The Ultimate Evolution

Hearing what Mr. G said, Sheyan knew that Mr. G was beginning to confide in himself by leaking some top-level secrets.

“What’s the situation?”

Mr. G heaved a sigh of relief. He actually could do nothing even if Sheyan insisted on not taking the job. However, Mr. G’s worries were actually unwarranted because as soon as he mentioned the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, rows of text had popped up on Party Ace’s retinas.

[ You have triggered the hidden follow-up time-limited mission: ‘The True Trump Card’. ]

[ This mission can only be triggered by someone who has won the trust of the Chinese government and is of Chinese descent. There are no requirements for the mission recipients. ]

[ This mission has very high reward and, correspondingly, very heavy penalty for failure. Please think over it carefully. ]

The four looked at each other. Compared with their constant fear and uneasiness when they first entered this world, their minds were now a lot tougher and more tenacious. The death of Brother Black was like a raging fire which tempered all the impurities out of their minds. To be able to turn the situation around even under such difficult circumstances would obviously have a very huge impact on their mentality.

That was why, although Melody had already returned to her own dimension due to time constraints, the remaining four were still full of confidence. It was worth mentioning that Melody had told Sheyan before she left that the teleportation array had entered the final stage of production. The connection would be established any moment now. When it did, she would be able to cross through dimensions to fight alongside Sheyan again.

They nodded while silently choosing to accept the mission. Mr. G motioned to Kang to pull up the curtains, then took out a compact projector. He displayed the details of the whole Qinghai-Tibet Railway project.

It could be seen from the projection that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was divided into two distinct sections. The 814 km section from Xining to Golmud was laid down in 1979 and put into operation in 1984. There was nothing special about this section of the railway. On the other hand, the section from Golmud to Lhasa began construction in 2001 and was completed in 2006.

Kang explained, “From a technical perspective, we actually already possessed the ability to build the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the 1980s. After all, the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, which was much more challenging to build than the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, was opened to traffic as early as 1950. If we wanted to build it, we could’ve done so much earlier.”

“However, it was not built due to various economical, technological and transportation reasons. The most important reason was that the high altitude of Qinghai and Tibet would adversely affect the health of non-local people who migrate there. Even among the Tibetans who have lived there for a long time, 14%-18% of the infants suffer from congenital heart diseases! A baby born from an intermarriage between a Han and a Tibetan would have 37% probability of suffering a congenital heart disease! That was why the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway wasn’t high on the country’s priority list.”

( TL: Han is the biggest ethnic group in China. )

Mr. G added, “During the year 2000, however, we received the news that there will be a great flood in 2012. In order to cope with this disaster, we began to gradually shift the economic and technological advantages of coastal areas to higher altitude areas. We lost many opportunities due to the process, but we still firmly carried out the plan. This was also the real reason the large scale development of western China was proposed.”

“But as our research went deeper, we realised that the scale of the 2012 flood is likely beyond our imagination. Territories above 500 meters in altitude have changed from safe areas to high-risk areas. Only areas above 2,000 meters in altitude can be considered safe. Therefore, the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has become an urgent matter. It serves only one purpose — so that the government can, with a single command, evacuate the whole nation to a safe place at the fastest speed possible.”

Party Ace patiently listened to these confidential information. Kang continued, “In truth, with how much importance the government placed on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, it should not have taken as long as 5 years to complete. However, as the scientists’ estimation of the 2012 apocalypse becomes more and more accurate, the government’s emergency plans have to change accordingly!”

“When the research confirms that the intensity of the flood will reach the highest threat level of S-level, and the whole world, including the Himalayas, will be submerged, the authorities decided on three plans. The plan in the open is naturally the arks. The plan in the dark is the secret construction of the special-model long-distance ships, but even that is just a cover. The real trump card is the hidden plan during the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway!”

“When the Qinghai-Tibet Railway was built, we’ve explored and finally located the most stable areas of the earth’s crust, the areas most invulnerable to earthquakes and collapses. In the end, we’ve located a spot in the Tanggula Mountains. There, we built seventeen fallout shelters of colossal scale. Each giant fallout shelter could accommodate 100,000 people! The fallout shelters are connected to each other by tunnels, and have undergone the most stringent waterproof measures. Even if they’re submerged deep underwater, they have enough food to maintain self-sufficiency for more than 10 years!”

“Should this plan succeed, we will be the first nation to have a city with over a million people after the 2012 apocalypse! Not only that, the city will also have a complete industrial system and various production chains!! It will win us at least five years of precious rebuilding time after the apocalypse!!”

After listening thus far, Sheyan couldn’t help asking, “I still don’t quite get what you need our help with?”

“According to our research, although the severe flood will sweep across the Himalayas, it will happen only because of the crustal movements. It doesn’t mean that the water on Earth has really increased to a level that can submerge the Himalayas,” Mr. G explained seriously.

As he said that, he picked up the half-full glass of water beside him and began to stir the glass so that the water rotated clockwise. A vortex formed in the water, and the edge of the vortex almost reached the mouth of the glass. When Mr. G stopped stirring the glass, the water level returned to its previous height again.

“When the crusts stabilised again, the flood will lose its source of energy. Our scientists believe that the activity of the main crusts will last no longer than 48 hours, which means that the flood will recede in a month at most. On the Tanggula Mountains that have an average altitude of more than 5,000 meters, the flood may recede even earlier. However, we must consider the worst case scenario, so we must guarantee two months of oxygen supply for the whole underground city.”

Kang interjected, “That’s where the crux of the matter lies! Although oxygen production technology has reached a very mature level in this era, but they’re limited to supplying oxygen at a fairly small scale. This time, we have to consider the long-term oxygen supply for over two million people for up to two months! And we must do so while avoiding the ever-present surveillance from other countries.”

“In the end, one of our scientists came up with a brand new solution. We’ve analysed the solution and found it theoretically feasible. The solution is to add an additive to water to break down the water molecules to obtain oxygen. His research of the new additive has already reached the final stage. Once successful, our final problem will be solved.”

“What we need you to do is to protect Dr. W’s safety! Attacks from those with supernatural powers has been coming unceasingly like mercury burrowing through the soil. We’ve also received intel that for the next 24 hours, a powerful existence will be hunting Dr. W down. Our protection appears so vulnerable in the face of the myriad of unimaginable superpowers. Hence, we can only ask for your help!”

[ Hidden Follow-Up Time-Limited Mission: The True Trump Card ]

[ Mission Objective: Protect Mr. W for 24 hours. ]

[ Mission Briefing: This is definitely not an ordinary protection mission. Please do not treat it lightly. Your enemies will be stronger than ever before. ]

[ Additional Note: Only if Mr. W survives and is successful in his research will you get the highest evaluation rating. ]

[ Mission Failure Penalty: Should you fail, 10 points will be deducted from all your attributes. In addition, you will lose the trust of the government and will be forcefully sent back to the Nightmare Realm. ]

***

Sheyan and the rest analysed the mission failure penalty carefully. The deduction of ten points from all attributes was already a very severe punishment in itself. Losing the trust of the government means that Party Ace might as well say goodbye to the few cultural heritages in their hands.

Forcefully being sent back to the Nightmare Realm may seem like it was the lightest punishment among them, but it was not so. It would mean that everything they had painstakingly laid out in this world would go to waste! If the plans only came into play after the party had already returned to the Realm, Party Ace would not get any credit or rewards for them!

Nevertheless, even with such severe punishments, all of them chose to accept the mission.

They quickly flew to a plateau with the help of the government. After meeting up with Dr. W, they gained a more thorough understanding of the current situation.

Dr. W liked to gesticulate dramatically when he talked. He had thick, dark eyebrows that were shaped like knives. In the art of face reading, it meant that he was a man who would rarely go back on his words, but the eyebrows were very close to each other, and that showed that he was not a sociable person.

But Dr. W appeared to be rather talkative presently. In contrast, his assistant had a slightly contemptuous look because he felt that Party Ace’s presence were unnecessary. They had the powerful “Seeder” protection system which was impregnable. The assistant played a video for Party Ace with a slightly disdainful attitude.

In a tunnel-like enclosed space, small missiles with propellers on their butts were launched from a multi-shell missile launcher.

These small missiles were not flying very fast. Thick black smoke trailed in their wakes. Red bursts of fire continuously broke out from the launching hole of the missile launcher, and the slow-flying missiles filled the whole tunnel in no time at all.

These missiles, each the size of a white gourd, were designed with an infrared tracking system. They could lock on to a person’s body heat to pursue the enemy relentlessly!