Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In terms of squad recruitment, Li Du wanted to get Brother Wolf’s opinion. Brother Wolf
had the expertise and a knack for identifying the best ones. Big Ivan, whom he had
recommended, was a good example.
Li Du instructed Brother Wolf to accompany Sophie to check out the happenings in the
nearby town. Back at the villa, with the help of Hans, Li Du arranged for the rest to
collect water as part of their efforts to store extra water for emergency usage.
Some time later, Brother Wolf drove back at top speed and said solemnly, “There aren’t
enough resources at the town’s clinic to tend to those who have been hurt. In
emergency cases, they send people to the city via a helicopter.”
Li Du was surprised and said, “With such poor signal and reception, would a helicopter
be able to fly over?”
After all, flying a helicopter was not as simple as just taking off the ground. First, there
must be an application for an air-route. It was only after receiving the approval that the
helicopter could take off. Otherwise, it would not be long before it was shot down.
If it had been so easy to fly a helicopter, Li Du would not have stayed where he was,
anticipating the next earthquake in fear. He would have taken the helicopter and flown
off north.
Besides, there was another consideration. Typically, when natural disasters like
earthquakes happened, airports would not allow anyone to land. Hence, even if they
had managed to get the helicopter in the air, it would not be able to make a landing.
Brother Wolf said, “It is possible to fly via the emergency medical channel route. We
have checked and been in contact with the hospital, and there would be no problem
with that.”
There was nothing Li Du could say to that. He gestured for Big Ivan to come over. Then
he said, “Fly the helicopter, go to town with Brother Wolf and help transport the injured
people.”
Saluting, Big Ivan obeyed. “OK, boss.”
Li Du was very satisfied with Big Ivan. When he left to start up the helicopter, Li Du
patted Brother Wolf’s shoulder. He said, “Do you have any more buddies we can trust?
People like Big Ivan? I would like to recruit more people into the team.”
Without hesitation, Brother Wolf said, “How many do you need? I have six buddies we
can trust back in Germany.”
Li Du said, “Get those six over then. You can make the decision on their salary.”
He had complete trust in Brother Wolf.
Brother Wolf nodded and said, “I will go to town and protect your lady first. Once I have
a moment, I will send their profiles to you. You can review them and if there are no
issues, then we can talk about the rest.”
After Brother Wolf and Big Ivan left, Li Du continued with what he had been working on.
Now that there was one man less, the labor division had to be readjusted.
Big Quinn and Lu Guan were setting up the tents and Godzilla was packing up the
things in the house. He brought out the furniture and electrical appliances to minimize
the damage that the tremors could bring. Meanwhile, Hans was walking around
aimlessly.
Li Du could not bear to look at this and waved him over. He shouted, “Big Fox, come
with me and fetch water!”
Hans yelled, “Can’t you see that I’m on the phone?”
Li Du said, “I only see that you’re walking around doing nothing!”
“I’m not just walking around, OK? I am searching for a spot with better reception okay!”
Hans said, indignant.
Li Du was speechless. “Godd*mnit, you make that sound reasonable.”
There were some small bottles in the house. Li Du mobilized the five little guys, but only
Ah Meow, Ah Ow and Ali could be of help. Crispy Noodles and Ah Meng were too
small-sized for the task.
He went to the ditch to collect water. He filled a bottle to the brim, and then let Ali carry it
on its back.
The distance back to the villa was reasonable, but as the conditions of the terrain were
poor, driving was impossible. They had to walk back to the villa via the alleys.
After four or five trips, Li Du started to get tired.
When he saw that Hans was still on his phone, Li Du said angrily, “Who exactly are you
calling?”
“Many people,” Hans replied.
Li Du said, “Can’t you just tell them you’re safe and end the call? Do you have to stay
on the line?”
“I have a few more people to call.”
“How many?”
Hans ignored him. Li Du said, “Didn’t catch that, sorry.”
“I don’t know how many, alright? We’re having an emergency here!” Hans rolled his
eyes as he spoke.
Li Du said, “Go fetch water.”
Hans said, “What I am dealing with is more important. I am trying to get more
information on this earthquake! Fine, fine, you go on with your work. I know you’re tired,
but if you want I will give you a massage to help relax your muscles.”
Li Du could not get Hans to budge. By then, Godzilla and Lu Guan were done setting up
the tent. With the pails in their hands, they had come over to volunteer their help.
Hence, Li Du did not bother to keep badgering Hans.
Hans was just a lazy dude.
After a while, a police car drove over and stopped. Luo Qun and her partner Chris got
out of the car.
Chris clearly recalled his past encounter with Li Du and was looking apprehensive. Luo
Qun came down and walked over to Li Du. She asked, “Are you okay? Where’s
Sophie? How is she?”
Li Du told them that Sophie had gone to the neighboring town to help the injured. Luo
Qun nodded and said, “I am going over too. Go on with your work. I was just dropping
by to check out how you guys are doing. Seems like no major incident happened, so
that’s good.”
Without giving Li Du a chance to ask further, as soon as she learned that he was fine
Luo Qun left and drove off again quickly.
Li Du continued to fetch extra water for storage.
The whole afternoon, he had been working to store up more water. The pails, tanks and
bathtubs, and any other containers that could store water had all been filled to the brim.
Hans told him solemnly that there would be another earthquake with a higher
magnitude. He said that the clouds in the sky were called quake clouds and that a big
earthquake was about to happen.
Li Du was so worried that he did not have a good rest that night.
Big Ivan was in a worse state. The entire afternoon he had been busy flying the
helicopter. When he came back at night, he had to be on stand-by. Once an earthquake
happened, they would have to get on the helicopter and seek safety in the sky.
After the earthquake earlier that day, the temperature had gone down. At the evening,
gloomy clouds had gathered, and snow started falling lightly down from the sky.
In other regions, it was winter in November and snow would be common. However, that
was abnormal in Phoenix.
Phoenix, and Arizona in general, had a reputation for being the oven of the United
States. In the entire year, there were only short spans of time, perhaps four to five days,
when the temperature stayed below freezing.
The area was arid and experienced water shortages. In winter, it was more arid as there
was less water vapor in the air. As a result, there was a low chance of rain and hence,
ice crystal nuclei for snow could not form.
Two criteria had to be fulfilled for snow to fall. First, the temperature had to be low,
below zero degrees Celsius. Second, the clouds in the sky had to be dense with water
vapor to enable the formation of ice crystal nuclei.
Each year, there were only four to five days of low temperature in Phoenix. In those
days, humidity had to be high enough to form an ice crystal nucleus. The chances of
both happening at the same time were extremely low.
Hence, it was very uncommon for snow to fall in that area. A snowfall in November was
even more unusual.
As a result, the group became cold and anxious. Could it be that a big earthquake was
really going to happen?
Unable to fall asleep, Li Du gave up and went to sit by the bonfire, adding wood to keep
it burning.
The rest of the group also came out of their tents. The adults carried their children and
the men wrapped their arms around their wives. The men with no wives to hug carried
Ah Meow and the other little ones. They gathered around the bonfire.
The snow fluttered down from the sky, and the fire on the ground burned brightly. If it
weren’t for the threat of an earthquake, Li Du would have thought that the scene was
rather beautiful.
In the end, they were cold for one night, but the earthquake never came.
The next day, the dark clouds had dissipated and the sun was out.
Phoenix revealed another of its charms. In one night, the snow had fallen, rendering the
earth white. It seemed like a new world of silver had been born.
“So beautiful,” Victoria said cheerfully. “I want to paint it. Come over, Ivana, let’s paint
together.”
Hans called out, “Be careful, there’s still the risk of an earthquake.”
Li Du glanced at the signal bar on his phone and saw that it was full. He did not know
when it had gone back to normal.
Godzilla went to see if the water supply had been fixed. However, there was still no
running water. Seeing that, Hans shook his head. “With the possibility of an earthquake,
the water company would not supply water.”
After some thought, Brother Wolf lit a fire to warm up the water pipe. Shortly, clear tap
water flowed out, along with some small icicles.
“It was frozen, the temperature last night had gone down too low,” Brother Wolf said
blandly.
The electricity was back and so was the natural gas. Everything had gone back to
normal.
Hans was shocked. “How could that happen? Wasn’t a big earthquake supposed to
follow?”
Lu Guan switched on the TV. The news was all about the reports on the earthquake.
There were also experts who were saying that there was no risk of an impending
earthquake.
