Super Soldier in the City-Chapter 2111 - 2174: Racing Against Time with Heaven and Earth
Race against time with the heavens and earth, because we don’t know how long the dam can hold. It seems there’s a risk of it completely cracking at any moment, turning the currently safe areas into a vast ocean.
In the water, during this season, ordinary people can’t withstand being submerged for a few seconds, let alone a few minutes or hours. If you don’t drown, you’ll freeze to death. But Yang Rui and others still insist on going into the water to save people—aren’t they courting death? Not to mention them, even professional winter swimmers and athletes shouldn’t enter the water in such conditions. The dangers underwater are not just the bone-chilling cold. Don’t be misled by how fast Li Yifei swam back; that’s because he was already somewhat adapted. There are hidden traps and stakes everywhere underwater, very dangerous.
Seeing this, Yang Rui and the others did not insist on entering the water. They had already been rescuing for several hours and were actually very tired. Plus, with this cold, even if they started sweating, without continuous movement, the sweat on their bodies would make them cold enough.
In their hearts, they admired Li Yifei even more. Yang Rui and the others were just ordinary soldiers, unaware of how Li Yifei’s Flying Hawk Squad trained or knew much about it. But after this ordeal, he reckoned he would become a lifelong fan of Li Yifei.
Li Yifei didn’t think that much. In the murky waters, he cut through the waves, swimming toward that house. In this endless water, who knows how many people were buried alive there, but they couldn’t be saved now. Li Yifei could only save these lucky survivors.
Before a natural disaster, the cohesion among the people in the nation is incredibly strong. Those who survived quickly confirmed their family was safe, then hurriedly joined the rescue efforts. Neighbors knew each other well; if someone was missing, their identification would make searching much easier.
Except for Li Yifei, it was impossible for any of them to discover survivors under thick covers.
Li Yifei swam back, pointing to a woman nearby and said, "Jump down, I’ll catch you. You have to endure for a moment now; it will be very cold, but there is hope to live!"
"Let my sister go first, her child is younger, only over four months!" the woman shook her head, pulling the woman beside her.
The woman beside her also hurriedly declined, which greatly increased Li Yifei’s goodwill toward the two women. At a time when they could lose their lives any moment, the fact that these two women could still defer to each other was truly beyond his expectations.
But this was not the time for modesty. Li Yifei urged them, "Jump down, don’t delay any longer!"
He saw that the water level had risen by dozens more centimeters when he swam back, indicating that the flow from the upstream reservoir had increased.
The sister still didn’t jump, instead pushing down the previous woman. Li Yifei caught her firmly, grabbing her by the back, letting her lie flat on the water’s surface, fixing the direction, and submerged his body in the water, bearing her as he swam back.
People on the shore grew nervous again. In such circumstances, one person swimming was difficult enough; adding another person increased the danger and difficulty exponentially. If...
"Careful!" Several people on the shore used flashlights to guide Li Yifei, but suddenly someone saw a large floating object drifting down from upstream. When the light shone on it, it seemed to be a big tree. He hurriedly warned Li Yifei, but with the turbulent flow and the loud sound, they didn’t know if Li Yifei heard.
In fact, Li Yifei did hear, but it was too late. This was the section with the most turbulent flow. As soon as Li Yifei saw the big tree, it was already too late for any action. If he were hit by the tree, Li Yifei might still be fine, but the woman with him could face uncertain fate. In a hurry, Li Yifei immediately grabbed her clothes and exerted force, shouting, "Close your mouth."
Worried she couldn’t close her mouth in time, Li Yifei covered her mouth with one hand, gripping her tightly with both hands and forcefully sinking below the surface. During this process, Li Yifei couldn’t control the direction, and could only drift with the current, floating more than ten meters within seconds. Meanwhile, that big tree collided over.
"Ah!" Yang Rui and the others exclaimed, the sister on the house covering her mouth with wide-open eyes.
On the dark water surface, the big tree rapidly drifted downstream while no trace of Li Yifei and the woman could be seen on the water.
More than ten seconds later, a figure suddenly emerged from the water twenty to thirty meters away. Li Yifei surfaced, holding the woman up with one hand. She was coughing violently as Li Yifei began to swim with all his might toward the shore.
"There! Quickly, help them!" A sharp-eyed person noticed the scene and shouted, pointing while sprinting over.
A minute later, Li Yifei reached the shore with the woman, who was nearly frozen unconscious. As soon as he landed her on shore, two women rushed over, wrapping her with a pre-prepared ragged quilt. Others carried her away swiftly, intending to put her in a car where at least there was a heater, not as cold.
"Mr. Li, please be extra cautious, it was so thrilling just now." Yang Rui wanted to pull Li Yifei up, but he didn’t dare.
Li Yifei glanced at him, smiled, and said, "I’m fine, don’t worry about me. You don’t all have to stay here. Go rescue others."
Just now, when Li Yifei went underwater, he first pushed the woman down while he failed to dodge in time and got hit by a large tree, which is why he drifted out dozens of meters. Once he recovered, he immediately swam upstream with all his strength, and it seemed that the woman should be fine.
The current was too fast. Li Yifei took a quick look and decided to go ashore first, ran to where he initially entered the water, and then swam toward the house.
The weather was so cold that when Li Yifei emerged from the water, steam instantly rose from his body, a cloud of white vapor puffed up. Li Yifei quickly ran back, didn’t have time to speak, and dove back in, swimming rapidly in the water.
This time, he was even faster. Just as Li Yifei broke the water’s surface, he suddenly felt a big wave hit. He was almost knocked down, and the person he was standing on suddenly gave way. Li Yifei quickly shouted, "Jump quickly, the house is about to collapse!"
Even though it was a two-story building, who knew how many years it had stood? Being swept by the water, it had long been tottering. Holding on until now wasn’t easy. The elder sister heard Li Yifei’s words, gritted her silver teeth. Just as she was about to jump down, the ground underneath her shook, and she fell accordingly.
Terrible, Li Yifei hurriedly leaped up, grabbed an eave, used the momentum to jump again, and grabbed the woman’s leg, pulling her over. Then he pushed, taking himself and the woman outwards.
The building had already begun to collapse. Staying on it was too dangerous. After falling into the water, Li Yifei carried the sister back once again in the same manner as before. To avoid any more issues, Li Yifei swam extremely fast this time, almost continuously moving all his limbs without pause.
The sister was terribly shaken, soaked in the water, and she was freezing. Panic-stricken cries escaped her lips, which was uncontrollable. Fortunately, this process did not last long. In about two minutes, Li Yifei brought her back to shore.
There were people waiting at the shore who took the sister away. Struggling to turn back around, her mouth too frozen to properly function, yet she still looked back to say thank you to Li Yifei.
Li Yifei waved his hand, thinking to himself, "Those couple of words are enough. My efforts to save her were not in vain. Besides, this water is truly cold. If it wasn’t me, anyone else might not have been able to save these two women."
If delayed any longer, the building would collapse, and the woman might fall into the water, swept away by the flood. That would be considered lucky. If she were directly crushed by the house falling, it would be even worse.
Only because Li Yifei acted with urgency was he barely able to save the person.
"Mr. Li, please get out quickly. Thank you. All of us soldiers thank you!" At this moment, Yang Rui was very respectful and admiring of Li Yifei. This was truly a soldier of the Republic worth learning from.
Li Yifei nodded. He didn’t like staying in the water anyway. As soon as he got out, someone immediately handed him a coat to put on.
However, Li Yifei didn’t put on the clothes. After asking Yang Rui a few questions, his brow furrowed. The upstream breach was already being repaired, but there was simply no way to fix it. They could only throw large stones to block it, but this solution was shaky at best. So, in the coming hours or in a day or two, the dam might collapse.
Therefore, the rescue efforts had to be expedited. Otherwise, if the dam collapsed, everything would be over.
Shielding from the water’s edge, Li Yifei walked upstream, suddenly turning back to take a strong flashlight from a subordinate, shining it on the water’s surface. About a hundred meters away, a large tree was visible, now only half its height remaining, and the water seemed to be about ten meters deep. Clearly, a person stood on the tree, waving frantically as the flashlight was directed at them.
Li Yifei had better eyesight and saw clearly it was a child, wearing a pink cotton jacket and blue pants, with long hair. It was a little girl, probably in her early teens.
"There’s a person there!" Yang Rui, next to Li Yifei, also saw and immediately grew anxious, explaining to Li Yifei, "Mr. Li, that was originally a turn at the River Estuary, very close to the mountain. The landslide location is exactly there. As for that tree..."
Yang Rui hesitated, as he wasn’t a local and naturally didn’t know. At that moment, a local resident spoke, "There weren’t originally any trees there. That place should be the road leading to the dam and the village. Now there’s an extra tree, unless a large tree on the mountain was pushed down."
This was the worst outcome. Li Yifei grimaced. It was over a hundred meters from here to there. Could Li Yifei swim that far? He certainly could, but with someone in tow, swimming over a hundred meters without a place to rest midway—never mind whether he could endure, could that child endure?
Thinking this, Li Yifei rubbed his face with both hands, realizing there was ice still clinging to it. Glancing back at the few people behind him, he asked, "Is there anything airtight to protect that child a little? Swimming back such a long distance, I’m afraid she’ll freeze."
