during the adaptation period given to everyone in this game, the medication has become an Achilles’ heel instead.”
Su Mo nodded slightly as he unpacked the fireworks and animal costumes and laid them out.
This time, even merchants did not dare to re-sell seasickness medication. The profit was low, the risks were high, and if the medicines were used for investment, they might very well depreciate while still in the hands of the sellers.
Of course, if someone could develop a cheap seasickness medicine that could be supplied in large quant.i.ties—despite the difficulty of being able to corner a market of billions of people—it was highly likely that they would be able to obtain an astronomical amount of resources, as long as the first wave of the drug could be manufactured in time.
“It’s such a pity that there are no such corresponding apparatus and talents in the village. It would be quite difficult to ask them to research this.
“Most of them have free time, though, so it’s possible to let them try. On the off-chance that they’re actually able to develop something, even if it’s only of minimal use, it’s more than enough to gather in a lot of money!
“Not only that, it will be of huge help to the human race!”
After taking all the items out and piling them on the ground, Su Mo pulled up the game panel again after a moment of thought and signed permission for Chen Shen to use the materials in the village.
When researching and developing seasickness medicine, Hope Village could use up to 20% of its materials to study this topic.
Of course, it was best if a seasickness medicine could be developed. If that were not possible, these materials could also be used to cultivate a wave of “high-level talents” that might appear in the village.
It could be considered killing two birds with one stone!
After sending out the instructions, the OS reported that Hope One was about to arrive at the first navigation point.
On the radar, Su Mo was already able to ‘see’ the scouts sent out by the third group of foreign races. He paused for a split second, and his preparations quickened.
If one wanted fireworks to be seen by people dozens of kilometers away, in addition to the sound, one would need to light the entire sky up with a fireworks display.
Therefore, this time, the villagers had purchased mostly single fireworks that could be shot up to 200 meters high. Although the colors and patterns might not be very appealing, they were certainly eye-catching.
Once six o’clock rolled around, the sky would darken, and they could proceed to set off the fireworks.
Since there were no obstacles on the wasteland ocean to block one’s view, even if half the foreign races in this third group were blind, they would definitely be able to see the display.
On his end, Chen Shen obviously understood what Su Mo wanted to do with the animal costumes used for disguise, so he had not chosen merely one kind.
There were currently three garments on the ground, comprised of the following.
A pale yellow “Simba” outfit.
A light black “tiger” outfit.
The last was a very Western fantasy-style “mermaid” costume.
These three outfits should all have been cosplay outfits that had been found in treasure chests. Although they looked remarkably realistic, traces of human handiwork were still evident.
From a distance, they looked fine, but if the live broadcast started, there would most certainly be a problem.
“If we’re going to put up a show, we need to go all out.
“It’s definitely too late for me to make changes on the spot, but…
“I have the system!”
Since yesterday had been a successful launch when heading out to sea, 3100 additional points had been given out today, which restored Su Mo’s survival points to 14000 points.
Su Mo was confident, therefore, he did not hesitate. Using his mind, he scanned the entire outfit that was on the ground, the costume for cosplay Simba.
The next second, a green light flickered, and a pleasing properties panel appeared.
[Animal Cosplay Outfit]
[Description]: This is a costume used for cosplaying Lion King Simba.
[First upgrade option]: Perfect cosplay outfit: Upgrades the material of the costume and improves its appearance. Enhances one’s charm slightly when wearing the outfit; survival points required (120).
[Second upgrade option]: Specially-designed prop outfit: Improves the material and realism of the costume, improves the experience of wearing it to a slight degree. Enhances the thermal properties slightly. When worn, it will give an extremely realistic effect when seen from a distance or when used with special effects;
Flaws: When facing real lions, there is a high possibility of being regarded as an enemy, survival points required (525).
[Third upgrade option]: Male lion costume: Completely realistic, all materials are obtained from an actual ‘male lion’. Significantly enhances the outfit’s verisimilitude, significantly enhances domination over ordinary lions, and reduces the wearer’s range of motion slightly. The outfit has a built-in automatic voice alteration device, which can simulate a corresponding lion’s roar as necessity dictates, survival points needed (1060).
Flaws: Upon wearing it, there will be a very high possibility of attracting the enmity of male lions and the favor of lionesses; difficult to preserve.
[Comment]: Once it’s worn, any place where the sun s.h.i.+nes is our kingdom!
“Goodness, it’s been a really long time since I’ve seen an item that can be upgraded with only a few hundred points.
“It’s such a pleasure to see that I can upgrade it to whatever I want with only 1000 points!”
After having gotten used to spending more than 5000 or 6000 points, or even 10 thousand points to significantly upgrade items, once he looked at this cosplay outfit, Su Mo was very relieved to see that even the most expensive third option only required 1000 points for an upgrade. He immediately chose that option.
The difficulty of preserving the costume was not a big problem; he just had to put it in the cold storage area after use. Anyway, the outfit would not be worn more than a few times.
The key was the level of verisimilitude. If the costume could truly look as real as an actual lion, then Su Mo’s plan this time might be able to wipe out all the foreign races once and for all. Until their dying day, they still might not realize that the person behind all this was actually the one that they had been longing to run into…
Old Devil Su!
The 1000 point upgrade was extremely fast. The system had already completed the overall upgrade in merely 3 to 5 seconds after Su Mo’s selection.
The furry outfit lying on the ground was gone, replaced by a sleek fur pelt that reflected the sunlight.
Putting his hand on this evolved Simba costume, Su Mo could even feel a touch of warmth—a trace of body heat that really came from a “lion”!
Moreover, the system was also very knowledgeable with regards to this costume. It had not altered the outfit into one where the lion was on all fours but had instead transformed it into a costume whereby one could walk upright like a lion king.
After putting on the pelt and sensing a barely perceptible stench of lions, Su Mo betrayed no disgust. Instead, he immediately picked up the headpiece on the ground.
“Hey, even right in front of me like this, it nearly fooled me into thinking it was real!”
As soon as he turned the headpiece over, he saw that it was extremely realistic. Not only was the mane several times bigger than that of a male lion, but even the depiction of the face highlighted how awesomely cool this headpiece was.
Although Su Mo was already mentally prepared, he was still startled enough to take a step back.
Displayed on this lion man’s countenance was not only the unswerving determination and wisdom that normal lion people could not see, but also a set of claw scars on the side of its face. No matter how one chose to view it, this looked like a veteran warrior.
Not only that, once he put the headpiece on, only two words could describe Su Mo once he had donned the outfit, his muscles very apparent.
Lion King!
Objectively speaking, wearing a cosplay outfit in the 30-degree wasteland weather could be considered a kind of torture.
Yet, standing in front of the bridge and looking at his reflection in the gla.s.s…
Su Mo felt instead that his whole body seemed to be blessed by this suit, and he could not wait to rush out and get into actual “hand-to-hand combat”!
“Everything is ready now, roar, all but one small crucial thing!
“Now we just have to wait until four o’clock and let Connie start the live broadcast. Roar! Maybe I’ll be able to appear on camera then!”
Sitting in the captain’s seat like a boss and watching the red dots appearing as the radar scanned the area, the lion-garbed Su Mo quietly clenched his fists, and killing intent began to surge up in his heart!