With light, naturally, the sky brightens.

Light slowly spread across the surface of the sea, then climbed up the mountains, and the world was filled with brightness!

Unfortunately, there are always golden rays of sunlight that cannot penetrate the thick clouds...

Clouds as black as ink shrouded the sky above Tokyo... Though it was daytime, it was as gloomy as dusk. Rain poured down in torrents, and the whole world was drenched and soaked by the downpour.

This was a disastrous weather event—lightning illuminated the sky, and thunder exploded overhead...

The torrential rain ravaged this city of light. The embankment was crowded with bedraggled people, huddled together like ants on the riverbank, using mud, sandbags, giant stones, their own bodies, and even huge boats to fill the terrifying breach.

A massive three-story pleasure boat rocked and struggled as it slowly made its way across the surging Yellow River. Barefoot at the bow stood Old Ferryman, his face fierce as he roared out various orders. More than a dozen thick hemp ropes dug deep into the bulging muscles of hundreds of bare-chested strong men, who, chanting in low voices, struggled to drag the pleasure boat slowly toward the breach.

Seeing the pleasure boat had reached the breach, Old Ferryman gripped the trembling rudder with all his strength and shouted, “William Foster, Edward Foster, smash open the hold, hurry—”

Two robust middle-aged men went to the reserved space at the bottom of the boat, raised heavy hammers, and struck hard at the last layer of planking on the hull. With a single blow, cracks appeared in the thick boards, and muddy water spurted up. At the same time, the whole cabin emitted a terrifying sound.

The two strong men immediately turned and left. Urged on by Old Ferryman, they leapt into the Yellow River. The younger man surfaced and shouted at the rapidly sinking pleasure boat, “Father!”

As Old Ferryman sank with the pleasure boat, he saw his two sons emerge from the water. His tense face finally relaxed, and he waved and shouted, “Go! Go!”

The pleasure boat, loaded with sand and stones, became wedged sideways in the massive breach. The surging waves swept everything off the deck, and in an instant, Old Ferryman disappeared from sight.

Sandbags filled with sand and stones fell into the water like raindrops. Bamboo baskets woven from thick strips were packed with huge rocks and pried into the rushing breach by the strong men on the shore. Gradually, the flow at the breach slowed, and all the laborers and officials on the embankment cheered loudly, working even faster.

With a crack, a forked bolt of lightning struck a willow by the riverbank, splitting the entire tree in two like a sharp sword. Several people sheltering under the tree instantly became fireballs.

The tall embankment trembled, silently splitting open a small crack. Then, with a thunderous roar, a large section of sand and earth collapsed. The muddy river water, like a herd of crazed wild horses, instantly tore open an even more terrifying breach. The people working below the embankment had only run a few steps before being swallowed by the flood.

“Ah! Ah! Heaven—”

A green-robed official raised both hands to the sky and roared in fury, then leapt into the surging waves. The muddy river water swirled once and easily swallowed this small sacrifice.

The above-ground river, the above-ground river!

If you lay on the embankment and looked toward Tokyo along the flat riverbank, you would see the third level of Tokyo Tower. But now, the Yellow River’s embankment had collapsed...

Chapter One: The Ark of Tie Xinyuan

Mrs. Brooks clung to the edge of the wash tub, shouting her husband’s name loudly in the wind and rain. The wind and rain filled her mouth, as if the heavens themselves were commanding her to be silent.

Looking at the vast muddy water all around, she stopped shouting, resignedly sitting in the middle of the wash tub, propping a broken umbrella against her back, holding her swaddled son tightly with one hand, and using a ladle with the other to desperately bail out the rainwater.

As a peasant woman, Mrs. Brooks knew exactly what she had to do at this moment. Her husband would rather drown than continue clinging to the wash tub and drag down their child, who was not yet five months old. No matter what, she could not let him die without an heir.

So Mrs. Brooks quickly put away her grief, craned her neck, and searched all around for a place where she and her son could come ashore.

As long as she was still alive, nothing could happen to her child. Otherwise, when she reached the underworld, the head of the household would beat her to death...

Along the way, she saw many sights she had never even dreamed of. First, a pig was holding onto a tree trunk with its mouth. Perhaps it had been holding on for too long, because when a wave hit, the pig fell back into the water.

Mrs. Brooks was horrified to see the pig actually trying to swim toward her wash tub. She wanted to get away, but was so terrified that her limbs went numb and she couldn’t move.

There were many large logs in the flood, perhaps beams from someone’s house, and one struck the pig’s head hard. The pig let out a miserable squeal, struggled a few times, and was carried away by the flood.

Mrs. Brooks swore that when she and the pig locked eyes, she could see that the pig truly wanted to live... desperately so.

Then she saw two people clinging to a single beam. The beam was so thin that if one person lay on it, they could keep their head above water, but with two people, the beam would sink below the surface, and they could only struggle to lift their heads and breathe with difficulty above the water.