342, September 18th, 22:00.
Tang Li stood on the rooftop of the exchange building, overlooking the surrounding F City base.
Even though it was late at night, F City base was still brightly lit.
Apart from this exchange, there were no other permanent structures in F City base.
Below, the tightly connected cold storage walls that once enclosed the base had been dismantled, leaving behind clear passageways for quick movement of personnel.
Simultaneously, ample space had been cleared between the cold storage units and refrigerated trucks within the base to accommodate potential ground subsidence and fissures accompanying the earthquake.
Jiang City was located on an alluvial plain, not within an earthquake zone.
Before the apocalypse, earthquakes here were rare and typically minor.
When selecting the locations for the four underground cities, China had already factored in the possibility of various natural disasters, including earthquakes.
During the great earthquake of the apocalypse, while F City would be affected, the damage would not be severe.
Especially since most of the area had already been devastated by previous rounds of natural calamities, the impact of this earthquake would be even smaller.
It was impossible for it to be like R Country, repeatedly scoured by tsunamis until it sank into the sea.
Of course, casualties were still unavoidable.
Based on information from official channels, Tang Li had instructed Tang Guo to make comprehensive arrangements for the F City base, aiming to minimize casualties as much as possible.
Tang Li looked up at the sky.
The sky was still graced by a brilliant aurora; the solar storm had not yet ceased.
She glanced at the time again, sensing that the earthquake was imminent.
“Sister Guo Guo, how are things on your end?”
Tang Li inquired via quantum communication.
“All the containers storing supplies have been secured! The supplies inside are enough for the F City base to last for a month!”
Tang Guo’s voice came through the earpiece.
At that moment, Tang Li felt a tremor beneath her feet.
“The earthquake has begun, launch immediately!”
Saying this, Tang Li stepped off the rooftop and soared into the sky.
Concurrently, numerous other figures around her ascended into the sky, much like Tang Li.
Some wore mechanical exoskeletons, while others piloted flying motorcycles.
In essence, anyone who was prepared and capable of flight took to the sky.
Those on the ground were also well-prepared, quickly emerging from the rooms constructed from cold storage units and refrigerated trucks. They moved to the open spaces, striving to maintain their balance.
Beneath them, it seemed as though an ancient behemoth was stirring, causing the ground to tremble incessantly.
People standing on the ground were continuously being tossed upwards by the shaking earth.
Under the faint light of the aurora, Tang Li observed from the air that the land resembled a swaying wave, undulating violently.
The already cracked earth now split open into fissures.
Boom—
Suddenly, the original exchange building of F City base collapsed, kicking up a cloud of dust that spread outwards.
Tang Li watched as the last remaining structure on the ground crumbled into ruins, sighing.
Following this great earthquake, the traces of human civilization left on Earth would once again be wiped out in vast swathes.
No building could possibly survive this immense seismic event.
In the face of the extreme heat of the scorching season and the biting cold of the frigid season that were to come, humanity's ordeal would become even more arduous.
One could only hope for the swift completion of the underground cities.
Beep—
18, beep, 16, beep, 14…
Subsequently, Tang Li heard the earthquake early warning siren.
She quickly realized that this was not the alarm for F City base, but for Jiang City.
Tang Li, flying in the sky, immediately transferred her consciousness to her clone in Jiang City.
The earthquake in Jiang City would arrive slightly later than in F City.
Through quantum communication, Jiang City had established monitoring stations far in advance, capable of issuing alerts before the earthquake struck.
And now, almost all the loudspeakers in Jiang City were broadcasting such warnings.
Tang Li’s clone was currently at home, spending time with Peng Yixuan.
Upon hearing the alarm, both of them took to the sky to evade the earthquake.
Peng Yixuan also quickly contacted Peng Yue via quantum communication. Upon learning that he and everyone in the "United Squad" had safely ascended, she finally felt relieved.
…5, beep, 4, beep, 3, beep, 2, beep, 1, wail~!
Wail~ wail~ wail…
Just as they took to the sky, the rapid siren sounds continued to ring out.
The ground in Jiang City also began to shake.
Crash!
Rumble—
Tang Li witnessed all the tall buildings in the Jiang City shelters begin to sway.
First, glass and external bricks rained down with a crash, and then the entire buildings started to collapse.
Even the small villa Tang Li had lived in for six months quickly crumbled into ruins within seconds.
Tang Li and Peng Yixuan rapidly ascended to higher altitudes, evading falling debris.
In the distance, all around, the ground was completely obscured by the dust kicked up by collapsing structures, making the situation entirely unclear.
The siren sounds abruptly ceased, and most of the lights instantly extinguished.