Chapter 499: Great Merit Is Coming

The sky had completely darkened.

Everything before him was pitch black, so dark he could not see his hand before his face; all he heard was the sound of rain and water, turbulent currents colliding like a dense drumbeat, crackling and popping in relentless succession.

Under such conditions, not even ordinary people could see or hear—nor could even a mage endowed with extraordinary power, who was as blind and deaf as any commoner.

Gao De activated the Mandora Magic Eye, running it at “minimum power,” and with its exceptional low-light vision, he avoided becoming completely blind.

Underwater, Tuantzi was already showing signs of fatigue.

Its body struggled to maneuver through the raging current, its paddling growing increasingly labored.

Even as a terrestrial pulse creature, dragging a small boat upstream through such violent river currents was exhausting beyond measure.

Had it not been for eating abundant high-grade terrestrial pulse flesh since following Gao De, causing it to develop beyond its age, it would have collapsed long ago.

Remember, it was still only a six-year-old juvenile water otter.

Gao De pulled out the Aukland regional map and glanced at it; the map flared violently in the wind, its waterlogged edges glowing faintly. “We should reach the No. 3 Flood Control Dam ahead.”

The Luwal River was the waterway Gao De was now traveling, and also the longest river in the Aukland region.

To protect the cities, villages, and fertile farmlands along the Luwal River basin from flooding, the people of Aukland constructed a comprehensive system of flood control embankments.

“Tuantzi, push harder,” Gao De shouted into the water.

Speed up the boat just a bit more.

The closer they got to the No. 3 Flood Control Dam, the louder the water became—until finally, it roared like thunder, deafening.

A massive breach, over a hundred zhang wide, appeared before them.

The once-solid No. 3 Flood Control Dam had collapsed.

Water surged out through the gap; even with minimal elevation difference, the speed caused the cascading spray to churn into thick white foam.

Murky waves rolled and crushed against each other, carrying mud, stones, aquatic plants, and dead fish like a subterranean dragon racing downstream.

Tuantzi twisted and writhed underwater, fighting the current while dodging submerged rocks.

Gao De’s expression grew grim.

He circled the location of the No. 3 Flood Control Dam on the map and marked it.

Then, based on the Luwal River’s course as shown on the map, he quickly determined the first town directly in the path of the flood release: Yaxi Town.

“Tuantzi, change direction,” Gao De said, glancing once more at the now-vanished No. 3 Flood Control Dam, before leaving the spot.

Tuantzi’s strength was nearing its limit.

But this time, they were no longer fighting upstream—instead, they were riding the flood current downstream.

Aside from maintaining slight balance, it no longer needed to exert itself, so it could still endure.

Without needing to navigate, they simply drifted downstream; within ten minutes, Gao De reached a small village belonging to Yaxi Town.

But now, the village was invisible—everything he saw was nothing but water.

Only when Tuantzi surfaced and signaled that it had spotted ruins of houses underwater did Gao De confirm this had once been a village.

“I wonder how many villagers escaped,” Gao De sighed faintly, continuing downstream.

He needed to quickly locate the survivors’ current refuge, then organize the Tairel Town fleet to evacuate them.

The small boat rocked violently in the muddy floodwaters.

Gao De’s gaze burned as he closely observed his surroundings.

Ahead, a slightly elevated rise caught his attention, surrounded by thick tree roots.

Gao De immediately ordered Tuantzi to head toward the rise.

As they drew closer, he saw the rise was in fact a small hill, mostly submerged by floodwaters.

Several large trees had once grown on it; now only half their trunks remained above water, their thick roots flickering in and out of the current.

Gao De timed his move precisely. As the boat neared, he swiftly cast Mage Hand, looping a rope around a root, then pulled hard, slowly drawing the boat toward the hill.

The boat finally found temporary anchorage.

Tuantzi surged to the boat’s side, leapt in a splash, and landed on deck, collapsing like a dead fish.

Exhausted!

A pale green glow flowed from Gao De’s hand.

Instantly, ten plump, round berries appeared in his palm.

Gao De held them to Tuantzi’s mouth.

Tuantzi stretched its head forward, curled its tongue, and swallowed all ten berries in one gulp.

After such intense exertion, it desperately needed energy replenishment.

While resting, Gao De pulled out the map, marking along its surface everything he’d seen during their downstream journey, his brow furrowed as he planned his next moves.

Amid the murky waters, besides the dead fish constantly floating belly-up, Gao De saw more than one swollen human corpse.

Their faces were deathly pale, clothes torn, bobbing and sinking in the current—scenes horrifying to behold.

The disaster in the Aukland region was far worse than he’d imagined.

Primarily because this unprecedented cyclone defied natural laws—its timing and expansion were utterly irrational, causing the devastation to escalate further.

In just half a day, it had turned the Aukland region upside down.

After about half an hour of rest,

Tuantzi regained some strength, its limp body showing faint signs of life.

Gao De wasted no more time and set out again.

In this situation, even if it meant exhausting every last ounce of strength, so be it.

It might tire him more, but every extra minute gained could save another life.

Soon after, Gao De finally reached Yaxi Town.

The Jin Quehua Dynasty was extremely prosperous; as a coastal commandery, Luo Jun had wealth, resources, and deep roots—so even a small town like this commonly featured buildings three or four stories tall.

Standing on the rocking boat, he glanced around and saw many upper halves of buildings protruding from the muddy water.

Their doors and windows were shattered, walls scarred by flood impacts.

Among the broken walls and ruins, occasional furniture floated past.

Yet, as far as his eyes could see, not a single living person was visible.

Around him, only the wind, rain, and rushing water could be heard.

Of course, not everyone had perished.

“They must have been evacuated,” Gao De thought.

Though the dam collapse was sudden, local officials had long dealt with cyclones—they couldn’t lack crisis awareness. They must have anticipated the breach after the cyclone made landfall and urgently relocated residents.

If they hadn’t moved even a single person, they wouldn’t just lose their own heads—they’d lose their entire family’s.

But with such sudden disaster, evacuating large numbers to safety was no easy task; they likely only moved people to nearby higher ground.

Gao De mentally reviewed the terrain of the Aukland region—he had long since memorized every detail of the map, no longer needing to consult it frequently.

Quickly, he identified the most probable evacuation site for Yaxi Town’s residents.

The Jin Quehua Dynasty was mostly flat plains, but at Yaxi Town’s edge lay a natural elevated area.

It wasn’t large, nor even named, but its elevation was significantly higher than the surrounding plains, offering some safety from being easily submerged.

According to Gao De’s estimation, this unnamed highland had formed over time through sedimentation on the floodplain.

Having confirmed the destination, Tuantzi—just barely recovered—began pulling again, dragging the boat toward the highland.

The boat struggled forward under Tuantzi’s strenuous effort, rocking violently.

The bow would rise sharply, nearly vertical to the water, then crash down, submerging most of the hull, sending up waves several zhang high—any moment it might capsize under the fury.

But after half a day of “experience,” Tuantzi had gradually learned the technique, learning to harness the current’s flow.

Like an experienced sailor, it keenly sensed every subtle shift in the water, adjusting its force and direction with precision.

The current remained fierce, yet under its efforts, the boat’s motion grew steadier—no longer wildly erratic as at first, but navigating the waves with peril yet no disaster.

Yet beneath the flood, danger lurked everywhere.

At that moment, sudden chaos erupted.

Tuantzi felt a tremendous force traveling up the rope tied to its body.

The force came without warning, stronger than imaginable—it was as if an invisible giant had seized its body, instantly throwing it off balance and tumbling it into the current.

The force persisted, dragging Tuantzi in one direction.

At first, Tuantzi could still twist and struggle, but soon the force kept intensifying, rendering it completely powerless to control its body, helplessly watching itself being pulled by the rope toward an unknown fate.

In desperate peril,

Gao De, standing on the boat, immediately sensed danger and drew his sword, severing the rope.

Without the rope, the boat beneath him became a leaf lost in chaos, spinning wildly in the raging current.

The hull shook violently; Gao De stumbled, barely avoiding a fall.

He reacted instantly, ignoring everything else, casting [Leap Spell] and stomping hard on the deck, leaping outward.

Splash! Gao De plunged into the murky water.

Behind him, a powerful suction surged from the water—as if invisible deathly hands were pulling him back.

Unlike Tuantzi, Gao De’s strength was limited; under these conditions, his body was truly being dragged backward.

At the critical moment, Tuantzi arrived in time.

It swam beneath Gao De.

Gao De, with established rapport with Tuantzi, instantly understood its intent.

He flattened himself onto Tuantzi’s back, gripping its body tightly with both hands.

Tuantzi, meanwhile, strained every muscle, thrashing its body to carry Gao De out of this deadly zone.

Huh!

Finally, the pull behind him vanished; Gao De surfaced again and took a breath of air.

He turned back and saw the boat spinning violently, completely swallowed by the water.

It looked no different from other waters, but in truth, it concealed a massive, mysterious whirlpool current.

Its center was bottomless, like a black hole, devouring anything that came near, chilling the soul.

Gao De, barely escaped death, memorized the location of this whirlpool current, crouched on Dunzi’s back, and clung tightly to him amid the fierce current, his knuckles whitening from the strain.

“Keep going,” Gao De commanded through [Beast Link].

They had come this far; they could not abandon their path just because of danger.

Without the boat, crouched on Dunzi, Gao De’s stamina drained rapidly, but without the boat’s weight, Dunzi’s speed increased significantly.

Thus, in less than half a quarter-hour, Gao De was nearly close to the unnamed highland.

In the night, rain fell like a curtain; he lifted his head, rain and river water streaming down his cheeks.

With just a squint, Gao De spotted scattered lights across the highland far ahead.

Those lights flickered in the storm, yet Gao De was nearly certain: the residents around Yaxi Town had all gathered on this unnamed highland stretching nearly a kilometer.

Yet, as he neared the base of the highland, Gao De realized this place was no safer.

Beneath the highland, the water was shallower, and originally some boats from the town had been anchored there.

They were likely a fleet assembled by local officials after the flood to evacuate dozens of surrounding villages.

These boats varied in size—some crude fishing vessels, others larger cargo ships—but now they were all surrounded by water beasts, trapped.

On the boats stood countless mages, faces grim, fighting in standoff against the water beasts.

With the current so dangerous, even if they were skilled swimmers, none dared enter the water now.

With mages unwilling to enter the water and night so dark, the water beasts held every advantage of time and terrain, and for now, they held the upper hand.

The boats were tied together, hundreds of lanterns raised to illuminate the water’s surface—but under such brutal weather, it was impossible.

The mages of Yaxi Town could barely make out the silhouettes of the water beasts beneath the dim orange glow.

These water beasts were strange fish, over half a person’s length, covered in rough scales.

Their triangular heads were sharp and vicious, their blood-red eyes unnerving in the dark.

Their mouths were abnormally wide, lined with sharp, inward-curving fangs.

Each fang was like a sharp dagger; when they opened and closed, their bite force was astonishing.

These strange fish darted between the boats, launching repeated fierce attacks.

They opened their jaws, fangs sinking into the hulls, then gnawed with terrible force, tearing chunks of wood clean off the boats.

The mages on the boats cast spells to attack the strange fish beneath the water.

The fish either dove deep in time to evade the spells, or simply withstood the attacks thanks to their rough scales.

Of course, a few skilled mages unleashed powerful spells that inflicted fatal wounds on some of the fish.

Red foam surged on the murky water, only to vanish in an instant beneath the current.

Compared to the sheer numbers of the fish, such losses meant nothing.

“These beasts!” the mages on the boats cursed repeatedly, yet they knew it was only helpless rage.

“If this continues, our boats will all be destroyed. Though they can’t reach land and can’t threaten us directly, without boats, we cut off our own escape. Rescue might not come for ages—we fled in such haste, we didn’t even bring food!”

Some clever individuals realized the situation was dire.

“How do we break this deadlock?” they fretted anxiously.

Yaxi Town was merely a town; its strongest mage was a third-ring mage who had led another boat team out to search for flood victims this afternoon—and had not returned.

Among the mages remaining on the highland, the strongest were only second-ring, few in number, and not a single one was a dedicated combat mage.

In this weather, in this situation, facing these swarms of water beasts, they were utterly powerless.

“This can’t go on!” On the bow, the temporary leader, the noble Knight HAO of Yaxi Town, felt his heart burn with anguish.

He recognized these strange fish as first-ring water beasts: Blackwater Sharks.

Normally, as a second-ring mage himself, Knight HAO had no fear of mere first-ring water beasts.

But the situation was different now.

First, there were too many Blackwater Sharks, and the terrible weather made them impossible to exterminate.

Second, the Blackwater Sharks didn’t need to kill anyone—they only needed to destroy all the boats, and that alone would doom them.

What to do? What to do?

(End of Chapter)