CHAPTER 425: CHAPTER 423: IS IT VERY SCARY?

Chen Xin was able to identify the problem, and naturally, the nation could not fail to notice it.

The effects of a super volcano eruption are equally global, potentially no less catastrophic than an asteroid impact.

Take the Toba Volcano as an example; during its last eruption in history, the volcanic ash it expelled spread across the entire Blue Planet in just three days, obscuring the skies, causing global smog weather, triggering a volcanic winter, and lasting for several years.

During this period, global temperatures plummeted, entering a glacial period, causing massive amounts of flora and fauna to perish, with early humans nearly facing extinction.

Although today’s human technology can withstand such a disaster without being completely wiped out, its impact would still be significant, potentially causing the collapse of modern human civilization and social order.

Despite the current dire environmental situation humanity faces, the eruption of the Toba Volcano might not worsen the problem, but the nation clearly cannot pin its hopes on nothing going wrong.

Thus, experts, scholars, and related personnel from all sectors have been gathered by the nation to assess whether the Toba Volcano’s eruption will have more severe impacts on Flame Country.

Chen Xin initially thought such matters would not involve him, as he didn’t consider himself an expert or scholar.

However, carrying the title of an academician, he was also on the nation’s list of invitees, with two helicopters directly dispatched to his refuge to transport him to Yu City, the temporary capital of Flame Country.

Though surprised that the nation would summon him, Chen Xin quickly packed his belongings and boarded the helicopter.

Due to the urgent and confidential nature of the matter, no one else accompanied Chen Xin, except Lieutenant Deng, responsible for Chen Xin’s protection, who was allowed to board the helicopter with him.

The two helicopters quickly took off, disappearing into the vast night sky, arriving as suddenly as they left in a hurry.

Both helicopters were Zhi-20s, albeit different from the Zhi-20 Chen Xin had seen before. These helicopters were fully armed, with weapons mounted on both sides of the fuselage and a gun pod installed below the nose.

The comfort of riding a military helicopter was naturally lacking; the cabin was cold due to the weather. If the personnel, including Chen Xin, were not wearing protective clothing, someone might have gotten frostbitten.

"How long will we be flying?" With noise-canceling headphones on for in-cabin communication, Chen Xin inquired through the microphone.

"It’s over 800 kilometers from here to Yu City; we’ll need to fly for two and a half hours," the pilot explained to Chen Xin, adding, "However, we’ll need to refuel halfway, so the whole journey will take 3 hours."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xin slightly nodded in understanding and leaned against the cabin wall, closing his eyes slightly.

Without lights inside the cabin during flight, Chen Xin couldn’t do much to pass the time in the pitch black, making closing his eyes for a brief rest the best option.

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Three hours isn’t a very long time, and soon the helicopter carrying Chen Xin arrived above Yu City.

Chen Xin had been to Yu City before; this city, known as the 8D magical metropolis of Flame Country and even the world, was one he’d heard of and visited, having had a relationship with a Sichuan girl from Yu City.

However, time had passed, and those things were long over. Where might that girl be now?

Watching the starry dotted lights of Yu City through the porthole, Chen Xin’s expression grew complex and strange.

Colorful lights, a city shrouded in darkness, a world on the brink of destruction, imminent disasters, people struggling to survive...

If all of this were just a novel, it would be quite intriguing. If the writer had some skill and decent writing, it would be easy to write a good story.

But clearly, everything before him wasn’t a novel plot, but harsh reality. Humanity was facing a real extermination crisis, and even though Chen Xin’s thoughts took a brief detour, he quickly focused back on the pressing matters.

For Flame Country, the direct impact of the super volcano eruption is not very significant; even though Sumatra Island isn’t far from Flame Country, the greatest direct impact might be previous mild earthquakes and the potential fall of volcanic ash.

However, the indirect effects are difficult to predict. Even though the world is already shrouded in thick dust from previous asteroid impacts, turning global temperatures to minus dozens of degrees, a volcanic winter from eruptions wouldn’t worsen the situation much further.

But the various toxic gases emitted by the volcano are concerning. With already poor air quality, adding volcanic activity would certainly further deteriorate the external environment.

Moreover, the key issue that worried Chen Xin was the cause of this Toba Volcano eruption.

If it was merely normal geological activity triggering the eruption, the impact might be limited to Southeast Asia.

While it sounds inhumane, if the disaster were limited to Southeast Asia, Chen Xin might even applaud, as it’s vastly different from impacting the entire Blue Planet.

However, if this eruption was triggered by the previous asteroid impact, Chen Xin had more reasons to be concerned.

The asteroid strike occurred between Australia and Hawaii. Hawaii itself is a volcanic island, and it’s part of a fragile crust area; the impact might cause widespread geological disasters, potentially affecting volcanoes worldwide.

If the Toba Volcano eruption is only the beginning, with global geological changes prompting worldwide volcanic activity, and multiple super volcanoes entering active eruptions, humanity would face serious trouble.

One super volcano is enough to devastate the Blue Planet’s surface ecosystem. If super volcanoes worldwide erupted simultaneously, the volcanic ash alone could bury the entire Earth.

If that happened, the consequences would be dire.

Although humanity is presently in a difficult situation, it hasn’t reached an extinction level. But if all global super volcanoes erupted, humanity would have to start considering raising the middle finger.

Is this frightening? Yes, it is very frightening.