Chapter 309: Different From The Past
Translator: Insignia Editor: Svjohn
Since the earthquake would happen anytime now, Luo Yuan decided not to rush at night, but take shelter in the Gobi Desert instead. They stopped nearby. The ground was full of rocks there, so it would not collapse easily, even if there was an earthquake.
Luo Yuan chased away the giant lizard and King Kong to prevent any unnecessary injuries to his team members. It was totally dark that night.
They made a bonfire and sat around it to wait for the earthquake. The Northern Lights lasted for six hours before they slowly faded away at dawn. It was very quiet.
There were no birds chirping or animals roaring. Even the wind had stopped blowing.
The giant lizard seemed to have sensed something in the distance. It had started stomping around and puffing. Meanwhile, King Kong kept scratching its ears in frustration.
A pressure suddenly occupied the entire space. Everyone’s hearts tensed up, and their breathing got faster. Even an idiot would have felt the fear of the impending disaster.
"Luo Yuan!" Zhao Yali shouted nervously.
Luo Yuan held her hand tightly and said, "Don’t worry, we’ll be fine. Just be careful!"
Zhao Yali nodded, but her face was as white as paper.
"Shishi, remember to focus on the rescue job! The rest of you try your best to protect yourselves!" Luo Yuan said quickly. As an evolved man with the earth element as his core property, he could feel a strong force moving underground. It felt as if it was about to explode.
As soon as he finished talking, he felt a shock.
He immediately looked towards the South. A beam of red light shone on the sky before it was immediately gone. Suddenly, a booming, crackling sound came from every direction, sounding like an explosion. Everything started shaking vigorously.
Zhao Yali and Huang Jiahui slipped and fell down. Luo Yuan quickly pulled them up. Wang Shishi floated and pulled Wang Xiaguang up. Everyone else had also fallen on the ground, and many of them had hurt their heads and started bleeding.
However, that earthquake was only the beginning. A second, stronger earthquake came fast before Zhang Wu and the others could even get up again.
A few of them fell on the ground again and kept rolling around. The stones on the cliff were sharp, so they got injuries all over their bodies.
Chen Jiayi performed a lot better than the rest of them. The girl, who had moss growing on her body, got up from the ground very quickly after falling the first time. She was the best among the three kids who had learned martial arts from Luo Yuan. Although she could not stand properly and almost fell again a few times, she still tried her best not to.
The strong quake caused the cliff to crack, and countless stones rolled down like a waterfall. The field in the distance began to sink, as the ground was too soft there. Luo Yuan could see a huge crack forming, extending a few kilometers horizontally in just a few seconds.
Luo Yuan stood on the ground, trying to adjust his center of gravity so he could stabilize himself. The quake was not really a big deal to him, as he was used to jumping on mutated beasts. He was already used to that kind of turmoil.
The earthquake lasted for three minutes before it slowly subsided. Everyone felt very depressed as they looked at the scene. Everything looked completely different now.
Ever since the end of the world had come, human beings seemed to have used up all their good luck. Several disasters had happened to them since. In less than two years, they had been forced to live in the forest, and once they had finally gotten a safe place to stay again, disasters had started to befall them.
Luo Yuan tapped on his clothes to clean away the dust and mud as the rest of them got up one by one. They were still in shock but fortunately, none of them had been hurt badly. Gu Meiyan’s injuries looked the most serious, but they were just a few scratches and bruises. They all seemed to be agitated and they hugged each other, grateful to have survived.
"We don’t know whether Huo Dong and Cao Lin are safe! Or all those people in the shelter!" Huang Jiahui said after the excitement had subsided. Everyone slowly calmed down.
"We can’t do anything, Sister Huang. We can only pray for them," Wang Xiaguang said guiltily as she shook her head.
Luo Yuan sighed. The magnitude of the earthquake had been at least nine, so they might not have been able to survive.
"Brother Luo, why don’t we go back and take a look?" Wang Shishi said softly. "Perhaps some of them are still alive?"
"She’s right, Luo Yuan," Zhao Yali agreed. She looked really pale.
Luo Yuan felt pumped up as he walked around for a while. He finally stopped and said, "Alright, let’s go back! We’ll try our best to save them."
Their spirits had been boosted, and everyone was excited again. They had escaped to survive, but they still felt guilty about it.
This was a critical moment for mankind, so escaping from an organization was equivalent to being a deserter. They definitely would not pass up an opportunity to compensate for escaping.
...
The giant lizard and King Kong had run away during the earthquake and could not be seen anywhere. Luo Yuan flew up to the sky and found them hiding behind a dune. They were lying on the ground, the whole bodies shaking. Especially the giant lizard’s, who had buried its head into the dune. It did not dare stand up, no matter how many times Luo Yuan tried to order it to.
It seemed like animals were more afraid of natural disasters than humans. Even though the giant lizard and King Kong were very strong, they were still afraid of the earthquake.
Luo Yuan spent more than 10 minutes comforting them, He also hit them every once in a while. Finally, they overcame their fear and got up again.
...…
Everyone climbed on the giant lizard and set off for the shelter.
The path was strange, and they did not come across any familiar places. Most of the electromagnetic towers had collapsed, and the ground was full of cracks. Luo Yuan even saw a flatland that had become a lake.
A lot of water had gushed out from under the ground and formed a 100-meter tall fountain.
When they passed by the abandoned city again, they realized it had completely collapsed. There was a long crack extending from the east to the west, crossing the entire city. Two-thirds of the city on the left side had sunk more than 10 meters into the ground.
Everyone was shocked by the scene. They began to feel insecure.
The situation at Desert City would be even worse than that.
Luo Yuan urged the giant lizard to increase its speed. Perhaps they might be able to save those who were still alive and trapped in the shelter if they were fast enough. However, Luo Yuan realized that the pressure in the tectonic plates had been relieved after the earthquake. He assumed there would no severe earthquakes for a short period of time.
Everyone had gotten used to the shaky ride, as it allowed the giant lizard to go faster. It had taken them about 16 hours to leave, but only 10 hours to return. Around 2 pm, they finally saw Desert City in the distance.
Zhao Yali quickly covered her mouth in shock as she looked at it.
Luo Yuan could not believe what he was seeing either. Although he had told them about the worse case scenario, the scene before him still made him feel extremely depressed.
The flatland where Desert City used to be had been replaced by several rows of small mountains. The biggest mountains were about a few hundred meters tall, and the smaller ones were less than 20 meters tall.
Luo Yuan saw the ruins of Desert City beside one of the mountains. There was a lot of broken concrete and wood scattered all over the place.
He was devastated. He could not imagine the destiny of the shelter after suffering such a strong force from the earth plate. They could only pray now.
Soon, they reached their destination.
The rocks were still warm from the earthquake, and the ground was a mess. They could not see any buildings nearby, only some broken bricks and pieces of wood.
Luo Yuan immediately jumped down from the giant lizard. The rest slid down with a rope.
"Luo Yuan, what should we do?" Huang Jiahui asked desperately.
"Let’s dig. We can try to search," Luo Yuan said with a sigh.
Zhang Wu and the rest were too stunned to ask any questions.
Luo Yuan called King Kong over and pointed as he said something. King Kong’s Intelligence was already 9 points, which was only slightly below human intelligence. It could understand most common instructions, and even complicated instructions were not a problem if there was some kind of demonstration or sign involved.
Luo Yuan acted like he was digging, and King Kong scratched its head and dug a handful of soil up. It smiled as it saw Luo Yuan nod, and then it began to dig.
As a giant beast with strong skin, powerful strength, and a pair of flexible hands, this was the perfect job for it. It was surprisingly efficient, just like a giant machine. Every handful of soil consisted of more than 10 tons of stones, but King Kong just threw it all 100 meters away.
Shocked, everyone quickly tried to escape.