Chapter 6: Water Shut-off

After confirming all of this, Su Li was surprised to find that he was much calmer than he had expected.

Looking at the bloated and hideous female corpse sprawled on the floor in front of him, he had an insight.

This world had completely changed. Not only was there a terrifying flood capable of submerging an entire city, but there could also be corpse transformations, and even this mysterious “Spiritual Source.”

“Everything has changed. Is this even the world I knew before? It’s impossible to explain anything happening here with normal logic anymore.”

“I wonder if the transformation of this female corpse is just an isolated case, or if all corpses will undergo this transformation. If all these corpses transform, this city will become incredibly dangerous. I don’t know how many people this great flood has killed. This city… is home to several million people…”

The thought of that number sent a shudder through Su Li, making him feel a creeping sense of dread.

He didn’t know how many people in this city of several million had managed to escape alive, and how many had drowned and become corpses.

“It looks like it’s very unsafe here. I must find a rescue team quickly.” Su Li gripped the hammer and cleaver and glanced again at the female corpse on the floor. He felt fortunate that although the corpse was strong, its movements were stiff, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Su Li realized the situation was far more terrifying than he had thought. He quickly returned to his apartment, closed the security door, and walked into the bathroom with the cleaver and hammer to look at the wound on his forehead in the mirror.

He noticed the wound was slightly red and swollen, but thankfully, it was just a minor scrape and not serious. The wound felt slightly cool, and in just a short time, the broken skin had already closed up. The speed of his injury recovery was quite astonishing.

Su Li carefully wiped off the blood that had flowed onto his face and was starting to congeal, then cleaned the cleaver and hammer. It was then he noticed the water from the faucet was slowing down, eventually reducing to just dripping.

“The water really has stopped.” Su Li sighed, though he wasn’t surprised. Fortunately, he had boiled and filled several water bottles earlier, and also filled one large and one small basin with water, so he didn’t have to worry about running out for the moment.

As for the world outside being nothing but water, who knew if it was clean or if it contained parasites and bacteria? Su Li dared not use it.

Holding the cleaned knife and hammer, Su Li grabbed the bundle of quilt and clothes and headed out.

When he reached the roof, Su Li placed the quilt on the ground and looked around. With no visual obstructions on the roof, all he could see was an expansive, boundless surface of water. It was so vast it looked like an ocean, with no borders visible, as if the entire world had been transformed into a world of water.

“How terrifying must this flood have been to cause such a result.” Su Li couldn’t help but clench his fists.

He then gazed at the nearest high-rise building emerging from the water. It was also a 30-story building, only about 40 or 50 meters away. Su Li looked at the exposed 30th floor, wondering if there were any survivors like himself there.

“No matter what, I have to find a way to check it out,” Su Li thought silently.

Afterward, he lit the quilt on fire, creating a large amount of thick smoke.

Watching the smoke rise into the sky, Su Li hoped that if there were truly survivors in that building, they would surely see the rising smoke and perhaps react.

Unfortunately, he waited for a full half hour and observed no sign of life in the other building, let alone any reaction. He eventually gave up waiting and returned down the stairs.

As he descended the stairs to the 30th floor, a casual glance made his heart skip a beat, causing him to stop.

The staircase leading to the 29th floor was completely submerged, and the water level was about to flood the floor of the 30th level.

“I clearly remember that the first time I came here, the water level was still 4 or 5 centimeters from this floor. Why is it now about to flood the floor? In just this short time, the water level has risen by several centimeters. Is the water level… still slowly rising?”

This discovery made Su Li’s scalp tingle. It meant that the 30th floor, where he was currently staying, was not safe. The water level could change at any moment and potentially submerge the 30th floor as well.

This made him feel anxious.

“No, I must finish the raft as quickly as possible. Who knows what other changes are coming.”

Feeling the urgency of the situation, Su Li dared not delay any longer. He rushed back along the corridor, taking two steps at a time, and quickly started working on making the raft.

He disassembled the two wooden doors in his apartment, leaving only his bedroom door intact. He decided to join these two wooden doors together to make a simple raft.

He estimated that the two doors should be able to support his weight and wouldn’t sink in the water.

He remembered that when he was a child in the countryside, people in his village could stand on a single wooden door and use a bamboo pole to float across the water. Joining two doors together should definitely work.

Next, he lifted the mattress and took apart the wooden slats underneath, one by one.

He laid these wooden slats horizontally across the two doors and nailed them down with iron nails. With that, a simple raft was complete.

Since he had no ropes at home, he found his bedsheets and duvet covers, used scissors to cut them into long strips of cloth, and then braided these strips into ropes.

Soon, the day passed. He braided several long ropes in total, secured one long rope to the raft, and kept the others for backup.

When he finished, the sky had darkened. Su Li ate two pieces of bread to stave off his hunger and walked over to the balcony window.

He needed to make sure all the windows were closed. Night was about to fall, and the female corpse that had moved and attacked him during the day made him feel unsafe here.

Just as he reached the balcony, he suddenly saw a corpse floating in the water outside the balcony window.

The corpse’s face was underwater, and he could only see its back as it floated, only about one or two meters away from his balcony window.

Su Li’s heart thumped, and his expression instantly turned grim. He distinctly remembered not seeing this corpse during the day. Where had it floated from now?

“Damn it, this corpse won’t transform too, will it?”

Su Li looked at the floating corpse so close to the window, feeling deeply disturbed. He finally couldn’t resist picking up the clothes drying rod, opening one window, and extending the rod out. He poked at the floating corpse, intending to push it far away.

The moment his clothes drying rod touched the corpse, and just as he was about to push it away, the corpse’s head suddenly lifted up.

(End of Chapter)