Forty-Nine Doomsday Chapter 190: The Arrival of a Magnitude 2 Earthquake

As for the miraculous aspects of the Wordless Book, Guan Tong had already experienced them many tis.

Among those experiences, the one where he broke through the Mind Lock restriction had made him certain that the power possessed by the Wordless Book truly could break through the seals and limitations set by the Fire Thief.

He didn't know the reason behind this, because the way he obtained this item was the sa as how others obtained their exclusive items: by searching in the Ascension Store initially, not through any special thod.

This ant that this item was likely originally brought by the Fire Thief.

As the saying goes, if the price is right, capital will sell the rope used to hang itself. So, what did it an for the Fire Thief to bring sothing that could oppose itself?

Guan Tong couldn't figure it out, and he didn't need to figure it out right now. It was enough to just utilize this characteristic to oppose the rules.

"The words written on the Wordless Book can have fuzzy requirents. Interpreting this character 'kai' as 'crack open' is absolutely no problem... However, to be safe, it's best to find a Geomantic Pillar for testing as soon as possible."

Without personally trying it out, Guan Tong couldn't determine if his idea could be realized.

But without a doubt, he had missed the opportunity of the Level 1 earthquake. If he wanted to try, he could only wait for the next Level 2 one.

To rush to one of the epicenter regions within five minutes of a Level 2 earthquake occurring, find the Geomantic Pillar, and attempt to use the power of the Wordless Book to crack it open... The requirents to accomplish all this were not low.

"Not to ntion

alone, even the official authorities cannot predict the location of the epicenter region. They probably can only respond by deploying personnel across multiple regions. So, how can I reach the location of the Geomantic Pillar within five minutes of the earthquake occurring?"

Guan Tong pondered for a mont and soon had an idea.

This idea still relied on making good use of the "Body Swap" ability. But before that, he had to scatter as many shadow lines as possible, letting them spread near major cities across the country.

This wasn't difficult to achieve because the shadow lines were only as thin as a strand of hair, and the Mind Power consumption for materializing them was very low. So, the total consumption from large-scale, net-casting coverage was still sothing he could bear.

But this was only the first step. The second step was that he needed to obtain earthquake source information in a tily manner.

Where this information would be generated was all too clear: the National Earthquake Monitoring Bureau.

Guan Tong guessed that once precise earthquake instrunts detected an earthquake, the information would definitely first arrive at the Headquarters, which would then report it to the higher-ups.

So, as long as he deployed a wisp of Shadow in advance to infiltrate the Earthquake Monitoring Headquarters and eavesdrop when the information arrived, he could obtain the location information of the earthquake source.

Then, based on the location, he could use Body Swap with the nearest shadow line in the vicinity. That way, Guan Tong could reach the epicenter region at the first possible mont to interact with the Geomantic Pillar.

That's how it would be done.

After making this decision, Guan Tong began opening a map to study the distribution of shadow lines, determining where the separated shadow lines should be placed and which areas had a higher probability of becoming earthquake sources.

Given the Fire Thief's style, areas with high probability would definitely be those with large, densely populated regions. After the inland migration action began, the populations of several major coastal cities were rapidly migrating to major inland cities. Therefore, the shadow lines he separated out should also be placed mainly near major inland cities.

However, so should also be sent to coastal cities. He couldn't rule out the possibility that the Fire Thief might set the earthquake source near coastal areas to create a massive tsunami, a secondary disaster, as quickly as possible.

In short, it was better to be prepared. By the early morning hours, after Guan Tong had determined so locations, he directly released hundreds of shadow lines in one go, spreading them out across the country, starting from himself.

"I hope it goes as I wish."

Guan Tong thought to himself that if his plan succeeded, on a small scale, it could prevent the sacrifices of those Ascendants who would otherwise expend their power to reduce the earthquake's destructive force. On a larger scale, it might even save the lives of countless thousands who would be casualties of the earthquake.

In the following three days, people's initial excitent gradually cald down because everyone beca exceptionally busy, with little ti to think about other things.

With several major coastal cities relocating inland, people in inland cities naturally had to help with reception. With increased urban populations, many adjustnts were needed for accommodation and food issues.

Additionally, people themselves had to prepare for high-level earthquakes. Currently, the shelters built by the official authorities should be able to withstand earthquakes below magnitude 7. For those above magnitude 7, it was uncertain.

But even so, being inside a shelter would definitely be better than being outside. Therefore, existing shelters had to undergo so dismantling and modification. Originally, so non-essential areas like entertainnt rooms and gyms were all converted into residential areas, just to accommodate more people.

Apart from Beixing Country, other countries were also making their own preparations. Among them, several island nations were the busiest, using various transport vehicles almost 24 hours a day, non-stop, to move people out.

Nearby inland countries would provide so assistance. For example, Beixing Country, being relatively close to Sakura Prayer Country, also dispatched many ferries to help transport people. This was crucial for Sakura Prayer. Without Beixing's help, it would be completely impossible to move tens of millions of people off the island within just over twenty days relying solely on themselves.

As for where Sakura Prayer Country residents would be settled after leaving the island, adhering to the principle of proximity, they themselves chose the territory of the forr Andai State as a new holand.

Andai State was destroyed as a country under the tenth rule, with its official functions incapacitated. Even important officers like Prince Lado were bombed, showing that its forces were completely eliminated. Even if there were so remaining population within its territory, it wouldn't be enough to form a country again.

Thus, Sakura Prayer Country migrating there could also be considered making full use of the land.

The Beixing authorities weren't too worried about having a new land neighbor with overall strength several tis that of Andai State.

Because this transfer only included people and so necessary survival resources; weapons and equipnt were not included in the transfer options. Sakura Prayer Country initially wanted to transport a batch of weapons but was refused by Beixing and had no choice but to give up.

This way, tens of millions of people without weapons and equipnt posed no threat to Beixing.

Although all countries had joined the Human Consortium, this organization was newly established. Wariness between countries couldn't be dropped imdiately; it would need ti to slowly settle.

And so, by the 4th, at midnight, Guan Tong opened his eyes and sat up from bed.

From this mont on, a Level 2 earthquake could occur at any ti. To stay alert, he had specifically slept from yesterday afternoon until now.

Pushing open the door and coming to the small courtyard, he used the slightly cool nightti mountain breeze to make his brain more active. Closing his eyes, he checked the status of the various scattered shadow lines.

The most important ones were those deployed at the Earthquake Monitoring Headquarters. Through these past two days of "lurking," he had already figured out the Headquarters' operational model and knew which room the information would be reported to after it arrived.

Currently, in the early morning hours, there were still five staff mbers on duty in the instrunt room. It was evident that the official authorities also attached utmost importance to obtaining the earthquake source location information at the first possible mont, in order to dispatch teams to contact the Geomantic Pillar and obtain more data to improve the statistical model.

This made Guan Tong think that after learning the earthquake source location, he'd better arrive at the scene faster than the official personnel. Only then could he complete the experint without interference.

And so, over two hours passed. Close to 3 AM, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded from within the Headquarters.

"Warning! Warning!"

"Earthquake detected!"

The Earthquake Bureau staff imdiately beca busy. Guan Tong, who was sitting on a tree stump ditating, also instantly focused his attention. Through the Shadow's shared auditory senses, he obtained the earthquake source location information from the staff's mouths.