#90 - Chapter 90 Acid Rain
Green Source Base.
After the earthquake.
All personnel were waiting in the open space.
Except for Qin Jin, who had some understanding due to his memories from his previous life, no one knew that all the active volcanoes in the world had erupted.
Only a few "lucky ones" near the volcanoes had the chance to witness that shocking scene.
Although what awaited them afterward was a devastating disaster.
Some survivors near the erupting volcanic areas were directly burned to death by the high-temperature lava or suffocated by toxic gases, ending their life race prematurely.
Fortunately.
The earthquake and volcanic eruptions did not last long.
Blue Star seemed to just demonstrate its power and quickly retreated.
Around 5 p.m. China time.
The earthquake and aftershocks had almost stopped, and all the uneasy survivors finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No one wanted this kind of disaster to continue.
Survival was already so difficult.
Only then, under the announcement of the boss, could the Green Source Base return to the buildings.
Let everyone return to their residences or some public places to calm down.
After all, the weather in November was already unusually cold.
Even in Mentang Town in the south, the outdoor temperature was only a few degrees.
To some extent, the wet and cold feeling in the south was more bone-chilling than the dry cold in the north.
Many of the people who had been freezing for most of the afternoon began to feel unbearable, and some even showed symptoms of a cold.
For this reason, Qin Jin also instructed the cafeteria staff to add a bowl of ginger soup to everyone's dinner tonight.
Everyone was grateful that this natural disaster had passed. The horror of the zombies was already enough to frighten all the survivors.
Only Qin Jin stood there.
He looked at the sky, which was completely dark at 5 o'clock.
He deeply knew that this was just the beginning.
The massive amounts of volcanic ash and various toxic gases from countless volcanic eruptions were scattered into the clouds in the sky.
If someone looked from space, they could almost see with the naked eye that there was a layer of grayness on the entire surface of Blue Star.
That was the color of death.
With the disturbance of the airflow, a series of terrible reactions were forming.
Almost no one could imagine what would happen next.
The Green Source Base at night had basically recovered from the panic of the earthquake. After dinner, everyone was still discussing the terrible disaster of the day.
They lamented the difficulty of survival in this world.
It was already frightening enough that there were terrible zombies everywhere, but they encountered an earthquake less than a month after the apocalypse.
Heaven really doesn't bless humanity.
Their complaints were destined to be confined to a small range.
Life remained the same. To continue to live well in the Green Source Base, they just needed to follow the tasks assigned by the higher-ups.
No personnel were arranged for night work tonight. Before nine o'clock, the managers came to announce that they could get off work early and go back to rest tonight.
Except for the doubled number of base defense personnel.
Tonight, not only were the normal defense personnel on duty, but even the combat personnel were required by President Qin to patrol the entire base in three shifts.
To prevent any situation from happening.
Although everyone didn't know why the boss ordered this, it didn't prevent them from doing so.
And so.
This night passed in everyone's sighs.
Nothing happened all night, and everyone had a rare good night's sleep.
Only Qin Jin, the leader of the base, knew that an even greater challenge would begin tomorrow!
Nothing happened overnight.
The next day.
6:30 in the morning.
In a certain dormitory.
Ring ring ring——
An alarm clock rang. Gao Qiang picked up the ringing phone with sleepy eyes, glanced at the time, and turned off the alarm.
Today, President Qin said that he still didn't need to go out for resource search missions. It was said that he was worried that the earthquake hadn't ended, so he let the combat team rest in the base for another day.
So he could sleep until 6:30, otherwise he usually had to get up at 6 o'clock to feed the fish.
He quickly finished washing up in the single dormitory and even took a dump, which only took him about ten minutes.
With a clear mind, he pushed open the door. Although he didn't have to go out on a mission today, he still had to feed the fish.
"Huh?"
As soon as he pushed open the door.
Gao Qiang found that the sky outside was still pitch black, like night.
He picked up his phone and looked at the time again.
6:45.
Huh?
Shouldn't it be dawn at this time?
Just as he suspected that the phone time was wrong, he saw that there were already many people standing in the corridor next to him, seemingly discussing something.
"It's strange, why is it almost 7 o'clock today and it's still not dawn!? Is the sun coming out late because winter is here? But this is too late, right!?"
He listened carefully. What those people were discussing seemed to be the matter of the sky not being bright.
So the time is correct?
The sun is coming out too late today, right!?
Not understanding, he had no choice but to continue groping in the dark to feed the fish.
After all, it was just that the sky was bright late, and there was no problem if the time was still right, so he still had to do his job.
"Everyone, please wash up and gather in the cafeteria. President Qin has something to say. Please abide by the discipline. Thank you for your cooperation!"
Suddenly, he heard someone shouting downstairs. He poked his head out and saw that it was actually Wang Yang, one of the base managers.
After hearing Wang Yang's words, everyone didn't think much about it. Since the boss wanted to gather everyone in the cafeteria, then they would go. Maybe they could have breakfast earlier.
All the base personnel began to take action.
Although many people were still lamenting that the sky was strange today.
A depressing atmosphere enveloped everyone's hearts.
Until after 7 o'clock, most people were ready to go to the cafeteria.
But the sky still couldn't see much light.
If the brightness of the sky during the day is usually 100 points, and the brightness at night with stars is 10 points, then the brightness of the sky at this time is 15 points, only a tiny bit brighter than the dark night sky.
Many people had already realized it.
The sky had changed.
At this time, almost everyone had arrived in the cafeteria and began to communicate with the people next to them about this abnormal event.
From their expressions, it was clear how uneasy they were.
Because no one dared to imagine how terrible and difficult the days would be if they really lost the sun!
First of all, the zombies outside would no longer have the distinction between day and night, and the survivors would lose the relatively safe travel time of daytime.
Or the most direct.
Then indirectly.
Without the sun, the base's solar power generation would be fatally hit, as well as the planting of food and vegetables. All aspects of life could only proceed smoothly under the protection of the star.
Even in this darkness, no one dared to imagine whether more terrible monsters had appeared outside.
The fear of darkness engraved in human genes could not be erased.
Qin Jin had already been waiting in the cafeteria.
He knew that at this time there would be some chaos in the base, and even the managers of the base would have strong unease in their hearts.
Because humans would inevitably speculate about unknown things, and his current purpose was to reduce or eliminate their fear.
Seeing that the personnel had basically arrived, he walked to the front of the cafeteria.
Holding the loudspeaker in his right hand, he said to the crowd who were discussing:
"Everyone, be quiet!"
"I know everyone is talking about the dark sky outside, please be quiet and listen to me!"
"Please believe me, this darkness will not last too long, because there is scientific basis to support it! I have already asked Dr. Dong and Professor Yuan, and we have a general understanding of the cause of the darkness!"
As he said that, he pointed to Dong Hui and agricultural professor Yuan Mu, and both nodded to indicate that what President Qin said was true.
(In fact, Qin Jin called them to the office last night and told them in advance that there might be strange phenomena today due to yesterday's earthquake, and asked them to cooperate with him today to appease the base personnel.)
"According to our speculation, it is likely that yesterday's earthquake caused multiple volcanoes around the world to erupt, and volcanic ash and various toxic gases were scattered into the sky. After a night of atmospheric flow, it blocked the sunlight, causing us to still not see the sun at this time!"
Many people showed a look of realization after listening.
Of course, some people still didn't quite believe it.
Qin Jin continued to speak.
"If I'm not mistaken, we just need a rain later, and the impurities in the sky will be brought down, and the sunlight will shine on our land. This rain may not be simple, because it may be mixed with many toxic things spewed out by the volcano, please pay more attention later."
"Please don't panic, continue to do some work indoors. Our base has been doing well after this period of effort and can withstand the following difficulties."
"Of course, if anyone dares to disturb everyone's mood and deliberately create some chaos, we don't mind asking him to leave here."
If the previous explanation was to appease, then the latter was a blatant threat.
Fortunately, the personnel in the base were accustomed to President Qin's style.
No problem.
The President Qin they knew was such a person.
Afterward.
Everyone no longer discussed loudly, and began to enjoy breakfast normally. Although they would occasionally whisper to acquaintances, the base did not prohibit this kind of small-scale communication, as long as it did not affect most people.
It was impossible not to talk about such a big thing. Many people in the base had relatives, even if they didn't say it now, they would discuss it on a small scale when they went back.
As long as the overall direction was not chaotic.
The morning passed in such a depressing atmosphere.
The sky actually never brightened again, and it was still so dark.
The outside of the base was almost pitch black, and only the lights shining from the walls occasionally illuminated some zombies wandering around.
The zombies that normally hid during the day did not have the stimulation of sunlight, so now everywhere was their activity paradise.
Humans could only carefully shrink back into their hiding places, waiting for the next appearance of the sun.
Until near noon.
The personnel who were still busy in the factory suddenly heard dripping sounds from above.
It wasn't very loud at first, and not many people noticed it. In less than two minutes, the sound had become so loud that even covering it with tarpaulins couldn't stop it!
You must know that waterproof plastic tarpaulins were laid on top of all the buildings of the previous foundation!
The fragile calm was instantly broken.
Someone couldn't help but speak out.
"It's raining! It's raining outside!"
"It's raining so hard!!!"
(End of this chapter)
