Chapter 267: Salvation in Despair
"Just answer it. Cut the chatter."
Damien Vaughn rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Ryan didn’t dare say another word and quickly answered the call from the weather bureau.
He asked as instructed: the forecast for the next four hours was more heavy rain in Veridia City and torrential downpours in Oakhaven. Helicopter travel was not advised.
Ryan had the call on speakerphone. When the forecaster finished, he looked over at Damien Vaughn. Damien’s expression remained unchanged, as if he’d already anticipated this response and was merely going through the motions.
The call ended, and the two men fell silent.
After a few agonizing seconds of silence, Damien finally received the return call from Oakhaven.
"I’m sorry, President Vaughn. I called you the moment I got the report from my subordinate. The situation at Windmount is... complicated. There was a landslide on the road into the mountains. The entire path is blocked..."
Ryan watched as Damien Vaughn closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, utterly frustrated. The sight was so intimidating Ryan hardly dared to breathe.
’The rain’s this heavy, and there’s a landslide... Does that mean even the rescue teams can’t get through?’
’Miss Archer... and the others...’
Another agonizing silence descended.
But Damien Vaughn was not one to remain idle. He opened his eyes, sat up straight, and swiped his phone open.
"Mr. King, this is Damien Vaughn. I apologize for the intrusion, but I need your help with a matter."
He started to explain the situation, but the other man cut him off sharply before he could finish.
"Absolutely not! That’s far too risky!"
"Sending a helicopter into this kind of extreme weather is a suicide mission! Not only will you be unable to help, you’ll probably just become another burden for us. There is no way I can approve this!"
Damien Vaughn listened, his brow furrowed, until the man had finished speaking.
"And what, doing nothing isn’t risky? Are you going to tell me what foolproof method you plan on using to save them?"
"That’s none of your concern. Rest assured, I will dispatch a team as soon as I can."
Damien Vaughn’s tone was insistent.
"How could it possibly be none of my concern? Those are my company’s employees—more than a dozen lives are at stake. If anything happens to them, do you have any idea what that would mean for me, and for the Vaughn Group?"
"And if the Vaughn Group can no longer operate because of this, do you realize what that would mean for Veridia City’s entire GDP? I’m not joking, and this isn’t some wild fantasy. You and I both know very well that if something goes wrong, the consequences will be more than either of us can bear."
The man on the other end knew the gravity of his words, but...
"There are no ’buts.’ In a situation like this, our only option is to fight for a chance, not wait for a miracle to fall from the sky. If you don’t approve a flight path for me immediately, I will continue up the chain of command. Mr. King, don’t blame me for going over your head and painting you in a bad light when that happens."
「Dawn finally broke.」
To conserve firewood, the fire in the classroom was kept small. On top of that, two windows had been opened for ventilation, letting in a continuous blast of wind and rain. The group didn’t get much warmth from the small flames.
However, with everyone squeezed together, the sense of terror was at least somewhat diminished.
In the darkness, they couldn’t see the situation clearly and had held on to a blind confidence that rescuers would arrive soon.
But now, in the bright light of day, a look outside revealed a vast ocean. The houses in the village had almost completely disappeared, with only the corners of a few on higher ground peeking above the water.
The murky floodwaters roared, churning around the isolated schoolhouse as the torrential rain continued to pound down from above.
Despair suddenly washed over the group, and they grew so panicked they could barely stand.
"This is horrible... It’s horrible... This is it... We’re finished. At this rate, the water will reach this floor in less than two hours. No one is getting out of here alive today."
One of the more timid villagers, scared to tears by the sight, grabbed Cecelia Archer’s hand and shook it desperately.
"Didn’t you say your company was sending someone to rescue us? Why aren’t they here yet? You should call them again and ask!"
"This is all your fault! Why did you have to go and repair a perfectly good road? You must have disturbed some ancestor’s grave and angered them! This is our punishment! Heavens! I never should have let you all come here in the first place!"
"If we all kneel down and admit our wrongdoings, do you think we might be saved? I don’t want to die! Second Uncle, Third Uncle, I’m begging you, please, get on your knees with me and pray to the ancestors!"
They were truly out of options. Driven by the will to survive, they suddenly turned to the gods for help.
THUD. THUD.
Dozens of villagers knelt in a line, banging their foreheads against the floor toward some unseen point. They muttered incantations, their eyes hollow and filled with despair—a truly pitiful sight.
’Cecelia Archer never thought she’d end up in a scene like this.’
’Looking out at the endless water, she felt a surge of panic. She didn’t want to die. She missed her daughter. But...’
The floodwaters were about to reach the second floor. There was almost no hope left.
Amid the villagers’ chanting and the eerie atmosphere, a rumbling sound suddenly carried from the distance.
It sounded like a dam bursting, or a massive wave sweeping toward them.
But it also sounded like some kind of engine.
Of course, it was impossible for any machinery to be approaching in these conditions, so everyone assumed it was the sound of a monstrous wave about to crash down on them.
Instantly, the words died on their lips.
Everyone looked at one another, then closed their eyes in despair.
’So, this is the end. Goodbye, world.’
But after several seconds of waiting with their eyes shut, no great wave came crashing down.
The sound grew louder and closer, until it seemed to be right outside.
Lee couldn’t help himself and ran to the window.
"Does that sound like a propeller to you? Can you hear it? President Linden, do you think President Vaughn sent a helicopter?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone swarmed after him to the window, peering out into the wind and rain.
And there they were. Three helicopters, blades whirring—THWAP-THWAP-THWAP—hovered in the sky not far away.
"It really is helicopters! They’re really here! Someone came to rescue us! President Linden, we’re saved!"
"HEY!" Everyone screamed toward the helicopters, waving their arms frantically. "WE’RE DOWN HERE! WE’RE HERE!"
From the open hatch of one helicopter, a reporter and cameraman from Veridia City Television were broadcasting live to the world below.
The camera had just been showing a desolate landscape—an entire village submerged—when it suddenly captured the sight of waving arms. The reporter’s voice swelled with emotion, cracking as he spoke.
"It’s a miracle! Viewers, a miracle has happened!"
"Led by President Vaughn himself, and thanks to the unyielding perseverance of everyone here, I am witnessing a heart-stopping miracle! Look! There are so many people waving to us! They’re all alive! At this moment, I am deeply moved by the tenacity and resilience of life. It’s truly an incredible sight!"
One of the helicopters descended, dropping a rope ladder. Damien Vaughn, dressed in black casual clothes with a harness tied around his waist, rappelled down.
Everyone worked together to pull him onto the classroom windowsill. The moment they saw it was really him, a dozen burly men surrounded him, unable to stop their eyes from turning red.
"It’s really you, President Vaughn! You’re finally here! We’d lost all hope... We thought..."
Damien Vaughn was also deeply moved. Looking at the crowd, their faces pale from the cold, he patted them on the shoulder.
"You’ve all suffered. This incident is my failure, and I apologize to everyone. I’m sorry I was late. But please, remember one thing."
"No matter the time or the situation, you can always place your hope in me. As long as I, Damien Vaughn, am still breathing, I will never allow the life of a Vaughn Group employee to be in danger."