Boom! Rumble!
The mont the magnitude 8 earthquake erupted, a violent roar erupted from deep underground. Nearby, swarms of city rats fled through the streets, the ground tore apart, and deep, bottomless fissures appeared.
Gushing groundwater mixed with sand and mud shot up several ters high like fountains, while dust billowed out in all directions, forming a dust storm that blotted out the sky, turning it dark and gloomy.
At that mont, a blue beam of light lit up from the epicenter, and in the next instant, several figures appeared.
It was precisely the "Earthquake Disaster Response Team" led by Guan Tong.
"Everyone, strengthen your defenses!"
The mont each mber of the team teleported over, they all imdiately deployed various defensive items to protect themselves from being killed by the impact of the extrely powerful seismic waves.
As the core figure, Guan Tong's personal safety was of utmost importance, so the authorities had prepared a large number of defensive items for him.
Only by combining these items with his Shadow Armor could he approach the Geomantic Pillar amidst the impact of the seismic waves.
The other team mbers, on the other hand, imdiately used items to reach high altitude and establish a floating defensive platform.
They were different from Guan Tong. Forcing their way to approach the Geomantic Pillar would only result in them being shaken to death by the shockwaves.
"Is this what the epicenter of a magnitude 8 earthquake looks like? It's literally like the end of the world!" Black Shark from Dragon Soul's team roared.
The deep, bottomless earth fissures, the sky-obscuring dust and sand, the mud columns constantly gushing from underground like springs... It indeed instilled a deep, doomsday-like fear in everyone who witnessed it firsthand!
And what made this scene even more terrifying to them was the knowledge that even higher magnitude 9 and 10 earthquakes were still to co!
"Will that guy Shadow really be okay? He's way too close to the ground!"
"We can only believe in him."
"Dr. Zhang equipped him with dozens of defensive items. He should be able to hold on!"
Guan Tong, whom the team mbers were worried about, currently felt his body swaying uncontrollably. Despite constantly using defensive items and releasing hundreds of shadow ropes to firmly wrap around the Geomantic Pillar, he still found it difficult just to stabilize his body.
Before departure, Zhang Minglu had equipped Guan Tong with over fifty defensive items. Now, less than ten seconds after teleporting, he had already used up half of them, more than twenty. How could this continue?
I need to complete the transmission as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the items are exhausted, my own situation will beco far too dangerous!
Guan Tong didn't dare waste a single second. After making contact with the Geomantic Pillar, he poured all several million points of his reserve Mind Power into the Wordless Book in one go, letting it convert it into Cracking Power to act upon the Geomantic Pillar.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
He could faintly hear the cracking sound of the pillar's outer shell, but he couldn't see it because the dust and sand filling the air were too dense, reducing visibility to less than a ter.
All he could do was use up all his reserve Mind Power, hoping it would et the requirent.
After two outputs, totaling over ten million points of reserve Mind Power poured in, Guan Tong felt the vibration intensity of the Geomantic Pillar drop sharply, but it did not disintegrate.
Ten million Mind Power isn't enough?
Guan Tong was slightly shocked in his heart.
At the sa ti, at the Counterasures Research Office.
Beside the conference table, everyone waited nervously for the results.
After the earthquake intensity reached magnitude 8, the mont the squad teleported to the epicenter, communications were imdiately cut off, making contact impossible.
However, through the real-ti monitoring of the Earthquake Bureau, they could indirectly learn about the results of the squad's actions.
About a dozen seconds after the squad teleported over, Earthquake Bureau personnel called: "Monitoring shows the earthquake intensity is rapidly decreasing, by approximately ninety percent!"
"Good!"
"The operation was a success!"
Everyone in the research office cheered, but a few people, including Gao Liangwei, couldn't bring themselves to smile.
Gao Liangwei frowned and said, "The total Mind Power transferred to Shadow over these past few days has already exceeded a hundred million, right? And it only weakened it by ninety percent, failing to destroy the Geomantic Pillar."
Zhang Minglu beside him said, "Shadow did ntion that he cannot store one hundred percent of the Mind Power transferred to him. There should be a significant proportion of loss."
Gao Liangwei nodded.
He knew this too. If Shadow could store one hundred percent of all the Mind Power transferred to him, that ability would be too terrifying.
"It seems that the amount of Mind Power needed to destroy, no... to reduce the damage of the magnitude 9 and 10 earthquakes to below fifty percent is unimaginably large."
"Yes, Director. Although Beixing has over a hundred million Ascendants, even if each person gave Shadow 10 points, that would be a billion—but the problem is, there's simply not enough ti on a logistical level."
In reality, mobilizing and arranging for over a hundred million people isn't as simple as drawing a circle with a mouse and giving an order like in a ga.
The interval between each earthquake is only a short 72 hours. It's completely unrealistic to mobilize over a hundred million people to transfer Mind Power to Guan Tong within that period.
Therefore, Zhang Minglu, Gao Liangwei, and the others knew perfectly well that they could only transfer as much Mind Power as possible to Guan Tong within the limited ti. How much they could ultimately weaken the earthquakes was not sothing they could decide.
Five minutes passed quickly. The Earthquake Bureau called again to report: "The earthquake has stopped."
Imdiately after, Dragon Soul also sent a communication: "Reporting, we have teleported back to base."
"How is the situation?" Gao Liangwei asked. "Is Shadow injured?"
He was most worried about Shadow's physical condition because the latter had to personally make contact with the Geomantic Pillar, which ant he couldn't be too far from the ground and would be most affected by the earthquake shockwaves.
If Shadow were injured and unable to carry out the subsequent magnitude 9 and 10 missions, that would be troubleso.
"Shadow is fine," Dragon Soul said. "It's just that he said all the items Dr. Zhang prepared for him were used up."
Gao Liangwei breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that he's unhard. It's fine if the items were used up."
Zhang Minglu also said, "Yes, there are still many defensive items. No need to be frugal. This ti I was also a bit conservative, only preparing a little over fifty. It seems I'll need to multiply that several tis for later missions."
"Director, Shadow is asking when to continue the Mind Power transfer. The amount transferred earlier was all used up in this operation."
"Start now," Gao Liangwei said. "The transfer personnel are already prepared. I'll send you the coordinates. You imdiately take Shadow to teleport there for reception."
"Yes."
Ti was tight. After dealing with the magnitude 8 earthquake, Guan Tong didn't even have ti to rest before he had to go receive Mind Power transfers.
Of course he was tired, but to deal with the magnitude 9 earthquake in 72 hours, he had no choice.
For this reason, Zhang Minglu had specifically prepared so side-effect-free items for Guan Tong in advance that could eliminate fatigue and restore energy, allowing him to go without sleep and food during these critical days, dedicating all his ti to absorbing Mind Power.
After ending the communication, Gao Liangwei contacted the relevant departnts to inquire about the disaster situation.
"The city of Lufeng Xiang nearest to the seismic source is severely affected. Most of the city has been destroyed, many shelters have been damaged, and casualties are currently unconfird... Also, all road traffic near the seismic source is cut off. Highways and railways are extensively broken, the airport is destroyed, and the rescue situation is not optimistic."
"We will dispatch rescue teams composed of elite Ascendants to airdrop into Lufeng Xiang City to assist with rescue efforts."
After making several arrangents in a row, Gao Liangwei took a deep breath.
"If not for that ninety percent weakening, Lufeng Xiang City might have been completely destroyed."
"I'm afraid so..."
Everyone present felt a lingering fear.
"eting adjourned. Dr. Zhang, you stay."
After people left, Zhang Minglu proactively asked, "What did the Director want to talk to
about?"
"Dr. Zhang, you've seen the situation this ti. Relying solely on defensive items is already sowhat insufficient. Shadow needs to receive more protection."
"What do you an?"
"Transfer a group of Ascendants with protective abilities to be responsible for using their abilities to protect him during earthquakes. This kind of defensive ability should be more effective than items."
Zhang Minglu was stunned: "Director, that's far too dangerous for those Ascendants... Under the impact of seismic waves of that intensity, they can hardly protect themselves. If they use their abilities to protect Shadow, they will definitely die!"
"I know," Gao Liangwei said with a solemn expression. "But if sothing happens to Shadow, entire cities of people will die."
"..."
"Don't make this mandatory. Make it voluntary."
"...Alright, I will seek the willingness of Ascendants with protective abilities in the database."
...
In a certain secret base, a team of over fifteen people secretly assembled.
Leading them was a short-haired woman. She said to the other dozen or so people, "The Commander has issued the order. Our mission is to eliminate Shadow after the magnitude 10 earthquake erupts."
"Magnitude 10? The epicenter area will erupt with intense seismic waves. Won't that be too dangerous?" soone inquired.
The short-haired woman explained: "Not during the earthquake eruption, but after. To be precise, there are two scenarios."
"First, as you said, the magnitude 10 earthquake epicenter area will definitely erupt with extrely powerful, destructive energy, with devastating force. When Shadow goes to deal with it, he might directly die under the impact of the seismic waves. That way, we save ourselves the trouble and don't need to act."
"Second. If Shadow and the others actually resolve the magnitude 10 earthquake disaster, or perhaps fail to completely resolve it and only weaken it—Shadow will definitely be in a state of depleted Mind Power and significantly weakened strength. At that ti, we launch a surprise attack in our full state, and it will also be very easy to succeed."
Everyone nodded upon hearing this. That was indeed the case.
Jiang Ming was among the action team. After listening, he felt a faint sense of disdain in his heart.
He thought that only daring to act when Shadow was weak was really sowhat looking down on themselves. In his view, Shadow wasn't that big of a deal. He had lost the last ti they fought because he was careless, but if they fought again, the result would definitely be different.
Especially since during this period he had made up for so of his shortcomings, further improving his strength. He had ample confidence facing Shadow.
But thinking was one thing. He definitely wouldn't go against the action team's plan. Even though the Commander was his grandmother, he also knew she was a no-nonsense old woman. If he acted on his own, he would definitely be kicked out of the action team and placed under house arrest.
There was just one issue that puzzled him.
After the action team dispersed, he found the short-haired woman alone.
Her na was "Liu Wen." It seed that, like Han Ling, the previous manager of the Yongzhou base, she was a trusted subordinate who only took orders from the Commander.
Thinking of Han Ling, Jiang Ming's hatred for Shadow grew another notch.
Because he had a rather good impression of Han Ling, but later, rather than saying she committed suicide by poison, it was more like she was forced to death by Shadow.
"Mr. Jiang, what can I do for you?"
Liu Wen asked when she saw Jiang Ming approach.
She wouldn't be this polite to others, but Jiang Ming was the Commander's grandson, so her attitude was much better.
"I want to know, even if the plan succeeds and we smoothly take out Shadow, how do we handle the aftermath? After this rule ends, Shadow will be promoted as a hero, right? Won't taking him out bring about pursuit and accountability from the higher-ups?"
Liu Wen smiled upon hearing this: "Mr. Jiang, you are correct. Shadow will indeed be treated as a hero. But how many people will avenge a dead hero without any backing or faction?"
"The Commander has investigated very clearly. Although Shadow is strong, he is overly solitary. His relationship with the authorities is not one of subordination, only cooperation. This ans that while he won't be overly restricted, he also won't receive more protection."
Jiang Ming felt there was so truth to this, but he also felt things wouldn't be that simple.
Liu Wen continued: "Of course, the authorities will definitely investigate and pursue the matter. We will make preparations for that aspect in advance. Mr. Jiang, you and the action team mbers are only responsible for the combat. You don't need to worry about the cleanup."
"...Understood."
Jiang Ming recalled what his father had said before he passed away and understood. Indeed, in the world after the Doomsday Rules descended, righteous people like his father couldn't survive, while people like the Commander would live very well.
This kind of world disgusted Jiang Ming, but he himself was now a part of it. He could only convince himself with the idea of "use first, destroy later."
"Mr. Jiang, don't think too much about it," Liu Wen seed to sense so of Jiang Ming's mindset and gently reassured him. "You are the Commander's grandson. In the future, when the Commander completes her great undertaking, you will also beco one of the most distinguished individuals in Beixing. At that ti, you can do whatever you want."
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