Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 191 The Arrival of a Magnitude 2 Earthquake
Guan Tong had already experienced much of the wonder of the "Wordless Book".

His experience of breaking free from the mental lock confirmed that the power of the "Book Without Words" could indeed break through the blockades and restrictions set up by the Fire Thieves.

He didn't know why, because he obtained the item in the same way as everyone else who obtained their exclusive items: by initially searching in the Ascension Shop, rather than through any special method.

This means that the prop was very likely brought by the fire thieves.

As the saying goes, capital will sell the rope that strangles it if the price is right. So what does it mean that the fire-bringer brought this thing that could fight back against itself?

Guan Tong didn't understand, and he didn't need to understand now. It was enough to just use this characteristic to defy the rules.

"Words written on a wordless book can obscure the requirements. It's perfectly fine to interpret the word 'open' as cracking... However, to be on the safe side, it's best to find a ley line pillar to test it as soon as possible."

Guan Tong couldn't be sure if her ideas could be realized without trying them out herself.

But without a doubt, he missed the chance of a magnitude 1 earthquake. He'll have to wait for the next magnitude 2 to try.

To reach one of the epicenters within five minutes of a magnitude 2 earthquake, find the pillars of the earth's veins, and attempt to crack them using the power of the "Book Without Words"... the requirements for doing all this are not low.

"Don't even mention me alone; even the authorities can't predict the location of the epicenter. They can only respond by deploying personnel across multiple areas. So how am I supposed to get to the location of the ley lines within five minutes of the earthquake?"

Guan Tong pondered for a moment and quickly came up with an idea.

The idea still lies in making good use of the "Shadow Shift" ability. But before that, he must spread out as many shadow lines as possible, extending them to the vicinity of major cities across the country.

This is not difficult to do, because the shadow lines are only as thin as a hair, and the consumption of mental energy for materialization is very low, so he can still bear the overall consumption generated by large-scale net-like coverage.

But this is only the first step. The second step is for him to be able to obtain earthquake source information in a timely manner.

It couldn't be clear where this information would originate: the National Earthquake Monitoring Service.

Guan Tong guessed that after sophisticated seismic instruments detected an earthquake, the information would first reach the General Administration and then be reported to higher authorities.

Therefore, by deploying a spy in advance to infiltrate the Earthquake Monitoring Bureau and eavesdropping when the information arrives, the location information of the earthquake source can be obtained.

Then, depending on the location, use the Shifting Shadow Exchange technique to exchange with the nearest shadow line, so that Guan Tong can arrive at the epicenter area as soon as possible and interact with the Earth Vein Pillar.

Just do it.

After making her decision, Guan Tong began to study the distribution of shadow lines on the map, determining where the split shadow lines would be located and where they would be more likely to become earthquake sources.

Given the Firebringer's style, the most likely locations would be areas with large populations. After the inland migration began, the population of several major coastal cities was rapidly migrating to major inland cities, so his influence would also primarily be concentrated near these major inland cities.

However, coastal cities also need to be considered, and it cannot be ruled out that the fire-bringers might place the epicenter near the coast in order to quickly create a secondary disaster like a tsunami.

In short, it's better to be prepared. After Guan Tong confirmed some locations in the early hours of the morning, he released hundreds of shadow lines in one go, spreading out from himself to all parts of the country.

"I hope it will turn out as I wish."

Guan Tong thought that if his plan succeeded, on a small scale, it could prevent the sacrifice of those ascendants who sacrificed themselves to mitigate the destructive power of the earthquake. On a larger scale, it could even save millions of lives that would have been injured or killed by the earthquake. Over the next three days, people's initial excitement gradually subsided, as everyone became exceptionally busy and had little time to think about anything else.

As major coastal cities relocate inland, people in inland cities naturally need to help receive them. With a large urban population, many issues related to accommodation and food require significant adjustments.

In addition, people themselves should also prepare for high-magnitude earthquakes. The shelters currently built by the authorities should be able to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 7 or below, but it is uncertain whether they can withstand earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above.

Even so, being inside a shelter is certainly better than being outside. Therefore, existing shelters had to be renovated. Some non-essential areas, such as recreation rooms and gyms, were converted into accommodation areas to accommodate more people.

Aside from North Star, other countries are also making their own preparations. Several island nations are among the busiest, using various vehicles to transport people out of the country almost 24 hours a day.

Nearby landlocked countries would provide some assistance. For example, the Kingdom of Beixing, being relatively close to the Kingdom of Yingqi, also sent many ferries to help transport people. This was crucial for Yingqi; without Beixing's help, it would have been impossible to transport tens of millions of people to the island within just over twenty days on its own.

As for where the residents of Yingqi Kingdom were settled after leaving the island, adhering to the principle of proximity, they chose the territory of the former Antai State as their new home.

Under Article 10, the state of An Tai State collapsed, and its government became ineffective. Even important military officers like Prince Lato were attacked by bombs, demonstrating that its power had been completely eradicated. Even if some population remains within its territory, it is insufficient to form a new state.

Thus, the relocation of the Sakura Kingdom there can be considered a way to make the best use of the land.

The North Star authorities are not too worried about having a new neighbor on land whose overall strength is several times that of An Tai Bang.

Because this relocation only involves people and some essential survival resources, weapons and equipment are not included in the relocation options. Sakura Kingdom initially wanted to transport a batch of weapons, but was refused by North Star, so they had no choice but to give up.

In this way, the tens of millions of people without weapons and equipment pose no threat to Beixing.

Although countries have joined the Federation of Peoples, the organization is relatively new, and the wariness between countries cannot be immediately lifted; it will take time for things to settle down.

On the 4th, at midnight, Guan Tong opened her eyes and sat up in bed.

From this moment on, a magnitude 2 earthquake could occur at any time. In order to stay awake, he deliberately slept from the afternoon of yesterday until now.

He pushed open the door and stepped into the courtyard. With the help of the cool night breeze, he opened his eyes and examined the various scattered shadow lines.

The most important of these are the several stations set up at the Earthquake Monitoring Bureau. Through these two days of "infiltration," he has figured out the Bureau's operating model and knows which room to report information in.

Even in the early hours of the morning, five staff members are still on duty in the instrument room. This shows that the authorities are also taking this very seriously, wanting to obtain the epicenter location information as soon as possible so that they can send a team to contact the ley lines and obtain more data to improve the statistical model.

This made Guan Tong think that once he knew the location of the earthquake's epicenter, he should arrive at the scene even faster than the officials, so that he could complete the experiment without interference.

Two hours later, around 3 a.m., a piercing alarm suddenly sounded from headquarters.

"Warning! Warning!"

"An earthquake has been detected!"

The earthquake bureau staff immediately sprang into action, and Guan Tong, who was meditating on a tree stump, also instantly focused his attention, using the auditory senses of his shadow to obtain information about the earthquake's location from the staff.

(End of this chapter)