Chapter Sixteen: Relocation! The Great Migration!

Chu Xiao’s gaze was resolute, allowing not the slightest doubt from Wang Lulu. Especially every time Wang Lulu met Chu Xiao’s deep, obsidian eyes, she felt an inexplicable force drawing her closer to him. Fortunately, Wang Lulu was clear-minded enough to recognize that someone like him could never have anything to do with her, so each time, she managed to pull herself away in time. Yet even so, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had seen Chu Xiao somewhere before.

“Alright! Then I’ll thank you in advance!” Wang Lulu hurriedly turned to leave, afraid she might fall in deeper if she stayed any longer.

Chu Xiao watched Wang Lulu’s retreating figure.

Beyond Mingzhu City, students returning from abroad in other provinces were also flooding back.

Three days later, the nation’s gates slammed shut completely.

Some, even if they wanted to return, would never make it back.

In the end, fate had severed their ties with Jiuzhou.

At this moment,

Chu Xiao knew there were even more pressing matters to attend to.

A mass population migration was about to begin.

Within days, the entire population had to be concentrated in the top-tier and second-tier cities, using these metropolises as bastions against the invasion of the Lord of the Underworld.

At the same time, a workforce needed to be dispatched to the vast provinces of the northwest and southwest to produce grain.

The tasks seemed Herculean, yet there was no time to lose.

Emergency announcement! Emergency announcement!

All citizens prepare for relocation. All citizens must comply with the arrangements! No resistance! Follow the rules!

Residents of third- and fourth-tier cities, prepare to move to first- and second-tier cities!

First- and second-tier cities, be ready—strangers may move into your homes at any moment!

All cities on Level One alert!

Within an hour, this news spread to every corner of Jiuzhou.

Now, even the most ignorant understood: the heavens are about to change.

Houses? Cars? All nonsense now. People took only two cards and a few sets of clothes before beginning their move.

The authorities allowed only one day to prepare.

Every household was gripped by tension.

But of course, there were always those who couldn’t bear to leave the land their ancestors had inhabited for generations.

Attempts at persuasion failed, and with time more precious than gold, there was no room left for argument.

In truth, those who stayed behind were mostly elderly. They simply couldn’t abandon their homeland—they’d rather die here than become exiles.

Each small city had tens of thousands of elderly residents choosing to remain in their homes.

When Chu Xiao learned this, a deep sorrow struck him.

“Across Jiuzhou, in more than a hundred cities, hundreds of thousands of elderly have chosen to stay home! Do you realize what this means? Have you thought about it?” Chu Xiao’s anger flared. He couldn’t understand how others could let their elders act so willfully.

Huang Ke, the official in charge of the migration, looked troubled. “We don’t want this either! But they just refuse to leave! They say they’d rather die at home! And some young people are staying behind because their elders won’t go.”

The more Huang Ke spoke, the softer his voice became.

“No! Let me think of something! We can’t let them sit at home and wait for death! When war breaks out, we won’t have the capacity to look after these hundreds of thousands!” Chu Xiao was determined not to abandon a single soul from Jiuzhou.

He absolutely would not.

He had to find a way to persuade these people to leave of their own accord.

“Broadcast! I want a live broadcast! Connect my feed to every television station in Jiuzhou, or radio if that’s easier! I must make sure everyone hears me!”

Chu Xiao swallowed hard, composing his thoughts.

On camera, Chu Xiao’s eyes shone with steely resolve, his expression grave.

“Greetings, everyone! I am Chu Xiao, the chief responsible for the National Production Campaign!”

“By ‘national,’ I don’t just mean the young and the middle-aged—it includes our elders as well!”

“Don’t think that just because you’re old, you’re useless! You are needed! You can help manage logistics for the warriors on the front lines!”

“You can care for those who are disabled! You can even become the source of faith and strength for your sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters as they fight!”

“You can still contribute to Jiuzhou! Why squander your time and leave everything to your ancestors or to others?”

“Aren’t you, as people of Jiuzhou, willing to do your part for your homeland?”

Aunt Wang was among those elderly who had planned to stay behind. Not wanting to burden her son in these turbulent times, she lied and told him to go ahead, that she would catch up after packing in a few days.

Now, hearing Chu Xiao’s words, she realized just how selfish she had been.

If her son and her beloved little granddaughter knew she’d died, how devastated they would be!

“No! I will also do my part for Jiuzhou! I will not be a burden!” In her clouded eyes, a steely will shone forth.

It wasn’t just Aunt Wang. Millions of elderly people stepped out of their homes, determined to contribute what little strength they could to their country.

December 15th, 8:30 a.m.

After five days, the entire population migration was complete, and everyone had been assigned a place to live.

This was the power of Jiuzhou; this was the strength of national unity.

Chu Xiao looked at the results and nodded in satisfaction.

“Well done!”

“But this is still far from enough! There is more to be done!”

Chu Xiao produced his drafts and displayed them to all present, including Number One, Qi Tianli, Li Lichen, and others.

“Look, these are the sketches I’ve drawn in the past few days.”

“These are preliminary designs for the fortifications surrounding our cities. They need refinement, but let me explain the general idea.”

“Within a ten-meter perimeter of each city, we build a twenty-meter-high fortress of titanium alloy! The walls must be at least one meter thick.”

“In addition, I require a massive supply of electricity!”

“All the electricity will be used to shroud the fortress from above! The voltage must be strong enough to render a machine into scrap metal in an instant!”

“If time allows, it would be best to cover the entire top with titanium alloy as well.”

“We can install a button for automatic opening and closing! And don’t forget to design a manual override!”

“Furthermore, we need to set multiple openings in the titanium walls to facilitate our attacks!”

“If these can be achieved, then our cities will become strongholds that are easy to defend and hard to conquer!”

Such an ingenious design was awe-inspiring.

Those present gaped in astonishment at the terrifying ingenuity of the plan—like nothing they had heard or seen before.

Number One, the chief leader, calmly weighed Chu Xiao’s plan and quickly spotted a flaw: titanium alloy.

Everyone knew the output of titanium alloy was low, let alone enough for such a massive undertaking.

“What do you have to say about the titanium alloy?” Number One asked coldly.

If the titanium alloy couldn’t be sourced, then everything that had just been said would be nothing but empty talk.