"Of course I'm going!" Qian Xiu's eyes shone.
As a science fiction fan, how could he miss an opportunity like this?
Traveling to a parallel spacetime!
A Spacetime Tunnel!
Everything being described on the screen drew him in.
Forget going there to work for money-he would even pay to work there!
Watching everyone in the square vanish with a whoosh as they traveled through on the screen, Qian Xiu's friend hesitated before saying, "Then I'll go too. I've taken trains and planes in my life, but I've never tried traveling through spacetime."
"Besides, things are so terrible over there that going there will count as doing a good deed. Maybe they really will be able to help us someday..."
"Anyway, let's go with the flow. We can't say for sure about the end of the world. We'll just follow the organization's arrangements."
Most people thought much the same as Qian Xiu and his friend.
Before joining this project, they had already been told that they might be sent away on secret assignments and could face danger...
They had long since prepared themselves mentally.
At first, many had even thought they would be sent abroad to dig mushroom-planting pits.
This outcome seemed fairly good by comparison.
It was just that their destination was rather unusual: they were being sent to a parallel spacetime.
As for the danger.
They had already received the KV Vaccine.
As for those monsters called Darkseekers, as long as they stayed away from dark places and carried small ultraviolet flashlights, they were no cause for concern.
Terror came from the unknown. Once someone understood something well enough, it was difficult to feel afraid of it anymore.
Of course, if they actually encountered Darkseekers in the dark, most people would still panic...
In short, when the count began the next day, fewer than ten people withdrew.
With some obstetricians and gynecologists transferred back from the pregnant women's side, the total reached 9,956.
After several days of intensive training, Zhang Tianyuan and the others once again set off for Legend World in April.
Tong Wenshi squinted up at the sun, barely able to conceal his excitement.
The wind roared in his ears.
Five helicopters landed in the large open-air square behind him. To his left were tanks, to his right an armored convoy, and ahead of him a logistics convoy.
Buses, medical vehicles, troop transports, fuel transports, combat logistics vehicles, field kitchens, communications relay vehicles, biological testing vehicles, radar detection vehicles...
The military-green vehicles stretched for several kilometers, almost beyond sight. As far as the eye could see,
dust billowed inside and outside the grounds.
Sitting on a bus, Qian Xiu gazed in amazement at the massive assembly before him.
"Holy shit, it's all tanks over here! There are rocket launchers and missiles over there, and helicopters behind us!"
It was the engineers' first time seeing military preparations on this scale. Every one of them was as excited as a little boy seeing his favorite toy, pressing against the windows as though they wished they could pry the glass out.
Outside the bus.
"Don't worry. We'll send people back every month to update your branch on the situation." Standing on the grounds, Zhang Tianyuan waved goodbye to the senior officials from "2012" who had come to see them off.
Then he pulled Tong Wenshi, who had his arms spread and a look of bliss on his face as he took great lungfuls of exhaust fumes and dust, aboard the command vehicle.
When the door closed, the dust and noise outside were immediately shut out, and the world fell quiet.
The previous test had confirmed that the KV Virus could not pass through the Spacetime Tunnel without being attached to an object.
So this time, they were simply returning to Legend World outdoors.
After all, with so much equipment coming along, no shelter could possibly hold it all, however large it was.
"President, are we heading back to our spacetime now?" Tong Wenshi asked with a smile. Since arriving in No. 1 Spacetime, his stress had lessened day by day, and he looked much younger.
Zhang Tianyuan nodded. "A satellite will pass overhead in another half hour. We need to leave before then. It wouldn't be good to get photographed."
"Start checking with each team."
There were other commanders in the vehicle, and upon hearing Zhang Tianyuan's instructions, they quickly asked their subordinates for reports.
Zhang Tianyuan left the management to them and watched the dust stirred up outside gradually settle.
He could still direct their earlier team of a hundred or so himself, but now that it had grown to over ten thousand, its organization was naturally different.
This main force of nearly ten thousand was now divided into seven departments-logistics, engineering, medical, communications, science, combat, and discipline-coordinated by the three commanders in the command vehicle.
Soon, the three commanders received their subordinates' replies.
"Reporting, Logistics Department: 987 personnel expected, 987 present. Expected supplies..."
"Medical team: 1,984 personnel expected, present..."
"Combat team..."
After checking every department's status, Zhang Tianyuan glanced at the time. Fifteen minutes remained before the satellite passed overhead.
"Get ready. In five minutes, at 8:35, we'll enter the Space-
time Tunnel."
"Yes, sir!"
The three commanders behind him saluted and returned to their stations to pass on the orders.
"Everyone, get ready!"
"We'll pass through the Spacetime Tunnel at 8:35!"
In each bus, the driver's voice carried from the front to the back.
Qian Xiu and the others immediately looked at their watches, waiting apprehensively as the hour hands ticked forward.
After receiving the notification, the soldiers also tightened their grips on their equipment.
Their political officers had told them that they would not need to do anything to travel through spacetime. They would simply feel the sky suddenly darken, and then, when they looked outside the vehicle, they would be in a parallel spacetime...
There would be no unusual sensations at all.
But everyone was still nervous.
Huff, huff!
Inside a tank, the crew members' breathing was clearly audible in the cramped space. In the dim light, they all glanced at one another, bumped fists in unspoken agreement, and smiled without a word.
Outside the grounds.
As before, various instruments had been brought out of the shelter, with many new additions as well.
Not one of the scientists who had come last time was absent, and quite a few more had joined them.
They had failed to find any leads last time, so they had come back to redouble their efforts.
However, quite a few also believed that the changes caused by the appearance of the Spacetime Tunnel might exist only at the microscopic level. They proposed building a new large-scale scientific instrument to detect changes in particles before and after the tunnel appeared...
But the senior officials from "2012" standing nearby collectively shot down the proposal.
Now was not the time to build large-scale scientific instruments.
What mattered now was the future relocation of 1.3 billion people, or even seven billion...
With everyone occupied by their own thoughts, time passed quickly.
When the minute hand reached 8:34,
Zhang Tianyuan mentally selected the area in which to open the tunnel, then chose the location of their last return to "2012" from the records, returning from the same spot.
Even now, Zhang Tianyuan had yet to determine the maximum area over which he could open the Spacetime Tunnel. He only knew that it was certainly measured in square kilometers.
As long as that limit was not exceeded, the consumption remained energy points per second.
An area that large was enough to cover their current force of ten thousand.
8:35.
A streak of utter blackness flashed across the grounds, and the orderly convoy vanished in an instant.
Ten minutes later.
A satellite passed overhead and captured only a single photograph-
The empty grounds were covered in tire tracks.