The distance was too far, and Lin Chu couldn’t hear what they were saying.

She could clearly see that they were all pointing in the direction of the nearby residential buildings, likely because of the body-modification pills, which had not only enhanced her physical capabilities but also significantly improved her senses.

However, due to the environmental noise mixed in, it was impossible to hear clearly from two to three hundred meters away.

Lin Chu carefully observed. On that small hill, there were originally fewer than 20 buildings, all of which appeared to be four-and-a-half-story townhouses.

They couldn’t accommodate too many people.

On the open ground of the hill, there were several white temporary tents. People were coming in and out, likely a temporary settlement for many survivors.

But living in tents for an extended period, some survivors would inevitably feel dissatisfied.

Now, the water level was dropping.

If the water continued to decrease steadily, sooner or later, these residential buildings would emerge from the water.

Although they had been flooded, they could still be inhabited after a simple cleanup.

Moreover, this area wasn’t far from the small hill.

If the water level rose again, it would be easy to retreat to the small hill.

They were most likely planning on this.

Does this mean the water level in this mission world is steadily decreasing? Otherwise, the people on the small hill wouldn’t have this idea.

If that’s the case, Lin Chu had to take advantage of the fact that the 6th floor hadn’t fully emerged above the water yet and sweep through the remaining 6th floors. Otherwise, once people moved in, she wouldn’t have the chance.

Time was tight, and the mission was heavy.

Lin Chu didn’t watch their actions any longer and instead swam out from a window facing away from the hill.

The previous day, she had been worried that she wouldn’t be able to return due to sudden heavy rain, but today, with the water level dropping again, she felt much more at ease.

Even if it rained heavily, she could still surface and swim back.

This time, Lin Chu swept through the area furthest from her.

In a house with a neatly tidied terrace, she found many fertilizers and pesticides for plant pest control. This was something she hadn’t come across in all her days of searching.

The previous owner of this house was probably a large-scale farmer. Lin Chu found 8 bird nets in total, two of which were 10m*10m large bird nets.

In addition, she found a variety of plant seeds in the house, including ornamental flowers, vegetables, and fruit seeds.

There were many different types.

Some were even still in sealed plastic packaging, unopened and not yet damaged by the flood.

Even the ones that had been flooded, Lin Chu didn’t mind. She packed them all up and stored them in her space.

Once the front yard expanded, she planned to plant several types of fruits and vegetables.

These fresh fruits and vegetables were luxuries in the apocalypse.

The original owner of the house had a complete set of planting tools, some of which were so advanced that Lin Chu had never seen them before. She packed them all up and stored them in her space, planning to bring them back for Xiao Er to research.

In this house, Lin Chu also collected high-quality steam ovens, bread machines, dough mixers, and other cooking tools.

Thinking of how she now had Xiao Er as a helper at home and a good supply of ingredients, these items would come in handy.

She packed everything up.

After sweeping each house, she would go to the stairwell, pull the fishing nets she had previously set up, and collect the fish.

It usually took her about 30 minutes to an hour to clear one house.

The modified fishing nets were strong, invisible, and inconspicuous, so even the smartest fish would get caught.

Almost every time, Lin Chu caught about 10 fish.

To save time, during the half-hour cooldown of the oxygen mask, she surfaced and swapped to the oxygen tank.

After the cooldown period, she would switch back to the oxygen mask.

In between, she only returned to the shelter for half an hour at noon to eat before continuing her sweep.

With her enhanced physical condition, Lin Chu could handle such high-intensity work.

To sweep more houses, Lin Chu worked until it was dark.

By the time she finished her 14th house of the day, it was already 8 PM.

With nightfall and poor visibility underwater, Lin Chu decided to head back home.

After retrieving the fishing nets, Lin Chu earned 6 points.

This time, she caught 12 fish.

After this whole day, Lin Chu had earned 58 points.

At this rate, it wouldn’t take long before she completed her daily points mission.

But she knew such opportunities wouldn’t last long.

Once the water level continued to decrease and some of the survivors from the small hill moved in, her operating space would be limited, and she couldn’t be so open about fishing anymore.

She had to take advantage of the time before they moved in to catch as many fish as possible and accumulate more points.

After that, she’d figure out other ways.

On her way back, to avoid getting lost, Lin Chu occasionally surfaced to check her direction.

As she was halfway back, when she surfaced behind a building, she suddenly heard the sound of splashing water.

“Splash—”

“Splash—”

“Splash—”

The sound came in bursts, particularly clear in the night.

And the sound was getting closer.

This was…

Someone was coming.

And judging by the frequency and force of the sound, it didn’t sound like swimming.

It sounded like…

Rowing.

Lin Chu’s eyes narrowed slightly, and in the next second, a sharp glint flashed in her eyes. She dived back underwater and sneaked into a building, hiding in the stairwell between the 5th and 6th floors, pressing herself against the wall to reduce her presence.

Fortunately, the oxygen mask had finished its cooldown. Lin Chu stashed the oxygen tank and switched back to the light oxygen mask.

The people rowing didn’t keep Lin Chu waiting long before they stopped at the surface of the water outside the building.

“Bro, you go in first. I’ll pass the things to you.”

A male voice traveled through the murky floodwaters and reached Lin Chu’s ears.

Though the voice was muffled, Lin Chu could still make it out.

“This is a big haul. The government is generous. They gave us so much, and those idiots still think we’re getting extra subsidies, all grateful to us.”

At this point, the two men laughed.

Then came the sound of water splashing as they moved back and forth.

Lin Chu realized they were moving supplies, hiding what the government had given them in the package she had found previously.

“Bro, check the things we hid before. Hope they didn’t get damaged by the water.”

“Don’t worry, my packaging skills are top-notch, the water won’t ruin anything. Plus, the government was worried the flood might ruin the supplies, so the packaging is very tight, not a drop of water can get in.”

The two brothers chatted back and forth, and their conversation was clearly transmitted through the water.

“Today, Mayor Li and the others discussed that after seven days, the water won’t submerge the 6th floor anymore, and they’ll start moving the survivors here. What are we going to do with all this stuff?”

“Are you stupid? We’ll move over too, and transfer everything into the rooms assigned to us.”

…

After the brothers finished hiding the supplies, worried about being discovered if they delayed, they quickly left.

Lin Chu, staying quietly behind them, surfaced to observe them leaving.

Once she confirmed they had gone far enough, Lin Chu climbed through a window.

Having been here before, she easily found where they had hidden their supplies and stuffed everything into her space.