Chapter 320: Chapter 157: Sudden Crisis (2)

“Stabilize the crowd immediately! Repeat! Make sure to stabilize the crowd!!”

Gu Ji didn’t even have the time to say one more word to the disaster management minister on the other end of the walkie-talkie. He tossed the walkie-talkie over to the train conductor and dashed out of the train compartment, shouting, “Make way! Move aside!”

As he ran, he kept waving his hands and shouting to the refugees in the train, like a cannonball fired from a barrel, slicing through the crowd with a “whoosh,” leaving behind only the splashing sounds of his feet stepping on accumulated water and the flying spray all around.

As he got closer to the rear of the train, the water level rose sharply.

In just over forty compartments, the water level was approaching knee height.

Gu Ji glanced at the windows on both sides, deliberately observing the flood’s water line outside, then continued sprinting forward.

However, the refugees ahead were already affected by the flood and were rushing forward rapidly.

“Run! The train is going to be submerged!”

“Barrier barrier! Run ahead quickly!”

“Don’t push! Be careful of being trampled!!”

The panicked cries of the crowd, mixed with the occasional rebuke from soldiers, still couldn’t control the situation. There was no way; riot police need shields and batons to forcibly maintain order, and these unarmed soldiers had done their best.

Seeing that the compartment was about to fall into chaos again.

In this critical moment, Gu Ji drew a fire axe from the side pocket of his backpack with his right hand. His right arm muscles bulged, and he swung it out with a whoosh. The axe rotated in mid-air, bringing a metallic chill with it and cutting a cold arc straight to the right.

The nearby refugees were so frightened that they raised their arms to cover their heads.

“Clang——!”

A metallic clang echoed out, instantly drawing all the panicked refugees’ attention, and the chaotic scene abruptly quieted down.

It turned out that Gu Ji’s swing was not at people but at the iron sheeting next to the corridor! In the narrow space, the entire iron sheet rang out like a gong from the mighty blow.

“Everyone stay calm! Listen to the soldiers’ commands and move towards the train’s front!!”

Gu Ji seized the moment to shout out.

Whether it was because his axe strike was too shocking or his current expression too terrifying, with bloodshot eyes full of ferocity, the refugees consciously stopped and made way for him.

Arriving at the accident site.

In the train ahead, the water level had reached an exaggerated chest height. Fatima and several soldiers were in the water, shouting and waving their arms.

“Ah!”

At this moment, Fatima suddenly screamed and inexplicably disappeared underwater.

Gu Ji took a deep breath and dived into the water, surrounded by the “glug glug” sounds in his ears. The murky flood made his eyes sting. He paddled his feet backward and pushed the water with all his strength using his elbows to move swiftly like a speedboat toward Fatima’s drowning point.

Once stabilized, he reached out and felt skin, then pulled upward with all his might.

Fatima finally emerged from the water, alongside a young Indian lad. It turned out that when she suddenly went under, it was because of the drowning lad pulling her down in a panic.

“Cough, cough, wheeze… Vidi, it’s bad, the carriage is flooded everywhere, it happened so suddenly, many were knocked over by the water columns and submerged,” she gasped.

“Quick, put on the life jacket!”

Seeing Fatima coughing and wheezing, Gu Ji hurriedly took out a life jacket from his backpack.

For someone like Fatima, with mediocre swimming skills, it’s easy to be pulled underwater. Instinctively clinging on could drag her into drowning too. He decisively pulled out the walkie-talkie. “Starting from compartment 55, all soldiers listen up, immediately arrange for refugees to move towards the train’s front, the medical team must come over for emergency rescue now. Also, I need some volunteers who are good swimmers to help me search for drowning people, quick!”

Actually, while rushing from the train compartment.

Gu Ji had noticed the change in water levels outside; both inside and outside the train, the water level at the train’s front was noticeably lower than that at the rear.

There could be two reasons for this outcome:

First, there is a hill tunnel not far ahead on the original track, so the terrain towards the train’s front is theoretically higher;

Second, the continuous cheering and jumping of the refugees towards the train’s rear caused a massive resonance that made the compartments sink into the flood’s silt, and the continuous shattering of windows might also have been caused by this.

So Gu Ji decisively made this decision:

Abandon the rear five compartments.

And as he finished shouts, among the refugees being guided by the soldiers to retreat, a few stopped and looked back at Gu Ji, Fatima, and the soldiers who were desperately saving people in the water.

“Mr. Vidi, let me help you!” One curly-haired Indian man in a dark green vest suddenly turned and ran against the flow toward the submerged compartment 55.

Hearing the sound, Gu Ji turned around, unexpectedly realizing it was Sander, the man he initially saved from electrocution in Dispur City!

Sander took a deep breath, swam over with effort, and lowered his head slightly, ashamedly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Vidi. You saved me before, but I didn’t stand up for you when others doubted you before!”

“Let’s not talk about this now; saving people is what matters!”

Gu Ji did not take this to heart.

With Sander taking the lead, more and more refugees plucked up the courage and joined the rescue team.

“Count me in!”

“I’ll help too!”

“We can’t let Mr. Vidi always be the only one giving; all swimmers, come help!”

“Mom, you go first, I’ll help Mr. Vidi!”

These locals of Assam plunged into the water one by one, desperately searching for those drowning, but at this time, through the dim light, Gu Ji glimpsed a black figure hurtling towards them with the current.

“Right-side window! Everyone, be careful!”

Splash!

The black figure suddenly slammed into the window, shattering yet another pane of glass, and it turned out to be a piece of driftwood.

The increasing number of leaks made the water level rise crazily, already nearing neck height.

“Mr. Vidi, the compartment is about to be submerged!”

“Last two minutes, everyone split into two groups, one with me focusing on underwater searches, the other on transferring people, immediately notify train staff and soldiers to be ready to close the gate between compartments 54 and 55 at any time!”

Facing the imminent flood, Gu Ji showed no fear; instead, he charged to the front.

His brave behavior and calm, determined tone gave everyone a strong sense of assurance and safety.

In an instant, almost without arrangement, everyone voluntarily formed into two teams. When the drowning refugees were pulled out, the volunteers in the rear remembered the previous chaos in the compartment, subconsciously shouting “one-two” slogans, quickly transporting the drowning refugees to compartment 54.

Slogans are an easy way to form a rhythm.

For a moment, every volunteer’s face lit up heroically and passionately. It’s hard to imagine they were the same people who once opposed and questioned Gu Ji, but at least at this moment, they genuinely wanted to be heroes to help those in distress.

“Retreat!!”

When the two minutes were up, Gu Ji decisively waved his hand to swim back.

Saving lives is crucial, but it can’t be done without principles and plans, risking oneself into a deadlock would be like a “buy one, get one free” deal for King Yama.

Upon receiving the order, Fatima and others quickly followed and swam towards compartment 54.

After the last refugee entered compartment 54, Gu Ji shouted, “Close the door,” and the soldiers and train staff immediately pulled the door shut, completely sealing off the passage between compartment 54 and 55.

“Phew…”

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

But some looked down, seeing the chest-high water in compartment 54, and couldn’t help but ask softly:

“Mr. Vidi, can we really survive?”

“We can! The government has already agreed to send more transport planes and boat troops; they are expected to arrive in an hour. Everyone, just hold on a bit longer, and continue moving towards the train’s front!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep