Chapter 346: Pan-Continental Shelf Earthquake (Patreon)

Chapter 346: Pan-Continental Shelf Earthquake

Boom.

A series of thunderous, muffled roars echoed through distant mountain ranges.

Then the endless, wall-like mountains.

Began collapsing bit by bit at a visibly alarming rate.

Three hours after the oceanic earthquake made landfall on the coastline.

It had already spread inland at an unbelievable speed, reaching hundreds of kilometers deep into the continent.

Approaching Su Wu's Terra Shelter.

Terra.

Underground Level One, Control Center.

Before the futuristic control console.

The massive screen wall was divided into thousands of sections.

Displaying footage from nearly a hundred kilometers around the shelter from various angles.

The images showed that the once-solid ice fields and mountainous terrain near the shelter.

Had begun undulating like stormy seas.

Occasionally, even towering peaks could be seen sliding slowly across plains like massive ships at sea.

On a few screens.

Faint crimson glows flickered.

The hue of magma being squeezed and ejected from deep underground.

"Transport Fleet D1037 has been destroyed."

"Current cumulative losses: 723 Ice Lake-class Transport Ships."

Several lines of red warning text refreshed in the Artificial Intelligence's operation log.

Caught Su Wu's eye.

The Ice Lake-class Transport Ships, which could only hover one meter above flat ground at most.

Had limited resistance to geological disasters.

Combined with their extremely slow movement speed.

Their survival probability was negligible once caught in frequent geological activity zones.

To avoid this situation.

The only solution was preemptive evasion.

"The surface environment near Terra is no longer suitable for Ice Lake-class Transport Ships."

"We can temporarily use Steel City, Changming City, and other megacities as interim storage hubs."

"To gather surrounding resources."

Even this prophesied super disaster wouldn't engulf the entire Eastern Continent at once.

Its current epicenter.

Remained confined to the Kuan Jiang River Basin, extending at most a few hundred kilometers to either side.

Thus Su Wu had ample space to deploy his fleet of over 70,000 Ice Lake-class Transport Ships.

As for the more mobile Sixth and Seventh-Generation Fighter Jets and Morning Light-Class Transport Ships.

They remained largely unaffected.

They could continue following original procedures, steadily transporting populations and precious supplies to Terra.

7:00 PM.

Surface.

Beneath churning clouds.

Occasional streaks of intense violet lightning and lingering crimson twilight at the horizon's edge.

Cast a faint glow over what should have been complete darkness.

Standing within it, one could clearly feel.

Even the air trembled incessantly with the surrounding massive earthquakes and rolling thunder.

Like a prelude to the world's destruction.

In this darkness.

A massive transport ship adorned with rows of steady, dim lights.

Slowly parted the clouds and landed at a spaceport outside Terra's tenth aboveground level.

Tens of thousands of refugees who had traveled nearly a thousand kilometers from the north.

Stepped out from its hull.

Through the massive floor-to-ceiling windows of the spaceport, the apocalyptic scene outside came into view.

Many couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Some were so terrified their legs went weak, needing support from others just to move.

"Move quickly, make room for those behind you."

"There's nothing to fear out there. You're about to enter a massive Shelter housing a billion people."

"If this place isn't safe, nowhere else in this world would be better."

The Terra staff responsible for reception and maintaining order at the port did their best to guide the crowd.

Their composed demeanor helped calm many panicked individuals.

Humans are social creatures who follow the herd.

The number "one billion," regardless of interpretation, provided immense psychological security.

As these trembling refugees gradually entered the Shelter's interior...

Beneath their feet, in the underground control center on the first basement level, Su Wu was devoting nearly all his attention to monitoring surface seismic activity.

After more than half a day's development, the earthquake's pattern had become increasingly clear.

Its main seismic zone extended deep into the continental interior along the Kuan Jiang River Basin.

The overall trend aligned almost perfectly with the super earthquake during the apocalypse's early stages.

The only differences were this quake's longer duration and greater destructive power.

"Fortunately, we've already relocated most populations from those areas into Terra."

"Otherwise, the casualties would likely exceed 100 million by now."

The brightly lit control hall remained as quiet as ever.

Apart from Su Wu's breathing and occasional prompts from the Artificial Intelligence system, there were no other sounds.

Without looking at the data, one would never imagine this was the epicenter of a massive earthquake.

Even something as enormous as a 10,000-ton Ice Lake-class Transport Ship appearing outside the Shelter now would be like a small sampan in a tsunami—constantly at risk of capsizing.

After observing the seismic situation for a while, Su Wu turned his attention to continents beyond the Eastern Continent.

Unlike the Eastern Continent experiencing continental plate-level quakes, other landmasses remained largely unaffected.

Particularly North America (home to the Federation's central government) and Western Continent—the two most prosperous regions of the pre-apocalypse world—seemed divinely favored at this moment.

They remained so calm that even the Low-Temperature Cold Wave had diminished significantly in scale.

Some areas saw ambient temperatures rise to around -50°C, allowing ordinary people to venture outside normally.

"No wonder the Federation never prioritized the Eastern Continent much."

"So this is the reason."

Su Wu felt a dawning realization but no particular resentment.

For ordinary Eastern Continent residents, they might have suffered unfair treatment—becoming the first abandoned population in the apocalypse.

But for Su Wu precisely because the Federation had abandoned the Eastern Continent first, his rise to power became possible.

Shifting his gaze back from other continents to focus on the Eastern Continent again, Su Wu now examined the earthquake zone's periphery.

Unlike the nearly deserted central quake zone, these border areas still contained numerous Shelters and populations.

Their environment could hardly be considered safe.

Under the lingering effects of plate-level earthquakes,

even a large Shelter capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people

stood a significant chance of being reduced to ruins.

"We can prioritize relocating the populations of these regions to Terra."

"As for the supplies that can't be taken immediately,

let the Ice Lake-class Transport Ships handle them."

"Gradually transport them to the supercities serving as temporary hubs in the opposite direction."

(End of Chapter)