Chapter 210: Chapter 200: Direct Dialogue with the Person in Charge "It’s an earthquake!"
"How can a magnitude 6 be this intense?!"
"Quick, get to the quake-proof room!"
When the earthquake struck, people in the cities near the epicenter felt it immediately.
Inside the shelters, fine cracks appeared on some walls and cups toppled from tables. People rushed into the structurally reinforced rooms built to withstand earthquakes.
Many people initially didn’t think a magnitude 6 earthquake was that scary, but when the epicenter was very close, the intense shaking was still terrifying.
At that moment, an announcement sounded from the shelter’s loudspeakers: "A magnitude 6 earthquake is in progress. The epicenter is very close to this city. All personnel, please take your emergency food packs and enter the quake-proof rooms immediately! I repeat..."
Inside the quake-proof room, everyone was crowded together. Each person held a government-issued earthquake emergency kit, their expressions tense as they endured each passing second.
If there was anything to be thankful for, it was that the earthquakes caused by the rules had a clear five-minute time limit. As long as they could endure the five minutes and watch out for any subsequent secondary disasters, they could breathe a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, at the epicenter, several levitating platforms constructed with Psychic Power items had been set up.
The people responsible for transferring Psychic Power to Guan Tong were all standing on the platforms. Guan Tong himself stood atop the Earth Vein Pillar, using a Shadow Rope wrapped around the pillar to maintain his balance and keep from being shaken off.
He had one hand pressed on the top of the pillar and the other holding the Positive Pole Magnet, continuously absorbing the Psychic Power provided by the Ascenders on the platforms.
This Psychic Power was converted by the Wordless Book he carried, then channeled entirely into the Earth Vein Pillar to destroy it.
But compared to before, the efficiency this time was much slower. Guan Tong was outputting at maximum "power" every second, but because the magnitude 6 Earth Vein Pillar had a huge appetite, converting over 350 points of Psychic Power per second was still not enough.
From the beginning until the five minutes were up, less than 80% of the Earth Vein Pillar’s outer shell was destroyed—a far cry from the previous times when it had been completely destroyed within five minutes.
RUMBLE...
When the time was up, the Earth Vein Pillar descended. Guan Tong jumped onto a solid patch of ground, his brow furrowed as he looked at the chasm.
Dragon Soul also jumped down from a levitating platform, his expression just as grim.
"With so many people funneling power, we still couldn’t destroy this Earth Vein Pillar in time. This means that for the magnitude 7 Earth Vein Pillar in three days, even multiplying the number of people by several times won’t be enough!"
"Yes."
This time, a support team of over two hundred and fifty people with high Psychic Power was assembled, and they only managed to weaken the earthquake’s destructive force by less than eighty percent. For the next magnitude 7 earthquake, even if the number of people reached a thousand, the degree of weakening would only be even lower.
The key issue here was still the insufficient conversion efficiency per unit of time...
’I’m injecting 350 points of Psychic Power into the Wordless Book per second, but it’s still not enough,’ Guan Tong thought. ’Against a super-high-magnitude earthquake, this amount is too little. With the time limit, it’s just a drop in the bucket.’
’But how can I increase it drastically?’
’Keep increasing my Psychic Power limit? I’ve already gotten two limit-increasing items from the authorities. It’s not realistic to ask for more.’
’And even if the authorities had more and were willing to give them to me, the amount they increase the limit by is far from enough compared to what’s needed for the major earthquakes.’
’Unless... I prepare a large amount of Psychic Power in advance, just like when I first dealt with the magnitude 2 Earth Vein Pillar... That means...’
Guan Tong looked at the last piece of Mind Candy in his hand, and an idea flashed through his mind.
’Prepare a large amount—no, a massive amount of reserve Psychic Power in advance!’
’Not during the earthquake, but during the 72-hour interval before it. I could have others continuously transfer their Psychic Power to me, and I would then use the power of the Wordless Book to constantly convert it into reserve Psychic Power on my status panel.’
’The current conversion rate is 10:1; ten points of Psychic Power convert to one point of reserve Psychic Power. If I convert at maximum power every second—that’s 350 to 35 points—I could convert 2,100 points of reserve Psychic Power in a minute. In an hour, that’s 126,000 points of reserve Psychic Power!’
’One hundred twenty-six thousand in an hour... working non-stop for 24 hours would be 3,024,000 points. Over three million reserve Psychic Power!’
Guan Tong’s heart began to race. ’If I had such a vast reserve of Psychic Power, I could unleash it with terrifying efficiency the moment I touched the Earth Vein Pillar... Then, even against a super-high-magnitude earthquake, there would be hope of victory.’
’And this would also reduce the number of people needed in the support team.’
’This was only a magnitude 6, and huge fissures already appeared at the epicenter, swallowing some people’s lives. Although we can use items to create levitating platforms, the shockwaves aren’t just limited to the ground.’
’Especially with the upcoming super-high-magnitude earthquakes. At the epicenter, levitating five or ten meters won’t mean anything. Unless you can hover in the stratosphere like a plane, you’ll definitely be hit by the shockwaves.’
’In that case, not to mention myself, the Psychic Power support team would definitely suffer heavy casualties. If I can reduce their numbers, I’d undoubtedly be saving lives.’
’But...’
’According to the Wordless Book’s 10:1 conversion rate, to get three million reserve Psychic Power, I would need an external input of thirty million!’
’Thirty million Psychic Power... how many Ascenders would I need to gather to provide that?’
’Hundreds of thousands, probably...’
’In any other country, this would be impossible.’
’But in the densely populated North Star, if the highest-level decision-makers agree, it might just be possible.’
’This gives rise to two problems.’
’First, if I voluntarily make this request, I’ll expose the secret that I can store Psychic Power.’
This was a risk Guan Tong could accept, since he was doing it to save people. The real problem was the second issue.
’Will the top decision-makers agree to this plan? Won’t they worry that giving the Psychic Power of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of Ascenders to one person would make that person a huge hidden danger?’
Guan Tong thought, ’If I were a top decision-maker, would I trust someone who refuses to reveal their identity, and agree to concentrate the Psychic Power of hundreds of thousands or millions of Ascenders in them? What if this person has ill intentions? How dangerous would they be, wielding such a vast amount of Psychic Power?’
Especially since Guan Tong knew that after he’d used Shadow to save people this time, the authorities could already confirm that he was Shadow.
And the extent of the combat power Shadow could display with a large amount of Psychic Power had already been revealed back during the "Holy Grail War."
"Shepherd?"
Dragon Soul’s voice rang out. Guan Tong stopped his train of thought and said to him, "I have an idea about how to handle the high-magnitude earthquakes to come."
"What is it? Should I pass it on to Dr. Zhang?"
"I’m afraid Dr. Zhang doesn’t have the authority to make a decision on this," Guan Tong said. "I need to speak directly with the head of the Strategy Research Room."
’The head of the Strategy Research Room probably doesn’t have the authority for this decision either,’ Guan Tong thought. ’It will have to be approved by the highest-level decision-makers.’
It was just that he had no channel or way to contact the country’s top decision-makers. He could only go through the highest-ranking person he had access to, who was Gao Liangwei.
Hearing this, Dragon Soul’s expression turned serious. He knew Guan Tong wasn’t joking. He also knew that their current conversation was being monitored by the person in charge, Gao Liangwei himself.
Because every earthquake response operation was transmitted back to the office as a live feed.
Sure enough, the next second, Gao Liangwei’s voice came through his earpiece.
"I’ll speak with him directly."