Chapter 420: Earthquake

Somewhere in California, a red-haired man walked down the street with his girlfriend. "Do you want to visit the coast before going home?"

"Sure." The girl agreed with a smile.

It was a peaceful day just like any other. However, it soon changed when the girl suddenly dropped to the side as if someone tripped her despite the fact that no one was beside her other than her boyfriend.

"Kya—"

"Wha—" The man widened his eyes before his knees were shaken due to some sort of energy from the ground. "What is happ—"

Before he finished, he saw the closest tall building near his position began swaying left and right. "Earthquake!" shouted the boy as he hugged his girlfriend, trying to protect her.

"Aaaah!"

The girl screamed out loud, panicked. She ended up hugging him tightly.

Everything began to shake before all the people, vehicles, and any other things that moved came to a halt.

Bang.

Bang.

Boom.

Many people crashed due to the earthquake and some even exploded. Screams of the people filled the entire area as they tried to take a cover in this messy situation.

The ground kept shaking for a few minutes. Cracks began to appear and some buildings had collapsed. People were panicking everywhere, but it was hard for them to move due to this earthquake. Explosions began to ring in their ears one after another.

The people only hoped to stay alive in this situation before they could even search for an escape route.

After a total of five minutes, the ground stopped shaking and the people looked around them, finding so many red lights coming from afar. It brightened the sky red and covered the cloud with its own black smoke.

"What is happening?" The boy drew a gasp as he didn't have enough strength to stand up.

Suddenly, everyone felt the vibration from their device.

[Emergency Situation]

[9.2 megathrust earthquake. High probability of tsunami. All citizens in California are ordered to migrate to higher ground or far from the coast as the tsunami has a high chance of bringing magical beasts from the sea.]

"What? This is a mess!" The girl shouted and dropped her device on the ground, seeing the unrealistic number.

"!!!"

"Run!"

"We need to get into the higher ground as soon as possible."

"Hurry up!"

More and more people started to react and brought the closest people with them, trying to flee from the tsunami.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Suddenly, a series of cracking sounds echoed as the people near that place could see a huge crack on the ground. It spread to all directions, had the size of ten meters in radius and kept getting bigger.

"Out of the way!"

"Run!"

They, especially the ones above the crack, panicked and ran with their lives, knowing something bad would happen if they didn't escape.

Unfortunately, their luck was too low as the ground crumbled as if swallowed by the Earth. It didn't stop there.

Countless screams resounded and got louder and louder before rats, ants, and many other animals that were living underground suddenly escaped from the hole, terrorizing everyone in the area.

They killed all the humans in sight without any exception.

When everyone thought that the situation couldn't get any worse, the crack became even bigger before a giant brown-colored mole emerged from within. Despite only showing half of its body, the mole already reached five meters high.

When the couple's eyes intertwined with the mole, their faces became pale.

Unfortunately, they didn't have a chance to even scream as the mole swiped its claw, creating a powerful shock wave that cut them into few pieces along with the building behind them.

…

Meanwhile, in the airplane, Kai and the others had the chance to talk with each other since the first class could turn the seats around and hide the compartments.

"Huft. That's a lot of work." Kai let out a long sigh.

"Indeed." Michelle agreed while leaning on the chair. "To think we needed to kill so many magical beasts even with the help of the Turtle Group."

"To be honest, that Turtle Group deserved its reputation as even I couldn't find an army like that other than Sir Ethan's army," Isabelle recalled their fight together and praised them.

"You probably should include General Rain's army since he has enough reputation. Though, I don't have any experience with his army." Sofia nodded.

"Haha, indeed." Evan nodded as he sat on the seat's handle since only four of them had a seat. The same applied to Ayaka since she sat next to Kai.

"At least, we will have enough time to rest before—" Kai suddenly fell silent and looked at his right, specifically the sky beyond the window.

"Kai?!" The group frowned, thinking it was a flying beast.

However, Kai's answer came in the form of a shout before grabbing Ayaka's body. "Isabelle, grab Evan! Anyone who hears me, hang on to your seat right away! This is an order from Brigadier General Kai Carter!"

The people were confused as some of them followed what he said instinctively while some even shouted, questioning him, albeit no one finished their sentence because the airplane turned left to the extreme as the plane was turned almost ninety degrees.

People also began to scream as some of them fell to the side of the cabin, getting injured due to the collisions.

After that one turn, the captain quickly reported what just happened.

"Everyone tightens your seatbelts and follows our crews' instruction if we want to survive."

Although panicked, the crews gritted their teeth and shouted. "Fasten your seatbelt. Grab your mask. Put on you first before helping the others."

The people tried to follow the instruction with their shaking hands. Luckily, the plane had returned to normal after that single turn. However, the people panicked when they saw two fighter aircrafts flying beside them.

Kai grabbed the mask and put it on Ayaka before loosening his seatbelt so Ayaka didn't get thrown again. Meanwhile, he tried to calm his heart down before rising from his seat, walking straight to the pilot cabin.

There were two crews on his way, but Kai only shouted. "I'm Brigadier General Kai Carter. I need to meet the captain."

They instinctively made way for him as Kai banged the door while shouting. "This is Brigadier General Kai Carter. I need to know our situation!"

The third pilot, which was the reserve pilot, opened the door for him after recognizing his face from the media. Of course, this wasn't possible normally. Only someone as famous as him could have this special treatment.

Kai stormed inside the cockpit and asked, "Who is the captain? Give me the headset too. I need to know our situation."

The co-pilot turned around and recognized his face. He grabbed his own headset and handed it to him.

"Sir!"

Kai nodded and wore the headset while asking, "Are we connected to them?"

The captain nodded. "We don't know the situation right now. They are threatening us to make a quick turn to the left."

"Let me talk to them." Kai nodded. "This is Kai Carter. Name yourself pilots."

"This is Major Roy speaking. I'm sorry, Sir Kai Carter. I don't know if you are inside the airplane, but the situation is chaotic. This is a direct order from Lieutenant General Shepherd."

"I need to know the situation."

"We just got hit by an Earthquake with the power of 9.2 megathrusts. Too many casualties, but the real reason you are not allowed to pass California is the aftereffect. The control tower is also destroyed, so we can only afford to do this to contact the airplane."

"Tsunami? No." Kai Carter narrowed his eyes.

"There are thousands of magical beasts coming out of a hole next to the coast. The military is moving right now and we will be escorting you to go around California and head to the Wyoming International Airport through Washington."

"The number…"

"Yes. They are multiplying continuously. I'm afraid there are already more than one hundred thousand magical beasts."

"No one predicted the earthquake?"

"I'm not sure, Sir. This is not my scope."

"I understand." Kai thought for a moment and asked, "If I were to ask you to escort me near the coast, would you follow my orders?"

"I'm afraid not, Sir. I can't disobey my command."

"Contact the Headquarter right now. I need this plane to bring me near the coast and have them descend low enough for me and everyone else to jump. I will handle the rest."

"…" The pilot was hesitant at first but soon followed his command, contacting their headquarters and saying what Kai asked him.

Kai already knew the answer from their conversation but still waited for the pilot to say it.

"The headquarters can't allow that, Sir. However, if you still wish to do that, we are allowed to escort you five kilometers away from the coast and lower our altitude for you to jump. And only if you and your group are doing it together."

"I understand. That's enough for me." Kai nodded. This accident reminded him of the thing that happened to him more than a decade ago. It was also the coast at that time, but this one was a natural disaster since it was an earthquake.

At the same time, with that distance and altitude, he should be able to reach the coast with several teleportation magic. Tasha alone should be enough to send them there before reaching the sea.

"Roger that. We shall escort you to the dropping point. I ask the pilot to follow us."

The pilot nodded.

"Do any of you have a radio to contact the military?" Kai asked.

"We have one." The reserve pilot nodded and tried to reach the pilot before giving it to him.

"Thanks. It's time for me to go and you don't need to worry about the door. I have someone with teleportation magic." Kai thanked the pilots with a serious expression before returning to his group.

When he returned, his group, crews, and passengers looked at him with a pale face.

"Everything will be alright. There are two escorts. Calm the others as well." Kai waved his hand while informing them. He then told another thing to his teammates. "Tasha. Ready for teleportation magic. We need to go."