Natural Disaster: I Started By Hoarding Tens Of Billions Of Supplies - Chapter 439

Chapter 439: Searching For Ships
Xu Qipeng got straight to the point. “Ruihan, can you find submarines?”

Xu Ruihan raised an eyebrow slightly at the unusual request. After a few seconds of silence, he replied, “I can try, but I can’t guarantee I will find one. Why do you need submarines?”

Xu Qipeng shared the secret information he had just acquired before adding, “I don’t think the central government would waste resources searching for submarines without a reason. If they are making this move, there must be something behind it.”

After considering his second uncle’s words, Xu Ruihan said, “Second Uncle, I suspect their urgency has something to do with the next natural disaster.”

Xu Qipeng’s heart sank at his words. After a brief silence, he said, “We need to act fast and secure as many submarines as we can.”

Knowing the importance of the matter, Xu Ruihan replied, “Leave this matter to me. Second Uncle, you must keep an eye on their movements. If you find anything new, let me know immediately. This could be crucial to our survival.”

When he heard Xu Ruihan’s words, Xu Qipeng tightened his grip on the satellite phone. “Understood. Be careful, and don’t let this information leak. We need to prevent mass panic.”

“Got it.”

After the call ended, Xu Ruihan turned to Mu Xichen and said, “Looks like we will have to leave earlier than planned.”

Mu Xichen frowned and asked, “Something happened?”

Xu Ruihan nodded and relayed his conversation with Xu Qipeng.

After listening to the explanation, Mu Xichen muttered, “Could the next disaster have something to do with the sudden eruption of the dormant volcanoes around the country?”

Xu Ruihan shook his head. “I don’t know.”

After a moment of silence, he stood up. “I will start preparing for our mission.”

“Good. I will check where we can find the submarines while you make the preparations.” Mu Xichen said while turning on his laptop.

“Alright.”

After Xu Ruihan left the office, Mu Xichen got to work. As his fingers flew across the keyboard, he muttered, “It’s so much harder to do this now. I hope the satellite is still operational.”

While Mu Xichen and Xu Ruihan raced against time to find as many submarines as possible, the central government, which had remained silent since the end of the world began, suddenly released a shocking announcement via radio.

Although most satellites had fallen, some had managed to withstand the shift in the magnetic field and remain in orbit. Using these remaining satellites, the central government restored communication and broadcasted the announcement.

When Yao Ran received the news from Wu Yehao, she turned on the radio on the dashboard and tuned in to the central government’s frequency.

A few seconds later, after some crackling noises, a man’s voice came through.

[… will be given priority. Everyone can sell special metal to the central government in exchange for a seat on one of the submarines. For those unable to scavenge the special metal from outside, you may exchange other essential supplies for a seat.]

[For those who do not have enough supplies or special metal, do not worry. We have prepared an alternative escape route by land. More information regarding this will be released in the near future.]

After the announcement, the radio fell silent. Yao Ran then switched it off and said, “It seems the central government already knew about the future shift in the tectonic plates.”

Hearing that, Long Yu commented, “In the future, the land will become ocean, and the seabed will rise to form new land. For that to happen, the movement of the tectonic plates must be enormous. As long as they still have the necessary equipment, it’s not hard to detect this.”

After listening to his words, Yao Ran fell into deep thought. After a long silence, she said, “Besides escaping to the water using submarines, they also mentioned a land route. Do you know which areas managed to avoid this disaster?”

Long Yu thought for a moment before replying, “I remember that the Juncheng Military Base was still standing when this happened in our previous life.”

“However, in this life, the Juncheng Military Base has already disappeared because of the Fujiang Mountain eruption. Based on this alone, I’m sure our rebirths have affected the future. As for how big the changes are—I don’t know.”

Hearing this, Yao Ran sighed and looked out the window. A few seconds later, she said, “Since we can no longer rely on our memories as a reference, we can only take things one step at a time.”

Glancing at her, Long Yu asked, “Do you have any plans?”

Yao Ran pondered for a moment before replying, “Since the central government is already rushing to prepare submarines, the tectonic plate shifts will likely be massive and dangerous. It might even happen in the near future. Our best chance of survival is preparing more ships.”

She paused for a second and added, “I have one cruise ship, two submarines, and one aircraft carrier, with a total capacity of around 15,000 people. Our team alone now has almost 30,000 people. The ships can only accommodate half of them. It’s far from enough.”

Yao Ran fell into deep thought as she said, “If we can find more ships, we might be able to bring everyone with us when the tectonic plates shift in the future.”

Juncheng City is surrounded by mountains, making it difficult to find ships. The only option would be to check coastal cities. However, most of those cities were submerged after the first tectonic shift triggered a megatsunami that devastated the country’s coastlines.

While she was thinking, Long Yu said, “It will be hard to find ships now. Since the central government already released the news, everyone who can afford to venture out will go out to find ships. Competition will be fierce.”

Listening to what he said, Yao Ran nodded in agreement.

After a few seconds of silence, Long Yu continued, “Since we can’t find more ships, how about we look for containers, convert them into living spaces, and stack them to provide more room? The aircraft carrier should be able to hold them without any issues.”