Time reached mid-May. As the earthquake magnitudes gradually increased, people's sense of crisis also grew stronger.
For the previous magnitudes 1-4, hardly anyone felt them much. But during that magnitude 5 one, people in cities near the epicenter felt the tremors, and some who were sleeping were even startled awake.
This made people realize that the uneventful first half of the month had ended.
The latter half, which truly represented disaster and destruction, had already begun.
Because, similar to the time gaps between the previous low-magnitude quakes, the time gaps between these high-magnitude earthquakes—magnitude 7, 8, 9, and even the final magnitude 10 megaquake—were still 72 hours.
How many 72-hour periods would it take to complete rescue operations for a disaster caused by a magnitude 8 megaquake?
Imagine the disaster from magnitude 8 not even being dealt with properly before magnitude 9 was about to hit, followed immediately by magnitude 10... With the situation so severe, it was no wonder that in many countries, numerous doomsday determinists had emerged, believing struggle was futile and simply starting a final frenzy, doing whatever they wanted.
But while ordinary people could hold such pessimistic views, the official governments of various countries were definitely still making preparations to combat the disaster at all costs.
The countries that had survived until now since the descent of the Doomsday Rules all had relatively responsible official governments.
Those countries with irresponsible official governments mostly perished early on. Many important figures from the governments of small nations even fled with their entire families to seek shelter in other major powers immediately after the Doomsday Rules descended. Such countries, left leaderless, had no reason not to be rapidly destroyed by the Doomsday Rules.
Beixing, due to its cooperation with Guan Tong and having successfully mitigated two consecutive earthquakes of magnitudes 4 and 5, saw a great boost in confidence. The higher-ups had authorized the Countermeasures Research Office, allowing them to mobilize resources at will and go all out to ensure they survived this disaster.
However, the person in charge, Gao Liangwei, also understood that the higher-ups didn't have just one decision-making plan; they couldn't place all their hopes on a single scheme. Therefore, there must be other secret departments responsible for preparing other contingency plans for destruction.
But if it truly came to needing to activate those contingency plans, it would mean the vast majority of the nation's population had already perished, which was unacceptable in Gao Liangwei's view.
May 16th, the day the magnitude 6 earthquake erupted.
Because the previous two collaborations had gone very smoothly, Zhang Minglu proposed to Guan Tong this time, suggesting he and the Mind Power delivery troops act together using a mass teleportation item.
After consideration, Guan Tong agreed.
Because it was evident from the last time they handled the magnitude 5 earthquake disaster that when the official side used teleportation items, they reached the epicenter location much faster than he did.
Unless the epicenter happened to be at one of his shadow line locations, he always had to first identify the shadow line closest to the epicenter, use Body Swap, and then still travel some distance. Using a teleportation item allowed point-to-point immediate arrival at the target location.
For the earlier low-magnitude earthquakes, wasting some time wasn't a big deal. But as the earthquake magnitudes increased later, every extra second the earthquake released was an enormous amount of energy. It was still best to make contact and handle it as quickly as possible.
Thus, Guan Tong met up with the official Mind Power transmission troops in advance this time, ready to teleport at any moment after the earthquake erupted.
The rendezvous point wasn't far from the capital, Yong'an. It was a place similar to a military base. After Guan Tong arrived, the looks everyone gave him were somewhat strange.
Undoubtedly, he had changed his appearance again today, appearing as a teenager.
Furthermore, besides Squad Dragon Soul, Guan Tong also noticed some rather special Ascendants, who should also be members of the official teams.
Among them was also an acquaintance of his.
That's right, it was Chen Na.
Guan Tong looked at Chen Na, who was talking with Silver Fox. He hadn't seen her since the Yongzhou base. Several months had passed, and Chen Na had grown quite a bit taller, and her hair had grown longer too, from the ear-length bob back then to reaching her neck now.
It seemed this girl had also joined an official team.
Guan Tong thought to himself that it wasn't strange for Chen Na's abilities to be recognized and cultivated by the official side.
Moreover, back when Chen Na was controlled by that "Childhood Friend" provider organization, they had customized many "firsts" for her during the Eighth Rule, greatly increasing her Mind Power upper limit. This was probably also the reason she was participating in this operation this time, responsible for delivering Mind Power to him.
As if sensing Guan Tong's gaze, Chen Na turned her head to look over.
Guan Tong smiled at her.
Chen Na nodded somewhat stiffly in response, then somewhat embarrassed, turned her head back.
Silver Fox noticed this situation and asked, "Xiao Na, do you know him?"
Chen Na looked puzzled. "No. Why do you ask, Sister Silver Fox?"
Silver Fox whispered, "Let me tell you a secret. I suspect he is 'Shadow.' You were rescued from that evil organization's base by Shadow back then, right? So I was wondering if you might recognize him."
"Huh?" Chen Na was stunned. "But the one who saved me back then was a sister..."
"It's not like items that can change appearance don't exist," Silver Fox said with a laugh. "But something like temperament, I don't think that changes."
"Temperament..."
Chen Na looked towards Guan Tong again. The latter was now chatting with Dragon Soul, who had walked over.
Perhaps influenced by what Silver Fox had said, she really felt that person gave her a strangely familiar feeling.
"Mu Tong, the Countermeasures Office has mobilized more personnel this time," Dragon Soul said as he walked up to Guan Tong and struck up a conversation. "The Mind Power needed to handle a magnitude 6 earthquake will definitely be much greater than for magnitude 5."
Guan Tong nodded. "Yes. But when the magnitude gets even higher later, this number of personnel probably still won't be enough."
"We are aware of that," Dragon Soul said. "Currently, the Countermeasures Research Office has already held several meetings with the academy's management. They plan to start from handling the magnitude 7 earthquake by mobilizing high-Mind Power students from the academy to assist."
"Mobilizing academy students..."
Hearing this, Guan Tong wasn't exactly surprised. This batch of academy students was indeed quite good. Putting aside other things, just the admission requirement of being stuck at the 80-point Mind Power upper limit proved that each student had mid-to-high-level talent.
Moreover, these students enrolled after the fourth rule, meaning around August last year. It hadn't even been a year until this May, and they had enjoyed comprehensive protection from the official side during the period of six rules. Now that they were needed to contribute, they also had to step up.
Dragon Soul: "Yes, we have no choice. But if we can't reduce the damage from this disaster as much as possible, then the academy probably won't exist afterwards either."
"That's true too."
"By the way, Dr. Zhang asked me to ask you if you were satisfied with those two items that increase the Mind Power upper limit."
"Very satisfied," Guan Tong said. "I know both items are very precious, and I also thank the official side for this support."
"It's all for the people living on this land," Dragon Soul said. "All for one and one for all. Only in this way can we survive."
Guan Tong nodded slightly. At that moment, Dragon Soul's expression changed, as if he had heard some news through his earpiece.
He immediately said, "The magnitude 6 earthquake has occurred. Coordinates confirmed. We teleport immediately!"
"Okay."
Everyone immediately gathered under Dragon Soul's call, then used the mass teleportation item.
This was Guan Tong's first time experiencing teleportation. The feeling was completely different from "Body Swap." It was as if his entire body was enveloped by a special kind of Mind Power, sucked into one space, and then emerged from another space.
It made him inexplicably think of a sci-fi concept: "wormhole jump."
But he had no time to think about other things now, because as soon as the teleportation ended, he felt his body suddenly falling. Looking down, the ground where they had teleported out was already cracked open. Right under his feet was a fissure torn open by the earthquake!
The energy release of a magnitude 6 earthquake was already terrifying. Especially at the epicenter, multiple large fissures had already appeared. It wasn't just Guan Tong; quite a few unlucky individuals who teleported over found themselves right above fissures and started falling in!
"Ah!!!"
"Save me!"
Many people, unprepared, panicked momentarily, exclaiming repeatedly.
As someone with relatively quick reactions, Guan Tong couldn't care about exposing his identity now. He immediately summoned the Shadow, transforming it into several shadow ropes. One wrapped around the Geomantic Pillar, while the others went to grab those falling into the ground fissures, saving over ten lives.
Simultaneously, Dragon Soul and the others also sprang into action. Some rescued people, some used items to create hovering platforms for people to stand on.
But even so, seven or eight people were still swallowed by the fissures, instantly disappearing in the movement of the earth. This scene was undoubtedly horrifying. People were so shocked that they didn't even have time to be surprised by the fact that Guan Tong manipulating shadows exposed his identity.
At this moment, the earthquake had occurred for less than half a minute. The energy released from the epicenter location would only increase from here. Guan Tong didn't dare delay. He immediately urged the shadow ropes, "pulling" himself to the side of the Geomantic Pillar and "throwing" the people caught by the other shadow ropes onto the hovering platforms created by items.
He immediately placed his hand on the Geomantic Pillar. "Immediately deliver Mind Power to me! We must reduce the damage from this earthquake as quickly as possible!"
"Okay!" Dragon Soul, holding the Negative Mag, was still the first to transmit. The extremely fast Silver Fox was responsible for delivering "Mind Soft Candy" into Guan Tong's hand.
Others also had their respective tasks. Some were responsible for maintaining and creating more hovering platforms for people to stand on. Some were treating those who were injured.
And it was only then that people came back to their senses and realized: That "Mu Tong" had just manipulated shadow ropes to hook and save over ten people. This undoubtedly proved he was that legendary "Shadow."
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