Chapter 455: Chen Xinjie’s News (1/2)
Chapter 455: Chen Xinjie’s News
Translator: EndlessFantasy TranslationEditor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was eleven o'clock at night. The members of the Firearms Bureau returned one after another with news from the three neighboring cities around Hope City.
The feedback was not positive there, but it was not terrible either.
The three cities still maintained basic social order and did not suffer from any crippling civil disputes. The governments of the three cities, once briefed on the current situation, conveyed their willingness to comply to the leadership of Hope City.
Luo Yuan had expected such a decision. Firstly, Hope City was the most strategically reinforced city of the reconstruction area. Before the apocalypse, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were the top tier cities, but now, Hope City was a level above them all and naturally it would be much safer than a normal city.
Secondly, under such brutal circumstances, even if they were clouded by ambition, they were not in a position to carry out any evil schemes against humanity. The worse thing they could do was wait it out, inevitable death at a slower pace.
It was not an easy task to survive the nuclear winter. If it was not for the aid provided by Hope City, the three cities would sink into hell within three months.
”I’m not sure how much longer these three cities can last,” Lin Feiyan said.
After Lin Feiyan left his office, Luo Yuan sat back in his armchair to further analyze the situation. His eyebrows were deeply knitted in thought.
He would need more time to execute the plan, he concluded. Regardless of the restoration of the ship, or the rescuing of the remaining three cities, it was impossible to complete each of them in such a short time. He had no idea how many more people would be sacrificed before all of them could safely board the spaceship.
Luo Yuan let out a long sigh. As he was in such a position of authority, he realized that he did not only obtain new power, but also an extremely heavy burden. Every single day delayed, ended countless lives.
The phone rang to break the silence. Luo Yuan picked it up with haste.
”Mr. Mayor, Deputy Mayor Mr. Bi is here with an update on the current situation.” said Secretary Cheng over the phone. ”Send him in!” Luo Yuan replied and put down the phone.
In a moment, Bi Jianping briskly entered the room.
”Mr. Mayor, the ship is all systems go. Manpower and resources are ready. It can be boarded as soon as we get the order!” he said excitedly while handing over a document to Luo Yuan.
Ever since the disaster, he had not slept for almost two days. He looked exhausted and pale. Even his clothes was dirty, worn and covered in dust.
In fact, this was how all the government officials looked. Time was of the essence in Hope City, with so many tasks at hand, they could not afford a single delay. Every single person was worked around the clock, and never stopped for a moment’s rest.
Fortunately, for people that lived through the apocalypse, even a normal human being was now much stronger. But at this rate, even they could barely hold on much longer. Without rest, the government would soon be paralyzed.
Looking at his fatigued manner, Luo Yuan remained silent. He took the document and glance through it quickly. He then put it on the table, raised his head and asked, ”Has the wind outside died down?”
”It was tested half an hour ago. The wind strength is a Level Five, and visibility is at 10 meter. Furthermore, the temperature has dropped to approximately -40 degrees,” said Bi Jianping.
The strong winds outside were caused by the explosions of Nuclear Antimatter Smart Orbital Ballistic (NASOB) missiles. The wind would not last long, but the dust thrown up in the atmosphere stayed for prolong periods of time.
”It is too cold!” Luo Yuan’s eyebrows furrowed angrily. Grudgingly he said, ”Forget about it. Since everything is ready, let’s initiate the evacuation!”
Luo Yuan stashed the document inside his desk drawer, stood up, and walked out the office with Bi Jianping close at his heels.
There were fifty thousand people to be evacuated this time. Most of them were researchers and robotic engineers. There were a few civilian workers, numbering to about eight thousands of them, along with five hundred military police, six hundred logistics personnel, and enough food for all of them.
Since the communication between the artificial intelligence of the ship and the production zone was severed, the automated production sequence could not be initialized. The personnel on the site had to slowly figure out all production models in every single factory of the production zone, before they reinitialized the factory, and produced the necessary materials to restore the ship.
After all, the ship had to house five to six million people. The materials required were equivalent to that of a few seventy storey skyscrapers. Furthermore, the ship was not just stationary on the ground. Its acceleration and deceleration alone created enormous amounts of stress on the materials. Therefore, the material’s tensile strength had to be impeccable.
The ship's deck was not the same as a building’s foundation, which made concrete and mutated wood unsuitable for the job. To ensure the ship's structure was as stable as a building, it has to be made of casted metal welded to the living quarters. Such a combination formed a supportive pillar similar to that of a building.
Not only did that require a lot of steel, it also needed a lot of metal processing lathe skills and higher level engineering knowledge. With the production capabilities of Hope City, building the ship was a huge project. Even with all the tools and workers allocated to the ship construction, it would still take one or two years to finish the project.
If they have waited for one or two years, everything would be too late. They could not afford to wait that long.
Right now, their only hope rested on the alien’s advance factory technology.
”Do you really want to permanently stay on the ship?” Luo Yuan asked abruptly, without slowing a step. Bi Jianping stopped. His heart raced in his chest, and beads of sweat covered his forehead. He suddenly realized that he was not only the deputy mayor of Hope City, but also the second in charge of the reconstruction area.
He was too impulsive. He had bravely volunteered during the meeting to reside permanently onboard the ship.
After all, it was a spaceship that was an immense technological marvel. Whoever controlled the ship, controlled unsurpassable martial prowess. Regardless of any being, any ruler facing such a strategic machine of destruction would cower in fear.
He abruptly composed a sentence, and politely replied, ”Mr. Mayor, I don't think I am the right candidate for the job. Do you have another suggestion?”
Luo Yuan waved his hand, ”No, I think it will be great if you are onboard.”