The area Fang Senyan and his group arrived at was on the outskirts of Washington D.C. Since the project here started later, only five massive airships had been produced. This location was originally intended as a government concession for personnel boarding, but the main focus of the government remained on the Ark project and its own Chinese imitation plan, leading to significantly insufficient attention here.

Compounded by Fang Senyan's prior mistaken time report, the atmosphere here was already sparse; now, it was so desolate that besides the pre-arranged staff, one could barely see a shadow of a person... Among the full five colossal airships ready for immediate departure, at least four had cabins completely empty.

Of course, at this time, only the central regions and the San Andreas Fault area near San Francisco in the west of the United States had experienced terrifying major earthquakes. The chain reaction reaching New York and Washington on the East Coast was comparatively mild, but regardless, there was advanced information flow and persistent aftershocks registering five or six on the scale.

Furthermore, the terrifying ash cloud stemming from the supervolcano eruption at Yellowstone had swept over, truly making Washington's lights "extinguished," just as Charlie had described! The panic and chaos among the populace were predictable.

Therefore, under these circumstances, this place should have been an escape destination. The fundamental reason for the lack of activity was that during the preceding aftershocks, a terrifying earth fissure had appeared, slicing through the three highways connecting Washington to this site! In this chaos of war and disaster, it naturally became deserted.

Overseeing all affairs here was Mystique, representing Magneto's faction. This woman could transform into anyone, even perfectly replicating fingerprints and whatnot; any man who could marry her would be incredibly fortunate, with a new wife every day... This woman held a degree of respect for Fang Senyan and was already weary of these tedious administrative duties, so she readily handed over management of this initial base.

Naturally, Fang Senyan's primary objective at this moment was to save as many people as possible; he remembered clearly. Washington and New York were due to face a severe quake soon that would topple even the White House, before being submerged by the sea.

Thus, with the assistance of high-level talent like Zi, he directed the workers to continue operating the filling apparatus, inflating another colossal airship that was finished but not yet airborne, and incorporating the replica into the airship fleet.

Working overtime during the apocalypse... Facing such a malicious demand from capitalists, these workers were certainly unwilling, but their families were already aboard the lifted airships, leaving them no choice but to grit their teeth and operate the machinery.

While waiting, Fang Senyan took the opportunity to monitor the channels broadcasting worldwide and noticed that almost all leaders of nations involved in the Ark project had already flown to Zhuo Ming Valley. The two heads of state remaining were the American President and the Italian Prime Minister. American President Wilson insisted on staying with his people, while the Italian Prime Minister remained to pray for a miracle... And just ten minutes prior, something bizarre happened: the Italian Prime Minister was abducted!

Fang Senyan then recalled the news that the somewhat eccentric Charlie had also been rescued, and he immediately concluded that during the onset of the apocalypse, saving these elites who enjoyed high prestige among humanity must yield significant benefits.

With this thought, Fang Senyan noticed the other massive airship had filled with sufficient gas. He promptly incorporated it into the joint fleet, ascended to an altitude of a thousand meters, and slowly sailed towards Washington. He believed that at this point, seeking flight clearance from the Pentagon's bureaucrats would be unnecessary.

At this moment, the major drawback of the colossal airships became starkly apparent: their agonizingly slow speed, especially against the headwind. The sole three engines straining to push this behemoth managed barely thirty kilometers per hour, which was their absolute limit.

It was during this transit that... the major earthquake struck.

The 9.4 magnitude earthquake finally descended upon Washington, the capital city of the United States!!

The Capitol Building. The Washington Monument, a landmark equivalent in significance to the Monument to the People's Heroes in China—standing 169 meters tall—collapsed utterly. As for the Statue of Liberty, it had long since crumbled.

Despite the astonishing intensity of the quake, Fang Senyan was not overly concerned about a lack of survivors. Washington D.C.'s permanent population was half a million, and before the major shock, there had been sufficient warnings and time for people to take shelter. His current worry was the potential for chaos due to excessive population density.

As the airship fleet proceeded slowly, many people aboard the airships covered their mouths, weeping. Looking down from above, the continental plate beneath the entirety of downtown Washington was lifted up in sections, then violently fractured by abyssal rents into more than a dozen isolated slabs, with the seaside edge already slowly sinking into the depths.

Under the gloomy light, witnessing such glorious, prosperous civilization built by humanity being wantonly trampled and destroyed was overwhelmingly heartbreaking.

Fang Senyan stood at the bow of the command vessel, gazing down. He was delighted to see that the core of downtown Washington—the White House Plaza—remained largely intact. This area rested upon a fractured plate roughly seven or eight square kilometers in size, indicating that the respected Black President of the United States was alive, and seemingly tens of thousands of people had survived there.

Although the residual effects of the ash cloud lingered, and a genuine mix of sleet and ash was falling from the sky, the resonant hum of the massive airship engines and the bright beams of the searchlights brought tears to the eyes of the survivors, who shouted loudly and even set fire to anything nearby.

Upon reaching a position directly above the White House Plaza, Fang Senyan ordered the airships to drop their gravity anchors, laboriously securing the entire fleet in place while maintaining an altitude of thirty meters. They did not lower the gangways, as doing so would undoubtedly trigger an unprecedented tragedy; in the face of sheer survival instinct, most people would lose all rationality.

At this point, the airships began issuing instructions via loudspeakers, directing people to queue up and prepare for orderly boarding. Meanwhile, Fang Senyan and a few others slid and jumped down from the airship, attached only to a single rope. Naturally, they were immediately surrounded upon landing. Following Fang Senyan's request, he was soon introduced to the respected Black President Wilson, who had stayed with his people.

The President appeared extremely disheveled; having spent his time encouraging people and rescuing the injured, his entire body, including his hair and eye sockets, was coated in thick dust, and his voice was hoarse. A casual pat would send up a puff of soot, and his eyes were deeply sunken. Combined with his natural features as a Black man with thick lips, he looked almost comically like a chimpanzee.

However, as Fang Senyan looked at him, his heart was filled with respect. He extended his hand toward President Wilson:

"I am here to help you, Mr. President, but before that, I require your assistance. We are pressed for time and cannot afford any delay."

President Wilson nodded:

"I will do everything in my power."

Fang Senyan said frankly:

"Then I will be brief. While the airships are vast, their carrying capacity is limited. We must dedicate our precious payload capacity as much as possible to people, not to other things! Therefore, I need you to organize the survivors in the plaza. Not only must boarding be orderly, but each person cannot carry more than one kilogram of belongings. This requires your authority to persuade them. As for food and warm clothing, we have prepared and stored plenty, which should ensure basic survival for the people. Here, I must thank you for your open-mindedness."

President Wilson nodded:

"I need a megaphone, and convincing them should not be an issue."

Fang Senyan paused hesitantly:

"There is one more thing, a cruel thing... Injured individuals who cannot move must inevitably be abandoned. Due to the shortage of medicine and food, our payload is limited, and there are still many healthy people waiting for rescue. Of course, we will not forcibly require the abandonment of injured individuals who have family members to care for them."

The President fell silent for a moment, then could only nod.

Facing life and death, and with the hope of survival in sight, coupled with the President's mobilization, the crowd quickly became orderly. Most, having narrowly escaped death, were weeping with relief. However, regarding the one-kilogram carrying limit, despite the penalty for violation being the forfeiture of boarding rights, many still attempted to bend the rule. But after several people were executed on the spot, similar incidents ceased. It seems there is reason behind the saying, "In times of chaos, employ harsh measures."

After rescuing the survivors around the White House area, four of the airships were packed full, and they began to take off again. President Wilson was not someone whose life was set in stone; he stayed for his conviction to remain with his people, so he smoothly boarded the central command vessel.

He then expressed his hope that Fang Senyan and his group would deliver the transported people to a safe zone and then return to Washington to rescue more people. Upon hearing this request, Fang Senyan could only shake his head with a wry smile, then brought up the computer's 3D animation to explain the situation to him: that the great earthquake in the coastal city was merely a precursor, signaling the impending arrival of the second stage of the apocalypse. The Earth's crust across half the globe was beginning to shift, which would generate ample energy for the mega-tsunami. During the formation of the tsunami, earthquakes would actually occur beneath the ocean floor, creating a relatively calm buffer period on land. Therefore, if people were set down from the giant airships now, their only fate would be to be swept away and drowned by waves exceeding a thousand meters within a few hours... Wahahaha, I suppose no one guessed my intentions yet, but seeing how eagerly you all participated, there will be an extra chapter tomorrow. RQ