hsntnovel Chapter 97 Eternal Night: Seeking Aid and Adding Insult to Injury
Chapter 97 Eternal Night: Seeking Aid and Adding Insult to Injury
Chapter 97 Eternal Night: Seeking Aid and Adding Insult to Injury
Lu Sheng had heard of this term, but knew very little about its meaning: "I heard that this phenomenon causes the daytime to disappear temporarily, and the nighttime to continue for one to two months."
But I don't know much about things other than that.
He truthfully admitted his lack of knowledge to Meng Lingshi, which did not surprise Meng Lingshi.
She paused to think about how to phrase her words, and after nearly 10 seconds, she finally spoke, "Boss, there's nothing wrong with your understanding."
The key point is that eternal night is not a regional anomaly, but a global anomaly.
In the explanation that followed, Lu Sheng understood why Meng Lingshi's expression was so serious.
He learned that even after the Long Night arrived, the sun still rose in the sky, and the planet was still in motion.
When it's daytime on one side of the planet, it's nighttime on the other; when it's nighttime on one side, it's daytime on the other.
However, once eternal night occurs, the entire planet will be plunged into a period of polar night that can last from one to two months to as long as half a year.
The sun will no longer rise from the sky, and the beasts of night will enter a period of periodic hibernation and periodic hunting.
During their dormancy period, they are quieter than when they are dead; during their hunting season, they become extremely aggressive, almost like they have gone mad.
The alternation between these two periods is measured in weeks.
Historically, during the more than 600 years of the Long Night era, the phenomenon of perpetual night occurred more than 20 times.
The shortest one month ended, and the longest lasted 6 months and 9 days.
Every time eternal night arrives, it is a tremendous disaster and a great test for human civilization.
In past statistics on the occurrence of perpetual night, the most harmful phenomenon has been the perpetual night that occurs in winter.
Without a ray of sunlight, the whole winter will be colder than ever before.
This is also accompanied by various abnormal weather phenomena, such as seemingly endless howling winds, thunderstorms that bombard a region for months on end, and so on.
These secondary disasters are just as terrifying as the eternal night phenomenon.
To this day, humanity has no way of explaining why the eternal night phenomenon occurs. All we can do is stockpile enough resources and build solid fortifications to resist this difficult time.
After learning about the power of this weather disaster, Lu Sheng immediately made arrangements: "I will contact my family to confirm the possibility of this news."
Have Song Yan continue to keep a close eye on the movements of the ferocious beast within the ruins, and report any changes immediately.
At the same time, we need to find information on past periods of eternal night so we can determine how much supplies we need to stockpile to get through this crisis.
Upon hearing this, Meng Lingshi nodded.
She then mentioned another matter: "Boss, there's another issue that probably needs to be addressed, and that's the energy issue."
She pointed out, "Our camp is currently powered by solar energy. Although the power supply is sufficient at present, this power system will be immediately paralyzed once we enter the eternal night. We need alternative power supply solutions."
Lu Sheng understood Meng Lingshi's concerns and asked, "Do you have any thoughts on this?"
Meng Lingshi nodded and held up three fingers: "In the current plan, there are only three ways to continue to supply energy during the Eternal Night."
The first method is to store sufficient power in advance using large storage batteries.
The power in these batteries will inevitably diminish over time, but if stored properly, and given that the eternal night will last no more than three months, we should be able to withstand it.
The second option is to build a giant windmill and switch from solar power to wind power.
The wilderness is inherently a windy environment, and wind power can greatly help us get through the period of perpetual night.
However, the problem is that the construction cost of wind power generation is too high. A simple estimate suggests that our funding gap is over ten million credit points.
The third thing is something I noticed when Zhao Cai and I were digging a well together.
Beneath the entire ruins, there must exist a raging underground river.
If we build a hydroelectric power station along the underground river, we can use the underground river water to power the camp.
But to do this, we need a way to get underground, or at least to open up the subway tunnels in the ruins.
But the area had completely collapsed, making it as difficult to excavate as hollowing out a mountain.
All three plans sound incredibly difficult to mainland students.
Leaving aside large storage batteries, even if they are the cheapest option, they are still the least reliable.
Instead of using it for power generation, it would be better to store enough gasoline and then burn it to generate electricity.
The second type of wind turbine is a feasible idea, as the wilderness is an environment with strong winds all year round.
However, the construction cost of wind turbines is too high, and even if we ask our family for help, it would be difficult to obtain such a large sum of money.
Lu Sheng even realized that if the eternal night was coming, then his family must be busy hoarding resources to survive this huge disaster, and might not be able to spare any help for this small camp.
The third difficulty is even more obvious. Building a dam on an underground river is no more difficult than expanding directly westward and connecting the entire camp to the family's power grid hundreds of kilometers away. Both are almost impossible.
The camp was in a phase of great progress when Lu Sheng suddenly received such bad news, leaving him feeling completely overwhelmed.
He asked Meng Lingshi, "If this news is true, and the eternal night is inevitable, then how much time do we have at most?"
Meng Lingshi recalled that Song Yan had also mentioned this to her: "If this news is true, we have at most two months before we face an extremely long winter."
Hearing that there were still two months left, Lu Sheng took a deep breath, raised his hand and waved: "Alright, you go and rest first. Don't tell anyone about this for now, otherwise it will only cause more chaos."
Meng Lingshi fully understood this principle, so she even sent Lin Ran away.
The next morning, Lu Sheng walked out of the folding house and saw a line of large trucks leaving the camp through the west gate in an orderly fashion, continuing their journey for the new day.
As the roads reopened, the number of people at the camp increased day by day.
In addition to ordinary pedestrians, there were also many truck drivers who specialize in transporting goods.
These people moved between various settlements, serving as a vital means of exchanging goods in this era.
Lu Sheng knew very well that during the Eternal Night, it would be very difficult to completely close off the camp and rely solely on stockpiled supplies to get through the crisis.
During last night's discussion, he realized something: after entering the Eternal Night, because this Eternal Night will occur during the winter, the ferocious beasts will alternate between hibernation and hunting.
Transporting goods during the beast's hibernation period is even safer than usual.
However, if cargo transportation must be maintained even during the hunting season, then more reliable and indestructible vehicles must be used.
At that moment, Lu Sheng could only think of one thing: the train station that was still well preserved amidst the ruins.
As long as this train station can be partially incorporated into the camp within two months, then even if the eternal night begins, the camp's supplies will not be cut off, and it can even become a central hub for the exchange of goods between surrounding human settlements, relying on a single train.
However, to achieve this, the train station must be reopened within two months.
Lu Sheng took a deep breath and walked towards the gas station.
He needs to have a serious talk with Lu Zheng about this.
After talking with Lu Zheng, regardless of whether they reached an agreement or not, he had to contact Lei Zhaowu to reconnect with Lu Yuexin.
Although the current situation is not yet certain, he is already convinced that the people sent by Jin Kuihua are all capable individuals.
He didn't think Song Yan would easily draw a conclusion about something as important as the Eternal Night.
A moment later, at the refueling depot.
Lu Zheng listened to Lu Sheng's account with a solemn expression: "The things you mentioned are too terrible. I will contact the family to confirm them now."
He raised his bracelet and said while typing, "If the ecologist alone could observe this kind of news, then someone in the family must have received the news and even verified it."
Whether it's true or false, I'll know as soon as I ask.
After he sent the message, his bracelet rang a few seconds later. It was a phone call from his family contact, which made his expression change drastically.
In his memory, the family's response was usually not this quick.
He looked up at Lu Sheng, who gestured for him to proceed. Lu Zheng swallowed hard and answered the phone.
Then a man's voice came from the terminal bracelet: "Where did you get this information from?"
The other person's voice was very serious, but before Lu Zheng could answer, Lu Sheng spoke first: "I have my own channels, so the family has already confirmed that this is true, right? My dear uncle."
Lu Sheng recognized the voice. The person on the other end of the communication seemed surprised that Lu Sheng was right next to them, but they didn't say much. They just said seriously, "Try to block the news as much as possible and don't let too many people know."
If you don't want to cause panic, bury this news like the deepest secret in your heart.
3
Lu Sheng didn't waste any words with him and asked directly, "How many resources can my family provide to help me get through this eternal night?"
"Your family is also facing difficulties, and I'm afraid we can't offer you much help this time."
I hope you understand that the family needs to take care of the entire territory, while you only need to manage your small camp.
"You make that sound so easy."
Hearing Lu Sheng's dissatisfied words, a sigh came from the other end of the phone: "Young man, you are still young. There are many pressures you have never even seen."
But since you are my nephew after all, I have something I hope you will remember.
This eternal night may be longer than any previous one, and some previously established patterns may even become invalid.
During this long, eternal night, many powerful families may perish.
In order to survive, the Lu family is urgently allocating all available resources.
Aside from giving you a heads-up, there's not much I can do to help.
I also warn you not to spread this message.
Once this news gets out, it will cause widespread panic, and many more people will die needlessly.
After saying that, the call ended.
After the call ended, Lu Sheng looked up at Lu Zheng, who was in a state of silence, unsure of what to say.
He felt he had to say something from his position, but he didn't know how to start. For the first time, he felt so powerless in his position as supervisor.
Just as he finally decided to say something, Lu Sheng turned and left first.
After leaving the gas station, Lu Sheng immediately messaged Lei Zhaowu, telling him that he had something important to discuss with Lu Yuexin.
Lei Zhaowu quickly replied to Lu Sheng, saying that he would be bringing a batch of supplies to the camp near dusk and would stay overnight, giving Lu Sheng and Lu Yuexin a chance to talk.
He mentioned that Lu Yuexin also had something to discuss with Lu Sheng.
After contacting all the people he needed to contact, Riku let out a soft sigh.
He knew that people often said that fortune and misfortune are unpredictable, but he never expected that the camp had only just begun to get started, and he would have to face a disaster that only comes around once every few decades, and that its intensity might be greater than ever before.
First, we need to stockpile food, medicine, and energy; second, we need to build materials so that we can repair the camp at any time and even develop and build the camp during the eternal night; and third, we need to ensure the railway station, so that we can carry out safe long-distance transport of supplies during the eternal night.
It is very difficult to accomplish all of these things.
Lu Sheng thought about it briefly and realized that this time he would have to rely on some external forces.
But now is still not the time, because I need to demonstrate more value in order for these external forces to choose to help me.
With that in mind, he decided to hold a short meeting that evening.
That evening, Lei Zhaowu drove a truck that was slightly larger than usual to the camp.
He brought a truckload of gasoline, which was packed in metal cans.
Lu Sheng found Meng Lingshi and they successfully unloaded them. 6000 liters of gasoline, this was to replenish the gas station.
Lei Zhaowu dialed Lu Yuexin's contact number as usual, then took off the bracelet and handed it to Lu Sheng before getting back into the car.
Lu Sheng, wearing the bracelet, walked to a secluded corner. After the communication was connected, he immediately asked about Yong Ye.
A slightly surprised voice came from the bracelet's communication channel: "I didn't expect you to know so quickly."
"Not only did I find out so quickly, I've also contacted Lu Zheng's contact person."
That uncle had no intention of helping me at all; he just said that the Lu family was also having a hard time right now.
I had no idea that the Lu family had become so destitute after I had only been gone for a few months that they couldn't even provide any support supplies.
7
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuexin could only sigh deeply: "Not only that, we also need to send another batch of people to your side to reduce the pressure here."
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