Chapter 169: Survival at Sea: The Five Major Bases

The aftershocks didn’t come.

But a bigger earthquake did!

Song Qianxing, standing next to Jiang Yan, narrowed his eyes and immediately gave an order:

“Kong Wu! Start the boat! Head east—get us out to open water!”

“Yes, sir!”

The young man at the helm responded instantly, firing up the engine. “The waves are getting rough! Everyone, hold on tight!”

Beneath the surging, churning water, it was as if a ferocious beast had suddenly awakened.

It felt like the entire city was about to be torn apart. The walls of many buildings visibly cracked before their eyes.

Not far away, massive waves were rapidly gathering and rolling, as if a tsunami was about to hit.

Every building in sight was shaking violently.

The water’s surface was boiling.

From the stairwells, terrified screams echoed out.

Crash!

A giant wave slammed down on the group without warning.

Standing at the bow, Song Qian and Kong Wu were instantly drenched.

Even though Jiang Yan wore a helmet and waterproof down jacket, she was still caught off guard.

Icy water trickled down her neck, chilling her to the bone.

Thankfully, her inner layer was also waterproof and quick-drying.

“Is the world trying to wipe out humanity completely?!”

Su Dai, who had never seen anything like this, wiped the freezing water from her face, her eyes suddenly red with despair.

Jiang Yan took a deep breath and said nothing.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon,” Sun Jingtao comforted her, holding tightly to the rail with one hand and pulling her close with the other.

Rumble!

The earthquake continued.

Splash!

Over at the Shallow Bay complex, someone wearing a life ring jumped straight out of a window into the freezing water.

Even more people were jumping into the water from the central garden.

Some with rubber dinghies were frantically paddling away.

These scenes grew smaller and smaller as the group sped away.

The assault boat cut through the waves, quickly leaving the buildings behind, then slowed down.

Many buildings nearby were just beneath the surface—if they went too fast and missed one, they’d run aground.

A minute later, the shaking of the buildings gradually subsided. The earthquake finally stopped.

But the water was still churning.

The boat rocked so much, the group was nearly sick.

Everywhere they looked was devastation.

The buildings that had once stood in the water were now either leaning at odd angles or had collapsed entirely.

“Brother Song! The compass isn’t working!” Kong Wu, still at the helm, cried out in alarm.

Everyone’s heart sank.

“It’s probably the earthquake messing with the magnetic field. Don’t worry—unless the quakes keep coming, the compass should recover soon,” Song Qian said, frowning.

Kong Wu stopped the boat. “So what do we do now?”

“Let’s rest for a bit—wait for the sun to come up,” Song Qian said, glancing at the sky.

The rain had stopped during the night.

But the clouds were so thick, the sky was still a dull gray.

Still, there were signs the sun might soon break through.

“Even if the sun comes out, it’s hard to get our bearings at this hour…” Kong Wu muttered.

“I have my ways,” Song Qian replied, checking his watch. “How much fuel do we have left?”

Kong Wu checked the gauges. “Two-thirds of a tank, plus our reserve cans—enough for three or four hundred kilometers.”

Beep beep beep—

Just then, the radio on Kong Wu’s chest crackled.

He frowned and checked it. “Huh, battery’s fine…”

“The leader’s boat has moved out of range—that’s why you’re getting the alert,” Song Qian said with a glance.

Kong Wu froze. “What? They didn’t even tell us? What do we do now?!”

Seeing his panic, Jiang Yan looked up and gave him a cool glance.

He was about 1.78 meters tall, with a close-cropped haircut.

His eyes were small but sharp.

Clearly a quick-witted guy.

He looked about the same age as Ye Qing, maybe not even twenty.

But he clearly wasn’t as steady as Ye Qing.

From the way he and Song Qian spoke, it seemed they were only temporary partners.

Song Qian didn’t answer Kong Wu’s question. Instead, he bent down, opened the storage box, took out several bottles of water, and handed them around before sitting down next to Sun Jingtao.

“Brother Sun, there’s something I’d like to discuss.”

“Go ahead.”

“Our original plan was to pick you up and then catch up with the leader’s main boat. But after that earthquake, the leader’s boat must have sped away from Anming.

Now, most likely, our assault boat will have to take you directly to Dongshan.”

“Thank you. If there’s anything we can do, just let us know,” Sun Jingtao replied, understanding that Song Qian was laying the groundwork for what he wanted to say next.

“The temperature keeps dropping. We need to push on before the water freezes over.

But as you know, we only have so much fuel. So I suggest we don’t try to catch up with the leader’s boat for now, but instead look for more fuel nearby.

That way, we’ll be safer on the next stretch.”

Their assault boat did have oars.

But rowing all the way to Dongshan would take forever.

“Ah, Brother Song, if only we’d left right after picking everyone up—we could’ve gotten more supplies from the leader’s boat…” Kong Wu muttered, a little aggrieved.

But halfway through, he caught Song Qian’s look and swallowed the rest of his complaint.

“If the water’s going to freeze, maybe we shouldn’t go to Dongshan at all,” Su Dai said, glancing nervously at the endless water and remembering the giant waves.

Sun Jingtao shook his head. “If it freezes, survival will be even harder. And when the ice melts, the water will only get deeper. We have to head for higher ground.”

“Ugh, if only I’d sold my place and moved to Dongshan…” Su Dai’s mood grew darker.

Her hometown was over there, along with many relatives.

But after the heatwave, all communication was lost.

She had no idea what things were like now.

Song Qian glanced at her. “Before the torrential rains, Dongshan was a living hell. The temperature was higher than Anming, and the sunlight was dangerously radioactive. Not many more survived there than here.”

Su Dai: “!”

“So the Yaoben Base was built later?” Ye Qing looked at Song Qian.

He didn’t avoid the question. “Yes. I heard it was only started during the rains. Of the five major private bases, only the Blazing Flame Base was built before the rains.”

“Five major private bases?” Su Dai was stunned.

“That’s right. I only know what I’ve heard: the five bases are named after gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Yaoben and Blazing Flame bases represent earth and fire. As for gold, water, and wood, we don’t know much yet.”

Jiang Yan: “…”

After explaining, Song Qian glanced at the group, a subtle hint of curiosity in his eyes."