Chapter 355 - An Under The Sea Epiphany, The Beginning Of A Chaotic War!
It was 1.38 am on Day 55 of the wasteland calendar.
Hope One looked like a graceful "dancer" as it slowly sailed across the quiet seas.
The s.h.i.+p"s current traveling speed was deliberately set to six knots. Even untrained soldiers on rafts could easily catch up to it.
Besides Moore, who was resting alone in the main gun turret, everyone else, including Big Spark and Little Spark, was inside the bridge.
Su Mo still had the Simba onesie on, and he pretended to be asleep in his seat. However, the OS constantly sent him messages through his Bluetooth earphones from time to time, ensuring he would never miss any important information.
[New life form has been spotted 49 kilometers southwest of Hope One. Based on its movement trajectory, it is highly suspected that it is an enemy. Captain Su Mo, please be on standby!]
[...]
[Large numbers of biological reactions have been detected 45 kilometers southwest of Hope One. These reactions are converging with the biological reactions south of Hope One. They have been officially designated as enemy targets. Warning level has been raised to level one.]
"They"re coming!"
"The insect military is the foreign races" second squad. They travel at a speed much faster than the strength squad, and are about 40 minutes faster than I estimated!"
The fastest speed that the insect military troop could travel at was higher than the data Pei Shao had collected in the talisman simulation world.
After doing some calculations based on the second squad"s previous position and their expected arrival time, Su Mo managed to correct the data again easily.
The foreign races" second and third squads had begun converging, which was displayed on the radar.
Their combined forces brought their total troop number to over 8000, making them fully capable of a.s.saulting Hope One.
However, just as predicted, they still maintained a careful distance of 40 kilometers from the s.h.i.+p.
The only change was that they sent out more scouts to patrol the waters about five kilometers away from where Hope One was. These scouts would transmit Hope One"s latest movements back to them.
If they were dealing with Old Devil Su, it would not be surprising for them to be so careful with their actions. However, it was surprising that they would still do all this when they were faced with the "Golden Lion King".
Under his mask, Su Mo smiled before standing up slowly.
Once they noticed Su Mo standing up, Connie, Oreo, as well as Big Spark and Little Spark, jerked to attention at the same time and immediately stood up.
"It"s alright. You guys can continue napping. I"ll wake you up when the enemy arrives and it"s time for us to fight!"
After ensuring all four were settled down, Su Mo walked out of the bridge and gazed at the moon. Before walking out, Su Mo was still a little unsteady on his legs.
However, Su Mo"s body and aura went through an immediate change once he was fully outside!
His quiet countenance quickly vanished and was replaced with the murderous aura that had shocked the foreign races several hours ago.
However, this time, as Connie gazed at Su Mo"s back from her position, she knew that…
These foreign races were going to…
Suffer a calamity!
Su Mo had a clear goal in mind as he strode out of the bridge.
He opened the pa.s.sage to the lower deck and arrived where the weapons and other supplies were stored. After he retrieved a lifeboat, Su Mo walked past Hope One"s emergency escape route and arrived at the end of the pa.s.sage.
This place was at Hope One"s stern.
From the outside, it looked like a neatly finished steel plate. Su Mo was the only one who knew that, by rotating the winch next to it, not only could you open a small door located two meters above the sea"s surface, you could also let down a small ladder.
By using this ladder, people onboard Hope One could quickly descend to the sea and initiate operations away from the boat.
"Waiting for me…"
"What a pity. I wasn"t planning to wait for you!"
Su Mo touched the hairy mane around his neck before taking two steps forward to grab the winch and began rotating it.
They were on the sea now, and Su Mo did not want to become an "ordinary person" who would lose all combat capabilities upon leaving Hope One.
Thus, if he wanted to train his combat abilities on a normal boat, this period before six o"clock was the best opportunity there was!
Su Mo could fight the scouts lurking nearby Hope One without worry since he was disguised as a "lion person".
These naive foreign races would not retreat just because they lost a few scouts.
Conversely, they were more than happy to make some small sacrifices to get a clearer picture of Hope One"s abilities and gain a clearer understanding of this mysterious lion person.
"OS, send me the locations of all foreign races within a five-kilometer radius."
"Enable ultra-long distance calling mode, and use the walkie-talkie to send me their locations in real-time!"
"Adjust Hope One"s sailing speed to its lowest, and put down the anchor. Wait for me here!"
Su Mo had the fire-control radar functioning as his eyes, and he was not the least bit worried that the foreign races would surround him on the water.
After opening the door and letting the ladder down, Su Mo quickly climbed down the pa.s.sage that would bring him off Hope One.
Su Mo had rarely come into contact with the sea both here and back on Earth.
However, this did nothing to dampen the pa.s.sion roaring from within him now.
Hope One began slowing down after the OS finished making its adjustments. Su Mo swayed slightly as he stood on the ladder. He slowly took out a half-inflated lifeboat from the storage s.p.a.ce.
Su Mo grabbed the rope on the lifeboat before throwing it into the water. Upon seeing that the lifeboat did not malfunction in the waters, Su Mo tightened his hold on the rope, and then jumped into the lifeboat.
Whoos.h.!.+
There was a difference in the speeds of the lifeboat and Hope One, which meant that Su Mo would cause a huge impact when he landed.
This impact was not something a five-square-meter lifeboat could withstand.
When Su Mo realized that the lifeboat was about to capsize, he immediately curled his lower torso inward and used the resulting recoil of the impact to stop the lifeboat from overturning. The lifeboat swayed from side to side in the water for a while before it came to a stop and floated motionlessly.
"Not bad. Not only has my flexibility improved after taking up martial arts, but I"ve also become much better at directing my strength!"
Hope One had a comfort attribute added to it, and you would not feel like you were traveling at sea when you stood on the s.h.i.+p. Instead, it felt just like standing on solid ground.
However, the lifeboat was different. Besides having properties that made it hard to damage and that allowed it to speed up when sailing through smooth waters, this excellent-quality lifeboat was virtually the same as normal lifeboats back on Earth.
Su Mo felt curious and excited when he felt the lifeboat swaying up and down in tandem with the waves on the sea.
Hope One"s anchor had been let down. Although it would not travel far, it would still allow the waves to carry it forward for a limited distance.
Su Mo did not panic when he saw Hope One floating away. Instead, he sat down in the middle of the lifeboat and continued inflating it.
He continued doing so until it was 80 percent inflated. After ensuring it had sufficient buoyancy, Su Mo took out a wooden paddle that he had prepared in advance, and used both hands to row as he began sailing through the waters.
It felt different from rafting through scenic spots on Earth.
If humans could overcome their natural fear of the sea and possessed adequate swimming skills, the experience of sailing through the seas on a lifeboat was an unbeatable one.
Su Mo was not in a hurry to get to those foreign scouts. He familiarized himself with using the paddle while sailing in circles around Hope One.
During that process, Su Mo tried standing up abruptly, sitting back down abruptly, and various other aggressive movements.
In the end, Su Mo even tried taking off his Simba onesie and jumping into the sea, where he held his breath and tried various tactical maneuvers underwater.
That experiment proved that not everyone could become a warrior, and not everyone could master hand-to-hand combat under the sea.
Su Mo was soon faced with his first challenge after he dove into the sea.
How to overcome his fear of opening his eyes!
The water in the sea was not like the water one would find in swimming pools, nor was it like the waters of the Yangtze River and Yellow River back in Huaxia.
Although there weren"t any lifeforms in the sea currently, it still contained plenty of salt!
He did not feel any discomfort when he opened his eyes in the sea, but when he left the waters and exposed his eyes to the air once again, he experienced a temporary stinging pain.
This was because seawater would drain the moisture from the eyes and cause them to become dry.
If you failed to adapt yourself to the feeling, you would soon find yourself stuck in a vicious cycle.
Luckily, Su Mo had swimming experience back on Earth. After about five minutes of continuous practice, he could hold his breath and swim around in the water even if he fell in abruptly.
After getting over his first hurdle, Su Mo was quickly able to adjust to the fact that his movements would become slower because of the water resistance that existed due to the water"s buoyancy.
The Su family spear technique was derived from the Yue family spear technique, and it placed more emphasis on movements and positioning. Speed was not something that the technique concerned itself with.
Thus, he could easily fight back as long as he made the appropriate calculations in advance and antic.i.p.ated the enemy"s movements.
The water resistance meant that the advantages from his physical enhancements would disappear, and that enabled Su Mo to use the Su family spear technique with even fewer distractions.
"This move is called Spear of the Heavens. I need to use my core strength to propel my arm upward before bringing the spear upwards. I usually use too much strength here, and never realized that I could exert even more force by bringing it upwards!"
"This move is called Young Phoenix"s Return, and it is a forward jab. I usually use my body"s momentum to stop myself from falling backward before I burst forward forcefully. However, I never thought that this move would require one to lean back as much as possible before using the force of the rotation to produce an even faster and more destructive jab!"
"For Golden Goose Flight, I have to use my dexterity to…"
"Dense Clouds With No Rain does not call for speed. Instead, I should make adjustments based on the enemy"s movements. That way…"
Su Mo went into the waters at one fifty, and he trained until it was ten minutes past three in the afternoon.
Despite training for an hour and twenty minutes, Su Mo did not feel tired at all. Instead, he gained a whole new understanding of the Su family spear technique.
After he got out of the waters and climbed back into the lifeboat, Su Mo was confident that he could take down his previous self using less than thirty moves!
"No wonder these killing techniques are going extinct on Earth."
"Unless you"re a prodigy, it"ll be as difficult as ascending into the heavens if you want to forge a path for yourself without the help of a master!"
Su Mo rowed the lifeboat back toward Hope One and extended an arm to summon the wind ability of the lion clan.
Although the materials used to craft his Simba onesie had come from actual lions, water could not penetrate its oily and s.h.i.+ny surface.
However, it wasn"t completely sealed, which caused a little seawater to seep into it.
It took less than three minutes for the material to once again become dry in the breeze.
"Thankfully, I am much less susceptible to becoming seasick than the average person because I have physical enhancements."
"Even sailors who have spent decades sailing would be slightly weaker compared to me in this aspect."
"I"ve familiarized myself with the techniques and gotten a new understanding of what it means to battle on and under the sea. All there"s left is..."
Su Mo rubbed his hands together. After listening to the OS"s newest report on locations, Su Mo rowed his lifeboat as quickly as possible toward a foreign race scout. It was not the one closest to Hope One, but it was alone.
This foreign race scout was about 3.8 kilometers away from Hope One.
The foreign race scout closest to him was still another 800 meters away. No matter how loudly he screamed, he would not be heard over the waves cras.h.i.+ng loudly in the night.
One row after the other.
Su Mo put all his strength into rowing, and the lifeboat was propelled forward at maximum speed.
When he was only a kilometer away from the foreign race scout, Su Mo made some preparations to ensure his safety.
Not only did he drink half a bottle of psychic energy water and stick the Mountain and Sea Painting Scroll card on his body, but he also loaded a handgun with bullets and disengaged the safety mechanism.
Su Mo placed the handgun in an eye-catching spot in his storage s.p.a.ce and took out the three-pointed two-edged sword before focusing his gaze and quickening his movements.
The distance between the two parties grew smaller and smaller. When Su Mo was only fifty meters away, the foreign race scout detected the presence of an unwelcome guest.
"Is that… a leopard man?"
The foreign race scout flew into a panic as he stared at the lion warrior in front of him. He looked like he had seen a monster.
He roared and frantically rowed his boat, trying to get away from the lion warrior.
Su Mo shook his head and began rowing hard with all his might to catch up to him.
Such was the way battles at sea worked. You could only engage in combat if you caught up to your target.
There would only be one outcome for the escaping party if they did not get away quickly enough…
Bang!
Splas.h.!.+
There was virtually no resistance to speak of. When there were only two meters left between them, Su Mo stood up and leaped forward. He looked like a G.o.d descending from the heavens as he jumped onto the leopard man"s wooden raft.
This huge impact was not something that the tiny wooden raft could withstand.
The leopard man stared at him like he was a G.o.d when he saw the raft breaking apart. Su Mo took advantage of his stunned state to stab him in the chest.
"Is that all? Their combat abilities are so weak!"
As Su Mo shook the leopard man on his three-pointed two-edged sword and stared at the spot where he died, a s.h.i.+ny wooden chest appeared.
Su Mo might be complaining, but inwardly he was delighted!
Last time, the white-robed kobold had caused hundreds of boxes to vanish into thin air after he bombarded all the kobolds to death.
However, as Su Mo stroked the wooden chest in front of him…
He knew.
The time to soar was finally…
Approaching!