But in truth, actions like Lan Jin's were not very effective, and on top of that, extremely dangerous.
That was why everyone remained calm and did not scatter. If people started running, Lan Jin lying on the ground would have difficulty getting up, and it would be easy to get trampled, even to the point of death.
But at this moment, everyone was still. If they had moved, Lan Jin would never have dared this.
Ling Jiang looked at her and chuckled. "You can get up now. The shaking is not so strong."
"No, I'll wait until it stops before getting up."
After a while, when the shaking stopped again, she rose nimbly from the ground without being told. But she had barely stood when the ground shook again, this time stronger than before. Even the protective dome overhead creaked and groaned.
Then came a cracking sound from above.
Seeing Lan Jin about to sit down again, Brother Zhang shouted, "Don't sit down! Something is wrong."
No sooner had he spoken than the already-collapsed top floor split open a crack, swallowing the remaining collapsed building and everything inside it.
The fissure quickly moved downhill. Seeing it approaching, Brother Zhang shouted to those around him, "Don't stand in the middle! Move to the sides! Quick, quick!"
Then he lifted the elderly Professor Pei and ran to the side.
Lan Jin and the others stood further back. Though they did not understand, they did not question Brother Zhang, and followed him to a safer distance.
Once the middle was clear, the crack, which had nearly reached their feet, appeared before them.
"Oh shit, how did it crack like this?" Lao Gao cursed, but under the circumstances, it was not just Lao Gao—the base staff had never seen anything like this.
Luckily, once the fissure almost reached their feet, the mountain stopped shaking. Just as everyone was about to relax, the fissure shifted again—but this time it did not widen. Instead, it closed as if it had never opened.
The traces of the top floor swallowed by the mountain, however, were gone forever—a permanent regret.
Once the mountain merged, the earthquake and aftershocks finally stopped.
It was strange.
The mountaintop cracked and then closed, like a person's mouth opening when hungry and closing after eating. But this was a mountain, not a mouth. It was hard to understand.
Lan Jin looked at the three people beside her and whispered, "It seems H City base is not as safe as we thought."
"Yeah, we are from J City, a flat area with no earthquakes. But don't mess with me. How could a 5.3 quake make me feel like I can't even stand?" Lao Gao said, disbelief written all over his face. He insisted it could not be only 5.3.
But that was the difference between locals and outsiders. A base staff member, a local, explained, "It really is about 5.3. The base's measurements are usually accurate. The reason it felt stronger here is our location on the mountaintop, plus the ice surrounding us. The tremor cannot pass through, so it bounced back, making it feel stronger here."
Lan Jin was shocked. She had little education but had never heard such reasoning. On second thought, the ice below was indeed thick and firm. The tremor might indeed have been reflected back. Thinking this way, it started to make sense.
No matter how, the earthquake was finally over. Apart from the top floor's supplies, no one was hurt. This was the greatest relief for the base at present. Because the situation had been so terrifying, even without orders, everyone had stayed put, afraid to move.
Brother Zhang went forward to inspect the top floor and the already cracked protective dome. He said, "You four, come with me to check the situation. The rest stay here. Do not move."
The ground was too dangerous. Without Brother Zhang's order, no one dared move. The hall was unusually quiet.
After a while, Brother Zhang and his group returned. His expression might not have been great, but the fact that he was back gave everyone in the hall a sense of security. All present waited for Brother Zhang's next command.
"Our base suffered serious damage. The outer protective dome is heavily damaged and cannot be repaired. To save resources, the heating will be shut off for now. I have checked the ground. It is safe to walk. Everyone, go back and add clothing.
This disaster is not a catastrophic one for H City base, but it hit us hard. Over the coming days, please help us gradually restore the base to its original state…"
After finishing, Brother Zhang began assigning the upcoming tasks.
Seeing everyone obey Brother Zhang, Lan Jin wondered, "Why does everyone listen to Brother Zhang? Is his rank very high?"
Brother Zhang was low-key in words and deeds. The four of them had thought he was only the leader of a small squad. But if he were just a squad leader, he could not command such respect in the base. Combined with Lan Jin's previous observations, she felt Brother Zhang's status was not ordinary.
A base staff member behind her looked at them in disbelief and whispered, "What? You don't know? You really don't know?"
The four glanced at the speaker. It was the staff member from the materials exchange office.
Though they had not known him long, they were already familiar. Lao Gao asked curiously, "Know what? What should we know?"
"When everyone had no psychic abilities, Brother Zhang had great authority in the base. The squad he led was strong and helped the base through many crises.
Later, when psychics appeared, Brother Zhang's squad was no longer so strong. Base psychics were not as strong as you four, but still stronger than ordinary people. Gradually, people respected psychics more.
Still, Brother Zhang is highly respected. Plus, with the base director absent, Brother Zhang acted as caretaker, so his authority was high. But he is different from Professor Pei. Professor Pei is from Capital City. Because there were so many mutated creatures near the base, he volunteered to come here during the insect disaster period. He and his team researched many things useful to higher authorities, so he is also respected."