Chapter 124 The official shelter is completed...
Your impact on the world has deepened!
[Received 300 teaching points as a reward]
Keep up the good work!
...
Your influence on the world has deepened once again!
[Received 200 teaching points as a reward]
Keep up the good work!
...
The pleasant reminders kept ringing in Fu Qing's ears.
It topped the trending searches and was promoted across the entire internet, a completely different phenomenon from the previous minor incidents.
When the @DormitoryBattle Royale account was at its peak, its total number of followers across the entire internet was only around ten million. Among these, there was a large amount of overlap and some were fake followers sent by the platform. The actual number of followers was far less than that.
This time, @FangzhouRescue gained over 10 million followers in just one day, and the number is still growing at an astonishing rate.
Having received rewards for over a thousand teaching points in one go, Fu Qing bought the groundwater extraction system, completed its installation, and left the rest to Zhao Yunxiao.
She felt a pang of regret silently.
If we compare the system to a game, in terms of influence alone, the China region has basically reached the highest level, and the next step should have been to move towards the world.
However, in the nearly one week since the outbreak of the virus, the situation overseas has undergone tremendous changes.
Most of the countries that scoffed at the warnings from the Chinese government on the first day didn't even last until the second day before issuing mandatory quarantine orders. By then, they didn't care about losing face; they were already terrified by the speed at which the zombie virus was spreading.
In contrast, those wise countries that heeded advice, although mostly small countries with friendly relations with China, slowed the spread of the virus because they took timely measures.
Public facilities such as hydroelectric power stations, nuclear power plants, and water plants were rescued in time before the fall of the country, thus ensuring the supply of water and electricity to key areas such as the capital and hospitals.
If the action had been taken any later, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
As for those who choose to stand by and watch due to their stance or other factors, they will mostly suffer the consequences of missing the golden time for action.
In some countries with chaotic internal situations, the weak official forces were unable to organize any effective action against the apocalypse, and within two days of the outbreak, the entire country lost contact with the outside world.
When the storm hit, everyone felt insecure.
Amidst the chaos, China's one hour of electricity and uninterrupted water supply every day became exceptionally precious.
With the situation overseas in such a chaotic state, there was clearly little hope of expanding Fangzhou's influence overseas. Fu Qing hesitated for a couple of seconds before giving up.
With groundwater available, I can finally take a bath every day.
Although shower time still needs to be limited to less than five minutes, at least I don't have to go to sleep smelling of sweat anymore.
Such exciting news naturally sparked cheers throughout the school.
Fu Qing glanced at the number of people on campus again.
More than 60% of the students have returned to school, and with the family and friends they brought back, the number of people living on campus has risen to more than 4,000.
After surpassing the number of four thousand, the increase in the number of students became extremely slow, only surging up when new students returned to school.
Many students like Song Rushuang have unused quotas but have yet to decide on a resident.
The students seemed to have reached a consensus: if the people they found were unreliable, it would be better to leave the spots vacant.
However, after the @FangzhouRescue account was created, a few more people sporadically joined the campus.
Most of them were students picked up from outside, and they were mostly children.
Those teenagers, whose parents died in a zombie attack, survived thanks to the protection of others and became orphans.
The official shelters had not yet been built, and they had no way to protect themselves in the apocalypse. The students couldn't bear to see them suffer, so they brought them back.
Apart from two or three children who were too young to be cared for by themselves, they were handed over to the soldiers and armed police outside. The rest of the children were either handed over or taken back to Fangzhou, totaling about sixteen or seventeen.
Fu Qing noticed every new resident in Fangzhou, and she was naturally aware of it, but didn't think anything of it.
This is far from the final moment of the race's survival; as long as there is still strength, no one should be abandoned.
Moreover, with the system in place, Fangzhou is highly automated, requiring far less manpower than ordinary shelters, while its average combat strength is much higher.
The initial motivation for these students to train so hard was to protect others.
As long as they feel they can shoulder that responsibility, Fuqing will not stop them.
Children eat less, so they are considered part of the workforce. They are also more obedient and less scheming than adults. They were put in an empty classroom in the school building, separated by gender, and slept on a large communal bed.
Grandma Liu loves children, so she and two other parents who are teachers take care of the children's daily lives.
Every morning after washing up, we would go to the playground to exercise on time. After breakfast, we would read together. We even had three classes: Chinese, Math, and English, which we would take turns attending each day.
After lunch, I helped out with chores in the afternoon, continued exercising before dinner, and had free time in the evening.
With this schedule, people passing by the teaching building can hear the sound of students reading aloud every morning.
I really do feel like I'm actually on campus now.
...
However, as the rescue mission progressed and the number of people seeking help increased, the students gradually developed new anxieties.
They find it difficult to ignore the suffering of others.
When those being rescued begged the students to take them to safety, to a refuge... refusing them became an extremely difficult task.
These people just want to survive.
The more people plead, the worse the situation of the person seeking help, the harder it is to say no.
Especially when some elderly people with graying temples trembled and knelt in front of them, begging them to take their grandchildren away, or when seriously injured and weak parents pleaded with them to give their children a way to live, the students did not even dare to look into the desperate eyes of these people seeking help.
Such things happen every moment. They can help one or two people, but they cannot help all their compatriots who are suffering.
They gradually began to experience the same pain as Mo Chen.
This pain may come later for students, but it is just as sharp.
...
On the morning of the seventh day of the virus outbreak, Bai Xianglei suddenly knocked on the principal's office door.
He immediately announced with great joy, "The official shelter has been completed!"
Fu Qing looked up from behind the desk in surprise: "So fast?"
She remembered that in her previous life it wasn't this fast. The main reason was that many basic shelters were converted from facilities such as stadiums and air-raid shelters. The priority was to take in more homeless people wandering the streets and to block zombies from the outside. However, due to a lack of experience, they ignored the incubation period of the virus and failed to prepare sufficient isolation spaces, which ultimately led to the outbreak of zombies from within and the fall of the entire shelter.
This time, after being reminded by Fu Qing, the authorities learned from their mistakes and abandoned spaces that were difficult to modify and escape from, such as air-raid shelters. Instead, they prioritized the renovation of stadiums or abandoned factories in the suburbs to strengthen defenses and build large-scale isolation zones, which unnecessarily increased the amount of work.
So Fu Qing really didn't expect it to be built so quickly.
"The higher-ups have set a deadline; the shelters must be completed within a week. The construction teams have been working day and night these past few days. According to the latest news we've received, the shelters in the key first- and second-tier cities should already be completed."
Bai Xianglei, a usually composed man, could not hide his joy at this moment: "The construction teams that have been freed up can rush to other cities to help with construction, and soon the shelters across the country should be ready for use."
He paused, composed himself, and continued, "I just received a notification that there will be a nationwide emergency broadcast at 9:00 AM sharp. Could you use the campus broadcast system so that the entire school can listen to it?"
To ensure that most citizens could hear the radio, the government not only broadcast shortwave radio, but also deployed communication vehicles to patrol the streets and broadcast messages, as well as drones equipped with loudspeakers for low-altitude broadcasting.
However, Fangzhou was located in a very remote area, so all of these broadcasts were unavailable, and residents could only rely on their own radios and the school's public address system.
“No problem.” Fu Qing nodded.
She accessed the system and sent a notification to the entire school to listen.
With less than ten minutes left until nine o'clock, everyone stopped what they were doing, worried that they wouldn't be able to hear clearly indoors, and many people even spontaneously gathered in open spaces such as the playground.
Before the broadcast began, people discussed the matter with barely concealed concern.
Do you know what you're going to talk about later?
"I wonder... could it be that the virus has evolved again or something?"
"Speaking of which, today marks exactly one week since the outbreak of the virus."
Many people suddenly realized the truth.
Before I knew it, a week of these nightmarish days had already passed.
Staying in Fangzhou, unaware of the changes in the outside world, they are already much luckier than most people.
However, the changes in life are still enormous. Many people wake up in the middle of the night and still feel like they are sleeping in their own bed at home. They follow the inertia and vaguely feel their way to the bathroom until they bump into the wall and realize that they have long since left that familiar place.
The immense sense of loss and fear about the future that arose in my heart at that moment was difficult to explain to others; it could only be kept in my heart and slowly digested by myself.
The crowd whispered amongst themselves until exactly nine o'clock.
"Buzz—"
The sudden buzzing silenced everyone instantly.
Pairs of eyes looked expectantly and anxiously at the campus loudspeakers.
After a piercing hissing sound, a female voice gradually became clearer: "...This is the National Emergency Command Center...an emergency broadcast to compatriots across the country..."
The female anchor's voice was steady and solemn, and someone exclaimed softly, "I've got it!"
After speaking, he hurriedly fell silent at the prompting of others and listened attentively.
"...First of all, with the deepest sorrow, on behalf of the government and the people, we express our deepest condolences to our compatriots who have tragically lost their lives in the past seven days."
The sound that followed made everyone's expressions darken.
Some people lowered their heads and listened quietly, while others closed their eyes, imagining everything that was happening in the world, their expressions tense.
"...This was the darkest week in the history of China and even the world. During this week, we experienced loss, fear, and separation from our loved ones, but we never gave up and never surrendered."
"At this very moment, countless brave soldiers, medical workers, and workers from all walks of life are still fighting on the front lines, protecting the flame of hope with their lives."
The female anchor paused for two seconds, then continued in a firm and enthusiastic tone: "Now, we officially announce that the emergency shelter systems in major cities across the country have been completed and put into operation!"
The entire room fell silent for a moment, then erupted in uproar.
The female anchor followed up by mentioning the shelter's comprehensive protective, isolation, and medical facilities, as well as its ample supplies, which further excited everyone.
The shelter is built!
Although they themselves do not need it, what about those compatriots who are still trapped outside, displaced, struggling to survive on the last bit of food, or suffering from illness and facing life-threatening danger at any moment...
They are all saved.
Everyone has relatives and friends trapped outside, and upon hearing this news, some people couldn't help but wipe away tears.
Others were also moved by the country's efficiency.
The female anchor then stated that the specific locations of all cities where shelters have been built and put into use will be announced in subsequent broadcasts for citizens' reference.
"To mourn the victims and to pave a path of hope for the survivors, air raid sirens will sound across the country at 2:30 p.m. today."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, then the female anchor continued, "When the alarm sounds, please stop what you are doing to pay our respects to our deceased loved ones, while ensuring your own safety."
"Please note that there is no need to honk your horn. Please prioritize your own safety."
"After a minute of silence, the alarm will enter a cycle of sounding for 36 seconds, stopping for 24 seconds, and continuing for one hour."
"Within this hour, alarm systems across the country will operate at maximum power, using the highest decibels to draw the attention of all infected individuals with continuous sound and divert the threat."
"All compatriots who need to be evacuated, please take advantage of this one-hour safe passage to proceed to the nearest community assembly point. Transport convoys and fully armed troops will be waiting for you there and will escort you safely to the shelter."
"The meeting point will be broadcast repeatedly in subsequent announcements, please pay attention."
"A reminder that the alarm will only attract the attention of the vast majority of infected individuals. You still need to take precautions. When traveling, please be sure to pay attention to safety, travel light, remain quiet, evacuate in an orderly manner, and do not stop midway..."
Everyone stared intently, afraid of missing a single word. After the last sentence was uttered, the broadcast paused for a moment before starting to play the list of shelters across the country. Still, no one spoke for a long time.
Much later, someone let out a long sigh, as if pouring all the emotions brimming in their chest into that sigh.
Fearing that their relatives and friends might not have received the broadcast, they took out their phones and sent messages via text message and chat software, spreading the message in various ways.
Even when making phone calls, they try to keep their voices down.
...
The atmosphere was equally somber in the conference room of the administration building.
Fu Qing was the first to break the silence, looking at Bai Xianglei: "Has Xue Ran's training been completed?"
Xue Ran has been staying off-campus for the past few days and hasn't informed Fu Qing of the situation yet, so Fu Qing is unaware of it either.
Bai Xianglei nodded subconsciously: "It should be about right, how come..."
He suddenly stopped talking, pulling himself out of the emotions brought on by the broadcast, and his face darkened: "You mean, the believers will ambush the crowds gathering at the refuge?"
"Highly likely." Fu Qing nodded. "I can't think of a better opportunity than this."
"During the assembly time, there will be a large number of patrol vehicles throughout the city, and armed forces will be deployed to guard all main roads..." Chu Hai said.
Is that not enough?
It's important to understand that things are different now than they were in the first two days after the outbreak. Nowadays, when encountering an infected person outside, the preferred approach is often to shoot them directly rather than isolate or control them.
As several days had passed, the public had become fully aware of the infected individuals' aggressiveness, and they were no longer so easily provoked to overreact when they saw soldiers killing the infected.
Therefore, although the number of zombies has increased, the killing efficiency is much higher than in the previous days.
Fu Qing shook his head, interrupting him: "They don't understand believers enough."
"Moreover, these people are too obvious targets; after observing them, it's easy to avoid them." If even a few more zombies appear in the crowd, the entire group will be thrown into chaos.
Chu Hai and the others' expressions turned grim.
Since the outbreak of the virus, the believers have remained inactive, and the two sides have never clashed directly, leaving the special forces team with only a concept of their capabilities and a lack of firsthand experience.
But Fu Qing has never been wrong.
Bai Xianglei stood up without hesitation: "I'll go find Chief Tian right now."
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