Zodiac Story

Commemorate This August Era With Five Azure Storms Part 3

A reasonable explanation, and fortunate. She would have verbally eviscerated the man otherwise, dragon or no dragon. "Make sure everyone is evacuated far from the city limits, especially near areas close to the Yangtze River or the East China Sea. Have you checked the headwaters of the Yangtze?"

"No, as we have been focused on civilian evacuations."

Yǔfēi nodded her head to the west. "If we investigate the headwaters, we may be able to prevent any further damage or flooding. Who else is in the vicinity?"
"Five helicopters, and about five brigades of ten people each. Four are assisting in evacuation efforts, while the fifth is in charge of keeping order among the evacuees."

Considering the damage that the city has taken and the multiple people that were displaced, leaving at least two brigades is necessary. Only two brigades should be necessary, and three helicopters.

"We take your brigade, two brigades if they aren't busy with their duties, and three helicopters to the headwaters." She's a dragon, so she should be faster than the helicopters. "I'll go ahead and scout ahead. If there is any potential danger, I will circle back and warn you and anyone else in the chain of command. First, we should evacuate everyone."

The leader of the soldiers nodded and shouted for his men.

After two round trips and the safe evacuation of all civilians, Yǔfēi watched the three helicopters in formation. Thankfully, the leader secured a larger plane for transportation. Below her, she felt each individual blade of grass waving in the breeze. The trees rustled, leaving her alone to her thoughts. The worst flood type Calamities as measured by her colleagues had the Yangtze River flooding partially or at least until a certain level had been reached. The water level wouldn't have risen as high as it did, and certainly not to the height of her apartment building. Were they getting stronger, like some models predicted? What was the true cause of Calamities? Something moved in front of her: a white crystal directly in her face. She turned to her right, facing a black crystal. On her left was a red crystal, while behind her was a bluish green crystal. Looking up, she spotted a yellow crystal floating above her head. She waved her head, and the crystals moved slightly, but stayed in relatively the same position. They seemed harmless, so she paid no further attention to them. Besides, she had the unfolding Calamity on her mind.

Travelling across green plains and winding blue streams, Yǔfēi tested the extent of her abilities. After two hours of confusing the soldiers and touching the crystals, she concluded that the crystals are connected to the natural elements. Based on her observations, the five crystals corresponded to the five phases in ancient philosophy, including the colours. Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. It explained their positioning as well. Yǔfēi controlled the weather, summoning rain clouds and the wind with ease. Holding onto a crystal made summoning certain phenomena better, such as the black crystal assisting in rain summoning and the white crystal in calling down lightning. Of course, she tried to project an aura of supreme majesty to the soldiers, hiding her relative inexperience.

They passed by the city of Chongqing, equally overrun with flooding. The task force present assured them that they were handling the situation and were not in need of further assistance. Survivors were few though, and they left the city with a heavy heart. Yǔfēi thought about the five elements. Water can be contained by either earth or wood. Verdant grass gave way to pale yellow plains, and she summoned small rain clouds to hydrate the soldiers.

At last, they arrived at the geological origin of the Yangtze River. The Dangpu River was equally flooded, as the water seeped into the marsh-like banks. Strewn across the floodplain were the carcasses of helicopters and fighter planes. The lack of any movement disheartened her—until she caught sight of something that shouldn't have existed.