[15] Order

With the sky few shades away from dusk, Yu-Xiao-Xi stood at the center of the construction site and yelled through a metal cylinder.

"Fighting against the flood is everyone's responsibility. Let us unite our strength together and rebuild our home!" Yu-Xiao-Xi's back dropped along with her metal cylinder, with her voice increasingly raspy by the end of the sentence.

"Good work." Wang-Yi said, as he handed Yu-Xiao-Xi a water skin.

Yu-Xiao-Xi grabbed the water skin and drank from it for a good minute before finally letting it go.

"Forgive me for forgetting my manners there my prince, I was too thirsty there." Yu-Xiao-Xi wiped her mouth.

"No need to apologize for that. In fact, I thank you for your service."

"It's my honour my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi bowed.

"It seems that we have more volunteers than we need." The prince commented, as he scanned the construction site.

Tens of thousands of volunteers moved around the construction site like an army of ants, all working in unison and with unparalleled efficiency.

"We had a few more volunteers then we expected my prince…" Yu-Xiao-Xi said with a small voice.

"The more the better. The faster we get this done, the faster we can restore the city to its proper state." The prince replied.

"The city is mostly evacuated." San-Qi's came voice from behind.

"Good work as well." The prince turned and complimented.

"It's nothing." San-Qi waved it off.

"The sand barrier is nearly completed as well. I need you to do one more thing San-Qi." The prince spoke with a low voice.

"What is it?"

"In about an hour, I need you to go the northern gate of the city and reopen the gate from inside." The prince paused then spoke again: "The whole city is counting on you San-Qi and I know you can do it."

"Understood." San-Qi paused for a moment, and then asked: "Is there anything else?"

"For now, no." The prince answered.

"Very well." San-Qi turned and began to walk away. "I am gonna go get a smoke. I will be back soon." she waved and left the scene.

***

Standing on the top of the north gate, San-Qi stared at the flooded streets below, while taking a drag from her pipe in silent contemplation.

While contemplating, several of her elite soldiers gathered around her, but none of them spoke up.

"What are you meats doing?" San-Qi lowered her pipe and puffed out a small white smoke ring.

Her elite soldiers looked to each other, and after several rounds of back and forth, one of them spoke up:

"Just in case something happens, we will still be here for you…ma'am." His voice cracked at the end.

"If you meats want to make yourselves useful, here." San-Qi pushed her pipe onto the chest of one of her elite soldiers, which the latter barely caught.

"Hold this for me. I will be back soon." San-Qi stretched her arms one more time, before climbing onto the edge of the wall.

Let's get this over with…

With that thought in mind, San-Qi dived into the water in a graceful arc, barely making a splash as she entered the water.

After a brief moment, San-Qi resurfaced then began to swim towards the gate in breaststroke.

Upon reaching the gate, San-Qi dived down and began to feel for the bolt of the gate.

Found it!

Located 2 meters beneath her, the bolt was over 5 meters long and 20 centimetres wide.

San-Qi landed her feet at the bottom of the ground and attempted to push upwards, but the bolt didn't budge the slightest.

Losing air, San-Qi was forced to resurface.

Dammit

Think dammit think!

After feeling around the bolt again, San-Qi felt a loosening bolt hook on the right side.

Sensing opportunity, San-Qi took out one of her daggers and began prying open the hook away from the gate. Seeing no progress, San-Qi placed both her hands on her dagger and planted both her feet on the gate and pulled back with all her strength. Just when her mind was about to turn blank, the hook snapped. Sending San-Qi backwards for a brief second and immediately forward the next, as she millions of tons of water began to push against her back.

At very last second, San-Qi pulled out her 2nd dagger and stabbed it against the nearby wall, then quickly pulled herself to cover behind the wall.

A rope dangled down from above, and without hesitation, San-Qi grabbed the rope, and a moment later she found herself back on top of the north gate.

"That's our boss!" her elite soldiers cheered.

San-Qi slumped to the ground with her back against the wall. After coughing up a stomach full of water, she spoke up:

"Be quiet," San-Qi waved off one of her hand. "I need some peace time and bring me my pipe."

Her elite soldiers immediately quieted down, as the one who kept her pipe delivered it to her, and then lighted it up for her.

San-Qi took a drag from her smoke then looked up at the sky.

Tired…