Chapter 289: Because Of Your Existence
Looking at Town W’s topography, the claim that a natural disaster was about to occur really did sound quite absurd.
But… what if it was a man-made one?
With a defeated look on his face, Yi Tong left the room. Yi Bing patted him on the shoulder but he had no idea what he could say to help the situation. There was only bleakness in his eyes.
Yi Tong sensed the dejection his friend was going through but in the end, he allowed Yi Bing to lead him away.
“According to Young Master Baili’s prediction, it’ll strike Town W first, then j.a.pan, America and lastly…” Yi Tong slowly made his way back to the squad’s gathering spot. Jiu Tong was currently a.n.a.lyzing the 3D map on his computer, which showed a rendering of the ongoing tsunami.
The entire town was covered in an ominous red glow.
The countdown timer at the bottom-right corner of the screen continued ticking away.
01:36:27
The ones responsible for drawing up the 3D map was a research team from the State Geological Bureau, led by a senior female researcher. This was a fairly well-known scientific research team hired by Yi Bing. Using the basic data Baili Bin had provided, they were able to run a simulation of the tsunami waves on their system. However, even after they had projected the footage to the people of Town W, most of the civilians thought it was just a foolish prank.
Yi Bing’s expression darkened. He had no idea why this was happening. The provided data had helped them to pinpoint the time at which disaster would strike before it was too late. And yet, they still had to clear the final hurdle. What excuse could they use to convince the people of Town W to evacuate safely?
Yi Tiao, who had a semi-neurotic personality, stared at the 3D map. The responsibility he swore to shoulder, which was to protect innocent civilians kept cycling through his mind.
The digits on the countdown clock were reducing. The sky was a drab grey color and the blowing wind was gradually growing stronger.
Yi Tong and his men understood very well that Town W would turn into h.e.l.l on earth the moment the timer struck zero.
Silently, they stood there watching as time ran out.
“Mister Yi Bing, why don’t you all issue a direct order for the people of Town W to evacuate?” The leader of a research team was a lady. She knew that Yi Bing and his team was well-respected so why were they facing objection?
Yi Tiao laughed when he heard the team leader’s suggestion. “Listen, Russell, do you think that can be easily done? Directly issuing orders are easy but that doesn’t necessarily mean the town officials would agree to our decision. How could the people, who have been living here for generations possibly agree to leave their hometowns? There’s the possibility that riots would break out afterward. In any case, this issue isn’t as simple as you set it out to be.” They weren’t sure that apart from this place, which part of the country would be affected by disasters such as this one.
Yi Tiao’s words killed whatever hope that was left on their faces.
Russell pursed her lips. To be honest, she knew next to nothing about these people but she could imagine how hard it must be to leave one’s homeland for some vague reason provided by some outsider.
Suddenly, someone came running in with a jubilant expression. He yelled out the moment the door of the room was pushed open. “Miss Gu has arrived!”
To Russell’s surprise, the solemn atmosphere faded away the moment they heard the announcement. The flame of hope returned to their eyes and they sprinted outside uncontrollably.
Russell knew that these people had a boss whom they answered to. When she was constructing the 3D map of the tsunami, she overheard Yi Bing calling his boss multiple times but wasn’t his boss a he? She was fairly certain of this as the voice she heard from the other end of the line was a man’s voice.
But did Yi Bing’s man just mention Miss Gu?
Russell rose from her seat and ventured outside to see just who this person was. She was impressed by how quickly her arrival had raised the morale of Yi Bing and his team.
Before she could exit the room however, a crowd surrounding a feminine figure squeezed through the door. Yi Tong was standing next to her, gesturing with his hands as he explained the situation. The sullen expression he was initially wearing had been exchanged with one of hope and determination.
Russell was surprised by how quickly their att.i.tude has s.h.i.+fted. Her eyes moved over to Gu Xiqiao’s skinny frame.
She headed straight for the middle of the room. Upon closer look, her expression was extremely calm considering the predicament they were in and no one Russell had ever met even came close to how delicate her face was. It was just that… she was too young. This girl was way too young to be their boss.
Russell had no idea why Yi Bing and his men suddenly retrieved their backbones the moment this young lady appeared.
“Miss Gu, this is the amount of time we have left.” Yi Tong set the computer down in front of Gu Xiqiao. He pointed at the countdown timer as he explained the situation.
Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. The digits on the timer were 00:52:04.
There was less than an hour’s worth left. Gu Xiqiao sat down in front of the computer and began hammering away on the keyboard. “Let me see to what extent things have developed first.”
“Let me help…” Russell thought Gu Xiqiao wanted to see the current condition of Town W and immediately offered her a.s.sistance as such data could only be understood by a professional. She walked up to Gu Xiqiao and was about to reach out her hand when it was held back by Yi Tong.
Quietly, he whispered to her: “Please refrain from disturbing Miss Gu.”
At the end of his stay at Baixing Village, Yi Tong had more or less a firm understanding of how G.o.d-like Gu Xiqiao was. She was the founder of the international company, Nine Heavens and as he had suspected, was also the one behind the virtual helmet’s invention.
He had a lot of respect for Gu Xiqiao.
Russell and several other researchers looked at each other with their eyebrows twisted up in a knot. They were puzzled. They were merely concerned about Gu Xiqiao messing up the data which they had meticulously collected over the past few days. Dealing with the aftermath of that would be a major pain in the b.u.t.t.
Before they could fully absorb what was going on however, Gu Xiqiao’s fingers had already started typing away on the keyboard.
A string of digits appeared on the screen, which was showing the 3D map of the tsunami. A second later, yet another 3D map popped up. This time, it was showing a map of Town W which was then wiped out by a column of water so high that it stretched up into the sky.
Russell had already given Yi Bing and his men a description of what was to come but it wasn’t as terrifying as when it was shown on the 3D map.
Yi Bing and co went silent upon watching the simulation of the disaster.
Russell and her team however, were the ones who were the most shocked about this. What the h.e.l.l? That 3D map from before was created by the collective effort of their entire team over the course of ten days. They were already plenty impressed with themselves when they were able to construct a miniature model of the town. Seems like Miss Gu didn’t think the same thing. After entering a bunch of data, she was able to come up with a new 3D map right then and there.
All of a sudden, these researchers felt as if they were the biggest fools on Earth.
“Yi Bing, are you seeing this?” Gu Xiqiao pointed at the edge of the computer screen. “The evacuation point is here. You will go and organize it.”
Yi Bing looked at that point, then at the location where the tsunami would first hit. “But those people…” He wanted to ask, what if those people disagreed to move?
Gu Xiqiao ignored him and answered a call instead.
“Right… thank you.”
She hung up after that. Gu Xiqiao peered up at Yi Bing with a pair of cold eyes, which reminded him of Jiang Shuxuan for some reason.
“I have borrowed a helicopter from Peng Zijie. He happens to have a couple of old subordinates here. My estimate suggests that the time has already come. Yi Tong, you go contact them and you’ll be responsible for search and rescue from this point onwards.” Gu Xiqiao proceeded to point at the bottom-right corner of the computer screen. “Have you realized? That the time we have left has changed?”
Initially, when Gu Xiqiao arrived, they still had fifty minutes left. However, this had reduced to only eight minutes left.
Yi Bing, Russell, and the rest of the team’s facial expressions changed for the worse the moment realization set in.
“In eight minutes, the tidal wave will hit the town.” Gu Xiqiao’s face turned increasingly indifferent. “You need not bother yourself with whoever that refuses to budge.”
Yi Bing and Yi Tong scrambled to do their respective tasks immediately after.
“Yi Tiao, you organize your men to bring the townspeople to high ground.” Gu Xiqiao pointed at the roofs of the only two skysc.r.a.pers in the town.
Gather them at these points and it’ll be easier for helicopters to evacuate them.
Yi Tiao nodded. But before he left, he couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity. “Miss Gu, how did you manage to persuade Peng Zijie to lend you a helicopter?” They weren’t very close to the man. Furthermore, they had someone from the ancient martial arts world in their group, and his personality was definitely the stubborn type. Yi Tiao was both surprised and amazed that Gu Xiqiao was able to lend the strength of the army.
Gu Xiqiao glanced up at him before replying in a casual manner: “He owes me two favors.”
‘He owes her two favors?’ Yi Tiao rolled his eyes. He didn’t think too much about it and immediately left to fulfill his duty.
“You are all talents that our nation needs desperately, I want you guys to retreat as soon as possible,” said Gu Xiqiao to Russell and her research team. “Jiu Tong, bring these people away to somewhere safe.”
She had only been here for five minutes and yet she managed to restore complete order among these men. Russell wanted to stop herself but in the end, her curiosity overcame her will. “Miss Gu, could you please tell me if we have mistakenly calculated the timing?”
“I’ll explain it when we have the time.” Gu Xiqiao shot a look at Russell. “Still, you and your team’s safety is of utmost priority. Leave now while you can.”
“What about you?” Russell stared back at Gu Xiqiao. “Aren’t you going to leave with us?”
Gu Xiqiao shook her head before walking out the door.
Russell watched as Gu Xiqiao descended the stairs before speaking to the team standing at attention downstairs. She pursed her lips at the sight of the scene before boarding the helicopter alongside her research team. She wondered what Gu Xiqiao was saying as the civilians around her all made a dash for the nearby hotel, where they stayed on the roof. Some of them were quite obviously calling their family members to do the same.
Gu Xiqiao and Yi Bing remained in the town. They were surprisingly calm despite the fact that this entire place would be submerged underwater in the next few minutes.
Russell let out a sigh as she leaned back into her seat.
Minutes later.
The sky turned dark almost instantly. A column of water was steadily making its way towards the town. A child standing on the curb with a lollipop in his hand stared dumbfoundedly at the wave. His grandmother standing next to him started panicking. “Tsunami…there really is a tsunami…”
She instantly remembered that a few days ago, a group of youngsters rolled into town, warning that there would be a tsunami and that they should evacuate immediately. She dismissed their warning as a mere prank. In fact, she had even chased them away with a broom. At this moment, a feeling of regret crept up her heart.
Holding tightly onto her beloved grandchild, she shut her eyes as the wave swept towards their direction.
Suddenly, her body felt as light as a feather, as if she was floating mid-air. Out of surprise, the old lady opened her eyes, only to see the face of a young lady. It was at this moment that her grandson asked, “Big sis, are you a G.o.ddess?”
“No.” Gu Xiqiao placed them both on top of a dry roof. She waved at the little boy and with a smile on her face, she said, “Goodbye.”
The old lady only snapped out of her daze after this. She embraced her grandson tightly while bawling her eyes out. And then, she kowtowed at Gu Xiqiao as a way to express her grat.i.tude for saving their lives. Pain and sorrow returned when she watched the water engulf her home.
Gu Xiqiao had no time for this. In the next instance, she appeared in another place. This was where the officials of Town W regularly held their meetings.
Their meeting had yet to conclude but everyone went silent as they stared at the incoming tsunami. Apart from an unending wall of water, one could also see the humans who had unfortunately been swept up by its force. It was pure nightmare fuel for these men, who froze up out of shock.
The official who had shoo-ed Yi Tong away was standing by the window. A cold chill slowly crawled up his spine and his fingers began to shake. He recalled what the youngsters had been up to for the past two weeks.
He thought they were just being a nuisance. Who would’ve thought that a tsunami would indeed, be heading towards them. The people of Town W had the chance to evacuate had he listened to their advice. However, due to his mistake…their blood was on his hands.
“Why didn’t you give Yi Tong the chance to explain the circ.u.mstance you all were in?” Gu Xiqiao walked up next to him. She pointed out the window. “Do you see? An error in decision-making and you’ll lose so many innocent lives.”
The air suddenly warmed up just when she finished talking. The figure of a person slowly materialized into existence.
The uninvited guest donned a green robe and had a head of jet-black hair. He glared at Gu Xiqiao with a pair of eyes so deep and dark they seemed like two individual abysses. “Wrong. These people died because of your existence. You deserve to die.”