Chapter Five: Forty Minutes

Xu borrowed the engineer’s phone and called Lin. “Can you free a few ambulances?” “I can. But don’t tell me you’re going into the water.” “I need you to believe me once.” There was a short silence, then Lin’s contained anger. “I believe you will come back—not because of a system, and not because you can win alone. Send your location. I’ll move people.” The words pulled him back to the ground from a dangerous, weightless fever. Gu left for the pump station. The engineer stayed to rewrite the warning page. Xu headed for the underground mall. Water was already pouring down its stairs. Shutters fell one after another, while people dragged luggage or held children and asked where to go.