Extreme germ phobia

Chapter 276 Talivia's Madness

East of Salaidon.

The dim light from the emergency lights barely illuminated the road, and a group of guards stood on both sides of the road, constantly stamping their feet and rubbing their hands.

A roar of engines drew everyone's attention. A moment later, a convoy appeared in the distance, with more than a dozen cars lined up in a row, their headlights dispelling the darkness along the way.

However, once the convoy had passed, darkness enveloped the surroundings once more.

Having received prior notice, the guards immediately moved aside the armored vehicles blocking the way, and more than a dozen off-road vehicles of various models slowly drove out of the city.

The distance between them was quite large.

It's not that I don't want to walk faster, it's just that the road surface is too slippery, and I dare not increase my speed.

The arrangement of the vehicles was also quite deliberate, with several off-road vehicles full of escorts leading the way, followed by the power workers responsible for maintenance.

As the convoy left the city, a disgruntled Talivia called Duan Shuxun again, hoping the office would send some professionals to assist the US in repairing the power facilities and restoring power to the entire city.

Duan Shuxun refused without hesitation, reiterating that the office would never intervene in the conflicts between the Americans and the Chinese.

Talivia made no attempt to downplay the need for electricity for heating at the office. She emphasized that if the power supply were restored, everyone would be fine; if it couldn't be restored, everyone would have to endure a cold and unbearable snowy night.

No matter what she said, Duan Shuxun just wouldn't agree.

Talivia had no choice but to give up.

Even after hanging up the phone, Duan Shuxun felt a growing unease.

What exactly is this dark-skinned woman trying to do? She should have known that Duan Shuxun wouldn't agree, yet she still made that call. What kind of scheme is she plotting?
Outside the city, the off-road convoy moved forward at a snail's pace, with everyone proceeding cautiously.

Even so, vehicles still occasionally drift, skid, or even run off the road.

Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture has a subtropical climate with little and short-lived snowfall in winter. Such extreme weather is a rare occurrence, and no one has prepared snow tires at all.

Without proper equipment, even the most expensive off-road vehicle will inevitably slip.

These off-road vehicles were the best available for leaving the city, having been searched all over Salaidon.

Moreover, the vast majority of people in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture have no driving experience on icy and snowy roads and are simply unable to cope with such complex road conditions.

Despite the bumpy ride, the convoy kept moving forward and soon left the highway, arriving near a high-voltage power tower.

With visibility extremely limited due to the wind and snow, the lead vehicle almost crashed into the steel frame before realizing they had arrived at the destination.

The convoy slowly came to a stop. The guards got out of the vehicles first to stand guard, followed by the workers responsible for inspecting the power facilities. They even launched two drones to observe the power lines up close to see if they were intact.

The camera showed that although the wiring was fine, the cable was covered with a thick layer of ice, indicating that it was at its limit and could break at any moment under the weight of the load.

"We must clear the ice!" the only electrical engineer in the team said decisively.

The accompanying workers immediately shook their heads, refusing to climb the tower no matter what.

What a joke! Although the power supply is cut off, the power tower is covered with ice and is no different from an ice tower. It would be extremely difficult to climb up.

Climbing the tower in this situation isn't about clearing the ice; it's about risking your life!

Nobody thought there was anything wrong with it; forcing people to go up in this weather would be inhumane.

The situation at the front was reported to the city hall immediately. Upon receiving the news, Talivia almost collapsed. She gritted her teeth and it took her a while to suppress the urge to curse. She then called several councilors to discuss countermeasures.

After much discussion, the final decision was to use .22 caliber firearms to shoot the frozen wires!

There is indeed some risk involved in doing this, but .22 caliber bullets have very low power, and the ice on the cable provides a natural layer of protection. The possibility of the cable being broken cannot be ruled out, but it is negligible.

Although it's a bit risky, it's definitely the fastest and safest way.

After much deliberation, Talivia finally made up her mind: Let's do it!

She immediately mobilized a team to form a de-icing squad, equipped with .22 caliber firearms and a large quantity of ammunition, and rushed to the scene as quickly as possible.

The rest is simple: just shoot wherever you find ice.

The freezing rain has turned into snow, so there's no need to worry about it freezing again.

Half an hour later, the convoy arrived at a location six kilometers from Salleton, where a broken cable appeared in the drone's view.

"Found it!" the engineer shouted excitedly.

He slapped his hand hard: "Quick, find the break point!"

The engineer got a little too excited and hit the pilot's arm too hard, hurting him.

The pilot instinctively dodged, but his hand movements became distorted, and the drone, which should have flown straight along the line, veered to one side and accidentally crashed into the broken cable.

The already precarious cable suddenly fell, crashing heavily onto a pickup truck in front, twisting and deforming the truck's roof.

The two guards sitting in the back of the wagon jumped up like startled rabbits and tumbled out of the wagon.

Several guards managed to push open the deformed door, one of them with a bloody hole in his head, blood streaming down his face.

Then, they pulled another unconscious companion out of the carriage.

A separate vehicle was quickly dispatched to take the unconscious and injured Old Mi back to the city for treatment.

The others continued to patrol the route, looking for breakpoints.

It turned out that the break point was not here, but under the power tower further ahead.

The drone quickly located the break point and found dozens of frozen corpses near it, many of whom were still in the process of ambush and handover until their deaths.

They also found a few guys who were barely clinging to life; they tried to pull the trigger, but their fingers wouldn't obey them.

It's already a small miracle that they've managed to hold on until now, but fate hasn't been on their side. The surviving Misers were all eventually killed by the guards in despair.

They're good at this.

Regardless, the breakpoint has finally been found, but climbing the power tower remains an impossible task.

Left with no other option, they had to settle for second best and temporarily set up a support frame on the ground to connect the cables first.

And so, the group worked until midnight and finally connected the cable, and cheers instantly resounded through the snowy night.

However, joy turned to sorrow. Just a few minutes later, a winding arc of electricity suddenly rose from the distant iron tower.

The electric arc twisted and stretched like a snake, both mysterious and dangerous.
A moment later, sparks flashed in the darkness, followed by the crackling sound characteristic of a short circuit, and the power that had just been restored was cut off again.

The guards and workers, who were hungry, cold, and exhausted, were on the verge of collapse.

When the news reached the city hall, Talivia was devastated.

The reason is quite simple: the lines are icy.

Talivia had no choice but to send in more people. This time, she learned from her previous experience and prioritized clearing the ice from the cables before repairing the lines.

At 5 a.m., power was finally restored to Salaiton, which had been frozen in the cold all night.

Everyone instinctively held their breath and waited anxiously until the power was still on after more than ten minutes, at which point they slowly relaxed.

In the early morning, the snow finally stopped, but the howling wind continued to rage.

As the rising sun cast its first rays, illuminating the snow-covered land, the guards on the city walls were astonished to see snow mounds rising everywhere on the open ground outside the city.

The wind blew the snow off some of the snowdrifts, revealing corpses that had long since frozen solid.

This scene was deeply etched into the hearts of the guards. For the rest of their lives, they would often recall the endless snow-covered plains and the fierce battle in the wind and rain.

He never forgot until the end of his life.

The situation at the office was not bad. Although everyone had spent the night in the air-raid shelter, they slept soundly and were in good spirits when they woke up in the morning. Everyone immediately got to work.

Besides the guards.

They worked several shifts throughout the night, and everyone was exhausted.

Duan Shuxun had originally planned to arrange for the guards to take turns resting, but just as he picked up his bowl to take a bite of food, Secretary Liu rushed over and whispered, "Director, something's happened!"

Duan Shuxun immediately put down his chopsticks and asked, "What happened?"

Secretary Liu winked at him: "You should come and take a look."

Duan Shuxun immediately went to the window and saw dozens of old rice farmers gathered outside the office.

They stood in the street, holding various handwritten signs and shouting their slogans.

Our guards are on high alert and will not hesitate to use force should any unusual situation arise.

Duan Shuxun was starting to lose his composure: "What are they trying to do?"

Logically, this sudden extreme weather event completely resolved the situation outside Salaidon, turning the tide of the battle, and everyone in the city should have breathed a sigh of relief.

Why did you suddenly become so irritable?
Secretary Liu was also helpless: "We're protesting because we didn't do anything."

Duan Shuxun was immediately stunned: "Don't you have a brain? Two groups of Americans are fighting, what can we do? Take sides?"

“But Old Mi doesn’t think so!” Secretary Liu said. “They’re demanding an explanation from us.”

"Explanation? Bullshit!" Duan Shuxun nearly exploded on the spot. "What's there to explain? Don't they know we're from Dongda University? Don't they know we can't get involved? What a load of rubbish! They know everything, they're just deliberately trying to annoy us!"

His eyes were blazing with fury; he wanted nothing more than to rush out and shoot all the American protesters.

Secretary Liu whispered a reminder: "We can't just leave it like this. Shouldn't we hurry up and think of a solution?"

Duan Shuxun's face was ashen: "Notify the guards to increase vigilance!"

"Okay!" Secretary Liu nodded.

Duan Shuxun lost his appetite and took out his phone to call the city hall. The moment the call connected, all his anxiety and impatience vanished: "Mayor Talivia, hello! Congratulations on your victory! You are truly Salleton's savior!"

Ouyang and the others who happened to be passing by heard this and all perked up their ears.

What's going on? Is there an affair?
"Thank you," Talvia replied politely, her tone indifferent. "I'm busy, so I won't say any more."

"Wait!" Duan Shuxun gritted his teeth. This woman was really troublesome. "Mayor Talivia, I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a group of Americans gathered outside the office. They've made some remarks that are not conducive to friendly relations between the two sides. We hope you can resolve this as soon as possible."

"Oh? What kind of remarks?"

Duan Shuxun stopped beating around the bush: "It's baseless to accuse us of not contributing in yesterday's conflict."

Talivia sneered: "Isn't this the truth?"

"Others may not know what's going on, but don't you know either?" Duan Shuxun's tone also turned cold. "Then let me emphasize again, we are staff members of the Dongda University office in Salleton. We are Dongda people, and we must remain neutral and restrained in the conflict between the Americans!"

"To hell with neutrality and restraint! If you refuse to help me, you're betraying me, betraying Saledon and all Saledonians!"

"What?!" Duan Shuxun could hardly believe his ears. "Are you crazy? Listen to what you're saying!"

“I’m not crazy, I’m perfectly calm, calmer than I’ve ever been!” Talvia’s tone was cold and hard. “Duan, you will pay for your actions, I swear!”

"This is utterly absurd!" Duan Shuxun's tone also turned cold and ruthless. "We don't cause trouble, but we're absolutely not afraid of trouble either. If this is your decision, then fine, I'll fight you to the end!"

Talivia didn't say anything more, but hung up the phone.

Duan Shuxun's face was as black as the bottom of a pot: "What the hell is this?!"

"Director?" Secretary Liu asked with his eyes.

Duan Shuxun took a deep breath: "Talivia has gone mad."

"Huh?" Secretary Liu was a little confused. What was going on?
Duan Shuxun was silent for a moment, then carefully considered and weighed the options: "Secretary Liu, please make a note of this."

"Okay!" Secretary Liu immediately took out paper and pen, ready to take notes.

"First, from this moment forward, everyone is on combat alert. No one is to be without their gun, and no one is to be without their gun. However, without my order, no one is allowed to fire!"

Secretary Liu's gaze sharpened, and he immediately scribbled down a line of text.

"Second, destroy all unimportant documents, and prepare to destroy important documents."

Secretary Liu wrote another line.

"Third, contact your superiors to explain the situation and try to resolve the issue through foreign affairs means as much as possible... and be quick to prevent the other party from cutting off communication."

Secretary Liu wrote in the same way, then looked up after stopping and asked, "Is there anything else?"

"No, go and get it done right away."

Secretary Liu immediately handed over the record, which Duan Shuxun quickly skimmed through. After confirming there were no problems, he signed his name and the date.

Before long, the entire office was bustling with activity, everyone doing their own job, except for the trio who had nothing to do.

To be honest, Ou Yang did not agree with Duan Shuxun's handling of the situation.

They've already come to our doorstep, and we haven't been given orders not to fire. We're just holding our hands back. Aren't we just making trouble for ourselves?
Also, it's just an office, where would you get so many documents?

He had long found it strange that in movies, documents are destroyed at crucial moments, especially sensitive secret documents, and people even risk their lives to destroy them.

What is this? Is it tradition?
As for contacting the higher-ups...

With the emperor far away and the heavens high, Ou Yang felt that even Duan Shuxun himself wouldn't dare to expect the higher-ups to solve any problems. The purpose of the report was simply to clarify the situation in advance, so that the higher-ups would be aware of the situation and not be caught off guard should a direct conflict occur.

Hmm, that should be it... right?

(End of this chapter)