My Post-Apocalyptic Shelter Levels Up Infinitely!

Dawn broke. 

Su Mo got out of the simple cabin the murlocs built and checked on them, who had been rapidly evolving in terms of intellect and physique while they slept after consuming food that contained psychic energy water. 

After getting his three-pointed two-edged sword, Su Mo set out energetically toward the top of the mountain. 

Su Mo was different from the murlocs, who were still fast asleep. As his physical constitution evolved more and more, the time he needed to sleep grew shorter and shorter. 

Especially after consuming food that contained psychic energy water. If he did not fight any major battles, Su Mo only needed three to four hours before his energy was restored to its peak condition. 

While on the way to the top, Su Mo picked a beet coconut and drank the coconut water while enjoying the crispy beet coconut flesh. 

Although the beet coconut's flesh was succulent, it was also similar to sugarcane in the sense that chewing it a few times would drain the rough plant fibers of its juices and make you feel like you were chewing on wood. 

The experience became even worse when you remembered that you had to swallow this piece of wood. 

"It would be nice if the sweetness and texture of this coconut's flesh could be modified because, then, it could be sold as a cash crop!" 

Su Mo thought about this as he finished drinking the fresh coconut water in the beet coconut and consuming half of its flesh. Then, the large rock at the peak of the mountain appeared in his field of vision. 

Su Mo used the handle of his weapon to support himself as he successfully clambered onto the large rock. 

It was different from the hasty method he had used to climb up onto the rock yesterday. The sun was just beginning to rise. 

Su Mo was in no rush to summon the Commander Pass. Instead, he sat down on the rock and took a closer look at the territory he owned. 

This island was named White Sand Island because of the sand on the beaches that surrounded the island. They were white, contained no trace of impurities, and looked just as pleasant as pieces of white jade placed on the ground. 

A small sailboat was docked in the cove located on the south part of the island. It rocked from side to side as the sea breeze whistled by. 

About 75% of the island was covered in vegetation. 35% of that consisted of beet coconut trees, whereas the remaining 40% were broad-leaved plants that were often seen in the tropics. 

"The south side of the island is currently the only place where ships can dock, but that's alright. I can make another man-made cove for ships to dock." 

"The east and north sides of the island are mostly covered in useless broad-leaved vegetation that serves no purpose except to take up space. When I get more people working under me, I can excavate that area and use it as White Sand Island's frontage." 

"Hang on, what the heck is that?" 

Su Mo swept an appreciative gaze across three areas of the island, but the look on his face turned ugly when his gaze turned toward the southern side.

The southern side of the island was also where the Guardians of the Ocean had appeared and been "bombed" to death. 

The sun was yet to rise fully, but with Su Mo's exceptional eyesight, he immediately noticed a black dot floating near the end of the horizon. 

Su Mo's instincts told him that it was a boat, and it seemed eerily familiar. 

"Is a merchant ship delivering itself into my hands? Or have the mad dogs come looking for me again?" 

Su Mo felt an indescribable apprehension coursing through his body. Then, he got an idea and retrieved a pair of binoculars with 15x zoom from the storage space and looked into the distance. 

The next second, he got a clearer look at the ship near the end of the sea's horizon, and saw the Guardians of the Ocean's flag hanging from it…

Su Mo was stunned, and his hands immediately curled themselves into fists! 

"F*ck, what the hell are they up to? Why has another one of the Guardian of the Ocean's ships come over?" 

"Are they monsters that respawn repeatedly? Will a ship be coming over every day?" 

"???" 

... 

"Captain, we've already wiped out the forty pieces of scum from the Guardians of the Ocean. We've also looted their ship and most of the supplies on it. We're rich!" 

"Captain, should we dock their boat in our cove as well?" 

"Captain, what's wrong? Why do you have such an ugly look on your face?" 

As dawn broke, the sunlight shone upon all sorts of creatures sprawled out on the shore.

There were murlocs, shrimp soldiers, and also a man who had a human's head and crab claws for arms. 

These sprawled-out creatures all had one similarity to them. They all had a chrysanthemum-shaped opening on their heads. 

Blood of various colors seeped from the chrysanthemum-shaped openings and mixed in with the clean sand, forming an abstract painting that looked like a mischievous child's doodles. 

The nine murlocs that were a part of White Sand Island were now happily prancing around this area of the beach as they celebrated the Guardians of the Ocean's failure once more. 

Yes, they had wiped out their enemy without suffering any casualties, and they had also seized a bunch of supplies. It was supposed to be a time of celebration. 

However, as they looked at the ugly look on Su Mo's face, the murlocs seemed to sense the seriousness of the problem as they fell silent. 

"F*ck, our wanted level is up to three stars now that we've killed these 40 people." 

"However, that's not the worst part. The worst part is that a boat like this that carries another group from the Guardians of the Ocean will come by every day."

"Two stars means that 40 people will come by every day, whereas three stars will bring 100 people and a powerful leader." 

"What's going on? Is this a game?" 

Su Mo burst into one of his rare foul-mouthed rants. After waving the murlocs away to clean up the battlefield, Su Mo walked over to a place where the murlocs could not see him before taking off his merman costume and swiftly making his way toward the mountaintop that contained the commander's decree. 

After getting rid of those forty people and having his wanted level raised to three stars, the commander's decree had also sent over one of its rare messages. 

There was only one message, and it talked about the wanted star levels and what they represented. 

For the one-star wanted level, unless you and the Guardians of the Ocean met face-to-face, and you allowed them to see you, they would not take the initiative to go looking for you or travel long distances to capture you. 

For the two-stars wanted level, you were already somewhat well-known. No matter where you were, the nearest official organization would receive information on your whereabouts every day once the clock struck 12 midnight. 

Then, they would send out a sailboat that carried 40 soldiers from the Guardians of the Ocean to capture you.

These soldiers had only average abilities, and even if they had to face them one-on-one, the murlocs who had been strengthened with psychic energy water stood a fair chance against them as long as the combat conditions were suitable. 

However, the problem occurred once you dared kill these soldiers; your wanted star level would grow higher and higher, until…

It reached the three-stars wanted level! 

"Commander's decree, check my wanted value and the time until the next Guardians of the Ocean army will arrive at my current location." 

Su Mo could run much faster now that he was freed from the constraints of the merman costume. The distance he traveled on his feet would have usually taken 20 minutes in his costume. 

However, since he was running, it only took him about 3 minutes to complete the journey!

Su Mo gasped for breath as he grabbed the commander's decree floating in the air and asked his questions. 

[Respected Ocean Commander Su Mo. Based on your current wanted star level, your wanted value is at 528.] 

[The next Guardians of the Ocean army will be dispatched in 16 hours and 2 minutes. They will arrive in 28 hours and 11 minutes.] 

Two numbers. One of them was 16 hours, and the other was 28 hours. 

After completing some simple subtraction and division in his brain, Su Mo gained an understanding of the three-star wanted level ship's speed. 

By right, the Guardians of the Ocean army that was currently here was supposed to set out the next morning. 

In other words, they had traveled against the wind for two nights and sailed for 32 hours before arriving at White Sand Island. Their determination was astounding! 

However, even when you calculated the time it took to travel against the wind, the wanted three-star level army would only need 12 hours. Their speed was nearly three times faster. 

If the star level remained the way it was, a boat full of mad dogs like these would wash up onto White Sand Island during noon every day and deliver a boat full of supplies and over a thousand points. 

Based on the current state of his ammunition reserve, Su Mo would not be able to finish using the ammunition to kill them even after a hundred days had passed. 

However, the problem was that the star level would continuously increase, which meant that he would have to deal with even more of them and that he needed to kill them even more quickly! 

If Su Mo reached the four-star wanted level, a suppression force consisting of 1000 members would be waiting for him! 

This suppression force would increase the Guardians of the Ocean's combat standards by a notch.

The suppression force would be led by a capable captain with experience in leading assaults against wanted criminals. The force would consist of 800 elite soldiers and 200 war beasts. 

It was such a massive suppression force that, when it happened, Su Mo would probably only be able to defeat a small portion of the force. 

He would run out of ammunition, and there would come a time where he could no longer stand his ground even if he wanted to do so.

When that happened, Su Mo would be left with only one choice, which was… 

To leave the trial! 

"That doesn't make sense. If you look at it that way, you would have no choice but to give up if you've been tagged as a wanted criminal."

"However, based on the level goals that the commander's decree gave me... If I choose to continue carrying out the missions within, my wanted star level will continue to grow higher and higher. How am I supposed to continue playing?" 

Su Mo's heart rate had increased after running frantically, but he began gathering his thoughts as he sat down on the large rock. 

The current problem he faced was the unsolvable issue of the wanted star level and his increasing wanted value. 

The star level determined the capturing team's strength, while the wanted value determined how high his wanted star level was. 

Among these two variables, he just needed to find a suitable method to ensure that he could control one variable. 

That way, the mad dogs that raced over at a fixed time every day would not only fail to serve as a hindrance, but they would also become a "a goose that laid golden eggs"! 

"Where exactly is the key to solving this problem…" 

"My wanted level was already at two stars after I broke out of jail and chose to flee. This means that there must be a loophole in the trial world. I began fleeing after that, and then…" 

"Hang on! The territorial transformation card!" 

He scrolled down on the game panel interface and looked through it closely. 

When Su Mo's thoughts drifted toward his gains from yesterday, his heart leaped as he retrieved the transformation card from the storage space.

Based on how games were designed, levels and rewards were usually designed in a way that allowed players to continue progressing. 

Since the level encouraged players to become lawless lords, then it would definitely leave behind several loopholes to be used to that end. 

"Thank god I didn't rush to use this yesterday. Now, it seems like the loophole is hidden here…" 

"In Function 4!" 

Before going to sleep last night, Su Mo had been wondering if he should choose Function 2's transformation option to complete White Sand Island's initial terrain development, or place a bet on Function 4's special abilities. 

However, as Su Mo gazed at the dazzling card in his hands, he heaved a long sigh of relief before activating it. 

"I choose function 4, activate the special ability add-on!" 

[Respected Ocean Commander Su Mo. Your choice to activate Function 4 of the Elementary Territorial Transformation Card has been detected. There are three choices for you to choose from.]

[Choice 1: Land of Fish and Rice (upon choosing this special ability, territorial crop yield +50%, probability of attracting farming experts +10%, territorial crop resistance +25%, territorial crop growth rate +15%; when planting crops, there is a certain probability that they will have an increased grade.)] 

[Choice 2: The Sailor's Homeland (upon choosing this special ability, territorial traffic +50%, territorial consumer satisfaction +25%, probability of attracting legendary captain visitations +10%, territorial security +15%; when attracting customers, there is a certain probability that guests that are elite-level and above will be attracted.)]

[Choice 3: Lawless Land (upon choosing this special ability, territorial traffic +75%, probability of attracting pirates +100%, territorial chaos +100%, territorial crop yield -100%; when situated in this territory, the Guardians of the Ocean will not receive your coordinates. Moreover, the wanted star level and wanted value will remain fixed while inside the territory.)]

"Holy sh*t, there really is a loophole!" 

After glancing through the first two choices and reading the last choice named "Lawless Land", Su Mo was so shocked that he jumped up. 

If he was an ordinary deserter with a two-star wanted level, he would have hesitated when he saw those three choices. 

Although "Lawless Land" looked like a good solution to his urgent need, the +100% territorial chaos and -100% crop yield would mean that the territory would remain stuck in the early stages of development. 

If you chose this when you had just arrived and had yet to fully develop your forces… 

If chaos broke out in the territory, it would still be alright if you lost your supplies because you would still have a chance of starting over. However, if you lost your life in the chaos, you were done for. 

Unless… 

"Holy sh*t, I was figuring out where I should go to break the law and rob these pirates. Who would have thought that the Lawless Land would turn these pirates into gift parcels delivered right to my doorstep!" 

"Moreover, as long as I make a quick round outside of the island's perimeter at midnight every day and allow the Guardians of the Ocean to receive my coordinates, I just have to stay on the island and wait until noon before I receive a sailboat full of supplies without even lifting a finger. That's f*cking crazy!"