Chapter 80
The military parade in the Hua nation had just dropped a bombshell on the entire world.
Although the news had been circulating wildly online for several days and everyone was somewhat mentally prepared, when they actually heard the official confirmation, it still felt unbelievable.
Even though we say we don’t want to live every day, we don’t actually want to die!!! The Earth is being destroyed too quickly!
After the parade ended, Xia Anran could feel the palpable panic and anxiety that had gripped everyone, even in the capital. The streets and alleys were filled with hurried crowds. The office buildings were empty, as everyone was rushing home. Soon, the quick-acting ones were already dragging their packed luggage, their families heading for the four channel addresses that had just been officially announced.
Starting from noon, after the parade, all public transportation in the country was made available. One-third was used to bring Hua nation citizens from all over the world back home, while the rest was uniformly arranged by the government for free, scheduled evacuations to the channel locations.
Xia Anran looked at the flow of people outside the window with mixed feelings. After such a massive upheaval, she didn’t know what the future of the Earth would be like.
…
After attending the parade, the heads of state of the various countries did not leave. They held another emergency meeting with the Hua nation government to discuss how to evacuate their own citizens.
All the countries tacitly agreed that the evacuation would definitely start from the Hua nation. The only question was, after they had evacuated, how would the order for the remaining countries be arranged? With such a great disaster looming, everyone certainly wanted to leave as soon as possible.
So, although it was said to be a transfer meeting hosted by the Hua nation, it was actually a scene of the leaders of various countries engaging in a war of words at the negotiating table, cursing at each other, and trying to curry favor with the Hua nation to get their own country moved up the list.
“We are the closest to the Hua nation. From an efficiency standpoint, the evacuation should also start from our country D,” said the representative of country D, whose relationship with the Hua nation was the closest. The two countries had always been strategic partners, and their territories bordered each other.
Country G was not to be outdone. “Country G is the most populous country on Earth. And now, the Yaxun star’s attack could come at any time. Considering stability and priority, the evacuation order should be based on population size.”
“That won’t work!” Country H was the first to object. “Most of the populous countries are in economically underdeveloped regions, and the quality of their personnel is poor, making the evacuation difficult. We suggest starting with countries with a low population density.”
The top leader listened to their arguments for a long time and then looked at Kaelen, who had not said a word. “And Country A’s opinion?”
Kaelen threw up his hands. “I think the Hua nation should already have a complete emergency plan. We are happy to listen to your arrangements.”
The top leader nodded and displayed a flat map of the world on the projection screen. It was also roughly divided into four regions, just like the Hua nation. He explained that this division was based entirely on geographical location. Starting from the Hua nation as the origin point, the evacuation would proceed based on distance. He also suggested that each country should also concentrate its citizens as much as possible and, if possible, send over the specific gathering addresses by tomorrow.
“To be honest, we currently only have one evacuation channel, and it is not fixed. So we cannot carry out multiple evacuation routes at the same time. This is the only way,” he said.
There was an uproar in the conference room. The countries that were closer were smug, while those that were farther away were anxious. But Country A was the first to stand up and agree with this method, and the other countries also quieted down.
After discussing this most critical issue, the remaining thing everyone was most concerned about was, what was this so-called interstellar era from ten thousand years in the future? And what was the situation on the planet they were providing for them?
The leaders had already prepared a complete explanation. The story they gave was that through their interstellar exploration, they had one day suddenly received a signal from people who claimed to be from the Hua nation from over ten thousand years in the future. In a previous alien invasion, the Earth had been destroyed, so humanity had been forced to drift through space and had now settled and multiplied in the interstellar era. After making contact, they had decided to help Earth get through this crisis.
There was not a single lie in this, except that Xia Anran’s role in it had been erased, which was her own request. Before this, they had also communicated with the interstellar side. After the people of Earth had migrated over, for security reasons, they would not be allowed to come into contact with the interstellar humans, so her existence would not be exposed.
After the top leader’s explanation, it became a story of descendants working hard to change the old home of their parallel universe. As for the matter of receiving a signal from the universe from ten thousand years in the future, after deliberation with the professors of the Academy of Sciences, they stated that it was entirely possible. After all, the universe was full of mysteries. The more strange and bizarre things were, the more credible they were. As the old saying goes, when in doubt, quantum mechanics!
However, Kaelen still keenly noticed that the descendants the top leader had mentioned were “people of the Hua nation from ten thousand years in the future.” What about the people of other countries on Earth? Had they been scattered during the interstellar drift, or had they not successfully escaped the disaster and had been annihilated in the universe along with the Earth? But these questions were not important now. The important thing was to evacuate as soon as possible. And the Hua nation had already told them that this channel was open to both sides. In the upcoming invasion, the interstellar side would send people to help them. They could leave with much more peace of mind.
The moment the meeting was over, everyone rushed back to their own countries to prepare for the evacuation. The Hua nation estimated that the entire country’s evacuation would be completed within 48 hours. The hardest part of this would fall on Xia Anran. Fortunately, she had bought the portal before; otherwise, she would have had to run all over the world for days and nights without closing her eyes. With the portal, she saved time on the road, and her efficiency was greatly improved. And since the preparation of various countries was different, she could even get a break for an hour or two in between.
…
The first batch to go to the interstellar era through the channel was the northern region, which included the capital. The specific address was set in the central part of the north. By around midnight, about half of the expected citizens had arrived.
After verification and registration, they officially began to set off for the interstellar era.
Wang Li’s family were locals of the capital. After watching the military parade on site, they had quickly rushed home. The family of four had packed their luggage, brought their valuables, and had reluctantly locked the doors and windows of their home, setting off for the gathering point.
The gathering point was a large, empty suburban area that had been cleared in advance. They had arrived relatively early. When they got there at three in the afternoon, there were already quite a few people. As far as the eye could see, it was a sea of heads. Most were families with large and small bags of luggage, waiting nervously.
After they had registered at the front and received their number plates, they also found a spot to rest. His younger sister was only six this year and didn’t quite understand what was happening. In her impression, she had only ever seen so many people at an amusement park, so she was excitedly thinking that her parents and brother had brought her to play. Wang Li felt a little sad and played with his sister’s doll for a while. His parents sat on the side, guarding their luggage, and couldn’t help but sigh as they looked at their two children. How could something like this suddenly happen when life was going so well?
The family waited until after seven in the evening and only then realized they had actually come early. The people just now had only been the tip of the iceberg. Wang Li stood on his tiptoes and looked back at the continuous stream of people. He couldn’t see the end. Now, everyone was no longer sitting on the ground but was standing up and queuing.
At the front of the line were armed forces maintaining order. When Xia Anran arrived, it was almost time. She set up the portal channel in a room that the staff had built in advance and then took the opportunity to rest on the side. When this side was over, she would have to rush to the next location.
At eight o’clock, the transfer channel was opened on time. The staff held a loudspeaker and shouted over and over again for everyone to enter the room in front in an orderly manner. At the beginning, some people who were at the back of the line tried to rush forward and were immediately subdued by the armed police. After a few troublemakers were dealt with, everyone obediently queued up.
The first to enter was an old man, with an old woman behind him, probably a couple.
“After you enter the room, there will be a door. Just open it and go in. You might feel something like weightlessness, but don’t be afraid. Pay attention to your belongings and don’t leave anything behind,” the staff member instructed patiently.
The old woman was a little worried. The old man patted her hand, took most of the heavy luggage, and walked into the small room. The people queuing behind them also craned their necks to look in.
“He’s in, he’s in!”
“Can you really travel through space? It’s not some kind of scam, is it?”
“I don’t know! It’s so exciting!”
“There’s no movement! Did he get teleported or not?”
Half a minute later, a colleague in the room gave a signal, and only then did they let the second person in.
The process was quite fast. After queuing for half an hour, it was Wang Li’s family’s turn. So many people had already entered this room; it definitely couldn’t hold them all. The stone in his heart also lifted a little. When it was their family’s turn, he took the lead. After saying goodbye to his family, he walked in.
The room was empty and looked like a newly built model house. There were two staff members and two armed soldiers inside. In the center of the room was only a standing black door.
“Wang Li, right? You can just open this door.”
After verifying his ID again, the staff member signaled that he could open the door and go in.
He took a deep breath and nodded, mustering his courage to pull open the door.
Inside, it was not the colorful and magnificent passage he had imagined, but a pitch-black darkness.
“Don’t be afraid. Just go in,” the staff member said, offering a routine comfort.
He gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and rushed in. The moment he entered the door, he felt a little top-heavy, as if he had stepped on air. He let out a cry of surprise, and in the blink of an eye, he was in a brightly lit room.
Inside, it was the same as the room he had just come from, with two staff members and two soldiers. After verifying his ID again, they signaled that he could leave.
He was a little dazed. He touched his head. “I can really go out now?”
“Yes. You can go straight out.”
“But… my family hasn’t come over yet.”
The staff member said patiently, “You can wait outside the door. There will be dedicated personnel to take you to your place of residence.”
After another careful discussion, the leaders had decided to first dispatch a portion of government personnel and soldiers to receive them and maintain order. Before this, some people had already entered the interstellar era to roughly observe the environment and make plans.
Wang Li pushed open the door. Outside was a pitch-black darkness. There were no stars or moon in the sky, and the ground was barren. Many people who had just been teleported over were gathered outside, discussing excitedly. Some lights had been set up around to illuminate the road. He looked up and felt as if he had arrived on the Gobi Desert. There was nothing.
They haven’t come to the moon, have they?