Chapter 152: The Super Earthquake

Shitou Chuan Ying was in a very bad mood. He had been patrolling this stretch of ocean with his fleet, towing sonar back and forth. However, two weeks had passed, and they still hadn’t found anything.

He knew the general route the Huaxia research team had taken initially. But the Pacific Ocean was terrifyingly vast; finding a seismograph that had sunk to the seabed was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

The last time they discovered a seismograph, it was because of a signal.

But the seismograph only sent out signals when there was an earthquake. This was a headache of a problem.

The entire Island Nation was located in an earthquake zone. It had always been disaster-prone, and the losses from earthquakes every year were particularly huge. Therefore, they were absolutely determined to acquire the seismograph technology.

With the early warning technology from the seismograph, they could avoid a lot of losses.

Holding his binoculars and looking at the endless sea, Shitou Chuan Ying’s face turned dark. The last time they retrieved the equipment from the Huaxia research team, they initially thought they had scored a windfall. But it turned out to be broken; the core technology was already missing, and that seismograph had long lost its function.

He didn’t know if the seismograph the Americans had fished out was intact or not. But his superiors had given him a strict order: he must retrieve one intact seismograph.

“Damn orders,” Shitou Chuan Ying put down his binoculars, cursing under his breath.

Just as he was complaining, a soldier in a white sailor uniform ran over, his face excited: “Captain, long-wave signals detected eighty nautical miles northeast. There are also signals from other directions. Three signals in total.”

“Three signals?” Shitou Chuan Ying was overjoyed. “Immediately record the coordinates of all signals. Head for the sea area of the nearest signal location.”

“Yes, Captain.”

At the Legion Ant Company, Chen Mo’s research was interrupted by Ink Girl’s voice: “Brother Mo, three seismographs in the West Pacific Ocean are sending signals simultaneously.”

Three seismographs sending signals at the same time? Chen Mo’s eyelid twitched violently.

He had discussed the placement locations of the seismographs with Wu Zhen over the phone. To increase the monitoring range of the seismographs, they were deployed at intervals of over eighty kilometers. Their general locations were all in the West Pacific Ocean area.

Being so far apart yet issuing earthquake warnings simultaneously made him feel that this matter would not be small.

“An Island Nation warship and a United States warship are turning towards the direction of the seismographs,” Ink Girl said again.

“Those greedy devils, still trying to take advantage at a time like this?”

Chen Mo’s expression turned serious.

“Let them retrieve them. They will have to pay it back double later. What are the warning levels for the three seismographs?”

“Magnitude 5.0, 5.1, and 5.3. The focal depth and epicenter cannot be monitored. It might be a super earthquake occurring in another region, affecting these three locations.”

He had a feeling like this himself. Hearing Ink Girl say this made him more certain of his thoughts.

“When is the estimated time?”

“The message sent back by the seismographs says one hour from now,” Ink Girl said.

After informing Zhao Min about the earthquake news and getting her confirmation, Chen Mo then spoke.

“Ink Girl, post a message on the Official Website. ‘West Pacific Ocean, earthquake expected in three locations one hour from now.’ Include a map. Finally, add a note: ‘Possibility of a high-magnitude earthquake exists.'”

Some time ago, Zhao Min had advised him to keep a low profile and not stir up trouble. He complied and hid in the Laboratory doing research.

Half a month had passed. Although there were still discussions about the seismographs online, they had lessened considerably. In this environment where entertainers dominate the spotlight, no major scientific achievement maintains its heat for too long. The headlines about entertainers are the real headlines.

Now he decided to be high-profile once again.

When the seismograph warning message first came out, many people were convinced and amazed. But as time passed, discordant voices had started appearing online.

Many people believed that the Legion Ant Company’s previous success was just a fluke, a coincidence. Whether they could predict a second time was still a question.

This time, if the prediction was successful, the capability of the seismographs would be truly confirmed.

This earthquake might be of a higher magnitude than the last one. He also wanted to see just how big the earthquake would be. He had a bad feeling; he was sure something major was going to happen this time.

The Legion Ant Company, which had been lying low for half a month, released another message about an earthquake.

As soon as the news came out, there was an uproar, and it immediately became a hot topic.

An earthquake was predicted to occur in one hour in the northeastern sea area of the Island Nation in the West Pacific Ocean, with the possibility of a super earthquake. The shorter the message, the bigger the event.

Super earthquake. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

Many people recalled the earthquake that happened in the Island Nation years ago. The tsunami caused by the earthquake brought huge losses to the Island Nation and claimed over ten thousand lives. Coupled with the nuclear power plant leak, even now, many people were living in the shadow of it, homeless. Another super earthquake was the great tsunami in Indonesia back then.

The news spread to the Island Nation in the shortest possible time. However, many Island Nation people didn’t buy it, though quite a few chose to believe it. They packed their things and drove away from their homes by the sea. In such matters, even a one in ten chance was not worth the risk.

The debate about the Legion Ant Company’s seismographs flared up again, and time passed amidst the arguments.

Ikou Kouji yawned, occasionally looking out at the sea surface. Besides the blue seawater, he couldn’t see anything else.

Suddenly, Ikou Kouji’s pupils constricted. His spirit instantly became alert, and his eyes widened.

The sea surface suddenly became agitated. It was a school of fish. The fish were jumping on the sea surface, and there were dolphins too. This scene was very rare. It felt like the dolphins were hunting. Strange grey clouds also slowly appeared on the horizon.

All of this seemed highly abnormal. As an Island Nation person, he was not unfamiliar with such phenomena. That was earthquake cloud.

Due to anomalies in the geomagnetic field, electromagnetic waves affected the high-altitude ionosphere, causing water vapor and dust to arrange in a non-free, orderly manner, thus forming earthquake clouds.

Without thinking twice, Ikou Kouji immediately picked up the phone and dialed the Captain’s cabin.

Shitou Chuan Ying put down the phone and picked up his binoculars to look at the sea surface. Sure enough, he saw fish jumping out of the water, and the unusual phenomenon of earthquake clouds.

The seismographs placed on the seabed by the Legion Ant Company were sending signals, meaning an earthquake would arrive soon. However, that wasn’t his concern. His mission was to retrieve a seismograph.

He had a somewhat bad feeling. Having signals from three directions meant there were earthquakes in three directions. The situation was probably not as simple as imagined.

The fleet increased speed, heading towards the direction of the seismograph signal.

“Captain, a message from headquarters. The Legion Ant Company has released a message stating that a seabed earthquake is possible in our sea area one hour from now. Headquarters hopes you proceed with caution,” the reporting soldier said, handing a slip of paper with the message to Shitou Chuan Ying.

“One hour?” Shitou Chuan Ying muttered. He finally nodded. “Slow the fleet down.”

Time passed minute by minute. This earthquake was different from previous ones. The Legion Ant Company had already predicted one correctly. If they were right this time too, it would prove the seismographs were truly useful.

In all corners of the world, teachers, students, drivers, scholars, all sorts of people, were holding their phones, waiting for news updates.

One hour slipped by on their phones.

Strange sounds emanated from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The ground shook and mountains swayed. Huge fissures appeared. A great catastrophe was thus set in motion.