Did the world end today?

Chapter 404 Chain Reaction
In the desert, 12 kilometers from the overflow area.

A man wearing an exoskeleton and holding a walkie-talkie is shouting as he tries to re-establish contact with the rear.

However, under the interference of strong electromagnetic forces, all he could hear in his headphones was a series of static noises.

A flurry of figures passed by him. He grabbed an American officer who was trying to get into a vehicle to approach the storm zone and shouted in English:
"Don't go! The deadline is right ahead!"

"Get away from the thunderstorm area immediately!"

"Immediately organize the evacuation of all personnel! Beware of vacuum bubbles!"

"We need support! We need to perform barometric pressure equalization immediately!"

"Where are the rapid reaction forces?!"

"Contact the highest command! I request the evacuation of civilians within a 100-kilometer radius!"

"This is beyond the jurisdiction of the limiter base. I need your presidential decree!"

“Come up first!”

The fact that this officer was even here proves that he is by no means a passive beneficiary of the military-industrial complex.

In fact, regardless of his stance, the numerous battles he had experienced had long since forged him into a truly fearless warrior.

Upon receiving the man's instructions, he immediately ordered the driver to turn around and handed his hand to the man, gesturing for him to get in the car.

The man grabbed the officer's hand and stepped into the Hummer.

Meanwhile, the two quickly switched identities.

"Chen Qin, deputy battalion commander of the LMG array defense force, is in charge of on-site command."

“I know you. I’m Elton, from the 75th Regiment, in charge of security in the outskirts.”

"My soldiers are trapped in that thunderstorm area, and I need to find a way to get them out! Do you have any ideas?"

"Do not make jokes!"

Chen Qin answered without hesitation:

"They have no hope!"

"This is no ordinary thunderstorm! This is unlike any meteorological disaster you've ever seen before!"

"This is a supermolecular oscillation caused by fluctuations in spacetime curvature, just like when you shake all the bubbles out of a bottle of cola!"

"This isn't a discharge; it's a sustained plasma storm!"

"The temperature at the eye of the storm can reach at least 4 degrees Celsius, and this is not instantaneous energy, but continuous!"

"No one can survive even a second in that kind of heat. All we can do is evacuate as quickly as possible!"

These words were spoken with utmost calmness, almost to the point of indifference.

Elton frowned, seemingly wanting to make a final stand, but Chen Qin didn't give him the chance.

There's no need to argue.

“We also have a small team trapped in the thunderstorm area. Like your team, their chances of survival are also slim.”

“We cannot turn back to save them; any risky action would be irresponsible towards their sacrifice.”

"We cannot fight against sunk costs in the face of random disasters!"

"Sunk costs?"

The Hummer continued speeding forward, but Elton's expression turned somewhat ferocious.

"They are all lives—and you call them sunk costs?"

"This is unfair to them."

"I know it's unfair."

In the distance, the command center tent had already appeared on the ground.

Chen Qin jumped out of the Hummer and turned around to say:

"But in the face of higher-dimensional disasters, there is never any fairness."

“Now I need more people to prepare for the evacuation—I can’t give you direct orders, this is your own choice.”

"Help me organize the evacuation, or squander your life on a completely meaningless rescue?"

Elton gritted his teeth.

He turned to look at the blazing plasma cloud, its blinding light turning the ground slightly blue.

This is a dangerous sign.

Our team is way too close to the thunderstorm zone.

If you continue to hesitate, and the thunderstorm area expands or is "refreshed" again, then you will face an inevitable death!

Those brothers.
They really have no chance left.

At that moment, Elton seemed to have a kind of "realization".

No matter how many times he had heard about the "doomsday" before, no matter how many times he had witnessed the tremendous changes brought about by so-called high-dimensional technology, and even the aurora created by the "moon surge experiment" was something he had seen with his own eyes.

But none of those experiences have been as impactful as this moment.

This is the real end of the world.

Faced with such a disaster, humanity appears incredibly small.

Fear began to take root in his heart, only to be replaced by a feeling of anger in an instant.

I can't die here.

Why should I die here?
He grabbed the driver's shoulder and said:

"Get out of the car, I need it!"

The driver turned around in astonishment, but he pushed the driver out of the car without any hesitation.

"All communications have been lost!"

He shouted at Chen Qin, who was not far away:
"You organize the evacuation, I need to go back and gather the remaining scattered personnel!"

"They're too far away, and there aren't enough vehicles available. I have to go pick them up!"

Chen Qin paused for a moment.

He then replied:
"understand!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Elton slammed on the gas pedal.

He jerked the steering wheel, the tires screeching and kicking up a cloud of dust as the Hummer sped away.

The hurricane had stopped, and his vision was crystal clear.

In the distance, two figures were running in his path, but he did not slow down.

too close.

They only need to run a few more steps to reach the command center.

Their goal was to get closer to the center of the thunderstorm area and reach those people who hadn't had time to evacuate.

The car's electronic systems have largely failed, and even the power steering system has begun to malfunction.

Elton gripped the steering wheel tightly, muttering curses under his breath.

"Damn it! Why wasn't there any warning at all?!"

"Damn Chinese, didn't they expect this?!"

"God, have mercy on me!"

"If I could go back, I would definitely confront them face to face!"

"I hope they're still alive, FUCK! Get in the car!"

Elton finally met the first survivor worth rescuing.

The other person's right arm had been charred by the high temperature, leaving only a carbonized, charred limb.

His pace was extremely slow, and his teammates who were actually fleeing passed him one after another. Only a woman who was not wearing a military uniform and looked like a researcher helped him move forward with difficulty.

"boarding!"

Elton yelled and drew his pistol, trying to disperse the healthy soldiers who were approaching the vehicle.

But his worries were unnecessary.

While these people weren't noble enough to sacrifice themselves to rescue their teammates who were in imminent danger, they weren't despicable enough to resort to violence to seize a chance to survive either.

Only the man and woman approached the Hummer, and after throwing the wounded man into the vehicle, the woman ran away without hesitation.

She didn't even leave a word, nor did she look back.

She knew why the vehicle had come here, and she also knew that she shouldn't take up one of the limited "rescue slots."

"Damn it!"

Elton muttered:

"What a woman!" Without time to think, he quickly checked the wounded soldier's injuries.

The other person had already fallen into a coma after getting into the car, and his remaining right arm had been broken off due to the violent movement just now.

The good news is that the high temperature of the plasma has completely burned and sealed off the blood vessels, so he is not at risk of excessive blood loss for the time being.

"Sit tight!"

Elton wasn't sure if he was saying this to himself or to the injured player.

He stepped on the gas, and his head snapped back for a moment.

This old and reliable war machine continued its charge into a completely unfamiliar battlefield.

Smoke and dust billowed as the plasma thunderstorm drew ever closer.

The light gradually became somewhat dazzling, and on the desert ground, several long shadows were stretched out and danced.

Is there anyone else up ahead?

Elton shouted the question.

"a lot of!"

The player, who was speeding along, managed to answer a question, while Elton continued to floor the gas pedal and race.

At this point, from a visual distance perspective, he was less than two kilometers away from the plasma thunderstorm zone.

The distance to the command center at the rear is already more than 5 kilometers.

We can't go any further.

Elton slammed on the brakes and stopped in front of a fleeing squad.

"boarding!"

"What I mean is, everyone, get on the bus!"

"If there's not enough room, climb onto the roof! Hold on tight!"

His biggest regret now is that he didn't choose a convertible Jeep—at least he could have carried more people.

"Drop your equipment! Drop all your equipment!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the team members had already nimbly dropped their equipment and climbed into the vehicle. In just 30 seconds, the Hummer restarted.

How many people are behind them?

Elton shouted at his still-shaken teammate, who gasped for breath and said urgently:
"At least 150 people!"

"More than 200 people were directly hit by the thunderstorm; they are all gone!"

"We still have a lot of wounded in the rear, but most of our vehicles are destroyed!"

"FUCK! Electromagnetic pulse!"

"Most of the electronic devices are malfunctioning!"

"Why does this thing also generate electromagnetic pulses!?"

"The devil knows!"

Elton stared at the open road ahead; the Hummer had already sped up to 100 mph.

Based on this speed and the rate at which the thunderstorm area spreads, he should have two more opportunities to make a rescue trip.

but
It's absolutely impossible to bring everyone back with just my one car.

150 people.
There are still wounded!

Elton gritted his teeth, but at that very moment, several plumes of smoke suddenly appeared at the end of his vision.

That was the same convoy that had been speeding towards the thunderstorm area just two minutes before.

In that fleeting moment, Elton seemed to see the face of the man named Chen Qin, whom he had just met.

He went back?
Just now, he was criticizing his own irrationality.

Elton had no idea what was happening in the command post behind the building, but when he parked his car in front of it, he discovered that the people there had not evacuated immediately.

Many people are trying to quickly repair and start up all the vehicles in sight, and the wounded are being evacuated, but apart from that, there is no sign of evacuation from the entire command post, including its expensive equipment.

what's the situation?
Did they give up?
That's right, abandoning the equipment and protecting personnel as much as possible was the right choice.

Given that vehicle support from the rear could not arrive temporarily, the decision to carry out on-site repairs was quite wise.

These Chinese people are indeed intelligent.

At least, they made the right choice in the shortest amount of time.

If it had been handed over to those so-called "commanders" he was familiar with, what he would be seeing now would be empty tents and sheds.

"Get out of the car! Get out of the car!"

Elton yelled and slammed on the brakes. The car had barely come to a stop when the team members who were clinging to the roof tumbled off.

They quickly carried the wounded off the plane, while Elton swerved the steering wheel and continued rushing towards the thunderstorm area.

The area affected by thunderstorms is still expanding, but its "spread" is not like an overflowing puddle.

It doesn't have a clear concept of "edges," but rather spreads in a kind of "probability band."

By the time Elton noticed small thunderstorms starting to appear behind him, it was too late.

He had entered the thunderstorm zone, which, although a low-probability zone, was still enough to trap him to death!

From then on, his life or death was entirely left to probability.

"boom!"

A loud bang came from afar. Elton looked up and saw an all-terrain vehicle less than 200 meters away from him being grazed by a sudden thundercloud and instantly blown to ash.

Its driver, however, was clearly doomed.

"My God, get on the bus!"

Elton found the second group of survivors and slammed on the brakes, intending to help them, but then he immediately noticed that the dust clouds that had been roaming across the vast wasteland were suddenly beginning to converge in his direction.

Behind them, the thunderstorm had gradually formed a wall.

The probability zone spread much faster than he had imagined.

Now, he can no longer turn back.

Not just him, but everyone else was already beyond turning back.

Not far away, Chen Qin had already jumped out of his car. Then, he gave the order to reorganize the team, seemingly trying to cram everyone into the car.

"it's useless."

Elton stepped forward and said:
"As you said, this is not a simple thunderstorm."

"This is a special plasma storm."

"It's not just the electric current that's deadly, but also the high temperature."

"us."

“I understand perfectly.”

Chen Qin interrupted him and continued:

"We can't escape the high temperatures, but staying in the car might protect us from the possibility of electrical discharge at any time."

"Get back in the car immediately! The open environment is extremely dangerous!"

Do you really think we can survive?
Elton was filled with despair, yet also with a sense of calm.

He walked back to his car and, imitating Chen Qin, arranged for everyone to get inside.

He didn't really expect it to have any effect.

Perhaps, just like firefighters draped in fire blankets when surrounded by wildfires, their purpose in doing so is simply to ensure their peaceful departure.
He closed his eyes slightly.

A rumbling sound came from overhead; the thunderstorm seemed to be getting closer.

But at the same time, a strange smell filled his nostrils.

He instinctively opened his eyes.

At this moment, the entire sky was covered with silvery-gray dust.

"Cover your nose and mouth!"

Chen Qin shouted a reminder from a distance.

His voice was quickly drowned out by a huge roar, but the roar did not come from the thunderstorm.

It came from an aircraft that was flying by at an extremely low altitude and extremely high speed.

And wherever it goes.
Just like Moses dividing the waters.

The sky full of thunderclouds was instantly cut in two!

(End of this chapter)