Scattered Like Stars Across the Sky, the Lion-Kobold Tug-of-War! (First Update)
Snowflakes are falling, the north wind is howling~
Humming a tuneless "A Plum Blossom in the Wind" while holding the steering wheel with one hand and maintaining a speed of about 20 miles per hour, Su Mo slowly drove south.
This direction leads to the Lionman camp.
Judging from Maeda Kento's previous remarks and Ying Xiong's words, the Lion Man and the Kobold Man should have already been locked in battle.
Of course, the kobolds' current strength is definitely bug-level in this land.
Before disaster strikes, it is still necessary for Su Mo to visit these two neighbors to observe their interactions.
Opening the car window, a cool breeze naturally blew into the car. Su Mo put his hand out the window, feeling the "beauty" of the wasteland! After days of running around, he finally dealt with all the troubles near the shelter except for the kobolds and lionmen.
At least for the time being, there's no need to worry about being betrayed by one's own kind.
As for Chen Shen and his group going to the Western Shelter, Su Mo wasn't too worried.
As laborers, they were hardworking and conscientious, able to endure hardship and do a good job.
As a fighting force, they have just experienced the baptism of a great war, and each of them has more or less accepted the cruelty of the apocalypse. They are warriors who can form a large force as soon as they get started.
From any perspective, these people are the most needed backbone of the shelter, and even small shelters would not refuse to let such fellow human beings join.
As for leaving the note, it was Su Mo's way of testing the waters to gauge the nature of the Western refuge.
After the Snow Disaster, Su Mo will also begin to try to make contact with these fellow beings.
At that time, we can roughly tell how "friendly" the shelter is by observing the state of Chen Shen and his group.
If we are on friendly terms, everyone can live in peace, and we can make deals and form alliances as appropriate.
If it's not friendly... After glancing at the Saltpeter Mine in the Earth Tiger's Storage Space, Su Mo patted the horn on the car and revealed a knowing smile.
The car moved at a leisurely pace, taking its time.
After traversing the high slopes and rough roads leading from the camp to the Lionmen, the Earth Tiger finally arrived on the plains.
Compared to the Underground Shelter, this plain is even whiter and more exquisite.
An endless expanse of white snow covered the entire visible area. Unbuckle his seatbelt, Su Mo slowly got out of the car, and looked into the distance.
"A timely snow promises a good harvest! I imagine that after this snow, this land will no longer be so barren, and perhaps I can try planting crops outside!"
Snow contains five times more nitrogen compounds than rainwater. Nitrogen can provide proteins to plants and promote plant growth.
While a lack of snowfall can indeed pose a risk of frost damage, such a massive accumulation of snow actually insulates against heat exchange, helping to maintain ground temperature.
Without modern agriculture, methods such as pesticides, soil sterilization, and natural enemies, heavy snow can also control pest breeding.
Looking at the boundless snowfield before him, Oreo jumped down and happily rolled around in the snow.
One moment it's chasing something that doesn't even exist, the next it's chasing its own tail and biting it.
Seeing Oreo, unable to bite its own tail, suddenly bite its own hind leg in a fit of frustration.
Su Mo suddenly felt a sense of relief wash over him, and the road ahead was bright! "Ah! Wasteland! I've been here!! I've seen it!! I've conquered it!!!"
The relaxed roar caused the bushes around him to scatter a flurry of snowflakes, and the echoes gradually spread across the plain and into the sky.
Free from pressure, and thinking about the vast amount of cores in his Storage Space and the future prospects of the Underground Shelter, Su Mo felt as if he had taken a warm bath—utterly comfortable! "Finally, I managed to take care of Maeda Kento before disaster struck, and severely injured the kobold. As for the lion-man..."
After taking out my phone and switching to the Lionman signal, the tiny dots of the Lionman were scattered across the wilderness like stars in the sky on the phone's screen.
This tactic clearly resembled guerrilla warfare! Before the battery was completely depleted, Su Mo quickly switched back to the kobold signal.
The small dots belonging to the kobolds are mostly concentrated in the southwest area, seemingly chasing a group of lionmen.
Based on the size of the dots above, the number of kobolds chasing them must be at least 500, which is extremely terrifying.
The phone's battery was dropping at a rate of almost 2% per second. Before Su Mo could switch back to the Lionman, a low battery warning flashed by, and then the screen went black.
"Wow, this battery capacity, this battery... I'm speechless. Once I unlock the Technology Tree, I'll just connect you to a nuclear power battery!"
The Old Phone, I don't know what material it's made of, but inside the ruins you can easily remove the battery. Once you leave the ruins, it's like the back is welded shut, there's absolutely no way to open it.
Su Mo activated the Storage Space, put the phone back, and drove the Earth Tiger back on the road.
The roads on the plains were good, and there were few obstacles that would damage the chassis. It didn't take much effort, and before we knew it, the car was already within four or five kilometers of the Lionman Camp.
Further ahead, they would leave huge tire tracks around the Lionman camp, which would likely expose them.
Drive the car to a higher position, and in a few quick movements, Su Mo climbed to the top of the earthworm.
After standing still, Su Mo made a gesture of reaching out his hand into the void. With a flash of light, a telescope appeared in his hand.
Even with a 5x telescope, it's quite difficult to clearly see the situation in the Lionman camp at a distance of about 4000m.
After observing for a while, Su Mo realized that he could only vaguely see that a great battle had taken place inside and could not get any other information. So he began to concentrate and call on the system.
The virtual telescope attribute immediately came to mind.
[Lens-type optical 5x zoom telescope]
Description: The system utilizes the refraction of light through a lens or the reflection of light by a concave mirror to allow it to enter a small aperture and converge to form an image, which is then transmitted through a magnifying eyepiece.
Features: 5x zoom
Upgrade Option 1: Upgrade the prism structure to enhance light transmittance, improve image quality, increase zoom magnification, slightly increase size, and require Survival Points (120).
Upgrade Option Two: Modify the telescope structure, add a weight, fine-tuning wheel, tripod, finder scope, and equatorial mount to significantly increase the observation distance. (Requires Survival Points (1980))
Review: Its power in your hands is no less than that of Yukikaze's binoculars!
"As expected, telescopes have a simple structure, and upgrades can either focus on making them more portable or making them bigger, thicker, and more powerful!"
After smacking his lips and analyzing the pros and cons of the two options, Su Mo made a mental decision and chose the other direction.
This time, it was discovered that increasing the power from five times to ten times only requires 35 points.
Without any hesitation, as Su Mo confirmed, green light scattered out, and the modification of the lenses inside the telescope began.
A powerful system can even create things out of thin air, so this is naturally no challenge for it.
Three to five seconds later, as the green light receded, although the shape remained unchanged, Su Mo could clearly see x10 on the scale.
Now, with the telescope brought back to his eyes and the 10x zoom, while the lionman camp couldn't be seen very clearly, at least some details could be seen.
After a quick glance around the camp and a look at the various signs of battle, Su Mo was immediately shocked.
"Hiss, it seems the kobold is carrying an immense rage!"
What was once a village, the lionman camp, has now been reduced to ruins by the kobolds' fireballs, with unburnt, gray-black wood scattered everywhere.
The giant trees that had surrounded the camp had all disappeared, leaving the entire camp empty and looking as if it had been robbed by bandits.
Following the direction of the wooden ruins, Su Mo patiently observed that among them, he could also see the remains of some dismembered lion-men scattered among the wooden ruins.
The village, which was originally a gray-brown landscape, had now turned a deep red, which was extremely frightening.
As for the most important thing in the tribe, the core refuge of the lion people, it has been turned into a big hole.
Even without getting close to the cave, Su Mo could imagine dozens of Warlock Kobold standing in front of it, bombarding the inside with explosives.
"Good heavens, the kobold looks furious!"
"That makes sense. Only a violent war can make up for such losses. With the gunpowder developed by that Maeda Kento, the kobolds completely overwhelmed the lion-men, who were also a different race, and completely broke the balance."
After observing for a while and confirming that all the traces of the battle and the messy footprints on the ground had been recorded in the diary, Su Mo put away the telescope and jumped off the roof of the Earth Tiger.
The kobolds are going to fight the lion-men?
Then let's fight!
Based on that fleeting glimpse, the lionmen's current formation is definitely not going to work against the kobolds.
When alone, the individual lionman completely overwhelms the kobold in combat power; they are only at a disadvantage when grouping together.
This destined the war between the kobolds and the lion-men to be a protracted one.
"Once this disaster is over, we'll find an opportunity to wipe out these alien beasts in one fell swoop, but for now..."
"Oreo! Time to go home and sleep!"
Su Mo patted the hood of the car and struck a pose of enthusiastically soliciting customers.
Oreo, who was still wandering in the snow, took a light step and jumped into Su Mo's arms.
After affectionately touching the Oreo, Su Mo turned and got into the car.
As the engine of the Earth Tiger roared to life, a plume of black smoke billowed out, and the wheels began to roll steadily.
A moment later, as a gentle breeze swept by, the marks on the ground became barely discernible.