Chapter 948 - 488: Volcanic Burst (2)
Ling Shuiling paused for a moment, then immediately said, "Intelligent steward, play the news about the Taifu Mountain volcanic eruption."
A gentle female voice responded immediately: "Understood!"
The TV channel switched to the international channel of Great Xia National Television.
The screen displayed the erupting Taifu Mountain prominently.
Even though the camera was dozens of kilometers away, it was still clear to see large plumes of thick smoke billowing from the top of Taifu Mountain, rising towards the sky.
A vast area of dark-red lava was rapidly flowing down from the mountaintop.
The host’s voice was full of shock: "Dear audience, just now, the Taifu Mountain volcano, which had been dormant for over three hundred years, suddenly erupted. From the on-site situation, this eruption is quite fierce.
"The disasters caused by earthquakes have not yet ended, and now the volcano has started to erupt again. Our world is indeed plagued with disasters..."
The words hadn’t finished.
The image changed again.
An exceptionally fierce smoke column erupted from the volcano mouth, like an explosion.
The ash cloud formed by volcanic ash spread even faster, and soon completely obscured the mountaintop of Taifu Mountain, with only more lava pouring down visible.
The host suddenly exclaimed: "A particularly fierce explosion just occurred at Taifu Mountain, indicating that the intensity of this volcanic eruption may greatly exceed expectations.
"Taifu Mountain is only eighty kilometers away from Ying Sang Kingdom’s capital, Pingjing City. It is expected that within two to three hours, possibly even faster, the volcanic ash could cover the capital area, leading to traffic paralysis, power outages, water stoppages, and other serious consequences.
"The lava is somewhat slower. If the lava flow speed is ten to twenty kilometers per hour, it will flow into Pingjing’s urban area within four to eight hours. Due to the high temperature of the lava, it will ignite fires wherever it goes.
"However, considering that this distance is somewhat far, and the lava will encounter obstacles along the way, it is assumed that the urban area of Pingjing will not be troubled by the lava..."
The female secretary couldn’t help but laugh: "Why do I feel the host is a bit excited when talking about lava burning Pingjing, as if he really hopes to see this scene."
Yang Fan smiled and said: "Most Great Xia People hope to see this scene."
At the beginning of the Age of Calamity, Ying Sang People did quite a few things to disgust Great Xia People.
For example.
The organization founded by Ying Sang People for Superpower Users was called "Blade of Royal Heaven." When the Ying Sang Royal Family reviewed the organization, hundreds of Superpower Users loudly chanted "Long live the Great Sakura Empire."
The so-called "Great Sakura Empire" refers to the historical period more than half a century ago when Ying Sang’s army wreaked havoc on the East Continent, causing countless civilian casualties. This shows that Ying Sang People still dream of restoring their former glory.
The host announced another latest news: "Based on our information, to avoid the impact of volcanic ash, Pingjing City has already begun mass evacuations.
"As early as a few days ago, the Ying Sang authorities had drafted very detailed evacuation plans. Currently, Pingjing’s metropolitan area has 42 million residents.
"Half of the population will be temporarily evacuated to more distant shelters along more than 2,000 pre-planned routes.
"The other half will seek nearby shelter in over 20,000 refuges. During the first few years of the Age of Calamity, the Ying Sang authorities constructed a large number of refuges across the country.
"From this plan, it seems that Ying Sang officials foresaw the Taifu Mountain eruption and prepared in advance with high efficiency."
Ling Shuiling glanced at her boyfriend and asked: "Do you think the lava will flow to Pingjing City?"
She understood her boyfriend possessed some unknown special abilities, which was why she asked.
Yang Fan stared at the televised images of the volcanic eruption, hesitated, and replied: "I think the possibility is very high."
In the Dream Realm, the lava ultimately didn’t reach Pingjing City, stopping fifty kilometers away.
This was because the Ying Sang authorities took many interceptive measures, establishing several interception lines.
But in reality, he discreetly did some manipulation, causing the volcanic eruption’s ferocity to greatly increase.
Yang Fan’s mind flickered, and a vision appeared before him.
A shadow was swimming in the scorching lava.
It was the Fire Crow.
This was his subordinate who awakened a special Fire Element superpower and was the first to ascend to Warrior Level, also the most powerful Spirit Crow in combat power.
Not many people knew this exceptionally talented Fire Crow’s superpower had already advanced to Middle Grade Superpower, and its strength had risen to High Rank Warrior.
Yang Fan saw remotely that the Fire Crow held a peculiar round sphere in its mouth, seemingly both ethereal and physical, with a flame burning inside.
This was an exotic treasure borrowed from the Iron Fist Race guardian – the Fire Condensing Pearl.
The Iron Fist Civilization is a rather hot world, with numerous continuously erupting volcanoes, totaling in the thousands.
Over the years, the Iron Fist People discovered many good things in the lava, and the Fire Condensing Pearl was one of them.
The name of the thing sounds simple, but its effect is quite extraordinary; it can gather Fire Element supernatural power from the lava, forming a "supernatural energy pool."
Due to the existence of the energy pool, the underground lava would be attracted, continually geysering forth.
Simply put, he instructed the Fire Crow to place the Fire Condensing Pearl inside the Taifu Mountain volcano, causing the eruption to last longer.
In the Dream Realm, Taifu Mountain erupted for one day before stopping.
In reality, it might last three days or even longer.
Undoubtedly, this would cause greater destruction to Ying Sang Kingdom, and naturally, more Ying Sang People would perish.
*
Simultaneously.
In the infinitely dark deep sea.
Three massive shadows, shaped like submarines, over two hundred meters in length, silently plunged towards the seabed.
These were submarines of the Great Xia Navy, here to execute a special mission.
The submarines had undergone alterations, with Silent Gel of first-level Exotic Material laid on their surfaces, significantly reducing noise during navigation and absorbing sound waves from active sonar detection.
So these three submarines were truly deep-sea ghosts.
Not long after,
The submarines halted, hovering in the waters.
The abdomen of each submarine quietly opened.
Multiple torpedo-like shadows slid out, sinking slightly and hovering underwater.
After a while.
Over three hundred torpedo-like shadows were deployed, and the three submarines restarted, changing course towards the Great Xia coastline.
On the surface,
A vessel displaying the Ying Sang flag was monitoring this sea area.
This place was the renowned South Nation Trench.
Years ago, Ying Sang geologists concluded that three marine trenches near their country might trigger tsunamis due to earthquakes, the South Nation Trench being the most dangerous.
Recently, with frequent global earthquakes, Ying Sang Kingdom dispatched ships to closely monitor the three trenches.
Five minutes later,
A Ying Sang officer picked up a communication device and asked, "Did the floating sonar detect any anomalies?"
The Ying Sang People were very vigilant, worried about neighboring countries sabotaging the trench, so they sent ships to monitor it.
A reply promptly returned: "No anomalies detected."
The officer opened an electronic spreadsheet and typed the words: "No anomalies."
According to the task, he must record this every half hour.
The officer closed the spreadsheet, looked back towards Pingjing City, and sighed in concern.
He had already heard from his colleagues that the Royal Family-supported priestess foresaw a catastrophic calamity for Pingjing City.
Now the Royal Family, along with various ministers, had quietly left Pingjing City.
The officer gazed towards the horizon, softly murmuring: "Will the empire be destroyed in this disaster?"
*
Pingjing City.
Yang Fan looked at the gray weather and softly murmured: "A few days of consecutive volcanic ash falling should turn this place into fertile land."
The future Ying Sang Island won’t need a large population, nor vast cities, so Pingjing City is unnecessary; developing agriculture here is a good choice.
At this time, more than an hour had passed since Taifu Mountain’s eruption; the air in Pingjing City carried an unpleasant volcanic ash smell, and traces of dust were visible in the sky.
His reason for coming here wasn’t specifically to observe the volcano but because he had dreamt of Sato Taiichi’s tsunami vision. Not long ago, Sato Taiichi happened to visit Pingjing City and went to a suburban temple.
This was an important clue leading to the Ying Sang World Will’s hiding spot.