# 1960
Chapter 1850: Unending
Except for those who were actually inside that shelter, nearly all the netizen comments seemed to think they were overreacting—it was just an earthquake, nothing serious. Coupled with confirmations from other northern friends, the "enemy attack" incident quietly faded away, the trending hashtag replaced by "Northern Earthquake," and the buzz quickly died down.
But Zhao Zhengbin felt that things couldn't be this simple.
Not that he'd sensed anything amiss... it was just that he had a Night Watch member right beside him, and from Su Zhe's reaction just now, there had to be something more going on!
"It's not an earthquake, right?" Zhao Zhengbin lowered his voice. "That thing that lit up on the ceiling wasn't some emergency light either, was it?"
"This, I can't..."
"I've already told you about my sister's situation." Zhao Zhengbin glanced around. "Look, everything I know I haven't hidden from you. I've never leaked your identity either. As a friend, don't I deserve to know even a little bit of inside information?"
"..." Su Zhe hesitated for a moment, then sighed.
"You're right, it wasn't an earthquake."
"Cthulhu Faction attacked?"
"...Most likely."
"Then why did the shelter return to normal? Did they retreat?" Zhao Zhengbin asked, confused.
"No." Su Zhe shook his head. "They activated 【Unending】."
"【Unending】? What's that?"
"It's a man-made Forbidden Ruins used by the Night Watch. Once the Forbidden Ruins expanded by 【Unending】 is damaged by external force, it immediately transports all living things within the Forbidden Ruins to another marked location... This man-made Forbidden Ruins is typically used to protect Night Watch family members, but it's very expensive and has a limited range. Not many people can afford to use it." Su Zhe continued,
"Commander Lin improved this Forbidden Ruins and incorporated it into the shelter's structure. If the shelter comes under large-scale attack, both the shelter itself and everyone inside will be teleported to another marked location..."
"So, just now, the enemy didn't retreat—the shelter took all the civilians inside and teleported them through space?" Zhao Zhengbin's eyes went wide. "Where are they now?"
"Even after the improvement, the movement range of 【Unending】 is still quite short. It's said that during testing, the shelter could only shift about two kilometers... but Commander Lin used something to expand this distance further..."
"Something?" Zhao Zhengbin asked curiously. "What is it?"
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you..."
"Just tell me!"
"The Torch Origin. You know what that is, right?"
Su Zhe looked completely lost.
"Anyway, it's something incredibly powerful... Commander Lin used causal threads to connect all the 【Unending】 devices in the shelters with the Torch Origin, thereby achieving ultra-long-distance teleportation underground.
Currently, there are five preset teleportation markers in Great Xia—east, south, west, north, and central. Once a shelter in a particular region is attacked, it will automatically teleport to the corresponding marker to ensure the safety of the civilians. This buys some time in case of unexpected enemy attacks.
If I remember correctly, the northern preset marker should be in Beibin City..."
"So the shelter in the video has actually been teleported underground in Beibin City?" Zhao Zhengbin pondered. "But what if the enemy reaches Beibin City? Wouldn't that still be a dead end?"
"That's why 【Unending】 can only buy time. The period it takes for the enemy to march from Tianhe City to Beibin City—that's the golden lifeline for the Night Watch... If they fail to stop the enemy during that time and Beibin City falls, the casualties will be a terrifying astronomical number." Su Zhe's expression turned grave.
Hearing this, a sense of urgency surged in Zhao Zhengbin's heart.
He'd only wanted to hear some inside information from Su Zhe, but he'd ended up learning something so explosive... While other civilians around him were calmly scrolling through their phones, he was the only ordinary person who knew that disaster was about to strike.
He swallowed hard and asked nervously:
"So, how long would it take for them to march from Tianhe City to Beibin City?"
"That depends on who the enemy is. The distance between Tianhe City and Beibin City is about 1,100 kilometers. If it were a high-speed train, it would take十几个 hours, but if it's a god... it would only take a few minutes."
"A few minutes? That fast?!"
For the first time, Zhao Zhengbin gained some concept of a god's power. He couldn't help but ask,
"But the Night Watch has gods too. If they're not too far from Beibin City, they could make it in time... right?"
Su Zhe lowered his head and said nothing.
If they followed Great Xia's original plan, all top-tier combat forces should be stationed at the southernmost border of Great Xia. The only ones who could reach Beibin City in a few minutes would be Chloe, who could teleport herself, and Wang Mian, the god of time.
But even if they made it, then what?
With just the two of them, what could they possibly use to resist the Cthulhu Faction army? And no one knew what the situation was like at Jialin Pass—had it been attacked?
If the Cthulhu Faction army truly attacked from the north, then almost all the preparations they'd made over the past few days would be wasted!
Su Zhe wasn't stupid. He understood Great Xia's current situation clearly, and precisely because of that, his heart was filled with worry and anxiety... How was Great Xia supposed to fight this battle??
Just as Su Zhe was racking his brains, he seemed to sense something, his expression turning complicated.
"Whether they can make it in time, I don't know either." He glanced at the red armband on his arm and said slowly, "With my strength, even knowing everything wouldn't change anything... Besides, I'm just a logistics personnel managing the shelter. Why should I worry about so much?"
In his mind, the figure of the man cloaked in Crimson Cloak flashed by. His gaze seemed to pierce through endless void, looking toward a certain place in the north...
"Even if the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up... But that tall person won't be me."
Whether it was his imagination or not, as he said these words, Zhao Zhengbin saw something like loneliness and helplessness on Su Zhe's face.
Zhao Zhengbin frowned slightly. He had an instinctive aversion to these words.
His mother had said the same thing as Su Zhe, but it didn't align with the principles in his heart. What he felt more of was cowardly people making excuses for their own懦弱... Even if these excuses were mixed with so-called "reality" and "helplessness," making them seem so noble and justified.
"But even tall people get tired." Zhao Zhengbin said seriously, "There are always things in this world that we can do, isn't that right? If everything is left for the tall person to carry, how lonely and exhausted would they be?"