I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 102

Although Jing Qizhen thought Tang Song showed no mercy when exploiting the Babyball’s capabilities, the Babyball itself seemed to be quite happy.

Later, Jing Qizhen reflected and realized that the Earth had spent over 4 billion years playing by itself. While it could amuse itself endlessly, even such a self-sufficient entity might find endless solo entertainment tedious after a while.

Tang Song, ruthless as he was, always gave the Earth tasks that were purposeful and engaging. Before Babyball could grow tired of those activities, it probably felt more involved and energized than overworked.

After a long flight lasting over ten hours, the private jet finally landed smoothly at a major airport in a coastal city.

Amid the massive crowds at the airport, David, Caroline and Joyce didn’t feel overwhelmed by the bustling atmosphere even if they were now in a foreign land. On the contrary, being in an entirely new country seemed to instantly dispel the anxiety from their previous ordeals of being attacked and kidnapped.

Caroline, in her high heels, moved as effortlessly as if she were walking on flat ground. She was so excited that she tilted her chin proudly, almost pulling David along for a spin around the airport.

Although David had signed a contract with Tang Song, their cooperation had technically ended since David was now safe according to the agreement.

Joyce stood quietly beside his cousin, feeling as though the past few days had been a surreal dream. The beginning had been a true nightmare but as things progressed, the situation had become so chaotic and absurd that he didn’t know how to describe it.

Jin Guijuan carefully supported Grandma Fang, with a vocabulary notebook in her bag that had only just been opened to the first page.

David, now relieved, instinctively turned to Jing Qizhen and asked, “What are your plans next?”

Jing Qizhen blinked. “Rest for a bit, then write a report on the investigation of the erosion area?” He still remembered the title they were carrying as erosion area experts.

David paused. “Do you have any plans for us?”

Caroline walked over and casually draped an arm around David’s shoulder, a gesture of trust and camaraderie. She also turned to Jing Qizhen and added, “Or perhaps you’d be willing to offer us some advice?”

Jing Qizhen smiled but didn’t answer directly. Nor did he reject them. Instead, he simply said, “Give me a moment.”

David and Caroline had no objections.

In his mind, Jing Qizhen asked the Earth, “How’s Tang Song doing?”

The Earth replied, “He’s captured all the infiltrators. The effects of the ether have just worn off and his people are interrogating them.”

Jing Qizhen asked, “So he’s free to talk now?”

The Earth answered, “I think so.”

Jing Qizhen nodded. “Alright.”

He then dialed Tang Song directly.

Tang Song picked up quickly and since he already had some understanding of their situation, he immediately asked, “You’ve arrived safely back home and landed?”

Jing Qizhen replied, “Yes. What’s your plan for Caroline, David… and Joyce? What do you intend to do with the three of them?”

After a brief pause, Jing Qizhen decided to include Joyce in the question. While Joyce’s cousin, Wilcox, was also present, there was still a distinction between the two.

Tang Song replied, “The people picking you up will arrive shortly. David can’t leave.”

Jing Qizhen was slightly startled but then recalled Tang Song’s earlier plans and suddenly understood. “You’re keeping him here to approach that Filipino maid?”

Tang Song chuckled lightly and said, “The people waiting for you outside the airport will handle David and the others. You don’t need to worry about it—”

Tang Song’s voice abruptly stopped mid-sentence.

Jing Qizhen heard a faint ‘beep, beep, beep’ through his phone, a call waiting notification indicating that another call was coming in.

At the same time, Jing Qizhen noticed that everyone still standing in the airport was suddenly reaching for their phones, prompted by various ringtones or vibrations echoing around them.

Jing Qizhen suddenly had a bad feeling and didn’t rush to hang up on Tang Song to answer the other call. Instead, he said, “This call might be going out to everyone.”

Hearing this, Tang Song paused, refraining from hanging up as well.

The next moment, Lu Lingxi, who had just finished listening to the notification on his phone, looked up in shock and spoke quietly to his companions.

“Two hours ago, the Earthquake Monitoring Center detected a new energy wave. Professor Shen’s team provided similar data. Based on the mathematical models we’ve previously built, a third erosion area is about to form in the country. And this one is forming much faster, about three times quicker than the areas at Yunhai Wancheng Department Store and Shennongjia.”

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Without a doubt, they had all received the same urgent message.

Jing Qizhen recalled the events leading up to Shennongjia. “The mathematical models estimated that the erosion area’s formation would take about three days. If this one is three times faster, does that mean the new area will form within a day?”

Still on the call, Jing Qizhen and Tang Song hadn’t answered their incoming calls.

But someone on Lu Lingxi’s side overheard Jing Qizhen’s voice and quickly responded, “The current model estimates that the third erosion area will form three times faster but we can’t be sure this data is entirely accurate. Based on the model, it’s expected to form around 2 a.m. tonight.”

Two hours ago, the energy wave was detected by the Earthquake Monitoring Center and promptly reported. The intervening time was likely spent running simulations to calculate the formation timeline.

Now that the results were out, the unexpectedly rapid formation process had shocked the technical teams, prompting them to immediately notify Jing Qizhen, Tang Song, and all other relevant personnel.

The caller speaking to Lu Lingxi was out of breath as they continued rapidly, “What’s most important is the location of this erosion area. We’ve already started evacuations.”

Tang Song, still on the line, pressed, “Where? A densely populated area?”

The staff member on the other end replied, “It’s the Second Municipal Hospital in Binhai City. The only silver lining is that the confirmed energy wave range is centered around the old hospital building. That used to be the outpatient clinic but it was repurposed as a storage facility after the new complex was built.”

Jing Qizhen’s heart sank.

The staff member, likely unaware of the actual conditions inside an erosion area, considered it fortunate that the affected building wasn’t currently in high use. However, it was only a temporary relief.

Given the potential expansion of the erosion area, the hospital’s outpatient and inpatient buildings could easily fall into high-risk areas.

Evacuating a regular, busy area would be manageable even with just three hours, let alone the usual three days. But hospitals are different.

Some patients are immobile, while others rely on life-support equipment that can’t be moved easily. And the sheer number of patients makes a large-scale evacuation a significant challenge, especially now, with the timeline shortened to less than a day.

Tang Song took a deep breath. Even if he boarded a plane immediately, he wouldn’t make it back by the expected formation time of 2 a.m.

Realizing that, he suppressed his frustration and told Jing Qizhen, “You’ll have to take care of this erosion area. The situation is urgent, so don’t hesitate to make demands to the personnel on-site.”

Since he had to stay abroad, Tang Song resolved to focus on uncovering the truth behind David and his associates.

Jing Qizhen agreed. “Got it. You stay safe overseas.”

Tang Song replied in a steady voice, “I will.”

Time was running out and their mutual understanding allowed them to end the call almost simultaneously.

Jing Qizhen asked in his mind, “The formation speed of this erosion area has increased a lot. Babyball, do you know why?”

The Earth, who had been happily helping Tang Song earlier, clearly got pissed again because of the emergence of the erosion area.

The Earth: “If I knew, I wouldn’t have let those garbage planets get close in the first place! Those shameless bastard balls need to get lost!!!”

Jing Qizhen: “…Calm down. Those planets will leave sooner or later.”

The Earth: “#%@#￥…&&*!”

The Earth had always had a vast vocabulary in multiple languages and Jing Qizhen couldn’t even tell how many obscure languages it had switched to this time to curse out those parallel universe planets.

Jing Qizhen: “…” Alright, the previously happy Earth was now even more agitated than Tang Song. No point asking the ball for now.

Manman had already checked the tickets on her phone. “Flying directly to Binhai City takes about an hour. The high-speed train is close to three hours.”

David and Caroline had still been enjoying the relief of arriving in a foreign country, finally free from all the plots and attacks. But before they could even ask what came next, they saw Jing Qizhen and the others answer a call and suddenly become serious.

Joyce couldn’t help but tug at his cousin. Wilcox had received the same call just now.

David and Caroline began to feel uneasy.

David ran a hand through his hair and hesitated. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Jing Qizhen replied concisely, “We’re going to deal with the next erosion area.”

All three foreigners stared in disbelief.

“What!?”

“What the f*ck!”

“You guys— What about us? What are we supposed to do next?”

Jing Qizhen’s expression remained calm. “Two choices. One, come with us to Binhai City. Someone will take care of you. Two, do as you wish.”

According to Tang Song’s original plan, they were supposed to leave David and the others behind to be protected. It wasn’t tourist season anyway, so renting out a resort or something wasn’t hard.

But with Jing Qizhen and the rest gone, leaving them behind might cause more trouble. Letting them do their own thing was probably safer. The foreigners were all extremely cautious and none of them would take unnecessary risks.

Joyce looked at Wilcox in panic. “Cousin!?”

Wilcox looked at his younger cousin sincerely. “I’m going into the erosion area. As for you, you better not!”

Even though the kid seemed pretty good at hiding, Wilcox still thought his cousin was just a burden.

Hearing the conversation between Joyce and his cousin, Caroline and David exchanged a glance and turned to Jing Qizhen. Caroline asked seriously, “You’re not expecting us to go into the new erosion area too, right?”

Jing Qizhen replied calmly with a rhetorical question, “Did I not do enough protecting already or is the rescue contract not over yet?”

Caroline didn’t show any anger at being snapped at. Instead, her eyes lit up. “Ah, so you’re going into the erosion area and we just wait outside? That’s right, isn’t it?”

Jing Qizhen was briefly confused. “…Yes. Is that something to be happy about?”

Caroline and David exchanged another glance.

Of course they were happy! Since the erosion areas brought so much trouble, the more attention Jing Qizhen and his group attracted, the less likely Caroline and David would be targeted afterward. It was a win-win!

At that moment, the staff members who were supposed to pick them up had already entered from outside the airport.

Lu Lingxi and Gu Leshan recognized their colleagues and quickly waved them over.

Jing Qizhen let out a breath and asked the staff, “How soon can we get clearance for a domestic flight to Binhai City?”

The staff member replied without hesitation, “Immediately.”

Jing Qizhen turned around and walked back toward the private plane. “Alright, then we don’t need to go through security or leave the airport. Let’s just fly. Think of it as switching airports!”

Everyone: “…”