The ultimate blue sea

Chapter 103-final

After Su Qing and Ji Pengcheng were drawn in, the central area of the abnormal space didn't act up again. It returned to its slowly expanding pattern. Meanwhile the confused special forces encircling the periphery of the space could only retreat as it expanded. It was like a big mouth. No one knew what was going to come out from it. Orders hadn't come down. They couldn't act rashly without authorization.

But Ji Pengcheng, caught inside, found that the communication lines inside still worked—at least phone calls could be made. But the calls were limited to within the space. He couldn't call out. There was a lot of static over the phone, the signal going in and out.

So Ji Pengcheng did something—he started a rumor.

"A relative at the national earthquake bureau secretly sent me some news. There's going to be an earthquake in an hour, and the epicenter is this area. It may be a magnitude 7 or 8!"

Starting a rumor like this was particularly wicked, because unfortunately the place where Su Qing and Ji Pengcheng found themselves had had an enormous earthquake within the last twenty years. The impression it had made on the locals still remained. After going through such a catastrophe, they were especially sensitive towards the word "earthquake."

Moreover, Ji Pengcheng was a practiced hand at spreading rumors—how to pretend to be an acquaintance, how to publicize inside information, how to seem convincing, how to hint skillfully, how to find seemingly real evidence. He had even developed a very systematic set of principles. Even the not very clear telephone line helped him construct a slightly frightening atmosphere of tension.

A true example of there being a master for every trade.

Su Qing had gone by a different path. Ji Pengcheng knew that he had an ordinary mortal body and couldn't keep up with the little beast of burden Su's light wave-like speed. He could only do such things as were in his power. The others couldn't contact them now. The people acting on both sides were like headless flies. But there was one thing—if they wanted a way to destroy this so-called "central processor," they would certainly first have to evacuate all the residents from the area.

This old swindler Ji Pengcheng was like a source of infection. You couldn't go to him for good things, but he was an absolute expert at bad things. In not too much time, quite a few people carrying luggage and bringing along their families began to assemble in the main street.

Ji Pengcheng's gaze passed through the vast uneasy crowd. He got out a cigarette, thinking that the "experts" had better not come out to deny the rumor. If they denied it, then even those who hadn't believed it originally would believe it.

He raised his head and looked at the horizon, where the evening sun was beginning to sink. He didn't find anything different from before. He coughed quietly twice, suddenly feeling a little joyous. He thought that doing this kind of thing at his age was simply more exciting than a second spring.

Su Qing wasn't as cheerful as him. A faint signal was coming from his watch. This was the position of the gravitational probe that had rolled into the space. Su Qing didn't know about other things, but he had earnestly read the instructions for the various kinds of equipment used by field personnel. The probes Chang Dou had given them were basically the same but for some small points. Chang Dou called it the "eye of the hurricane effect." The core areas of all energy fields would have an extraordinary attraction for these probes.

Su Qing didn't know what the essential difference between this "abnormal energy field" and normal energy fields was, but he had no direction now. The automatic directional device Chang Dou couldn't be depended on anymore. He could only try a last ditch effort and follow the intermittent weak signal on the indicator.