342, April 1st, 11:00 AM.
News bulletin, yesterday morning, the state announced the underground city construction plan. Public opinions are currently being widely collected, and the overall design scheme is underway...
Yesterday morning, the state officially announced that the world has entered the "Cataclysmic Era." Since June of last year, unprecedented natural disasters have occurred frequently worldwide...
An urgent bulletin is now being broadcast. According to detections by the Jiangcheng Research Institute, this solar storm carries a new type of unknown high-energy particle that emits ionizing radiation, capable of damaging human tissue. Citizens are advised to avoid direct sunlight as much as possible...
Tang Li and Tang Guo watched the news on television while eating hot pot.
Four days ago, after a week of emergency repairs, electricity was finally restored to Jiangcheng.
Furthermore, the entire Jiangcheng was protected by an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) shielding罩, meaning it would no longer be affected by geomagnetic storms.
Although the induced currents generated by geomagnetic storms could damage electrical equipment, they had little impact on circuits. Combined with the proactive preparations made by the Jiangcheng authorities before the geomagnetic storms, power was restored so quickly.
However, even with power restored, very few households, like Tang Li's, could still watch television.
After all, too many electrical appliances had been damaged during the previous solar storms.
With factories not yet reopened, there weren't enough appliances being produced.
After the solar storms, people's living spaces required protection from EMP shielding罩.
Therefore, the Jiangcheng authorities established seven shelters, centered around various exchanges.
The old city was Shelter 1, the northern part of the new city was Shelter 2, the southern part of the new city was Shelter 3, the industrial zone was Shelter 4, and the eastern suburbs, northern suburbs, and the west and east banks of the Great River were Shelters 5, 6, and 7, respectively.
Tang Li resided in Shelter 3, located in the southern part of the new city, near the industrial zone.
Before power was restored, the authorities had dug open the snow at the nodes of the seven shelters, erected tall towers, and installed high-power EMP shielding devices, supplied by cables wrapped in special materials.
This action managed to envelop the entire Jiangcheng under the EMP shielding罩.
Considering that spring equinox had passed and major blizzards were unlikely, and given the rapid transition from extreme heat to extreme cold last year, the snow was expected to melt quickly.
To prevent the collapse of the snow-covered passages due to the melting of the 30-meter-high snow, and to avoid new flood disasters, the Jiangcheng authorities began organizing personnel to clear the snow on the ground in advance.
After more than ten days of hard work, the snow between the seven shelters and the tall towers housing the high-power EMP shielding devices had been cleared.
Now, they were using the cleared areas as passages to excavate the snow within each shelter and dump it into the Great River. Once the snow melted, it would flow away with the river.
Clearing the snow was essentially the only work available for ordinary people in Jiangcheng at present.
Only by clearing all the snow and breaking the ice on the snow-covered passages could traffic be restored throughout Jiangcheng, followed by the resumption of production.
Otherwise, having to dig snow while also walking would be too time-consuming.
However, Tang Li and Tang Guo had not gone out.
This was because they knew that sunlight contained delta particles, and digging snow would inevitably expose them to sunlight.
Before the authorities had announced the discovery of delta particles and their dangers, they could not go out wearing electromagnetic radiation shielding suits.
They had stayed at home for the past ten days, not venturing out.
"The authorities have finally discovered delta particles," Tang Guo sighed upon hearing the news broadcast.
She then asked, "Li Li, when can we go out?"
"Let's wait for the news to come from Jing City," Tang Li replied, picking a slice of fatty beef roll from the hot pot.
"After the authorities have a countermeasure for delta particles and produce a neutralizing agent, then we can go out."
"Otherwise, even if we go out wearing electromagnetic radiation shielding suits, we won't be able to remove the delta particles stuck to them."
Tang Guo looked disappointed.
Just then, the television broadcast another news report:
News bulletin, Jiangcheng Research Institute announced this morning that they have successfully developed "Rice Worms"!
Tang Li was stunned upon hearing this news...