The day after the level-3 earthquake, every country released their model-based assessments.
After reading them, Guan Tong confirmed his suspicion: as the earthquake level rises, the Mind Power required to reduce its destructive force also increases.
After thinking it over, he created an Ascendant Home account under the nickname "Observer" and posted in the Commissions section.
"I have capabilities related to resolving the crisis. Please contact me through this post if you are an official."
In the body of the post, he provided a set of coordinates. They were the epicenter coordinates from when the level-2 earthquake struck.
Although the authorities had released some information after the quake, they had not published the exact coordinates. Aside from officials, the only other person who could know these numbers was that mysterious individual from earlier.
Guan Tong knew this website was under constant official surveillance; many data officers likely checked it every day. This post would be found quickly.
Sure enough, only four or five minutes later, his "Observer" account received a private message in the backend. It was from the authorities asking to speak by phone.
Guan Tong replied that before meeting in person he would only use the website's private messaging; the official responded that this was acceptable.
Their conversation began three minutes later. Guan Tong guessed the counterpart had switched from a data officer to some decision-maker.
"Was the Geomantic Pillar at the epicenter during the level-2 quake destroyed by you?"
"Yes."
"Since you requested cooperation in your post, please explain the specific method."
Guan Tong did not stall and explained directly:
"I can use Mind Power items to convert my Mind Power into a force that cracks objects. After testing during the level-2 quake, I confirmed it works on Geomantic Pillars. But my personal Mind Power is insufficient. If we need to handle Geomantic Pillars from higher-magnitude quakes, someone must supply external Mind Power input to me."
Several minutes passed before a reply came.
"Agreed! If you truly can do this, we can use items to continuously supply Mind Power externally. If you don't mind, we'd like to meet to discuss details, aiming to run an experiment during a level-4 quake."
"I don't think there's much to discuss. I suffer from persecution complex, so no need to meet first. When the level-4 quake happens, just give me the coordinates and I'll get there as fast as I can. You only need to prepare the Mind Power transmission."
The other side seemed unprepared for Guan Tong's reply. After a moment they asked, "What if we don't test in advance and the Mind Power transmission fails then? A five-minute window is too short."
"Then you run your own experiments first. I'm no different from other Ascendants. If others can receive transmissions, I can too."
"…If that's the case, fine. We'll notify you immediately once we detect an earthquake."
After the conversation ended, Zhang Minglu turned to Gao Liangwei and said with some helplessness, "You saw, director. This person is resistant to early contact with us."
Gao Liangwei said, "Is he assuming we're ill-intentioned?"
Zhang Minglu sighed, "Not necessarily. Some people are just extremely guarded, they can't trust anyone but themselves."
"None of that matters," Gao Liangwei said. "If this person's item is truly effective and can destroy a Geomantic Pillar, that's all we need."
Zhang Minglu nodded. He agreed—people's personalities varied wildly, but no matter how odd someone was, as long as they could get the job done they were valuable.
If the person using the nickname "Observer" really could solve the earthquake problem, they would have indirectly saved countless lives. No one present could claim a greater contribution.
"We have one day left," Gao Liangwei instructed. "Dr. Zhang, quickly gather all the items in the database that can transmit Mind Power to others, and also assemble the high-Mind-Power individuals we previously selected, so we can prepare for collective transmission."
Zhang Minglu was slightly startled: "Director, are we going to use teleportation for the level-4 quake already?"
"We're only doing a test. We can't wait until magnitude-seven or above to make mistakes," Gao Liangwei said. "Let's use this opportunity both to see if that mysterious person can succeed and to test our collective teleportation capability."
"Since the mysterious person only needs coordinates, they likely also have teleportation items. So we just need to secure our side."
"Alright. We already have a stockpile of teleportation items, but…" Zhang Minglu hesitated, "Director, about the higher-ups' proposed extraterrestrial teleportation test…"
Gao Liangwei fell silent. As the head of the office, he understood some of the contingency plans the higher-ups had prepared.
One involved extraterrestrial teleportation. If a crewed rocket failed, they'd use large-scale teleportation items from reserves to try to send equipment and personnel to Terra.
Whether that could be accomplished had never been tested. Unless it came to the last moment, no one wanted to give up Tianshui Star as their home.
"Put that issue aside for now. Finish the task at hand first."
…
Two brief days flew by. May 10 arrived; today a fourth level-4 earthquake would occur.
From the early morning, relevant departments were busy. The official deployment of an elite large-scale Ascendant squad was ready.
These people were almost all from the military, handpicked for their resolute will and willingness to sacrifice themselves at the last moment.
Originally this group had been selected to prepare for the final magnitude-10 quake, but with Guan Tong stepping forward, Gao Liangwei had them act now.
According to Guan Tong, what needed to be supplied was Mind Power, not an increase to Mind Power upper limit. That difference was huge. The former can be consumed to depletion and then naturally recover. If the upper limit were drained, it could not be restored.
So those chosen for the final phase could participate now, and it would also test large-scale collective teleportation.
This level-4 quake did not strike in the early morning; it didn't happen until the afternoon.
When the Earthquake Monitoring Bureau detected the epicenter via instruments, they notified their superiors, who immediately alerted Guan Tong as required.
After receiving the coordinates, Guan Tong instantly exchanged positions with the nearest shadow line and hurried to the epicenter.
At the same time, more than two hundred uniformly dressed elite Ascendant soldiers stood inside a large circle. One Ascendant stood outside the circle holding a blue button device. After injecting Mind Power, he shouted, "Teleportation array, activate!"
Hum~!
As the device lit up, blue light rose from the large circle, engulfing the two hundred soldiers and teleporting them to the target location.
The Ascendant who used the device collapsed immediately after the transmission. It was clearly the result of completely draining his Mind Power in an instant.
When Guan Tong arrived at the epicenter, he found the people already neatly arranged and waiting for him; they were obviously waiting for his arrival.
The moment he appeared, everyone's gazes turned to him.
Personnel carrying body-worn video devices transmitted Guan Tong's image to screens in the Countermeasures Research Office and in the higher-ups' conference room.
On those screens, Guan Tong appeared as an ordinary young man using a Passerby Transformation Device, not his actual face.
"Are you the 'Observer' from the forum?" someone asked.
Guan Tong strode up to the Geomantic Pillar. The epicenter of a level-4 quake was already highly unstable. "Time is critical. You do have a way to transmit Mind Power, right?"
He placed his hand on the pillar. The Wordless Book hidden on the inside of his chest injected a data stream into his body. After converting it, he funneled it into the Geomantic Pillar.
Instantly, cracks appeared on the pillar's shell. The watchers were electrified with joy—at that moment they confirmed this person truly had the power to destroy a Geomantic Pillar!
"Hurry!" The commander's earpiece carried Gao Liangwei's voice. "Immediately use the prepared transmission items to send Mind Power to him!"
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