Chapter 199: Undead Lair

The journey was swift and smooth. The Croc-Tooth Turtle Yī Hào soon carried Su Li to the Golden Convergence Center Building.

This building had been the home of Jiang Shuijue, Ling Yi, and the others before they merged with Su Li’s faction and moved to the Gold Eagle One B-Building.

Su Li had assumed the Golden Convergence Center Building was deserted. However, as he approached, he noticed monsters climbing the balconies.

It wasn’t just one monster; there were signs of widespread monster activity.

“This building turned into a monster lair, too?”

Su Li mused. From a distance, they looked like the common Level 5 and Level 6 monsters he had encountered before.

Su Li was uninterested in them. He wanted to find the Huating Residential Area quickly. He patted the Croc-Tooth Turtle, instructing it to bypass the Golden Convergence Center and swim toward the northeast.

Following Liu Jiande’s guidance, Huating Residential Area was about three kilometers northeast of the Golden Convergence Center Building.

Huating Residential Area was quite large. Liu Jiande’s directions were only approximate. Finding the specific location required underwater scouting.

Although Su Li had never visited Wang Lan’s apartment, he had picked her up many times and knew the exact location of her apartment complex. He was extremely familiar with the area.

As long as he had the general location, finding the Huating Residential Area wouldn’t be difficult.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle soon reached the three-kilometer mark northeast of the Golden Convergence Center Building and stopped at Su Li’s signal.

“If Liu Jiande is correct, I’m directly above the Huating Residential Area. I’ll need to dive down to check the specifics. I must keep the movement as quiet as possible.”

Su Li knew diving alone into the deep water carried risks. Fortunately, he wasn’t hunting monsters and didn’t intend to kill any. As long as he didn’t disturb a massive swarm of monsters, the dive should be relatively safe. Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare enter the deep water alone.

Su Li looked up, scanning the surroundings. To the east, he saw two towering skyscrapers. They were blurry due to the distance, and he estimated they were at least five kilometers away. They were even farther from the Golden Convergence Center, over eight kilometers away.

Although he couldn’t accurately gauge the distance, based on their height, Su Li estimated both towers exceeded forty stories, with over ten floors visible above the water—similar in height to his Gold Eagle One B-Building.

But what truly captivated him was another high-rise slightly to the southeast.

This building was farther and looked more blurred, yet its height above the water was astonishing. Over forty floors were visible above the surface.

“That’s it, that’s the Oriental Tower,” Su Li suddenly remembered.

He didn’t recall the two forty-story buildings to the east, but the one to the southeast he did.

It was the Oriental Tower, a 72-story building that was reportedly over 300 meters tall.

It was the tallest building in the New Development Zone of Nanjiang City and the second tallest building in the entire city. Su Li recalled it instantly.

“The 72-story Oriental Tower! Even if the water reaches the 30th floor, 42 floors still remain above the water. I wonder how many survivors are gathered there now.”

Su Li looked into the distance. The Oriental Tower to the southeast was far away, at least five or six kilometers from his position. It was even farther from the Golden Eagle Alliance, over fifteen kilometers in a straight line.

Besides these three prominent landmarks, a few scattered buildings, mostly between 30 and 35 stories, dotted the vast water surface. However, these buildings were likely abandoned, or any survivors would have been absorbed into the larger high-rises.

Su Li patted his Croc-Tooth Turtle Yī Hào, instructing it to submerge. Although the Oriental Tower was awe-inspiring, he had a more important mission: finding the Huating Residential Area.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle was intelligent and seemed to understand his language. It began to sink, carrying Su Li on its back.

Man and turtle sank, disappearing beneath the surface. Only ripples remained on the water.

Su Li remained on the turtle’s back, holding the ropes to stabilize himself, silently observing the depths.

Perhaps due to the daytime, he didn’t see any Spiritual Source Beasts upon entering the water. However, visibility was severely limited. He could only clearly see objects within ten meters. Beyond that, it was pitch black.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle carried him swiftly downward, quickly submerging over ten meters. Su Li finally saw a rooftop below. Estimating the submerged distance, the roof was about twenty meters below the surface. This meant the building was around 21 or 22 stories tall.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle stopped on the rooftop.

Su Li silently scanned the surroundings. He saw another completely submerged high-rise not far away, similar in height to the one they were on.

“I remember many of the buildings in the Huating Residential Area were 22 stories tall. This might be it. However, the light is dim, and the deeper it gets, the darker it is. I can’t see far.”

Su Li mused. He then pointed to the side, instructing the Croc-Tooth Turtle to carry him along the building’s exterior wall.

He recalled that typical apartment buildings had identifying signs carved into the exterior wall, indicating the complex’s name and the building number. Finding this would confirm if this was the Huating Residential Area.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle seemed to misunderstand his gesture and prepared to take him to the other nearby building.

Su Li quickly patted its back, signaling it to stop. He pointed at the rooftop, indicating the turtle should wait for him. He then slid off the turtle’s back.

This time, the Croc-Tooth Turtle understood and remained motionless on the rooftop.

Su Li swam to the edge of the building and descended along the exterior wall, searching for the identifying signs.

He found no Spiritual Source Beasts in the building, which slightly reassured him. The area seemed relatively safe, and he didn’t have to worry about the noise disturbing a monster swarm.

Despite the relative safety, he still drew the Dragon Rhino Sword from his chest and held it in his hand. He felt much safer with the weapon.

He continued to descend along the exterior wall, silently calculating the distance.

The deeper he swam, the darker the water became, and the weaker the light. Su Li finally stopped.

He saw the identifying sign on the exterior wall. It read: “Building 7,” followed by the name “Huating Residential Area.”

Su Li gently touched the characters, suppressing the excitement in his heart.

He hadn’t been wrong. This was the Huating Residential Area.

This is Building 7. Where is Building 12?

Su Li’s sense of direction was poor. Although he had visited the complex many times, with the entire area submerged, determining the location of Building 12 was difficult.

He decided to use a simple method: search building by building.

He kicked off the wall and shot toward the next building.

He quickly found the identifying sign on this building: Building 6.

“This is Building 6, and that’s Building 7. So I need to go in that direction.” Identifying the two buildings allowed him to deduce the approximate location of Building 12.

Su Li finally had a clear mental map of the area. He knew the direction he needed to swim.

“I should be heading that way. This row contains Buildings 5, 6, 7, and 8. The row opposite contains Buildings 9, 10, 11, and 12. Building 12 is directly opposite Building 8. That’s right.”

Su Li recalled the layout completely. He shot forward, swimming like a fish toward the opposite building, which he now knew was Building 12.

Just as he was about to reach the building, he saw two figures emerge from the darkness below, blocking his path.

The water was close to the bottom and very dark. The two figures suddenly emerged from the gloom. He only spotted them when they were within five or six meters.

Su Li’s heart tensed, but he remained calm. He had faced countless life-or-death situations. Even a greater danger wouldn’t faze him now.

His first action was to activate the “Peering Rune.” He raised the Dragon Rhino Sword and activated “Spider Walk,” creating distance between them to avoid any sudden, unexpected attack.

The messages appeared in his mind.

“Name: Spewer (Pen Tu Zhe). Level: 8. Species: Undead Race. A specialized Undead evolved from a Common Undead, possessing high intelligence. It has a specialized, dark-green organ near its sternum that absorbs ambient air, building up sufficient pressure to expel the air through its mouth as destructive wind blades for long-range attacks. Its close combat ability is weak due to the time required to prepare the wind blades. However, it possesses another terrifying ability: it can spray a dark-green liquid from its special organ onto its kind. Any Undead stained by this liquid will have their eyes turn red, and their combat effectiveness will continuously increase. Therefore, the Spewer’s true terror lies not in its combat ability but in its ability to continuously augment the fighting strength of its surrounding allies.”

The messages appeared in his mind. Su Li quickly created more distance, realizing the two figures were familiar High-Level Undead.

To his left was the skeletal Spewer, and to his right was the obese Corroder.

These were two specialized High-Level Undead. The Golden Eagle Alliance had suffered heavy casualties from them two nights ago. Now, he faced a Spewer and a Corroder again here.

The Corroder was much faster underwater than on land. The special organ on its chest was aimed at Su Li, ready to spray corrosive liquid.

Although he was underwater, the corrosive liquid would still be devastating.

Su Li immediately activated “Spider Walk.” Phantom afterimages appeared around his legs. He kicked the water, creating a massive splash that gave him incredible propulsion. He shot forward like a torpedo, instantly appearing at the flank of the Spewer and Corroder. Before they could react, Su Li swept the Dragon Rhino Sword horizontally, slicing off half of the Corroder’s head.

Brain matter and a large amount of black liquid erupted. A white light merged into Su Li’s forehead. A message appeared.

“Level 8 Spiritual Source Wielder: Spiritual Source 85/130”

The Corroder had yielded him three effective Spiritual Sources.

He was about to slay the Spewer when he suddenly noticed the dark shadows surging from below. A massive swarm of Undead was emerging.

“Is this a lair of the Undead?” Su Li was shocked.

The Corroder and Spewer were not the problem. The real threat was the Assassin, which could blend into the surroundings and attack unseen.

As for the Death God, the Rare-class Undead, he had slain one two nights ago. He hoped he wouldn’t encounter another.

Su Li continuously activated the “Peering Rune” to scan the surroundings, guarding against an Assassin attack. The “Peering Rune” could capture the enemy’s data, which was an early warning system.

He saw the figures emerging from below were all High-Level Undead: more Spewers and Corroders, and Throwers, who could launch tumor bombs.

Furthermore, Su Li spotted a new type of High-Level Undead that he hadn’t seen before. It had not appeared in the Golden Eagle Alliance battle.

This High-Level Undead was the fastest of the swarm, surging toward him. Su Li saw its body seemed to be covered in armor that glowed faintly green in the darkness. Its yellowish-brown eyes, like a venomous snake’s, locked onto him. He felt an intense sense of unease.

He instinctively knew this new High-Level Undead was terrifying.

At the same moment, the data for the new Undead appeared in his mind.

“Name: Bloodthirsty One (Shi Xue Zhe). Level: 9. Species: Undead Race. A specialized High-Level Undead evolved from a Common Undead, possessing a unique name. The Bloodthirsty One, true to its name, is naturally cruel and bloodthirsty. It even kills its own kind mercilessly. A layer of bone plates covers its skin, protecting its body like armor. The Bloodthirsty One does not use weapons. It fights with its bone-plated fists, which are virtually indestructible. Its special ability is ‘Hyperthermia Frenzy.’ When encountering a truly formidable opponent, it activates this state, fighting to the death. In the ‘Hyperthermia Frenzy,’ the temperature of its bone plates rises, becoming red-hot like burning steel. Its strength and speed are both increased significantly. However, the ‘Hyperthermia Frenzy’ can only be maintained for five minutes and is followed by a three-day period of extreme weakness, so the ability is only used when absolutely necessary.”

Su Li processed the information. He immediately realized the danger of the Bloodthirsty One. He instantly activated “Spider Walk,” shooting upward and refusing to linger.

He was now fighting a Level 9 High-Level Undead. If a Level 9 Assassin appeared, it would be a disaster.

Su Li shot upward. The Bloodthirsty One chased closely behind. Its speed was far greater than the Spewers and Corroders.

Behind it, swarms of Spewers, Throwers, and Corroders emerged, a dense mass chasing him upward.

The Throwers ripped off their tumors and hurled the pus bombs at Su Li.

The trajectory of the bombs was hindered by the water. Su Li simply used “Spider Walk,” weaving through the water, dodging the exploding pus bombs.

The continuous explosions affected the Bloodthirsty One pursuing him.

The Bloodthirsty One suddenly stopped, its eyes wide. It seemed enraged. It abruptly turned, abandoning the chase, and charged toward one of the Throwers.

The Thrower was confused. Before it could react, the Bloodthirsty One’s fists smashed into its head.

The Thrower’s head instantly shattered.

Having slain the Thrower, the Bloodthirsty One turned and resumed chasing Su Li.

The other Throwers were terrified and dared not throw any more bombs.

Su Li seized the opportunity to put distance between them. He quickly swam to the roof of the building and pointed upward.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle understood his command and immediately began to ascend.

Su Li grabbed the rope on its back and climbed onto it.

The Croc-Tooth Turtle was fast, carrying him quickly to the surface.

In the water below, massive dark shadows were continuously rising.

“Those bastards.” Su Li frowned. He saw a building about seven or eight hundred meters away to the east. It was a 30-story building that was partially submerged. He patted the Croc-Tooth Turtle and pointed toward the building.

He knew the dangers of the deep water. He couldn’t risk fighting here, but he wouldn’t be afraid once he was on the building.

The Assassin, even with its chameleon-like ability, needed the cover of darkness or murky water. It would be exposed in the sunlight.

“I only need 45 Spiritual Sources to reach Level 9. I can kill a lot of these High-Level Undead.”

(End of Chapter)