Chapter 256 - This is It! An 80-meter Destroyer!
Chapter 256: This is It! An 80-meter Destroyer!
“The Mini Destroyer is just a general term for the Destroyer encapsulated in the blueprint design and does not refer to a specific model of Destroyer alone.”
However, any rare-quality blueprint design came with a memory transmission; it worked as an introduction to the blueprint design.
As Su Mo began to examine this strange memory fragment, many different pictures filled his mind, accompanied by voiceover narration to explain them.
The blueprint contained a total of three Destroyer blueprint designs: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.
The Level 1 blueprint could unlock nine parts of the Destroyer, whereas the Level 2 one could unlock six parts at most. As for Level 3, three parts were the maximum even if he created it as perfectly as he could.
The blueprint design conveyed this special rule to the player: that level determined everything.
Even in the following sections, the same point was also emphasized.
After a quick glance through all the brief introduction sections, Su Mo rushed straight to the specific descriptions of the three different ships.
[Level 1 ship: 182.5 meters long, 24.1 meters wide, 8.1 meters draft, full load: 15,000 tons, crew size: 140, cruising speed: 30 knots, maximum speed: 42 knots]
[The nine parts required are: multifunctional phased array radar *1, LBVDS (lightweight broadband variable depth sonar) *1, MKM-1 vertical launch unit *30, C-3 offshore combat anti-submarine helicopter *2, 556 permanent electromagnetic motor *2, 800MPa full composite material *entire ship (can be replaced by better materials that are recognized by the blueprint design), D-1 electromagnetic rail gun *1, stealth paint *entire ship, integrated underwater water weapons combat system *1]
[Special ability if three parts are unlocked: Unsinkable. When the durability of the ship is 30% or higher, the ship will ignore any rules; it will never sink regardless of the amount of damage done to the hull.]
[Special ability if six parts are unlocked: Double Speed. The cruising speed of the ship is doubled. The maximum speed of the ship can be doubled in exchange for material durability loss (the longer the maximum speed is activated, the faster the materials will be damaged).]
[Special ability if nine parts are unlocked: Auto Repair. Once the durability of the ship falls below 99% during the voyage, the auto-repair function will be turned on. For every natural day/24 hours, 10% of the ship’s durability will be restored.]
“Holy sh*t, this is amazing! Is this still within the scope of a Mini Destroyer?”
Smacking his lips and looking at the attributes given by this Level 1 Destroyer, Su Mo’s eyes were instantly filled with greed and desire.
Not only were the basic attributes of the entire ship amazing, but its armaments were more terrifying than that of many cruisers on Earth.
If he could build this ship, Su Mo would have the courage to take on all his enemies; not only the marine foreign races, but even the God of the Ocean.
“Unfortunately the level of my technological development is too low. If I could afford to fulfil the requirements of this ship with nine parts, it would have been great.”
“But now… I can’t even afford to create the composite material required to build even the hull!”
The stuff was good, but his “wallet” was very empty.
After taking two more greedy glances at the Level 1 Destroyer and checking the requirements for the Level 2 Destroyer, Su Mo set his sights directly on the Level 3 Destroyer, which had the lowest requirements and seemed to be the easiest to fulfil.
[Level 3 ship: 76.43 meters long, 10.2 meters wide, 3.3 meters draft, full load: 5,635 tons, crew size: 174, cruising speed: 24 knots, maximum speed: 31 knots.]
[The three parts required are: 400MPa special steel* entire ship (can be replaced by better materials that are recognized by the blueprint design), basic combat system *1, fixed weapon ports *12]
[Special ability if three parts are unlocked: Ramming. Consume 10% of the ship’s durability to designate a target direction and initiate a five-minute charge in that direction (Speed: 45 knots). The stored energy will erupt upon the ship’s collision with the first object, after which the speed of the ship will return to normal (This ability can only be used once each natural day. Three usage opportunities can be accumulated. Ramming recovery time: 24H)]
“70 meters? A Level 3 ship that’s close to 80 meters. It’s about two times longer than the 40-meter ship I envisioned.”
There were three levels but, at present, it seemed that he could only put together the parts required for a Level 3 ship.
He could use 440MPa military-grade steel to fulfil the requirement for the special steel. He would need to write a computer program for the basic combat system. The fixed weapon ports were the easiest requirement to fulfil.
He just needed to fix 12 Type-80 machine guns in the different positions around the ship. It would be what the blueprint design required.
The derived special ability was also quite practical for a Level 3 ship.
“I can designate a target direction and initiate a five-minute charge at a speed of 45 knots and ram other ships. Although a single use will consume 10% of the ship’s durability, this skill is more practical than that of the Level 1 ship if I use it to escape!”
Broke: Barbarian King-like ramming.
Woke: Perfect for escaping.
After looking at the two blueprint designs, Su Mo glanced up at the sky. It was already three o’clock. Su Mo hurriedly closed the door to the shelter and walked downstairs with the four little ones in tow.
He did not need to consider things further regarding the construction of the Destroyer.
The blueprint designs provided only three methods. Although the cost of making the third was slightly more than he had budgeted for, he could not be bothered about that anymore.
If he rashly made changes rashly to the material ratios in the blueprint, not only would he not obtain the special ability, but he might also encounter other structural problems.
“Once things go south, I’ll just use Ramming to run away. So what if I have to reduce the thickness of the steel plates?”
The number of steel plates required for an 80-meter ship was tremendous. However, even if Su Mo was stingy, he could not gamble on his safety.
Therefore, in the manufacturing process, 4000 pieces was the absolute minimum. If he needed to reinforce the defense and structural integrity in certain places, that number would be increased to 4500 pieces.
If that was the case, he would need a huge amount of materials. He would need to use up all the iron blocks stored in the base, and even most of the copper blocks.
In this vein, Su Mo could only choose to decrease the terrifying thickness of the steel plates. He would make the plates slightly thinner in order to ensure that he would have enough.
As he began to worry about the lack of materials, the excitement brought about by the shelter’s upgrades dissipated.
“The current trading market has been revamped. Anyone can sell materials as long as they pay tax, and the basic tax rate is 50%. I hope to collect some materials by then, so that I can alleviate the pressing problem of lacking materials.”
The ocean disaster was about to strike. Basic materials would certainly be like seeds during the welfare disaster; they would become the most popular commodities on sale.
There was nothing Su Mo could do about the market trends; he could only try to tap on the World Channel and to observe other people’s views and opinions.
Given that it had rained heavily yesterday, everyone ended up being trapped in the shelter, and thus were less tired physically.
Some people even took the time to sleep during the day. At night, they woke up refreshed again.
Despite the fact that it was already past three o’clock in the morning, the discussions were not any less fervent than usual. If anything, it was even more heated than normal because of the update.
“Looking for girls who are heartbroken because they didn’t save enough food during the welfare disaster. If you’re 160cm and have good looks and a good body, you’re the one I’m looking for! If farming makes your heart break, I’ll make you intoxicated. If farming is heartless, the earth has love. Your angst, I will bear. Even if planting fields make you sad, I am your warmest harbor.”
“This… This is a strike at the root. This will reshape our entire worldview and understanding of the wasteland! Brothers! We might not know how to farm, but we are familiar with survival on a raft, surviving out on the ocean, island survival, constructing arks, and more. We’re familiar with the survival needs of living on the ocean and the developmental pathway of constructing an ark. So what if we only have a raft at the beginning? Give us thirty days, and we’ll evolve it into an aircraft carrier and sail happily on the ocean!”
“Is anyone gonna stay? My mountain here is 2280 meters tall, and the sea level will only be 1020 meters high. I don’t intend to leave. I’m just gonna stay here on the mountain all my life.”
“The new continent exploration squad Seventh Heaven is recruiting! No matter where you are, as long as you are willing to go to the new continent, you can DM us. We’ll contact you, communicate about the routes, and determine the goal. Together to the new continent we go! We will be brothers! Our slogan is: Be the strongest exploration squad!”
“Is anyone who’s staying on top of a mountain willing to sign a food-selling contract with me? I’ll sell you the food first and discount half of the tax. When the time comes, you can deliver a portion of food to me daily. You can take 20% of the tax for yourself, but you must provide the altitude and the sea level of your location. If the difference between the two is below 1500, don’t reach out to me.”
“Selling basic materials, copper, iron, lead, stone, wood… A variety of basic materials are for sale! I’ll only take food in exchange, nothing else. Those who don’t understand human language and want to buy them for cheap, go away. If you’re quick, we can discuss and agree on a discount. I have a lot of them on hand.”
“Looking for craftsmen to make small wooden boats that are good-quality or above and can be binded to the individual. As long as you’re good at what you do, we can discuss the price. There are many people at the shelter, so I’ll need three boats. Organizing group orders if needed. If you have the crafting skill, please quickly contact me by private message!”
“F*ck you, the sea level here will be 12,000 meters high. How am I supposed to continue? Stupid f*cking game! You might as well move the Bermuda Triangle over here and be done with it!”
“How about the Almighty Su? His shelter is so powerful, so it’s not very realistic for him to abandon it like this, right?”
“I think you’re blind. Have you watched the preview? Almighty Su can casually kill tens of millions of foreign races! He might be able to kill off this God of the Ocean as well. Then we’ll be able to experience another welfare disaster! Great!”
“Almighty Su up there, join our Almighty Su support group! We can contact each other when we’re at sea. We have hundreds of brothers here!”
…
Fwoosh fwoosh!
Messages flashed by quickly like a stream of flowing water. After a month of surviving in the wasteland, after the people who could not adapt to the environment or had lost their survival skills had died, the chat environment turned much better.
Few people complained on the world chat. Many of them were dissatisfied with the current situation, but they did not have the desire to commit suicide.
After observing the chat for half an hour, Su Mo gradually got a general idea of the current types of people on the wasteland.
At present, humans were divided into three main types.
The first category, of course, was the same as Su Mo. These were the ones who chose to go to the new continent. This category of people were not willing to wait to die at their locations. They firmly believed that they could only maximize their gains and survive if they followed the newest version. They also believed that staying in the same place meant looking for death.
This type of people built ships and bought materials. A lot of people were discussing meetups at sea. They would follow the example of the people in Three Kingdoms: group together and guard themselves against foreign attacks.
The second category was the opposite of the first category. They were the standard “stay until they die party”. This type of people shared a characteristic: their shelters were at strategic locations. They might be on mountains three to five kilometers high, or in areas where the sea level would be less than a thousand meters high.
Compared to the first category, this type of people had accumulated many advantages due to the topological advantage they possessed. In addition to the three consecutive waves of profits they garnered, they had developed their shelters to a certain extent.
In the absence of specific aspects tempting them to migrate to the new continent, they were naturally more reluctant to leave.
As for the third kind of people, they were the wavering faction that always existed no matter what period it was. They were also referred to as the fence-sitters.
They wanted to gain benefits from the new continent, but also did not want to bear the risk of migrating and crossing the ocean like animals.
At this moment, they were wavering. One moment, they were firmly determined to go to the new continent, and that no one could stop them. Another moment, they would be saying that it was too dangerous outside, and that only fools will travel on a raft and try to cross tens of thousands of kilometers.
Su Mo could fully understand the motivations of all three kinds of people. He could also see the future trends of the wasteland from that.
Before specifically analyzing these issues to see if he could gain anything from them, though, Su Mo’s eyes lit up.
“If someone wants to leave and can’t take their basic materials with them, they’ll hold a big sale in exchange for other items.”
“The people who are going to stay are also going to take advantage of this opportunity to dump basic materials in exchange for food. So many people will be selling, so it seems that the price of basic materials won’t rise, but will drop a lot instead.”
“Tomorrow at noon, or afternoon, is the best time to buy!”