"He didn't have a lot, but everything he owned were essentials. Compared to the likes of Huang Biao, Kento Maeda was a very qualified enemy!"

Su Mo placed Kento Maeda's core down and casually waved his hands, accessing his storage space.

In the corner laid two black, polished pistols.

"I got too accustomed to Kento Maeda's storage space. Now that I'm in mine, it suddenly feels like it has grown a lot bigger!"

Su Mo was a little wistful as he grabbed the pistols with his mind and brought them out.

The two pistols looked exactly the same. They were probably acquired from the same source.

"These guns looked strange, but had a familiar air around them. They were probably produced in batches and obtained from treasure chests, I think?"

Switching the guns' safety on, Su Mo held the left gun in his hands and carefully examined it.

Kento Maeda and the big man's guns did not exist on Earth.

Judging from appearances, the gun reminded him of the Makarov pistol back on Earth. It was more famously known as the colonel's pistol.

It was sleek-looking and not very bulky.

The odd part was that Makarov pistols were known as compact self-defense pistols that carried 8-rounds of 9mm cartridges per magazine.

This gun had a slimmer barrel. From its side profile, it was clear that this gun was more powerful and naturally streamlined to be more aesthetically pleasing to the Huaxians.

Su Mo pushed the magazine catch down with some force, and the magazine popped out.

This belonged to Kento Maeda. It had a 12-round magazine. After he shot the big man, there were still several rounds left.

The other one, the big man's pistol, had an empty magazine. No bullets left.

Su Mo unloaded a cartridge. Lit up by the shining treasure chests, a brass 9mm cartridge gleamed alluringly.

He unloaded another cartridge and held one in each hand and begun to feel around for its polish marks.

Moments later, relief washed over Su Mo.

Both cartridges' detonating caps had exactly the same curvature and were pointed in the same direction. The patterns on the shell were flawless and, when examined under light, were perfectly symmetrical.

"Looks like these guns and bullets really came from the treasure chest. No machine or assembly line could produce absolutely perfect specimens like these, so they should be products of the system."

Guns were not too scary, especially in the desolate doomsday wasteland. To some extent, they were actually not as useful as his electric crossbow.

Compact pistols like these were often better used as a short-range intimidation tool.

It was certainly not a mid-range killing machine.

In the technology tree of firearms, only the later inventions of the automatic rifle, machine gun, and sniper rifle truly showcased the nightmarish capabilities of firearms.

Focusing mentally on the gun in his hand, a holographic property panel emerged:

[K-1 Automatic Pistol]

[Description: A weapon optimized for close-quarters combat within 20m. It is perfect for self-defense, having minimal recoil and formidable firepower.]

[Data:

Caliber: 9x18mm PM/PMM

Magazine Capacity: 8rounds/12rounds

Muzzle Velocity: 315 or 430 m/s

Effective Range: 75m

Rifling: 4, Right-handed]

[Comment: It was reported that gangsters used this gun extensively against militia forces, but it could not harm soldiers equipped with bulletproof vests.]

"So they really changed up the outer look, but did nothing to how much damage it can cause?"

When Su Mo looked at the K-1 automatic pistol, and how similar its data was to the Makarov pistol, especially when it came to its combat parameters, he did not know whether to laugh or to cry.

The biggest difference between that legendary gun and K-1 was that the K-1 had a slightly improved range due to its longer barrel.

When it came to its capabilities, if someone were to take a shot with this gun from 50m away, even if it hit its intended target, as long as the target survived without critical injuries, the gun would have lost its intimidation factor.

Su Mo loaded the magazine, took out a plank of wood, turned the safety off and, without putting in much effort to aim, pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The blast sent a frightened Oreo sprawling onto the floor and triggered Big Spark and Little Spark into a clucking frenzy.

Even though the pistol did not make a high-pitched sound, since it reverberated within such an enclosed space, it was still pretty jarring.

Su Mo turned the safety back on, picking up the plank to examine the bullet hole.

"Mmm, not too bad. It's been a while since I've practiced my shooting, but the gun shooting foundation my Papa gave me's still here!"

Su Mo was far better at shooting with guns than with crossbows.

It was not only because he was an army fanatic, but rather mostly because Papa Su led by example and would not stop nagging with a model gun in his hand, which greatly influenced Su Mo.

After Su Mo grew up, he would spend a good portion of his nearly twenty thousand yuan monthly income at the shooting range to release stress whenever he had time.

Now that he was here in the doomsday wasteland, even if it was not the Beretta M92FS he was familiar with, Su Mo's great foundation ensured that as long as he was in range, he could shoot at whatever target he wanted and still hit the bullseye.

"Pistols should only be an intimidation tool since my crossbow's better in every aspect by comparison."

"I'm just hoping that, once I've saved up enough survival points to fix the thermal weapon machine, I'll be able to make something that's actually useful, unlike these impressive-looking but useless things!"

Su Mo was in no condition to properly maintain the two guns.

He could only return them to the storage space to reduce the natural wear-and-tear effect caused by long-term storage.

After some tests, Su Mo was able to assimilate three complete cores and received access to the supplies within.

Other than Kento Maeda's incomplete core, Su Mo was also able to assimilate 7 out of the 12 incomplete cores. The other 5 required him to first destroy their associated shelters.

"The first calamity was too severe for these people! Only three of them managed to activate a mere cubic meter of storage space!"

The first activation required 100 disaster resistance points. Su Mo was not sure about the others, but according to the cores he had at hand, he could roughly gauge how difficult it was to obtain 100 points.

During the acid rain disaster, most of the damage was absorbed. As long as players could collect enough supplies and had their shelters survive, 100 points would be basically gifted to them.

Sadly, most people were really bad at adapting, or just had really bad luck to be stuck below 100 points, unable to move forward.

"People who survive the following disaster should have enough points to activate their first cubic meter of storage space."

The only other two cores that had storage spaces bound to them could not be opened either. Su Mo did not find anything that was valuable anyway; all he saw were some broken tools and basic food and water supplies.

In one of the cores, Su Mo was pleasantly surprised to find three brand new cotton-padded jackets and two thick cotton pants—unlike the bloodied ones that were stripped off from the corpses before.

On the top right corner of the jacket, a very faint brand name could still be seen—a logo of TheSouthFace.

After recognizing the design, Su Mo was astonished and realized that these clothes were exactly the same as the guns; likely something that would have been obtained from the treasure chests.

Adding these to the previously stripped six pairs, despite the color, they felt like school uniforms; organized and tidy.

"Now that I have these three brand new ones, I won't have to wash the ones that have bloodstains on them. I should sell them off when I have the opportunity to exchange for some supplies, no matter the amount."

In a corner of the storage space, the blood-stained cotton-padded jackets were tied up nicely with a string.

Initially, Su Mo planned to wash off the bloodstains so that he could have a change of clothes, but since there were new ones, he did not have to live frugally anymore.

He gathered up his spoils of war, categorized them accordingly, and had a long stretch before putting on his combat uniform.

"All done! Now it's time to collect snow to be used as regular usable water to clean up, wash clothes, or take a shower!"

Since being transported into this world, he had not taken a shower in half a month. If he had not been so busy and occupied every single day, Su Mo would have greatly despised himself.

Oreo, who was sprawled on the floor, saw Su Mo get dressed and thought he was going out to play, so she excitedly abandoned the chickens and scampered over to join Su Mo while barking excitedly.

"It's the middle of the night, where else can we play? I'm bathing you after I've collected water!"

Oreo heard what Su Mo said and turned around so quickly and ran away, pretending to not hear him. While she was on her way back, she lost her footing and slipped.

That tickled the chickens so much that they started clucking as well.

"Oreo is behaving more and more like a human. She actually knows the meaning of being bashful! Looks like there are more wonderful things waiting for me to explore and discover on this deserted piece of land!"

Su Mo shook his head, trying to shake off the bizarre thoughts that had suddenly appeared in his mind. He hastily turned on the television to check on his surroundings.

The Elementary-level Monster Illustration Handbook also scanned the surroundings daily, but did not find anything. 

However, mythical creatures like the kobolds and lion people would not appear on the scan.

The habit of first scanning his surroundings with the television needed to be maintained.

"Mmm, the terrain my shelter is located in isn't the best. It's on low-lying ground, so I don't think many creatures would like it here. It's been so long and only a chameleon showed up!"

The skies were getting darker, but the television had an unknown skill that ensured that everything was displayed in perfect lighting. 

After one round of surveillance without finding anything, Su Mo turned off the television, reassured, and walked out of the residential door.

Turning the combination lock, the bolt was returned to its original place with a click. The door slowly opened and the biting cold began to seep in.

It was nighttime again. The numbers on the thermometer were rapidly decreasing.

Su Mo removed his mask momentarily to have a brief experience of the weather. Now the inside of the passageway was at least -10 degrees; nearly the same temperature as the impending blizzard disaster.

"Thankfully the wind becomes weaker at night. By the looks of things, it should stop by midnight, and that's good news for people with shelters above-ground!"

The snowflakes would slowly fall to the ground without wind.

Under the baptism of moonlight, there was a white hue cast over the world. It looked like a drawing, peaceful, serene, and beautiful.

If there was no pressure to survive, he would build a hostel at such a beautiful place, charging a few thousand yuan per night, and he reckoned that people would be flocking over with wads of cash in their hands, wanting to stay over!

"It's stunning! If my sister were here, she'd be able to build snowmen and play with the snow in such weather!"

Su Mo thought of the times when his sister would pester him about the snow, building a snowman, and things like this. He smiled as he made his way to the top of the hill to take in the surroundings.