Just as Li Ming was about to remove the Mind Stone and attempt to read the Darkhold, he suddenly sensed a dangerous aura behind him. Startled, he turned to look into the distance.
When he realized the danger came from a distant dam, Li Ming smacked his forehead and muttered to himself: I almost forgot about this.
God hadn't made Ewen's family build the ark just for fun—He knew that Councilman Rance, driven by selfish motives, had sold public land to private real estate developers. To maximize profits, Rance had even constructed a dam to block the water flow, turning the exposed riverbed into sellable land for his own gain.
Unfortunately, Rance was too greedy. He skimped on the dam's construction, cutting corners to save money.
Now, if the dam collapsed, not only would Rance be finished, but the residents downstream—including Ewen's family—would also be doomed, as their house stood directly below the dam.
At this moment, sensing the dam's imminent failure under the water pressure, Li Ming knew a flood was about to strike.
Scratching his head, Li Ming stuffed the Darkhold into his satchel, donned the Skull Mask, hoisted his Scythe, and rode the Black Cloud to hover above the ark. Ignoring the people on the ground, he shouted, "Ewen! The flood is coming!"
To be honest, Li Ming's current appearance was rather terrifying. Even Ewen, who recognized his voice, froze for a few seconds before pointing at the ship's cabin and saying, "The animals are already aboard, but these people won't listen to me."
Ewen was frustrated. Out of trust, he believed Li Ming's warning about the impending flood. But aside from the animals and Joan boarding with their three children, the rest of the onlookers ignored his desperate shouts from the ship's bow.
Then, Ewen pointed to an engineering vehicle with a suspended iron ball in front of the ark and said, "And the government gave me three minutes to leave." After a pause, he shrugged and added, "Now it's two minutes."
Ewen admitted he was helpless against these people. After all, he was just an ordinary man, unable to perform miracles in front of the crowd. So before the flood truly arrived, all he could do was try to persuade them with words—nothing else.
Fortunately, Li Ming was different. He was a mage, and Ewen thought surely a mage could convince these onlookers to board the ark.
But Ewen was being a bit naive, thinking Li Ming could make people in this technological world believe in the existence of mages just by showing up.
The media would probably be the happiest about this.
The earlier chaotic boarding scene, resembling a great animal migration, had already made the reporters feel their trip was worthwhile.
Now, a "Death" figure riding a Black Cloud had suddenly appeared in the sky. The media was already thinking: Big news! Once this footage airs, bonuses are guaranteed!
Some reporters had even mentally drafted their headlines—for example, "Councilman Ewen Builds Ark to Save the World (Parentheses: A 'Death' Figure Floats Above the Ark—Board or Have Your Soul Reaped by 'Death')."
As for how this "Death" figure managed to fly into the sky, stay tuned for tomorrow's "Magic Secrets Revealed" report.
With that in mind, the reporters aimed their cameras at Li Ming, ready to capture a close-up of this "Death" figure. Of course, it would be even better if they could catch a glimpse of the wires supposedly holding him up.
Li Ming glanced at the engineering vehicle in front of the ark and narrowed his eyes in thought.
Honestly, these people's lives had nothing to do with him. If they drowned, it was their own fault.
But right now, Li Ming wanted to show a bit of conscience in front of God—it would make it easier to ask about spells later. If these people didn't board the ark, would he really have to ride his Black Cloud and drag each one of these soaked souls back onto the ark?
What a hassle.
With that thought, Li Ming pointed his Scythe at the engineering vehicle. After tossing the driver out of the cab, he enlarged the iron ball in front of the vehicle, transforming it into a massive hydrogen balloon—so large that it lifted the entire vehicle into the sky.
At this, the crowd beneath the ark fell into stunned silence, all eyes turning to Li Ming, who now held a fireball in his palm.
Li Ming casually hurled the fireball into an empty space and shouted, "If you don't want to die, get on the ark now."
Witnessing the engineering vehicle fly away and the fireball explode, many in the crowd began to waver. But without someone taking the first step, they hesitated, not wanting to seem like cowards.
Seeing this, Li Ming impatiently summoned another fireball and yelled, "Either board the ark or get crushed by this."
As he spoke, he maneuvered the fireball behind the crowd, leaving them no choice but to move toward the ark—or face the flames.
Just then, a deafening roar echoed in Li Ming's ears.
And it was this roar that made everyone instinctively turn their gaze toward the direction of the dam.At this point, there was no need for Li Ming to say anything more—the crowd was already desperately boarding the ship.
Li Ming curled his lip and steered the Black Cloud over to Ewen, shouting, "I'll go delay the flood. Get these people on board as quickly as possible."
With that, Li Ming soared on the Black Cloud to the dam in an instant, splitting the rushing water into two streams and controlling them to collide with each other, reducing the impact of the flow.
Half a minute later, Li Ming turned his head to look at the ark. Seeing that most of the crowd had already boarded, he estimated that by the time the floodwaters reached the ark, everyone would be safely on board.
Immediately, Li Ming released his control and rode the Black Cloud back to the bow of the ark.
Seeing the Black Cloud return in an instant, Ewen's youngest son, Ryan, called out to Li Ming, "Uncle Austin, that was so cool! Is this the real speed of the Black Cloud?"
Li Ming grinned and pulled Ryan and two other kids onto the Black Cloud, saying to Joan, "The kids are too small. They'll be safer with me—don't worry, Klee Che will take good care of them."
With that, Li Ming transformed into a black mist and hovered nearby, quietly waiting for the flood to arrive.
Half a minute later, the flood arrived as expected. The tremendous force sent everyone on the ark tumbling, but fortunately, the ark's quality held up—there wasn't a single crack.
Then, the ark floated on the floodwaters, destroying Ewen's home before embarking on a journey with no fixed destination.
On the Black Cloud, Ryan looked pitifully at his submerged home and muttered, "I only got to stay in my room for a few days..."
Li Ming glanced down at the ark being carried along by the massive current and felt the people on board no longer needed his help. He turned to Ryan and asked, "Do you like big rooms?"
Ryan shrugged like an adult and said, "A big room means I can live and play with my pets."
Li Ming patted Ryan's head and laughed. "When this is over, I'll make you a box—one big enough to fit an aircraft carrier inside."
"Cool!" Ryan clapped his hands joyfully on the Black Cloud. "Thank you, Uncle Austin!"
Li Ming chuckled. Seeing the other two kids looking at Ryan with envy, he teased, "Alright, one for each of you."
The three kids immediately started cheering.
Meanwhile, the people below the Black Cloud had nothing to cheer about. The ark was careening wildly toward the Potomac River, heading straight for the Arlington Memorial Bridge.
No matter how sturdy the ark was built, colliding with a concrete bridge would have disastrous consequences. Whether the bridge or the ark was destroyed, lives would be lost—and that went against Ewen's purpose of building the ark to save people.
At this moment, Ewen desperately wished he had the power to change the ark's course. But God had only given him the task, not the strength. Helpless, Ewen could only turn to Li Ming for help.
"Austin, find a way to stop the ark!"
Li Ming's eye twitched. The current is this strong, and you want me to stop it? Besides, God wouldn't just let the ark sink...Li Ming shook his head helplessly, indicating there was nothing he could do.
But as the ark drew closer to the Arlington Memorial Bridge, Li Ming began to sense something was off.
Unlike in the movies where Ewen had just prayed to God for help and immediately received a towering wave in response—forcing the ark to swerve abruptly at the last moment and head toward Capitol Hill—this time, Ewen had been praying at the bow for ages, and Li Ming hadn't seen so much as a ripple, let alone a massive wave.
As the ark was about to crash into the Arlington Memorial Bridge, Li Ming grimaced, vaguely realizing what God was up to—nothing more than testing whether he'd risk his life to save others.
With a resigned sigh, Li Ming, gripping his Scythe, flew onto the Arlington Memorial Bridge and stood atop a pier, casting a spell toward the ark.
His current strength wasn't enough to summon a colossal wave. Instead, he conjured an anchor on one side of the ark to latch onto the riverbed and slow it down, while on the other side, he created an automated propeller to alter its course and accelerate the turn.
At the same time, Li Ming opened a Portal to the deep sea beneath the bow, using the powerful jet of water surging from the depths to complete the ark's turn.
Normally, maintaining a Portal would be nothing to Li Ming, but this one was in the deep sea. The sheer water pressure alone was enough to give him a hard time, and sustaining it for long? Yeah, right.
Fortunately, just as Li Ming drained the last of his mana, the ark completed its turn, carrying Ewen toward Capitol Hill.
Exhaling in relief, Li Ming found himself floating helplessly in the river, drained of mana, when God's amused voice reached his ears: "Not a bad method. If it were me, I'd have just used a giant wave to change the ark's course."
Li Ming rolled his eyes discreetly: Yeah, right. Like I'd believe that.
God crossed His arms and mused cryptically, "Wolves eat sheep not just because sheep are their prey, but because nature demands it. After all, sheep graze the land bare. To sheep, wolves are evil—but to nature, aren't sheep just as much a scourge?"
"Every person carries both good and evil within them—or rather, everything has its dark side," God pointed at Himself and continued, "Take me, for example. In some ways, I have a dark side too. Like when I make flocks of birds poop on Congressman Rance, humiliating him in front of the media."
"Or when I send wild beasts to scare off those reporters bothering you while you build the ark, sending them scrambling away in terror."
God spread His hands and chuckled, "Watching their disgrace is pretty entertaining, don't you think?"
Li Ming scratched his head in confusion, completely lost as to what the old man was getting at, when God's smile faded into something gentler. "But wolves don't slaughter sheep after they're full. I don't let birds peck out Congressman Rance's eyes, nor do I scare those reporters into cardiac arrest."
After speaking, God crouched slightly and patted Li Ming's shoulder before vanishing instantly, leaving Li Ming clinging to the bridge pillar in the surging river, on the verge of tears:
"Old man, don't leave! At least pull me to the shore—I don't even have the strength to swim now!"