RNP Chapter 52 Headcount
Chapter 52 Headcount
Time passed little by little, and soon it was 3 o'clock.
At this moment, not only Lu Chen, but Shen Qingci also came up. She had changed into a clean light-colored short-sleeved shirt, tied her hair into a ponytail, and stood next to Lu Chen, looking up at the sky.
Then came Gao Yuan, who temporarily handed over his work downstairs to a few assistants and came to the rooftop as well, carrying a notebook.
Then there are the field team members, including Ning Tieshan, Zhao Yongqiang, and Wei Dong.
Sun Xiulan and Xu Wan, who had finished their work and had some free time, also came up.
In less than 5 minutes, about 20 people were standing on the rooftop, each with an expectant look on their face.
The broadcast time was from 3 pm to 5 pm, but of course it couldn't be that punctual.
Everyone was prepared to wait patiently, bringing several bottles of water, finding chairs to sit down, and some even bringing a bag of sunflower seeds.
But at just 3:15, the observer stationed at the southwest corner suddenly put his military binoculars to his eye, looked for two seconds, and then excitedly shouted, "Over there in the sky! Something's coming! Three!"
Everyone immediately stood up and looked in the direction he was pointing.
Lu Chen took the binoculars from Gao Yuan and held them up to his eyes.
A few seconds later, three black dots appeared in the southeastern sky. They flew very low, almost skimming the city skyline, and their outlines became clearer against the backdrop of gray and white buildings.
Three military drones flew toward Yangxiao District in a standard triangular formation, their flight attitude extremely stable, their wings reflecting a dark gray metallic luster in the afternoon sunlight.
Lu Chen adjusted the focus of the telescope and quickly got a clear view.
The two drones flying at the forefront had long, sleek bodies, with several missiles hanging under their wings, their warheads gleaming matte in the sunlight.
The third aircraft flying behind them was larger, with a length and wingspan far exceeding the first two, and it also had a huge pod on its belly.
Lu Chen's gaze swept back and forth between the three drones before he slowly lowered his binoculars.
To be honest, this is more like a small aircraft than a drone.
While everyone was still marveling, three drones had already flown low overhead.
None of the three drones stopped; they maintained formation and continued flying forward toward their next target.
However, as it passed over them, the largest drone at the very back slowly opened the hatch on its belly.
A dark gray metal box slid out of the hatch. The moment it left the cabin, four rotor arms popped out from around the box. The rotors spun at high speed and with a hum, stabilized the descent.
A quadcopter drone!
Of course, this drone is much larger than the small quadcopters that are commonly used in civilian applications.
With the four rotor arms extended, the wingspan is nearly half a meter. A metal box hangs below the fuselage and is firmly fixed to the rack with two clips.
The airflow whipped up by the rotor blades blew dust from the rooftop everywhere, and several people standing nearby instinctively raised their hands to shield their eyes.
The drone descended slowly, its underside camera swaying from side to side, like a mechanical eyeball searching for a target.
It first scanned Gao Yuan and the others, then continued moving, then scanned Shen Qingci, paused for a moment; finally, the camera locked onto Lu Chen.
The drone flew straight toward Lu Chen and hovered less than two meters away from him. The hum of the rotors slowed down, changing from a sharp hiss to a deep hum.
"Lu Chen, Shen Qingci, hello! I am Wang Bowen, liaison officer number 13." A young man's voice came from a square speaker under the belly of the drone.
Lu Chen looked at the machine hovering in the air and speaking to him, and replied, "Comrade Wang Bowen, hello."
"Hello!" Shen Qingci nodded to the drone's camera.
"Are all the survivors you rescued here?" Wang Bowen's voice continued. The camera panned left and right, sweeping across Gao Yuan, Ning Tieshan, Zhao Yongqiang, and others standing on the rooftop.
At this point, the number of people on the rooftop had exceeded 20, meeting the minimum number of people required for two ability users to submit preliminary tasks simultaneously.
"This is only a small part," Lu Chen said. "The rest of the survivors are still inside the building. Should we let them come up?"
"That's right, I came here to verify the number of people."
Wang Bowen paused for a moment, then added, "In addition, considering that the Xicheng District is far from the shelter, our rescue forces may not be able to cover this area in the short term. Therefore, with the approval of our superiors, after today's headcount verification, the corresponding military merits will be directly awarded."
"You can also use the military merits you have already received to exchange for weapons and equipment, which we will airdrop to the rooftop where you are located."
Clearly, while the military is temporarily unable to send a rescue team to Xicheng District to pick up the people, it will still provide supplies and equipment as much as possible.
"Okay." Lu Chen nodded. "Then I'll have them come up right away."
He gestured to Gao Yuan.
Gao Yuan immediately turned around and walked to the edge of the rooftop, shouting down towards the fire escape. The sound carried down the stairwell, and soon, a flurry of footsteps could be heard below.
One by one, the survivors arrived on the rooftop.
The first to come up were all residents of Building 3. They were chatting and laughing as they went upstairs. Some were carrying water cups, some were holding children, and they cast curious glances at the buzzing quadcopter drone on the rooftop.
Next came the group of people rescued from buildings 2 and 4 this morning. Hearing that the military had arrived, they all perked up and headed to the rooftop, afraid of missing the opportunity to make contact with the military.
Then came the survivors who had just been rescued this afternoon and had just completed their registration on the first floor. This group followed the first two groups onto the rooftop, their expressions noticeably different from the others.
Some people were still wearing the pajamas they had worn when they ran out of their trapped rooms, and they just threw on a coat before coming up; some people were eating half a steamed bun as they walked, having not eaten anything decent for several days; some people looked around after getting to the rooftop, and when they saw the drone hovering in mid-air, their eyes immediately welled up with tears.
Gao Yuan's five assistants guided the line at the stairwell, instructing people to stand in order on the red cloth, avoiding crowding, and placing children and the elderly at the front.
As time went on, more and more survivors gathered on the rooftop, 20 people... 30 people... 50 people.
In the shelter command center, Wang Bowen stared at the screen, his body unconsciously straightening up until he finally stood up.
This number far exceeded his expectations. Before coming here, he had seen the data submitted by the West District. There were only about a dozen superhumans in the entire West District who completed the preliminary mission. On average, each person rescued only a dozen or so survivors, with a maximum of no more than 20 people.
Even though Lu Chen is a superhuman being who is under close scrutiny, in his opinion, he can only save a maximum of thirty or forty survivors.
But the densely packed heads in front of him gradually made his scalp tingle.
When the number of people exceeded 100, Wang Bowen finally couldn't sit still any longer.
He ripped off his headset, stood up from his workstation, and shouted towards the center of the command room, "Sir, I have an emergency!"