Despite her reservations, Ye Shu agreed eventually.
There was no other choice. In this building—at least before she could leave—she preferred to keep a low profile. Besides, Fu Jingchuan was right; the plague from the lower floors was starting to spread. If they didn’t seal the stairwell now… trouble would surely follow.
“Alright, I’ll provide the inflatable boat.”
With a bang, the door slammed shut, shaking loose dust from the frame.
Fu Shiyi stared at the two, shocked by their sudden accord: “……”
When Ye Shu stepped out with the inflatable raft, she spotted a few unfamiliar faces. Assuming they were with Fu Jingchuan, she paid them little mind—until she realized the 32nd floor had hidden other residents. A robust man stood protectively in front of his pregnant wife, who offered Ye Shu a gentle smile. “Hello, I’m Lin Huiying, a player. This is my husband, Wu Sihan. He was a welder before the game, and now he’s also a strength variant.”
Ye Shu nodded, surprised that this seemingly ordinary couple were both players—and luckily assigned to the same zone.
“I got lucky and drew a team-binding card.”
Perhaps because Ye Shu was also a woman, Lin Huiying was especially warm toward her.
“Ye Xiaoshu.”
Ye Shu quietly offered her name, counting that as sufficient greeting.
“Xiaoshu, in this kind of downpour, are you really going out to fetch steel? Why not wait until it lets up a bit?”
With practiced familiarity, Lin Huiying reached for Ye Shu’s arm, but Ye Shu subtly sidestepped, keeping a careful distance from strangers. She replied coolly, “The rain won’t stop, and the survivors below won’t wait.”
Lin Huiying stroked her pregnant belly, eyes clouding with sorrow. “If it weren’t for this survival game, so many people wouldn’t have died… The survivors downstairs—they’re innocent, too.”
As a kindergarten teacher, she could never bear to see children suffer. In recent days, she’d delivered much medicine below, but still… not all the children received help in time. As she spoke, Lin Huiying wiped away a tear.
Fu Jingchuan shot an almost theatrical look of reproach at Fu Shiyi—These are the players you found?!
Fu Shiyi broke into a cold sweat, unable to explain. When he’d met Wu Sihan, the man only mentioned having a female teammate—he had never said it was his wife…
Ye Shu cast a silent glance at the tear-streaked woman, twisting her lips. Sympathy was one thing—she just hoped the couple’s soft hearts wouldn’t get everyone killed.
Wu Sihan, sensing the tense mood in the corridor, quickly changed the subject. “Xiaoshu, it’s dangerous out there. You’re providing the raft—let me handle the building materials…”
His wife was a kind soul and always put others first—a beautiful thing, before. But now, amid an apocalyptic black downpour, conditions for charity simply didn’t exist. Last night, he’d turned away a mother asking for medicine; in the end, her little daughter died from lack of timely treatment. His wife had been furious when she found out.
Neither Ye Shu, nor the Fu brothers, he noticed, seemed especially charitable. Wu Sihan had no wish to offend them.
“No need.”
Ye Shu declined Wu Sihan bluntly. Trapped in Yuhai Bay for so long, she actually wanted to get out and scout—and this was the perfect excuse.
The inflatable raft immediately drew all eyes from the lower levels. Here, dozens of households remained trapped for one simple reason: not one had a boat. Braving the torrential rain without any equipment was a death sentence.
“An inflatable raft? You folks have something like this?”
“Little brother, you got another one of those for sale? I’ll pay top price.”
A small crowd edged closer, their gazes hungry.
“Little sister, where’d you get this raft? Mind letting your big brother here borrow it? I can’t stand it anymore—just want to take a look outside…”
He fell silent mid-sentence when Ye Shu fixed him with a single cold glare. Embarrassed, he muttered, “Fine, no need to be so fierce…”
Ye Shu’s exploits on the twentieth floor had caused a considerable stir; many had seen her dispose of Zhang Ping and Chen Jiang’s gang in person. No one dared cross her now.
Ye Shu and Fu Jingchuan smashed a window on the fifteenth floor and slipped through. Shards of glass rained down as water poured in. They rushed—no time to waste—pulled on raincoats, climbed into the raft, and paddled out.
The rain fell in sheets. Soon, the little boat filled with water, forcing them to divide the labor: Ye Shu bailed as fast as she could to keep them afloat, while Fu Jingchuan—familiar with the neighborhood and the locations of supplies—handled the oars.
Cold rain peppered Ye Shu’s face, making her shiver. The sky was a heavy, oppressive gray. Even in broad daylight, it was impossible to see far, so they switched on their headlamps just to find their way.
The filthy water was clogged with floating plastic trash. Everywhere was water, limitless and bleak, and an eerie sense of isolation settled over her.
The tall buildings loomed silent, as if the whole world had been swallowed by the sound of rain.
Following their planned route, they soon reached their destination—only to find the storeroom already submerged.
As Ye Shu stared, Fu Jingchuan produced two sets of diving gear. So he was a spatial variant as well. Many players had awakened powers by now; she’d seen dozens in Doujia live streams, even Wu Sihan was at least a strength variant—yet she herself had nothing.
For a split second, Ye Shu felt a twinge of envy. But it passed just as quickly—her ability to turn back time was still far more valuable. More lives, after all, than any power.
She zipped herself into a wetsuit, dove in, and dog-paddled through the murky water.
Fu Jingchuan, gear in place, couldn’t help but laugh at her ungainly swimming style.
The building materials were stored on the third level. The two quickly found the entrance and headed up.
The storeroom was packed—not just with construction materials, but also life rafts, tools, even food, though much of it was waterlogged. Contrary to Ye Shu’s expectations, the new composite materials were extremely light; she grabbed several in each hand and easily swam for the surface.
Fu Jingchuan had expected the two of them to haul the supplies together, but he’d overlooked Ye Shu’s own formidable strength—even Wu Sihan, a first-tier strength variant, would struggle with those girders. What had this woman been eating?
They moved efficiently, exchanging hardly a word, and followed the same route back.
The round trip took about an hour; before the city had been flooded, it would have been a fifteen-minute walk at most.
The raft was small. Each trip, they could only bring back a handful of materials.
When Wu Sihan received the steel from Ye Shu, at first he thought nothing of it. But when he felt the true weight of those panels, he realized this seemingly sweet, unassuming girl was far stronger than he’d ever imagined.
After two extra trips, they finally gathered everything they needed.
After spending almost half the day soaked in rainwater, Ye Shu returned to her room, disinfected herself, and took a hot shower.
Once all the materials were hauled to the 32nd floor, Wu Sihan wasted no time putting his welding skills to use.
Under Fu Jingchuan’s direction, they built a steel barricade across the stairwell, fortified it with outward-facing spikes, and electrified it. Anyone who tried to force their way in would get a nasty shock. Now, their safety was ensured.