Chapter 501: Auckland City

Although the blackwater shark schools had retreated, no one could be sure if they would return or when.

Thus, Knight HAO, accompanied by most of the mages, remained aboard the ship, standing ready.

According to the Jin Quehua Dynasty’s tradition, nobles must lead from the front in times of danger.

Since the flood began, Knight HAO had been tirelessly managing refugee resettlement, dealing with water monsters, and handling countless other tasks—he hadn’t closed his eyes for nearly two days.

After standing on the bow for a while longer and seeing no further blackwater sharks, he finally could no longer hold on.

He instructed others to wake him if anything happened, then returned to the cabin to rest briefly.

Yet the moment he lay down and his consciousness began to blur toward sleep, he was awakened again.

“Is it the blackwater sharks returning?” Despite his exhaustion, Knight HAO immediately asked, alert and tense.

“No.”

“Then why wake me?” he forced down his rising anger.

“Someone has arrived!”

“Who? Refugees? Can’t you handle that yourselves? Do you have to wake me for such trivial matters?” Hearing this reason, Knight HAO’s anger flared.

He had worked himself to exhaustion for two days, barely able to stand—and now these people couldn’t even let him rest a moment.

The mage who woke him sensed his irritation and quickly explained: “It’s a Sea Sentinel mage, come urgently from Doen to assist with disaster relief!”

A Sea Sentinel mage?!

Upon hearing this, Knight HAO jolted upright.

Whether it was the identity of the Sea Sentinel mage or the promise of rescue, his drowsiness vanished instantly.

He rose swiftly and stepped out of the cabin.

Gao De was just climbing aboard from the water, retrieving his exhausted Tuanzi from his water-pouch.

After securing Tuanzi, he turned and met Knight HAO’s gaze.

Under the orange-yellow lantern light, Knight HAO squinted, studying the Sea Sentinel mage closely.

His eyes swept over the two bronze stars on Gao De’s sleeve.

First-class apprentice mage—still a greenhorn.

Of course, he only thought this internally.

Sea Sentinel mages rise quickly; their future is bright.

Though the man was now merely a first-class apprentice mage, his status was still lower than Knight HAO’s.

But in ten years, while Knight HAO would still be just a knight, the mage would surely be a non-commissioned officer, and if talented, perhaps even a warrant officer.

His status would then surpass Knight HAO’s.

So Knight HAO dared not show the slightest disrespect.

“When I arrived here, I saw a blackwater shark school attacking the fleet. I spent great effort luring them into an underwater vortex I encountered on the way—their stamina is nearly spent,” Gao De explained, patting his water-pouch.

He was not the type to do good deeds anonymously.

Luring away the blackwater sharks had been an enormous risk; if he didn’t claim credit, wouldn’t it all be for nothing?

“You were the one who lured away the blackwater shark school?”

Knight HAO froze, then felt as if his head might explode.

He never imagined the blackwater sharks’ sudden retreat was due to this first-class apprentice mage.

“Thank you for your actions—if not for you, we truly had no way to deal with them,” Knight HAO said, his gratitude sincere and immediate.

“Are you from Doen?” he asked curiously.

“Yes,” Gao De nodded. “After learning of the massive cyclone landing in Auckland, the Sea Sentinel issued an emergency order for us to depart immediately in batches for disaster relief.”

So fast!

Knight HAO couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

It had been less than a day.

No wonder they were the Sea Sentinels!

“How is the situation up there?” Gao De pointed toward the faint lights on the high ground. “And where is your baron?”

In the Jin Quehua Dynasty, the highest official of a town was typically a baron.

“Before the dam broke, Baron Jiaoluo sensed the risk and immediately organized the town’s residents to evacuate here. So when the flood finally hit, most of the townspeople were already here, safe from the water.”

“But the nearby villages couldn’t be evacuated in time. After securing the initial safety of the townspeople, Baron Jiaoluo took the fleet out to search for and relocate stranded refugees.”

“She delivered two batches of refugees earlier today and has since gone out again—to more distant villages. She may not return until tomorrow morning.”

The baron of Ya Xi Town was a rare female noble—Gao De’s mind flashed the thought.

Under the Jin Quehua Dynasty’s traditional values and strict laws, Baron Jiaoluo’s proactive rescue efforts were not surprising.

“How many people are up there?” Gao De asked again. “Are all the Ya Xi Town refugees being moved here?”

“About a hundred thousand,” Knight HAO admitted he couldn’t give an exact number. “This is only part of the refugees. For those in more distant villages, Baron Jiaoluo wouldn’t waste so much time and effort transporting them back.”

First, it would take too long; second, the high ground has limited capacity. They should be relocated to higher ground near their villages.

“Everyone has been here over a day. We fled hastily and brought almost no supplies—everyone is starving.”

“And the rain hasn’t stopped. There’s no shelter on the high ground. If this continues, the elderly and children won’t survive,” Knight HAO frowned, laying bare the grim reality.

Gao De nodded.

This was expected.

As for why Knight HAO, despite having ships here, hadn’t organized refugee transfers and instead left people stranded in this dire situation lacking food, clean water, and prone to disease—the reason was simple:

In the early flood stage, the currents were too violent, filled with hidden riptides and whirlpools, and the terrible weather posed extreme risks to the fleet, easily capsizing vessels.

The water was full of floating debris—furniture, building wreckage—that could strike and damage ships under the force of the current.

Poor visibility due to the storm greatly increased the difficulty and danger of evacuation.

Additionally, the presence of water beasts made large-scale transfers too risky.

Moreover, ships were limited, refugees numerous, and manpower insufficient—hasty organization would inevitably cause chaos.

Thus, after a flood, refugees on high ground should not be evacuated by boat immediately.

This was one of the key points emphasized in The Cyclone Rescue Compendium.

“On my way here, I passed through Tai Rui Town and already instructed its officials to borrow boats and prepare a fleet to stand by, ready to depart at any moment.”

“Once dawn comes and the weather improves, we can notify the Tai Rui fleet to come and assist you,” Gao De reassured him.

“That’s excellent!” Knight HAO’s anxiety eased slightly.

If too many townspeople died, nobles like him would be held accountable afterward—he had been under immense pressure.

“By the way, I don’t know how to address you?” he suddenly remembered and added quickly.

“Just call me Gao De.” Gao De handed over his identification badge.

Knight HAO took it, glanced at it, then immediately returned it with both hands.

The Sea Sentinel uniform might be forged, but in this situation, who else would risk appearing here except a Sea Sentinel mage?

This identity check was merely a formality.

“Take me up there,” Gao De requested.

“Of course, Master Gao. Follow me.” After all this, Knight HAO’s drowsiness was long gone.

On the high ground, makeshift tents stretched densely in every direction.

Though it was deep night, the heavy rain kept most from sleeping.

The tents offered little protection—their roofs leaked everywhere, varying only in severity.

The air reeked of excrement mixed with the rotting stench of rainwater.

With limited space, refugees relieved themselves wherever they stood.

Pulling back any tent’s flap revealed two families huddled together.

They trembled from cold, their faces yellow from hunger, lips pale, bodies visibly frail.

A woman cradled a child whose breathing grew labored, face flushed—clearly ill.

She gently patted the child’s back, whispering soothing words.

Gao De glanced once and sighed inwardly.

A soft green glow shimmered; several Spirit Berries appeared in his hand.

He distributed them to the tent’s occupants. “Give one to the child.”

Spirit Berries provide a person’s full daily nutritional needs.

When ill, the most vital need is nutrition to strengthen resistance.

After doing this, he lowered the tent flap and followed Knight HAO to continue inspecting the refugees.

After circling the entire area, Gao De shook his head. “The situation is dire. If excrement isn’t cleared, plague will spread—but with this rain and such density, cleaning is impossible.”

“In such crowded conditions, once plague breaks out, the consequences are unimaginable.”

“Moreover, with relentless rain and no food, these people won’t last long.”

“At dawn, regardless of conditions, we must organize the refugee evacuation,” Gao De declared.

These were lessons he’d learned from The Cyclone Rescue Compendium.

Knight HAO had never read the book, but his experience told him the same truth.

Yet since Baron Jiaoluo hadn’t returned, he dared not make a decision.

If everything went smoothly, fine—but if anything went wrong during evacuation, he alone would bear full responsibility.

Such decisions required someone to take charge. Knight HAO’s cautious nature made him unwilling to be the one to step forward.

Now that Gao De had arrived and made the decision he’d long wanted to make, Knight HAO was overjoyed and agreed wholeheartedly.

“Let’s return to the ship and rest for a while—I’ve been traveling all day and am utterly exhausted,” Gao De said, waving his hand.

Returning from the high ground to the fleet, he entered the cabin, found a bunk, cast 【Comfortable Deep Sleep+】 on himself, and fell asleep.

No one knew how long the disaster relief would last; he had to seize every moment to rest and recover his strength.

It was already the late night, but daylight was still some time away—he could still get some rest.

Under the spell’s effect, even as the boat rocked violently in the turbulent current, Gao De slipped effortlessly into deep sleep.

After a brief three hours of rest, dawn arrived.

Gao De was awakened by someone and stepped out of the cabin.

Not only had the sun risen, but the torrential rain that had fallen all day finally eased into a light drizzle.

At that moment, Knight HAO also stepped out of the cabin and came face to face with Gao De.

Only then did Knight HAO realize how young Gao De was.

Last night’s poor lighting had let him glimpse Gao De’s youth, but he hadn’t expected him to be this young—looking no older than twenty.

Such a young First-Class Apprentice Mage of the Sea Watch must come from an extraordinary background.

And with such boldness, his future achievements would surely be remarkable.

Knight HAO’s demeanor grew even more respectful.

“Lucky break—the rain has lessened. We must move quickly to relocate.”

“Understood.”

“Send two small boats to Tairiel Town to notify the standby fleet there to come for rescue, and have them scout the route ahead,” Gao De had already made detailed arrangements.

Transmitting the message himself would be faster, but the path he and Tuanzi took was certainly different from the normal ship routes—useless as a reference.

Moreover, Gao De wasn’t satisfied with just the small Yaxi Town—he planned to head to Oakland City to assess the situation.

As Knight HAO had suspected, Gao De also felt this cyclone disaster carried a strong sense of something deeply wrong.

But exactly what was amiss—only reaching Oakland City might reveal the answer.

Also, this was a rare chance to earn merit.

He might even accumulate enough military merit in this relief effort to advance to the Second Ring—so he couldn’t settle for mere “trivial merits” right now.

“No problem,” Knight HAO nodded.

Yaxi Town and Tairiel Town were adjacent—one upstream, one downstream—and everyone knew the route well; just naming the place was enough to know the way.

Soon, two medium and small boats carrying mages set out into the drizzle, cutting through the waves, and vanished from sight shortly after.

“Lend me another small boat—I’m going to Oakland City,” Gao De added.

Knight HAO nodded just as readily and assigned him a small boat.

Though boats were scarce now, such small vessels carried few people anyway.

Besides, if not for Gao De’s intervention last night, all these boats would have been destroyed by the Blackwater Sharks.

Emotionally and logically, he had no grounds to refuse Gao De.

Gao De leapt from the large ship onto the small boat’s deck.

Tuanzi had deliberately damaged its saddle last night to escape the vortex’s pull—it was a delicate device, hard to rebuild, and he hadn’t brought a spare, so now he couldn’t rely on Tuanzi to pull the boat—he had to row himself.

Fortunately, as the rain lessened, the current was no longer as furious as last night.

After casting 【Heavy Load】 and 【Endless Pursuit】 on himself, Gao De began rowing toward Oakland City.

Along the way, he passed several towns, but did not stop again.

Still, he released Tuanzi, who had rested through the long night and regained his vigor, to help survey the water depth and boundaries of these towns.

Beyond rescuing people, mapping the disaster’s extent was critically important work.

Early reconnaissance allowed for more efficient allocation of rescue resources and better coordination, improving overall efficiency.

Thus, this task also carried substantial military merit rewards.

Gao De wanted it all—he planned to claim every single merit.

(End of Chapter)