After the magnitude 9 earthquake ended, the Human Consortium meeting that was supposed to be held remotely was first postponed, then decided to be canceled.
The reason was simple: most member nations were severely affected by the disaster and had no mind to hold meetings for the time being.
The previous magnitude 8 earthquake caused the demise of one country, "Magala." This magnitude 9 earthquake destroyed more than five countries in one go, including three with populations in the millions and two with populations in the tens of millions.
In such a short week, the Human Consortium, originally composed of thirty-four nations, now had only twenty-eight left.
Among these twenty-eight nations, many were still on the brink of collapse. If no other nations stepped in to assist with disaster relief later, dissolution was only a matter of time.
Yet the cruel reality was that no nation currently had any spare capacity to lend a helping hand.
Beixing couldn't do it, and Suroma couldn't either.
Every powerful nation had to prepare for the final magnitude 10 super earthquake, with not a single ounce of extra energy to spare for other nations. This was also one of the reasons the Human Consortium meeting was canceled.
Faced with the unprecedented magnitude 10 earthquake that was about to arrive, no one claimed to be fully prepared. Instead, a large number of personnel in disaster-stricken areas had completely given up on seeking refuge. There simply wasn't enough time.
As a result, these three days became a true final frenzy in many countries.
The cultists lurking in many nations felt the apocalypse was imminent and stopped hiding, openly appearing to preach.
Some even went directly in front of official buildings to deliver impassioned speeches, declaring that Judgment Day was coming and this was the deserved punishment for deeply sinful humanity.
The officials of many countries couldn't be bothered to deal with them. Resources and manpower had to be used for disaster relief and preparing for the final earthquake. Everything would be decided in three days. If everything was truly destroyed, arresting those cultists three days early wouldn't make much difference.
The frenzy wasn't just spreading in reality; it was also proliferating online.
On the Ascendant Home forum, izens from various countries spoke out, and a post titled "Three Questions for the Apocalypse" gained massive popularity.
"With the magnitude 10 earthquake apocalypse approaching, the poster has three questions: What will you do in these three days? Do you have any regrets? If you don't die three days later, how will you live afterwards?"
The replies below were diverse.
"Go to a high mountain to see how the world is destroyed; regret coming to a big city for career development back then; return to my hometown and live as a free spirit."
"Replay my favorite game; regret being frugal and reluctant to buy a good machine before the Doomsday Rules; play games every day."
"Eat, drink, and sleep; my regret is that I shouldn't have stubbornly held on during the first rule, it would have been better to sleep comfortably and leave knowing nothing; if I don't die, next time I encounter a rule that allows a painless death, I'll just go."
People answered the three questions posed by the poster one after another, each person's obsession different.
But the vast majority of the answers revealed a strong will to survive.
Those who could survive until now undoubtedly mostly wanted to keep going. Even facing a seemingly certain-death disaster, they were unwilling to give up easily.
However, soon another post appeared, its popularity climbing to the top at an extremely fast speed.
"Risking Death to Expose: Major powers are about to launch their respective manned rockets. The people of Tianshui Star are about to be abandoned! The powerful elites are planning to emigrate to Terra!"
The poster claimed to be an insider from a certain country's aerospace department and was releasing the information due to a guilty conscience.
According to some confidential materials they provided, powerful nations including Suroma, Fahe, and Beixing all had similar plans. The relevant departments of several countries had even secretly held several discussion meetings to discuss related matters.
As soon as this post appeared, the number of replies exploded.
"How shameless! Abandoning ordinary people and fleeing to space, utterly shameless!"
"Those who can get on the rockets are definitely the powerful elites and those who serve them. Ordinary people definitely have no chance."
"These bastards are so calculating! Go to space first to hide from the earthquake. If Tianshui Star is destroyed by the earthquake, they go to Terra. If it survives, they come back. Nothing is delayed!"
"Don't let them fly! On what grounds?!"
"Support! Destroy all the launch sites!!!"
This matter hit a common sore spot for ordinary people in every country. Ordinary people clearly understood they had absolutely no chance of getting a seat on a manned rocket.
Therefore, the post immediately ignited public fury, adding fuel to the fire.
Moreover, the matter spread extremely quickly, reaching every country within half a day.
That afternoon, some related actions began.
In the Republic of Fahe, large-scale opposition emerged. First, they denounced the relevant decision-makers, then gathered to go to the aerospace center to destroy all rocket launch pads and related equipment, ensuring no powerful elite could escape.
This naturally triggered a strong reaction from Fahe's official departments, which immediately mobilized personnel to stop and suppress the actions.
However, Fahe's officials didn't expect that the personnel they commanded would rebel and side with the ordinary people.
Because these personnel also figured out that, like ordinary people, they belonged to the category that couldn't get on a rocket. In that case, with the world about to be destroyed, what was the point of risking their lives for those people?
The reversal within an extremely short time caught Fahe's officials off guard. Before they could make any deployments, the command department was breached, and a large number of higher-ups were taken under control.
The entire country's drastic change happened in just half a day. By evening, new representatives issued a statement to other countries, indicating that Fahe was in the process of selecting a new decision-making body.
The speed left other countries somewhat stunned.
Suroma's Senate and Beixing's think tank quickly analyzed and concluded that there was an unknown force behind the scenes fanning the flames.
It was very likely that the poster who exposed the rocket plan was from a certain organization within Fahe. Their ultimate goal was to quickly ignite public anger through this matter, then take advantage of the opportunity created by the earthquake disaster having just occurred and the official forces being depleted due to sending large numbers of personnel for disaster relief, to seize power in one fell swoop.
Beixing's higher-ups' think tank analyzed that this matter might be related to the person who used mind control abilities to create a cultist group and that extra attention must be paid.
However, currently, other countries were busy dealing with the earthquake and had no time to interfere with Fahe's internal power transition. This was probably also the opening the power seizure planners deliberately targeted, acting decisively while other countries were unable and powerless to interfere.
The changes in Fahe spread rapidly through the work. Many people within Suroma and Beixing also began to question: Wasn't using rockets to carry people to escape truly a privileged act?
Suroma chose to handle this with a cold shoulder. However, Beixing's officials issued a statement, publicly disclosing some of the items placed in the rockets.
These included various plant seeds, hard drives storing Tianshui Star's history and culture, and even gene banks for humans and many animals.
The official explanation given was that the purpose of the rocket plan was to preserve human civilization and seeds in the worst-case scenario, hoping for the possibility of rebuilding a homeland in the future. As for the personnel carried, apart from a few decision-makers, they would mostly be experts in relevant fields.
After the explanation was published, although many people were still dissatisfied, the resistance indeed weakened considerably.
The people of Beixing also understood that preparing for a rainy day was necessary, and making the worst-case plans in advance was also necessary.
It's just that the thought of not being among those chosen inevitably led to anger born of disappointment.
But these matters had nothing to do with Guan Tong.
While others discussed how to spend these three days, he had no free time to participate. All three days were used to absorb Mind Power.
To increase efficiency, the authorities devised over twenty methods to simultaneously transfer Mind Power to him. Every hour, minute, and even second, a massive amount of Mind Power entered his body, converted into reserve Mind Power at a 10:1 conversion rate.
Thus, by the last second of the 72 hours, Guan Tong's reserve Mind Power had exceeded one billion.
This meant the nation had mobilized over ten million Ascendants, who collectively transferred over ten billion Mind Power to him within three days.
These few simple numbers alone fully demonstrated Beixing's comprehensive national power and represented the peak number of Ascendants that could be mobilized within the strict 72-hour limitation.
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