Chapter 43 Chapter 43 I am responsible for all living people...

After a busy whole day arranging various matters in the base, Su Qing suddenly remembered that the road to the laboratory was not yet open, so he quickly took the snowplow and went to the laboratory to clear it.

Su Qing placed the laboratory a little far away, in the corner of the base. While still some distance away from the laboratory, Su Qing saw Qin Yu and others wrapped in thick clothes, shoveling snow with tools in their hands.

She said hello, and her men kept moving closer to them quickly.

"Miss Su's machine... is somewhat magical." Shen Kuo saw Su Qing holding a small object in her hand and pointing it at the snow in front of her, and then the snow quickly disappeared and was sucked into the machine.

"Her magic is not a little bit, so don't worry about it if it doesn't concern you." Qingshan stopped the work in his hands, leaned on the wooden stick of the shovel with both hands and looked at Su Qing.

Dongzi brushed the snow off his shovel to one side and glanced sideways. "She has some unusual abilities, yet she's dedicated to serving the people. That's truly rare in these apocalyptic times."

Qin Yu kept moving his hands and said in a cold voice, "Hurry up and work."

Soon Su Qing met up with Qin Yu and the others, and the road leading to the laboratory was also connected. Su Qing looked at the straight square road in front of him and then looked at his own crooked path that looked like it was dug by an animal, feeling a little embarrassed.

As expected of China's army! Military discipline is strict and always upheld.

As they walked towards the laboratory, Su Qing turned his head and asked Qin Yu, "How are things going here? Do you have enough supplies?"

"The temperature in the lab has always been constant and hasn't been affected in any way. Director Fang also came to deliver a batch of supplies a few days ago."

"That's good."

"Miss Su, is everything okay at the base?" Dongzi asked.

"I wouldn't say it's too good. The temperature dropped so drastically, and the living quarters aren't as well-insulated as the labs, so it's a bit difficult to endure. But I've got a solution, it just takes a while. We've been busy all day clearing a path through the base."

"If you need anything from us, feel free to tell us." Shen Kuo said.

"Professor Gu, is there any progress here?"

"Professor Gu and Comrade Xiao Zhao have been locked up in the lab for the past few days conducting research. We don't know much about their details."

They talked all the way and soon arrived at the laboratory. When Chen Kuo opened the door, Su Qing felt a warm feeling coming over him, which created a sharp temperature difference with the outside.

Professor Gu was busy, so Su Qing didn't want to disturb him. She just left a lot of supplies for Qin Yu and the others. Then she thought for a moment and said to Qin Yu, "I want to separate a space in the laboratory without disturbing Professor Gu. If anyone in the base can't stand the cold, they can stay here temporarily. I'll move them out once I solve the heating problem."

Qin Yu completely agreed with Su Qing's words. They felt a little embarrassed to live in such a nice place for nothing because they had to protect Professor Gu. "This is your place, you decide. There are quite a lot of rooms in the laboratory, and most of them are empty. Professor Gu and his companions usually stay in the laboratory and rarely come out. You can bring people here anytime."

"Okay, then I won't bother you anymore. Bye."

On the way out of the laboratory, Su Qing told Fang Qing about the situation here and his thoughts, and asked her to count the number of people. After the conversation, Su Qing returned home through the transmission channel.

There was no electric heater in the room, and Su Qing had not come back for another day. The charcoal brazier on the ground was burning with wood. Fuguier was buried under several thick quilts on the bed. When he saw her come in, his face was full of resentment.

Fortunately, Su Qing had piled some wood in the house when he left. Seeing that the charcoal was almost burned out and the owner had not come back, the dog was smart and bit the wood and added it to the charcoal basin to keep the fire in the room from going out. Otherwise, when the careless owner came back, he would only see the dog's frozen corpse.

After all, wood is not as warm as charcoal. Su Qing quickly added charcoal to several charcoal basins and refilled the hot water bottles in Fuguier's quilt that were almost cold.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't expect to come back so late. It's all my fault." Su Qing regretted taking all the electric heaters away. She should have left at least one. Fuguier was in the house. She was only worried that the people in the base would not have enough heating equipment, so how could she have ignored it.

"I'm really sorry, I won't do it again." Su Qing looked at Fu Gui'er and apologized sincerely.

"Awoo~" Since you are so sincere, I will reluctantly forgive you.

Su Qing picked up the hot water and made a bowl of milk powder for Fuguier. "Come, come down and drink some hot milk to warm yourself up."

Fuguier hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't resist the smell of milk, so he climbed out of the quilt and jumped out of bed.

Su Qing was watching Fuguier drinking happily when the bracelet on her hand suddenly rang. She raised her hand and saw that it was a video sent by Lu Chen, so she clicked to answer it.

Su Qing looked at Lu Chen's face on the screen and saw that it seemed a little haggard.

"How are you?"

"How are you?"

The two said in unison.

Lu Chen paused and then spoke again: "How are you doing there?"

"It's pretty good. We were well prepared. I've been busy all day helping to shovel snow and clear the roads at the base. We're almost done. How are you?"

"It's... okay."

Su Qing heard a lot of noisy sounds around Lu Chen. He seemed to have moved his bracelet away, and the screen went black for a moment. Lu Chen seemed to be talking to someone in a low voice, and the environment on his side was a bit noisy. Su Qing only heard words like collapse, pressure, clearing snow, and frozen too hard to move.

She looked at the screen with some confusion. He should have appeared in the video again after they finished chatting, so she wanted to ask him something. However, before she could say anything, Lu Chen spoke first.

"I just wanted to ask how you were. I'm relieved to see you're doing well. Is Professor Gu doing well too?"

"Everything is fine, you..." Su Qing was interrupted before he could finish his words.

"Okay, I'm busy here so I'll hang up first."

The screen immediately went dark.

Do you need help? Su Qing was interrupted and said it silently in her heart. She felt that Lu Chen seemed to be in some trouble... Su Qing frowned and stared at the bracelet. After thinking for a while, she pointed at Lu Chen and called back.

Beep, beep... Connection failed.

Su Qingfu dialed again.

Beep, beep... Connection failed.

Are you busy? Su Qing had no choice but to give up.

…

Lu Chen hung up the video, stood up, and quickly walked out of the makeshift command tent with his subordinates who were waiting nearby.

There was even louder noise outside the tent. Some people were clearing snow. Many houses in the base had collapsed under the weight of the snow. Crying and shouting could be heard everywhere. Some people were searching among the ruins to see if there were any survivors.

A large area was cleared at the base and many tents were set up on it as a temporary shelter for those who were waiting to be rescued by their families. Many people were shivering in their worn coats and huddled together around several bonfires lit beside the tents to keep warm.

Lu Chen arrived at the collapsed house and saw Gu Yan, with a grim expression, helping people move the broken tiles and walls.

"What's the situation now?"

Gu Yan turned around and saw it was Lu Chen. He shook his head and said, "I'm not optimistic. The weather is too cold and it's been a while. The things that were pressed up are now frozen solid and difficult to move. Moreover, more and more people are being rescued due to frostbite and unconsciousness. Changing people in waves is also taking a lot of time."

"Also... it's been a whole day and night, with this temperature... I'm afraid the people trapped down there will..." Gu Yan spoke intermittently, but they all knew that in such a harsh environment, the chance of survival was almost zero.

Lu Chen looked at the people in front of him who were searching and carrying the collapsed rubble. They didn't have much warm clothing. If they wore too much, it would affect their movements and be difficult to rescue. After staying outside for a while, their hands and feet were frozen stiff. Some of them would fall to the ground while walking, and they would pass out with a layer of frost on their eyebrows, eyes, mouths and noses.

He closed his eyes, a trace of pity flashed across his brows and then disappeared, leaving only a cold and solemn expression, "Let them stop."

Gu Yan looked at Lu Chen in surprise. He clenched his fists tightly, gritted his teeth, and stared at the scene before him. After a moment, he loosened his hands, raised his hands, and beckoned someone over. His eyes were red, and his voice was hoarse as he said, "Stop everyone and disperse."

"Manager Gu, aren't you going to search anymore? But there are still many people trapped down there." The subordinates looked at them in surprise.

"Are the living more important or those who have almost no hope of survival?" Lu Chen said coldly, pointing at the rescuers.

"This...this...I understand." The man looked in the direction where Lu Chen's finger was pointing, then turned around and nodded at Lu Chen and the others. He raised his hand to wipe his eyes and quickly left to notify them.

Lu Chen noticed the abnormal temperature some time ago. After discussing it, they predicted that the temperature would continue to drop, so they made many preparations. However, the sudden blizzard caught them off guard.

The temperature dropped by dozens of degrees overnight. Even though they distributed some heating supplies, many people still fell into a deep sleep and never woke up again.

Even worse was the blizzard, which caused some of the low-rise houses they had built after the apocalypse to collapse, unable to withstand the weight of the snow on their roofs. Some older buildings with balconies also collapsed, crushing the bungalows below.

The accumulated snow mixed with collapsed soil, bricks and building materials buried those who had not come out of the house.

When the heavy snow continued, Lu Chen and his team organized people to clear the snow, but due to weather conditions, the action was very slow.

This snow brought great disaster to their base.

The two stood there, watching silently as the people began to evacuate, watching the surviving family members with disbelief on their faces, holding on to the rescuers to prevent them from leaving, watching the two groups of people quarrel...

"What's going on?" Li Yi wanted to find Lu Chen for something, and someone told him that he was here. When he walked over, he saw the chaotic scene in front of him.

"Chief! Chief! Why did you let the rescuers leave? My father is still trapped down there. What will happen to him if they leave?"

"My child is still in there! You have to rescue her! You can't leave! Go and rescue her! She's been trapped in there for a whole day and she's afraid of the dark and the cold! I don't care, you have to rescue her!!!"

"My wife and son are in there too! What do you mean, Chief? Why are you letting them evacuate? Are you just going to watch them die under there? Are you still human?"

People were arguing with the rescue team. Someone saw Lu Chen and the others standing there and shouted. Everyone ran over, surrounded Lu Chen and the others, and cried excitedly to them.

Some people rushed forward to tear Lu Chen apart, and Li Yi quickly stepped forward to separate them, but then more and more people rushed over with angry eyes. Seeing this, the rescuers also quickly surrounded them and protected Lu Chen and Gu Yan inside.

"Lu Chen! You are absolutely heartless! There are hundreds of lives under these houses! You just give up like that! Has your conscience been eaten by a dog?" An old lady with white hair grabbed the arms of the rescue team members, scolded Lu Chen, and spat at him.

Lu Chen stood still without dodging or evading, and his saliva splashed on his clothes.

"Lu Chen, you bastard! I thought you looked like a responsible person and were different from those inhumane beasts in other bases, so I brought my family here. Now we're in trouble, and you don't care about us at all. I was really blind to trust you! Bah! Bah!"

"You are not allowed to leave! I will fight you to the death today! My family has been buried anyway, I will risk my own life to kill you heartless bastards! If we die, we die together!"

The crowd became increasingly radical. Some of them kept spitting at Lu Chen and the others, while others rushed in desperately, punching, kicking and biting the people protecting them outside.

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot scared everyone and they stopped cursing and moving. They stared blankly at Lu Chen holding the gun, smoke still emitting from the muzzle.

"I'm sorry! I am responsible for those who are still alive!" Lu Chen waved away the people around him, faced the crowd, and said coldly.