Chapter 459: The Toughest Time
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As he was making his way back, another earthquake rocked the area!
It was an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. The ground shook intensely and people ran everywhere screaming at the top of their lungs.
Luo Yuan stayed rooted, his feet planted firmly on the ground. He did not move at all to the violent tremors around him. The cracks on the ground and the giant boulders that fell around him had him worried for the people of the region!
Since the anti-matter bomb attack as well as the state of the moon which now orbited the earth at a further distance, the tectonic plates entered a turbulent period of chaos. Volcano eruptions and earthquake were not out of the ordinary anymore and happened a few times almost every day. Some were minimal while serious ones went up to a magnitude of 6.0. It was the first time that such an intense earthquake happened after the disaster.
The space between each layer of the underground city was eight meters thick, which greatly strengthened its resistance to earthquakes.However, this earthquake was unbearable even for the thick ground layers. Moreover, the structure was loose due to the frequent earthquakes. There were huge cracks in the gaps which weakened the structure significantly.
20 seconds after the earthquake, the ground started to collapse. Fortunately, it stopped not long later. Besides a small part which collapsed, there was no major damage. Luo Yuan wasted not a second longer and rushed to the City Hall to initiate rescue protocols.
The collapse happened at the gap between the fifth and sixth layer where the entire 100,000 square meters of rock plates had collapsed. Luckily the floors below it were strong enough to withstand the collapse, so a domino effect did not ensue.
The fifth layer of Hope City’s underground catacombs was a warehouse. The sixth to tenth layers were residential areas and light contaminated industrial area, while the eleventh to thirteenth were agriculture areas. Apart from two factories being buried by the earthquake debris, a major part of the residential area was also affected.
Fortunately, most of the people were hiding in the warehouse area and factories while only some of them, mostly old people and children, stayed at home. However, the disaster covered a massive area. Rough calculation estimated more than 1,000 people were dead. It was impossible to survive being smashed by eight meters of solid rock!
More and more bad news continued to flow in and Luo Yuan was completely swamped.His plan to visit Chen Xinjie in the afternoon had to be canceled. Many people teamed up for disaster relief aid but that was not the most important thing at the time. The utmost priority was to strengthen the structure of the underground layers to prevent a collapse from happening again.
Although all of the people in Hope City would move into the spacecraft not long after, the transition would not happen overnight. They would have to make sure that the underground layers were stable for the remaining time they resided in Hope City. Looking at the situation, there was a high possibility that the earthquake would happen again.
Luo Yuan and a couple of geological experts were busy checking the weakness of each underground layer the entire afternoon. His Earth Pulse allowed him to sense the hidden risks from the difference of frequency on the ground. Large amounts of reinforced concrete stock were moved to the weak and crumbling locations. More than 100,000 workers were busy fixing the support columns, stabilizing the underground structures to brace it for the next earthquake.
…
It was 9 p.m., vice-mayor Tian Jinping came to Luo Yuan with a good news.
"Mayor, due to the hard work and team effort of all our factories, they have managed to produce almost 500,000 electric blankets. We estimated that they could produce up to 650,000 of them by 12 a.m," he said carefully, his husky voice controlling his excitement from the success.
As compared to the figure that they promised, which was 80,000, the new figure was six times more. However, it was still not sufficient. But looking at his eyes that were red and blisters around his lips, it was obvious that he had done his best.
"That’s great, distribute them to the people immediately!" Luo Yuan instructed.
"Sure, mayor. I’ll do it now!" he replied. Tian Jinping was surprised as to how encouraging Luo Yuan was. He exhaled in relief.
Just when he wanted to leave, Luo Yuan stopped him.
"Wait, there’s something odd about the free give-away. To prevent the people from complaining about unfairness, let’s sell the electric blanket at a cheap price and tell them it’s a limited edition offer. Use the broadcast system to let everyone know!" Luo Yuan said.
"You’re a genius, mayor!" Tian Jinping said respectfully.
Luo Yuan laughed,"Also inform the people to hold on for one night, they get to rotate shifts and rest tomorrow!"
The staff who were working for the government had not rested for the past few days. If the situation persisted, they would all be ill with sickness and fatigue.
Tian Jinping then left, and the office was quiet again. Luo Yuan massaged his temples and stood up. He paced around his office. After today, the toughest time for Hope City would be over. After the cold situation was resolved, most of the issues in Hope City would be much easier to handle.
…
Fortunately, nobody had died from the cold.
Humans were conscious creatures, and even without an electric blanket to keep them warm, they started fires and also put on more clothes to fight the cold.
But as there were more electric blankets and other warmth related goods being produced, the people had less to worry about. The crisis was eased and Luo Yuan was relieved. Since he had not been home for a few days, he planned to go home today.
"Mayor!"
"Mayor!"
…
It was hectic at the City Hall. Many expressed their gratitude when they bumped into Luo Yuan. Luo Yuan had been taking the lead these few days and his great act of preserving mankind had earned him a halo in the eyes of the people.
Although most of the people were exhausted, whenever they saw him, they got all excited and pumped to cheer his successes and express their gratefulness for his aid. It was a great achievement where the phenomena happened during the toughest times for mankind.
He arrived at the hall and stopped walking all of the sudden. Everybody stood up.
Looking at all the staff who stood with admiration for him, he was touched.
"Everyone, your handwork is noted. We survived the alien’s attack. Credit should not be mine alone but a team effort, for everyone. Now the toughest times have passed us, our lives will get better soon enough. Let’s change shifts and take a much-deserved rest!" Luo Yuan said, with a hearty laugh after he finished.
He gestured to the office manager who walked out of the office,"Get the canteen to prepare a scrumptious breakfast. If there’s no more high-class meat, please get it from me!"
"There… there are, I’ll arrange right now." The office manager said immediately and rushed off to make the required preparations.
Luo Yuan nodded and left the City Hall.
The bright lamps lit up the underground city like it was daytime. Luo Yuan could see that parts of the LED energy-saving lamps were changed to heated lamps. The endless energy of the nuclear fusion furnaces coming from the Glassians allowed Hope City to produce all the energy they needed.
He felt the temperature of the area with fixed heated lamps rise steadily.
It was a pity that the production of heating lamps was limited because the priority for such lamps was given to the agriculture area. Only two streets were fixed with heated lamps, and they would need more time to have enough heated lamps to install them everywhere.
Soon, Luo Yuan was home.
Wang Shishi saw him from far away and said in surprise, "Boss Luo is home!"
She then ran towards him, jumped into his arms and he spun around like a kid in complete bliss. Wang Shishi was the most clingy one among all the women.
He smiled while patting her back, "Alright, get off me."
Wang Shishi kissed him and release her hold of him. Her eyes were watery, she was never sick of the sight of him. The rest of the women were as excited as her but they were shy.
"Have you eaten?" Huang Jiahui said with a giggle. She was wearing a beige fur coat which made her look younger and demure.
Recently, most of the clothes produced were made of high leveled mutated beasts’ fur. They ranged from level five and above.
Before that, they were used in the making of aircrafts or were left piled up in warehouses. Now all of them were used to produce clothing to keep warm. However, since it was of a very high quality and the leather was tough, it had reduced the production efficiency due to operational difficulties. Not many of them were produced and the first few were given to researchers who were still in Hope City. Even senior civil staff did not get any of them. Perhaps somebody had taken the liberty to give the coats to the women as a sign of respect for him.
However, Luo Yuan was not pedant. It was normal in society and it would not change under any circumstances even if he were made a fuss.
"It’s okay, is everything alright at home?" he answered. Luo Yuan looked around the villa. Part of the artificial mountain in the living room was missing. It must have been damaged by the earthquake yesterday, he concluded.
"Everything is fine. Your job is more important. Don’t worry about what’s happening at home." Huang Jiahui said.
"I heard we’re moving to the spacecraft?" Zhao Yali asked.
"It’s true, but not so soon. There’s a modification happening on the spacecraft. When it’s done, we will leave earth." he said.
Luo Yuan looked at Zhao Yali as he answered her. She was wearing a green fur coat, her skin was smooth, she seemed soft and pleasant. Ye Qiuyu who was standing aside was stunned and exclaimed in surprise. She was embarrassed, but as everyone was stunned by the news, nobody noticed her at all.
"Why do we need to leave earth, just out of the blue?" Wang Xiaguang asked.
Luo Yuan sighed and explained the current situation. Everybody was quiet. Ever since the apocalypse, there were many disasters happening to mankind and now, they had to give up on the Earth, or perish.
"Let’s not talk about that anymore. We will cross the bridge when we get there. There’s always hope for mankind!" Luo Yuan assured them.
Luo Yuan then asked Ye Qiuyu about Chen Jiayi," How’s Chen Jiayi doing?"
As she noticed Luo Yuan was looking at her, Ye Qiuyu panicked,"May… Mayor, there’s positive progress to her situation. She would reach out to us whenever we called her name. But… We need a little more time."
Luo Yuan nodded. He knew the pressure that he had always given ordinary people. It was not just the pressure from his power, but also the mental stress. Even if he suppressed his power, he still gave out an overwhelming sense to normal people, especially the standing committee at City Hall who he was in constant contact with. The only ones who were not affected were those who were close to him.
He stood up and said,"Let me take a look!"
He walked into Chen Jiayi’s room and sat on the chair by the bed. The women followed as well. The mutated human hesitated and followed as well.
Chen Jiayi laid quietly on the bed. She was rosy and breathing normally. It seemed like she was asleep.
Luo Yuan looked at her in silence and called out to her. "Jiayi wake up, wake up now," he cooed.
She seemed to hear his voice, her eyes rolled like she was in a nightmare. She could not open her eyes.
"There seemed to be something wrong with her nervous system where she can hear us and try to respond, but she’s too weak to react," Ye Qiuyu said softly.
Luo Yuan kept quiet, he knew very well what had gone wrong. It was caused by the invasion of his Will that had messed up her nervous system.
He saw her fingers were moving, and he held her hand. She was weak at first, but suddenly, she squeezed Luo Yuan’s hand so tight that her face was flushing red.
"Jiayi wake up!" He tried to wake her up after seeing her moving.
However, that only lasted for a few seconds. She let go of his hand. Tears rolled down her cheeks and within seconds, she seemed to have used all the energy she had left.
The ladies were sad, their eyes were red and watery. It was a different story for Ye Qiuyu as her relationship with Chen Jiayi was purely doctor and patient.
She only started treating Chen Jiayi about a half an hour ago. She only now had the chance to take a good look at Luo Yuan. She was stunned and a little terrified by all the women he had and the beautiful half human, half animal mutated human.
Luo Yuan had not been around the villa these few days and many things had happened. She had long forgotten that she was ready to throw herself at him.
In reality, there was nothing to complain about Luo Yuan’s appearance. His skin was smooth and soft, he had no flaws at all. A great body, a good-looking face and the mysterious vibe he possessed attracted all women. Now that he had evolved to this stage, his body went through a total transformation. There were no gene defects found on his body like ordinary people do and even if he had any, he could fix them himself. She recalled Luo Yuan’s terrifying abilities from Wang Shishi where he managed to squeeze a rice cooker into an iron ball. She was afraid of him. She had no idea how all these women could handle him.
Sensing a strange aura behind him, Luo Yuan turned around and stared at Ye Qiuyu. She turned pale and almost fell to the ground.