Limitations

Although Xiao He had realized long ago that this rain had been going on a little too long, he had never expected it to cause flooding.

Beichang City had suffered several floods due to the heavy rain recently. Subway stations had been backflowed into, water had risen as high as half a meter, and residents' travel had been severely disrupted. AL City lay next to Beichang City, built along the H River, and in ancient times it had often suffered floods whenever the H River's water level rose.

This torrential rain was somewhat unusual. The plum rain season had long since passed, yet heavy downpours kept coming one after another. This abnormal rainfall caused the H River to swell dramatically, triggering this flood. Nearly all of AL City had been submerged.

After leaving home, the two of them headed to the rooftop of the nearest hospital, changed into their uniforms there, and boarded the helicopter.

AL City was right next to Beichang City, so the helicopter ride would take less than an hour. By the time they boarded, Xia Yu and Xie Haining were already inside, dressed in their team uniforms.

Xiao He noticed that special patterns had already been engraved onto both their uniforms. They must have received code names already.

"Xia Yu's code name is 'Gluttonous Beast,' a ravenous fierce beast. It suits her ability perfectly, doesn't it?" Cui Man said, pinching Xia Yu's cheek. "Besides, this little girl caused us plenty of trouble when she first appeared. A fierce beast is the most fitting code name for her."

"Sister Man..." Xia Yu muttered pitifully as she rubbed the spot that had been pinched.

So they weren't worried about exposing her ability now? Xiao He wondered to himself. Still, Xia Yu's ability really was hard to pin down. She could acquire the traits of animals or insects whose bodily fluids she absorbed, so her specific abilities were not fixed.

"Xie Haining's code name is 'Candle Dragon.' Legend says it governs the cycle of day and night—when it opens its eyes, it is day; when it closes them, it is night." Cui Man turned to Xie Haining. "Your ability is basically your eyes, isn't it? You can slow down time. This code name suits you well."

Actually, you just wanted to give us code names based on Chinese mythical beasts. Whether they suited our abilities didn't matter at all. Xiao He continued grumbling inwardly, still bitter about his own title, "Life Player."

"Listen up. The flooding has struck most areas of AL City, and more than a hundred thousand civilians are trapped. The armed police and fire rescue units have already been deployed, but there are still locations where the situation is especially urgent and require your attention." Cui Man addressed everyone sternly. "This is your best chance to prove to the people across the country that you Mutants can become heroes."

"I'll do my best, though I don't think my ability will be very useful in this kind of disaster," Xie Haining said with a bitter smile.

"It's fine. We have him." Cui Man patted Xiao He on the shoulder. "This is Yinglong, the man who can even handle a typhoon."

Xiao He was not particularly nervous. Just as Cui Man had said, he was a man who could even deal with a typhoon. As long as he could activate his ability, even if he could not force back the floodwaters, rescue work would be easy enough.

However, the problem this time was not with him, but with Ye Wanqing.

"No, I can't change its name..." Ye Wanqing frowned, raising a hand toward the computer screen.

"Why not?" Cui Man asked in confusion. "You've never had a problem before."

"Because 'flooding' is a general term," Ye Wanqing explained. "It's like how I can change the name 'Xiao He' to 'Lin Tiannan,' but I can't change the name of the species 'humanity' to 'Lin Tiannan.' My ability works easily on individuals, but the larger the group, the harder it is to modify."

"I roughly understand..." Cui Man mused, resting her chin on her hand. "Then the typhoon last time really was an individual named 'Sally.' But our country has no precedent for naming a flood..."

At that, Cui Man looked at Ye Wanqing and asked, "What if we immediately give this flood a name, then create an online encyclopedia entry for it? Do you think your ability could work on it then?"

"In theory, yes. My ability requires recognition. As long as enough people believe that something is called 'XXX,' it should work." Ye Wanqing nodded. "But why not just name it Lin Tiannan?"

"Silly girl, obviously it's to avoid exposing his ability." As she spoke, Cui Man instructed the soldiers in front of her, "Immediately consult with higher command about naming this flood! Hold a press conference as quickly as possible, notify the media of the flood's name, then have the technicians prepare an encyclopedia entry! Hurry!"

Then Cui Man turned to Xie Haining and Xia Yu. "Until then, you two begin the rescue operation first."

"Yes." Xia Yu and Xie Haining answered. Xiao He pointed at himself. "But I can help in my normal state too. Even without activating my ability, I'm still an LV1 Mutant."

"There's no need. Without activating your ability, you're only equivalent to three or four armed police officers at most. You can't change the overall situation." Cui Man shook her head. "What you need to do now is conserve your strength, then go all out once your ability activates."

Xiao He's ability did not restore stamina. If he was already exhausted before it activated, then activating it would be meaningless.

As she spoke, Cui Man looked at Ye Wanqing and sighed. "When we get back, we need to study the mechanism of your ability."

No one had expected Ye Wanqing to be the one who ran into trouble this time.

The helicopter flew at full speed and soon entered AL City's airspace. From above, the impact of this flood was obvious at a glance.

About two-thirds of AL City had been submerged. Flooded vehicles, trapped crowds, and firefighters carrying out rescues could be seen everywhere. The entire city had ground to a halt. The more troublesome issue was that many of the main roads were underwater, paralyzing traffic and making it difficult for supplies and search-and-rescue personnel to reach where they needed to go.

Yet even now, the torrential rain had not stopped, seriously hampering drainage and rescue efforts.

"Keep an eye on your phones." Cui Man turned to Xie Haining and Xia Yu. "I've marked the areas with the most severe disaster conditions on your maps. Prioritize rescue operations in those areas."

"Yes." Xie Haining and Xia Yu responded. Then Cui Man instructed the pilot in front, "Prepare to land!"

The helicopter came down in an open plaza, and armed police personnel immediately approached to receive them.

Xie Haining and Xia Yu each got into a vehicle and were sent to different areas.

Only Xiao He and Ye Wanqing remained at the scene, following Cui Man into a military tent as they waited for news from above.

"Deploy the drones. Follow those two and record as much footage as possible. Once this mission is over, their official debut will be complete, and then..." Cui Man gave instructions to the people around her one by one.

Ye Wanqing paced back and forth anxiously inside the military tent.

"Oh, that's enough." Xiao He frowned. "There's no point in panicking over this. Just wait for the result."

"But I'm still worried!" Ye Wanqing replied anxiously. "There are so many people outside waiting for us to rescue them! Maybe someone is dying because of this brief delay!"

"Well, um..." Xiao He thought for a moment. "Aren't those two out there? They're Mutants too."

"Yeah, they're both very capable." Cui Man came over then, carrying two bottles of water. "The drone footage will be back soon. Let's see how they perform in their debut battle."