The Last Day, the Secret Realm Opens!
300 jin of flour, all kneaded and made into flatbread, is easy to make but time-consuming.
I worked from morning till afternoon, and finally managed to bake all the pancakes before evening.
Since there wasn't enough space on the cutting board, Su Mo simply made a large wooden food cabinet and placed it in the kitchen to store the prepared flatbreads.
The rich aroma of steamed buns filled the air on the third floor of the shelter. Even Su Mo, who was already full, felt a surge of appetite when he saw the last batch of hot flatbread.
"Oreo, Big and Little Spark, you've finished your daily allowance. No sneaking any tonight!"
When Oreo saw Su Mo looking over, Oreo raised its head and pretended to be nonchalant, looking adorably silly.
At this point, of all the items being traded, only the last sixty iron tools remained to be forged.
Studying while making pancakes doesn't take much to do physically, and Su Mo quickly entered a state of focused concentration as he sat at the table.
From the initial stumbling and bumpy process of making the product, to now having the air of a "master" as soon as you sit down.
It wasn't just through learning and correcting mistakes on television; it was more about Su Mo's "devout" heart when it came to handicrafts.
If you're going to do something, do it well.
This is Su Mo's life principle, especially when doing things that are important to him.
Of course, hard work always comes with rewards, and the quality of the last sixty ironwares has been increasing as the craftsmanship has become more and more skilled.
Later on, they were even able to make four or five excellent tools with different attributes in a row.
As long as humans possess this tool, they can instantly double, or even triple, their productivity! With increased productivity, the human race can be guaranteed to develop at a completely equal pace with the alien monsters until firearms are invented and the balance is completely broken.
"The fact that more and more people World Channel now own guns proves that manufacturing guns is not difficult."
"The difficulty lies in the ammunition and mass production!"
After two consecutive days of intense tool-making, Su Mo was able to spare some attention to think about some issues in the later, less important stages.
The limitations of handcrafting became even more apparent through the mass production of these Stone Axe and Stone Pickaxe.
At this rate of efficiency, even if Su Mo spent more than eight hours a day making these kinds of tools.
Leaving aside energy and raw material consumption, just considering the quantity, at most a thousand tools would be dumped during a single disaster, which would be the peak.
But what is the current human population in the wasteland? At least four billion!
Three disasters can only sell a few thousand tools. This number of thousands may seem like a lot, but it is actually insignificant compared to the denominator of hundreds of millions.
The same applies to firearms.
In just over ten days, some people have created all kinds of guns using tools and their handcrafting skills. There are even a few handcrafted AK47s still on the market.
Unfortunately, these seemingly imposing guns were not even worth fighting over; even broadswords sold better than them.
The reason lies in the lack of large-scale ammunition and logistical support.
Hand-made guns are unstable and lack ammunition. Besides being able to intimidate their own people, they are just considered foolish by other races.
"I'm afraid Ma Gu faced the same dilemma back then. Later on, those who could afford guns established their own gun and ammunition production lines."
"Those who can't afford guns will either be eliminated from the sport as the disaster worsens, or they will find other alternatives to firearms."
After carefully considering the future development path, and with a series of rapid hammer blows, the last Stone Pickaxe was finally completed.
The crafting of 200 iron tools, including 100 iron axes and 100 Iron Pickaxe, took more than 20 hours in total.
Meanwhile, there are 22 excellent quality iron axes and 14 fine quality Iron Pickaxe, emitting a faint glow that is completely different from that of excellent quality.
Looking at my achievements, the fatigue of the past few days finally found some solace.
As time goes on, this primitive way of making tools will definitely be phased out, and more "high-quality" tools will be made by hand.
By mass-producing low-level weapons using assembly line molding machines, they can completely monopolize the consumer market from top to bottom.
"So if we're going to develop Technology Tree, should we prioritize energy and automation?"
Opening the resource log in the Game Panel, Su Mo carefully considered the options before finally entering both entries.
This approach is indeed somewhat extreme and is fraught with uncertainty about the future.
Investing most of your Survival Points in developing these two Technology Tree will inevitably reduce your investment in combat capabilities and other aspects.
This would be quite a constraint when facing strong opponents.
"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. In the early stages, while I can still maintain a suppressive advantage, I'll develop a monopoly and leverage that lead to expand my advantage, which might allow me to stay ahead of everyone else."
If he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it. After recording all his thoughts in his diary, Su Mo decisively got up and left his workbench.
He lit the wood under the stove, boiled two large buckets of water, and on the second-to-last night before the end of the world, Su Mo took another comfortable hot bath before leisurely going to bed.
No matter how much the humans in the wasteland resist this day, time will not stop because of personal will.
After midnight, the countdown on the Game Panel changed its style to a 24-hour countdown.
That night, some went crazy, some were overjoyed, and some were in despair.
Overall, most people were excited about the upcoming secret realm trade and spent the last "ordinary" night with trepidation.
There was no cold wind, no snowfall, and if it weren't for the blood-red countdown, no one would have thought that a disaster was about to strike on such a bright and starry night.
As the first rays of sunlight faded, countless humans on the wasteland rose early and spontaneously gathered outside the shelter, waiting for the secret realm to open.
Even Su Mo was no exception.
Around 5 a. m., before dawn, Su Mo had already woken up to the alarm clock on his Old Phone.
After washing up and having a simple breakfast, Su Mo sat outside the garage door, quietly waiting for the secret realm to descend.
On previous occasions, when entering the secret realm, Su Mo only realized it after it had already been formed, and he never saw with his own eyes how the secret realm was formed.
I got up early this time to witness this "miraculous" moment.
The clock kept ticking forward until seven o'clock, then eight o'clock. After the system notification sounded and then disappeared, the secret realm still hadn't appeared.
In the world chat, hundreds of millions of people have already started spamming the chat, at a rate even more terrifying than on the first day of the event.
While observing the chat panel and looking around at the outside world, Su Mo switched back and forth to check things out, and Oreo, who was on guard nearby, started barking loudly.
A miraculous scene unfolded!
On the horizon, a light exactly like the Golden Light emanating from the relocation shelter suddenly appeared! The Golden Light seemed to carry unparalleled power, appearing slow but actually swift.
At the same time, a notification sound rang in the ears of all players.
[Log]: Disaster time has been detected; the Secret Realm Trade is about to open. All players, please prepare.
[Record]: The rules of the Secret Realm have been sent to all players' Game Panel notifications. Please check them yourself! Like all players, upon hearing the system notification, Su Mo immediately opened the Game Panel to check without any hesitation.
The new notification is unique; it floats directly above the Game Panel, making it very eye-catching.
After clicking it, a ripple-shaped light screen flashing with green light popped up.
[Disaster Benefits - Trading Realm (Wood)]
[1. The disaster relief level for this event is Wood-level. The trigger method is unknown. All players are encouraged to try their best to trigger it and secure more benefits for the "Human" race.]
[2. All force, violence, forced buying and selling, and any behavior against one's will are prohibited in the Trading Realm. The game does not set any evaluation criteria for any player. Once discovered, the player will be automatically taken to the Adjudication Secret Realm. If the violation of the rules is confirmed, the player will be immediately eliminated.]
[3. Entry time is 24 hours: 9-15, a total of six hours. There is no limit to the number of entries during the open period of the secret realm. You can enter and exit an unlimited number of times.]
[4. Do not damage other people's goods in the secret realm. If this is discovered, refer to item 2 for the handling procedures.]
[5. Jurisdiction over Trading Realm area is held by the game's third-party rights holder, who is the strongest player in terms of overall strength within the trading area.]
6. The above rules do not represent all the rules of the secret realm. Do not act recklessly. The game reserves the right of final interpretation.
The six scattered announcements about the Trading Realm have basically explained all the rules clearly.
Aside from the second point, "annihilation," which seems a bit terrifying, the other points are all about protecting the humans in the wasteland.
"Not limiting the number of times you can enter, only setting time limits, and protecting the freedom of buying and selling—it really seems like a boon to humanity!"
With a slight sigh, Su Mo noticed a glittering symbol at the very bottom.
"Manage?"
"So, does that mean I'm the number one player in the Area Channel?"
Despite having absolute confidence in his abilities, Su Mo couldn't help but feel a surge of joy upon seeing the game acknowledge his abilities.
As the summoning intent focused and transformed into a finger pointing at the management button, darkness suddenly fell before my eyes.
A world that is both strange and familiar gradually emerges.