CHAPTER 459: CHAPTER 457: ESTABLISHING A NEW SETTLEMENT

The rescue team’s tent setup was on a flat terrain wedged between two fissures. Originally, it was hard to identify what this place was, but due to the snow cover, it’s now a rare piece of flat land in the city.

The rescue team chose this area because the terrain was relatively flat and considered stable, making it an ideal rescue point and survivor accommodation area.

Even the airborne troops and Titan opted to land nearby; this area has essentially become the disaster relief base camp.

However, this piece of flat terrain isn’t very large. After setting up the tents brought by the Chen Long for the survivors, there’s honestly not much open space left.

"Are there any other places in the city that can be used as accommodation points?" The team leader felt headache upon hearing that the accommodation point was now overcrowded.

Rescue work is already overwhelming, with all sorts of things piling up on his desk requiring his attention. With this new challenge, there’s certainly no room for relaxation.

"Most areas in the city have been affected by the earthquake, and we can’t find any relatively flat or stable large areas suitable for accommodation points!" The deputy mayor also felt quite troubled.

Most of the city consists of collapsed buildings and fissures formed by cracked snow. Even though the earthquake happened four or five days ago, buildings are still collapsing, and snow is sliding. The rescue team has to be cautious when conducting rescues and definitely can’t place accommodation areas in these spots.

Furthermore, the city is surrounded by mountains, making it difficult to find a flat area outside the city.

"Do we still have enough tents?" Chen Xin seemed more concerned about the supplies.

"We have enough tents. We anticipated the need to accommodate a large number of disaster victims and brought quite a few tents given the difficulties in transportation." The team leader reported the current inventory to Chen Xin: "We’ve used about two-thirds of the tents brought, with more than half of the other supplies remaining, excluding food and drinking water. The real consumption issue is with medicine and heating equipment, everything else is manageable.

But now the accommodation point is almost full. If we can’t open a new accommodation point and can’t accommodate rescued survivors, we’ll face big problems."

"I understand that, so the problem we need to solve now is to prepare a new accommodation point, right?" Chen Xin nodded, indicating his understanding, and asked the team leader and deputy mayor.

"Correct!" Both nodded, affirming the answer.

Upon hearing their answers, Chen Xin paused for a moment, told a nearby staff member to "bring a map," and then crossed his arms in thought.

The deputy mayor and team leader dared not disturb Chen Xin’s thought process upon seeing him deep in thought.

Both understood Chen Xin’s status and felt he could solve the problem. Interrupting his thoughts would be a huge mistake.

Soon, a staff member brought the map and spread it on the table before the three.

The map was printed previously, showing the old city plans and street signs, but overall it’s still clear.

After the map arrived, Chen Xin stopped thinking, glanced at it, and pointed at a blue lake area on the map, asking, "This should be frozen now, right? Can we set up the accommodation point here?"

Seeing where Chen Xin pointed, the deputy mayor nodded and said, "This was a tourist area before, it should be frozen now. However..."

"However what?" Chen Xin asked the deputy mayor as he paused.

"Since the meteor strike, no one has been there, and we’re not sure about the current conditions, unsure if an accommodation point can be set up." The deputy mayor explained to Chen Xin.

This is understandable. The blue lake Chen Xin pointed to was once a famous city tourist spot, renowned for its beautiful natural scenery. Years ago, the local authorities demolished over a thousand inns around the lake to protect its water quality, avoiding pollution.

With the meteor strike and the cold weather, the entire lake area had long since frozen; indeed, hardly anyone had ventured there.

Chen Xin wasn’t surprised, and he turned to the team leader, saying, "Send an airship to check the situation; if suitable, set up the accommodation point in the lake area. The entire lake is probably frozen, so the ice should be suitable for an accommodation point."

"I’ll send someone immediately." The team leader nodded at Chen Xin and promptly instructed the staff nearby.

However, despite giving orders, the team leader still asked Chen Xin, "What if the lake area isn’t suitable for setting up an accommodation point?"

This situation must be considered. Though theoretically, the frozen lake can be seen as flat land, nobody knows the current conditions after the earthquake.

Nonetheless, Chen Xin wasn’t worried about this, instead asking both, "How many shelters are yet to be excavated? What’s Titan’s usage situation?"

"Thanks to Titan and engineering machinery alongside airborne troops, roughly 64% of the city’s shelters have been excavated. Of the remaining 36%, about 21% aren’t covered or buried, not needing excavation. Thus, the excavation work is almost done, focusing only on rescuing other buried survivors now." The deputy mayor, quite knowledgeable on this aspect, quickly informed Chen Xin, "Also, Titan is quite useful, highly efficient in excavating debris. Our current rescue efficiency is thanks to them, though two units encountered operational issues, and others are said by drivers to need maintenance."

"High-intensity work naturally leads to breakdowns needing maintenance," Chen Xin nodded in understanding, then asked the deputy mayor, "Is it sufficient to rely on engineering machinery for remaining excavation? Would pulling Titan back for maintenance affect the rescue?"

"There might be some impact, but it’s manageable." The deputy mayor weighed the situation before responding.

Chen Xin thus relaxed, telling the deputy mayor and team leader, "Then, pull back all Titan units and about two hundred airborne troops to build a stable platform next to the current accommodation point, creating a new accommodation point."

"Build a new accommodation point?" The team leader and deputy mayor were startled by Chen Xin’s words: "How is this built?"