Everyone put their heads together to consider the feasibility of building a pipeline railway.
Zhang Tianyuan tapped the table again, reminding everyone:
"There's no point considering the return migration right now. Don't forget what our second agenda item is."
"You can discuss the method of migration later."
"What we're discussing today is the details of cooperation between your No. 1 Spacetime and Tong Wenshi's No. 2 Spacetime."
No. 1 and No. 2 Spacetime referred to "2012" and "I Am Legend." These were the spacetime designations used within the Mutual Aid Society.
Tong Wenshi gave Zhang Tianyuan a grateful look.
He really was afraid the senior officials from next door would suddenly come out with, "Since coming back would be so difficult, why don't we just stay and merge the two countries?"...
He truly wouldn't know how to answer then.
Seeing that the meeting had entered a new phase, the virologists seated on the periphery began to leave, leaving only the leaders from both sides.
Zhang Tianyuan got things started again, addressing the senior officials from "2012":
"To put the current situation in plain terms, President Tong's side needs the manpower and material resources of your No. 1 Spacetime. You need to help them eliminate the Darkseekers and restore production."
Then he turned to Tong Wenshi:
"As for No. 1 Spacetime, they need you to take in all their refugees when the apocalyptic disaster strikes No. 1 Spacetime in the year."
"And after the disaster in No. 1 Spacetime ends, you should also help No. 1 Spacetime restore production and provide the corresponding resources."
"Overall, your No. 2 Spacetime may be getting the short end of the stick."
"We don't mind getting the short end of the stick!" Tong Wenshi interjected instinctively.
What short end of the stick?
If spending some resources would get these big shots to leave smoothly when the time came, he could spend twice as much!
Perhaps feeling he had exposed his intentions far too thoroughly, Tong Wenshi immediately added:
"Although we're countries from two different spacetimes, we can be called brothers in both culture and customs. When a brother is in trouble, naturally, we must do everything we can to help!"
Zhang Tianyuan turned toward the senior officials from "2012."
After hearing Tong Wenshi's words, they wore faint smiles, clearly in good spirits.
The elderly man with the crew cut even stood up and took the initiative to shake Tong Wenshi's hand, saying solemnly, "We share President Tong's thinking. We will certainly spare no effort to help our brothers."
Tong Wenshi's words had given them reassurance as well.
Tong Wenshi feared they would stay in No. 2 Space-
time and refuse to return, while they, for their part, disliked the fact that No. 2 Spacetime had a virus.
What would they do about childbirth for over a billion people then?
Would they have to build a P4 shelter for every birth?
Could they possibly build enough?
So, deep down, they currently leaned toward returning to No. 1 Spacetime to rebuild their country in the future. Nothing could be better than Tong Wenshi promising that his side was willing to help with that.
Both sides breathed a sigh of relief. It was an outcome that pleased everyone.
Zhang Tianyuan applauded softly, prompting both sides to join in.
"In that case, I'll leave the details of cooperation and the specific aid projects for the two sides to discuss. I won't interfere much further."
With that, Zhang Tianyuan rose to leave.
Everyone present stood to see him off.
Tong Wenshi and the elderly man with the crew cut even came over of their own accord to shake his hand and see him out.
Zhang Tianyuan smiled at the two of them. "Take your time talking. If there's anything you can't reach an agreement on, just come tell me. I can help coordinate."
"Not at all. Thank you for your efforts, President Zhang."
Only after watching Zhang Tianyuan leave did Tong Wenshi sit back down.
With those final words from Zhang Tianyuan, he now felt reassured.
After leaving, Zhang Tianyuan immediately went to find Instructor Yin.
He was in the conference room of the neighboring villa, holding a hefty roster.
"How's it going?" Zhang Tianyuan walked in.
Instructor Yin stood up and handed over the roster. "The ten thousand members of the reserve team have been assembled and training for over three months now. They should be ready to start work."
Zhang Tianyuan carefully examined each person's information, paying particular attention to the occupation listed at the end.
These ten thousand people were an enlarged version of the advance team. The team composition was almost unchanged, except that the number of slots for the nuclear, biological, and chemical detection teams had been reduced.
"I have no objections to this roster. They've been training for so long, too. It's time to tell them the truth."
"When we return to No. 2 Spacetime this time, let's take these ten thousand people with us."
"Also, write up a report. Ten thousand definitely won't be enough. I think your spacetime needs to pick up the pace."
Instructor Yin hurried to get paper and a pen to take notes.
Zhang Tianyuan waited for him, taking the opportunity to recall the movie's plot.
It should have been the rainy season when the Indian scientist Satnam discovered the abnormal activity in the Earth's core. The child had also been wearing long sleeves then, so it should have been September or later.
Factoring in the time Satnam himself needed to confirm the sudden changes in the Earth's core, by midyear at the lat-
est, the first signs of the apocalypse should begin to emerge.
Instructor Yin returned with paper and a pen.
Zhang Tianyuan pulled a sheet over and wrote down the month he had estimated. "You should probably be able to discover evidence of the apocalypse around the middle of this year.
"By next year at the latest, meaning before 2010, you'll need to start preparing to build the migration infrastructure. It'll most likely be railways.
"Then it would be best to begin the migration in 2011. That would leave you with more time."
Instructor Yin took notes on the paper, nodding as he wrote.
Zhang Tianyuan continued, "In other words, you need to restore a substantial portion of No. 2 Spacetime's industrial engineering capacity before next year to ensure construction goes smoothly."
"Otherwise, you'll even have to transport raw materials over from this spacetime. Aside from the trouble involved, you can't keep monopolizing the Spacetime Tunnel like that."
"So you'd better prepare more people next time."
Instructor Yin looked up. "Then how many people do you think we should prepare, President?"
Zhang Tianyuan rolled his eyes. "Go ask your think tank. I'm not a professional in engineering coordination. Prepare however many people you think you'll need to build that migration infrastructure."
How would he know how many people it took to build a pipeline railway?
Instructor Yin thought that made sense. This wasn't something for them to worry about. "Then I'll go write the report."
"Mm, go ahead."
After returning to his villa, Zhang Tianyuan stopped by the backyard again to see how the meeting was going.
To his surprise, the moment Tong Wenshi and the elderly man with the crew cut saw him, both brightened and together invited him back to his seat:
"President Zhang, you're back just in time. We have a problem here that we don't know how to handle."
Zhang Tianyuan sat down in puzzlement. "What problem?"
The world was ending. Money and resources were hardly worth worrying about anymore, so what issue could these two groups still be unable to agree on?
Tong Wenshi spoke first. "We were just discussing the matter of moving foreign refugees to No. 2 Spacetime for shelter. As far as that goes, we have no problem with foreign civilians migrating to our spacetime."
The elderly man with the crew cut also said, "If the foreign authorities are willing to cooperate with us, we're also willing to help them move their civilians within our capabilities."
Zhang Tianyuan nodded. What was the problem, then?
Tong Wenshi continued:
"But after those foreign civilians migrate to our spacetime, where would be the best place to settle them?"