217: Chapter 218 The water above cannot keep flowing down to the feet of those who cannot see it.

When the first oil lamp in the East District of Wuye City went out, everyone's heart sank.

Darkness was not the most terrifying thing.

What was terrifying was the sound of water coming from within the darkness.

Splash— It was as if a dirty river that had been suppressed for twenty years had finally found the lowest point, pouring in along wall cracks, floor tiles, and old drainage holes.

The cries of children erupted in the low-lying areas of the East District.

"The water is coming in!"

"The cabinets are floating!"

"The paper! Get the paper first!"

The first reaction of the people in Wuye City was not to flee.

It was to grab the rosters.

They had no professional emblems, no system cloud backups; many people's birth pages, death pages, and missing person pages were all hidden in those wooden cabinets, cardboard boxes, and iron boxes.

Once soaked by water, the names would be gone.

Zhong Minglin's face turned pale. He grabbed an oil lamp and rushed toward the East District.

"Move the registration cabinets first!"

"The elderly and children go to the West Slope!"

"Don't activate any professional light!"

By the time Lin Jin caught up, the water was already past his ankles.

The water was very dirty.

It wasn't ordinary groundwater, but residual pressure sludge mixed in after pressure relief from the bypass stations of The 72 Stations. It was filled with chalk dust, mineral dust, rust from old delivery bed tracks, mud from drainage channels, and black spots filtered out from the Abyss Black Tide.

Looking at these things individually, they were all traces of their survival.

But gathered at the feet of Wuye City, they became a disaster.

Chen Ye hoisted a wooden cabinet, gritting his teeth as he cursed:

"We just released pressure into empty trenches, abandoned wells, and playgrounds; how did it all end up flowing here?"

Zhong Minglin turned his head, his gaze as cold as a blade.

"Because the empty spaces on your maps are where we are underneath."

This sentence made Chen Ye's shoulders slump.

He did not refute it.

Because the water at their feet had already provided the answer.

Cheng Du pulled up the underground structure on the Mainframe, his voice growing lower and lower.

"The no-load buffer of The 72 Stations defaults to connecting to the 'No-Occupation Blank Layer' at the bottom level."

"The system used to mark this area as an invalid zone."

"All waste streams, bad debts, unconfirmed identities, abnormal birth pages, and death or missing person pages that couldn't enter the professional world all sank here."

Lin Jin looked at a piece of paper floating in the water.

There was only half a name on it.

The ink had already smudged.

He bent down to retrieve it and handed it to the girl crying and trembling beside him.

"Tuck it into a dry cloth first."

The girl held the half-sheet of paper, crying so hard she couldn't speak.

Lin Jin looked up and said in a deep voice to work order no. 002:

"All stations, suspend pressure relief to unknown downstream areas."

Cheng Du immediately roared:

"We can't stop everything! If we stop everything, the upper levels will explode!"

"I didn't say stop the pressure relief."

Lin Jin looked at the rising water line.

"I said stop the 'unknown downstream'."

He grabbed a wooden board softened by the water and wrote on the wall:

[No-load buffer does not equal unpopulated buffer]

[If downstream is unknown, it must not be judged as empty]

[Pressure relief paths must disclose downstream locations]

[If people are discovered, immediately reroute, divert, back-pump, and compensate]

Ye Guizhou's seal fell from the air.

[Downstream existence acknowledged]

[Must not continue to treat as an empty zone]

Luo Wensheng recorded:

[Wuye City is affected by upstream pressure relief.]

[The impact is not a natural disaster and should be included in maintenance responsibilities.]

He Zhibai's ledger flipped rapidly.

[The 72 Stations Pressure Relief Downstream Damage Account]

[Damage Targets: Wuye City East District, paper rosters, low-lying residential areas, waterways, grain warehouses, care points]

[Responsibility: Upstream pressure relief system, historical invalid zone labeling, current maintenance team failed to verify downstream]

Chen Ye's expression darkened even further upon hearing the last sentence.

"You're recording us too?"

He Zhibai did not look up.

"If I don't Record you, the debt will flow onto them."

Chen Ye gritted his teeth and hoisted the wooden cabinet more steadily.

"Record it."

"I'll carry it."

Zhong Minglin, however, immediately said:

"Don't turn people into debt."

He Zhibai paused for a moment and added a line:

[Current rescue actions are counted as remedial, do not offset responsibility investigation, and do not form hero debt offsets.]

Only then did Zhong Minglin stop speaking.

The water in the East District rose faster.

Several children were trapped in a low room, the door jammed by floating wooden boxes. Professional light could not be activated recklessly, and ice could not be used to freeze directly, because freezing the drainage would trap the people inside to death.

Shen Tingxue crouched down, her palm close to the water surface, but she did not release a large-scale Ice Phoenix.

She only condensed a thin ice wedge outside the door crack, pushing the floating wooden box open by half an inch.

Zhou Heng used the tail end of his Thunder Spear to conduct electricity to the metal pipe outside the wall, preventing the current from entering the water.

Chen Ye kicked open the door, and Thirteen went in to pull the two children out.

One of the children was clutching an iron box tightly.

"My mom's death page is inside!"

Lin Jin reached out to take the iron box and found that the lock had rusted shut.

Just as his new tool was about to fall, he suddenly stopped.

"Can it be opened?"

The child wiped away tears and nodded.

"It can be smashed."

Only then did Lin Jin use a tool to knock open the iron lock.

Inside the iron box was an unfinished death page.

The water hadn't reached it.

The child held the paper to their chest, crying and trembling all over.

Zhong Minglin watched this scene, the hostility in his eyes not disappearing, but gaining a hint of complexity.

"Can the upper levels reroute?"

Lin Jin looked at the Mainframe diagram.

"Yes."

Cheng Du's voice came through at the same time:

"It's possible, but someone needs to take back some of the pressure."

"Hai City's drainage channel can back-pump another thirty percent."

"The abandoned well in North Plains can be sealed and converted into a settling tank."

"The playground pit in Qinghe County must have retaining walls added."

"The parking lot in Nanling cannot continue to receive medical sewage; clean lines and contaminated lines must be separated."

"The two black station storage areas in Jiang City can also be converted into sedimentation chambers."

Lin Jin immediately ordered:

"work order no. 002, establish upstream back-pumping."

"All stations must re-report their downstream."

"If there is no downstream confirmation, writing 'empty' is not allowed."

Intern Liang Yu replied immediately:

"Hai City No. 1 received."

"We will back-pump the drainage channel to the old flood control pool."

"But if the pool is full, it will flood the warehouse."

Lin Jin said:

"Write down the warehouse risk, and ask if the warehouse can be moved."

Intern Liang Yu quickly replied:

"The warehouse is empty, but it contains disaster relief grain."

In Wuye City, Zhong Minglin looked up sharply upon hearing this.

Disaster relief grain.

Over here, the grain warehouse was soaking in water, while over there, there was an empty warehouse.

Lin Jin did not speak for them.

He only said:

"Hai City, merge the grain warehouse location with the assistance needs of Wuye City."

Intern Liang Yu paused for half a second.

Then she replied:

"Hai City can allocate a portion of the disaster relief grain to Wuye City."

"Condition: The road is not yet clear, and it requires transport."

Zhong Minglin said coldly:

"We are not trading the flood for grain."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Correct."

"Flood compensation is flood compensation."

"Disaster relief grain is because people need to eat."

"Separate them into two accounts."

He Zhibai immediately wrote:

[Disaster relief supplies do not offset pressure relief damage compensation.]

The Old Miner from North Plains also roared:

"The abandoned well at Mine No. 7 can take back two streams of dirty pressure!"

"But someone needs to go down and change the plates."

Before Lin Jin could speak, the Old Miner added himself:

"People can rotate, we won't be human well-plugs!"

"Very good."

From Teacher Song Qing in Qinghe County, the shouts of students could be heard.

"The old playground pit needs to be banked!"

"The chalk boxes are gone, we'll use desk legs!"

Lin Jin immediately said:

"Students do not enter the pit."

Teacher Song Qing replied quickly:

"Understood."

"The students will draw the warning lines, and the adults will bank the edges."

Nanling Hospital separated its medical lines again.

The Director of Obstetrics said in a hoarse voice:

"Ward clean water, wastewater, and professional residual pressure lines are now separated."

"We used to mix them to save trouble."

She paused and added:

"This time, we won't mix them."

The upstream began back-pumping.

The rising water level in the East District of Wuye City finally slowed down a little.

But it was only slower.

It hadn't receded yet.

Zhong Minglin pointed to the old water channel at the very bottom.

"We have our own drainage channel."

"But that end was blocked by the old system."

"The blockage is marked: Not included in professional urban drainage."

Lin Jin's eyes darkened.

"Lead the way."

The old water channel was in the deepest part of the East District.

The entrance was so low that an adult had to bend over, and the walls were covered with hand-chiseled marks.

Zhong Minglin said as he walked:

"This channel originally led to the old riverbed in Jiang City."

"It was sealed twenty years ago."

"The reason given was that drainage from non-professional zones was not within the scope of the city's pipeline network."

At the end was a thick iron gate.

Sure enough, there was a line of old text on the gate.

[Non-professional area discharge, not connected to public pipeline network]

The sound of river water could be heard behind the gate.

If opened, some of the water could be drained away.

But there was a second line of text on the gate.

[Opening requires urban drainage professional authorization]

Zhong Minglin sneered.

"See that?"

"We even need professional permission just to drain dirty water."

Lin Jin did not smile.

He pressed the new tool against the iron gate.

The old system immediately sounded an alarm.

[No authorization]

[Non-professional areas must not connect to public pipeline network]

Teacher Xu Wenzhou raised 002 beside him.

Lin Jin pressed against the definition line on the gate.

[Public pipeline network service target = professional registration area]

"Cut."

002 fell.

Snap!

The definition fractured.

The iron gate vibrated but still would not open.

Cheng Du shouted from the Mainframe:

"The physical lock is rusted shut!"

Chen Ye squeezed over and used his shield as a pry bar.

Thirteen stepped on the bottom of the gate.

Shen Tingxue used ice to contract the lock core.

Zhou Heng used short bursts of lightning current to strike the rivets.

Lin Jin used the new tool to turn it bit by bit.

Click.

Click.

Snap!

The iron gate finally lifted by half a foot.

The turbid standing water rushed out into the old riverbed with a roar.

The water level in the East District of Wuye City began to drop.

A chorus of suppressed cries and shouts rang out in the underground city.

Some sat on the steps, clutching the rosters they had snatched, their hands still shaking.

Others spread out their soaked birth pages one by one.

A-Lu and He Chunlian worked together to elevate the non-professional's tape recorder, as if protecting a living person.

Zhong Minglin stood before the water channel, silent for a long time.

Finally, he said to Lin Jin:

"This channel should have been opened before."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Yes."

"Not because you helped the upper levels with the explanation period today."

"And not because you were found to be useful."

"It is because you were always among the people that the public pipeline network should serve."

Zhong Minglin looked at him for a long time.

"Record that."

Luo Wensheng recorded it immediately.

Ye Guizhou stamped it.

He Zhibai recorded it in the ledger:

[Wuye City drainage connected to public pipeline network]

[Historical refusal to connect requires accountability]

[Current emergency repair is not considered a favor]

The Mainframe rewrite began to form.

[Pressure relief systems must establish downstream confirmation.]

[No-load buffer requires confirmation of empty structures; uncounted populations, non-professional areas, and hidden communities must not be treated as empty.]

[Upstream pressure relief causing downstream damage should be recorded, compensated, and repaired; it must not be erased on the grounds of "saving more people".]

[Public infrastructure must not use professional registration as a prerequisite for service.]

[Non-professional areas are entitled to basic access rights such as drainage, lighting, passage, and assistance.]

When the water receded below the ankles, the East District of Wuye City finally stabilized.

But the damage had already occurred.

One-third of the grain warehouse was soaked.

Fifty-seven paper Records were damaged.

Three low rooms were temporarily uninhabitable.

Two elderly people developed fevers after inhaling dirty water.

The people of Wuye City did not cheer.

Neither did the people of Jiang City.

Because this was not a victory.

This was a belated discovery: when they fixed the system, they could also drown the invisible people.

Zhong Minglin handed the damage table to Lin Jin.

"Don't write a touching story for us."

"Write the losses."

Lin Jin took it.

"I will."

Just then, a dull roar suddenly came from above Wuye City.

It wasn't the sound of water.

It was ground vehicles.

Intern Liang Yu's receipt arrived first:

"The first batch of disaster relief grain and dry cloths from Hai City is on the way."

North Plains followed immediately:

"The mining area is sending three hand-cranked water pumps."

Nanling:

"The temporary admission channel for non-professional patients is open, but there is a large shortage of beds."

Qinghe County:

"Students are copying waterproof templates for non-professional birth pages and missing person pages, and they are on their way."

Zhong Minglin listened to these receipts, his expression not softening, yet he did not refuse.

"Do not open the channel directly to the main city."

He said.

"Go to the outer reception point first."

"We will decide for ourselves who goes out and who comes in."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Understood."

The system recorded simultaneously:

[Wuye City assistance access: outer reception point]

[Do not force disclosure of full city location]

[Do not force relocation]

[Do not exchange receipt of assistance for political statements]

Once these lines were written, the underground city finally breathed a true sigh of relief.

But just as everyone began to salvage the damaged Records, an abnormal echo suddenly came from the public pipeline network outside the old water channel.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It was as if something was knocking back from the other side of the old riverbed in Jiang City, following the drainage channel that had just been opened.

Cheng Du immediately connected to the pipeline network map, his expression changing.

"It's not water."

"There are people in the old riverbed."

Zhong Minglin looked up sharply.

"Are there other Wu Ye points outside?"

Deep in the pipeline network, a very weak signal came through the sound of water.

"This is... the South Bank undocumented settlement."

"We have been knocking on the pipes."

"You finally opened the gate today."

"Don't close it."

"We are about to be flooded here too."