218: Chapter 219 Draining water is not about passing the dirty stuff to the next person.

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

"We've been tapping on the pipes."

"You finally opened the sluice gate today."

"Don't close it."

"We're about to be flooded over here, too."

Everyone by the canal stopped.

The iron gate, just pried open, was still vibrating as murky, accumulated water surged out along the old river channel.

The water level in the East District of Wuye City had indeed dropped.

But the cries for help coming from deep within the pipe network instantly turned that momentary relief into cold sweat.

Zhong Minglin's face went pale; his first reaction was to rush over and press down the gate.

"We can't let it backflow to their side!"

Chen Ye also raised his shield.

"Close it halfway?"

Lin Jin, however, grabbed him to stop him.

"Don't close it yet."

Zhong Minglin turned his head sharply.

"We just got the water to recede!"

Lin Jin stared at that pitch-black old pipe.

"If we close it, they'll have no way out."

"If we open it fully, Wuye City might get flooded again."

"If we close it completely, the South Bank will flood."

"So, don't treat the sluice gate as the answer."

Tapping sounds came from deep within the pipeline again.

Thump.

Thump-thump.

It was erratic.

It sounded like many people were tapping on the same iron pipe from different locations.

Luo Wensheng immediately categorized the sounds into several groups.

"It's not just one point."

"At least three locations."

Cheng Du pulled up the old pipe network map on the Mainframe, his voice growing heavier.

"The South Bank undocumented settlement isn't on the city map."

"But there is a gray area in the pipe network Record."

"The south side of the old river channel, the abandoned flood control warehouse, the bridge arch level, the low-level pump room."

"They were all previously marked as 'Non-Career Area, drainage load not calculated'."

Zhong Minglin cursed under his breath.

"It's not just us."

Lin Jin looked toward the pipe.

"South Bank, can you hear me?"

The response was faint.

"Yes... a little."

"Report the water level first."

There was a pause on the other end, clearly not expecting a question about identity.

"Above the ankles... deepest is up to the knees."

"How many elderly and children?"

"We don't know... we don't have a general register."

"Then report what you see."

A woman's voice replaced the previous one, breathing heavily.

"I have six children here, two elderly people, one with a fever."

"There are still people tapping over by the pump room."

"There's no sound from the bridge arch, I don't know if there's no one there or if they've been blocked by the water."

Lin Jin turned to look at Zhong Minglin.

"Do you have anyone who knows how to listen to pipes?"

Zhong Minglin gritted his teeth.

"Yes."

He roared toward the city:

"Pipe-Listening Team!"

Soon, four people from Wuye City ran over.

They had no Career, but they carried bamboo pipes, iron bowls, rope knots, and a wooden board marked with hand-drawn water lines.

A thin girl among them lay against the pipe wall, pressed her ear to it, tapped three times with her finger, and waited for the echo.

"The main water from the South Bank isn't flowing through our side."

She looked up, speaking quickly.

"It's the old sewage outlet upstream pressing on them. After we opened this gate, it just gave them an extra channel to speak through, not the main water intake."

Zhong Minglin was stunned.

The girl continued:

"But if we open it fully, it will indeed push the remaining water in the East District onto them."

"If we close it completely, the water on their side won't be able to flow back, and they won't be able to call out."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Then we'll do pulse drainage."

Chen Ye felt his head spin.

"What now?"

Cheng Du replied:

"Open the gate in intervals."

"Open it for a stretch to let Wuye City drain, close it to the half-position to let the South Bank send back signals, then open the bypass to divert a portion to the sand trap."

"The point is we can't keep pushing in one direction."

Zhong Minglin immediately said:

"The old sand trap has long been abandoned."

"Even if it's abandoned, it's better than in the homes of living people."

Lin Jin inserted the new tool into the side of the sluice gate.

"Find the sand trap opening first."

The people of Wuye City moved quickly.

They were more familiar with these crevices forgotten by the city than anyone else.

Three minutes later, they dug out a diagonal hole sealed by mud at the base of the wall in the East District.

It had old characters carved on it.

[Non-Career Area sewage backflow, not connected to public sand trap]

When Zhong Minglin saw this line, his face turned cold to the point of turning blue.

"They wouldn't even let our dirty water into the public trap."

Lin Jin pressed the definition with the new tool.

Teacher Xu Wenzhou connected to 002 from a distance.

[Public sand trap service target = Career Registration Area drainage]

Click.

The definition disconnected.

Chen Ye, Shisan, and Zhong Minglin pried open the diagonal hole together, and black mud sprayed all over the ground.

The stench of the sand trap almost knocked people over.

But the water finally had a third path.

Not Wuye City.

Not the South Bank.

It was an empty trap.

A truly confirmed empty trap.

He Zhibai immediately wrote:

[Sand trap loss is a public maintenance cost]

[Cannot be retroactively attributed as Wuye City sewage liability]

Ye Guizhou stamped it.

[Empty trap confirmed received]

[Does not mean it is permanently valid for empty downstream]

Luo Wensheng recorded:

[This gate opening requires a response from the South Bank.]

Lin Jin shouted into the pipe:

"South Bank, we are going to open the half-gate for thirty breaths."

"Tap once to indicate you hear me."

On the other end of the pipe, two seconds passed.

Thump.

"How much can you take?"

The other side was silent for a moment, then tapped twice.

The Pipe-Listening Team girl immediately translated.

"Two taps, can't take much more."

Lin Jin nodded.

"Then ten breaths."

Zhong Minglin stared at him.

"Ten breaths isn't enough for us to drain."

"It's enough to keep them from dying."

Lin Jin looked at him.

"Drainage is not about pushing filth onto the next person."

Zhong Minglin clenched his teeth, then finally raised his hand.

"Open for ten breaths!"

The iron gate opened halfway.

The water level in the East District of Wuye City dropped a little more.

After ten breaths, the gate dropped to the one-third position, the sand trap opening opened, and the murky water turned toward the diagonal hole.

Rapid tapping came from deep within the pipe.

Not for help.

It was a response.

The South Bank was still there.

The people in the East District didn't cheer.

Neither did the people on the South Bank.

Both sides had simply survived this short interval.

For the next half hour, the entire old pipe network became a manual drainage table.

Wuye City reported the East District water level.

The South Bank reported the knee-high water line.

Hai City sent over temporary tarpaulins.

Beiyuan connected three hand pumps to the sand trap.

Students from Qinghe County copied down the "Three Questions for Pipe Tapping":

[Is anyone there?]

[How much can you take?]

[Which way should we drain?]

Nanling Hospital sent over a fever treatment sheet, reminding everyone that after inhaling dirty water, you can't just drink hot water and tough it out.

Every time the gate was opened, they had to wait for a response.

Every time pressure was released, they had to write down the downstream situation.

Every time the sand trap was used, they had to Record the mud level.

It was incredibly troublesome.

It was incredibly slow.

But the water level dropped inch by inch.

A more complete voice finally came from the South Bank side.

"This is the South Bank low-level pump room, thirty-nine people are currently present."

"The bridge arch level just tapped back, there are people, number unknown."

"We request access to external relief, without disclosing the full list of names."

Zhong Minglin looked at Lin Jin.

This time, he didn't immediately resist.

He only said:

"Don't count them as our people."

Lin Jin nodded.

"The South Bank is the South Bank."

He wrote on work order no. 002:

[South Bank undocumented settlement is here]

[Specific name list not to be disclosed for now]

[Access to drainage and relief does not constitute belonging to Wuye City or Jiang City]

The other end of the pipe was quiet for a while.

Then a very light tap came through.

Thump.

It was like someone finally lifted themselves a little out of the water.

On the Mainframe screen, the gray areas around the old river channel began to light up one by one.

It wasn't just the South Bank.

The bridge arch level.

The low-level pump room.

The basement of the abandoned granary.

Behind the partition wall of the old station.

The temporary shed outside the West Gate.

There were people in every location.

Every location had once been marked as "Empty", "Abandoned", "Unusable", or "No Career, Invalid".

Chen Ye looked at the map, his voice dry.

"Our no-load buffer just now..."

"Might have flooded more than just Wuye City."

No one answered.

Because the answer was already on the screen.

Cheng Du said in a deep voice:

"All 72 Stations, re-check downstream."

"Don't look at the map."

"Tap pipes, check doors, ask people."

"If there's no response, don't immediately judge it as empty."

Lin Jin added:

"If it's abnormally quiet, go check."

This was the rule they had snatched back from the eyes and ears of the gods.

Now it was being used underground.

Every location began to re-investigate.

Some "empty warehouses" were housing temporary refugees.

There were people gathering water next to some "abandoned wells".

Some "old playground pits" had underground wiring beneath them, which almost flooded another small location.

work order no. 002 grew thicker and thicker, and it also looked increasingly messy.

It was full of corrections, apologies, losses, route changes, and compensations.

Zhong Minglin looked at those new Records and suddenly asked:

"If these places are all included, the explanation period above will be even messier."

Lin Jin said:

"It was already messy."

"It used to be neat because you pushed them out."

Zhong Minglin was silent for a long time.

"Record this sentence too."

Luo Wensheng had already written it down.

When the water level dropped to the safety line, the oil lamps in the East District were lit again one by one.

The children spread the pages they had rescued onto dry cloths.

He Chunlian sat on the steps, A-Lu was sleeping against her, still clutching that missing page in his hand.

The South Bank side began to receive the first batch of dry cloths and medicine.

No one demanded they come up immediately to register.

And no one demanded they prove they were worth saving.

The Mainframe's reply appeared.

[Infrastructure maintenance must confirm the actual existence of upstream and downstream.]

[Blank maps, no Career registration, and abandoned area markings cannot be used as evidence of no inhabitants.]

[Drainage, pressure relief, sewage disposal, and load reduction must not transfer risks to uncounted populations.]

[When people are discovered downstream, immediately reroute, divert, pump back, compensate, and publicly Record.]

[Access to relief does not constitute a political stance, group affiliation, or sample authorization.]

Lin Jin leaned against the sluice gate and finally caught his breath.

His arms were sore to the point of numbness.

There was black mud everywhere under his feet.

Chen Ye handed him a dry cloth from the side.

"Wipe it off?"

Lin Jin took it, and after one wipe, the cloth turned black.

Chen Ye looked at him.

"You look like a Repairman pulled out of a sewage outlet right now."

Lin Jin said:

"Better than coming down from the throne of the gods."

Shisan coldly added from the side:

"Both are ugly."

Zhong Minglin glanced at them, looking like he wanted to smile for the first time, but couldn't.

Just then, the thin girl from the Pipe-Listening Team suddenly looked up.

She was pressed against the pipe wall, her face turning pale bit by bit.

"There's still sound."

Zhong Minglin immediately crouched down.

"South Bank?"

The girl shook her head.

"Further away."

"It's coming from the main sewage outlet."

Cheng Du pulled up the old map, his voice sinking.

"The main sewage outlet?"

"Where does that line lead?"

The girl looked at the hand-drawn water routes on the wooden board and pointed to the deepest, darkest old line.

"No one dared to go there before."

"Wuye City calls it the Dead Water Well."

The system's old map slowly filled in.

[Historical main sewage outlet of the city]

[Connection: Career anomaly waste flow sedimentation zone]

[Status: Closed]

[Historical use: Receiving aftershocks, failed interfaces, invalid Records, and abandoned Career pages that cannot be incorporated into the Career System]

Zhong Minglin's expression changed abruptly.

"That's not a place for people to live."

A third tapping came from inside the pipe wall.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Then, a voice that couldn't be distinguished as male, female, old, or young crawled out along with the sound of water.

"Don't just save the people who are living."

"We don't live down here."

"We were washed down here."

"The Career waste page sedimentation zone... there are still survivors."