bookrebus Chapter 1069
Chapter 1069
"34 degrees?" Zhou Jianghai looked up suddenly, his tone filled with shock. "On the way back, the temperature was still 32 degrees. It's only been a few days, and it's already risen another two degrees?"
Captain Chen nodded, his face filled with helplessness. "The ocean temperature is rising much faster than we imagined. It's like boiling water. It's reached the critical point before we knew it."
Zhou Shuwan suppressed his uneasiness and asked, "Can Island 2... support the construction of a mid-air fortress?"
In fact, she already had the answer in her heart, but she was unwilling to accept it and wanted to confirm it again.
The reason why the mother ship abandoned the larger Island No. 2 and turned to the smaller Island No. 1 was because there had been a long and severe earthquake in the sea area near Island No. 2.
The foundation of the entire island was shaken loose, and many people on the mother ship were killed or injured, so they were forced to evacuate.
Sure enough, Captain Chen heard this and slowly shook his head: "After arriving here, we sent people to explore Island No. 2 three times.
Obvious cracks have appeared on the west side of the island. The widest part is big enough to fit a fist, and there is a deep sea underneath.
The beach on the east side is also slowly collapsing, and a piece of it is swallowed up by the sea every time the tide rises.
Building a load-bearing structure like a mid-air fortress is incredibly difficult!"
After hearing this, Zhou Shuwan's face darkened completely.
She looked at Qi Mingyu and saw the same solemnity in his eyes: "So, our most serious problem right now is not making boiling point alloys, but finding a suitable place to build a mid-air fortress!"
Without a site, no matter how good the materials are, they will be useless. It is like having bricks and tiles but no foundation; you can never build a house.
"Yes." Captain Chen nodded heavily: "But in this vast ocean, it is not easy to find an island that is away from salt spray and has a stable foundation.
We've sent out several reconnaissance teams over the past three months to try our luck in the nearby waters, but we've found nothing."
The atmosphere in the office instantly dropped to freezing point, and everyone's face was filled with heaviness.
The Sky Fortress was their only hope of surviving the sea boil, but now they couldn't even find a site to build it.
This hope is like a candle in the wind, which may be blown out at any time.
The silence lasted for a moment. Captain Chen stood up first and patted Qi Mingyu, who was closest to him, on the shoulder. "Well, this matter can't be resolved in a short time, so let's not talk about it for now. You've been traveling for half a year, it's time to go back and rest and catch up with your family and friends."
The Zhou family members also stood up.
Indeed, they are now tired and exhausted, and their brains are not working well. Instead of frowning here, it is better to have a good rest first, regain their energy and then discuss countermeasures.
Zhong Tiyun and Mu Mu also stood up, with unconcealable fatigue on their faces.
Captain Chen walked them to the door and said, "Go back and have a good rest. If there's anything, we can talk about it after you've recovered."
When Zhou Shuwan reached the office door, he suddenly remembered something and stopped. Out of concern and politeness, he asked, "By the way, Captain Chen, is Captain Shang resting? We came back in a hurry this time. After we have rested, we will go to see him."
Captain Shang and Captain Chen have been fighting side by side and have taken good care of the Zhou family before. Now that they have returned safely, they should pay them a visit.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the expression on Captain Chen's face suddenly changed.
The tired look on his face just now was instantly replaced by deep sadness.
He stood there in silence for a long moment before he spoke slowly, his voice as hoarse as if it had been rubbed with sandpaper: "Captain Shang... has been laid to rest."
"What?" The Zhou family members were stunned, with disbelief written all over their faces.
Mu Mu subconsciously asked back, "Rest in peace? How could that be... Captain Shang was still fine when we left!"
Captain Chen closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress his surging emotions.
When he opened his eyes again, they were filled with grief: "When the salt fog disaster first came, Captain Shang insisted on going to the periphery to explore it himself, saying that only by seeing the scope of the salt fog with his own eyes could he determine the next direction of the entire warship.
He stayed in the fog for a full four hours that time, and when he came back he started coughing and his skin peeled off over a large area.
We gave him the best medicine, but his lungs were still corroded by the salt spray, and later developed a serious infection..."
His voice gradually became lower and lower, until it was almost inaudible. "We tried to save him for three days and three nights, but we still couldn't save him."
The office door fell into deathly silence in an instant. Only the sea breeze poured in through the porthole, carrying a salty and bitter taste, as if mourning for the deceased.
The Zhou family froze in place, looking at each other, no one willing to believe Captain Chen's words. How could Captain Shang, the "stabilizing force" in the apocalypse, just leave like that?
Countless images flashed through their minds in an instant.
He always wore that dark blue uniform that was washed to a pale color. The edges of the epaulettes were frayed, but they were always ironed straight, and even the wrinkles at the corners of his clothes revealed his military neatness.
Whenever he encountered danger, he never needed to be urged and was always the first one to step onto the deck to ensure that all survivors were evacuated safely;
When the tsunami hit, he stood at the front and directed the soldiers to strengthen the defenses, shouting, "Let the elderly and children evacuate to the cabin first."
When the sea water surged, he stepped into the ankle-deep water to check the seal of the bottom of the boat. He was soaked but didn't even frown.
In this apocalypse where "survival of the fittest" has become the law of survival, Captain Shang insists on abiding by the simplest rules of Chinese soldiers.
No matter how scarce the supplies on the mother ship are, the elderly, children, women and children who are weak and unable to take care of themselves will always be given priority care.
Within his jurisdiction, there has never been a rule of "the strong first", but in fact, this rule is strictly adhered to in all other bases, including Xue Wuwen's base!
Even if the survivors had objections, they were suppressed by him forcefully.
When some young survivors complained, "Why should we give in to the old and weak?", he immediately frowned, slammed the table and said, "As long as you are on my ship, no one should be left behind." His tough attitude silenced all doubts.
The Zhou family had witnessed the cruelty of the end of the world.
This time when they went out to look for minerals and encountered He Chengshi's fleet, they saw with their own eyes that the survivors of the lower class were driven and enslaved like animals, and that the former cannibal gangs were imprisoning living people as food.
In contrast, they can be under the protection of Captain Shang, without having to worry about being abandoned, and without being insulted and oppressed by people with powerful military force. This kind of luck is more precious than any material in the end times!
Zhou Shuwan even felt that even if she had the space and the experience of being reborn once, if she had not encountered the warship led by Captain Shang in this life, their family's days of drifting on the sea would definitely not be as peaceful, calm and smooth as they are now!