Chapter 166: Plateau Destruction

The captain of the Ice Dragon Team is Ke Chen. In order to rescue three team members trapped under the ruins of the building, he is in a very miserable state.

If most of the team's fuel had not been stolen by that psychic, they wouldn't be in such a passive position now, and they wouldn't be in such a state where they couldn't even drive their cars. Ke Chen was seen by his mortal enemy at the most embarrassing moment, and at this moment, he felt mixed emotions.

He is a person who cares most about his reputation. Even if he knows that he has done something wrong, he will not admit it in front of others. Just like the conflict between him and the Fire Dragons, if he could not be so protective at the beginning, listen to what the other party said carefully, and understand the whole thing, the two teams would not have become enemies, and the other things that happened later would not have happened, and the team would not have suffered a heavy blow at such a precarious time.

Although the team member who stopped the car did not continue to ask for help after being pulled over, they suddenly appeared in front of the other car, which had already stopped.

The driver's window was lowered. The driver was not the captain of the Fire Dragon Team. Except for the driver, the other three cars were occupied by family members of the team, including the elderly, women, and children. The captain and team members were walking in the rain, following behind the cars.

Ke Chen wiped his face with his hand, looked at the building debris in front of him that could not be pried open or moved, dropped the tools in his hand and walked towards the other party's car.

He went to ask for help, lowering his posture and asking the other party to help.

The Fire Dragon team thought Ke Chen was rushing over like that to pick a fight, but they didn't expect him to come for help. The past half month has been the most exciting time for the Fire Dragon team. After all, they had no brains to raise an ungrateful person in their team, and they were tricked at a critical moment. This kind of thing is funny no matter how you think about it.

"Boss Ke, are you asking us for help?" The two sides have been fighting for so long, and they have killed people from the other team, but now they want them to help? The man in the driver's seat of the leading car couldn't help but slap the car door and laughed.

The people from the Ice Dragon Team at the back all looked unhappy. They still stayed in the team and were the most loyal to their captain. Now they saw their captain bowing his head to ask for help and being laughed at by the other party. How could they tolerate such a thing?

But Ke Chen was asking for help, so they couldn't disrupt his performance.

Moreover, they knew very well that time was running out. If the three teammates trapped underneath were not rescued quickly, they would probably be drowned by the accumulated rainwater below! So at this moment, no matter how the other party laughed at them, they remained silent.

In the Fire Dragon Team, the person who laughed the loudest was stopped by having his head pressed.

Among the group of people walking behind, a tall and thin man had already approached. As he came over, the other teammates who were also laughing stopped talking.

Feng Lu pulled down the hood of his raincoat and stared at the sturdy man in front of him who had been fighting to the death with their team for half a year. When he spoke, Qing Jun's expression looked very impatient: "Why do you look so tragic? What happened? Tell me clearly!"

Ke Chen was asking for help, so he naturally didn't mind the other person's expression and tone at this time, so he quickly explained it again.

Feng Lu took two steps to the side and saw the half-collapsed bridge deck and a group of people standing on the collapsed area.

He knew everything about the Ice Dragon Team's situation over the past half month. In fact, Ke Chen was a bachelor, without a father, a mother, or children. The young and old people he brought with him were all the family members of his teammates.

If he was really a cruel and ruthless person, he should have run away with the remaining supplies and joined other strong teams like the others in the team when he was stabbed in the back.

But he didn't. He might have many shortcomings, such as arrogance, stupidity, and blindness... But in the final analysis, who among them can be called an absolutely good person?

Soon, Feng Lu turned around and walked towards his team members, ordering everyone in the first car to move to the last car, which was a van and there was still some room for them to squeeze in.

He asked the other team members to take everyone to the boarding point first, get on board on time, and not miss the time for the boat to pick them up. The first jeep would stay behind, and after he helped the other party rescue the people, he would rush to board the boat.

The vehicle does have tools installed that can be used to try to move the debris and help rescue people.

However, the rescue work for the crushed buildings caused by the collapse is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also highly dangerous, so he must first ensure that the people in his team and all their families can get on the boat to the giant ship on time.

"Boss! Do you really want to help their team?" The man in the driver's seat of the jeep jumped out and spoke in surprise.

"I'm not helping them, I'm helping the survivors on the Northern Plateau." Feng Lu said, patting his brother on the shoulder and motioning him to take the others to the boarding point first.

"No! I want to stay too!" It was obviously impossible for that man to let their captain stay in the Ice Dragon Team alone.

Seeing this, some of the other members of the Fire Dragon Team expressed their desire to stay. In the end, Feng Lu selected three people to stay and help, and asked the rest to leave quickly.

On the other side, Ke Chen and his teammates were also surprised. They didn’t expect that the Fire Dragon Team was actually willing to help, and they agreed directly without saying anything unpleasant.

They didn't know how long it would take to complete the rescue. Considering the time to board the ship and the old and young family members in the team, Ke Chen quickly asked some team members to escort the family members to board the ship first.

In the end, except for the three people who were trapped under the rubble, there were five people left from the Ice Dragon Team, three men and two women.

Feng Lu's team has few strong female members, most of them are older, and the female member who wants to stay is the deputy captain, but Feng Lu feels that the team is already missing herself, and she can't even leave the deputy captain behind. After all, this is the critical period of evacuation, and she must leave someone with good brains and strength to watch over the others.

The deputy captain had no choice but to grit his teeth and lead the team away despite his worries.

However, before leaving, he did glance at Ke Chen intently, his eyes sharp and containing a warning.

Afterwards, Feng Lu brought three teammates to check the situation first, so as not to drag it rashly and cause a chain collapse. After checking, they found that if they dragged it by brute force, it might cause the collapse of the other two building fragments next to it.

"There is a crane installed on the vehicle. Let's see if we can move it directly upwards." As time was running out, a rescue plan was quickly finalized.

Ke Chen nodded in agreement, and the two sides immediately cooperated and took action.

The Fire Dragon Team drove the car over, being careful not to hit the collapsed area. The Ice Dragon Team took the chain handed over and began to carefully wrap it around the piece of building debris.

The heavy rain continued to fall, and Ke Chen knew that the water level under the ruins had been rising. He looked at Feng Lu, who was covered in dirt and mud like him because of assisting in the rescue, and the emotions surging in his heart were complex and difficult to discern.

Gratitude was definitely the biggest feeling, but there was also self-blame and regret, and of course shame... In fact, when he stepped forward to ask for help just now, he didn't think that the other party would agree to help.

But the other party not only agreed, but also stayed to assist in the rescue.

"Thank you..." Ke Chen finally said these two words, and after saying them, he felt much more at ease. Some words should have been said more than half a month ago, "Thank you for putting aside the past grudges..."

"Stop talking nonsense and save people first!" Feng Lu didn't say anything else. Both teams had the lives of the other team in their hands. What had happened in the past could not be changed, and hatred could not be easily erased.

However, in the face of such a huge disaster, human beings are all equally small and vulnerable.

Just as he said, he was not saving the Ice Dragon Team who had any grudges against their team, but the human survivors who were struggling to survive in the apocalypse just like them.

**

The rescue took longer than Feng Lu and Ke Chen had expected. It was four hours later when they finally successfully and safely opened the passage at the collapsed site and allowed the three people below to climb out.

It was almost evening, the rain was heavier than in the afternoon, and the sky was getting dark. Although the three people were injured, they were still able to walk, so they still placed the three injured people in the jeep, and the others climbed on the frames installed at the back and sides of the vehicle, just standing and hanging on the vehicle, so as to rush to the boarding point as soon as possible.

When they arrived at the boarding point, it was already past the boarding time and it was almost dark. The boarding point was next to a set of steps leading down from a square, which was partially submerged in water. They did not see any boats or rafts there.

Zhangcheng is far away from the deep water area where the giant ships are anchored, and even taking a boat from here takes about three or four hours.

They guessed that their teammates must have told the other side that there were still people who had not boarded the boat. Maybe all the boats and rafts were temporarily full at the time, or maybe the rescue was urgent and it was impossible to just wait, so those boats and rafts took the people away first.

The two sides are far apart, so it takes more time to go back and forth. Even if the boat comes back, it will conservatively take another three to four hours.

They were already soaked, so they opened the awning installed on the jeep and stood under it to avoid the rain. Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was still awkward. After waiting for an unknown amount of time, Ke Chen seemed to want to say something, but Feng Lu suddenly stood up straight, tilted his head with a serious expression, and listened attentively.

"What's wrong?" The two sides had been fighting for so long, and Ke Chen knew Feng Lu too well. As soon as he saw his expression, he knew that the other party must have discovered something.

"Did you hear it?" Feng Lu asked, glancing at the others.

"What did you hear?" The others immediately began to listen carefully, but the rain was too heavy around them, the sound of water from the heavy rain, and the sound of waves from the flooded area nearby hitting the steps, all mixed together and they could hardly distinguish.

"Yes - it came from over there!" Feng Lu suddenly moved. He walked out of the awning and pointed towards the air in the south.

As he said this, everyone else also heard what the sound was coming out of his mouth.

It was a very familiar sound. They had heard the same noise three days ago, before the earthquake.

As the light of the helicopter appeared in the dark sky, they heard a long, shrill sound - it was the air raid sirens!

Zhangcheng also has two well-maintained buildings with internet access, which were previously occupied by the two largest teams in Zhangcheng, but they had already moved away before the Beidi Plateau asked for official help.

Those buildings were eventually taken care of by other teams in turn, mainly to keep in touch with the authorities and teams from other cities.

The teams in Zhangcheng that have not been relocated and the ordinary survivors go to the building every day to connect to the Internet to check the migration and evacuation situation. The earthquake three days ago did not have a big impact on Zhangcheng, because Zhangcheng is far away from the southern waters and far from the epicenter of the earthquake. There was a noticeable tremor at the time, but there were not many casualties.

The subsequent tsunami did not hit this area at all because of the long distance.

At that time, people in Zhangcheng felt lucky. Although the city was located a little to the north and the evacuation time was arranged very late, they still avoided a disaster. However, the subsequent disaster forecast made everyone feel panic.

Because according to the original plan, they were scheduled to evacuate for a longer time than the four to six days predicted by the disaster. Earthquakes above magnitude 8 are extremely destructive earthquakes, and it is not yet known where the epicenter is on the Northern Plateau.

Fortunately, the authorities later changed the evacuation plan and decided to speed up the process and complete all evacuation work within 72 hours.

Today is the last twenty-four hours for the evacuation.

The authorities have stated that the rescue will continue without stopping until after the early morning. They all thought that even if they arrived later, they would still have time to evacuate on the next wave of boats.

But they didn't expect that the earthquake that was originally predicted to occur four to six days later would happen earlier!

The helicopter has sounded the air defense alarm, which means that the boats that were originally going to come to Zhangcheng will definitely not be able to come at this time, and it is even possible that they will be stopped as soon as they set off.

"What should we do?" The three members of the Fire Dragon Team turned around and looked at their boss.

On the other side, the eight members of the Ice Dragon Team also looked at their captain.

A helicopter flew past their heads. Perhaps because of the heavy wind and rain, the helicopter did not fly at a low altitude, but flew very high. The sound of the air defense alarm resounded throughout the empty Zhangcheng sky.

The evacuation of Zhangcheng started in advance in the morning. No matter how shrill the air raid sirens were, no other survivors were seen running out of the surrounding buildings.

They should be the last group of people in the entire Zhangcheng.

"Drive to Donghui Street in the north. There is a park there and the surrounding area is open. Let's avoid the earthquake first!" Feng Lu got into the driver's seat without much hesitation.

As soon as he spoke, the others moved quickly, some getting on the bus, some clinging to the frame to hold on.

Ke Chen stepped on the pedal installed under the car door, reached out to hold the iron bar on the roof, and said to the person in the driver's seat: "Go from the east street. The buildings there are low, and they won't block the road after the collapse." He did not ask Feng Lu about his plans after going to the park. Now they are a burden to others. If it weren't for saving them, the other party would have successfully evacuated on the boat hours ago and should be in the safe ship now.

After the car turned around, it carried everyone with it and headed towards the north of Zhangcheng with difficulty.

The road was not easy to drive on. There were broken construction waste and abandoned vehicles everywhere, as well as the collapsed road surface caused by the rampant growth of various plants.

The jeep had been modified, with a higher chassis and reinforced tires, but the car was seriously overloaded and couldn't go fast. After driving two blocks, the people in the car felt the ground shaking.

This vibration is different from the bumpy feeling of a car on the road. It is the power of nature that humans cannot resist or escape.

The buildings on both sides of the road soon began to shake together, and then the shaking turned into shaking. This place was still some distance away from the park, and Feng Lu stopped at a relatively empty intersection. There were no particularly tall buildings nearby.

He opened the door and shouted, "Get away first!"

The people hanging outside the car jumped out one after another, put the bags they were carrying on their backs on their heads, and squatted down against the body of the car.

The heavy rain and the earthquake made them all feel as if they were on a ship hit by a storm, which made them dizzy. The originally solid ground was shaking, and the dilapidated buildings on the surrounding streets made creaking sounds, as if they were squeezed by an invisible big hand and soon broke and collapsed.

Cracks also appeared in the walls of other more solid buildings, and glass windows fell from the upper floors one after another, with popping sounds one after another.

The surrounding road surface also began to crack, and a part of the already dilapidated cement road was broken into spider-web-like pieces.

A group of people squatting at the center of the street corner protected their heads and looked around fearfully. When they thought the earthquake would get more severe, the shaking around them gradually subsided.

Noticing the change in the surrounding situation, Feng Lu once again asked everyone to get in the car.

This place is only temporarily safe, but there are still many buildings around. There is a high-rise building further away. If that high-rise building collapses, this intersection will also be dangerous.

The group got in the car again. Feng Lu concentrated his attention and drove more carefully than before. Ke Chen was hanging outside his car window, trying hard to recall the construction conditions of each road and provide information to the other party.

While Feng Lu was listening to Ke Chen's information, analyzing the road conditions and choosing a route, he was also observing his surroundings with extreme vigilance, ready to stop the car again and take shelter if he found that the earthquake was getting worse.

Fortunately, the vibrations that had subsided did not intensify again, and the car finally arrived at the park area safely and with difficulty.