Lao Gao muttered, "With this much water, if no one comes to clear it, I'm afraid it won't go down for years."
The moment Lan Jin heard the word "years," she fell speechless. "In a few years, my Qiao Qiao will have grown so much. If we had that much time, I could even send her to school at the base."
Lao Gao chuckled. "Sister Lan, even years might be too few. If the temperature stays the same as before the apocalypse, then ten years, twenty years wouldn't be impossible. And that's assuming there isn't much rainfall. If more rain falls one after another, who can say what will happen?
If the extreme heat comes, then it depends on how long it lasts and how high the temperature climbs. With this amount of water and no one clearing it, even with searing heat of sixty or seventy degrees, it might still take two or three years to recede."
Lao Gao himself felt his estimate was too conservative. To be strict, no one could really say how long it would take.
Lan Jin also knew Lao Gao was not exaggerating. If they could leave now, it would be best.
Unfortunately, leaving was not an option for them now.
Huang Jinghe asked, "How long do we need to wait before we can leave?"
"At least a week," Lan Jin replied. "Before, the people downstairs already went mad for days. We have to wait until their madness passes before the high heat can trigger powers. That was from eating insect powder, which takes time to work.
If it's plants, maybe it's faster, but even if it is faster, it won't help. Even after powers appear, there are many things to sort out. We also still need to collect the mission rewards. In any case, this is not something that can be done in a short time."
Ling Jiang suggested, "Then let's wait first. If possible, we grab the reward and leave quickly. If not, we stay here for now and bring Qiao Qiao out when we have the chance."
Lan Jin sighed, "Given the situation, that is the only way."
If they had not accepted this mission, they might have already reached another base by now. That would bring them closer to the Capital city base. But if they had not taken the mission, they would never have learned how much the world had already changed.
Good and bad, both.
Lan Jin said, "Since leaving is not something we can decide now, let's review instead."
The moment "review" was mentioned, Lao Gao's interest perked up. "Alright, let's review first. At least reviewing can give us results. This matter about leaving cannot be settled right now anyway."
Huang Jinghe nodded. "Exactly. No matter how much we worry, we cannot leave anytime soon. Better not to dwell on it. Let's finish the review first."
"Before we start, I have one question." Ling Jiang looked at Huang Jinghe. "Did the Capital city base flood? Could it be only our area that's submerged?"
"No, it flooded everywhere," Huang Jinghe explained. "But it didn't flood as deeply over there as it did here. Remember, J City was already a water city. Even before the apocalypse, if rain was heavy for a single night, the streets would flood. Every year, there were floods.
Of course, not the entire city each time, but low-lying areas always got submerged in the rainy season. Other cities don't get that much rainfall and aren't surrounded by lakes like J City, so their flooding definitely isn't as deep."
Lan Jin laughed. "Of course some cities didn't flood. If everywhere had flooded, this wouldn't just be about water anymore. The whole Blue Star would have become an ocean planet."
No, by now, the water had already frozen into ice. It should be called an ice planet.
…
Then the review began.
Lan Jin spoke first. "My lightning power clearly grew stronger after battle. Before, what used to be my highest output, now I'd call only 'medium.' So overall, I advanced one level. Lightning abilities don't have many variations. They're simple to use, good for combat, strong in attack. When lightning strikes, it knocks enemies down instantly.
Before my power advanced, dealing with large creatures was difficult. Even now it will still be hard, but better than before. At least I could kill a lizard that size with lightning.
One weakness is distance. I can't hit something too far away. Remember those running green plants at the foot of the mountain? They were too far and I couldn't shock them.
As for natural counters, maybe rubber. But I doubt mutated animals would evolve actual non-conductive rubber in their bodies. So as long as I don't meet something immune, I am almost invincible. But if I do meet such a thing, then I'm finished.
one more thing. When I use lightning directly, it doesn't take shape. It just strikes from the sky. For shapes, I need external tools." Lan Jin raised her hand, showing the glowing ring. "The Violetbane Ring lets me form shapes, like a whip or spiked weapon. It's very good in battle. With water, its power grows, and the shock spreads wider.
But it still requires my ability to power it. If I run into something that counters lightning, or if I lose my ability, then I have nothing to defend myself. I think I should get a weapon that doesn't rely on powers at all.
As for other uses, like charging a phone or a battery, or anything else, I haven't tried. So I can't say. My conclusion is this: as long as I don't face a counter, I don't need to worry for now. And I need to prepare a backup weapon that doesn't depend on abilities."
Next was Ling Jiang.
Ling Jiang said, "My ice ability… I feel like I haven't developed it properly. Honestly, I don't know how to use it well. On the ice, I could raise a low ice wall straight from the surface. I tried it a few times and it didn't drain much energy. If I poured more into it, the wall could grow taller. But I've only tried this on ice. On solid ground, I don't know what would happen.
Also, my freezing ability can lock things in place without help from Xiao Huang's water ability. But with water, it works faster and better. Again, I only tried this on ice. Whether it works the same on land, I don't know.
As for weapons, this bracelet suits me well. With it, even knives don't compare. Of course, if I lose my ability, then it's useless, so I still need to keep a knife as backup.
Another feature is shape changing. Like that day when we went down the mountain, Lan Jin had me make a slide. That worked. For combat, besides freezing enemies one by one, I can also form weapons like long blades or scissors out of ice. Those are powerful too. But I still feel like I haven't unleashed my ability's full potential. I know I can grow stronger."