There was a moment of awkwardness in the study.
No one came to sit in. Yin Lin had just asked a question, and Xia Zhilong hadn’t answered, instead trying to call someone over.
That person couldn’t come, so Xia Zhilong had no choice but to awkwardly steer the topic back.
“You just asked, why not use air transport? Why not use land transport? Why does it have to be sea transport, right?”
Yin Lin nodded. “Is sea transport the only option?”
She already knew the answer. This time she was playing cute, continuing to probe what kind of person Xia Zhilong was.
Xia Zhilong replied, “I don’t know if you’ve attended junior high school. There’s a concept taught there called cost. If we use air transport, as the number of disaster relief personnel increases, the cost becomes a terrifyingly escalating sequence. You might not understand it put that way, so let me describe it simply. To feed one random citizen of Yiri City, the average cost required is 15.26 million Asian Dollars.”
Yin Lin did the math in her head but couldn’t work out how much money that was. If the affected population of Yiri City was 40 million, how many Asian Dollars would it take to airlift relief supplies? She couldn’t shake the feeling that this old geezer Xia Zhilong was blowing smoke.
Yin Lin: “So how is the cost of air transport calculated?”
Xia Zhilong: “Airlifting supplies from the nearest cities in all four directions, then replenishing those cities’ supplies back to pre-disaster levels, plus all kinds of wear and compensation, plus the construction of various facilities, until Yiri City is rebuilt to the point of restoring productivity and becoming self-sufficient. That’s the cost.”
Yin Lin: “How much smoke have you blown?”
Xia Zhilong: “You think in this era you can just build airplanes whenever you want? Extract oil whenever you want? Leave the city whenever you want?”
Yin Lin was somewhat bickering, but this old geezer was indeed worthy of being a congressman who worked with his mouth. She calmed down a bit and asked, “Then what about the costs of land transport and shipping?”
Xia Zhilong: “In an environment full of demonic creatures, the cost of land transport is 350 million Asian Dollars per person, and the cost of sea transport is 290,000 Asian Dollars per person.”
Yin Lin: “Why is the cost of sea transport so low? Are your numbers just made up based on your mood?”
Xia Zhilong had already prepared his answer and replied without thinking.
“Because we have a mature sea transport system. The annual Shipping Day is already very mature. This disaster relief is just another Shipping Day. Moreover, Shipping Day has a very high cargo capacity, so relief supplies can be delivered in one trip. Besides that, Shipping Day is equivalent to conducting a round of global commerce, which is beneficial for economic growth…”
Watching Xia Zhilong still going on and on, Yin Lin roughly understood.
This matter wasn’t a question of right and wrong. It involved many complex relationships.
Yiri City must receive food support. This was true.
Xia Zhilong hoped Yiri City would receive active global disaster relief. This was true.
The Human Alliance proposed the Temporary Shipping Day to deliver food to Yiri City, compressing the cost of disaster relief and reconstruction. This was true.
The world would incidentally conduct a round of commerce. This was true.
Taking advantage of the weakened period after the demonic creature and Star Summoning Society attack to begin the Temporary Shipping Day, improving safety. This was true.
Attempting to lure out another hasty, weakened attack from the Star Summoning Society and demonic creatures. This was true.
Investigating whether Yiri City had some secret worth multiple demonic creature attacks. This was true.
The Witch Faction wanted to demonstrate that if Yin Lin were gone, it would be a huge loss to humanity. This was true.
The Human Faction wanted to demonstrate that humans could also handle demonic creatures and the Star Summoning Society. This was true.
It was all true. It was so complicated that it tainted the whole thing. This was why Yin Lin disliked politics. It made a very simple matter extremely complicated.
Rescue. And delivering food required choosing one of sea, land, or air. The food had to be delivered.
She understood why Wan Zi had sent her to find Xia Zhilong.
It was to make her understand one thing: Yiri City must receive food support.
Even if it was mixed with all kinds of schemes and plots, disgusting enough to make one sick, the food still had to be delivered.
All Yin Lin could choose was whether to participate or not, that is, whether to protect Yiri City or protect the convoy delivering food.
In the words of a Werewolf Kill player, it was: tonight, does the Guard guard himself or guard the Seer?
Doing nothing was also an option, that is, not transforming, staying home sleeping, shutting out everything.
“Two minutes are up.”
Yin Lin suddenly jumped down from the sofa and stood up.
Huh?
Xia Zhilong didn’t react in time.
Watching the silver-haired girl walk toward the window, it seemed she was about to leave.
Xia Zhilong understood what those two minutes meant. It turned out she was referring to the two minutes he had given her earlier.
“You have an answer?”
He was somewhat curious.
Yin Lin: “I do.”
Xia Zhilong: “What do you plan to do? Will you participate?”
Yin Lin: “Do you want me to participate?”
“In principle, I cannot answer that kind of fishing question.”
Xia Zhilong sighed. Probably thinking he was dealing with a kid, he figured it didn’t matter what he said.
“Personally, I don’t want you to stay. I want you to accept the escort mission.”
Yin Lin: “Why?”
“Throughout history, for demonic creatures to slaughter a city of this scale, even with several hundred demonic creatures attacking, it would take a full nine days to kill more than half the humans.”
He paused for a moment, observing the silver-haired girl’s reaction, then continued. “Moreover, Yiri City has extensive underground shelter facilities. Even given half a month, demonic creatures could at most kill one-third of Yiri City’s population.”
His fingers unconsciously tapped the table.
“The harm from demonic creatures slaughtering a city isn’t even as bad as the harm from food shortages. Of course, I’m talking about this time, not demonic creature crises at other times. So I’d rather you go ensure the safety of food transport, rather than stay in Yiri City doing nothing.”
Xia Zhilong finally said, “To put it another way, even if demonic creatures really do attack, half a month’s time would definitely be enough for you to come back. According to our think tank’s calculations, you escorting the convoy is the current optimal solution.”
Yin Lin didn’t want to continue the conversation. Her mood was somewhat low.
She really disliked politicians. No matter how many times she interacted with them, she found them detestable.
She took off and left. She wasn’t stopped along the way and left the place smoothly.
She increased her speed, didn’t use the Feng Wall, accelerated to the limit in the air, and did a few thrilling roller-coaster loops.
Her mood finally improved a bit.
Sitting on the clouds, she took out her mobile phone and sent a message to Huang Yi.
Huang Yi was waiting anxiously. He had already stalled the people above him several times.
Today they needed to make the promotional video for the Temporary Shipping Day. The deadline was imminent. The final product was due tonight, and then preliminary preparations would begin.
Yin Lin: [I agree to participate in the escort, but I have some conditions.]
Huang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. While negotiating, he relayed the good news to the people above.
As for the conditions Yin Lin proposed, Huang Yi couldn’t make the decision himself, so he also informed the people above. They discussed for a while and agreed.
To attract more civilian organizations to participate in the Temporary Shipping Day, the people above also hoped Yin Lin could record a video clearly stating her participation in the sea transport escort.
Yin Lin agreed. It wasn’t a difficult task.
She flew down a bit from the clouds, overlooking Yiri City below with its damaged foundations.
Yin Lin: [If my departure leads to Yiri City being attacked, what will you do?]
Huang Yi was very busy on his end and took a long time to reply.
Huang Yi: [If the sky falls, someone will hold it up. Huan Hong, Jin Luan, the Special Task Force, and the Defeated Team, with them around, they’ll protect Yiri City.]
Yin Lin: [What about you? You facilitated this plan and transferred me away. If demonic creatures take the opportunity to attack Yiri City, do you not plan to make up for your mistake and go protect the city?]
Huang Yi: [Stop joking around. I’m just a civil official, and currently a suspended civil official at that. Asking me to protect the city, you’re kidding, right.]