Two hours later.
Boom!
A bright flash of fire erupted from a speedboat, engulfing the fleeing passengers in flames.
"Target neutralized. Returning to base," came the monotone voice of the AI through the Bluetooth earpiece worn by Chang Chen.
He glanced briefly at the machine dog with the rocket launcher before turning his attention back to steering the engine, maneuvering the inflatable boat back along the route they had taken.
This was the third battle he had been involved in during the past two hours.
Initially, his assigned task was to screen potential robbers hiding among the survivors, a job that seemed no more threatening than conducting security checks on a subway.
But to his surprise, every time he made his intentions known, the people he approached either fled in their boats or opened fire on him without hesitation.
Were it not for the quick reflexes and firepower of the machine dogs aboard his boat, he doubted he would still be alive.
"This place is too dangerous," Chang Chen muttered with a sigh. "It feels like everyone's a bandit."
At the farmhouse shelter's control center, Su Wu received a comprehensive update.
All of the individuals flagged by the AI for special attention had been confirmed as bandits—an astonishing 100% accuracy rate.
"Remarkable," Su Wu murmured, unsure whether to feel impressed or concerned.
With the bandits eradicated, the situation across the flooded city grew significantly calmer. Most of the remaining people were individuals aiding friends and family or transporting supplies between shelters, with no significant threats detected.
"Now that we've cleaned up the area, a patrol every six hours should suffice to maintain order," Su Wu decided.
Operating drones in a lightning-prone storm was inherently risky. Although his Bluebird drone had thus far proven stable, Su Wu was unwilling to leave it hovering indefinitely over the city. However, conducting periodic six-hour surveillance sweeps seemed a manageable risk.
---
The high-intensity rescue efforts continued into the afternoon of the second day before showing signs of progress.
By then, the number of large inflatable rafts navigating the city's flooded ruins had risen to 1,200. At any given moment, thousands of people were being transported between temporary shelters and the two large permanent ones.
As the number of stranded individuals waiting for rescue began to decrease, Su Wu decided against further expanding the fleet of rafts.
These rafts were a compromise born out of urgency, offering limited safety. Even after routes had been refined and operators gained experience, accidents involving two or three rafts occurred every hour, often resulting in fatalities.
The rafts were, in essence, powered by human lives.
Su Wu had no intention of relying on them for longer than necessary.
For replacements, he had already found a solution: medium hovercraft capable of traversing shallow water and even land.
---
August 26, Evening
A 20.5-meter-long, 7.5-meter-wide hovercraft with a large enclosed cabin set out into the storm, gliding through turbulent floodwaters toward the northern city ruins, where the mobile base vehicle was stationed.
Its mission: to transport a group of survivors to the Jingyuan Shelter.
Accompanying the hovercraft was a news team documenting its debut.
"This is an Arashi News update," the anchor reported.
"The Arashi Shelter Group's first medium-sized hovercraft was successfully deployed today at 6 PM.
"This vessel, with a maximum load of 7.5 tons and a top speed of 70 km/h, can carry up to 100 passengers in a single trip. Its larger size and fully enclosed cabin offer significant safety improvements, reducing the risk of accidents in flood zones to below 0.1%.
"In the next one to two days, the Arashi Shelter Group plans to deploy a fleet of ten medium hovercraft to replace the inflatable rafts for rescue and supply missions."
---
For the general public, the news of the hovercraft's deployment was a fleeting topic of conversation. Most people were content to comment on the craft's appearance and safety features, marveling at how future survivors would benefit from more professional rescue equipment.
For shelter leaders, however, the announcement was chilling.
Producing ten 20-meter-long hovercraft in just over a day reflected an industrial capability that bordered on the absurd. Even the powerful official shelters couldn't dream of such production efficiency.
The gap between Su Wu's forces and the official shelters was widening, measured not in steps but in leaps.
---
August 28, Afternoon
With the final group of stranded survivors evacuated to the Jingyuan Shelter, the citywide rescue operation, which had spanned three to four days, finally concluded.
What remained was the arduous task of transferring resources—a task that would continue indefinitely.
At this juncture, Su Wu received a preliminary report summarizing the operation's outcomes:
23,000 survivors had been relocated to the Jingyuan and Zhou Xiwu shelters.
2 tons of gold and 18 tons of silver, along with thousands of tons of rare metals, had been retrieved.
Resources still submerged in the flooded shelte
rs totaled 200,000 tons, equivalent to the reserves of two large shelters.
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!