Chapter 9: Absurd Order

“What? Evacuate everyone from the city?”

It was just after five in the morning on June 7, the time when people were most deeply asleep. Yet, the top officials of the coastal cities across the continent were all woken up from their beds by secretaries or phone calls. Still groggy and confused, their minds were not yet clear. Receiving this command that bypassed the provincial level and came directly from the central government, every city leader who got the call thought they were dreaming.

City evacuation. These four ordinary words carried a meaning that would affect the lives of millions of people in a city and an incalculable amount of wealth.

“Yes, execute it immediately!”

There were no other words, and the phone call was hung up. Actually, when the beast-like creatures appeared in India and landed on land, the central government had already realized that it was impossible to evacuate coastal cities in such a short time. In some cities, the central government’s commands couldn’t even be fully implemented. After all, this command was too shocking. The only hope they could cling to was to save as many people as possible.

Relying on the local government leaders, with their slow efficiency, seemed unrealistic. So, the biggest hope for saving the coastal cities was still the army.

The dial tone coming from the phone left the leaders who received the call stunned. If the number displayed on the phone was a familiar one from the central government, they might have really thought the other party was joking, or that hackers had infiltrated the military communication system and were giving them random orders.

But thinking about the city evacuation order, no one believed it was real.

Almost everyone who received the call felt it was absurd. Was the city evacuation just a game? Let alone the tens of millions of people in the city, just coordinating the work arrangements of the entire city leadership team would take one or two weeks. Besides, for a matter like this, not to mention individuals, but families and enterprises, what kind of reason would be needed to persuade them to evacuate? Would the central government’s command force them to evacuate? What did this treat private property as?

Nonsense, absolute nonsense.

Even officials with very low ranks dared to challenge the central government at this time. How could they handle these matters? Coastal cities had dozens or even tens of listed companies, and at least one or two. Relocating one company would take several years. How much more so the entire city? This was not nonsense, what was it?

Anyone facing this unbelievable order would have their doubts.

So, lacking any sleepiness, they called their higher-level leaders to confirm the authenticity of the news. What shocked them was that almost no inland cities had received the evacuation order. Even in the provincial party committee, many people, after being woken up, felt baffled. Some with bad tempers scolded the people who disturbed their sweet dreams… Was the evacuation of all personnel from the city a dream? Had they watched too many Hollywood sci-fi movies and thought it was the end of the world?

The time between 5 am and 7 am in the morning was spent in almost complete chaos in the coastal cities.

This chaos did not refer to the citizens, nor was it within the city itself, but among the city leaders. This brief chaos resulted in only a few cities executing the order. But what good was it? In two hours, the only thing that could be done was to convey the notice to subordinate departments, causing endless confusion among them.

In the end, the entire government sector fell into chaos, unable to do anything.

Only the rapid response troops, with their extremely fast reaction speed, started the war machine and rushed to the coastal areas within half an hour after receiving the order. For the army, there was no right or wrong, only the need to know obedience, and more obedience… Because of this, the central government actually relied most heavily on the army, hoping they could save more citizens in the cities.

But the fastest were truly the Air Force.

Under direct orders from the central government, the Air Force units of all military regions took off in the shortest time and roared towards the coastal cities.

Unaware that danger was descending, the citizens of the city woke up to the sound of their alarm clocks. After lingering in bed for a while, they struggled to get up, groggily went to the bathroom to wash, returned to the bedroom to change clothes, picked up their briefcases, and went out to eat breakfast. The traffic flow in the city became busy again, and the sounds of engines and horns became the theme song of the city once more.

Only those who had stayed up late the night before were sleeping in at this time.

There were not many people who discovered the strange changes in India next door. Even those who had watched the news on international channels, upon seeing the Fierce Beast Tide in the sky, only laughed loudly. Some even shouted with malicious glee: “Bite those Indian dogs to death, bite them to death, hahaha!” In their view, this was completely an absurd piece of news. The world was peaceful, where would such monsters come from?

A small number of wealthy people with extensive international intelligence capabilities obtained the real information. Without a moment’s hesitation, not even changing their clothes, wearing their pajamas, they gathered their valuable items, called their wives and children, and got into cars, fleeing the city like madmen.

Being the most sensitive to life, they preferred to believe it was true rather than risk it being false. If the cities on the continent didn’t experience it, that would be fine. But what if it happened? Knowing that the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean were connected, the appearance of monsters was not impossible. When the city fell into chaos, trying to escape in the confusion was simply impossible.

Compared to these well-informed wealthy people and those with international relatives, the city leaders’ information was not slow, but the truth of the matter finally arrived late.

“What? How is this possible? It can’t be!”

Looking at the satellite video sent by the central government, everyone who saw it was dumbfounded, falling into a dreamlike state. However, seeing the coastal cities in India fall before the Fierce Beasts, the people who didn’t have time to escape were torn apart by the Fierce Beasts and constantly devoured. The streets were covered in blood, and pieces of torn flesh were everywhere. Through the video, one could also see the small Fierce Beasts sticking out their tongues to lick the torn flesh and blood on the streets…

The hellish scene stimulated people’s visual senses, making them feel like going crazy.

People who saw this video all started to shiver. Death was already a terrible thing, let alone such a cruel method of being devoured, which was even more unbearable for people.

The leaders seemed to have forgotten the order to evacuate the city. What commands, what other people, were all thrown to the back of their minds. The only thought in their heads was to flee, to flee the city, flee the coast, flee this impending hell.

Without hesitation, “Prepare the car, now. We are leaving here.” Who could care about the life and death of others? At this moment, they had forgotten their identities as the parents of the city and the commanders of the city.

How would ordinary citizens know about all this? All they found strange was that there were sirens everywhere in the city that day, large numbers of police poured out, as if executing some order. Moreover, large formations of fighter jets began to appear in the sky, flying over the city. A few with active imaginations even wondered if some country was about to invade and if a war was about to break out.

Only the toll collectors at the checkpoints outside the cities wondered why the big shots in the city, who would tremble if you stepped on their toes, were fleeing the city like homeless dogs.

At this time, the clouds could no longer block the rising sun. The fiery morning sun rose over the sea, emitting countless rays of light, shining upon the cities.

In the near-sea waters, a low roar seemed to be rising…