Chapter 133: Mobile Fortress

Seeing Su Li agree, Qi Mengyu’s eyes shone with gratitude. She thought Su Li was a decent man. At least, following him was far better than being stuck downstairs with the other men.

“I remember Brother Ding blew a couple of holes in the roof last night,” Su Li suddenly recalled.

Xu Haishui acknowledged it. “Don’t worry, Brother Su. I already went up with some people and fixed those two holes. We were lucky they were small; otherwise, it would be hard to fix with the current lack of materials.”

Su Li was curious. “You fixed it? How?”

Xu Haishui chuckled. “Did you forget my ability?”

Su Li instantly understood. Xu Haishui’s ability was Flame Control. Using this power, he could melt certain materials and fill the two holes.

“By the way, here is the list of everyone’s names,” Xu Haishui handed him a piece of paper.

“The total population of the Purple Wind Building is 32 people.”

Su Li acknowledged this. “Right. Do you know the name of one person?” He described the man he had seen last night: the square-faced man with a crew cut who sat with his back straight.

Su Li was deeply impressed by him because he was the only Level 5 Spiritual Source Wielder in the crowd.

Xu Haishui immediately laughed. “I know who you mean. He’s called Luo Jun. He’s taciturn and doesn’t talk much. I heard he’s a retired Sanda fighter, now working as an instructor or something. He’s genuinely skilled. Tao Bingjun’s group tried to recruit him before, but Luo Jun wasn’t interested in mixing with them. Since he also didn’t oppose them, they eventually left him alone. Brother Su, why did you suddenly mention him?”

Su Li said, “He’s a Level 5 Spiritual Source Wielder. He was the only one in that crowd at the canteen. He must have some ability. Don’t neglect him. You can try to recruit him and have him move up to the 36th floor.”

“I see.” Xu Haishui already knew Su Li had the “Peering Rune” to check people’s levels. Hearing this, he nodded immediately.

They were all only Level 5 now. They naturally wanted to recruit talent like a Level 5 Wielder.

“By the way, how did so many of you hunt monsters before?” Su Li wondered. Xu Haishui had reached Level 4 before meeting him. Counting Tao Bingjun’s group from last night, the whole Purple Wind Building had a high evolutionary level—three Level 6s, several Level 5s, and the rest were mostly Level 4, with a few Level 3s.

Xu Haishui said, “For the first two days, everyone just defended the Purple Wind Building. Many monsters would actively climb in to attack us. After we grew stronger, Tao Bingjun’s group destroyed the monster nest below, so now there aren’t many monsters around the Purple Wind Building.”

Su Li nodded slightly, understanding why he hadn’t seen monsters around the Purple Wind Building last night.

“In the following days, most of us split into teams. Some people who were truly weak or didn’t want to hunt monsters stayed behind to do things like lookout duty, cleaning, or kitchen chores. But most people went out during the day to collect supplies and hunt monsters to get stronger.”

“Hmm, with so many people, the consumption of food and resources is huge. Supplies are certainly a problem.” Su Li understood that after evolving, the appetite of a Spiritual Source Wielder was greater than an ordinary person’s, and the higher the level, the larger the appetite. This was only the beginning. As resources dwindled, the scarcity would become more severe.

“Xu Haishui, I have an idea.” Su Li suddenly looked at Xu Haishui, his expression serious.

Xu Haishui quickly responded, “What are your instructions, Brother Su?”

Su Li tapped the table with his finger, thinking before he spoke. “I want to join the surplus rafts together, making the whole thing as big as possible.”

Xu Haishui was slightly puzzled, staring at Su Li.

Su Li slowly explained, “I want to build a water-based mobile fortress. We need to collect enough wood, plastic, or anything that floats—like doors, various wooden furniture, plastic barrels, tires, etc. Staying in the Purple Wind Building isn’t a long-term solution. Sooner or later, we’ll have to leave here. Given that the water level is still rising, and no one knows what the future holds—if the entire world is truly submerged—then this mobile fortress will be incredibly useful.”

Xu Haishui looked impressed. “Brother Su, you think so far ahead! This can be done easily. I’ll assign Bai Wenwei to take full charge of this later and have him gather some people to start immediately.”

Su Li nodded in satisfaction and stood up. “Alright, no need to rush this. Just dedicate some time to it every day.”

Su Li and Xu Haishui then went to the 37th floor. Qi Mengyu, assuming she was now Su Li’s woman, followed behind them.

The moment they reached the 37th floor, they heard Ding Longyun shouting instructions.

“Pile the rice together! Keep this area dry, or it’ll mold! And the flour too!”

On the 37th floor, several people were moving things in and out of the rooms.

Ding Longyun emerged from one of the rooms, still directing people to move supplies. A woman was with him, chatting and laughing intimately.

Su Li recognized the woman immediately. She was Zhong Rongrong, the oldest of the four women he had seen last night.

“Hey? Su Li, you’re finally awake.” Ding Longyun saw Su Li and chuckled.

Zhong Rongrong quickly stepped forward and respectfully greeted him, “Brother Su, good morning.”

Su Li nodded to her. He then looked at Ding Longyun, scrutinizing him. Ding Longyun looked pleased with himself, completely different from a few days ago, but Su Li couldn’t quite place the change. Remembering the ambiguous interaction between him and Zhong Rongrong, he wondered if they had already…

“Hey, why are you staring at me without saying anything? Why are your eyes fixed on me like I’m a thief? Am I a thief?” Ding Longyun waved his hand in front of Su Li’s eyes.

Su Li snapped back to attention and laughed. “It’s nothing. I just haven’t seen you look so refreshed in a long time. Are you inventorying the supplies?”

Ding Longyun said, “Yes. These people don’t know what they’re doing. Piling all the supplies together is no good. I’m organizing everything, separating and grouping similar items. That way, it’ll be easier to retrieve them later.”

Su Li smiled faintly. “Good. You continue your work. I’ll check the other areas.”

Su Li then went to the 35th floor, where he met the engineer Xu Haishui had spoken of so often: Yan Fang.

Yan Fang was over fifty, with slightly gray hair. He was a skinny, dark-skinned old man who wore glasses. Because he was deaf and mute, and Su Li didn’t know sign language, they could only communicate through writing.

Su Li first offered him a few words of comfort, assuring him to state anything he needed.

Qi Mengyu, who followed Su Li, wrote down his words on a piece of paper and handed it to Yan Fang.

Yan Fang read the message, nodded to Su Li, and wrote two characters: “Thank you.”

Xu Haishui also wrote a line of text for Yan Fang to see.

“Brother Su is not like Tao Bingjun and the others. He’s a good man. You can trust him.”

Yan Fang read it and nodded slightly.

Su Li wrote, “In the future, the entire 35th floor will be reserved for your research. If you need manpower or materials, just let us know. We’ll help you figure it out.”

Qi Mengyu wrote down the message for Yan Fang. He read it, and emotion finally flickered across his face.

“Yan Fang is truly amazing. Besides the water purifier, he also modified a solar water heater. Everyone here has clean water to drink and hot water to use, all thanks to him.”

Su Li nodded. “That’s why we must treat him well and prioritize his protection. He is a truly valuable talent.”

He observed that Yan Fang was not strong, only a Level 1 Spiritual Source Wielder. He guessed Yan Fang had only killed a few monsters over the past few days. He probably spent most of his time in the Purple Wind Building doing research.

Xu Haishui later found Bai Wenwei and tasked him with coordinating the effort to join the surplus rafts and other floating materials together, beginning the construction of the future mobile fortress.

Bai Wenwei, knowing this task came from Su Li, nodded eagerly, excited that he was finally being entrusted with something important.

Su Li finished observing all the floors of the Purple Wind Building, making a mental note of the layout. He then found Gong Xiao and Ding Longyun, deciding they would return to the 32-story building after lunch to retrieve all the supplies left there.

There were still many supplies left there, and they couldn’t just waste them.

Ding Longyun said, “There are quite a few useful supplies there. We’ll need to bring a super-large raft.”

Su Li replied, “Then we’ll take a super-large raft. I’ve already asked Bai Wenwei and the others to work on it. Joining a few rafts together should be enough.”

Xu Haishui initially wanted to join them, but Su Li considered that the Purple Wind Building had just changed hands and was still unstable. He insisted that Xu Haishui stay behind. He, Ding Longyun, Gong Xiao, and Xu Xuehui would go back alone.

Gong Xiao said, “I want to bring Qi Mengyu, Zhong Rongrong, Zhou Li, and Tao Yuezhi with us.”

Su Li was slightly surprised. “Why bring them? To move things? They’re ordinary people; they probably can’t lift anything heavy. They’ll just be a burden.”

Gong Xiao gave him a look. “You know they’re ordinary people? I thought that since we’re going out anyway, we should take them with us and teach them to hunt monsters. They can level up and gain self-defense abilities. Women aren’t inferior to men; they just haven’t had the opportunity before. Right, Qi Mengyu?”

Qi Mengyu, who was standing nearby, forced a small smile. She wasn’t sure how to respond, but she didn’t seem particularly interested in hunting monsters.

(End of Chapter)