Chapter 254 Emergency Stockpiling of Survival Supplies
The prompt sound on the console disappeared, but the line of small red words [Time observer positioning success rate dropped to 30%] still lingered on Su Wanqing's retina.
She glanced at the digital clock on the wall. It was 10:03 pm.
Inside the fortress, the purification plant hummed steadily, and the new air smelled slightly sweet, metallic.
“Beep beep—”
Another alarm sounded, more urgent than the last. An orange warning box popped up: [System Warning: Level 2 Storm "Purple Mist" is expected to arrive in two hours.
The storm will cause the city’s logistics system to completely paralyze and social order to further collapse.
Systematic shortages of supplies are expected to occur throughout the city. Recommendation: Immediately carry out strategic stockpiling of supplies. 】
"Again?" Xiao Ran had just picked up the fallen chair when he heard the alarm.
"How long have you been living in peace?"
Lu Zhao was packing up the medical cabin. He stopped what he was doing, walked to the control console, and pushed his glasses: "A level 2 storm means that the scale of pollution and the speed of mutation will increase. The system says that there is a shortage of supplies, which means that we won't be able to buy anything soon."
Su Wanqing ran her finger across the map, marking a few red dots.
"We have to get out before the storm hits. Food, water, medicine, and some tools on Lu Zhao's list."
She raised her head and looked at Xiao Ran and Lin Che, "Xiao Ran, you are familiar with the road. Lin Che, your purification ability may come in handy outside."
She paused and added, "Be careful."
Xiao Ran nodded and began to check his equipment. Lin Che looked at the scales on his arms that had faded a lot, and without saying anything, he also started to prepare.
Everyone quickly made a list. Lu Zhao circled the key drugs and medical equipment: "The hospital's pharmacy should still have stock, but it may be in disarray. The underground warehouse of Wanjiafu Supermarket was converted from a civil defense project and has the largest inventory."
"Xiaoling, Xiaoyu and I will stay in the fortress," Su Wanqing arranged. "Lu Zhao, you will be responsible for monitoring the system and their vital signs. Keep in touch at all times."
The iron gate of the fortress slid open, and the figures of Xiao Ran and Lin Che disappeared into the early night.
Inside the fortress, Su Wanqing stared at the two green spots on the console screen representing the two people, her fingers tapping the table unconsciously.
Xiaoling and Xiaoyu were arranged to rest on the cushions in the central area.
Lu Zhao was debugging the communication equipment on the side.
Suddenly, Xiaoling, who was resting with her eyes closed, began to tremble violently, and the red mole on her forehead emitted a dazzling light like a red-hot iron.
She suddenly opened her eyes, and her pupils were full of chaos.
“I saw it…” Her voice changed. It was no longer the clear voice of a little girl. Instead, it was deep and hoarse, like the voices of many people overlapping. “Three days… Three days from now, at dusk, the Southwest Dam… Purple lightning will split it… The dam will completely collapse.”
Lu Zhao immediately grabbed the notebook on the table and started writing quickly on the paper.
"The monsters in the water...thousands and thousands of them...will flood into the city like a tide."
The sound of the little bell had a hint of resonance, and it sounded particularly clear in the quiet fortress.
Su Wanqing walked to her side and squatted down: "Is there any way to stop it?"
Xiao Ling's light dimmed. She shook her head and her voice returned to normal, but with a tired tone: "That was an inevitable event, a fixed point in the timeline. We...we can only change our position and avoid the most dangerous area."
As soon as she finished speaking, Xiaoyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up. Her voice was not loud, but everyone could hear it clearly: "The uncles from the army will leave before the dam breaks. They... they have already abandoned this city."
Su Wanqing frowned. She immediately pulled up the system map and manually marked several main roads leading out of the city.
On the map, the lines representing traffic flow have changed from green to congested yellow, and some sections have even turned dark red.
"Lu Zhao, what's the terrain like in the abandoned factory area in the north of the city?" she asked.
Lu Zhao pulled up the topographic map and zoomed in on the screen with his finger: "The terrain is very high, and there are independent water supply and power systems, although they are all abandoned. If the dam collapses, it should be one of the safest places."
"If the prophecy is true," Su Wanqing's finger stopped at the location of the factory area, "we have to build a secondary base there within three days."
At ten o'clock in the morning, the sky had become completely gloomy, and the dark clouds were as thick as lead blocks.
Purple lightning appeared deep in the clouds. There was no thunder, only suppressed flashes.
Xiao Ran drove an inconspicuous pickup truck, speeding on the empty streets.
"The warehouse manager of the supermarket was easy to talk to," Xiao Ran said as he drove. "We gave him two packs of cigarettes and asked us to empty the warehouse of canned food and compressed biscuits. He said that military vehicles have been driving out of the city one after another since last night."
Lin Che sat in the passenger seat and looked out the window. They passed a government building and several military trucks were driving out of it, forming a convoy.
The soldiers were armed with live ammunition and had serious expressions.
Xiao Ran parked the car at the corner of the street and picked up the binoculars: "They are escorting several senior officials in the city."
His eyes were fixed on one of the trucks, which was covered with canvas, but in one corner, a metal base and complex instruments were exposed.
"That device... is very similar to the time stabilizer that Lu Zhao drew."
He put down the binoculars, picked up a small digital camera, and took a few photos of the convoy.
“We have to hurry,” Lin Che warned. The blue lines on his arm seemed to react to the purple lightning in the air and were glowing slightly.
The two evacuated quickly and rushed to the Central Hospital. On the way back, they were stopped at an intersection.
A team of heavily armed soldiers set up a makeshift checkpoint.
"All vehicles, stop and check!" an officer shouted into a loudspeaker.
They saw a private car in front of them being stopped and a family of three in the car being asked to get out.
A soldier swept a handheld device over them, which beeped shrilly.
"Positive for contaminants! Take them all away!"
The man tried to resist and was immediately pinned to the ground by two soldiers.
His wife and children were pushed into a closed military truck, crying.
Xiao Ran immediately turned the steering wheel and turned into a small alley. "Let's take a detour."
His voice was deep.
When they finally circled back to the fortress, the second storm was already beginning to show signs of coming.
Tiny purple particles visible to the naked eye floated in the air, like glowing dust.
The plants on the roadside were twisting and growing at a strange speed, and the edges of the leaves were an abnormal purple color.
The pickup truck rushed into the underground garage and the metal door of the fort closed behind them.
At the safety gate, white decontamination spray was immediately activated, completely covering the two men and the materials they were carrying.
Lu Zhao was waiting inside, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them come back. He began to quickly count the supplies: "The food is enough for the six of us to last for about 45 days. The medicines can meet most basic medical needs." He paused and looked at the environmental monitoring data that kept jumping on the screen, "But if the mutation continues to intensify, we will need more professional equipment."
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