Yu Ren’s phone had been confiscated, so he couldn’t see the messages in the regional channel. He had no choice but to find Lin Mu to get an update on the situation.
Lin Mu paused, slightly taken aback, and frowned. "The Aircraft Carrier Base just informed our leader. It shouldn’t have spread this quickly, right?"
Yu Ren shook his head. "Something like this has to be announced publicly to stop the survivors on the Aircraft Carrier Base from collecting and drinking the rainwater. As far as I know, the Base hasn’t confiscated the other survivors’ phones."
Hearing this, Lin Mu looked startled for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, I’ll check right now!"
He pulled out his phone, immediately opened the strange app, and switched to the regional channel.
"What’s going on? How can there be toxins? I’ve been drinking this water for so long!"
"They only just found out? Then when did it start?"
"I heard the Aircraft Carrier Base tests the rainwater every other day!"
"That means it’s been forty-eight hours since the last test! No one knows what’s been happening in the past forty-eight hours!"
"With rainwater this strange, shouldn’t the Aircraft Carrier Base be testing it every day? Why every other day?"
"Easy for you to say, isn’t it? Testing consumes all sorts of manpower and resources. We have the people, but resources are scarce! If they tested every day, they would’ve used up all the lab materials four months ago. Then you’d *never* find out there was a problem with the rain!"
"There’s always some armchair expert who thinks they’ve thought of everything and that everyone else is an idiot!"
"This isn’t the time to argue about who’s an idiot. The real question is, what do we do now? You can last a few days without food, but you can’t survive without water!"
"The Aircraft Carrier Base must have some kind of solution, right?"
"Even if the Aircraft Carrier Base has a solution, what’s that got to do with you?"
"I’m *on* the Aircraft Carrier Base! They can’t just watch all the survivors who came here for refuge die of thirst!"
"I wouldn’t be so sure. If the people in charge can’t even look after themselves, what makes you think they’ll have time for us?"
"How many survivors even have water purifiers right now?"
"Forget survivors. Even those little bases with just a few boats probably don’t have them!"
"Does that mean a lot of people are going to die?"
"Most likely. Feels like some kind of human extinction event. No one’s getting out of this."
A pessimistic atmosphere filled the regional channel.
The Aircraft Carrier Base’s intelligence department naturally saw these comments and forwarded them to the three captains.
Wang Jun immediately summoned Ji Yizhi and Long Zhan.
"The strain on our base’s water supply is immense. What are your thoughts?" Wang Jun asked, his brow deeply furrowed.
Ji Yizhi considered this for a moment before replying, "I believe we can have the Water-Type Evolvers help purify the water."
"The lab has already started running tests on that. Even with all our Water-Type Evolvers purifying water together, it’s probably still not enough." Wang Jun shook his head.
When a Water-Type Evolver manipulates water for an attack, they don’t need to worry about what’s in it. Even if it’s full of debris, it doesn’t really affect the outcome.
But purifying water is a delicate process. It requires removing all other impurities, some of which might even be bonded with the water molecules. That would consume a great deal more Mental Energy.
Hearing this, Ji Yizhi’s frown deepened.
At his side, Long Zhan spoke up. "Why don’t we ask the Peach Blossom Base?"
"We can’t rely on the Peach Blossom Base for everything," Ji Yizhi said with a frown. "Besides, when Old Wang notified them, Taoyuan Yang was completely surprised. He clearly didn’t know there was a problem with the rain. They’re probably struggling with their own water crisis right now."
"It’s just a suggestion. If we can’t figure anything out on our own, asking the Peach Blossom Base might actually lead to a solution," Long Zhan replied. "We’re all Dragon Country People. There’s no shame in helping each other."
Ji Yizhi rolled his eyes. "I never said asking for help was shameful. I just think we should at least try to solve it ourselves first. We can’t just run to the Peach Blossom Base with every little problem!"
Wang Jun nodded, then turned to his secretary. "What’s the current output of our water purifiers? How many people can they support?"
"If we’re careful, it’s only enough for the personnel of our three fleets," the secretary, who had clearly looked into the matter, replied immediately. "But we have around thirty thousand other survivors on the base right now, and after news of this gets out, even more will surely come seeking refuge."
Ji Yizhi pressed, "Can’t we spare some for the other survivors? I can’t imagine this toxic rain will last forever, right?"
"If we ration out any more, our own crews will run short," the secretary replied with a wry smile.
Ji Yizhi froze, then shook his head in resignation.
"Sigh... who would’ve thought we’d have a water shortage during a torrential downpour," Long Zhan lamented. "If worse comes to worst, we’ll have to tell everyone to... recycle their own fluids. At least they’ll survive. Let’s just hope this toxic rain stops soon."
The other two men nodded, then fell into a heavy silence.
For a time, the meeting room was quiet and oppressive.
BEEP! BEEP!
Wang Jun’s phone suddenly rang. He immediately opened it and saw an incoming video call from Ren Yuanyang.
’Could the Peach Blossom Base be having water problems too? Are they calling to ask us for help?’ Wang Jun thought as he answered the call.
"Brother Yang, is something wrong on your end?" Wang Jun asked.
Ren Yuanyang shook his head. "No problems on my end. I was just calling to ask... how’s the pressure on the Aircraft Carrier Base’s water supply?"

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