Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
Zi could not help frowning upon hearing Sheyan’s plan.
“Your request is too difficult. Evacuating the whole town may sound easy, but we don’t have any authority in this place at all, so how do we persuade them to leave? It’s 4:40 in the morning right now!”
“Besides, if you want to evacuate them, you must at least have a destination.”
“That’s not all. When we organise the evacuation, we must take into consideration all kinds of accident that can happen to the old, weak and disabled. If we act carelessly in such an environment, it may become a disaster.”
“Leave the persuading part to me, Brother Black and Old Charlie,” replied Sheyan with a grin.
“Since you manage a large company with tens of thousands of employees in the real world, you’ll of course be in charge of organising the evacuation. To do this, the mayor is the key.”
“Kulutego will show us where we should retreat to. Reef will organise a mobile medical team to prepare for emergencies. OK, let’s go!”
Zi glared at him, but said nothing more.
The first thing Sheyan did after that was to look for the mayor with Zi. The fat man who exuded fatherly love was still keeping his son company in the ward, so finding him was not too hard.
Upon seeing the mayor, Sheyan pulled him aside and told him, “Mr. Mayor, according to some very reliable information I obtained, this beautiful town of Forks is about to be submerged in a mudslide. We have forty minutes at most before that happens.”
The mayor was shocked.
“Really? But I’ve not been notified by anyone. I’m sorry, my friend, but rainy nights like this happen hundreds of times a year in Forks, and this town has been around for more than three hundred and ten years…”
The fat fellow obviously did not believe Sheyan. It’s not like Sheyan could tell him that the end of the world was coming so who the hell still cared to notify this small town? Nor could he bring Kulutego here and explain to the mayor the special power of the Cyclopes… Therefore, Sheyan adopted the simplest and most straightforward method of persuasion – using brute force.
Mogensha placed the muzzle of his gun right on the mayor’s temple and said coldly, “Sorry for the bad manners, sir, but this concerns the lives of thousands of people in this town. You’ve got to believe what we say.”
The town mayor, Mr. Stella, was obviously not a very bold man. He immediately shivered all over. His sweat dropped like rain.
“Please, gentlemen, I’ve got $560,000 in cash and some jewelry. Please don’t hurt me and my family!”
Sheyan lifted his chin at Zi and said calmly, “I’ll leave him with you. I have something else to do.”
Zi nodded. “OK, you go ahead.”
They had already walked more than ten meters away when Sheyan suddenly appeared to have thought of something. He asked Old Charlie, “The mayor doesn’t look like someone the townsfolk would listen to. He might not be able to persuade everyone here to leave. Do you have any suggestion, Charlie?”
Old Charlie answered in his usual graceful way, “It’s very simple, master. I’ve just seen the building layout of the town. The buildings aren’t scattered disorderly. Instead, they’re divided into five interconnected areas. If there are people who don’t want to leave, we’ll simply make them leave.”
“How do we make them?” Sheyan asked with great interest.
“We’ll start a fire,” replied Old Charlie in his cold, gentle voice.
“In this weather, the rain has long soaked through the houses, so it would take at least an hour for the fire to spread and burn down the houses. Therefore, the mudslide should come before anyone is actually burned to death; the fire and smoke can only play the role of causing fear and panic. Burning some inflammables to force those who refuse to leave out of their houses should be a good choice.”
“We’ll do as you say,” Sheyan decided. He turned to Mogensha next. “It’s not easy to start a fire in this weather. Let’s go find some gasoline. We have to finish this in fifteen minutes.”
By the time they reached the town’s only gas station, a piercing alarm resounded over the whole town. The mayor’s stuttering amplified voice followed.
“We’ve just received a grade-1 orange level warning from Morgan City. A major mudslide is expected to occur here! I repeat, a major mudslide is expected to occur here! Please note that this is neither a joke nor an emergency drill! All residents are required to gather outside the hospital entrance as quickly as possible. We will set up a rescue & escape path there! I repeat, this is not a drill. The mudslide may occur any moment!”
“Zi sure is efficient,” Sheyan nodded to himself, then yelled at the stunned gas station staff, “What are you guys waiting for? That’s exactly what I came here to warn you guys about! If you don’t want to get buried in 40 feet of mud, leave right now! Also, prepare an oil tanker and take it to the hospital entrance with you. If we don’t have anything to start a fire with in this damn weather, we’re all gonna freeze to death!!”
The staff at the gas station panicked, but they were very cooperative and did not question Sheyan’s instruction at all. Meanwhile, the contestants drove away a Ford Raptor themselves. With its 280L tank filled, it was more than enough for their arson activity. Just to be safe, Sheyan also carried a full barrel of oil with them.
Amidst the repeated shouts of the mayor, the town descended into chaos. At this time, Zi’s excellent organisational skills were in full display. The banners for recruiting volunteers were quickly hung up. The volunteers were put in the hospital’s white coats and were distributed in groups to corners where traffic congestion could easily occur in order to help the people or point out the direction for their evacuation.
Old Charlie took charge of parking a car every 100 meters, using their bright lights as street lamps to guide the people to the safe area. Fortunately, the safe area Kulutego found was only less than two kilometers from the town.
By this time, Zi was too busy to monitor the mayor any longer, so she told the mayor bluntly, “The mudslide will happen in half an hour at most. I’m so busy that I can’t keep an eye on you anymore. You can just ask the police chief to monitor all my actions. As someone who has nothing to do with Forks at all, do you think I’m doing all this because I’m bored?”
“Sure, you can now go back on everything you said before and ask the townspeople to return to their houses, but I assure you, if you do that, you’ll be tormented by a tragedy which you will regret until the moment you take your last breath. You will spend the rest of your life in repentance and agony!”
The mayor himself could also feel the indescribable pressure coming from the surrounding hills by now. With his face pale, he nodded silently and chose to cooperate. He was not a man of courage, and the psychological pressure imposed by Zi’s words were no doubt enormous; therefore, he could only choose temporary cooperation.
Reef had picked out several people among the volunteers to form a temporary patrol team. They moved to the temporary camp in advance to built as many tents which could provide shelter from the rain as possible.
Sheyan and Brother Black started to pour gasoline over some houses. They tried to pour through the entire area at one go, then quietly waited for a suitable timing. The timing to start the fire could not be too early or too late.
Too early, and it would easily cause panic to those who were already willing to evacuate. These people were already frightened to begin with, and if they were frightened further with the threat of fire, they may end up being paralysed with fear.
After fifteen minutes, they could see that the escaping residents had become sparse. Brother Black first took a deep puff of the cigar he was holding, then flicked it at the oil drum nearby. In an instant, a fierce fire raged and spread along the poured gasoline, rapidly covering a large area. The doors of several houses soon popped open and some people ran out in great confusion, swearing profanities at the same time!
Sheyan and Brother Black exchanged smiles when they saw this. They rushed over to the next area to start a fire there. The townsfolk were shocked by the sudden fire. Some of the fleeing residents even wanted to turn back to put it out.
Fortunately, at that moment, a loud noise suddenly boomed from the depths of the mountains. It sounded like a giant beast was swallowing something noisily, and also like the sound of 10,000 fragile bones being broken at the same time. The sound was long and terrible. Even the earth was clearly shaking, and the trees were howling in terror!
Hearing such a horrible sound, the fleeing residents were terrified. Many people started to cry, including some volunteers, and some of them fell to the ground, paralysed by fear.
Those who said they were going to put out the fire a moment ago immediately became as quiet as cicadas in winter. Many of them threw away their buckets and ran towards the gathering point. Those with weak mental fortitude were screaming while they ran away, as if that was the only way they could repel the fear in their hearts.
There were a few elderly couples carrying heavy suitcases as if they were going on a holiday. They were reluctant to leave their belongings behind, but their hands and feet were weak due to fear and they could not exert any strength at all, so could only lie on the ground and cry in despair. The situation immediately became more chaotic.
Zi waited. She knew these townsfolk were just ordinary people. Although time was precious, she had to give them some time to take it all in.
But just then, a girl who looked only sixteen or seventeen suddenly stepped forward, her brunette hair soaked wet by the rain. She had a special air to her. She shouted at the fleeing crowd, “You cowards! Don’t you see that they need help? They’re not strangers, they’re your neighbours, your friends, your relatives!”
The girl screamed those words over and over until her voice was hoarse while she helped those who lay paralysed on the ground, persuading them to abandon their luggage and to walk forward with courage. The girl’s thin body and pale skin made her courage shine even more vividly!
Following her lead, more and more people turned back around to help. A smile appeared on Zi’s face as she witnessed this. The girl not only did what Zi wanted to do, she did it better than Zi could. Zi could not help grabbing hold of the mayor to ask him, “Who is that girl?”
The mayor was now totally convinced of Zi’s words and was preparing to retreat in a hurry. He answered while gasping for breath, “Isabella Marie Swan. She moved here from elsewhere. I never did realise how brave she is.”
Hearing the name, Zi’s expression changed completely.
“Isabella Marie Swan….Forks Town!!! Oh my God! Seaman and AK might get into huge trouble setting fire to the town!”
