He tossed a few peanuts into his mouth, uncorked the flask, and took a big gulp of wine with a gurgling sound.
His eyes narrowed, twitching slightly, a faint glimmer flickering within as he gazed across the water from the rooftop.
"Just as I thought, my sixth sense never fails..."
The man's voice was low and hoarse as he muttered to himself: "I thought it was this giant centipede making me tense. My sixth sense told me something big was about to happen. Now I realize it wasn't this centipede at all—it's them..."
"Five people in total, one big girl and one little girl... That woman's figure is really something. Not bad, and that face—she's my type."
He took another big gulp of wine, then screwed the cap back on the flask. Suddenly, he stood up from the centipede's corpse, grabbed the white baseball cap with his left hand, and with his right hand, he yanked out two Nepalese kukri knives from the giant centipede's body.
Blood dripped down the blades.
He pressed the white baseball cap onto his head, covering half his face, and began sprinting across the rooftop. His black leather coat flared up as he launched himself like an arrow shot from a bow, leaping high into the air from the rooftop and landing far away.
On the water outside the building, a kayak floated, tied by a rope to a balcony window nearby. The man's leap landed him steadily in the kayak with a loud thud, causing it to rock violently, nearly sinking.
He sat down firmly. Suddenly, two patches of brown substance bulged out from the back of his black leather coat, extending instantly into two monstrous arms covered in brown scales, like ghostly hands.
The two ghost hands grabbed the short paddles in the kayak. With a slash of the Nepalese kukri in his right hand, he cut the rope tying the kayak. The ghost hands wielded the wooden paddles, rowing through the water, sending splashes flying. Under immense force, the kayak shot forward like an arrow, cutting through the water.
Its target: Zifeng Building.
"Heh heh, interesting. Rare guests are coming—I must give them a proper welcome... welcome them!"
The man grinned from ear to ear, his face beaming with indescribable delight.
...
Under Xu Haishui's lead, Su Li, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui swam underwater, steadily approaching Zifeng Building. Ding Longyun could now hold his breath for nearly twenty minutes, needing no breaks. Su Li, though only having strengthened his lungs once, had grown stronger with each upgrade, increasing his lung capacity. He could now hold his breath for up to six minutes.
The five encountered no danger along the way and weren't attacked by any water monsters. When they quietly reached Zifeng Building underwater, the sky hadn't fully darkened yet.
From the thirtieth floor down, Zifeng Building was submerged. The five now sank underwater, staring at the twenty-ninth floor of the building before them.
Through the windows of the twenty-ninth floor, they could see a few scattered corpse-beasts floating inside, still in a resting state, undisturbed.
Xu Haishui gestured to Su Li and the others, signaling that he would sneak up alone first to take a look.
Su Li nodded at him. Xu Haishui, holding a short spear in his right hand, gently kicked his feet, floating upward along the wall until his head broke the surface.
Then he dipped his left hand into the water and made an OK sign to the group.
Su Li surfaced right after.
On the water's surface, clustered around Zifeng Building, floated various rafts of different sizes. These were the water transport used by the building's residents to travel between structures. Since dusk was approaching, almost everyone had returned, and the rafts were all moored around Zifeng Building.
The sky was nearly dark. The five pressed close to the wall, only their heads above water. Unless a lookout carefully scanned the building's edges, they would be impossible to spot.
"This is when they're least alert. Let's go—we'll climb in through this window." Xu Haishui reached out, placed his hands on the edge of the thirtieth-floor window, and hoisted himself up. Confirming the room was empty, he slipped inside quietly.
The thirtieth floor of Zifeng Building was uninhabited. In the dim light, it was eerily silent, with no one in sight.
Xu Haishui poked his head out of the window and whispered, "Come on in. It's safe here."
One by one, Su Li, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui climbed through the window.
The thirtieth floor wasn't fully submerged, but about thirty centimeters of water had seeped in, soaking everyone's shoes.
Gazing at the silent, dead room, Su Li felt a vague unease rise within him. The journey had been too smooth, and that unsettled him.
This building housed over thirty people. Were they all fools? Had they really infiltrated so easily?
Something felt off.
Following the plan, Xu Haishui led the five quickly to the corridor, heading for the staircase at the end. Gong Xiao and Xu Xuehui, being girls and too conspicuous, decided to stay on the thirtieth floor and provide backup as needed.
"This is when they gather on the thirty-fourth floor for dinner. Only Tao Bingjun and a few others, plus five women, eat separately. Everyone else will be on the thirty-fourth floor. If we're lucky, we can take the stairs straight to the thirty-sixth floor without running into anyone."
Xu Haishui led the way, whispering explanations: "Wang Zhensheng, Sun Wenbo, and Li Wei live on the thirty-sixth floor. If we show up there suddenly, we can catch them off guard. Once they're dealt with, only Tao Bingjun on the thirty-eighth floor remains. No matter how strong he is alone, he won't be a threat..."
Xu Haishui's voice cut off abruptly, choking in his throat. He froze in place.
Behind him, Su Li, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui stopped too. They saw that at the dim staircase ahead, a group of people stood silently, as if waiting for them.
From the far end of the long corridor, two doors suddenly burst open with a bang. People rushed out, blocking the rear. They were trapped in the middle of the long hallway.
This corridor had no windows. With people at the staircase ahead and a group behind, they were surrounded in the center, with no escape.