The terrifying tremors did not last long.
Moments later.
The devastated land came into Baimu's view, enormous bottomless cracks crisscrossing like scars torn open, and billowing dust rendered the surroundings blurry, making everything seem grotesque and terrifying.
Looking toward the district, many building walls and windows had become debris and rubble due to the quake, but most of the structures remained standing strong.
Only a few, obviously makeshift dwellings or shoddily built houses, had completely turned into ruins.
Wails and screams were everywhere, yet Baimu was incredibly grateful at this moment; they had evacuated most of the residents and captives to open areas ahead of time.
If they had been settled inside buildings, who knows what kind of disaster it would have caused.
However, with some buildings collapsing, there were still quite a few Quicksand Team members, Evil Dog Team members, and ordinary citizens buried within, unfortunately perishing.
"Rise a little higher."
Baimu said to Chansey, whose eyes flashed blue again, lifting him to nearly fifty meters in the air.
The surrounding situation was instantly clear.
In a place like Pyrite Town, with few high-rises, fifty meters was enough for him to take in the situation around him.
"Indeed..."
Baimu looked at the heavily damaged territory of the Evil Dog Team and deepened his frown.
The epicenter of the earthquake should have originated from Luo Qi Group's Underground City and radiated outward, so the three main districts of Luo Qi Group were the most severely affected, with the territories of the other two top executives also impacted.
Even parts of other factions' territories were affected.
But looking at this scale, it was undoubtedly man-made; a natural earthquake of such calamity couldn't possibly have such a concentrated power, at least not without affecting half of Pyrite Town.
What on earth happened in the Underground City?
He switched to the channel to contact Flop and Liu Ge, but unsurprisingly, received no response at all. It was evident that the underground and surface had already lost contact.
While contemplating.
Baimu saw chaos all around the district's outskirts, with countless people running around like headless chickens, and immediately flew over to the car with a loudspeaker, trying to calm everyone down using the amplifier.
As it happened, other squad leaders shared the same thought, and everyone converged in one place.
"What's the situation? Is this earthquake part of the plan?"
Baimu instinctively asked them about the earthquake when he saw this.
But the squad leaders themselves also appeared somewhat flustered, forced to calm down and shook their heads frantically, "How could it be? We haven't reached the point of disregarding civilian safety to achieve goals!"
Indeed.
After this wave of the earthquake, the district next door, which was not yet fully conquered, must have experienced heavy casualties, as Crystal Team and Stone Team hadn't yet cleared the area, still in a standoff with the internal Evil Dog Team members and civilians.
Even the situation on the surface was like this, the condition in the Underground City must be even more tragic, Liu Ge and others have endured for decades just stepping out on the first step, there's no need to destroy everything for a moment's gain.
Since it wasn't Liu Ge's setup, it's mostly connected to Luo Qi, who had accrued a home advantage, discovered his inability to prevent Luo Qi Group's retreat, and in desperation, chose mutual destruction?
Very likely!
Baimu had a suspicion in his heart.
The nearby squad leader also successfully rebooted the loudspeaker content, ensuring it wasn't damaged by the quake, releasing deafening sounds.
"Everyone stay where you are and await instructions! No one is allowed to move arbitrarily!"
Once the people around quieted down, the loudspeaker changed content again.
"All squad members, count the numbers and approach the command vehicle! The rest stay where you are! Await further instructions! Absolutely no unauthorized movement or loud noise causing panic, violators will be punished!"
"Absolutely no unauthorized movement or loud noise causing panic!"
Two minutes later.
The previously scattered Quicksand Team members closed in on the command vehicle.
"I'll take people to check out the situation in the Underground City, try to reestablish communication with the boss, you break into a team to go back to the Quicksand Team and request support, the rest start rescue operations. It's not just our district; don't forget the other two either!"
A squad leader proactively said.
"Okay!"
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Baimu looked around the situation and also agreed.
Though the Underground City's incident and the communication breakdown were indeed urgent, not deploying everyone to the Underground City and instead leaving most to rescue civilians proved Liu Ge's team wasn't just a rabble-rousing mob.
Leaving recklessly would only cause public panic, fostering more unnecessary trouble, and from squad leaders' unhesitating decision to rescue.
It was evident that they genuinely wanted to bring a clear sky to the civilians of Pyrite Town.
"Baimu! Baimu! What do we do?"
Cheng Hong ran over, disheveled, panic written all over his face.
Baimu clapped his shoulder, "Don't panic, is everyone okay?"
"No, not just us brothers, people from Cyan Iridium Street are all gathered with us, only two nearly fell into the cracks, but were grabbed out too!"
Seeing a pillar of strength, his breath became much calmer.
"Alright, have everyone count the numbers, confirm if anyone's missing, and search the surrounding houses."
Baimu calmly said, "Absolutely don't panic, bring out your backbone, tell those panicked that it will be okay, the Quicksand Team won't abandon them, got it?"
"Understood, understood!"
Cheng Hong nodded.
On the other side, Otsuka also approached, "Baimu! You're here!"
"Find a way to gather some obedient people, to handle those intentionally trying to take advantage of the situation, call me if something happens." Baimu said to him in a low voice.
Otsuka was startled, not expecting a task would be dispatched before he asked.
"Understood!"
He nodded without hesitation.
After assigning tasks to a few subordinates, Baimu surveyed the chaotic surroundings, sending out Aggron to restrain the captive Evil Dog Team members, to prevent them from causing trouble.
Thankfully, these people were more compliant than expected, either crying or shouting in place, or staring blankly at the shattered district with expressions of deep despair.
Baimu quite understood their thoughts; most Evil Dog Team members, though tyrannical below, still rose from insignificance.
Now that their home has become a ruin, who could stay calm?
"Everyone quiet—!!"
"Roar—!!"
Aggron's roar caused the Evil Dog Team members to look over at Baimu.
"I imagine you all know about the Underground City's incident, your superiors are very likely already wiped out, now you have no support, and can only choose to join our Quicksand Team. But because you are captives, of criminal origin, without merits you will inevitably become the lowest tier."
He shouted, "But now you have the opportunity to redeem yourselves! Organize your people and civilians, I will return some Pokémon to you, use them to participate in the rescue, if done well, in the future I'll speak well of you, understood?"
Almost no one responded.
Seeing this, Aggron picked up a piece of rubble from the ground and crushed it with a thud.
"Roar!!"
"Understood!?"
Baimu shouted again.
"Understood!" "Got it!" The captives nodded frantically.