Chapter 300 The Situation Fifteen Years Ago
It took Ning Jinli quite a while to accept the fact that she had been in a coma for fifteen years.
For her, losing consciousness was like taking a nap, but for others and for the world, a full fifteen years had passed.
She finally understood why she saw so many strange details after waking up.
"Mom, I need to contact Sister Ying right away!" Ning Jinli said quickly after regaining her senses.
Ye Zhi Qiu said softly, "You just woke up. Take your time to adjust to your new environment. Don't rush..."
“No,” Ning Jinli said firmly, “I have something very important to ask her.”
Ye Zhi Qiu couldn't refuse her, so he had no choice but to comply.
Su Qinglan personally arranged dinner, and Ye Zhi Qiu pushed Ning Jin Li's wheelchair down to the garden.
"Mom, I need to contact Sister Ying. Why didn't you call her for me? Why did you bring me here?" Ning Jinli asked anxiously.
Ye Zhi Qiu smiled and said, "Communication is much more advanced now than it was before you fell into a coma. Even the wheelchair you're sitting in is equipped with a communication system. Come on, let me teach you."
Under Ning Jinli's questioning gaze, Ye Zhiqiu touched the area next to the armrest of the wheelchair, and a small holographic screen popped up from the side of the armrest.
She then brought up her contacts, swiped her finger a few times, and an icon indicating that she was in contact appeared on the holographic screen.
Soon after, Shangguan Ying also appeared on the screen, and you could see her surroundings.
It was very similar to a video call, but the other party's scene was floating in front of Ning Jinli in a 3D stereoscopic form.
Ning Jinli was still marveling at how interesting this way of communicating was when Shangguan Ying, displayed in the 3D image in front of her, exclaimed, "Jinli! You're awake?!"
Ning Jinli was stunned for a moment, looking left and right at the wheelchair she was in, but she didn't see any cameras.
“Yes, General Shangguan, Xiao Li is awake,” Ye Zhi Qiu said, supporting Ning Jin Li’s shoulder. “She just woke up and wanted to contact you right away, so I called you.”
"You two can chat all you want, I won't bother you anymore."
Ye Zhi Qiu smiled and waved his hand, then kissed Ning Jin Li on the forehead before turning and leaving.
After she left, Ning Jinli didn't bother with pleasantries with Shangguan Ying and went straight to the point: "Sister Ying! What happened to our base deep in the desert fifteen years ago? What happened to those people who stayed behind to carry out the rescue...?"
Shangguan Ying's expression turned serious, which made Ning Jinli's heart tighten.
“They… all sacrificed their lives,” Shangguan Ying said with difficulty. “Three thousand two hundred members of the special forces protection regiment, one thousand fifty-three logistics staff, and five hundred and seventy rescue team members, none of them survived.”
Ning Jinli felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
Although fifteen years have passed, for her, the scene of entering the base with the rescue team and being in the safe zone with everyone else feels like it happened just yesterday.
The sudden knowledge that none of them had survived felt like a knife had cleaved her heart in two.
Shangguan Ying said, "It was their selfless and timely rescue that greatly slowed down the explosion in the core energy area of the base, giving our large force enough golden time to get to the rescue later. Without them... even if we had deployed more personnel later, we would not have been able to control the situation. That huge crisis was eventually contained, but... those 4,826 heroes are forever frozen in time 15 years ago."
Ning Jinli's vision was blurred by tears.
Although Shangguan Ying did not say how tragic the rescue process was, she could guess it even if she just thought about it for a moment.
After a long silence, she calmed herself down and whispered, "I'm sorry, Sister Ying, I..."
“It’s not your responsibility,” Shangguan Ying said immediately. “Your task was to ensure the safe evacuation of those 372 researchers, and you did it.”
Ning Jinli quickly said, "I settled them in Linxian City, and then... before I could bring them back, I went to the Pacific Island base, and then... so, the researchers are still in the ancient world?!"
Shangguan Ying showed a complex and helpless expression, and nodded, "Yes. For the past fifteen years, we have been trying to find a way to travel through time and space to see if we can bring them back, but unfortunately... we haven't succeeded yet."
Ning Jinli's face was pale, and her lips trembled. "Then haven't I... ruined something!"
Buzz—
Suddenly, a strange sound of air vibration arose.
A few meters away from Ning Jinli, a fluorescent vortex gradually appeared on a metal disc hidden in the lawn in a corner of the garden.
Ning Jinli looked bewildered.
She clearly didn't do anything, so how... did a portal suddenly appear?
The next second, Shangguan Ying walked out from inside.
Ning Jinli was utterly astonished.
"Xiao Li, it's been a long time," Shangguan Ying approached with a smile, taking off her sunglasses. "I felt it was necessary to talk to you in person, so I used the portal."
"A...teleportation portal?" Ning Jinli's pupils trembled. "Has technology advanced to this level now?"
Shangguan Ying pressed the wristband, and the fluorescent vortex disappeared immediately. "This is a new generation of transportation, but the technology is not mature enough yet, and the cost of building it is too high, so it has not been widely adopted. Only a few locations have had the coordinates installed. Your home is one of them."
Ning Jinli looked at the place where the teleportation portal had just appeared. Clearly, the metal disc with a diameter of more than two meters was the so-called coordinate.
I don't know what kind of divine material it is, but it's covered with circuit-like engravings, giving it a very sci-fi feel.
Shangguan Ying continued, "Even though fifteen years have passed and technology is far more advanced than before, we can only barely create this kind of fixed-point teleportation portal. We still can't use technology to open a spacetime channel, nor can we open a spacetime portal that can simultaneously traverse time and space and cross parallel worlds like you have. However, we believe that those researchers staying in Da Xuan Lin Xian City will be well taken care of, because you are the respected Fairy Jinli by the people and soldiers there. So, you really don't need to blame yourself. As long as they are safe and sound, even if they are staying there, it doesn't matter. Their safety is more important than anything else."
Hearing these words, Ning Jinli's feelings were still complicated, but she felt somewhat better.
“Sister Ying, I’ll bring them back as soon as possible,” Ning Jinli said, looking up. “It’s been fifteen years, it’s time for them to go home.”
After saying this, she immediately attempted to open the portal to the Fairy Temple in Linxian City.
However, her inner strength was depleted, and although she was willing, she lacked the strength to open a portal between time and space.
"Jinli, don't rush," Shangguan Ying leaned down and held her arm. "Your priority is to recover your health. Don't push yourself. I think you should stop asking too many questions and get some rest."
Ning Jinli asked, "Then... what about the island base in Country M? What happened back then? And what happened afterward?"
Shangguan Ying felt that Ning Jinli wouldn't rest unless she explained things clearly, so she started telling her what she knew.
It turned out that Ning Jinli had successfully disconnected the main cable of the malfunctioning reactor. However, due to the immense energy, even though the cable was disconnected, the electrical energy still broke through the seawater and connected the two ends, causing the malfunctioning reactor to explode.
Ning Jinli also fell into a coma due to that explosion.
However, it was precisely because she promptly disconnected the cable that the power was restored, but the energy level was far below normal. Therefore, the explosion only destroyed the malfunctioning reactor.
Even more fortunately, the destructive force of the explosion was just right. It not only failed to destroy other reactors, but also damaged the connecting devices between the reactors, thus preventing the other hundreds of reactors from experiencing problems.
Hearing this, Ning Jinli's tense nerves relaxed a lot, and she asked, "So, the island base didn't end up being bombed, right?"
“No,” Shangguan Ying said. “If it were all blown up, I think what you would see when you wake up would be a post-apocalyptic wasteland.”
“That’s true…” Ning Jinli exhaled and looked up at the bustling skyscrapers in the distance.
“But—” Shangguan Ying changed the subject, “the explosive energy of that malfunctioning reactor was also extraordinary, tearing open a spacetime rift and swallowing the entire island base.”
"Huh?" Ning Jinli was shocked. "So, the entire island base has been transported to another dimension?"
Shangguan Ying said, "We can't be sure about that. Anyway, according to the monitoring at the time, it was a spacetime rift that was forcibly opened by energy. As for whether the island base went to another spacetime after it was swallowed up, or was destroyed by energy beyond our understanding, no one can know. Fortunately, we rescued you from your coma before the island base was swallowed up."
beep beep—
Shangguan Ying's bracelet made a sound.
She glanced at Ning Jinli and said, "Jinli, I have to go to a meeting now, so I'll go first. You get some rest."
“Yes, Sister Ying.” Ning Jinli nodded.
Shangguan Ying then opened a portal, passed through the fluorescent vortex, and disappeared from Ning Jinli's sight.
Ning Jinli sat in her wheelchair, lost in thought. After about ten minutes, Ye Zhiqiu came to her side with a bowl of fragrant meat soup.
“Daughter, this is something your godmother had the family chef make especially for you, based on the doctor’s instructions and your physical condition,” Ye Zhi Qiu said, stirring it with a spoon. “Here, let me feed you to replenish your strength and nutrition.”
Ning Jinli opened her mouth and let Ye Zhi Qiu feed her a few bites.
While eating, she said, "Mom, I want to go and see the factory and the pharmaceutical factory."
Ye Zhi Qiu asked, "Why are you in such a hurry to go to the factory? You don't need to worry about it."
Ning Jinli said, "The crude oil, coal, and metal ores that the factory needs, as well as many pharmaceutical raw materials that the pharmaceutical factory needs, can only be transported from that world by me. After I fell into a coma, the supply of raw materials was cut off, wasn't it? Also, didn't all the supplies we provided to that world also stop?"
Ye Zhi Qiu nodded. "The supply between the two sides has indeed been cut off, but before you fell unconscious, you had already sent enough raw materials of various kinds, and there is still a surplus. As for our supply to them... well, there's really no way to do that. I think they should have developed enough to be self-sufficient by now. After all, you not only provided supplies, but also passed on a lot of knowledge and technology."
“Hmm…that’s true,” Ning Jinli nodded slightly, “but I still want to go and see.”
Ye Zhi Qiu narrowed his eyes, "You're still thinking about Xiao Qi Di, aren't you?"
Ning Jinli paused for two seconds, thinking that she had already died once and there was no need to hide anything, so she said, "I want to see him. Mom, in these fifteen years, has he... come here?"
Before she went to the desert base, all the time portals she opened could only be seen and freely entered and exited by Xiao Qidi, besides herself.
Therefore, in theory, as long as Xiao Qidi is willing, he can still come to this world.
“Sigh…” Ye Zhi Qiu sighed softly, “No, ever since you said you broke up with him, I haven’t seen him again.”
Ning Jinli's eyes instantly dimmed.
Ye Zhi Qiu comforted him, "Maybe that kid sneaked over here, but... he just didn't let us find out?"
Ning Jinli said with a wry smile, "Mom, don't try to comfort me. Fifteen years! If he had really come, even once, he would have known I was in a coma. But... never mind."
Ye Zhi Qiu didn't know what else to say, so he patted his daughter's shoulder.
That afternoon, many people came to visit the Ning family villa.
In addition to the local business tycoons led by the four major families of Xinghan City and representatives of Xinghan City's official leaders, there were also some people from all over the country.
Ning Jinli did not recognize the vast majority of them.
But everyone congratulated her and was very polite.
Ye Zhi Qiu gave her a brief introduction; they were all important figures with high status, as well as the heads of her businesses and the Ning family group's branches in various locations.
Ning Jinli had no interest in socializing. She politely responded to everyone's requests, then returned to her room and spent some time alone before having someone take her to the factory.
Fifteen years later.
The changes to the factory were also incredibly significant.
Today, her factory has been transformed into an industrial city.
As night fell, the industrial city was brightly lit and bustling with activity. A black luxury car, escorted by more than a dozen other vehicles, drove into the city.
Before long, dozens of luxury cars drove up in front of us.
The convoy stopped some distance away. The door of the lead car opened, and a man wearing a blue-gray work uniform and old-fashioned glasses got out and hurriedly walked over to greet them.
"Miss Ning! Welcome!"
A voice filled with barely suppressed excitement rang out.
Ning Jinli saw a familiar face through the car window.
She opened the car door. "Director Zheng, it's been a long time. Please get in my car."
The other party was Zheng Houcheng. Since being given important responsibilities by Ning Jinli, he has been working diligently for Ning Jinli for more than a decade. The fact that the factory has developed into an industrial city that can accommodate nearly a million people is the result of his hard work.
"Yes, Miss Ning!"
Zheng Houcheng excitedly sat down next to Ning Jinli.
Ning Jinli looked him over carefully and said with a smile, "Director Zheng, you're still the same as before. Even your glasses and clothes are no different from before."
Zheng Houcheng rubbed his hands, looking a little nervous and awkward. "I'm used to it. If Miss Ning doesn't think it's appropriate, I... I'll try to change my image."
“No, no, no,” Ning Jinli said, “Do whatever you want. Besides, I think it’s fine this way. It makes me feel more familiar with the place. Director Zheng, is that little warehouse from back then still there?”
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