They watched Zhang Tianyuan and the others leave once again.
The senior leadership of "2012" had no time to marvel at the wonder of it. Instead, they pressed on without pause with their new work.
According to the latest intelligence, they might discover evidence that Earth was heading toward the apocalypse as early as the middle of this year.
It was already April.
There was little time left. They had to be prepared.
They needed to prepare not only the five hundred thousand people promised to Zhang Tianyuan, but also all the supplies Tong Wenshi needed.
In addition, the proposal for that apocalyptic evacuation railway had to be delivered before October.
The requirements for this railway were demanding. It needed not only to connect the country's existing railway lines and maximize their transport capacity, but also to be as convenient and fast as possible.
Since there might only be one Spacetime Tunnel available when the time came, this railway had to be built around a central point, with all trains entering and exiting the Spacetime Tunnel there.
Under these circumstances, they could only transport more people if trains entered and exited the Spacetime Tunnel fast enough and occupied the tracks for little enough time.
From design to subsequent train dispatching, the difficulty of this railway project far exceeded world-class levels.
Because no railway with requirements like these had ever existed anywhere in the world.
Aside from the railway proposal, the senior leadership also had to consider a maritime transport plan.
Rail transport ultimately had its limits. Restricted by the width of the tracks, it could not carry oversized cargo.
And once they faced the apocalypse, surely a nationwide migration could not involve moving only the population?
All kinds of daily necessities, strategic reserves, classified documents, valuable equipment...
Of course they would move as much of that as they could.
It was all the property of the nation and its people!
Once they reached the parallel spacetime, plenty of things could still be used after being reinstalled.
That would also save their brothers in the parallel spacetime from saying they had come over to freeload.
Besides, perhaps these things could be brought back later and continue to shine and give off heat in the reconstruction effort.
To ship such enormous quantities of supplies by sea, they would need enough freighters of sufficient size. There was considerable demand for passenger ships as well, since they might also need to evacuate some people by sea when the time came.
Thus, following the earlier geophysics boom, the sudden flood of orders from within the country set off a "shipbuilding boom" both domestically and around the world. Even a single berth at a shipyard became hard to secure.
Guided by this line of thinking.
Many major domestic construction projects in the "2012" spacetime slowed down or even stopped.
This was so that, the moment evidence of the apocalypse appeared, all the resources committed to those projects could immediately be reassigned.
With the world ending, the more they built these major projects, the more they would lose.
They would be better off putting all those resources into the massive railway construction effort to come.
Internationally, the country adopted an overall strategy of retrenchment, pulling back funds and resources in preparation for shipbuilding.
Meanwhile, a covert mobilization began across every trade and industry.
Although these mobilization efforts were inconspicuous against the vast scale of the country as a whole, putting all the measures together revealed an astonishing mobilization on the scale of five hundred thousand people.
A full five hundred thousand workers from every trade and industry were gathered in small groups for training in things that seemed impossible...
"I Am Legend"
Out on the grasslands, the weather was growing colder and colder.
Cold winds from Siberia swept across the entire grassland. In weather like this, the survivors generally would not venture out of their tents without good reason.
Only Bai Xu went to check around the former meeting site every few hours.
The meeting area had now been cleared. Under the coordination of Bai Xu and the Mutual Aid Society Second Branch, all the surrounding tents had been relocated, leaving a large open space.
This, too, had been Zhang Tianyuan's instruction before he left.
They would definitely bring large quantities of supplies and vehicles when they returned next time. Returning to their original location might end up crushing the surrounding tents.
Wearing a military overcoat, Bai Xu stepped out through the thick snow, his hands tucked entirely into his pockets. His unremarkable face was red from the cold, and he wore a large military hat that covered his ears.
As expected, the meeting site was still quiet, blanketed in white snow without even a blade of grass in sight.
"It's been almost two months. Are they still not done talking?"
Muttering about this, Bai Xu followed his own footprints back toward the tent, unable to keep a little anxiety from creeping into his heart.
After all, he was not from this spacetime, and he could not open a Spacetime Tunnel himself. What if something went wrong and President Zhang never came back?
Wouldn't that mean he would have to stay in this spacetime forever?
When he returned to the tent, the Mutual Aid Society Second Branch was holding a meeting.
The topic was how to bolster the survivors' confidence.
When Zhang Tianyuan and the others had first gone back, everyone in the settlement had been excited. Every face they saw had worn a smile.
But enthusiasm and smiles without roots could not last long. Now Zhang Tianyuan and the others had still not returned, and with the bitter winter upon them, every-
one's spirits had suddenly fallen.
It had already been half a month since anyone had come to Bai Xu with questions.
"Comrade Bai, how is it?" The four pillars Tong Wenshi had left behind looked up and asked.
Bai Xu shook his head and sat beside them. "Nothing. They haven't come back yet."
"This is troublesome..." The members of the Mutual Aid Society Second Division at the meeting all sighed. "Administrative work is difficult now, and production has ground to a complete halt. Fortunately, we stored supplies for the winter..."
The settlement's administrative team had been small to begin with, and Tong Wenshi had taken a team of senior officials with him. Almost everyone left had to handle both Mutual Aid Society affairs and government administration.
They had to worry about this and worry about that.
Bai Xu knew he could not show the unease in his heart. He put on a smile and once again began telling everyone the story of his first encounter with Zhang Tianyuan:
"It's all right. When I first met President Zhang, I was scared out of my wits too. Afterward, I waited a whole month for him. I didn't sleep well for ages."
"Back then..."
Although they had heard it several times, they never tired of such inside stories. They still savored every word Bai Xu spoke with longing on their faces.
"Zhang Tianyuan has always appeared and vanished like a ghost. You'll get used to it eventually."
Bai Xu habitually used this line to wrap things up.
That way, he could suggest that Tong Wenshi and the others' prolonged absence was a matter of Zhang Tianyuan's personal style, rather than any difficulties Tong Wenshi and the others had encountered in the negotiations on the other side.
Suddenly, a voice came from somewhere inside the tent:
"If only we'd met President Zhang before the apocalypse began too..."
"Ah..."
Everyone sighed in unison.
The mood sank even lower than before.
Bai Xu secretly clenched his fists. Just as he was about to pick out whoever was making trouble, he suddenly heard a rumble outside.
It was not very loud.
But it was very jumbled.
It was many sounds mixed together.
Bai Xu immediately remembered when he had arrived. Delight instantly appeared on his face, and he rushed out, holding his hat in place.
Sure enough, the distant meeting site, previously a vast expanse of white, was now occupied by numerous vehicles...
"They're back?" Seeing Bai Xu rush out with delight all over his face, the people in the tent already had an inkling. They hurried out as well, shouting the question.
"They're back! They're back!" Bai Xu let out a wild whoop, shouted twice toward the tent, then kicked through the snow as he charged toward the meeting site!