Free Web NovelChapter 96: Chapter 95: Strike First
He stretched out his finger and lightly drew a small circle around his shelter on the map.
The next moment, a red circle appeared near Ye Yun’s shelter.
Three small stars, scattered in different directions, were all located near this red circle.
’Just as I thought...’
A chill began to spread through Ye Yun’s heart.
If his speculations were correct, then it was highly likely that there were more than just these three shelters near the red circle.
Using the distances between the other shelters and what little he could recall of his high school math, Ye Yun quickly calculated the potential number of shelters within the circle.
’Pi is 3.14, which means the circumference is 6.28 times the radius.’
’That means there should be six other shelters in the vicinity of mine.’
Ye Yun quickly marked three more blue stars on the red circle.
The remaining three unknown shelters were most likely near these three blue stars.
Although Ye Yun had known that there must be other shelters near his own, he had always assumed they would be very far away. As long as he didn’t do anything reckless or casually expose his position, his shelter would be relatively safe.
However, if his guess was correct, the so-called "dark forest" rule had now been shattered.
As long as one was willing to look, it was actually quite easy to find the other six shelters.
Then, using the coordinates of those six, one could discover even more shelters.
This meant the coordinates of everyone’s shelters were now practically out in the open.
Ye Yun’s brows furrowed. If his deduction was correct, the situation around his shelter was far more complicated than he had anticipated.
’I’m definitely not the only one who’s figured this out.’
If the relationship between shelters before today was mostly one of cooperation for mutual benefit, then at this moment, many things had quietly changed.
He immediately opened the system to check his newly unlocked administrator permissions.
[Second Shelter]
[Unlock Condition: Find an unowned shelter. Complete its repairs to obtain its permissions.]
If the semi-public shelter locations were a Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone’s head...
...then this new administrator permission was the ultimate trump card.
Since "Second Shelter" was now a possibility, there would most likely be a third, fourth, and fifth.
The relationships between everyone would transition from cooperation to competition, and even to bloodshed.
If the locations of other people’s shelters were still hidden, then one could only choose abandoned shelters to establish a second one.
But the unlock conditions for a Second Shelter never said you *couldn’t* seize someone else’s.
Looking at the coordinates on the map, Ye Yun calmly contemplated his next steps.
He was genuinely willing to cooperate for mutual benefit. The more shelters that survived, the more customers he would have.
With a customer base, the flow of resources would become smooth. Even if he didn’t go out exploring, he could make a fortune just from the price differences in trades.
’But... that kind of win-win cooperation only works when others aren’t a threat to me.’
’In the current situation, even if I’m willing to cooperate, will others truly be willing?’
’Perhaps most people would be, but those would be the shelters farther away. What about the ones near my own?’
’After all, everyone understands the principle of befriending the distant and attacking the near.’
’These nearby shelters will very likely band together to fight me.’
’After all, if I put myself in their shoes, and there was such a powerful shelter near mine...’
’...I’d also worry about whether that powerful shelter would try to absorb me.’
’Even if it didn’t absorb me, it would still take up a much larger share of the resources.’
At this thought, a murderous glint flashed in Ye Yun’s eyes.
He quickly made a decision.
He could still maintain a cooperative stance with the majority of other shelters.
After all, without a direct conflict of interest, it was unlikely he would have any major disputes with them.
Besides, in the wasteland environment, without sufficiently advanced transportation or overwhelming strength...
...a two-day journey was probably the absolute limit for most exploration teams.
Once they exceeded two days, the risk of the operation would increase dramatically.
This meant he only needed to worry about the six surrounding shelters. ’No, wait, two of them are already abandoned, which means there are only four potential shelters left, maybe even fewer.’
After all, there were only just over 70 million shelters left.
’Based on that ratio, about a third of all shelters are already abandoned.’
’So, the number of enemies I have to face might not be as large as I imagined.’
However, no matter what, he had to strike first to gain the upper hand.
Because when the coordinates of other shelters appeared on his map, his shelter’s coordinates had also appeared on theirs.
He had to take down that shelter as quickly as possible. Otherwise, if someone else had the same idea, his own shelter would be in danger.
Ye Yun looked at the location of the red star on the map.
The coordinates for the other four shelters couldn’t be confirmed yet; he only had a vague idea of their locations.
Finding those four would take some time.
That being the case, he could only deal with the one confirmed coordinate first.
The vast majority of shelters were definitely not as strong as his.
Most shelters, when facing a large mutated creature at its peak, would likely fall into a bitter struggle, suffer combat losses, and might even be severely weakened as a result.
Now was absolutely the time when these shelters were at their weakest.
He could absolutely use this opportunity to launch a lightning assault.
Ye Yun immediately composed an action message on his wristband.
[Proceed to the target location and eliminate all enemies within the shelter.]
The next moment, the assessment system displayed a message.
[Assessment Type: Raid]
[Assessing risk of this operation...]
[Assessment: Probability of obtaining White items: 50.1%. Green items: 39.7%. Blue items: 10.285%. Purple items: 0.005%. Risk Factor: 1.12%]
Seeing the 1.12% risk factor, Ye Yun nodded slightly. The situation was about what he expected.
Aside from a special shelter like his, which was so strong it was almost cheating...
...the strength of most surviving shelters was roughly equivalent to fighting one to one-and-a-half large mutated creatures.
The strength of the shelter already displayed on the map would be slightly greater than that of the mutated hyena from before.
Ye Yun looked at Bena.
"Bena, I have a new mission for you!"
