A pair of black eyes were staring at her from about 20 meters behind her.

With the light of dusk, Lin Chu could clearly see the owner of those eyes.

A large black fish.

It was several times bigger than the black fish she usually caught.

Its entire body was at least two times larger than an adult human.

Its mouth could easily swallow an adult’s head.

Lin Chu recalled the sharpness of the little black fish’s teeth and then looked at the big black fish in front of her. She struggled to turn her head back.

She seemed to freeze in place, not daring to move, but out of the corner of her eye, she carefully observed her surroundings.

Not far above her, there was a small boat.

Based on how much the boat was submerged, it was most likely empty.

The two people were still inside the house, continuing to search through the bird netting that Lin Chu had already emptied.

If she swam five buildings northeast, she could return to her shelter.

But Lin Chu knew that, even with her body modification, she would never outswim the fish in the water.

She had to distract the fish and create a chance for herself.

A few thoughts flashed through Lin Chu’s mind.

In the next moment, she moved.

She kicked off from the wall beside her and used the force to propel herself upwards quickly.

With that momentum, Lin Chu shot upwards about 10 meters, leaving only an arm’s distance between her and the bottom of the boat.

Behind her, the large black fish also moved.

The water was its absolute domain. While Lin Chu shot up 10 meters, the fish swam, closing the original 20-meter gap to just 15 meters.

In just one second.

If she didn’t create some sort of obstruction, the fish would catch up to her in about four seconds.

And then, it would bite her head off.

Lin Chu would never wait passively for death.

She reached out and grabbed the rope at the edge of the boat, pulling it down with all her strength. At the same time, she tossed the lone black fish wrapped in a fishing net into the boat.

“Splash——”

The huge splash attracted the attention of the two people inside the house.

“Bai Jie, our boat!”

The man’s shout echoed just as Lin Chu, using the momentum from pulling the rope, swam another 5 meters forward.

The boat rocked up and down, stirring the surrounding floodwaters.

The visibility underwater immediately decreased.

The black fish couldn’t see Lin Chu’s movements clearly for a moment and angrily swam toward the boat.

Inside the house, there was a cry of alarm.

Hearing the shout, the black fish grew even more furious.

It especially noticed the familiar scent of its kind in the boat.

It became even angrier and rammed into the boat’s hull again and again.

“Bai Jie! It’s that man-eating black fish!”

The man’s voice was sharp and grating, standing out clearly in the quiet environment.

Sure enough, the large black fish’s attention was diverted.

Lin Chu didn’t dare look back and simply swam forward with all her might.

She swam along the wall, and whenever her speed slowed, she would push off from the wall to give herself a boost.

In this way, she swam back to her shelter at the fastest speed she had ever moved.

The moment she opened the door, Lin Chu felt herself lose strength and almost collapsed inside.

However, she didn’t hit the ground, as the young man who had been waiting by the door reached out his arm to stop her.

Lin Chu took a few deep breaths, then stabilized herself with his arm, standing up straight.

Her sudden fatigue wasn’t because she was physically exhausted, but because of the rush of adrenaline from narrowly escaping death. Her blood had rushed to her heart, leaving her limbs weak.

While she had forced herself to swim back to safety, once the danger passed, the sensation of her tired limbs returned immediately.

Lin Chu accepted the cup of hot water handed to her and sat on the floor, replaying the near-death escape in her mind.

Lately, she had been addicted to stockpiling and had become somewhat oblivious to the surrounding dangers.

If she hadn’t taken the body-modifying pill earlier, giving her powerful explosive strength, and if those two taskers hadn’t appeared today to distract the big black fish, she would have been in a much worse situation today.

As for those two taskers…

They had been in the house above the water, so they should be fine. However, her actions had been exposed to other taskers, and in the future, she needed to be more cautious when going out.

She didn’t know when the big black fish had started targeting her. Despite all these days, there had been no sign of it.

Thankfully, her stockpiling was almost enough to fill the space.

Rice, flour, cooking oil, snacks, drinks, bottled water—she had everything.

She also had plenty of daily necessities.

She had various home appliances too.

Although most of them were broken, with her ability to repurpose them, these could still be useful.

Once repurposed, these items would be enough for her to survive comfortably in her shelter for at least 12 months.

For now, she could pause her stockpiling.

In six days, when the survivors’ base relocated and the area became more populated, the big black fish would likely avoid this residential area. At that time, she could make other plans.

Once she made her decision, Lin Chu took off her diving suit and handed it to the young man. She then pulled out the large tub she had prepared for the small black fish and instructed him to change its container.

She walked into the bathroom and thoroughly cleaned the filth from her body before coming out.

The 12-ton water storage barrel she had entrusted to the young man was already full.

Lin Chu didn’t store it in her space; she left it in the bathroom.

That way, once the shelter’s water supply stopped in two days, she could use the water directly from the storage barrel.

Watering the vegetable garden, cleaning, cooking, and washing clothes… all the housework that the young man was helping with would require water.

By leaving the storage barrel there, the young man could still do the housework even if she wasn’t at the shelter, ensuring things didn’t come to a complete halt in her absence.

This was also the reason Lin Chu decided to buy another storage barrel.

The other 12-ton barrel had to be kept in her space, with her at all times.

If an emergency situation arose and she couldn’t return to the shelter for days, she needed to make sure she had access to clean water while outside.

Over the next two days, Lin Chu didn’t go out and stayed in the shelter, working with the young man to boil water and cook with the rice cooker.

She even repaired the dough kneading machine, made the dough, chopped the vegetables and meat, and started making dumplings.

She didn’t abandon her fishing task either.

When she went out with the fishing net, the young man stood by watching her movements.

After a night passed, the water level outside the door had lowered to below her waist.

“Xiao Er, keep an eye on it.”

Lin Chu spoke as she tossed the fishing net into the water.

The net had algae flakes sprinkled on it beforehand.

She held four ropes, securing them to the fence inside the door.

Then, she left the door slightly ajar.

“Xiao Er, keep an eye on it. If there’s any movement, abandon the fishing net and close the door.”

Seeing Xiao Er nod, Lin Chu returned inside to continue cooking.

An hour later, she returned to collect the fishing net on schedule.

It earned 2 points.

There weren’t many black fish left in the area, and with the water level lowered, fewer would swim into the house.

Though mosquitoes may be small, they were still food, and Lin Chu didn’t mind. She collected the net and returned to her work inside.

On the sixth night of her time in the mission world, another heavy rain began.

This rain lasted for another day and night.

By the seventh night, the water level had risen again, reaching the height of Lin Chu’s neck.