Chapter 292: Miscalculated Prediction?

After finishing his meal, Du Qiu added, “Uncle Tang, you can rest easy. I’ve signed a cooperation agreement with the government who rely on my Dream Technology. Your appointment as police chief in Heaven Realm might even expedite Yu Fei’s military promotion.” Tang Wenhai pondered and realized that might indeed be the case.

“What about your Aunt Zhao? You’re not seriously planning to let us live apart, are you? Goodness, we’d literally be worlds apart!”

Du Qiu, who had just taken a sip of wine, choked at the remark. Hadn’t the old man just declared he was not sentimental?

“Alright, if Aunt Zhao agrees to go to Heaven Realm with you, I could arrange a vice president spot for her at Unified Bank. How does that sound?”

“Really? The Unified Bank that issues Genecoins?”

A female voice came from the doorway; it was Zhao Ruolan, the lady of the house, making her presence known.

“Ah, Aunt Zhao is back? How come I didn’t hear the door?” Du Qiu stood up and went to greet her. After changing her shoes, Zhao Ruolan walked in.

She was a woman in her early fifties, but her age was easily forgotten given her radiant appearance and her ever-present smile that felt like a warm spring breeze.

After washing her hands in the kitchen, Zhao swiftly cooked some cola chicken wings and tossed a black fungus salad, adding dishes for both herself and Du Qiu before joining them at the table with a couple of drinks of her own.

“Haven’t you eaten tonight?” Tang Wenhai asked with concern.

“Nearly everyone has left; there were accounts only I could settle. I missed dinner time because I just finished with them.”

“Aunt Zhao, you must try Uncle Tang’s braised pork; he hasn’t lost his touch,” suggested Du Qiu, after reheating the plentiful remaining braised pork in the microwave. As for the other dishes, they had already been consumed by him and Tang Wenhai, leaving only half a plate of peanuts.

After eating and drinking for a while, Zhao finally responded to Du Qiu, “Was what you said earlier serious?”

“Oh, of course, but it depends if Aunt Zhao would honor us with her acceptance.”

Zhao chuckled, “Of course I will. Once I become the vice president of Unified Bank, I must return here to have our president pay his respects.”

Du Qiu had previously learned that Zhao was not happy at her job; she inadvertently offended the bank president last year, and for the past six months, the president had been giving her a hard time. Normally, Zhao wouldn’t need to stay until the end during such a major departure, yet here she was.

No wonder Zhao expressed such sentiments.

“What’s the matter, Old Zhao? That bear of a president giving you trouble?” exclaimed Tang Wenhai, catching the subtext in his wife’s words—something Zhao had never mentioned to him before.

“Ah, it’s all in the past now. I’m about to be the vice president of Unified Bank and won’t have to grovel anymore. Du Qiu, thank you.” Raising her glass to Du Qiu, Zhao then took a drink.

“Aunt Zhao, you’re too courteous. You are helping me to assure that someone from our own is keeping an eye on my money.”

Du Qiu spoke earnestly. While Unified Bank mainly employed professionals to handle its affairs, many operations involved computation resources from Star Ocean. Still, Du Qiu, despite being an outsider to the banking sector, could clarify what he wanted; often proposing an idea which Star Ocean drafted into a rough plan, then passed on to professionals for refinement and execution, all handled crisply and efficiently.

Ultimately, Du Qiu mastered complex algorithms, and no calculation in finance could escape his attention. With Star Ocean aiding, well-versed in all industries of Earth, Unified Bank outperformed many commercial banks.

But having Zhao Ruolan handle specific tasks would surely put Du Qiu at ease.

That evening, after discussing with Tang and finalizing their early retirement arrangements, Du Qiu would take them to Heaven Realm.

Leaving Tang Wenhai’s home, Du Qiu traveled to a suburban area and boarded his private aircraft—a model akin to the Winged Dragon fighter but 50% larger, offering more spacious interiors.

As the aircraft ascended, Du Qiu moved to a cabin where aside from one wall, the rest were made of transparent material, giving the illusion of hovering in mid-air.

From this vantage point, Du Qiu looked down at the city below. Though abandoned, the neon lights continued to twinkle, and the magic city shone brilliantly under the night sky—it was his hometown, a place he hadn’t set foot in for over two years, now more beautiful than ever.

“I believe we can stop the tsunami from coming.”

Three days later, Du Qiu’s aircraft hovered above the Japanese Archipelago.

Apart from several epidemic zones, most people had been evacuated with the Earth Union coordinating another withdrawal, persuading some countries to assist.

Those remaining were either infected or deceased; in the weeks of pandemonium consisting of earthquakes and various disasters, a third of Japan’s population was lost. Less than eighty million had left, dispersed across the globe, rendering Japan a nation no more.

Now, under dark, ominous skies, Du Qiu could clearly see through the electromagnetic scanner that a fault line beneath the archipelago had finally resonated with the recent earthquake and collapsed with a roar.

In the seismic turmoil, coastal areas collapsed first, massive waves crashing onto land.

Shikoku was the first to vanish, followed by Kyushu, and soon only a small portion of Honshu remained, with half of Hokkaido left intact.

The entire process lasted half a day, and then it seemed the collapse halted; the archipelago might not entirely sink after all.

Above the archipelago, airplanes from various nations circled, capturing this cataclysmic event and sending telegraphs to their respective countries.

The submersion of the archipelago had ceased, leaving a small part of Honshu and half of Hokkaido.

The news spread, and all over the world, Japanese people wept, perhaps still holding onto a fragment of their homeland, possibly to return one day.

One day passed.

Ten days passed.

Twenty days passed…

“The Japanese Archipelago hasn’t completely submerged; a third remains!”

“Dream Technology’s prediction proven wrong again – no colossal tsunami!”

“Mexico’s nuclear deterrent successfully stops fault extension; Dream Technology isn’t that magical after all!”

“The Japanese government sends a vanguard team to the remaining islands to search for survivors!”

“Pacific Rim countries regret the vast expenditure relocating coastal populations; loss is staggering!”

“South Korean netizens collectively demand compensation from Dream Technology!”

“One company, believing itself the pinnacle of global science for employing a few scientists, points fingers everywhere!”

The media and internet worldwide were filled with criticism of Dream Technology.

Regardless of the warnings about the fault line or the subsequent tsunami prediction, both had been disproven by current events.

Overnight, Dream Technology became a target of widespread scorn.

However, Dream Technology remained silent. Liu Sichen, their Vice President of Public Relations and Diplomacy, did not host any press conferences nor accept interviews.

“Boss, with Star Nebula’s full computational power, we’ve identified the underlying problem!”

Han Guoqiang arrived with the latest report from the geological research institute experts, his disheveled white hair and wrinkled clothes clear indicators of how tirelessly all experts had been working to model the tectonic evolution.

There was no choice; the media backlash against Dream Technology had created immense pressure.

At these words, Du Qiu felt a surge of energy.

He had just finished coordinating with Liu Yaofeng, who remained domestically, as the calls for citizens to return to their homelands had become increasingly difficult to contain.

Indeed, who could stay calm seeing everything calm down, with the Japanese returning to their remaining islands and the South Korean coastal residents going back to their homes, while they still lived in temporary accommodations, enduring poor quality lives without any source of income?