If there was a ranking for disasters on Earth, a tsunami would be ranked first to many people!

A disaster like that would always bring about a terrifying outcome.

Not only would many lives be lost during the initial stages of the disaster, but buildings and infrastructure would also be destroyed.

What was worse than the disaster itself would be the aftermath!

Su Mo hopped off the car and hastily walked past the groups of villagers. He then proceeded to remove himself from the in-game protection before entering the territory.

The next moment, as he felt the change in the ground beneath his feet, there was an unconcealable severity on his face.

“Shelter Leader, according to the information relayed from our point men, nearly all of our territories have transformed into this state. The weird thing is, the ground outside of our territory still resembles that of the New World.

“It seems like an invisible line has stopped the horrible state of our lands from spreading out. Simultaneously, it has also stopped other living things from coming in!” With amazing speed, the scout that Hope Village sent out earlier returned quickly and relayed the information back to them.

Because of the game’s restrictions, Su Mo and his crew could not deviate from their set course. Even so, what they saw during their journey simply shocked them.

The entirety of Hope Village’s territory looked like a cursed land that was split open from within.

In such a situation, even though the clash of Ten Thousand Races had yet to begin, the people of the basin were already at a disadvantage. It could be said that they had lost the battle at the starting point!

In spite of that, Su Mo crouched and grabbed a handful of soil from the ground.

He rubbed the soil in his hand and watched as white substances fall to the ground.

Having tensed up for so long, Su Mo finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thankfully the soil hasn’t been liquefied yet.

“The soil has only been soaked in seawater for a long time, so they are now alkaline soil!”

Su Mo did not have high hopes for a basin that was never modified nor reinforced anyway.

That was because ever since he transmigrated into this world, this place was a barren, damned piece of land filled with nothing but sand and stones.

However, it was only after the blizzard, welfare disaster, and the energy fruit tree came along that this piece of land was finally blessed with some signs of life.

Before all of that happened, Su Mo remembered how it was like every time he went to the place where Hope Village used to be.

At the time, that place was still called Candlelight Plains.

His eyes would always be gushing with admiration in spite of himself back then!

The basin was simply horrible!

Even if the land was flooded for more than a month, it was only a little bit worse than its original condition.

It was within reason that the tough plants around the basin failed to withstand the corrosion from the salt that seeped into the ground and the alkalization of the soil.

With no nutrients to fertilize the soil, the land turned into the hellish landscape that everyone now looked at.

However, with a little bit of treatment, the saline water would no longer be a hindrance. Instead, it would enhance the quality of the soil in the early stages of farming.

More importantly, the opportunity to do so was right in front of them the whole time!

Everything… Still looked promising!

“It’s okay. Let’s get everyone into the territory and tell them to clean up the place. After all, we’re in no state to farm right now, so this patch of land is a secondary objective. “Our priority right now is to construct a building that can withstand a huge amount of snow. Besides, we need to find out what kind of enemies we have around us.

“Hmm?”

For the first time ever, Su Mo realized that no one responded to him, much to his surprise. So, he turned around.

A smile appeared on his face in the next second.

Just like when his crew headed toward the great northwest to cultivate the wasteland, the people who had always lived on this barren piece of land felt nothing at all.

The same could not be said to the people who traveled over from the fertile lands of the south-now that they had something to compare to, they were hit with a realization that they would never forget.

In such situations, one would usually see netizens express their emotions on certain applications—the villagers were doing that right now.

The wasteland that they previously lived on was barren as well, but at least it had some grass and its soil had some color to it.

The basin, on the other hand, was completely dry and there was not an inch of grass to be seen. Now that was something that was neither seen nor heard of before.

In comparison, this place looked more like an actual wasteland. It was absolutely arid!

“Shelter Leader, why don’t we… go somewhere else? There’s grass on the ground on the other side and the soil is very fertile too. What if we…”

Zhang Long muttered as he walked forward, trembling.

The helplessness on his face regarding their future were obvious to any onlookers.

Besides, deep inside him, he also feared the snowstorm that was coming in just more than ten days. On this piece of barren land that housed not even a single tree, the grand plan that everyone came together to create was officially destroyed. “Zhang Long, do you think we’d have a chance at turning this around?”

Su Mo walked forward with a smile on his face and then proceeded to grab the megaphone that hung on Zhang Long’s side.

As Su Mo observed the troubled faces behind him, he quickly glanced around before striding toward a huge rock and standing on top of it.

“Do you regret this?”

Su Mo looked at the villagers as they gripped their luggage so tight that their knuckles went pale.

With the help of the megaphone, Su Mo’s voice projected far and wide.

“This is the basin; it’s also the place where I transmigrated to.

“I’m telling you, everything that you’re seeing right now isn’t very different from when I first got here.”

There was an uproar among the crowd!

When Su Mo gave everyone his first statement, no one responded.

However, after hearing his second statement, the villagers were astonished when they heard that the basin had not changed since!

Even the leadership team who joined the villagers were also in disbelief.

They could not believe that such a barren piece of land actually gave birth to the strongest human in history.

It was harder to believe that Su Mo actually got this far under such circumstances.

“Shelter Leader Su is right. It has… this place has always been barren. It’s… just like how it is right now. There’s no difference!”

Connie stepped out of the crowd as she spoke.

Her words were very persuasive. After all, she was the leader of the foreign races. In just a few seconds, the uproar died down. However, much unlike before, the distraught look on everyone’s face diminished as well as the noise died down.

“Everyone, this is our territory. This is our home!

“Don’t blame it because this place has nothing at all. Don’t blame it because it can’t give us fertile lands.

“Don’t blame it for being barren either because that’s how it always has been.”

To everyone else, this place was completely alien to them.

To Su Mo, however, this was the place that marked the beginning of his rise through the ranks—the Underground Shelter.

This was also home to the place that brought him his first livelihood—the Deep-sea Shelter.

The sulfur mines here also enabled him to improve himself by ditching cold weapons and then switching to firearms.

There were also fossil fuels that could be mined for years on end, thus providing him with endless energy!

This place was not as “barren” as it looked.

There was unlimited potential buried in this place!

“Ever since we arrived on this land, we must let go of all unnecessary delusions.

“Ever since our ancestors’ time, we’ve always been on the path of fighting against all odds -heaven, earth, and other people.

“Humans can always win against all odds. As long as we persist, there will be a day that this place becomes a sacred haven that everyone in the New World would admire. The civilization of mankind will also take root and rise up from here!”

Su Mo raised his right hand and pointed toward the huge patch of land behind him as a fiery ambition burst from his eyes.

“This isn’t an insult, and I’m not taunting you either. Now that we’ve all returned to the starting line, everyone would have a bright future as long as we work hard.

“If you want to be the pioneers who recreated civilization on this land from nothing

“If you want to be recorded in the history books and be remembered as an honorable figure by your children, grandchildren, and descendants

“If you want to live in a blissful home, watch television, play video games, eat delicious food, exercise when you want to, rest when you want to, and live a carefree life

“Then, straighten your back, raise your weapons, and follow me home!”

The crowd burst into another uproar!

Su Mo did not give inspiring speeches when they journeyed on to the New World. After they disembarked from the ship and headed toward the territory, Su Mo simply hopped into the car after showing his face briefly. Just when the situation called for a leader to stand up and speak, the organized crowd began to stir after his words of encouragement resonated in the air.

Something began to stir in the crowd’s previous silence.

In just three to five seconds, the moment the sound of strong and firm footsteps was heard, the crowd… went wild!

They were akin to a stampede of newly unreined feral horses; or more accurately, wanderers who had just returned home.

They broke formation and hollered at the top of their lungs as they charged out of the path the game had set for them.

1405 people! Not a single exception! [Record]: Player Su Mo, the system has detected that you have successfully entered a territory. Please grant this territory a stately name. Perhaps this name will accompany you in your battles and will be known across the world.

[Record): Player Su Mo, the properties of your territory have been updated. Please access the game panel to view them.

[Record]: It has been detected that the condition of the current territory is far more barren than the New World’s standard. All players will automatically receive the status: Resolute Determination (For 15 days, all attributes are increased by 10%).

The sounds from those three notifications chimed the moment everyone entered the territory.

Everyone could hear the chime clearly.

Before anyone could react, another joyous news materialized on the game panel!

[Record]: It is detected that there are currently zero species in this territory. Because of player Su Mo’s previously excellent performance, the game will provide three choices to aid players in their initial development (choose one).

Option One: Five acres of red soil (Soil that is more fertile than normal soil. It can provide crops with nutritional microbes to increase the rate of ripeness and increase yield; Note: The red soil’s quality will change depending on the quality of the soil around it.)

Option Two: Thirty camphor trees (Every single tree has a height of fifteen meters. The crown of the tree spreads far and wide with thick, dense branches and leaves. They look grand and majestic. They are evergreen throughout all four seasons, so they can provide great material for building houses; Note: The trees cannot endure cold temperatures. Temperatures in the winter cannot be allowed to drop below o degrees. The trees will suffer damage if the temperature drops below o degrees. If the temperature drops 5 to 8 degrees below zero, the trees will die from frost damage.)

Option three: Creek (Opens up a small creek from the trunk road of the New World. The intensity of the flow will be adjusted according to the size of the territory; Note: The shape of the creek can either be randomly terraformed, passing through the territory, or thinly dispersed across the territory.

“The game actually gave us three choices?”

“Red soil, camphor trees, and a creek. Now, this is a timely windfall!”

Those notifications were not only sent to Su Mo, the great thane.

They also appeared on the game panels of the players that entered the territory, providing them with a morale boost.

With joy on their faces, the leadership crew who were worried about development were now jumping with joy all of a sudden.

However, from where they were standing, they could not see the look of shock on Su Mo’s face.

[Record): Player Su Mo, based on the nerf toward Hope One and the current situation of your territory, the game will make the necessary adjustments. This is to encourage you to develop this place and obtain resources.

[Record]: It has been detected that the initial potential of this territory is zero. The game shall automatically construct a special facility for you. You can choose one of the three options. Be warned that once a choice has been made, the game will not provide a chance to reselect your choice.

Option One: Weather observatory (Assign a human weather expert into the tower. After staying inside the observatory for more than eight hours a day, a special ability can be activated to predict the weather; Note: More weather experts will result in increased knowledge, and the accuracy of predicting the weather will also increase. If mankind’s best candidate in this territory (Su Mo) is assigned to the observatory, the probability of accurately predicting the weather is: 35%)

Option Two: Gardening and farming tools manufacturing center (Assign a human expert blacksmith. After staying in the smithy for more than four hours a day, a special ability can be activated to give buffs to the people inside the manufacturing center; Note: The buff will be adjusted based on the blacksmith’s level. If mankind’s best candidate in this territory (Qi Lu) is assigned to the manufacturing center, buff properties: farming tools durability +20%, farming tools quality +15%) Option Three: Training grounds (Assign a professional trainer. After staying in the training grounds for more than eight hours a day, a special ability can be activated to increase the properties of the humans who are training in the area; Note: Enhancements will be adjusted based on the trainer’s level. If mankind’s best candidate in this territory (Li Hu) is assigned to the training grounds, buff properties: Stamina recovery rate +15%, strength +10%, appetite +30%)

These notifications were private this time.

Only Su Mo could see them.

By allowing Su Mo those three options, Su Mo reckoned that the game was extremely generous toward him. Every one of them was practical. The first option enabled everyone to prepare for any sudden weather changes on the temperamental wasteland. The second option, on the other hand, could quickly speed up the territory’s production rate during its initial state.

Meanwhile, the third option functioned to increase combat abilities. “I didn’t expect that accidentally leaving a good impression in the past would turn out to be so useful.”

As he stared at the three options and made sure that he could make his choice at any time within a day, Su Mo was delighted at the knowledge. Then, he suppressed his urge to make a decision on the spot.

Su Mo let the rest of the villagers walk and look around curiously. He lead Su Chan, who was jumping with joy; the excited Moore; Big Spark and Little Spark that were fluttering around and Oreo who just love to run around.

The two adults and four small ones started rushing forward!!

After a while, as his surroundings slowly looked more familiar to him, the smile that Su Mo had long repressed finally broke out across his face. “Brother, so this is the place that you lived in the past? It doesn’t feel all that great.”

Every day, there were an endless amount of people on the World Channel talking about how much they wanted to join Almighty Su’s shelter.

They were willing to do anything to sleep at the place for just one night even if it meant shortening their lifespan! Su Chan was very curious about those comments.

However, she could not help but widen her eyes as she scanned around the silt-covered mound for something special.

“Hehe, you’ll find out if it’s great or not the moment you step in!

“Come, Moore, let’s get to work!”

Su Mo took out a shovel from the storage space and passed it to Moore as he eyed the mound in front of him.

In the next second, they looked like human-versions of trucks. After both man and bear pumped themselves up, they went to town on the mound like a bulldozer.

As shovels swung in the air, silt flew behind them relentlessly.

An opening started to appear at the front of the grave-like mound and it slowly straightened up!

Thump! As a blunt sound echoed through the air, Su Mo stared at the shovel that came into contact with a with a steel door. He began to quicken his pace.

After a while, all of the silt blocking the front door disappeared. After Su Mo keyed in the password that was all too familiar to him. With a push and a pull, a winch suddenly appeared! As he forcefully pulled down on the winch, the strongest shelter in all of mankind that was submerged underwater had finally…

Seen the light of day once more!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com