"We'll have to help them survive the apocalypse in return?"
Tong Wenshi adjusted his glasses, the wrinkles on his face deepening.
He had thought that joining this Mutual Aid Society would simply mean receiving aid, but now it seemed they really had obligations to fulfill?
But they were already in such dire straits. Did they still have the ability to help anyone else survive an apocalypse?
Seeing the doubt in Tong Wenshi's eyes, Bai Xu spoke up. "Mr. Tong, here's the situation. According to President Zhang's prediction, our spacetime will suffer a world-ending natural disaster affecting the entire globe in a few years."
"According to our calculations, if the disaster really happens, the only way our citizens can survive is to temporarily relocate to your spacetime through the Spacetime Tunnel."
Tong Wenshi understood, yet he didn't.
"So your spacetime hasn't faced an apocalypse yet. You heard this President Zhang's prediction..."
Zhang Tianyuan chimed in at the right moment. "For certain reasons, besides being able to open Spacetime Tunnels, I also have a basic understanding of the general course of events in the worlds they lead to."
Bai Xu nodded repeatedly, expressing his wholehearted agreement. "Exactly. President Zhang already knew about the KV Virus and the Darkseekers before entering your spacetime, and he had us get the KV Vaccine well in advance."
After arriving in this spacetime and discovering that Zhang Tianyuan's prediction of its devastation had been entirely accurate, everyone on the advance team fully believed his earlier prediction about their own spacetime.
They all believed that their spacetime would soon face an apocalyptic crisis too!
In 2012!
The advance team's trust in Zhang Tianyuan was fanatical.
If they hadn't genuinely been nonbelievers, and Zhang Tianyuan hadn't had no intention of steering them that way, they might really have formed an apocalyptic cult.
Tong Wenshi's mind grew even more tangled, the wrinkles between his brows deep as gullies. He was fifty years old and had studied physics. His entire worldview rested on science, but what Zhang Tianyuan and Bai Xu were saying truly went beyond that worldview.
How could something like a Spacetime Tunnel exist?
How could there be such a thing as prophecy?
Yet all the signs really did indicate that Zhang Tianyuan's group was anything but ordinary...
Tong Wenshi thought for a while. Knowing his knowledge could never yield an answer, he simply set it aside for now.
Instead, he focused on another point. "You have a vaccine for the KV Virus too?"
"That's right," Bai Xu said. "Before we entered this spacetime, it was manufactured on our country's vaccine production lines using technology and raw materials provided by President Zhang."
Zhang Tianyuan tried to explain again. "
For certain reasons..."
Tong Wenshi raised a hand to stop him, interrupting, "I understand."
Whether the vaccine was real or fake, they no longer had the means to verify it.
Since that was the case, there was no need to waste time on it.
Tong Wenshi looked at Bai Xu. "Judging from what you just said, you intend to relocate your citizens to our world for refuge before the apocalypse happens?"
"What kind of natural disaster would require your entire nation to relocate?"
Bai Xu raised his hands above his head and gestured. "According to President Zhang's prediction, the continental plates will rapidly fracture, sink, and drift. The tsunamis alone will submerge Mount Everest."
"Oh, right. You have Mount Everest here too, don't you?"
Tong Wenshi nodded. "We do."
He understood now.
Although he hadn't studied geography, his background in physics made it easy for him to understand Bai Xu and the others' concerns.
If the disaster was caused by tectonic plate movements, the energy released would indeed be enough to destroy the world.
Bai Xu breathed a sigh of relief. He felt things were moving in a good direction. "Before the apocalypse happens, we plan to relocate all our citizens to your spacetime, possibly even people from other countries."
Tong Wenshi didn't reply. He merely closed his eyes in thought, looking as though he were resigning himself to his fate.
Under the present circumstances, he didn't seem to have the power to refuse.
Even if he disagreed, Zhang Tianyuan could forcibly move everyone over, letting the cuckoo take over the magpie's nest.
Their entire country probably had only a little over a million people left, with more than nine square kilometers per person. How were they supposed to defend that?
To him, the cooperation Zhang Tianyuan was proposing now was more an expression of respect that allowed them to keep their dignity.
Now it depended on whether he chose to keep that dignity...
Bai Xu also knew what Tong Wenshi was worried about. When he remained silent for a long time, Bai Xu hurriedly added, "We can guarantee that once the apocalypse in our spacetime is over, everyone will withdraw in an orderly manner."
Zhang Tianyuan also offered a guarantee in his capacity as president of the Mutual Aid Society:
"As long as you sign the application and become a member nation of our Mutual Aid Society, I can guarantee that this cooperation will be fair to you."
"And I can take you to Bai Xu's spacetime to discuss the details of deeper cooperation with the senior leadership there."
"Also, the pregnant women in the settlement can go with you to give birth. Bai Xu and the others can also help you build virus-free delivery rooms in the future."
That point was crucial.
Even Ding Jingye knew how deadly the KV Virus was to babies. Tong Wenshi naturally couldn't have been unaware of it.
This was a major issue that would drive humanity to extinction within the next few decades.
Now, only by building
virus-free delivery rooms, having babies born inside them, and giving them the KV Vaccine would it be possible for the population to grow again.
At this point.
Tong Wenshi finally opened his eyes, his expression unruffled.
"I understand. We'll give this serious consideration."
"I'll go back and discuss it with the others first."
Before leaving, Tong Wenshi took a long look at Zhang Tianyuan, who was talking to Bai Xu.
He went back and held a brief meeting. The other two leaders both believed they should proceed cautiously in their dealings with Zhang Tianyuan's group.
Tong Wenshi, meanwhile, paced inside his yurt with the application in hand until nightfall. Only then, beneath a sky full of stars, did he enter Zhang Tianyuan's yurt for the third time.
"Mr. Tong, what would you like to know, coming over so late?" Zhang Tianyuan looked curiously at the man walking in.
Tong Wenshi still held the application he had been given that day, but it was now covered in marks from folded corners.
"I'd like to understand why you're willing to help us, President Zhang." Tong Wenshi sat up straight and solemnly placed the application on the desk.
"Didn't we already discuss that during the day?" Zhang Tianyuan asked, puzzled.
Tong Wenshi shook his head.
"I know Mr. Bai's spacetime is helping us for the sake of their future mass evacuation."
"But you and Mr. Bai clearly aren't from the same spacetime, President Zhang. Why did you choose to take the initiative to help us?"
Zhang Tianyuan couldn't help laughing.
"The people on Bai Xu's side never asked me a question like that."
Tong Wenshi chuckled along, though he sounded helpless. "They have vast resources at their disposal, so naturally they have the confidence to face anything. We, on the other hand, are treading on thin ice. Every decision has to be made carefully."
Zhang Tianyuan had the system print another new application, then slapped it onto the desk out of thin air. At the sight, Tong Wenshi's breathing quietly quickened.
"Given your current situation, there's no need to ask too much, and you can't be of much help to me either. Just sign this application and take your cities back from the Darkseekers sooner."
This time, Tong Wenshi didn't hesitate. He picked up a pen and signed the new application, saying he would take it back to have it stamped afterward.
Then he asked, "Since we can't be of much help to you at present, President Zhang, is there any small favor we can do for you right now?"
This man...
Seemed to be here to throw in his lot with me?
Zhang Tianyuan saw what Tong Wenshi had in mind and tentatively slapped down a thick stack of documents.
"Here are fifty thousand individual applications for the Mutual Aid Society. How about you establish a Mutual Aid Society branch first and mobilize the survivors to sign these and become members of your branch?"