Chapter 326 - Crazy Draws, The Call of Hope One!
Chapter 326: Crazy Draws, The Call of Hope One!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Cards filled the sky, and Hope One glimmered golden-red and illuminated the entire sky with the color of a rising sun.
Su Mo stared at the cards that had the same design. After he had flipped over four cards in a row, and noticing that all their properties were still trash, he stopped and sat on the ground.
Historically, naval weapons have always been more powerful and destructive than those of ground forces.
During the war, while Napoleon was praising the power of 12-pound cannons, ships were already equipped with 24 and 36-pound cannons.
The same could be said about the howitzer.
Naval forces were better equipped (longer range, better firepower), had faster reload times (automatic loading), better mobility (the top speed of a ship is faster than a car), better defense (ground cannons do not have armor plating). Aside from that, ships could mount 203, 406, and 460 monster caliber cannons.
After thinking about the kind of weapons Hope One would need, Su Mo was eyeing the chance to obtain a cannon from the prize draw with much anticipation.
“I really need something weapon-related right now.”
“Any area-of-effect weapons would do, but it would be better if it is a modern weapon, then I can prepare the matching ammunition required.”
“If it’s some mystical weapon instead, then I’ll have to see if it has enough firepower to sustain throughout an entire battle!”
When going against the foreign races who were scattered in various locations, a cannon would be more effective than a Dongfeng missile.
The system gave Su Mo a free card draw this time. He could choose to draw any card from the entire card pool.
Besides, the system’s reward was really different from the game’s. It wanted to give a gift to its user.
If Su Mo chose to spend another 1000 points to draw again, the previous cards would not disappear. Instead, they would be placed into a reserve area.
For example, since Su Mo had a free draw, if he spent 5000 points, he would have six cards to choose from.
At that time, if he decided not to draw any more cards, he could choose one card from the six as a reward.
Of course, he could also choose not to pick any of those cards. He could simply choose to lose 5000 points, exit the system panel and then choose the 50,000 points reward option instead to minimize his losses.
“No matter what I end up getting, with the addition of the free draw chance, I’ll have at least six options to choose from, so I’ll just see how it goes.”
“By then, if the rewards are too poor or my luck is simply not good today, I’ll just have to choose the 50000 points reward option after exiting the system panel.”
The first draw was free, and because Su Mo knew that he still had additional chances, he was not anxious. He simply sat on the ground and stared blankly ahead, praying for a good draw.
All of a sudden, Hope One suddenly disappeared midair and was replaced by golden-red cards which danced and flew around Su Mo.
There were tens of thousands of cards flying through the air in the space in front of him each second.
Su Mo casually extended his hand and picked out one of the cards floating in the air.
After the card was picked, the other cards slowed down and Hope One reappeared once more, just like the last time.
“Let’s see what kind of good stuff I’ve obtained from this first draw.”
Su Mo was filled with anticipation. He slowly peeked at the corner of the card like he did when he drew the DF-17 card previously.
“Hm? Not bad, there is a picture of an ocean!”
He could see something that looked like a wave on the corner of the card. Su Mo could at least confirm that the ship he had drawn was a one that was meant to sail on an ocean and not in a river or stream.
Besides, to sail the oceans, ships had to fulfil a bare minimum criteria at the very least, so Su Mo did not hesitate any further and flipped the entire card over.
A streak of light flashed in front of him and the card’s properties panel popped out in front of Su Mo.
[Strong fishing boat]
[Description: A fishing boat with considerable tonnage. It has high fishing power and good refrigeration capabilities.]
[Additional properties: You may choose either one of the properties below to add on to your ship’s existing properties:]
[Strong fishing net: Every three days, the net can be activated to directly draw in water-dwelling creatures within a 500-meter radius into the net itself. (Please note that the fishing net will require 15 natural days to repair after usage of this ability.)]
[Cold storage: After choosing this option, a cold storage area will be created on the boat. Everything stored within this area will expire at a 50% slower rate.]
[Comment: Three years of feasting with just three days of storage!]
“Hey, these properties are quite good. It has a radius of 500 meters, and the net can repair itself after it’s damaged.”
“It’s a shame that I’m after weapons this time around!”
Truth be told, this ship’s properties would be considered god-tier to a normal person in terms of gathering resources.
You would only need to find the right spot on the ocean, cast the net, and rake in tons of fish just like that.
Besides sustaining life, any extra fish could be used to trade for other resources, so it could be considered to be a minor resource exploit.
Su Mo had a lot of resources, but he was quite desperate for weapons right now, so he was feeling somewhat anxious.
He shook his head as he stared at the card in front of him. He could not help but set it aside and continue drawing more cards.
The cards danced in the air as 1000 points were spent, hoping that a miracle would appear among any one of them.
This time, Su Mo did not randomly pick a card. Instead, he thought of a very specific position from which he had managed to draw the DF-17 card. He slowly extended his hand and, when his hand was close to a card, he suddenly snatched it out of the air.
The card seemed to want to slip out of Su Mo’s fingers, but he gripped it tightly.
“Good god. This draw is equal to wasting a day’s work, so please give me something worthwhile!”
Su Mo did not flip the card over slowly from the top-right corner this time around. Instead, he chose the bottom left corner of the card and slowly flipped it over.
“This looks good, very good. There’s still a picture of the ocean!”
“Gosh, it’s steel, so it’s a modern ship!”
Before this, Su Mo was mentally prepared to fail to obtain a modern naval ship.
After all, the prize pool of the system was way too extensive, so anything related to boats might be included, including paper boats.
However, Su Mo noticed that he received a modern ship on his second draw, so he could not help but feel as if fate was on his side.
“Thankfully I didn’t choose the option to gain fifty thousand points. This ship looks pretty good!”
After flipping the entire card over, Su Mo stared at the picture on the card and was startled. He then immediately looked over to the card’s properties panel.
[USS Fletcher]
[Description: Also known as the king of anti-aircraft ships during the Second World War, it is equipped with 40mm Bofors guns and Oerlikons 20mm cannons as standard anti-aircraft weapons. It can fire a dense barrage of shells at close to mid-range, destroying enemy aircraft and ensuring total control of the skies. Aside from that, the 127mm MK-12 dual-purpose autocannons are used as the ship’s main weapon, while also being able to fire anti-aircraft shells. Together with the 40mm and 20mm cannons, it forms a three-layer anti-aircraft defense system].
[Additional properties: You may choose either one of these properties below to add on to your ship’s existing properties:]
40mm gun + 20mm cannon set: Comes with the ammo blueprint.
Dual-purpose 127mm MK-12 autocannons: Comes with a cannon maintenance manual.
[Comments: Are you hoping to rely on it to sail across the oceans?]
“As expected of one of the first, most groundbreaking, destroyers built by America!”
Su Mo stroked his chin as he stared at its properties and thought hard.
In the late 1930s, America designed this ship and it quickly became the most popular type of destroyer during World War II. In just two years, 175 units of the USS Fletcher were built!
The number of ships produced alone was a testament to how reliable it was.
With two MK-12 127mm autocannons, the destroyer could fire shells through two barrels. It was electrically powered, semi-automatic, and could fire at a rate of 24-30 rounds per minute. Besides, it was also equipped with an automatic time-fuze setter, which could automatically set the fuze before the shell was loaded into the barrel, and its firepower was not to be trifled with.
If Hope One was equipped with even just one of these, it would be more than enough to raise the destroyer’s firepower by a notch!
“It’s a real shame. This MK-12 autocannon is primarily used as an anti-aircraft weapon, so it’s not very practical in battles against other sea vessels.”
“Besides, choosing the most famous anti-aircraft gun throughout World War II is better than choosing this one!”
Su Mo managed to obtain a ship and a cannon. However, the options that he had right now were not very ideal when it came to Hope One.
The MK-12 autocannons required 5 people to operate. This was not a problem as Su Mo could always use the robot workers.
However, if one compared the MK-12 to other cannons from the same era, it was not particularly powerful in terms of firepower, firing rate, or reliability!
“Should I keep drawing cards? Or should I save the survival points and use them to upgrade the MK-12?”
If the MK-12 had appeared as his final card draw, Su Mo would definitely have not hesitated to grab it. However, since it was only his second card draw, Su Mo had to think things through.
Should he minimize his losses or risk it and draw the remaining cards?
After a moment of hesitation, Su Mo noticed that he still had twenty-three thousand survival points. He then looked at Hope One floating in mid-air, glimmering with golden-red light.
For some reason, Su Mo had a feeling that Hope One was speaking to him.
It was telling him that there was a card within the prize pool that suited his needs, and that it was going to appear very soon!
The ship was talking to him.
In retrospect, it might have been his own greed talking to him.
However, after some internal discourse, he felt that this was not just some meaningless rush of emotions. Su Mo then took a deep breath and spoke softly.
“System, continue drawing cards!”
The USS Fletcher card was set aside next to the fishing boat card.
Su Mo stared at the flurry of cards in the air, gazed at the position in which he obtained the DF-17 card previously, and then flashed out three times.
Su Mo felt nothing with the first card.
The second card felt the same, 2000 points down the drain!
Even as he drew the third card, that feeling had not come to him just yet.
The survival points reading on the bottom right corner displayed the 3000 deducted survival points.
He looked at the flying cards once again, feeling Hope One’s magnetic summons. Su Mo gritted his teeth and flashed out once more…
Fourth card! Nothing!
Fifth card! Nothing!
That was the limit Su Mo had set for himself. His survival points plunged to a mere eighteen thousand points. Six thousand points were lost just like that.
Gambler’s greed had turned Su Mo’s eyes bloodshot and red.
Six thousand points. One week’s worth of points vanished in just a few seconds.
That was a huge loss to a small group like his.
However…
The feeling that Hope One gave Su Mo still hung in the air. In fact, Hope One’s call seemed to be growing louder and louder!
It was as if that particular card was about to appear the very next second.
“Screw it. Since this draw is about Hope One, then I’ll just follow my gut and use up all the points. Even then, I won’t regret it!”
He gritted his teeth and stared at the endless stream of cards. Su Mo extended his hand into the air…
The sixth card, nothing!
Seventh, nothing!
The eighth… ninth… tenth…
Wait, what is this feeling!
There were only thirteen thousand points left. Just when Su Mo randomly picked that card and was about to go for another, the feeling changed all of a sudden!
The tenth card suddenly glimmered rays of gold as it was drawn out from the sea of cards.
Even the prize draw page stopped all of a sudden, and the cards stood motionless in mid-air.
As for Hope One, it suddenly burst out from the void and manifested in front of him.
One ship, one card.
It seemed like there was an invisible chain linking the both of them together; the light around them even pulsed at the same rate.
It felt like that card had come from the same place as Hope One did; as if they were brothers.
“Damn, eleven thousand points left. Am I this lucky?”
He had a strong feeling of anticipation for what was about to take place at that moment.
Su Mo gazed at the twelve cards that he had drawn; only the last card was glimmering. Su Mo could not help but feel astonished.
Eleven thousand points. That was a lot of points to have gambled. Su Mo could feel cold sweat forming on his back even though he was still within the system.
“No more, no more gambling!”
After repeatedly making sure that the whole thing was not fake, Su Mo sat heavily on the floor as if all the energy had been drained from his body.
The rush of emotions from gambling left him with a euphoric feeling.
However, who knew what kind of consequences he would have had to bear if he had lost all of his survival points and received nothing!
Su Mo did not flip the card over slowly. Instead, he took two long breaths and, feeling his heart about to jump out of his chest, Su Mo then flipped over the entire card.
A familiar feeling.
A familiar combination.
Even though Su Mo was seeing this card for the very first time, in his dreams, it was not the first time he piloted one of these.
From its cannons to its missiles.
From its anti-aircraft prowess to its seaborne defenses.
The destroyer was not at all unfamiliar to him, and the ship was of the highest level among all the destroyers in the game…
First-class destroyer!