Cave Refuge-Chapter 300 - 285: The Suddenly Intensifying Earthquake_2

Chapter 300: Chapter 285: The Suddenly Intensifying Earthquake_2

However, after thoroughly researching the body structure of the Giant Scorpion and becoming familiar with its attack patterns, there was no need to deploy Martial Artists from the Inner Breath Realm. Three to five well-coordinated Martial Artists could, barring any accidents during the battle, achieve a no-injury kill on the Giant Scorpion.

It is unknown how much operational funding Madeline spent, but after the troops had uniformly harvested the crops, she surprisingly allocated the surrounding farmland to the camp.

Although the area of the surrounding farmland was less than one hundred acres, for the people of China, having land or not having land was a whole different concept.

The meaning of the word "rogue" differed between ancient times and the modern era.

In ancient times, those without land were referred to as displaced people, and those who did not engage in proper occupations were called "Mang."

"Rogue" in ancient times referred to those who did not own their land and did not have a stable job.

If applied to the current situation, many of the survivors living in the camp who relied on supplies brought over from the former insect-ridden Pengcheng would actually be considered "rogues" in ancient terms.

For this reason, the longing for land had been etched into the very bones of all the people from China.

It was like before the popularization of agricultural machinery prior to the disaster, when many people would rather take leave and spend a considerable amount on travel expenses to help with the autumn harvest, even though a month’s income from working in big cities had already surpassed the profits from selling a season’s worth of crops.

It should be noted that sometimes, even without considering costs, the price obtained from selling crops from an acre might not even cover the cost of their round-trip airfare.

Yet, even so, before the widespread use of agricultural machinery, many people were still willing to spend a lot of money to take leave and return home to help with the harvest.

After the camp confirmed the range of farmland allotted to them by the troops, half of the farmland was designated as public rental land, where all survivors could rent if desired, as long as they paid 30% of the harvest when reaping.

Zachary got Father Dong half an acre of land near the camp, not expecting Mr. Thompson to grow much of anything but mainly as a pastime for his parents who were practicing the Health-Preserving Decree.

After all, the camp was only so large, and one could not always be idle, chatting and gossiping. He brought some grapevine shoots from the Cave and got out some wooden stakes, jointly handcrafting a grape trellis with Mr. Thompson.

It took several days to finish the work in the fields, after which all Father Dong and Mother Dong had to do was come over to water them daily.

Madeline chose this location back then partly because there were several wells here. Although the earthquake caused these wells to collapse, the large gaps between the stones still allowed a continuous flow of well water.

Madeline had seen this potential, which is why she finally decided to set up camp here.

Today, Zachary, who accompanied Father Dong and Mother Dong to water the grapevines in the farmland, suddenly heard the roaring sound of an airplane tearing through the sky.

This sound was not only heard by the three members of the Thompson Family working in the fields but by the vast majority of survivors in both Pengcheng and Saxon County who saw the plane slicing through the sky.

Since the electromagnetic pulse incident, not to mention Zachary, it is believed that the vast majority of survivors on Blue Star had not seen the sight of an airplane soaring through the sky.

Seeing the airplane cutting through the clouds overhead this time, everyone immediately felt an inexplicable surge of inspiration, even though no one knew where the airplane came from, where it was going, or to whom it belonged.

But everyone knew that if something as intricate and electronics-laden as an airplane could re-emerge, it meant that human civilization had not experienced a discontinuity due to the disaster.

No matter how many trials were endured, humanity always stood at the pinnacle of the Pyramid, looking down upon all other life forms.

A large portion of the camp lifted their heads and caught sight of the plane’s silhouette in the sky, and everyone was too excited to fall asleep that evening.

Some people who were outside enjoying the night suddenly noticed a light spot appearing in the northwest sky. However, that light spot did not linger long in their view before it disappeared from sight.

Many did not pay it much mind, thinking their eyes were playing tricks on them, but what they did not realize was that it was the glow of flames from the rocket’s bottom thrusters as it ascended into space.

Zachary also saw the light spot in the sky, but even as a cultivator, the light spot was so far away from the camp that he could not make out what it specifically was in the night sky.

Although he had some guesses in his heart, the matter did not seem to affect him, so Zachary did not dwell on it.

The next morning, familiar tremors returned. Although the survivors had grown accustomed to them, they still instinctively ran to open areas, expecting to wait out the earthquake.

However, today’s earthquake was different from the past. Normally, the earth might shake a few times like a sneeze, but this time, it was like a patient with a sudden severe cold, coughing continuously without pause.

Moreover, the amplitude of the earth’s tremors grew increasingly violent. Seeing the visibly undulating ground, everyone knew the seriousness of today’s event.

What was once an easygoing expression instantly turned tense, and many survivors’ bodies began to tremble.

As the shaking of the earth intensified, the survivors were shocked to see collapses occurring in the farming fields, and even the factory buildings in the camp, which had been reinforced many times, fell apart in the earthquake.

But at that moment, the survivors had no mind to care whether the buildings in the camp collapsed.

Everyone was anxiously watching the ground around them, ready to flee immediately should the ground beneath them cave in.

Although they were surrounded by open farmland, no survivor dared to run around recklessly; after all, they were still in the midst of the earthquake, uncertain whether other places were safe.

So no one dared to move carelessly, and the survivors all stayed put, praying for the earthquake to end soon.

Although Father Dong and Mother Dong’s physical condition had improved significantly after practicing the Health-Preserving Decree, what was most needed in the face of an earthquake was not a robust body but a calm mind, unswayed by external influences.

Zachary deliberately stood with his parents on the very outskirts of the crowd. Though there was a risk of being hit by flying debris, it also meant they could escape quickly if the ground nearby showed signs of trouble.

This earthquake’s amplitude far exceeded the past ones, though it had not yet reached the level of those that resembled an Earth Dragon turning over. However, it far surpassed the daily occurrences since the arrival of the natural disasters.

The recently planted crops in the fields were continually collapsing and churning up. Fortunately, the ground where the survivors stood was undulating but had not shown any signs of collapsing or cracking.

After what felt like an eternity, under the survivors’ trembling and fearful gaze, the earth gradually returned to its former calm. However, the uneven landscape in the fields hinted at the terrifying spectacle that had just occurred.

Once the survivors confirmed that the earthquake had finally ended, they collapsed to the ground like marionettes whose strings had been cut, utterly drained of strength.

Father Dong and Mother Dong also felt weak all over, but with Zachary’s support, they did not sit on the ground. Instead, they climbed into a Black Car, half of which had already sunk into the earth, with Zachary’s help.

During the earthquake, the performance of the Black Car was indeed surprising. Due to the weight of the vehicle, the ground beneath it did not show much undulation.

But also because of its weight, the Black Car kept sinking during the quake, and by the time it had ended, over half of the tires were deeply buried in the mud.