Chapter 148: Owing Chen Mo an Apology
Chapter 148: Owing Chen Mo an Apology
Carter looked at the coordinates on the radar and frowned deeply. The time for Legion Ant Company to announce their news was getting closer, but he still didn’t notice anything unusual.
Could the seismograph be fake? Carter couldn’t help but have that thought.
Giving a two-hour early warning for an earthquake sounded a bit unbelievable no matter how you heard it. If it was really that incredible, then Legion Ant Company was truly amazing.
While Carter was thinking, he suddenly felt the warship shake, making him unsteady. He bumped his head against the wall nearby.
“What happened?” Carter held onto the cabin wall of the warship, feeling the strong shaking. He couldn’t stand steady.
“We don’t know.”
Others were just like Carter; the sudden shaking left them confused and unsure what to do.
Not long after, the warship became stable again. Once Carter steadied himself, he rubbed the bump on his head and looked at the helmsman with dissatisfaction.
“What was that all about?”
“We don’t know either. The sea was calm, no waves, and it suddenly shook. It felt like something huge was swimming underwater.” The other crew members looked around, still frightened.
Even the crew on the deck looked scared. Luckily, they had reacted quickly earlier, or they might have fallen into the sea.
Falling into the water here was not a good thing.
Suddenly thinking of a possibility, Carter’s expression changed uncertainly. “Continue sailing toward the target area.”
His mission was to go to the source of the signal, retrieve the device, and bring it back for scientists to study. Other matters were not his concern.
The sea surface was calm, showing no signs of abnormality, but things were no longer peaceful outside.
Not long after the earthquake occurred, the United States Geological Survey released a report: A magnitude 7.9 earthquake had struck the northeastern waters of the West Pacific Ocean, with a depth of 20 kilometers. The epicenter was at 37.2 degrees north latitude and 146.0 degrees east longitude.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii also issued a tsunami alert.
Almost at the same time, the Island Nation’s meteorological agency released the same earthquake report and triggered a tsunami warning.
The waiting time always felt long. Whether on Huaxia’s internet or international networks, discussions about the seismograph had not stopped for even a moment during these two hours.
However, as time passed, there was still no sign of anything happening.
The first wave of insults appeared, and soon, Legion Ant Company’s official Weibo became a gathering place for online critics. All kinds of mockery and harsh doubts could be found on the official Weibo page.
Just as many media outlets were publishing articles mocking Legion Ant Company, news of the earthquake broke.
At that moment, the world fell silent.
Liu Qiang looked at the news on his phone, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake in the West Pacific Ocean, with a depth of 20 kilometers and an epicenter at 37.2 degrees north latitude and 146.0 degrees east longitude, was not far from the location predicted by Legion Ant Company. Although the magnitude was quite different, it no longer mattered.
His hometown had been destroyed by an earthquake, which was why he had come to the coastal area to find work.
Legion Ant Company was developing technology that could change the world, while he was taking money from others to write articles and comments that slandered the company.
At that moment, he felt a sense of shame and guilt overwhelming him.
Over the years, his job had been to work for internet troll companies, hired to target and slander specific companies, celebrities, and individuals.
He was the kind of online critic that netizens hated, a “five-cent party” troll.
Before, he didn’t care about any of this. As long as he got paid, he was fine with going against his conscience. But now, he suddenly realized how shameful and low his work had been all these years.
His mind flashed back to the scenes of rescue efforts during the earthquake in his hometown, where so many stories had unfolded.
Liu Qiang’s hand trembled as he held a cigarette, his gaze fixed blankly on the computer screen.
He wasn’t the only one feeling this way. In various corners, many people were looking at the news on their phones with expressions similar to Liu Qiang’s—complicated and conflicted.
This was a slap in the face—a truth that shattered all their pride.
Legion Ant Company was changing the world, while they were using their keyboards to attack it. Those with even a little bit of conscience felt their actions were laughable.
When only the cigarette butt remained, Liu Qiang took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of white smoke, then put out the butt.
He deleted the slanderous article he had already written and started a new one with a fresh title.
“We Owe Chen Mo an Apology!”
It wasn’t just him; in other corners, people facing their computers also deleted the slanderous articles they had prepared to publish and started writing new ones.
Everyone had the same thought: such a great company should not be slandered.
In Huaxia’s online world, the focus wasn’t on the damage or casualties caused by the earthquake. The earthquake had occurred in the northeastern waters of the West Pacific Ocean, far from them. What they wanted most was to apologize to Legion Ant Company and Chen Mo.
Experts fell silent, slanderous media fell silent, and online critics fell silent.
All articles and comments slandering Chen Mo and Legion Ant Company instantly disappeared offline.
Even netizens who had previously slandered Legion Ant Company in their posts spontaneously went to the company’s official Weibo to apologize.
Within less than ten minutes of the earthquake news breaking, Weibo’s servers crashed—not from an attack, but from being overloaded.
Legion Ant Company’s official Weibo gained five million followers in less than half an hour. Below the company’s updates, the comments were filled with apologies and praise.
Unlike domestic media, Western media fell into collective silence after the earthquake was confirmed. They didn’t know how to report it.
One moment they were openly mocking Legion Ant Company, and the next they were proven wrong. Their reports now seemed absurd and ridiculous.
It wasn’t just the media; even netizens collectively fell silent.
The news was too shocking. Huaxia’s technology could now predict earthquakes, and with such terrifying accuracy.
Soon, some media outlets and individuals who had publicly mocked Chen Mo and Legion Ant Company deleted their articles and started reporting on the earthquake, avoiding the topic of Legion Ant Company altogether.
Although many media outlets tried to avoid it, they couldn’t escape one topic: Legion Ant Company’s seismograph.
Legion Ant Company’s message meant that early earthquake warnings had become possible. This news was more shocking than a magnitude 10 earthquake. Especially for countries in earthquake-prone zones, this was incredibly good news.
The process of human evolution is a history of struggle against nature.
Technological means have made it possible for humans to confront nature. Another major natural disaster was now almost predictably under human control.
The whole world was stunned.
Similar to the joy around the world, a group of people in the West Pacific Ocean was also very happy.
Carter was in the warship’s command room, quietly watching the display screen. They had reached the waters where the signal was emitted, and the detection sonar had already been deployed.
“Found it, sir. It’s this,” a soldier said, pointing at an unknown object on the screen.
“Huh? What is this thing?” Carter asked.
“It’s the device that sent the signal. Its purpose is currently unknown.”
“Prepare the ropes. Let’s retrieve it,” Carter said, licking his lips.
He felt a bit excited. This was an epoch-making technology. If he could bring it back, it would be a great achievement. He could climb two levels higher and get a better position.
“Sir, the Island Nation’s fleet is heading this way,” another soldier ran over to report.
“Island Nation?” Carter immediately understood that the Island Nation also wanted to retrieve this seismograph. “Ignore them. Prepare for the retrieval work. Those lackeys won’t dare come close.”