CHAPTER 424: CHAPTER 422 TOBA VOLCANO

When Chen Xin and Qin Lan returned to the shelter, the atmosphere here was also quite tense.

The construction site had temporarily halted, and all the workers seemed at a loss, gathering together, unsure of what to do.

The special forces soldiers had stepped up, maintaining order while also being vigilant of the surroundings, guarding against potential dangers.

Noticing Chen Xin and Qin Lan’s return, the special forces commander and commissar hurried over, asking Chen Xin, "Academician Chen, do you know what happened? Was that an earthquake just now?"

"I’m not sure about the specifics. Did the tremor have any impact? There were no casualties, right?" Chen Xin asked the commander.

As he asked, Chen Xin walked briskly toward the special forces’ station, where there was communication equipment for external contact. Understanding what happened through the communication equipment was the fastest way for now.

"Two workers accidentally fell from the scaffolding, but fortunately, they landed in the snow, so they’re not seriously hurt," the commander replied to Chen Xin.

Workers falling from scaffolding certainly constitutes a safety incident, and, in principle, the cause should be investigated, responsibilities clarified, and safety hazards checked.

But more important than these matters is figuring out what exactly happened just now.

Reaching the military camp, Chen Xin contacted other places through the communication equipment and hurriedly inquired about what caused the tremor.

If only this city felt the tremor, it might just be a small-scale earthquake or something else, but if multiple locations felt it, it could be a larger-scale earthquake or even something more serious.

However, as Chen Xin and the others anxiously waited, the response they received was a very dire answer.

"Significant tremors are felt nationwide south of the Yangtze River. The seismographic network detected an earthquake of over magnitude nine in Southeast Asia, with the epicenter located in the Sumatra Island region. The specific magnitude and detailed epicenter location are still being calculated..." As Chen Xin read the reply, his face suddenly turned pale.

The commander, seemingly not realizing what this meant, was still self-reassuring, "Luckily, the earthquake didn’t occur within our borders. If it’s on Sumatra Island, a nine-magnitude earthquake shouldn’t affect us. The sea surface should be frozen now, so even tsunamis haven’t..."

Before the commander finished speaking, Qin Lan noticed Chen Xin’s dreadful expression and quickly asked with concern, "A Xin, is there something wrong?"

"It might not be an earthquake..." Chen Xin shook his head, though he feared an extremely terrifying possibility, he still hoped it wouldn’t come true, "No, we can’t make a baseless judgment before confirming. We have to wait for specific information before determining what exactly happened."

Chen Xin shook his head, saying nothing, but remained by the communication equipment, seemingly waiting for the results to come out.

The commander and commissar still didn’t quite understand what was going on, but seeing Chen Xin’s grave and worried expression, they also sensed the matter might be more serious than imagined, so they stayed, waiting with Chen Xin.

Time passed by slowly in the waiting, and Chen Xin, guarding the communication equipment, remained with a stern face, even murmuring prayers that it wouldn’t be the worst outcome, which undoubtedly affected everyone else, making them worried and tense as well, barely daring to breathe.

In this oppressive atmosphere, although it was less than half an hour, it felt like a half-century had passed.

Finally, the communication equipment rang again, and a new message was delivered.

"The earthquake’s magnitude is confirmed at 9.2, with the epicenter at latitude 2.5 degrees north, longitude 98.4 degrees east, located at Lake Toba on Sumatra Island..." The commissar read out the information, but before he could finish, Chen Xin sat down limply in a chair as if struck, the shock overwhelming him.

Noticing Chen Xin in such a strange state, Qin Lan hastily asked with concern, "A Xin, what’s wrong? What on earth is happening? Has something big occurred?"

The commissar and the commander quickly expressed their concern to Chen Xin as well, "Academician Chen, what’s going on? Is there something special about this place called Lake Toba that makes you react this way?"

Being asked repeatedly, Chen Xin took a deep breath and then explained in a low voice to the three, "Lake Toba is the largest volcanic lake in the world. It was formed more than seventy thousand years ago from the massive crater left after the Toba Volcano eruption. The eruption of the Toba Volcano at that time..."

Seeing that the three still didn’t seem to understand, yet were listening earnestly to his explanation, Chen Xin sighed and continued, "Toba Volcano is the second-largest volcano in the world, with a total of four eruptions in history. The one over seventy thousand years ago was Toba Volcano’s fourth eruption, and the most violent one, the strongest volcanic eruption on Blue Star in twenty-five million years.

The entire eruption lasted several weeks, with over 3,000 cubic kilometers of ejecta spewed from the volcano. Within just three days, volcanic ash covered the globe, dimming the sky and lowering temperatures, pushing Blue Star into an ice age, causing massive species extinctions, and reducing the human population at that time to less than two thousand."

"What?" The three couldn’t help but exclaim in shock after hearing Chen Xin’s explanation, not expecting the situation to be this severe.

"Maybe it was just a simple earthquake, not a volcanic eruption? Plus, Toba Volcano has turned into a volcanic lake, hasn’t it? Over seventy thousand years, it must have become an extinct volcano, right?" The commander optimistically suggested, like Chen Xin earlier, hoping the situation wouldn’t turn that dire.

However, Chen Xin shook his head helplessly, saying, "Toba Volcano is not an extinct volcano. Its magma chamber still holds a massive amount of magma. Once triggered by an earthquake, it could erupt. Even if it’s not a volcanic eruption this time, a magnitude nine-plus earthquake could still trigger the volcano to erupt, so it’s certain Toba Volcano has entered an eruptive phase.

And now, the most crucial aspect isn’t whether the volcano erupted, but whether its eruption was triggered by the previous meteor impact.

If the tectonic activity caused by the meteor impact triggered the Toba Volcano’s eruption, then several other volcanoes are likely to erupt as well. It must be known that there are seven supervolcanoes of the same level as Toba Volcano on Blue Star. If they all erupt together, then the world is truly doomed."