Chapter 1006

The cabin was utterly silent, like sealed water in a tank; beneath the calm, not a ripple could be stirred.

On the contrary, the hearts of countless survivors worldwide were filled with fear.

The light streaming in from the window outside could not dispel the gloom in their hearts.

Xiong Hanzi, who could always grin and bear it even if the sky fell, now found it a little hard to digest this news.

He stammered, a little flustered, and asked Lin An:

"Lin... Lin Dui..!?"

"What the hell... what the hell is going on!?"

"How... how is everything gone!!?"

Not only him, Yun Tian, who was repairing the fighter jet, also seemed startled, instinctively turning his head to look at Lin An.

Both of them were a little panicked at this moment.

The fall of an Iceland war zone would be understandable, after all it's a small country; in many people's minds, it might as well be just a city-sized area.

But a dozen or so countries in a row, including several well-known major powers. Under such an impact, it's easy to make one think of the land beneath their feet.

The loss of a war zone means punishment, and punishment means death.

This all at once... isn't that billions dead!?

Standing in place, Lin An's face also bore a hint of solemnity.

He wasn't the least bit surprised that these war zones would have problems; in his past life, these war zones had also encountered issues, and the system had issued announcements just the same.

And without exception, the war zones mentioned in those announcements were countries with high population density and severe catastrophes.

In the lack of high-end combat power, with weak national governance and military, it's easy to become a disorganized mess, powerless against the apocalypse.

Problems arising are just a matter of time.

It's just that, because of the butterfly effect, it didn't happen this early in his past life.

After a moment, meeting the two's panicked gazes, he slightly shook his head, indicating they needn't worry too much.

"Not annihilated, just a warning."

"War zone collapse has three stages; right now it's only the first stage. This situation has actually always existed; it's just that an announcement is only now being made."

A light, offhand explanation.

As he spoke, Lin An's face bore a faint smile, as if it really weren't a big problem.

But beneath his calm exterior, his inner self was tumultuous.

He wasn't lying to Xiong Hanzi; the war zone's collapse indeed has three stages.

This can be seen even from the system's announcements.

It's just that the two were startled and, for a moment, didn't see clearly. As the team's backbone, he naturally couldn't show panic.

The crucial point is that, from what we can see now, the apocalypse's progress is many times faster than in his past life! In terms of time, he must race against the Doomsday System.

In his past life he had three years; this life... perhaps within two years humanity will be driven to desperation...

As his words fell.

Seeing Lin An's composed expression, Xiong Hanzi's inner panic eased a little, and his speech wasn't as stammering.

"Three... three stages? What does that mean, Captain Lin?"

Blinking his eyes, he asked curiously; meanwhile, Yun Tian beside him listened intently, nervous.

Lin An is their backbone; if Captain Lin says it's not a big problem, then it's not a big problem.

After pondering a moment, Lin An straightforwardly began to explain:

"Three stages: the first stage is a warning that the war zone's disaster level is too high, imminent collapse."

"The second stage is the collapsed state: that is, most safe zones within the war zone have been breached, and there is no major force gathering survivors within the war zone. The system judges this as the collapsed state."

"And in the collapsed state, the system will grant a certain amount of time for the war zone's survivors to complete some tasks: either rebuild safe zones, or band together and find a way to resolve the main disaster."

"The third stage is, if after exceeding a certain time they fail to complete any kind of task, then that war zone will be struck from the records and all will receive punishment."

"So, the warning is actually no big deal. It merely indicates that the current situation in the war zone is rather dire."

After hearing Lin An's explanation, the two let out a long breath, seeing in each other's eyes a sense of lingering fear.

"So it's just a warning... damn, it scared the hell out of me..."

He patted his chest, Zhang Tie reverted to his usual carefree self. After giving Lin An a hehe smile, he directly swayed, picking up the remote and went back to watch his movie.

But as he returned, he couldn't help muttering under his breath:

"Damn, those little Japan and Korea are still around..."

"This bunch of damned little things, they're still holding up pretty damn well..."

Standing before Lin An, Yun Tian, who hadn't yet quickly calmed down, gave the back of that simpleton a somewhat odd look.

Having withdrawn his gaze, he wasn't as easily fooled as Zhang Tie; after hesitating a moment, he couldn't help but quietly ask Lin An:

"Captain Lin... isn't it... not that simple..."

"According to what you just said, a warning... doesn't that just mean the crisis hasn't been resolved?"

Yun Tian looked at Lin An with a tense expression.

He could figure out why the warning and the total collapse of the Iceland war zone were issued at the same time.

Under such uniform circumstances, it's nothing more than the system simultaneously inflicting a catastrophe at the same moment, causing these war zones to suffer a devastating blow instantly!

Thinking about it fills one with dread; he even dares not imagine what kind of catastrophe could cause so many war zones to collapse instantly.

If the Huaxia war zone hadn't obtained catastrophe exemption thanks to Lin An...

Does that mean they would have faced annihilation just now!? Such a terrifying catastrophe—once the Huaxia war zone exhausts its exemption time, what will they do!?

They locked gazes; Lin An looked at Yun Tian's tense expression, paused a moment, then silently shook his head.

As if he could see what Yun Tian was thinking, Lin An's face still bore a relaxing smile, and he lightly explained:

"No need to think too much."

"The disaster didn't erupt instantly. In fact, once the trial-takers came out of the trial, the system gradually guided the disaster's progression."

"The war zones that appeared in the earlier announcement likely failed to be contained, leading to the current situation."

"Don't forget. Many war zones also suffer disasters, but they aren't listed in the announcement."

"This shows that the disaster isn't necessarily unsolvable, nor is it so sudden."

After a simple explanation, Yun Tian felt the boulder in his heart suddenly loosen; he felt as if the world had brightened, and his mood was no longer so oppressive.

He nodded heavily, knowing Lin An still had things to do, so he simply stopped asking and directly remerged into the fighter.

Just as his body fully merged into the fighter, Yun Tian suddenly, out of the blue, asked in a low voice like a youthful spirit:

"Lin Dui, you say the capital... will they still think fondly of you now?"

"Do they know they are mistaken?"

Lin An, turning to continue gathering information, his steps hesitated slightly; after a moment, he did not answer, merely shaking his head imperceptibly.

He knew what Yun Tian wanted to express.

But, it doesn't matter.

I, Lin An, act — why should I care what others think?