With three superpowers at his fingertips, he could dominate the 1970s.

Zhuge Yunhe arrived seven days earlier than Jiang Zhiyu.

He didn't rest for a single day during those seven days.

He arrived at Dachengshan seven days ago. Without alerting the local authorities or going through official channels, the group jumped out of the military jeep before dawn, when there were only a few early risers scavenging on the street.

He stood on the street, looking at the city that was still asleep.

White smoke billowed from the factory chimneys, and early shift workers rode past on bicycles, their aluminum lunch boxes jingling in their baskets.

Everything was so ordinary.

Zhuge Yunhe withdrew his gaze, turned around and walked into the temporary command post—an inconspicuous bungalow with a sign that read "Municipal Supply and Marketing Cooperative Warehouse Management Office" hanging at the door. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary office.

But inside, communication equipment had already been set up, maps had been laid out, and documents were piled up.

Two squads of the advance team were already waiting there, along with the local armed forces leader; seven or eight people in total, sat around the long table that had been put together, their faces grave.

Zhuge Yunhe didn't waste any words and started speaking as soon as he sat down.

"Kaiyuan Coal Mine."

He pointed to a point on the map, and the person in charge on the other side immediately sat up straight.

"Under the pretext of nighttime equipment maintenance, transfer the miners to a safe area on the surface in batches in advance. Don't withdraw them all at once, that would arouse suspicion. Send fewer people down the mine each shift, and say that the equipment is aging and needs to be checked, and that the maintenance order has been approved from above."

"Everyone underground must be evacuated to the outer perimeter twelve hours in advance. Not a single one is allowed to remain."

He paused, then emphasized, "All the equipment inside and the coal that couldn't be transported out in time, gather them all together and stack them in the open space next to Shaft No. 3. Don't scatter them, don't pack them—there's no time. Just leave them there and wait for my men to come and collect them."

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

The person in charge took notes quickly, the pen scratching across the paper.

"The locomotive and rolling stock factory." Zhuge Yunhe moved his finger to another location on the map. "That's the core base for our country's locomotive manufacturing. Not a single engineer or technical backbone there can be harmed."

"Under the guise of a confidential meeting, summon core engineers and relevant technical personnel to Beijing for a business trip ahead of schedule. The notice should be issued today, and they must leave first thing tomorrow morning. The reason must be convincing—say that the ministry has an urgent technical review and specifically requested their participation."

"Where are the blueprints?" someone asked.

"The blueprints were packed up and shipped away ahead of time under the guise of being organized and archived." Zhuge Yunhe's voice was completely calm. "What can be transported will be transported; what can't be transported will be gathered on-site, just like the coal mine, and we'll wait for my people to arrive."

"The People's Bank of China Treasury."

"All the banks' vaults and important files are categorized in one place. Gold, foreign exchange reserves, and accounting documents—each is classified and clearly labeled. This work is the most sensitive and must be carried out at night to prevent anyone from seeing any unusual activity."

"The People's Hospital's critical equipment and core documents from the industrial archives area were centralized where possible and boxed up where appropriate. Medicines, surgical instruments, and X-ray machines—all were neatly stacked in a warehouse outside the hospital."

He recited each point one by one, and the people around him took notes one by one.

Each instruction is precise down to the exact location, the person in charge, and the specific timeframe. There is not a single superfluous word, nor a single ambiguous command.

Zhuge Yunhe has been in the bureau for so many years, not because of his arithmetic skills, but because of his decisive and efficient execution.

Everything that needs to be moved was gathered by area and collected all at once after Jiang Zhiyu arrived.

After doing all this, Zhuge Yunhe picked up his teacup and took a sip. Now he just had to wait for the child to arrive.

Outside the window, it was already dark.

He had lost count of how many sleepless nights he had endured. Ever since he foresaw this disaster, he hadn't had a single peaceful night's sleep.

Then he opened his eyes and couldn't fall back asleep. Only as the day drew closer, and seeing that the advance team had almost completed its mission, could he finally feel a little relieved.

"I'll say it one last time, next..."

He put down his cup and glanced at everyone present.

Then he took a list out of his pocket and slowly spread it out on the table.

The list wasn't long, only two pages, but Zhuge Yunhe handled it as if it were a weight of a thousand pounds.

His hands trembled slightly.

His voice suddenly became a little hoarse.

"Everyone on the list must be accounted for."

The meeting room was quiet for a while.

Everyone stared at the list, at each name—scientists, engineers, senior professors, and key technical personnel. Behind each name, their field of expertise and irreplaceable role were marked in red pen.

These people are the seeds of this country's future development.

Once it's lost, it's truly gone.

The air was heavy, like lead. No one spoke; only the clock on the wall ticked away, each tick like a blow to the heart.

Finally, a group leader broke the silence.

He was a young man in his thirties, still relatively new to the industry, and hadn't seen much of the big scenes. At this moment, his eyes were already red, and his voice was choked with emotion.

"Chief...can't we even...leave out just a tiny bit of information? Just a little bit...to give the people some preparation..."

Zhuge Yunhe did not answer immediately.

He turned his head and looked out the window.

The night is peaceful, and the lights of thousands of homes are on.

Ordinary, peaceful, and bustling with life.

After a long silence, Zhuge Yunhe finally spoke.

"You've spread the word, and tomorrow a million people will flee this city."

His voice was soft, but every word pierced the ears of everyone present like nails.

"The train station only has two lines, with a maximum capacity of 20,000 people. What about the remaining 980,000? Take the highway? There's only one national highway from Oshiroyama to Kyoto, a two-lane highway in both directions. If a million people were to cause a traffic jam, it would take three days and three nights to clear the road."

He turned back and looked at the group leader.

"And then? Stampedes. Car accidents. Panic. Elderly people were pushed to the ground, children were trampled, pregnant women got into trouble in the crowd—tell me, who do these people belong to?"

The team leader's lips moved, but he couldn't utter a word.

"More people may die from panic than from an earthquake."

Zhuge Yunhe's voice was calm, but the weariness in his eyes was undeniable.

"This isn't the first time. How many times in history has the panic before a disaster been more deadly than the disaster itself?"

The meeting room fell silent again.

It's heavier than before.

Several people had tears in their eyes, but no one cried out.

Those who have been in this industry for a long time all know one thing—they are not gods and cannot save everyone. All they can do is, within the constraints of the system, create as much room for change as possible. The massive machinery of the state is ruthless in operation.

Just like he said to Jiang Zhiyu.

You are that variable.

Zhuge Yunhe withdrew his gaze, folded the list neatly, and put it back in his pocket.

"Meeting adjourned. Each group shall proceed according to plan."

He stood up and took one last look at the myriad lights outside the window.

Seventy-two hours.

That girl, you'd better come quickly.