"Damn, three people coming here on a raft? Are they survivors like us? That's great news—with three more, we won't have to fear those monsters anymore." Ding Longyun's face was full of excitement.
Soon, as if struck by an idea, he hurriedly dashed upstairs. When he reappeared, he was holding some clothes, lit them with a lighter, and sent thick smoke billowing into the air.
He hoped to use the smoke to catch the attention of the newcomers, signaling that there were survivors here.
Su Li could now faintly make out a blurry black dot on the distant water's surface, though he still couldn't tell it was three people on a raft. It seemed Xu Xuehui's eyesight was far better than theirs at this point.
This made him want to enhance his own eyes, but each promotion only offered a few choices for which body parts to strengthen—he couldn't just upgrade anything he pleased.
Ding Longyun carefully produced the smoke while, like Su Li, focusing intently on the distant water. The blurry black dot gradually sharpened and grew larger. Finally, they could see it clearly: it was indeed a raft floating on the water, with three figures on it, though they couldn't make out whether they were men or women.
After about another minute, they finally got a clear look at the three on the raft.
As Xu Xuehui had said, they were three men, aged between twenty and thirty. One stood at the front, one at the back, each holding an oar and paddling through the water, while a third sat in the middle. Su Li could vaguely see the middle one smoking a cigarette.
The raft moved at a decent speed, heading straight toward them. Su Li, Ding Longyun, and Xu Xuehui all stood on the balcony, watching the three on the raft from afar.
"I wonder which building they came from. Looks like it's not close—they've got some guts," Ding Longyun muttered.
"Probably pretty strong, or they wouldn't be so bold," Su Li mused. After all, when Xu Xuehui first spotted them, Su Li and Ding Longyun hadn't even seen a trace. Even with the mist reducing visibility, based on that, these three must have set out from at least a kilometer or two away.
"The stronger, the better. I hope they're as tough as possible." Ding Longyun rubbed his hands together, full of curiosity about the three newcomers.
Su Li felt much the same. Since the flood had submerged the city, he'd only met two living people: Xu Xuehui and Ding Longyun. Now, seeing three at once naturally stirred some excitement.
Through these three, he might glean some information—where they came from, what they'd been through. And from this detail, it was clear that while the city was flooded, there were likely many survivors, just cut off by the water.
As Su Li's group watched from afar, the man sitting in the middle of the raft suddenly stood up and looked their way. Clearly, he had noticed Su Li, Ding Longyun, and Xu Xuehui standing by the balcony.
The raft kept a steady pace toward them, the distance shrinking. The man in the middle began waving at them, evidently just as excited as Su Li's group.
"These three are lucky—they made it all the way without trouble," Su Li murmured, watching the raft close to within a hundred meters. He thought back to his own journey here, fraught with danger. If Ding Longyun hadn't stepped in to help, things would have gone badly.
Ding Longyun chuckled. "What kind of thinking is that? Isn't it better that nothing happened? Besides, daytime isn't as dangerous as night. You really think those monsters don't need rest? They only rest during the day so they can hunt better at night."
Su Li smiled slightly. "That's an interesting way to put it."
The raft these three were on looked much like the one Su Li had built—a makeshift construction of wooden doors. But Su Li was surprised to see it carried no supplies. Aside from the three men, it was completely empty.
"Strange—no food or drink at all. Did they all enhance their stomachs to eat and drink raw, without needing any supplies?" Su Li's mind stirred, a vague unease settling in.
After all, when he'd left his own shelter, he'd taken every bit of supplies he could carry, even plenty of boiled water. Yet these three had a sizable raft with plenty of room for supplies, and they'd come from far away. Along the way, they must have passed buildings jutting out of the water—there was no way they couldn't have gathered anything. The only explanation was that they hadn't bothered to collect any supplies and had come straight here.
Both sides sized each other up. Ding Longyun, visibly excited, saw the raft close to within twenty meters of the balcony. With a hearty laugh, he tossed the still-smoking clothes into the water and began greeting them loudly: "Hello! I'm Ding Longyun, this is Su Li, and this is Xu Xuehui."
As he spoke, he introduced the three of them.
The two men paddling at the front and back of the raft stopped rowing, and the raft slowed, drifting toward the balcony on momentum.
The man standing in the middle, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wasn't bad-looking, and his smile radiated a sunny warmth. Despite being in a flooded, perilous city, he was impeccably clean—pale skin, spotless hands, and a pristine tracksuit.
"I'm Ni Jianrong. This is Fang You, and this is Wang Kaikang."
Ni Jianrong, standing in the middle, gave their names in return. The man at the front of the raft holding the wooden oar was Fang You, about twenty-three or twenty-four, with a rectangular face, a buzz cut, and a sharp, energetic look.
The one at the back, Wang Kaikang, looked the youngest, around twenty. As Ni Jianrong made the introductions, he kept his head slightly lowered, as if a bit shy.
Su Li noticed that Wang Kaikang carried a cloth-wrapped object on his back, which looked like it might be a blade or sword.
"Welcome, all three of you." Ding Longyun nodded with a smile, genuinely pleased by their arrival. After all, there was strength in numbers, and in this perilous world, three more companions meant a better chance of survival.
"Throw me your rope—I'll steady the raft for you. Come on up!" Ding Longyun spotted a nylon rope tied to their raft, with a hammerhead without a handle attached, likely serving as an anchor to keep the raft in place.