Volume 2 Chapter 86 - Danger of the river
Volume 2 Chapter 86 Danger of the river
Xu Yi and Still were surprised at the same time, turning in the direction the sound came from.
Xu Yi was very annoyed. He had a good atmosphere with Still just now, he was about to get a morning kiss, but this fellow had disrupted him.
And this fellow couldn’t scold anyone else, he had to scold him by name. How could he take it?
Xu Yi let go of Still and walked over to the source of the sound with a frown.
He really wanted to see which fellow was this blind.
Who would have thought that when he walked over, there would be a “putong” sound like something had fallen into the water.
Xu Yi was shocked, as he turned to look at Still who was also shocked as they both shouted “this is bad”. Without caring anymore, they used the Floating Wind Spell and flew over the river.
When the two flew over the river and looked down, they found that in the broad river, there was something that was floating down it.
While floating, that person was actually calling out for help.
Seeing this, Xu Yi couldn’t help feeling angry and finding it funny.
All people who tried to commit suicide really were impulsive and when it came to death, they would regret it.
Xu Yi gave a sigh and shook his head, as he flew down. He grabbed the back of that person’s clothes and pulled him out of the river.
He dropped that person on the side of the river. That person rolled on the ground several times and vomited out several mouthfuls of water before calming down.
When he finally caught his breath, he looked up at Still and Xu Yi in front of him as he kept thanking them, “Many thanks for saving my life, do you live around here? What are you called? I’ll come and thank you.”
Xu Yi looked over this person and found that while he looked quite sorry from being soaked in the water, this person’s clothes showed that he didn’t come from a poor background. Also based on his actions and words that were very proper, he didn’t seem like someone who would jump into the river because they were poor.
Then he remembered that this fellow had scolded him before jumping in. Xu Yi found this funny as he asked, “You were scolding me like that before and now you don’t recognize me? Then again, not mentioning being able to recognize me, you can’t even recognize Still?”
Still didn’t have time to react to Xu Yi’s praise. She bent down and looked at that person as she coldly asked, “Why did you scold Xu Yi? How has he offended you?”
That person looked at Still in a daze before looking up at Xu Yi. Because the two of them had their backs to the sun, he wasn’t able to recognize them. Now that he had changed his angle, he instantly recognized the two of them.
Xu Yi wasn’t wrong at all. As someone from Banta City, it was fine for him to not recognize Xu Yi, but it was impossible for him not to recognize Still.
After he recognized the two of them, it was like that person had been shocked. With his hands on the ground, he pushed himself back several meters.
When Xu Yi and Still both had strange expressions and wanted to keep questioning him, he suddenly jumped up from the ground and pointed at Xu Yi as he shouted, “Xu Yi! You are Xu Yi! You bastard! Give me back my ships!”
Xu Yi was even more confused. Looking at this person that was clearly angry, but didn’t dare approach him out of what seemed to be fear, he couldn’t help asking, “Hey, I don’t even know who you are, how can I return your ships? Then again, I don’t know anything about your ships to begin with, so what can I return?”
Still looked at that person with knitted brows for a bit before suddenly clapping her hands and saying, “Oh, I remember now. You seem to be the Porter Chamber of Commerce’s chairman. You’re called…..You’re called Porter what again?”
“Cimila Porter.” That person clearly never thought that Still would recognize him, so he was a bit surprised. The anger on his face faded as he said with a bitter smile, “I never thought that after becoming like this, young miss Still would still recognize me. That’s right, I am the Porter Chamber of Commerce’s chairman, but the Porter Chamber of Commerce…..no longer exists.”
Xu Yi looked at Still, hinting to her to talk to this Cimila Porter first.
Still gave a nod and thought for a bit before asking Cimila Porter, “Chairman Porter, I remember that the last time I met you was at the banquet held by the Sarank Chamber of Commerce. If my memories aren’t wrong, your Porter Chamber of Commerce mainly deals in water transportation, right?”
“Young miss Still truly has a shocking memory.” Cimila Porter praised, “That’s right, our Porter Chamber of Commerce mainly deals in water transportation, but now…..” After saying this, Cimila Porter looked at Xu Yi with a look filled with hatred, “…..But because of chairman Xu, our company couldn’t get any business and was forced out of business. My beloved fleet was also sold off and they might have already been turned into boards by now.”
Xu Yi knit his brows and couldn’t help asking, “Chairman Porter, your company being forced out of business, how is this related to me?”
“How is it not!” When replying to Still’s questions, this Cimila Porter was still calm, but when he heard what Xu Yi said, he immediately exploded. He said in a loud voice, “If it wasn’t for your Frestech Chamber of Commerce building that damn road and if it wasn’t for your Frestech Chamber of Commerce regulating upriver, how could our company not have any business? How could it have been closed? It was all because of you! You dare say it isn’t related to you?”
Xu Yi was very confused, “I still don’t understand, building the road and regulating the river, how is it related to your Porter Chamber of Commerce not being able to get any business?”
Cimila Porter glared at Xu Yi and found that this wasn’t the right way to keep talking to him, so he took two deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.
“You really think it’s not related, chairman Xu?” Cimila Porter gave a cold laugh, “Let me tell you, it’s very much related! Before your Frestech Chamber of Commerce built that damn road, whether it was cargo or people, it was much faster to travel on the river than on the road and you could transport more at once. So before, almost half of the cargo in Banta City was transported by our Porter Chamber of Commerce. Then after you built that damn road, everyone found that it was faster to travel by land and they could directly transport it to places, so they didn’t need to use ships. Like this, naturally there were less companies that chose to ship with our company.”
“This isn’t right, river transport can transport bulk cargo and this isn’t something that land transport can match yet.” Xu Yi said in a confused voice.
“Bulk?” Cimila Porter gave another cold laugh, “Did you forget the other reason I mentioned?”
“Controlling the river?” How is that related?”
“Of course it’s related.” Cimila Porter pointed at the river flowing beside them and said, “Your Frestech Chamber of Commerce is controlling the upstream at the northwest side of the Falling Rain Forest. You’ve corrected the flow of the river, but the sediment is no longer stuck in the Falling Rain Forest, but rather has flowed to Banta City. Look closely at the river, can’t you see that it’s much muddier compared to last year?”
Xu Yi and Still looked at the river at the same time. Xu Yi still hadn’t found a problem, but Still said with a nod, “Un…..I wouldn’t have noticed it if you hadn’t mentioned it. Compared to when I was younger, the river doesn’t seem as clean.”
Cimila Porter gave a loud laugh, “Ha, chairman Xu, have you found the problem? Now that the sediment from upriver has flowed to Banta City, it doesn’t just make the river muddier. Let me tell you, I have sailed these waters for several decades, so I’m very familiar with these matters. I can guarantee that in less than a few years, the river level will rise because of the sediment. When that time comes, there only needs to be a single storm for there to be a flood. I’ve heard that you’ve started something called the bank project, turning the two banks into a flower garden. Ha! Flower garden? When the flood comes, this place is more likely to turn into a graveyard!”
Xu Yi was silent for a bit as he walked over the river. He reached out a hand and used his magic, gathering a current out of the water and creating a ball of water in the air.
Xu Yi and Still both looked up at this two meter wide giant ball of water and found that the colour of the water was quite muddy. The ball of water had stopped flowing because it was controlled by Xu Yi, so naturally there was a layer of silt that formed at the bottom of the river.
The two looked at each other and saw the worry in the other person’s eyes.
Although Cimila Porter was just saying things to scare people, based on the water situation of the river, this was indeed something to consider.
The technology level of the Sines Continent wasn’t high and the hydraulic engineering level wasn’t high. No matter where a flood occurred before, the consequences were all very dire.
The river hadn’t ever flooded before, so the people of Banta City never considered this problem, but looking at it now, this was a problem that was right in front of their faces.
Xu Yi turned to look at Cimila Porter and gave a nod to him before saying with a serious face, “Thank you.”
Cimila Porter was stunned. He never thought that even though he was using such malicious words with Xu Yi, Xu Yi would actually give him sincere gratitude.
“Thank me for what?”
“Thank you for noticing the change with the river and telling me about these possible grave outcomes.” Xu Yi said, “Although this can’t be considered me or the Frestech Chamber of Commerce’s responsibility, it is related to me, so I have to take responsibility. So I want to thank you. If it wasn’t for you bringing my attention to this matter, I’m afraid it would have already been too late when a problem occurred.”
Seeing Xu Yi’s serious expression, Cimila Porter’s expression changed several times. After a while, he became depressed and waved his hand as he said with a sigh, “Forget it, our company being shut down is all because my ability isn’t good enough, it can’t be blamed on you. It was wrong for me to scold you like that, please don’t take it to heart.”
Xu Yi shook his head with a faint smile, “It’s a small matter. But chairman Porter, what are you planning to do now?”
“Me?” Cimila Porter gave a bitter laugh, “I don’t even have a fleet and the company’s closed, what can I do? I don’t even have the courage to kill myself, so I’ll just find some work and feed myself while waiting for death.”
“That is not certain.” Xu Yi revealed a confident smile, “Chairman Porter, if you believe in me, I have some work that is very suited to you. I dare to guarantee that it won’t take much time before everyone focuses on the river. When that time comes, I can help you build a new fleet. Are you…..willing to believe in me?”