Crisis Awareness wasn’t a skill that could be used actively.

It was more of a passive skill.

Only when Lin Chu was about to face danger would it trigger, sounding an alarm in her mind.

Around mealtime, the person Lin Chu didn’t expect to show up—Xia Zhengyang—knocked on her door.

At the doorway of the room next to hers, Bai Wei was already standing with her arms crossed, waiting.

“Dr. Lin, I’ll take you both to the canteen for dinner.”

Lin Chu raised an eyebrow. She had assumed that since they’d offended Professor Cheng, he wouldn’t bother feeding them anymore.

Xia Zhengyang led the way, with Bai Wei and Lin Chu walking one behind the other behind him.

“There will be a heavy storm tonight. In this kind of extreme weather, helicopters can’t fly. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow night, after the rain stops, to be flown back.”

Lin Chu glanced out the window.

The sky was dark and heavy—it really did look like a storm was on the way.

If they didn’t still need Wu’s blood, the professor likely would’ve sent all three of them packing the moment Bai Wei annoyed him this afternoon.

But after delaying the whole afternoon, sending the helicopter now and back again would mean getting caught in the storm.

So they had no choice but to stay another day.

“Mr. Xia, the cliff walls here drop straight into the water. How did the first group of people who got bitten by the big black fish even get into the water?”

Lin Chu voiced the question that had been on her mind.

Xia Zhengyang didn’t show much emotion. He simply replied calmly:

“On the east side, there’s a segment of a ladder built into the cliff. It was originally installed as part of the resort’s climbing experience for tourists.”

“Now the lower half of the ladder is submerged by floodwater. Those who can’t get food climb down it to search the water for supplies.”

Search the water for supplies…

Back at the apartment building, Lin Chu had also scavenged supplies underwater.

But there, the supplies were more concentrated, and she had oxygen tanks, a mask, and a wetsuit—a full set of gear—so it hadn’t been too difficult.

But scavenging next to a mountain…

Perhaps noticing her doubt, Xia Zhengyang added:

“There used to be quite a few shops at the base of the mountain, but it’s very deep down, and the supplies are hard to retrieve. The base once sent security teams to try, but they gave up due to the difficulty.”

“But some survivors here barely get by from meal to meal. Since there isn’t much work to do in the base, in order to eat, they resort to this kind of desperate measure.”

In the end, it was still about survival.

Lin Chu nodded but didn’t respond.

Bai Wei, on the other hand, rolled her eyes slightly and looked at Xia Zhengyang.

“When we flew in today, I saw you had boats fishing for black fish below.”

“But if I remember correctly, it was your Base No. 1 that first informed all other bases that black fish were full of toxic substances and couldn’t be eaten.”

Hearing her question, Xia Zhengyang glanced at her.

He clearly didn’t like this woman who had irritated his mentor earlier.

“If they’re inedible, then you’re catching them… for research?” Lin Chu interjected with her guess.

Xia Zhengyang turned his gaze away from Bai Wei and nodded.

“Yes, we’re short on food now, especially meat. Leaving all that black fish untouched is a waste. The professor hopes to find a way to neutralize the toxins inside them so that they can become a food source.”

That actually sounded like a solid research direction.

Lin Chu nodded, then casually asked, “So where do you keep all those black fish you’ve caught?”

Xia Zhengyang didn’t think there was anything wrong with that question. He pointed downward.

“The Vanxi Hotel used to be a trendy influencer hotspot. It had a large indoor pool and an outdoor infinity pool.”

“The black fish we catch are kept in the pools. When we need them, we just net a few from the pool and bring them up in the elevator to the lab. It’s very convenient.”

“No one needs to watch over them?” Lin Chu asked curiously.

Xia Zhengyang shook his head.

“These black fish can’t survive outside the water. The small ones aren’t aggressive like the big ones. And since they can’t be eaten, no one really wants them.”

Lin Chu nodded, lowering her eyes to hide the glint that flashed in them.

“That really is convenient.”

Dinner wasn’t as generous as lunch.

There were no more stir-fried tomatoes and eggs—just cold marinated tomatoes.

The rice, originally about the size of a fist, was now only half that.

Since her body modification, Lin Chu’s nutritional needs had increased. This amount of food only filled her to about thirty percent.

After eating, she went back and chewed through two convenience store rice balls.

After all, she was still in someone else’s territory, so she didn’t want to be too conspicuous with her food stash.

The storm arrived as expected that night.

Its sound made everything else seem noisy and chaotic.

Lin Chu pulled out her workout clothes from her bag and went through her usual strength training.

She still had two Physical Enhancement Pills left.

Part of the reason she hadn’t taken them yet was that she was still adjusting to the surge of strength from her last modification.

Another reason was that she wanted to improve her physical condition even further so the pills would have a stronger effect.

So she remained diligent.

Ever since her body was altered, she could feel clear differences after each training session.

Her muscles were getting firmer every day, and both her strength and endurance kept improving.

Just today, she climbed twelve flights of stairs without feeling even the slightest fatigue.

Lin Chu planned to take another Physical Enhancement Pill before entering the next world.

The accommodations provided by Base No. 1 did have running water.

But when Lin Chu checked the usage guidelines, it said that each room was limited to 20 liters per day.

That was 5 liters more than the base on the small hill.

However, when she turned on the tap, although the water wasn’t yellow, it still had visible suspended particles.

So, using the sound of the water as cover, Lin Chu pulled out a storage tank from her space and used clean water to quickly rinse off her sweat.

After cleaning up, she changed into her usual outdoor clothes and lay down on the bed.

This was her first night sleeping outside a proper shelter since being dropped into the infinite apocalypse.

She didn’t feel safe.

Though her eyes were closed, she wasn’t the least bit sleepy.

Time passed slowly like that, until she finally felt herself starting to drift off—only to suddenly see a vision flash in her mind:

A syringe stabbed into her neck.

In the vision, she collapsed at first, but quickly regained consciousness.

[Danger Level: D]

As the system prompt echoed in her mind, Lin Chu slowly opened her eyes.