Craving Martial Power! Acquiring Basic Martial Arts!

"Force."

As he repeatedly murmured those two words and reflected on his previous plans for the future, Su Mo was somewhat surprised.

Just over ten days ago, he was a well-mannered and model citizen who had traveled from Earth, wondering how to survive in this cruel wasteland.

A dozen days later, he is now considering how to use force to protect his interests and safeguard his development.

This shift in mindset was remarkably swift.

At the same time, upon closer reflection, it makes perfect sense! When people first travel through time, they always have the mentality of ordinary citizens, only thinking about how to survive, how to live more comfortably, and how to withstand the next disaster.

In this state, there's no intention to fight for supremacy; at most, one is just thinking about how to protect oneself.

But now that things have developed to this point, with the basic construction conditions in place, the many advantages accumulated in the early stages, and the help of the system, Su Mo is fully qualified to have new ideas! "If we're going to use force, then it's definitely unreliable for me to guard such a large territory by myself. Even with my father's help, the whole family only has two combatants. For a strategic depth of tens of kilometers and a battle involving hundreds of people, that's too weak, it definitely won't work!"

Before technology was fully developed, the size of the population could directly influence the balance of power in battle.

For example, if a kobold is alone, or even without a warlock leading him, and forty or fifty warrior kobolds attack together, Su Mo can use his advantages to kite them perfectly without fear.

But if the number of forty or fifty people were increased to four or five hundred, even if Su Mo were a robot, he wouldn't dare to challenge a dark mass of kobolds.

"Developing technology, upgrading the Technology Tree, and building factories to increase production will create a positive cycle, which requires a large number of people."

"To protect the territory, safeguard resources, ensure that they are not seized by others, and have sufficient strength to deter enemies, a large number of people are also needed."

Upgrading shelters and expanding disaster-resistant technologies and buildings requires exorbitant amounts of Survival Points and materials, which in turn require a large population.

Su Mo meticulously analyzed every detail and recorded it all in his diary.

If civilization still exists, with Earth as its main stage and a complete government in place, Su Mo would naturally not have such thoughts.

Unfortunately, after transmigrating, humanity's situation was precarious, and all political regimes had collapsed. To survive in this post-apocalyptic wasteland and establish one's own power, it was imperative to prioritize this task! "First, I need to find suitable candidates. When my father arrives, he'll advise me. He's very good at judging people. I'll be in charge of external conquests and resource acquisition, while my father will lead the development of our territory and resource gathering as I level up, taking charge of internal affairs!"

"In this wasteland, I must take advantage of my early successes and expand, expand, and expand again. I cannot relax until I am at my strongest!"

At this moment, Su Mo was extremely grateful that he was not fighting alone.

At least, with the help of family, looking to the future, it's definitely much more reliable than entrusting your back to strangers in the apocalypse.

After confirming that everything was memorized again, Su Mo took out a freshly steamed pot of bread and set it aside. He then extinguished the firewood and began his post-meal digestive exercise.

Health is the most important asset.

Especially in the end times, we cannot relax even for a moment.

Until the development and innovation of Mecha technology can compensate for the disadvantage of the human body's fragility, the stronger the body, the greater the chance of survival.

"My training pace is still too slow. Improving physical fitness is a gradual process that takes time, and I'm being too impatient."

For many days, the increase in strength has been negligible, not nearly as satisfying as the significant increase after the previous two times entering the ruins.

Su Mo couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

"Among combat techniques, I only have one set of Capturing Enemy Fist right now. It's fine against kobolds who can be overpowered by strength, but it's a bit dangerous against opponents of similar strength!"

While doing push-ups and burpees to improve his cardiovascular fitness, Su Mo was also conceiving techniques for killing enemies in his mind.

The Capturing Enemy Fist is indeed effective, especially when one grasps even a little of its essence and applies it flexibly; it can be quite lethal.

However, the lethality of Capturing Enemy Fist is different from that of other ancient martial arts, which are all about killing moves. Capturing Enemy Fist mainly emphasizes the word "capture".

When facing an enemy, they have very few killing moves.

In the morning, when he was charging into battle, Su Mo could clearly feel his movements slowing down and his mind becoming increasingly preoccupied with thoughts as the kobolds multiplied.

Later on, Su Mo even discovered that using certain skills was less effective than simply swinging and stabbing the spear randomly.

This idea is very dangerous, especially in the midst of a major battle. Losing your composure will cause you to lose the initiative and make it easy for someone to take your life.

"How about we look into buying some marksmanship or low-tier weapon skills from the trading channel and practice them?"

Once this idea took root, it began to grow rapidly in Su Mo's mind and he couldn't shake it off.

Having stopped exercising, Su Mo thought about it carefully and indeed discovered:

It's definitely feasible! There are many fake skills on Earth, so many that many people think there are none that are real. But in fact, there are many extraordinary people who are truly capable.

They were unwilling to show their faces in public, but instead passed down their true "killing skills" from generation to generation in a family or martial arts school in a certain place.

Ordinary people cannot come into contact with these kinds of people, nor can they appreciate their true abilities.

But in this wasteland situation, everyone is connected to a World Channel, which provides them with convenient communication.

Furthermore, everyone is risking their lives every day for a bite to eat. Maybe someone has this good stuff but is short of food and will trade it for it? The more he thought about it, the more excited Su Mo became, looking at the large white steamed buns that were still warm on the stove and cutting board. He immediately opened the World Channel.

After a moment's thought about the wording and editing the order of the sentences, Su Mo's message appeared on the world chat.

[Su Mo: Seeking to purchase a combat technique. Requirements: Must be masterable, highly lethal, and have a lineage. Preferably spear or lance techniques, but fist techniques are also acceptable. No techniques meant for elderly people to exercise in the morning! Looking to purchase worldwide. If interested, please add me as a friend via private message. I will not reply to world chat messages!]

After sending it, seeing how fast the world chat was refreshing, Su Mo simply sent it again.

Immediately, most people in the World Channel noticed the glaringly obvious No. 1 title icon, and then, upon seeing that it was Su Mo's name, they were in an uproar! In recent days, every time Su Mo appeared in the world chat, he could spark a nationwide discussion.

The last time was to warn Human Traitor and phishing scammers, which disappointed many people who wanted to trade for something.

But this time, upon seeing Su Mo's purchase request, this group of people instantly perked up, and the speed at which they refreshed the world chat suddenly increased dramatically.

"If you don't understand, just ask. What are combat techniques? I'm really good at Mona, Chongyun, Klee, Wendy, and Master Lu. I feel like my skills are pretty good!"

"Su God, I have a secret fighting technique that I'll never share. It has 365 different positions, each one designed to make your 'enemy' unable to resist. If you buy it now, I'll also give you a kidney-preserving secret, guaranteeing you 365 days of blissful flight every night."

"Young Su Mo, I am Ma Baoguo, the head of the Hunyuan Xingyi Taiji School. Traditional kung fu emphasizes neutralizing force, using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds. Even a British Lishi weighing over two hundred pounds couldn't lift a single finger of mine. You think I can represent traditional kung fu? That's not true. But if you want to learn martial arts, I have the unique Ma Family Taiji Fist and the Lightning Five-Hit Combo, which is never passed on to outsiders. If you are sincere, add me as a friend and we can chat privately!"

"The 145th generation descendant of the Yang Family Spear has come to pay his respects. Um, if you ask me what the Yang Family Spear is, then I can only say, my surname is Yang! The spear technique I use is the Yang Family Spear!"

"I have a pistol. Do you want to trade it, Su God? Your kung fu is useless. From seven steps away, the gun is fast; within seven steps, the gun is both accurate and fast. Buy my gun, and if anyone dares to show off their kung fu to you, you can crack their skull open immediately!"

"It's 2019 already, surely there are still people who don't know that kung fu is just a fabricated hoax? You ask me if I believe it or not? Give me food and I'll believe it; if you don't, I won't."

The World Channel is full of talented people, and all kinds of information are flooding out like a tide, quickly refreshing the screen.

Having weathered the most difficult period, most people are finding joy amidst the hardship, and at least on the chat panel, there's much less hostility than before.

Su Mo was also quite clever in setting the transaction conditions, directly setting a threshold.

Only those who proactively add you via private message will be chosen for a transaction.

After the update, adding strangers requires a certain number of points. Those who want to beg or talk nonsense will be rejected before reaching this threshold.

There were no private messages yet, so Su Mo remained calm and sat on the stone bench, waiting patiently.

Not everyone will be constantly checking the chat panel, but Su Mo believes that as long as one person in a Gathering Place sees it, word will spread and everyone will quickly know about the acquisition.

The advantages gained in the early stages not only gave Su Mo the convenience of being ahead of everyone else, but also brought him much more.

This stems from the benefits of strength, as well as the added value brought by status and glory.

Sure enough, a short while later, as the Game Panel emitted the sound of adding friends, Su Mo opened the panel and, after taking a closer look, burst into laughter.

"As expected, everything is under control!"

I've been working on my graduation thesis these past few days, so updates might be a little delayed and unstable. Please bear with me; I'll resume regular updates as soon as I'm done!