Tokyo Detective

Chapter 448 Volcano Eruption
On December 30th, the Japanese Prime Minister had just finished visiting all the "partner" countries in Asia and was en route to Central Asia.

Italy, Sicily, Mount Etna.

This is an active volcano with an altitude of 3300 meters, and it is also the highest active volcano in Europe. It is a complex stratovolcano consisting of four main craters and hundreds of lateral eruption holes, covering an area of ​​approximately 1190 square kilometers.

The volcano is located at the boundary of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates, so it is similar to some active volcanoes in Japan, erupting dozens of times a year, which locals have become accustomed to.

Standing atop the mountain, looking at the smoking peaks and then at the vast expanse of white snow and boulders around him, Naoki Hanyu couldn't help but complain to his female companions.

"What's so interesting about an active volcano? You might as well go back to Japan and visit Kagoshima; they're about the same size."

Ryoko Yakushiji observed carefully through binoculars.

"Can they be the same? In Greek and Roman mythology, this was considered the forge of Hephaestus, the god of fire, and legend has it that Typhon, the giant god, was imprisoned under a mountain by Zeus."

Seiko Akimoto nodded as well.

"It's a pity we didn't get to witness the eruption."

Yukiko Muromachi gestured to Naoki Hanyu to straighten her collar.

"That's right. The Sicily tourism board said there's a possibility of an eruption in the next few days, and we're going back to Japan tomorrow."

Fujiwara Mai shook off the snowflakes from her clothes.

"I envy our seniors who have a two-week vacation, while we still have to work during the holidays."

Senbon Natsumi and Kobayakawa Miyuki nodded.

"envious."

"I also want to be arrested by the Special Investigation Department for 3 days and then given a 20-minute break."

"."

Naoki Hanyu was speechless. Why were there so many women in their group?

When Naoki Hanyu invites his friends to play, they don't stay together for the whole time. Apart from activities in Rome, they go in groups for the other days. If they want to go somewhere, they go in a group.

Those with families, like Ryosuke Shiraishi, went to Cinque Terre with their entire families. Naoki Hanyu wanted to visit Pompeii to see the ancient city swallowed by a volcano, but he was dragged along by this group of women.

There wasn't a single man in sight, which meant that the person was carrying far too many things.

Suddenly, a hand reached inside Naoki Hanyu's clothes; it was Masami Matsumoto who did it.

"It's warm and comfortable."

The next second, Matsumoto Masami's hand was pulled out by Akimoto Seiko, who then slapped it hard with a smile, making Matsumoto Masami feel a burning sensation on her palm.

“That way you won’t be cold, right, Yami?”

"."

Faced with the gaze of the main wife, Matsumoto Masami ultimately succumbed, like a cat that had stolen cream.

Naoki Hanyu turned his head away, unable to bear looking directly at her, and found Ryoko Yakushiji smiling at him, while Yukiko Muromachi pretended not to care, and Mai Fujiwara had an envious expression on her face.

I'm not staying in this hellhole anymore. Let whoever wants to stay stay there, stay.
.
Just then, the ground began to shake, followed by the sounding of volcanic eruption alarms.

Naoki Hanyu turned his head and saw that the crater was spewing out a lot of black smoke, and even sparks were rising. It was about to erupt.

How can the tourism bureau do its job? Logically, people shouldn't be allowed to go up the mountain when there's an eruption.

With questions in mind, everyone hurriedly ran down the mountain. The cable car and off-road vehicle at Mount Etna can only reach a height of 2900 meters, so the remaining 300 meters or so must be walked, which is about several kilometers of mountain road.

Fortunately, everyone present was a police officer. Even someone like Miyuki Kobayakawa, who would be considered an elite among ordinary people, could run a distance without any problem.

Furthermore, these female police officers, who resemble women, showed no fear in the face of the volcanic eruption; instead, they became excited and frequently looked up to watch.

A black curtain, like a mushroom cloud, rose into the sky, and some scattered magma spewed out, ranging from a few meters to tens of meters high, erupting in a way that exceeded the expectations of ordinary people.

Francesco, the person in charge of this tourist attraction, was a bit bewildered. Others might not know, but he, who was often in front of the volcano, was certainly unaware.

The speed and scale of this eruption are absolutely the largest I've ever seen while working at a tourist attraction—a once-in-30-years event. To make matters worse, tourists are still on top of it.

Francesco cursed.

"What are those people at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology doing? Didn't they say they were going to install the latest seismographs?"

Meanwhile, the monitoring station at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology was also baffled, although the error was caused by two monitoring personnel going out for fun during work hours, resulting in a failure to react to the eruption.

However, this volcanic eruption came too quickly, and the energy accumulated in the crater far exceeded that of the past.

"1500 million tons of TNT?"

A TNT equivalent of 1500 million tons is comparable to 867 Hiroshima atomic bombs, exceeding the level of a medium-sized volcanic eruption; it is undoubtedly a large-scale eruption.

Mount Etna erupts dozens of times a year, the vast majority of which are small eruptions, with a yield of 10,000 to 100,000 tons of TNT equivalent. Medium-sized eruptions, with a yield of 100,000 to 1 million tons of TNT equivalent, may only occur once every few months or even once a year.

A major eruption, occurring once every 10 years, produces 500 to 1000 million tons of water, which is enough to evacuate the nearest villages, with each eruption involving the evacuation of several hundred to over a thousand people.

If it were 1500 million tons of TNT, it could even affect surrounding towns.

When Catania provincial officials learned of the eruption, they were so anxious they cursed.

"They abandoned their posts after only a fifth of their salary reduction. If there are any casualties, I'll kill these bastards. Quickly arrange for people to help with the evacuation." At the top of Mount Etna, Naoki Hanyu and his group were walking down the mountain path. Because there were so many people, they couldn't all leave in a short time, since there were only so many cable cars and off-road vehicles.

Suddenly, a huge explosion rang out, and a spectacular fireball shone like fireworks. It was a volcanic crater explosion, and many rock fragments scattered in all directions, falling like rain.

Naoki Hanyu caught the falling rock with one hand; it was hot, definitely over 100 degrees Celsius.

He thought it was quite powerful, let alone the others. Two unlucky guys were hit and immediately let out a wail.

Just then, another minibus pulled up, and the driver shouted at the line of dozens of people.

"Elderly, children and ladies, please go first. Gentlemen, please run downhill as fast as you can. The other vehicle will be there in just 3 minutes."

Naoki Hanyu looked at the girls who were following him.

"You guys get in the car first. I'm not worried about this kind of disaster because of my physical condition."

The girls obediently got into the car and left, except for Senbon Natsumi, who wanted to stay because she was in good health, but Hanyu Naoki simply picked her up and threw her into the car.

"Don't cause trouble and make me worry."

"."

The minibus left, and the remaining twenty-odd men were running as fast as they could when they heard an old man's voice from behind, which made the men stop.

A white man, around 70 years old, was seen panting heavily about 100 meters away.

"My companion has been attacked by a strange insect. Please, kind people, help me."

Although the men were reluctant to leave, they dared not linger in the face of the threat of death. Only Naoki Hanyu turned and walked towards the old man.

Despite being bombarded by naval guns, Naoki Hanyu still didn't consider the volcanic eruption a life-threatening natural disaster. He was also quite curious about what the strange insects were.

Mount Etna, being an active volcano, has very few living organisms. What kind of insect would be capable of attacking humans during a volcanic eruption?

“Old man, tell me the location, I will go to rescue your friend, you can go down the mountain with the others and leave.”

The white man was stunned. He hadn't expected that the person who offered help would be an Asian. Come to think of it, this person looked familiar. Could he be some kind of celebrity?
"I'll go with you, otherwise you won't be able to find your way."

Naoki Hanyu shook his head.

"You can't keep up with me."

"But with all that volcanic ash, will you be able to find the location?"

In the end, Naoki Hanyu agreed with the other party's statement, so he carried the old man and ran at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour, leaving the old man completely dumbfounded.

"That speed... young man, who exactly are you?"

"My name is Naoki Hanyu, and I am a police officer in Japan."

Police officer, Naoki Hanyu?
Well, the old man still couldn't remember the other person's identity, but he remembered the name.

In less than 5 minutes, Naoki Hanyu found the old man's companion, a woman in her 60s who, despite her age, still showed signs of her youthful beauty.

However, the old man was attacked by several insects that were 14 centimeters long, and his whole body was covered in bites.

What insect?

No, it's not an insect.

Naoki Hanyu recognized what it was; it was practically an enlarged version of a springtail beetle.

Springtails belong to the class Collembola. They and insects (class Insecta) both belong to the subphylum Hexapoda and are closely related, but springtails are not true insects.

In addition, springtails are among the most heat-resistant insects. They are creatures that live in active volcanic areas and are unaffected by temperatures below 50 degrees Celsius. The only terrestrial life form that can rival or even surpass them in heat resistance is the Sahara silver ant.

Naoki Hanyu recognized him, but he was still quite surprised.

"What's happening here."

Springtails are usually tiny creatures less than a centimeter long, some even less than a millimeter long, but these in front of us are over ten centimeters long and still attack humans.

There are only two possible explanations: one is a mutated species, and the other is breaking through the limits of the species. But are there several species that break through together in a row?
Naoki Hanyu didn't have time to think too much. He rushed over and thrust his fingers out repeatedly, easily piercing the bodies of several springtail beetles. The remaining three also reacted.

But these "little guys" didn't run away. Instead, their tail-like lower bodies bounced off the ground, and the whole insect flew towards Naoki Hanyu like a cannonball. The speed was definitely over 200 kilometers per hour, and it would hurt a lot if it hit someone.

However, who is Naoki Hanyu? He caught the insect and threw it away. How dare a few insects challenge him, Naoki Hanyu?

"Grandpa, you're safe now."

The elderly woman, who had several wounds from being bitten, wanted to speak, but the volcanic ash caused her to cough incessantly, and inhaling it for two minutes felt like she was going to die.

Not to mention the old woman, even the old man behind her was coughing incessantly because he had inhaled volcanic ash.

Naoki Hanyu could only carry one on his back and try to return the way he came, but the next part of the journey made his scalp tingle. He saw that the path he came from was blocked by lava, and there were also some jumping worms ranging from 1 to 10 centimeters in length wreaking havoc.

Naoki Hanyu strongly suspects that these jumping worms actually live inside Mount Etna and were only shaken out by the force of the commotion.

Of course, he is neither a biologist nor a geologist, so he doesn't know the situation.

(End of this chapter)