act31side

Take this map and go to the marked plates. Find the farmer in charge and get the plates ready to move.

What are you planning?

Dahuang's nomadic city modifications are only partially complete, but some degree of movement is possible.

While repairs at the dam continue, we will rebuild the drainage system by rearranging the plates and creating elevation...

Gah—

The edges of the metal plate melt as they connect to the gap in the dam.

The flood, seeking the path of least resistance, continues to batter the hasty repair. Water shoots out from the gaps in the metal, cutting open a crack like sharp blades.

That's not how your Arts are supposed to be used, Laoshi! You need to rest. I'll take over for a while.

Back off!

Your Arts are no good, child!

*cough*... *cough*...

Heavenly forge—

Nian...!

What's this mess? We aren't even done at the factory...

But looking at this flood... good job holding out this long.

You should not intervene outside of work in the core city.

Call it emergency discretion, alright? Seriously, you engineers are even more uptight than the Sui Regulator.

Go catch your breath. I'll deal with the rest.

You intend to rearrange the plates?

No time to explain. I know work on Dahuang's mobile plates is incomplete, but they're capable of basic movement.

Moving a few plates will go a long way towards draining the polluted water in the fields.

You can't be serious! Only Rong and Tianshi Shu have the authority to move the plates. No one else may—

Both of them are busy coordinating flood control efforts.

The flood shows no sign of abating. Fields and crops are being drowned as we speak. What are you going to do, hold a Tianshi Bureau meeting?

Why you—

You're Tianshi Shu's apprentice... I've seen you with her.

Very well... I'll trust you.

But they are plates of various sizes, and there are dozens. Any movement is a complex job that will take several Tianshis an entire day to calculate.

No need for that. I have the layout memorized, and a plan.

This is what we'll do.

Plate A-9, five tiles to the east. Plate B-8, down five levels.

I...

What are you doing standing there? Get on it!

Ai! Fine, I don't have any better ideas.

What's going on? The plate is moving!

Wait, the flood seems to have gotten weaker...

The plates are moving! Seek shelter—

Seek shelter where? The greenhouses?

Calm down and evacuate through the passage to Plate C-4. It's at a higher elevation now and gives protection from the floods.

Qingping! What are you doing here?

I saw He Sheng and he told me what he's planning.

The river is to the north of Dahuang. The plates to the west are the ones that have to be moved in order to drain the water from the northwest side of Dahuang to the valley in the southwest.

I didn't think of that at all...

Mianmian! Stay put!

Grain Buds?

Candlestick, Inkbrush! What about Big Buffalo? Is he okay?

He...

Don't worry, he's in a safe place.

Oh, I'm so relieved!

Wait, no, that's not it! The stockbeasts ran away in panic when the plate started moving. Help me catch them!

(Terrified cries)

Where did these stockbeasts come from?!

Mianmian! No running!

Stop! That's the edge of the plate!

Dusk?!

Who permitted you to use your powers—

Slowpokes.

Going door to door like this, half the houses will be flooded by the time you reach them.

But—

Never thought I would be helping the Sui Regulator clean up their mess... I'll do it this once. Won't happen again.

Wh-Where are we? Tianshi Arts? Who could be so powerful?

Look!

The sky's clearing up...

Sigh...

Everyone's exhausted. Dahuang can't afford another disaster.

I suppose this qualifies as extenuating circumstances.

Phew...

Go away.

A breeze sweeps across the land.

Vast expanses of farmland undulate like breathing, cutting the surging torrent into smaller streams that flow along planned routes.

Standing on the edge of the plate, the lucky stockbeast watches the flood subside, then digs out a patch of clean grass with its nose and begins to eat.

The sun shines through the clouds, upon a land that has survived disaster—barely.

Plates A-9 through C-3 successfully moved. All accumulated water is now being drained.

End of report.

What is the extent of the damage?

Varying levels of pollution on Plates A-9 through B-3. Less impact to the other plates, but further inspections are called for.

Crops from polluted fields must be disposed of. The summer harvest will be significantly impacted, on top of a year that has already seen disappointing results.

Almost a year of the people's hard work washed away... will there be enough to fill this year's quota?

How many will go hungry?

There will be enough, thanks to the efforts of countless generations.

But we can't afford another surprise.

This is bigger than just Dahuang. We must report to the capital and coordinate food supplies across all of Yan.

Yumen is closest to Dahuang, but it was also struck by Catastrophe earlier this year. Repairs are still ongoing, and it's unlikely they could spare anyone.

Indeed. The Ministry of Works indicates that Catastrophe frequency has been rising in recent years.

This has been a bad year...

Dahuang is already the country's biggest food producer. We can't ask for aid from other cities.

Plate repairs can wait. Dahuang's first priority is food production. There are still many experimental fields close to bearing fruit that have not yet been moved to safer plates...

We'll need to delay work on the Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities. We need to bring back the Tianshis who were reassigned there to save the remaining farms and grain.

We can't afford to delay the summer planting.

I understand your difficulties, but can we not discuss a delay of the Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities?

Food is important, of course, but the Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities is also an important national defense project. The imperial court has reason to order it completed by autumn. We must consider the benefits and drawbacks carefully.

You want to consider it carefully, you'll write to the capital, have the Council of Ministers meet for ten days, and come back to us with a result.

A food shortfall doesn't mean people pay a few more coins to buy their grain.

It means that many thousands will go hungry.

How many will be driven from their homes if there is a war?

Never forget where the Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities project came from.

Across the river...

You know it's more than that.

Beyond the issue with demons, there is—

Excuse me.