Xu Lu's face was grim. He hated his fear of water, how his brain shut down whenever it touched water…
He couldn't even protect his sister.
Xu Qian, sensitive to his low mood, reached out and ruffled his soft brown hair.
"Xiao Lu, it's alright. I'll teach you from now on, okay?"
Xu Lu nodded seriously this time, no longer shrinking back.
He wanted to protect his sister; he had to learn, no matter how scared he was.
Xu Qian pursed her lips and smiled, "Yi Chun, let's go."
She summoned the RV and first selected the thickest wetsuit, oxygen tank, and other essential tools from her space.
Xu Qian advised, "Yi Chun, it'll be very cold even with a wetsuit. Actually… I can go down alone."
She didn't want her to take risks; she could bear any consequences herself, why drag someone else into it.
Yi Chun's beautiful eyes curved slightly, her expression gentle.
"It's fine, I'll go with you."
Xu Qian sighed and handed her the wetsuit.
The two quickly changed, said goodbye to the others, and went into the water.
The moment her feet touched the lake water, Xu Qian felt a piercing cold. Even for someone as tolerant as her, her whole body couldn't help but tremble.
Yi Chun, decisive and resolute, gritted her teeth and jumped in. The cold water instantly enveloped her, a suffocating sensation seized her heart, and her whole body went numb.
It was too cold!
It was terribly cold!
Xu Qian wasn't as brave as her. She descended bit by bit, which felt slightly better, but it was still very cold.
Xu Qian's lips turned pale from the cold, but her long-honed physique and determination supported her.
Yi Chun lowered her head, completely still. Xu Qian leaned closer and saw her face was deathly pale, gasping for air.
"Yi Chun! Yi Chun!"
Yi Chun gradually came to her senses, her entire body frozen numb. She said almost tearfully, "Military Advisor, my legs are numb from the cold."
And… she couldn't breathe properly…
Xu Qian's brows furrowed slightly. She was the first to scramble ashore, dragging Yi Chun back to the bank.
Once on land, Yi Chun felt much better. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she apologized softly, "Military Advisor, I'm sorry, I'm so useless."
Xu Qian sighed. She hadn't expected them to follow in the first place.
She would have been more at ease alone. When she entered her space by herself, she could come and go freely, but bringing others into it created limitations.
"It's alright. Go change and wait for me with them. Stay hidden. I'll be out as soon as possible."
Yi Chun responded with a low hum.
She was truly useless. Before the apocalypse, she was an expert diver, but now she was incapacitated by the cold water.
Xu Qian re-submerged into the lake bed. The incredibly cold water immediately enveloped her entire body.
At that moment, even the skin on her scalp felt like it was standing on end from the cold.
It grew colder the deeper she went, and Xu Qian's hands and feet began to feel numb.
Fortunately, the lake bed wasn't very deep, only about 7 meters. The water was clear, revealing blackened seaweed and rocks at the bottom. Not a single living creature was in sight.
She carefully moved along the lake bed. After about ten minutes, her body had barely adapted to the water temperature.
This area by the lake had no dolphin carcasses. As she moved further towards the center, the faint light from above was obscured by mutated dolphins, and large swathes of the lake surface were dyed red.
She scanned her surroundings. This location was probably where the mutated dolphins had jumped earlier.
Xu Qian didn't act impulsively. She slowly maneuvered along the higher rocks.
Over the past year, she had visited countless laboratories, but she had never encountered anything this difficult.
Underwater, she could only wear a wetsuit, and hers was different from theirs, making her easily recognizable. Therefore, she had to be even more cautious.
Xu Qian swam along the rocks for nearly five minutes when suddenly, her steps halted. She immediately grabbed onto a nearby rock, steadying herself.
A faint smile touched the corner of the young woman's lips. She had found it.