Chapter 97: The Logistics Team

With a sullen face, Chang Yu surfaced from the water, only to be met by thunderous cheers and waves of whistling from every direction.

The survivors, seeing the hero who had saved them rise once more above the river, could scarcely contain their excitement.

"I knew you could get out," Director Hao said with a relieved smile. "Heaven always favors heroes. It could not bear to let you sink into that icy, bone-piercing riverbed."

"We're saved at last!" Zhao Dasheng quietly let out the breath he had been holding, feeling his life fill with hope.

Though they had indeed fled the excursion boat, none of them could say whether that great fish would suddenly turn and strike at them.

With Chang Yu at their side, at least for the moment, they felt far safer.

"Let's go," Chang Yu said, uninterested in Director Hao's praise.

Under other circumstances, he might have basked in the flattery and even played the fool for a while.

But now... he truly had no mind to waste time bantering with Hao.

Katerina's condition was dangerous. Chang Yu did not want to delay any longer on these clods.

His gaze swept the scene. Seeing that every survivor had already climbed aboard the lifeboats, he said nothing further and simply tied the ropes attached to the bows of the boats around his waist.

"Little hero, what are you doing?" Director Hao asked in confusion.

"Counting on you people to row would take too long. I might as well give you a tow and get you ashore sooner, so I can go save my colleague sooner too."

Once the ropes were secure, Chang Yu suddenly drove with his legs and actually hauled several lifeboats forward together toward the shore.

His heart was already racing home, and he swam with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, he had covered several meters.

The lifeboats skimmed rapidly across the river, and more than one survivor, jolted by the sudden acceleration, lurched backward and nearly fell into the water.

Churning spray rolled down beside Chang Yu. He used both arms and legs, gulping air in great mouthfuls, as nimble and effortless as a dolphin in the deep sea.

"Look! What is that?" someone on the bank noticed the commotion in the river and began pointing toward Chang Yu.

"That... looks like a person. A person pulling several boats at once." Because the distance was a little too great, even the sunglasses-wearing uncle beside him could not see clearly.

"Don't talk nonsense. Those boats are carrying at least a dozen people. What kind of person could drag that many?" An old man immediately refused to believe it. He thought the other was bragging. "It must be the people on the boats rowing together."

"People plus boats must weigh more than two tons, right?" A primary school boy began counting on his fingers at once. "Ordinary people can't pull something that heavy unless he's... Superman."

"I'm really not lying!" The uncle in sunglasses suddenly shouted, his finger trembling as he pointed into the distance. "Look, that guy has already hauled those boats ashore."

It was no wonder he was stunned. While they were still chatting, the youth who had been pulling several speedboats had already crossed half the great river and was now standing on the bank, drenched from head to toe.

In the sunlight, the boy's silhouette looked exceptionally tall and straight, his entire body’s muscles as sharply defined as if carved by a blade.

Merely standing there, he seemed like a longsword drawn from its sheath, gleaming with a keen, biting edge of cold light.

"He's... he's really pulled several boats across the river!" The old man was so astonished he could scarcely speak coherently.

"It's a pity I didn't capture that breathtaking scene." The uncle in sunglasses wore a look of deep regret. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed there was such a formidable person in this world."

"Don't worry, I filmed the whole thing." A photography enthusiast holding a camera suddenly joined in.

He had not joined the conversation by the bank earlier because he had been utterly absorbed in filming.

"I was originally just trying to capture some of the beauty of the great river," the enthusiast said excitedly.

"But halfway through, the surface suddenly bulged up, and even the excursion boat was lifted high into the air."

"Then that young man bravely climbed aboard, and before the boat could capsize, he saved everyone on it."

"Because my camera had been pointed toward the excursion boat the whole time, I happened to record the entire process of him rescuing people."

As he spoke, the enthusiast handed the camera to the crowd and played the footage for them.

From the moment Chang Yu leaped from the speedboat and climbed aboard the excursion boat, through throwing out the lifeboats and kicking the people away, to dragging the many survivors to shore, every detail of his rescue had been recorded in full on the camera.

The onlookers watched in astonishment, talking over one another.

"Is that really something a human being can do?"

"Could he actually be Superman? Or maybe one of those extraordinary figures from legend, the kind with special powers."

"Special powers? That's nothing!" The schoolboy waved his arms excitedly. "Forget special powers. Tell me he's a Super Saiyan and I'll believe you."

Just as the crowd was gathered around the camera, admiring and exclaiming over the footage, several military jeeps came speeding in from afar and stopped swiftly beside them.

A group of upright soldiers jumped down from the jeeps, and the one leading them was still in full uniform.

"Well, well, what are you all looking at? During the World Cup I never saw you this lively... hmm?" The leading soldier glanced at the camera and instantly could not look away.

He beckoned to several colleagues and signaled them to surround the crowd.

"We are logistics personnel from a certain state agency. You have just filmed state secrets. For the sake of confidentiality, hand over that camera."

"Also, all of you are witnesses to what just happened. Please come with us to sign confidentiality agreements."

In truth, what happened here was not an isolated case. Similar scenes were unfolding all along the riverbank.

Within just a few minutes, large numbers of soldiers had dispersed the crowd lingering along the shore and confiscated their phones, cameras, camcorders, and every other device capable of taking pictures.

Anyone who dared resist was immediately hauled away on the charge of disturbing public order, to face forty-eight hours of detention and professional psychological counseling.

...

In the icy, bone-chilling river water, the blue bubble sphere bobbed up and down with the force of the great salmon's tail.

Inside the bubble, Katerina struggled to maintain her balance. Whenever she steadied herself, she would raise her gun and fire a burst at the salmon.

Her counterattack did little to harm it. The bullets could do no more than chip off a few scales.

Even the few that managed to pierce the body did not penetrate deeply enough to inflict a fatal wound.

What startled Katerina was that the blue flames which had always been so effective against calamities now seemed to have little effect on this salmon.

As soon as the blue fire touched the fish's scales, it went out on its own, failing entirely to burn across its surface.

This was an unusual sign, and alarm rose in Katerina's heart.

Her blue flames had always been a powerful restraint against calamities. Whether it was the cat-faced old woman or the incorporeal calamity attached to the armor, both had unmistakably proven that fact.

Now, for the first time, the blue flames that had once been unstoppable were no longer working. Katerina had never encountered such a thing before.

Without the aid of the blue flames, her small-caliber pistol alone could hardly deal effective damage to the great salmon.

The weapon was no larger than a toy gun. Though well suited to a woman's hand, it had one fatal weakness: it lacked power.

In the past, the enhancement from the blue flames had compensated for that shortcoming.

But if the enhancement was gone, did the gun still possess its former force?

Bang!

The enormous fish tail swept in again, bearing the force of thunder and striking the bubble around Katerina.

With a sharp crack, dense spiderweb cracks spread across the bubble's outer wall.

"Damn it!" Katerina's face changed sharply. "The bubble is about to give out!"

She knew perfectly well that once the bubble shattered, the river would rush in in great volume, and breathing underwater would become a grave difficulty.

Katerina's expression darkened. Underwater was the great fish's domain, and its speed and strength in the water were far beyond what she could match now.

The fact that she had managed to hold it off for so long was all thanks to the bubble's protection; otherwise, she could never have bought Chang Yu so much time.

But once the bubble shattered, she would not even be able to flee. The great fish could catch her in an instant and swallow her whole.

"Why isn't Chang Yu here yet?" Katerina thought anxiously. "I don't have much time left."

The salmon's tail struck again, and the cracks on the bubble's surface spread once more.

"Those survivors should all be safely ashore by now. After all, I delayed for so long."

The spiderweb of cracks now covered the entire bubble, and the sound of glass breaking echoed in Katerina's ears one after another.

At this rate, if that salmon struck once more, the bubble would probably shatter completely.

When that happened, it would be the moment Katerina truly had to race the reaper.

"Chang Yu, why aren't you here yet?" Katerina murmured anxiously. "If you don't come soon, I'm going to be a hero."

...