Caroline froze for a moment, then remembered the disaster sequence from her previous life. After the great heat hit, earthquakes did occur. But they shouldn't come this fast. Still, the timeline in this life hadn't matched her previous life exactly. Many disasters happened earlier than expected. So this earthquake might not follow the old schedule either. "Nelson, how much time do we have?" Nelson pointed off in the distance. "Look there." Caroline glanced out the window and saw a pack of mutant rats darting away. They clearly knew to avoid humans, hugging the walls as they ran. If she hadn't looked closely, she would have missed them. "And there," Nelson added, pointing to the sky. From Caroline's angle, she couldn't see the horizon well, so she leaned out of the window. Sure enough, mutant birds were flying overhead.Flocks of them, panicked and messy, like they were running from something. "An earthquake will strike in three days," Nelson said seriously. Caroline frowned. She needed to upgrade the base's defenses immediately in the next three days. Later that night, Francis's side also noticed the strange behavior of the mutant animals. "Is an earthquake coming?" Nathaniel frowned. Just as he was preparing to gather people to assess the situation, he received a letter from Crow. It read, "A massive earthquake will strike in three days. Take extreme caution." Below that was a note saying Crow was waiting outside, requesting to meet Nathaniel. Nathaniel immediately ordered everyone in Hornvale to move into the base within the next day. The military base was built to survive earthquakes. At the same time, he sent telegraphs to other cities and higher authorities, warning them of the upcoming quake.Only after that was Crow brought inside. He entered with a smile, saying to Nathaniel, "Commander Ball, I'm old, but I still have some value in predicting the future. I've come to request protection from the military. I'm willing to use my ability to help you predict future events. I'll hand over all my supplies, and I'll persuade my people to join you. All I ask is to take me in." He had been thinking about that for a long time. In the end, he realized all he wanted was to survive. Money and power were meaningless. After realizing his cancer had returned, he finally understood that. Nathaniel studied Crow and nodded lightly. "Let's talk this through carefully." Crow's grin spread wide. ... Meanwhile, after Caroline and Nelson returned to the base, she immediately used the mutant fly corpses they had collected to upgrade the base walls. All improvements were focused on defense.When Tyler and Denton got back, Caroline explained that an earthquake would hit within three days. She asked everyone to hunt mutant creatures aggressively to help with the shelter upgrades. Hearing that, Tyler and Denton took it seriously. Looking at the base, they said, "Don't worry. Three days is enough." Still, Caroline had a bad feeling. She sensed something major was coming with this quake. The three days passed quickly. The military, civilians, and Caroline's group were all ready, waiting for the earthquake. That morning, even the wind stopped. The world felt completely silent. Caroline and the others stood in the yard, eyes on the horizon. Denton's mutant rat army had sent a message earlier—the quake was about to begin. Mutant creatures, especially rats close to the ground, were incredibly sensitive to environmental changes. The silence felt like the dark before dawn. It was the stillness before a storm. Suddenly, a thunderous boom erupted from the mountain behind the base. The ground beneath Caroline shook violently. In the military base, civilians clung to one another in fear. Francis had recently gotten Kay's photo. He was sneaking a peek when the floor jolted. The photo flew out of his hands. "Earthquake!" he yelled. For the past few days, Caroline, Tyler, and the others had barely slept while upgrading the base. Now, the base's defenses had improved by three levels, and a massive glass dome protected the entire base.