"Could the warning system be malfunctioning?"
"Everyone, don’t panic. Could it be that the warning lights are faulty?"
...
At that moment, everyone searched for reasons to invalidate their understanding of this information, to deny it.
But before they could discuss much longer.
A door to an office was yanked open from the inside.
An elderly man, with a face so grave it seemed ink could drip from it, dressed in a white lab coat, appeared in the doorway.
His identity, displayed on the nameplate by the door, was the director, Yano Yamakawa.
With Yano Yamakawa’s appearance, the discussions inside the center ceased instantly, even though he hadn’t said a word yet.
No one said more.
Everyone turned their gazes to Yano Yamakawa, their eyes filled with complex emotions—relief, excitement, admiration, trust.
And with so many emotions mixed together...
It all boiled down to one message.
They had found their backbone!
Yano Yamakawa sternly asked, "Gantaisan, I need to know what happened!"
His gaze fixed on a corner in the southwest of the center.
In that corner sat four individuals.
From the moment all the warning lights lit up, these four had shown nothing but shock and astonishment, then quickly sat down to operate their computers frantically, ignoring the tumult around them, seemingly shutting everything else out.
These four were primarily responsible for monitoring and surveying the changes in Jingli Mountain. Among them, the man addressed by Yano Yamakawa as Gantaisan was the team leader, his full name being Ganta Tanno.
Ganta Tanno was a middle-aged man, and perhaps due to extreme fatigue, his hair, at over forty, had already adopted the typical Mediterranean style.
Upon hearing Yano Yamakawa’s question, Ganta Tanno didn’t reply immediately. Instead, the four’s movements visibly quickened, beads of sweat instantly forming on each forehead.
Every sign indicated...
They had heard Yano Yamakawa, but were too preoccupied with their work.
However, this tension didn’t last long.
After about ten seconds.
The four nearly simultaneously stopped their actions. Then, Ganta Tanno scrutinized his computer.
The more he looked...
The grimmer his face became.
Sweat poured down like rain!
"This... this...!!"
Ganta Tanno shook his head in disbelief, then stood up, looking tormented and distressed at Yano Yamakawa, hesitatingly saying, "Director, we have results."
"Speak!"
Yano Yamakawa’s brows furrowed; he despised dawdling in speech and action, evident from his behavior.
Of course, this wasn’t why his brows furrowed the most.
The main reason...
He knew Ganta Tanno well, appreciated his decisiveness and mental toughness.
Otherwise, Ganta Tanno wouldn’t have been promoted to team leader.
"Now..."
"Even he is hesitant!"
Yano Yamakawa felt an extremely bad premonition. Despite this, he still held out hope.
Hoping that what he would hear...
Wasn’t what he feared!
However, Yano Yamakawa’s hope was quickly shattered by Ganta Tanno’s next words.
Deeply inhaling, swallowing hard, Ganta Tanno reluctantly said, "Jingli Mountain is about to erupt!"