Su Li knew that the fuel at gas stations was stored in underground tanks, typically buried beneath the station. If he could find a gas station, there was a chance to dig up those tanks.
"That means I need to have a serious talk with Yan Fang. I just don’t know if the engines of those submerged cars can still be used. But whether it’s cars or gas stations, they’re all on the ground—which means I’d have to dive down to the actual bottom of the water..."
Su Li recalled what Xu Xuehui had said before—that there were many places underwater she couldn’t see through, only patches of shadow and darkness. Whether something terrifying lurked within, even she didn’t know.
That thought quickly made Su Li abandon the idea. At least for now, he didn’t have the confidence or the courage to recklessly dive to the bottom, search for those parked cars, or even dig up the gas station’s underground tanks. What kind of monster would such a commotion attract?
"What a shame. If I had enough strength to go straight to the bottom, there’s actually a lot of stuff and resources I could use, but..."
After thinking it over, Su Li suddenly realized that compared to finding cars or digging up gas station tanks, hunting the Black-Scaled Mermaid was far more difficult.
After all, the Black-Scaled Mermaid probably wouldn’t stay at the deepest part of the water. Maybe just entering the water would be enough to encounter them.
After some discussion, the group finally settled on a plan. They decided to organize thirty elite members tomorrow to head to the Jinhui Center building area to hunt the Black-Scaled Mermaid.
For today, it was already getting late, and they could use tonight’s hunt to further improve their strength in preparation for tomorrow.
"A lot of people should be able to reach level 8 tonight. That’ll give us a better chance tomorrow."
Wu Feng said thoughtfully. He was already a level 8 Spirit Source user, but his girlfriend, Lin Meimei, was still at level 7. After tonight’s hunt, though, she would definitely level up.
After the meeting, Su Li checked the time and took Xu Xuehui with him to ride the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle No. 1, leaving "Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B" once again.
This time, he only brought Xu Xuehui, deciding to head toward "The Forgotten City" to check on the situation.
It had been a long time now. The battle there should have ended by now.
"I hope I can scavenge some equipment. If those guys with Spirit Source gear got killed by the Pseudo-Dragon..."
Su Li suddenly thought that if they had been killed by the Pseudo-Dragon, their bodies would probably have been devoured too. His chances of picking up leftovers were slim.
The Crocodile-Toothed Turtle carried them north, gradually approaching "The Forgotten City" again.
Su Li was very cautious. He wasn’t worried about the Forgotten Humans anymore—it was the Pseudo-Dragon he had to watch out for.
He was afraid the Pseudo-Dragon might be hiding beneath some patch of water, suddenly launching a surprise attack. That would be trouble.
So he kept reminding Xu Xuehui to observe the underwater conditions, focusing only on whether the Pseudo-Dragon was lurking somewhere.
Xu Xuehui assured him that she hadn’t seen any sign of the Pseudo-Dragon in this area.
That put Su Li somewhat at ease as he slowly approached the ruined "Forgotten City."
Before he got close, he could already see the floating island from afar, along with a massive amount of debris scattered across the water’s surface.
There were broken rafts, plastic fragments, washbasins, towels, clothes, and plastic slippers.
"The Forgotten City" had collapsed, and all sorts of buoyant objects from inside were now floating on the water, turning the area into something like a garbage dump.
Many people had died in this battle, but Su Li didn’t see a single floating corpse.
"It looks like the Forgotten Humans were all eaten by those snakes and the Pseudo-Dragon after they died. No chance of scavenging anything."
Su Li shook his head in disappointment. The place had become very quiet—no Pseudo-Dragon, no snakes, no living Forgotten Humans.
He quickly took Xu Xuehui and stepped onto the floating island.
The surface of the island was crisscrossed with terrifyingly large cracks, most of them left behind by the Pseudo-Dragon’s attacks.
Blood and gore were everywhere, with hardly a single intact corpse in sight. The scene was extremely gruesome.
This floating island was itself the corpse of a Blood Crystal Beast, but it had been severely damaged.
Su Li had originally considered having someone move the island to "Golden Eagle Alliance," but after thinking it over, he gave up.
The commotion would be too big, and he was afraid of attracting the Pseudo-Dragon’s attention again.
After all, based on what had happened before, the Pseudo-Dragon’s lair was only about three kilometers away. Even though Xu Xuehui hadn’t seen it for now, her eyes couldn’t see everything underwater. What she observed was only a rough reference, not one hundred percent accurate.
"There’s a snake." Xu Xuehui suddenly pointed toward the distant water. "It’s approaching."
Su Li’s heart tightened. "Is it the Pseudo-Dragon?"
Xu Xuehui shook her head. "It’s a smaller one."
"Let’s go." Su Li understood. Other snakes were appearing, drawn to this place. Maybe they sensed something.
He didn’t dare linger. He immediately grabbed Xu Xuehui and ran, mounting the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle to quickly leave the area.
There was nothing valuable here anymore, and with snakes patrolling nearby, it was too dangerous. He gave up on further searching and returned to "Golden Eagle Alliance."
Back at "Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B," Su Li ate something, rested for a while, and prepared for the night’s hunt.
By evening, the floating island formed from the Blood Crystal Beast’s corpse was already packed with Spirit Source Beasts.
Su Li, Gong Xiao, Ding Longyun, Jiang Shuijue, Xu Xuehui, and others left Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B and headed to the floating island to begin the night’s hunt.
Since "The Forgotten City" had been destroyed, the threat from the Forgotten Humans was temporarily gone. Wu Feng and his group had returned to the Shimao Center, and the sixteen people who had previously surrendered were placed under Wu Feng’s management. The number of people in Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B had now grown to sixty-two, while the Shimao Center building had increased to thirty-nine.
Of the sixty-two in Building B, fewer than forty were willing to go out and hunt to become stronger. The rest had completely given up on hunting and evolution, preferring to handle various logistical chores.
Compared to the risks of hunting and fighting outside, logistical work was much safer—at least they didn’t have to face monsters every day.
Over the past few days, the logistics personnel had suffered almost no casualties, while the combat teams had taken heavy losses. Just the last expedition to hunt the Sea Cow Beast had resulted in many deaths and injuries, scaring even more people into switching to logistics.
Of course, the resources and status each side received were completely different. Supplies were always prioritized for combat personnel. Although Su Li hadn’t deliberately enforced it, class distinctions within "Golden Eagle Alliance" had gradually emerged.
At the very bottom were those unwilling to hunt and evolve—mostly the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, along with the naturally cowardly or those afraid of death. They took on the hardest and dirtiest jobs and received the fewest resources. The only benefit was relative safety—no need to risk their lives or constantly fight monsters.
Still, those willing to fight and grow stronger remained the majority. They understood that the people avoiding combat now might seem safer, but it was only temporary. No one knew what the future would bring.
Just like when the undead attacked—if "Golden Eagle Alliance" couldn’t hold, and everyone had to flee, the stronger ones had a much better chance of survival. Those who refused to hunt and grow now would have far slimmer odds. So-called safety was all relative.
Every day, humans grew stronger, but the monsters changed too. Among tonight’s monsters, level 7 and level 8 creatures dominated, the number of level 9 monsters was increasing, and lower-level monsters were becoming rarer.
After an hour of hunting, almost all level 7 Spirit Source users who participated successfully broke through to level 8.
Gong Xiao and Ling Yi successfully advanced to level 9, unlocking the third form of their Spirit Source techniques, which would give them a qualitative leap in combat power.
Besides them, Wu Feng, who had been leading the Shimao Center group in hunting on the roof of a thirty-story building elsewhere, also broke through to level 9.
Now, the entire "Golden Eagle Alliance" had four level 9 members, including Su Li.
Su Li had a good haul tonight, collecting seventy-one effective Spirit Sources. His total now stood at 125, only twenty-five short of leveling up again. He was practically on the verge of another breakthrough.
He was full of anticipation for the next level.
What changes would a level 10 Spirit Source user bring?
The next morning, Wu Feng and Lin Meimei arrived at Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B with eight others.
According to yesterday’s discussion, they would set out today for the Jinhui Center building to hunt the Black-Scaled Mermaid. The Shimao Center contributed ten people, including Wu Feng, who was now a level 9 Spirit Source user, and the remaining nine, including Lin Meimei, were all level 8.
From Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B, Su Li, Gong Xiao, and Ling Yi were all level 9. The rest—including Jiang Shuijue, Ding Longyun, Luo Jun, Yu Siyuan, Mu Si, Tang Ledong, Yi Cheng’an, and Meng Qiang—were all level 8. They gathered a total of thirty people, with four level 9s and twenty-six level 8s—essentially their elite force. Su Li only left Xu Haishui behind to guard the base.
Of course, Xu Xuehui was indispensable. To find the Black-Scaled Mermaid, they needed her eyes.
They brought out the large rafts they had used to transport the Sea Cow Beast. Aside from the ones that had been damaged, they still had six large rafts left.
The group split up onto these six rafts, while Su Li, Gong Xiao, and Ling Yi each rode their own Crocodile-Toothed Turtles. The procession set off in full force.
Although Ding Longyun got seasick, he didn’t feel sick riding the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle. He immediately squeezed in behind Su Li and sat down.
Gong Xiao carried Xu Xuehui, moving the fastest, charging ahead at the front of the group.
Golden Eagle No. 1 Building B wasn’t far from the Jinhui Center building, and they soon reached their destination.
Back then, Su Li had only seen one Black-Scaled Mermaid in that building, but he had no idea where its lair was. Now, they would have to use the Jinhui Center building as a central point and start searching.
Gong Xiao took Xu Xuehui and kept circling the building. Whether they could find the Black-Scaled Mermaid’s lair depended mainly on her.
Xu Xuehui continuously observed the water below, looking for the Black-Scaled Mermaid Su Li had described to her.
After about half an hour, she finally found something.
About a kilometer northwest of the Jinhui Center building, she spotted several creatures that looked like Black-Scaled Mermaids. However, the water below was very dark, and she could only make out their general shapes—she couldn’t be completely sure.
The six rafts and three Crocodile-Toothed Turtles gathered together.
Su Li listened to Xu Xuehui’s report and said thoughtfully, "For now, we’ll have to go down and take a look. We’ll confirm it first. Everyone stay at a distance—if there’s danger below, it’ll be easier to escape."
Seeing how serious Su Li was, no one dared to be careless. They paddled the rafts away from the area, maintaining a safe distance.
Then, Su Li only brought Jiang Shuijue, having her ride on his Crocodile-Toothed Turtle. The two of them and the turtle submerged into the water, leaving the others to wait above for news.
Everyone understood this was because Jiang Shuijue had the "Fog Maze" ability. If there was danger below, she could use it to escape. Xu Xuehui had said there were large shadows underwater that were hard to see, suggesting potential danger, so Su Li had to stay alert and check things out before making a decision.
Su Li’s Spirit Source equipment emerged on the surface of his body, wrapping around his lower half. The Crocodile-Toothed Turtle carried them both, slowly sinking downward.
Su Li pulled out the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword from his chest, staying alert and focused as he observed the water below.
Jiang Shuijue also took out her Thunderclap Fist Gloves, equally cautious, scanning their surroundings.
Once underwater, they saw no monsters or buildings—only darkness below. They kept descending, dropping about twenty meters, until finally, Su Li saw the outlines of buildings below. But what surprised him was the large number of shadows among them—they looked like trees.
"What’s going on? Sure, some neighborhoods have trees for landscaping, but they’re not this tall."
Su Li was puzzled. The flood had reached the thirtieth floor, meaning the water was at least eighty meters deep. They had descended twenty meters, leaving about sixty meters below. If there really were trees down there, how tall would they have to be? He couldn’t recall any trees that tall in the city.
A bit unsettled, Su Li grew even more cautious and had the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle sink slowly again.
When they reached about thirty meters deep, the turtle stopped on the roof of a building below. Up close, Su Li saw the trees sprouting from the roof of a nearby building. It turned out they weren’t growing from the actual ground—they were growing out of the building itself, not as tall as he had imagined.
Looking around, he saw trees growing diagonally from cracks in the walls and windows of the building.
He also noticed a lot of ivy-like vines covering the rooftop.