NOVEL WEB Chapter 25
Chapter 25: The Origin Of Conflict: Cultural Concepts
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After clicking into Zeus Shelter’s live broadcast room that was ranked number one.
The image changed abruptly. It was like a real simulation, making you feel like you were there in person.
The sky was grey and gloomy, and the rain fell onto the ground, making a whooshing sound.
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As the camera moved down, you could see an endless stretch of mines.
It was stunning as it stretched from this end of the sky to the other end of the sky.
As the camera zoomed in, Su Mo spotted a cluster of wooden houses called Zeus Shelter at the foot of a hill.
Built against the mountain, the wooden houses were facing a north-south direction, and there were about 20 or 30 of them.
Except for the three main houses in the middle, which looked beautifully constructed, the rest seemed improvised and crooked.
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The acid rain, falling against the mountain’s surface, trickled down the terrain, posing no threat to the Zeus Shelter.
“The one who chose this terrain is kind of smart.”
Su Mo was stunned to see such a vast complex of buildings.
The terrain rested against the mines at the back. They could weather some minor disasters unscathed, not to mention huge disasters.
Combined with the dozens of people recruited to form a combat force, the efficiency of exploring the ruins was definitely much higher than a one-man show.
It seemed the owner of Zeus Shelter did not mind their structure being revealed to the public, opening up full viewing privilege.
Trying to control the camera himself, Su Mo zoomed in closer.
In the middle of the main house sat a blond, bearded man, gushing about something.
After switching the viewpoint, the scene in front of Su Mo’s eyes became fixed, becoming a fixed shot like that of a host.
“Welcome to Zeus Shelter—the safest shelter in the world.”
“Currently, we have more than 80 people in the shelter. We have more than a dozen wilderness survival experts and 30 powerful combatants who have served in the military. We can guarantee the safety of those who join Zeus Shelter.”
“Of course, there are no idle people in the shelter. To sign up for the shelter, you need to meet the following conditions.”
“Men must be no shorter than 175 and women no less than 168. Your weight must be within a healthy range, and you must have a special skill. We welcome you if you can help build a large shelter.”
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“Of course, technicians don’t have to go on hunting trips. You just have to stay in the shelter.”
Big Beard, who seemed inarticulate, was a smooth talker. With the help of the game panel’s translation, Su Mo had no problem understanding him.
Big Beard also showed the base’s current configuration as he spoke.
Following his camera, he came to the supplies house, and what came into view were mountains of mutant beasts’ meat.
A ton or two of the meat had been processed and piled up, looking impressive when food and water were scarce during Doomsday.
That was not all. There were three waist-high tanks nearby. As Big Beard lifted the lid, it revealed yellowish, slightly cloudy water inside.
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Big Beard was a little thirsty at the sight of the water, but he chose to press his slightly peeling lips and closed the lid.
Then they came to the weapons room. There was a row of wooden spears and three bows and arrows that looked handmade.
Finally, Big Beard came to one of the largest rooms.
The rooms here had windows on all sides, but the fire in the middle of the room kept the cold away.
Forty to fifty shelter members—men and women, all sat in the middle of the room, singing. From time to time, someone would even get up and dance.
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Seeing this, no one would think it was the end of the world.
Big Beard puffed out his chest in pride.
“That’s what makes Amurica’s Zeus Shelter so powerful. We have enough food and water and even the security you dream of!”
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“I saw someone mention Huaxia.”
“Huh? Huh? Come on. Are you willing to go to a shelter where you need to work more than 15 hours a day? Are you going to Huaxia Shelter, where you have to fight to the death to get supplies and then feed everyone else?”
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Big Beard’s words brought laughter from the men and women sitting around the fire.
“Forgive me for speaking so harshly. Being in this wasteland, everyone should know their places!”
“Look at the shelters in Huaxia. Hehe. They’re just a bunch of fools, trying to save so many drags. They’ll be killed in the next disaster!”
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Upon hearing Big Beard’s arrogant word, Su Mo turned his neck a little stiffly and exited the live broadcast room.
“It looks like there’s a conflict between these people’s notions of a shelter.”
Skipping the second live broadcast room, Su Mo clicked right into Huaxia Shelter’s live broadcast room, ranked third.
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It started by falling from the grey sky again.
Unlike Big Beard’s mine, Huaxia Shelter’s terrain was the same as Su Mo’s—a vast plain stretching to the horizon.
“Unity is strength, withstand disasters and rescue victims!”
As he looked down, Su Mo noticed the banners hanging on the similar vast complex of buildings to Big Beard’s.
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The banner was a white cloth, obtained from God knew where. It hung in the middle of the short wooden houses, with a single line written in charcoal.
“One.. two… ten… fifteen… twenty-five…”
Su Mo counted them all around and was surprised to find that Huaxia Shelter had 43 houses.
More than ten of these houses were wooden houses generated with the survival game’s shelters.
Unlike Big Beard’s buildings, relying on the terrain to withstand disasters, Huaxia Shelter built levees to protect them from the rain.
There were many zigzagging canals on the floor of the shelter. Hundreds of people in heavy straw raincoats and straw umbrellas seemed to be unclogging the drains.
Su Mo did not see the same joy in the faces of the people toiling on the ground as he did in the people of Zeus Shelter earlier.
However, Su Mo saw a different emotion.
Hope!
Hope was on the face of every laborer.
It was the hope for life!
Only Huaxia people could feel this shock, and only they could understand the responsibility that this hope required.
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Cutting to the host’s viewpoint.
The camera panned to a torch-lit house next to the outermost house.
“Hello to all Huaxia people who are watching this broadcast. This is the front-line headquarters for disaster resistance. We are subordinate to Huaxia’s 79th Regiment of the 13th Army.”
“The maximum distance a live broadcast can go is 50 kilometers. Every Huaxia people within 50 kilometers of this rescue site can contact the shelter center after the disaster. The shelter will come to your aid in a few days. Please be patient and don’t give up hope!”
“I repeat…”
“Huaxia has not given up its efforts to rescue every one of its people. Please stay in your shelters. Survive the disaster, and we have a better tomorrow waiting for us!”
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“People who aren’t near Huaxia Shelter, please don’t worry. There are 42 known military-built shelters. Please don’t rashly go out to look for them. Protect yourselves and wait for the military to expand their search and rescue you. Don’t go to the wilderness!”
“I repeat…”
The young black-haired woman in charge of the explanation kept repeating these two words with her lips.
She did not even notice the gash on her lips, dry from speech.
“Shen Ke…”
With a heavy heart, Su Mo took note of the woman’s name and quit Huaxia Shelter’s live broadcast room.
While Zeus Shelter only catered for the talented, people from other countries found it hard to understand the way Huaxia Shelter handled things.
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They would not understand…
Why protect these weak untalented people who could not even work during Doomsday?
However, Su Mo believed every Huaxia people watching the broadcast felt a surge of apocalyptic hope.
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Natural disasters had no mercy!
People were compassionate!
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One day, Huaxia would be able to rebuild their homes in this wasteland!
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After looking through all the live broadcast rooms, Su Mo gave up the idea of topping the disaster resistance ranking.
While it might seem tempting to get an unknown airdrop by starting a live broadcast, the top ten shelters were not small groups.
An innocent man would get into trouble for being talented!
It was easy to see that something was wrong when he alone could build a shelter beyond what other groups had built.
In the absence of modern firepower, Su Mo decided to forbear it.
He always bore in mind Ming Taizu’s strategy: build high walls, accumulate plenty of food, and become king slowly.
Never learn from Yuan Shu, a great warlord of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He kept dreaming of becoming emperor after getting an imperial jade seal. Finally, he could not resist declaring himself emperor and immediately became the object of almost every warlord’s crusade. In the end, he died in defeat and became a laughingstock.
“Exposing my coordinates within 50 kilometers now? It’s alright if there’s no one; it’s too risky if there are. No. No.”
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After thinking it over and over again, he simply turned off the live broadcast interface—out of sight, out of mind.
Su Mo was deeply impressed by the top ten shelter’s construction.
It was the so-called small-mindedness. After coming to this unknown world, all they thought about was how to survive, how to upgrade their shelters, and how to survive in natural disasters.
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It led to a neglect of improving the most important combat abilities and exploration of the outside world.