"Please, help me. I'll do anything to save Zhang Ying—"
Su Li helped him up and said, "Get up. To be honest, we're not just helping you; we're helping ourselves too."
Xu Haishui lifted his head, his face full of excitement, his forehead bruised and swollen from kowtowing. Hearing Su Li's words, he was momentarily stunned, then understood his meaning.
Su Li had killed so many people from the Purple Wind Building, and now even Chen Xiangyu, one of the five leaders, had died here. Whether it was Su Li and his group or Xu Haishui, once the people from the Purple Wind Building got word, they would certainly not let it go.
"Does anyone else know you came here?" Su Li asked.
"Yes, I went out with Chen Xiangyu, Li Wei, and a few others yesterday to hunt monsters. We came back in the evening. As soon as we returned, Ni Jianrong found us and told us what happened here. But he didn't mention this girl—only said there were two of you and a little girl. Since it was late, everyone decided to set out early the next morning to come here and take revenge. Li Wei had other matters and didn't come, so Chen Xiangyu led the four of us here. So Li Wei knows Chen Xiangyu brought us here."
Li Wei was one of the five leaders currently occupying the Purple Wind Building, on par with Chen Xiangyu in status.
"This complicates things," Su Li said slowly. "If Chen Xiangyu doesn't return today, Li Wei will likely know something happened to him here."
Xu Haishui nodded. "Yes, if we haven't returned by nightfall, it means something's gone wrong. Li Wei and Chen Xiangyu are close, so he probably won't come tonight—it's too dangerous in the water after dark—but he'll definitely check on things tomorrow morning."
"We don't need to fear just Li Wei," Su Li said. "His strength is similar to Chen Xiangyu's. The real trouble is if the others come too." Xu Haishui knew Su Li was formidable—even Chen Xiangyu was no match for him, and Li Wei likely wasn't either—but the worry was other leaders joining in.
Su Li nodded. "I understand. Help me throw these bodies over."
As he spoke, he picked up Chen Xiangyu's corpse and tossed it straight over the edge of the rooftop.
Xu Haishui, though unsure of Su Li's plan, followed suit, throwing Ni Jianrong's and the tattooed man's bodies over as well.
Gong Xiao picked up the tattooed man's military spike. With weapons in short supply, this spike was far more useful than her baseball bat.
As the three bodies splashed into the water below, movement stirred in the area. Three low-level corpse beasts and one high-level corpse beast climbed up.
Su Li had lured them to help Ding Longyun.
After killing one high-level and two low-level corpse beasts, Ding Longyun harvested a valid spirit source. The wound on his chest healed at an astonishing rate. Though it was a broken bone, it wouldn't take long to fully recover.
Su Li also killed one of the low-level corpse beasts, absorbing its spirit source, and felt the pain in his right hand ease.
He had used all his strength earlier, repeatedly striking Chen Xiangyu's face, injuring his own hand in the process. Now, with the spirit source, it began to heal.
"Strange," Su Li muttered, frowning as he looked down at the water. "Throwing three bodies only attracted this many corpse beasts, and just one high-level one."
Ever since the Corpse Mother and the Nightmare Beast, the monsters around the building had seemed increasingly scarce, and today it was even more pronounced.
Xu Haishui suddenly spoke. "Did you kill a very powerful monster?"
"Huh? Why do you say that?" Su Li turned to look at him.
Xu Haishui said, "From what we've learned these past few days, every large building likely hides a powerful monster underneath. Other monsters gradually gather around it. These underwater buildings are like monster nests. If the monster is killed, the monsters around the building will slowly disperse, seeking new nests. It might take a while for another powerful monster to be born here and restore the area."
"Is that so?" Ding Longyun was astonished.
Su Li pondered. He had suspected as much, and hearing Xu Haishui confirm it made him nod slightly. If that were true, it was troublesome. With fewer monsters around them, reaching level five would be difficult.
"Yes, I encountered something like that with Chen Xiangyu once. It was a thirty-story building, with only one floor above water, but underneath hid an extremely powerful monster. It was huge, with skin stretched over bones, but its belly was grotesquely swollen, like a legendary hungry ghost. After we killed it together, out of curiosity, we cut open its massive belly. Inside its stomach, we found a strange machine, partially corroded by stomach acid but mostly intact. The hungry ghost-like monster must have seen it somewhere underwater and swallowed it whole."
"We didn't recognize the machine, but thought it might be useful, so we brought it back. Later, a man at the Purple Wind Building named Yan Fang, an engineer, identified it as a water purifier. Though corroded, he made simple modifications and turned it into a magnetic water purifier. Using several large magnets and coils of copper wire, it can turn even the dirtiest, smelliest water into clean drinking water. Apparently, as long as the magnets are replaced periodically, it can keep working. He's still inventing, trying to build a solar-powered water purifier. That guy's a real talent."
"A water purifier that can clean water?" Su Li, Gong Xiao, and the others exchanged glances, understanding the machine's importance. With it, they'd have an endless supply of clean water.
"The machine is important, but Yan Fang himself is even more crucial. As long as he's around, he can build more vital machines. But Li Wei and the others are shortsighted and don't value him—they just use violence to control him. I can tell Yan Fang resents them but dares not speak up. I think we can win him over. For long-term survival, he's essential."
Xu Haishui spoke with enthusiasm, his eyes gleaming, a far cry from the timid, cowardly man he had seemed before.
Su Li watched him quietly, suddenly realizing that Xu Haishui might be timid and somewhat weak-willed, but he was far from stupid. In fact, he had a long-term vision and understood the art of trade-offs.
This guy might be a talent after all.