The continuous mountain range had been hollowed out down the middle, and nine giant Arks were carried by conveyor belts to dock in different areas one after another.
The bottom of each massive ship was supported by six giant metal braces, and the special mountain terrain formed the first line of defense against the tsunami.
After the seawater smashed through the mountains, the braces beneath the ships would continue to withstand the impact. With the tsunami weakened twice over, the ships could safely sail out to sea.
After a violent tremor, the confrontation between the roaring tsunami and China's heavy industry ended with the bottoms of the ships touching the water, and they began their perilous journey through the reefs formed by the mountains...
Inside Ark Five, the flashing red warning lights vanished, and the hall was once again flooded with blazing white light.
Hiss, hiss!
Like everyone else, Li Wei slowly stood up and looked toward the largest loudspeaker at the far end of the hall, waiting for the good news they had all been hoping for.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Fan Guojun, captain of the Dawn!" Only after quite a while did a voice emerge from the loudspeaker, as though it were suppressing some kind of emotion. It made everyone's hearts rise. "I want to inform you all that the Dawn has withstood the test. We... are heading for the open sea!"
In the next instant, thunderous cheers drowned out the entire hall and became the dominant sound aboard every ship.
Some embraced one another, some covered their faces and wept, and some even started showing off their affection on the spot...
Most of the time, life had always been the most important thing to people. Nature had dealt them a crushing blow, but it had not wiped them out completely. Human civilization would endure!
Mixed in among the cheering crowd, Li Wei felt the joyful atmosphere washing over him. He merely smiled faintly. He had no way to truly share their feelings, after all; he was not from this world.
He did feel a little joy, but what he wanted more was to develop the Deep Diver form as soon as things stabilized, improve Flight Mode, and then leave this world.
Coming to this world had not exactly been a brush with death, but it had still been quite a thrilling experience!
The hellish volcanic scenery, the despair-inducing tsunami over a thousand meters high, the terrifying earthquake that felt as though the earth itself were splitting apart!
Every disaster Li Wei had witnessed made him deeply aware of how small he was. He felt that if he traveled to another world again, no matter what he saw, he would be able to face it calmly...
He felt that few people could understand such a state of mind!
The astonishing cheers continued until the orange-vested volunteers came to restore order, gradually dying down. Li Wei could not find anywhere to sit, so he casually found a corner and leaned against the wall to rest.
Watching the orange-vested volunteers bustle about, he began considering how he should obtain the privilege of entering and leaving the ship whenever he wanted.
Should he barge directly into the captain's office, find the captain, reveal his special nature, and make a grand announcement?
Or should he quietly find the captain and let only a few people know about his uniqueness, reducing the risk of attracting trouble?
Just as he was about to give up thinking, the loudspeaker rang out again in the crowded hall.
"Everyone, stay where you are and do not move around. If you have any needs, raise your hand and speak. Shortly, a form will be handed to you. Fill in your personal information, then bring the completed form to me, and I'll assign you a room! Afterward, listen to the broadcasts in your rooms for further arrangements. Don't rush!"
A short-haired female volunteer held a loudspeaker and repeatedly reminded this group of refugees who had not yet been assigned rooms in several different languages.
Efficiency-minded Chinese people quickly brought over freshly printed forms and distributed them, along with pens, one by one. Li Wei also received a pen and a form.
The contents of the form were exceptionally simple: name, age, medical history, professional skills, and whether one had relatives.
Because the people aboard were such a mixed bunch, those who had fled in a daze had not cared which country's ship it was. They had boarded almost without thinking.
For humanitarian reasons, China had accepted these refugees who had fled in panic, intending to send them back later. If there were highly skilled professionals among them, they could also choose to recruit them.
The electronic information storage system had nearly collapsed, and infrastructure built over a century had all been destroyed in a single day along with the great earthquake. To rebuild a stable, functioning society, they had to consolidate everyone's information.
Seeing the contents of the form, Li Wei came up with a fairly good method. Under professional skills, he wrote: large aircraft and fighter jet piloting, top-tier special operations, firearms proficiency, elite hand-to-hand combat, fluent in English, Italian, French, Russian, and Chinese, body specially modified.
After checking it over briefly, he felt it was a little too high-profile, so he crossed out French with a line.
Nodding in satisfaction, he stood up and went to the entrance of the hall to join the long line, waiting for them to assign him a room.
There would always be chances to leave the ship later. He should rest first. Although, biologically speaking, he could no longer be considered human, habits formed over many years could not be changed just because he wanted them to.
Even if his body was not tired, his mind would still grow weary...
The line moved quickly, and the orange-vested volunteers were highly capable, rapidly assigning rooms to the refugees.
"Li Bin, average qualifications, no special skills. Next!" The young volunteer merely scanned the name, medical history, and professional skills sections. Seeing nothing noteworthy, he tossed the form aside, leaving the young man named Li Bin with a face full of dark lines.
"Next..."
"Next..."
The line continued to advance, and soon it was Li Wei's turn. He handed over the form in his hand and placed the pen in a nearby basket.
"Li Wei, qualifications...?" The volunteer had been about to routinely declare his qualifications average, but after seeing the long list of miscellaneous skills Li Wei had written down, he froze completely. Then his face turned into a baffled question mark.
"Large aircraft and fighter jet piloting? Special operations? Firearms proficiency? Hand-to-hand combat? Five... no, four languages? ...And specially modified is just too ridiculous!"
The volunteer raised his head, adjusted his glasses, and looked at the smiling Li Wei with utter disbelief. "Is this for real?"
The other female volunteer, who had not received any new forms, looked up in confusion. "What's wrong?"
The male volunteer handed her the form. "Take a look..."
Li Wei merely smiled and shook his head.
"Hey! Good grief! So you're the Urban Soldier King!" After reading the professional skills Li Wei had filled in, the female volunteer could only exclaim in astonishment.
But then she noticed the long line behind him and remembered her actual job. Setting down the form, she looked Li Wei up and down suspiciously. Her face reddened the next moment, and after clearing her throat, she said, "There's no way to verify the aircraft piloting here. Prove that you can speak multiple languages."
The people waiting in line also heard their conversation. When some Chinese people heard that someone could speak several languages, they looked over curiously and eagerly. The strong naturally attracted attention.
The male volunteer still did not believe Li Wei possessed all the professional skills written on the paper. Unless Li Wei had gotten drunk on even a single peanut, there was no way he could be this out of it!
Five languages alone would have been one thing, but the final note, "body specially modified," had cast the entire form in a suspicious light.
Specially modified?
What kind of special modification?
Missing a kidney, or missing something else?
At first glance, he could not tell whether Li Wei should be classified as special talent or "special" talent.
Li Wei shrugged, cleared his throat, and fluently greeted the volunteers one by one in the other four languages. They were genuinely friendly greetings.
That little display drew some astonished murmurs from the refugees waiting behind him.
Because he had expected that they might think he was making things up, or refuse to believe his other professional skills, Li Wei decided to put on a little show.
With a backhanded motion, he grabbed the collar of a somewhat overweight male onlooker standing behind him and lifted him into the air with one hand. Before everyone could recover from their shock, Li Wei made another backhanded motion and lifted a lucky spectator weighing at least two hundred jin with his left hand.
"I can even lift both of them and throw them. The special modification is the... very, very special kind. I don't think you'll find it easy to understand."
Everyone stared wide-eyed as Li Wei held two people who were clearly heavier than he was and hopped around in place.
"Holy shit! What's going on with that guy?!"
"Mom, look! Superman!"
"Th-that isn't a normal person, kid. That isn't a normal person!"
"Bro, try lifting me! Come on, give it a shot!"
"Get lost! It's hard enough just to carry someone. You lift one and let me see!"
"Could spiritual energy be reviving in this world too? I knew it! Earth's consciousness is coming back to life!"
The commotion at the entrance caught the attention of many people in the hall. Everyone who noticed Li Wei was left with their jaws hanging open.
Some wondered whether Li Wei was even human, while others thought they could do the same. Most of the people in the hall had their attention drawn to Li Wei, and quite a few soldiers maintaining order looked over as well, though none left their posts.
Although the male volunteer had thought the phrase "body specially modified" was ridiculous, the circus-like scene before him was even more absurd than what had been written on the paper!
How the hell could special modification possibly explain this?!
With one arm, Li Wei had lifted a fat adult man as easily as lifting a chick. His strength had to be at least three times greater than the object's weight.
Even setting aside his one-armed strength, he could still jump a meter high while carrying close to three hundred kilograms. Biologists would be cursing their mothers!
"St-stamp it. Special talent..." The male volunteer pushed his slipping glasses back up with trembling hands and spoke to the equally stunned female volunteer beside him.
The female volunteer finally came back to her senses and nodded blankly. She picked up a stamp and pressed it down, then opened the special talent dormitory records and assigned Li Wei a four-person room.
"Your name is Li Wei, right? Fine, fine, we believe you. Your room is 333 on the third floor. You can choose your bed after you get there. Next..."
After setting down the two human tools who had been shaken dizzy, Li Wei took the small name tag the female volunteer handed him and smiled. "Thank you."
The female volunteer stared foolishly at Li Wei's face for a moment, then replied somewhat shyly, "N-no need to thank me..."
With his name tag and room marker in hand, Li Wei followed the signs up the stairs. No one came to guide him. The survivors had too much work to do after the disaster, so everything had to be kept simple.
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