"A moment of silence for all!" In front of a ruin, led by the Deputy Mayor, Chen Xin, and the rescue team leader, everyone bowed their heads, mourning the victims beneath the rubble.

Following the previous public opinion survey results, the plan to clear the rubble and rebuild homes was ultimately approved.

However, despite this, when deciding on the construction plan, they still chose a method that would minimize damage to the bodies beneath the rubble.

Moreover, before the construction began, the city government specially arranged this moment of silence, hoping the deceased under the rubble could rest in peace.

The weather in the apocalypse could hardly be called good. Today’s wind was strong, snowflakes carried by the mad wind slapped against the body with crackling sounds, even causing some people to stand unsteadily.

But no one moved or sought shelter. Everyone had their heads bowed, sincerely praying for the victims under the ruins.

Not only here, but all the survivors at the settlement were doing the same thing.

Everyone paused their work, stood silently and solemnly, bowed their heads in mourning for the deceased.

Even the injured who could not stand were also praying for those unfortunate people.

In the sky, aboard the Chenglong, the captain personally sounded the whistle, sending out a long tone, resonating among the particularly quiet ruins, as if consoling the souls of the dead.

Strangely, after the moment of silence began, the originally fierce wind actually subsided.

As if even the heavens were unwilling for the boisterous wind to disturb the peace of the dead, ruining the solemnity of the silence.

The duration of silence was not long, yet the short three minutes felt extremely lengthy, causing many to shed tears thinking of their deceased loved ones.

Chen Xin also bowed his head, mourning the victims.

While praying for the dead, wishing them peace, Chen Xin pondered on what methods could prevent such tragedies from happening again.

The disaster itself is unavoidable. Aside from taking preventive measures and issuing early warnings, there’s actually not much people can do.

Perhaps, by relying on system upgrades, using certain elements from science fiction as a basis, one could eventually develop a device capable of controlling the earth’s crust movement, making disasters vanish without a trace, but that seems far too distant.

For Chen Xin now, a more practical approach is to improve existing construction techniques, enabling the rebuilt refuges and cities to withstand disaster assaults.

Thinking of this, Chen Xin couldn’t help but recall that the best in earthquake prevention is actually the island country to the east. After all, they experience more than a thousand earthquakes a year, averaging three times a day, even more frequent than three meals a day.

Although among these more than a thousand earthquakes, the vast majority are mild and imperceptible, there’s no denying that island country indeed accumulated substantial experience in this regard.

Perhaps I could learn from their architectural experiences and techniques?

While Chen Xin was pondering these thoughts, the moment of silence ended.

Though his mood remained heavy, the construction began according to plan.

Watching the engineering machinery start clearing the ruins still deeply entrapping victims’ bodies, finally, someone couldn’t help but break down and cry.

Along with this cry, it seemed that the stress and pain everyone endured during this period, as well as the sorrow of losing loved ones, were all released.

However, while releasing the anguish, this wail seemed also akin to a newborn’s first cry, heralding the rebirth of this city.

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Chen Xin did not stay at the site to watch the construction but returned to the settlement.

Though he hadn’t gone to the frontline of the disaster relief, nor participated in it due to others’ prevention, his identity gave him a more direct and genuine perception of this catastrophe.

For ordinary people, perhaps what they could feel was merely the passing of loved ones around them and the suffering they personally endured.

The death of 300,000 people in a city is a number that provides a visceral impression, and for the survivors, their most direct experience is the death of their own family members.

That alone is enough to occupy their entire mind, leaving them unable to contemplate aside from the demise of their loved ones and the destruction of their homes, the other damages this disaster brought.

However, for Chen Xin, the death of 300,000 people only represents the casualty number of this one city.

His status allowed him to learn from the nation what a dreadful disaster this earthquake, which affected the entire Southwest region, had caused.

Chen Xin clearly remembers that during his university years, a major earthquake in the Flame Country had caused nearly 20 million people to be displaced, nearly 70,000 people died, over 17,000 were missing, severely impacted ten counties, heavily impacted 41 counties, and generally impacted 186 counties. It was the most destructive, far-reaching, devastating, and hardest to rescue earthquake since the founding of the Flame Country.

Yet, this earthquake was even stronger than that one, and the death toll was several times more.

Upon receiving the statistics sent by various disaster relief teams, Chen Xin did not sleep all night. The shocking data made him feel as if he could see the faces of countless victims when he closed his eyes, and the cries of agony seemed to ring in his ears.

If this disaster had occurred before the meteorite fall, perhaps it wouldn’t have caused such massive casualties.

But since the meteorite fell, everyone was living in shelters, and few ventured outdoors; this resulted in most people staying inside shelters meant to protect them from disasters when disaster struck.

Those who survived were fortunate. They might have been lucky not to be inside a shelter when the disaster struck, or they were in shelters that didn’t collapse, or they managed to escape in time.

No matter the reason, they survived, and compared to the unfortunate victims, they were fortunate enough.

However, if this sliver of luck is to be compared with the misfortunes of the victims, no one can find joy in it.

This caused a heavy atmosphere in the settlement during this period, with the oppressive figure of 300,000 dead weighing on everyone, suffocating them.

Yet now, the atmosphere in the settlement is not as heavy as in previous days; it seems that the earlier moment of silence also allowed the sorrow in everyone’s hearts to be released, imbuing the settlement with a sense of hope.

Feeling this change, Chen Xin’s mood also lightened somewhat.

Indeed, as the letter he received stated, the deceased are gone, and the living must carry on.

Dwelling in past sorrow serves no purpose; only by embracing hope can one begin a new life.