Weather Bureau.
“Cumulonimbus clouds have appeared in a county in southern Sichuan Province!”
“No way? Wasn’t it supposed to be clear skies there? How did they form?”
“Uh… it’s strange. It’s just a small cumulonimbus cloud, a few kilometres wide, appearing out of nowhere.”
“A sudden isolated pressure vortex?”
“No idea. The altitude suddenly dropped, the cloud density increased, and it’s very likely to rain!”
“Quick! Notify the Sichuan Agricultural Department, prepare drones for investigation, and draft an artificial rainfall plan!”
“Already on the phone!”
“No, no need to call,” someone said, pushing the door open from outside.
“What’s wrong?”
“The Sichuan Agricultural Department called. It’s already raining there.”
“So fast?”
Another monitor looked at the screen. “The cloud formed less than twenty minutes ago, right?”
“Good grief, is the Dragon King bringing rain?”
“Hey, look! The cloud is showing signs of expanding, and it’s moving southwest.”
“Keep monitoring. I’ll notify the local authorities. If it shows signs of stopping or dissipating, inform them immediately to implement artificial rainfall!”
“Got it!”
“We’re watching it closely!”
…
On the other side, once the clouds were gathered, dense enough, and began to rain, Lu Zheng didn’t need to manage them anymore.
So, controlling the excess clouds, Lu Zheng started moving them slowly southwest along the drought-stricken areas.
While urging the clouds along, he continued ascending to gather water vapour.
In this way, Lu Zheng, with Lin Wan, flew through the sky, pulling the clouds along. It took a full day to circle several cities in southern Sichuan, each area receiving one to two hours of light rain.
There was no helping it; Lu Zheng’s strength was limited to this. Any more was beyond his ability.
Even so, by the end of the day, Lu Zheng’s mana was nearly depleted.
And this was just addressing localized drought in a small area.
It could only be said that countering natural disasters single-handedly was still a long and arduous task for Lu Zheng!
…
That evening, they celebrated with hotpot.
After eating, they strolled through the night market, carrying a bag of spicy rabbit heads, eating and wandering.
…
Meanwhile, the Weather Bureau was still working overtime.
“The analysis report is out. There were no isolated or small-scale airflow changes or cyclones in southern Sichuan.”
“The cumulonimbus clouds formed at noon dissipated slowly after nightfall.”
“Localized rainfall occurred in parts of three cities in southern Sichuan, mostly in farmland areas.”
“The rainfall range and path formed a long, snake-like pattern. Although some clouds and rain spread from the existing cloud mass, the overall trajectory is very distinct.”
In the Weather Bureau office, the atmosphere suddenly turned eerie.
Present were veteran experts, middle-aged officials, and young technicians.
Each had seen much in their time. Even the young technicians had studied years of weather maps, not to mention the meteorology experts who had dedicated their lives to studying the atmosphere.
But none had ever seen such a bizarre cloud trajectory, like a twisted, winding curve drawn with a pen along the drought-stricken farmland on a map.
It was too much like it was man-made!
“Should we report this to the higher-ups? Ask if it’s a secret military experiment?” one expert asked. After all, in a technological society, science should take precedence.
“A secret experiment to help irrigate?”
“What about a weather weapon?” the expert countered. “Testing rainfall first?”
“I…”
The middle-aged man with a square face, leading the group, nodded. “I’ll file the report later. Any other analyses?”
The room fell silent as everyone exchanged glances, speechless.
…
The next morning, at the Giant Panda Breeding Base.
“Look at that panda!”
“So cute!”
“Mummy, mummy, can we buy a panda to take home?”
“Oh, he’s climbing a tree!”
“Oh, he rolled down!”
Even early in the morning, the Giant Panda Breeding Base was packed with people, walking, watching, and climbing the hills.
Lu Zheng and Lin Wan were among the crowd, entering through the bamboo path, visiting the science museum first, then following the tour route through Panda Mountain, passing various panda activity areas.
Early in the morning, the pandas hadn’t yet entered their sleepy afternoon phase, so most were active, eating bamboo, climbing trees, and playfully tussling with each other, much to the delight of the visitors.
Admittedly, they were incredibly cute!
It made Lu Zheng want to take one back to the ancient world to see if it could awaken and become a demon.
To prevent visitors from only focusing on pandas and to ensure there was something to see during the pandas’ nap time, the base also had Swan Lake, a wild bird habitat, and a red panda activity area.
At noon, they went to a highly rated restaurant for authentic Sichuan cuisine. After eating their fill, they found a public park and, together, soared into the clouds.
…
“Report! Report!”
“A mysterious cloud mass has formed again in southern Sichuan, near Yunnan!”
“What? Again?”
The satellite monitoring room quickly filled with experts and scholars.
“Contact the Sichuan and Yunnan Weather Bureaus and have them observe on-site.”
“Yes, sir!”
Everyone exchanged looks, then turned to the middle-aged man, the Weather Bureau director who had mentioned filing a report yesterday.
“What are you looking at? I only sent the report up this morning. It’s not that fast!”
An elderly man stared at the infrared satellite cloud map on the screen, frowning. “Even if it’s a military experiment, they wouldn’t conduct them two days in a row, would they?”
“Report, Sichuan called. It’s started raining in the farmland area where the clouds gathered!”
Everyone, “…”
The clouds had just formed, and it was already raining? Was this even scientific?
Couldn’t they see the old expert clutching his chest?
“Quick! Expedite the report! Have the military send drones to see what’s in that cloud mass!”
“Uh… Elder Zheng…”
“Hm?”
“Should we think it over?”
“Think what over?”
“The drones?”
“Why think it over?”
“What if sending drones up there offends… you know, offends them?”
In an instant, the monitoring room fell silent as a grave. Everyone stopped talking, even breathing more lightly.
In truth, after seeing the bizarre cloud trajectory yesterday, everyone had some indescribable guesses.
But as staunch atheists, they absolutely wouldn’t entertain superstitious thoughts!
Even if they did, they’d never say them out loud!
However, when the idea of sending drones was mentioned, a young technician voiced his concern.
Seeing everyone’s eyes on him, especially the director’s and the old expert’s, he felt like crying. Swallowing hard, he stammered, “How about asking the higher-ups if they can send Dragon Team experts?”
