He looked at the documents that had appeared out of thin air for the third time. And this time, there was not just one, but fifty thousand.
They formed a towering stack on the table!
Where on earth had they come from?
Suppressing his astonishment, Tong Wenshi picked up an individual application form, his breathing quickening.
"Do we need to sign this document before we can pass through the Spacetime Tunnel?" After reading the terms on it, he decisively signed his name.
Only then did he ask, "President Zhang, do you want all the survivors in our settlement to join the Mutual Aid Society?"
Zhang Tianyuan was certain now. This man really had come to seek his protection:
"In principle, all citizens of the timelines and countries receiving aid from the Mutual Aid Society are obliged to join it. Of course, the respective countries will still establish their own Mutual Aid Society branches to manage these members."
Tong Wenshi took the initiative to pour Zhang Tianyuan a glass of water. "I understand. Then, about going to the other timeline to discuss cooperation..."
"As long as you and the pregnant women are ready, I can take you over tomorrow."
"Then sorry for the trouble, but let's set off tomorrow."
Tong Wenshi then discussed the arrangements for tomorrow with Zhang Tianyuan.
Only afterward did he call people in to carry out all fifty thousand application forms.
Then, looking up at the starry sky free of light pollution, he let out a long breath.
Tonight's contact had gone fairly well.
Zhang Tianyuan's guess just now had been right.
He had come to seek protection.
Bai Xu's timeline was powerful. Whether in industrial strength or mobilization capacity, it surpassed them countless times over.
Never mind forty thousand people-even if the million survivors across the country united behind him now, they would not withstand a single finger crushing them from their counterpart in the parallel timeline.
If they let Bai Xu's fellow citizens into their timeline, the best outcome would be for them to truly keep their promise: treat this place as a hotel, leave after their stay, and pay a room fee along the way.
The worst outcome would be the cuckoo taking over the magpie's nest. The billion-plus people pouring in from the parallel timeline would fill the vacant space perfectly, while their remaining million-plus people would swiftly be assimilated and absorbed.
Then the first country spanning multiple timelines in human history would be born.
The second outcome did not sound all that bad. After all, the two countries shared the same name and culture, merely existing in different timelines. Their merging into one seemed only natural.
But...
What gave them the right?!
Why should they be annexed
?
Just because they were weak now?
Just because they could not deal with the KV Virus now?
In Tong Wenshi's view, they already had forty thousand people. If they built up their strength for a few more years, restarting some of their industry would certainly be no problem.
Once they drove away the Darkseekers and reclaimed the cities and scientific laboratories, they might well be able to build virus-free delivery rooms.
In the end, this crisis might amount to nothing more than a break in the generations, with no offspring born for a dozen or so years.
That was not unacceptable.
Besides, given the world's current state, their country's estimated million-plus survivors definitely made it a first-rate power.
Once they weathered this crisis, the position of world leader would definitely be theirs.
The entire world might even become theirs.
Their future prospects were not certain death. They could even find life in the jaws of death!
Cooperating with the other timeline was merely a way to escape their predicament quickly, not their only way out!
So Tong Wenshi could never agree to an outcome of annexation and assimilation.
That would, in fact, be an act of selling out his country.
All the wealth created by countless compatriots in this country and this timeline would be handed over by him to people from another timeline.
If he did that, the million-plus compatriots remaining in this timeline would one day bitterly hate him for his stupidity.
Tong Wenshi saw it clearly.
Perhaps decades later, drawn together by their culture, the countries in the two timelines would no longer distinguish between themselves and would naturally merge.
But right now, this business of mutual aid in the apocalypse was actually a matter between two countries of the same ethnicity within the same cultural sphere.
Even if their names were the same, they were, ultimately, different countries.
Out of kinship with his own people, he would certainly lend Bai Xu and the others a helping hand.
But the accounts between the two sides had to be settled clearly. Bai Xu's side could not shirk its debts, much less use its greater strength to seize the entire shop.
Unfortunately, his country's current situation was like a child clutching gold. If Bai Xu, Zhang Tianyuan, and the others decided to run amok, Tong Wenshi and his people could only watch.
Under these circumstances, Tong Wenshi could only find himself a backer.
Zhang Tianyuan, who appeared to stand alone with little strength yet was a central figure in the Mutual Aid Society, was his only choice.
That was why Tong Wenshi had quietly come to see him tonight.
And his attempt to seek protection had gone fairly well.
Although Zhang Tianyuan had not directly accepted them, he had assigned them a small task, which happened to show that he did indeed need them.
That was already a good outcome.
Whether people or countries, they had to have value to survive.
Since they had value, Zhang Tianyuan probably would not stand by and watch them be annexed by the other timeline...
His heart heavy with worries, Tong Wenshi glanced at the individual application forms delivered to his desk and recalled how Zhang Tianyuan had casually slapped his hand down and "slapped" them into existence.
He copied him, extending his weather-beaten, withered hand and bringing it down with a smack.
Nothing happened.
The application forms on the desk did not disappear, nor did even a single extra sheet appear out of thin air.
Tong Wenshi shook his head and murmured, "I can't figure it out. I just can't figure it out..."
Early the next morning.
An undertaking began in the settlement-
A meeting for everyone.
At the same time, information on the pregnant women was collected, and they were gathered together at the front of the meeting venue.
Ding Jingye and the others, who had already been accommodated in the settlement, soon found their acquaintance A He at the front of the venue.
A He clutched these kindhearted people's hands tightly, her expression habitually nervous.
Over the past few days in the settlement, she had confirmed it.
So far, not a single baby born to any of the pregnant women in the settlement had survived until the next day.
They had all contracted the KV Virus and died on the day they were born.
That had kept her nerves stretched taut.
Ding Jingye patted the poor woman's shoulder, an unlit cigarette still held between his fingers, and reassured her with a smile. "It'll be all right. Didn't President Zhang say he had a way? This meeting should have something to do with your situation."
As he spoke, Ding Jingye happened to catch sight of Zhang Tianyuan talking to Bai Xu out of the corner of his eye. He added, "If you're really worried, I'll go ask him for you now."
With that, Ding Jingye left behind the boy in the blue jacket who had been following him all along and walked over to Zhang Tianyuan alone, greeting him to draw his attention.
Rolling the cigarette between his fingers, Ding Jingye no longer wore a smile. Instead, his face was full of worry. "President Zhang, can the issue of A He and the other pregnant women giving birth be resolved now?"
"You said before that you'd have a way once we reached the settlement..."
"Don't worry, Old Ding." When Zhang Tianyuan heard him bring it up, he immediately smiled. "The issue of the pregnant women giving birth can be resolved today."
"Huh? That soon?" The cigarette in Ding Jingye's hand fell to the ground.