The torrential rain continued, but the frequency of thunder had noticeably decreased since the activity started.
Silver King and Mimi also came to the window side, curiously watching the giant tornado outside, yet they seemed unafraid.
Perhaps mutated beasts have the ability to foresee danger, so they don’t feel threatened by this massive tornado and thus aren’t afraid.
"Ying! Ying ying ying!" Keke stood at the window and explained about the tornado to the two beasts.
Xu Xin couldn’t understand what they were saying and shook his head, looking towards the bottom of the treehouse.
"... The water level is rising too fast."
The water level under the treehouse continued to rise, completely submerging the newly sprouted saplings beneath the surface, turning the area outside the treehouse into an ocean-like expanse, with an estimated height of almost four meters.
"My god, the tornado outside is terrifying!"
"Don’t worry, didn’t you see the message from Ji Chaoyang earlier? He said the tornado won’t attack us, and it might even bring us treasures."
"I’m not asking for any treasure; surviving is good enough..."
"There’s no jungle outside anymore; it’s completely a vast sea now!"
Xu Xin browsed upward, noticing that Ji Chaoyang had already sent their thoughts from the group to other survivors, advising them not to worry too much about the tornado and urging them to move things to higher floors.
"But the water outside is rising too fast!"
"It’s getting close to the window; soon the water will enter the treehouse!"
"What are we going to do? What are we going to do, even the treehouse is going to be flooded, and there’s nowhere to stand outside. I can’t swim..."
The people who were complaining were likely those who hadn’t received the treehouse level +1 reward in the last dungeon activity; they only had low-level, single-story treehouses.
If this level of the treehouse got flooded, they’d be truly homeless.
The outside water was near four meters, while the lowest point of the low treehouses was only three meters, and the window ledge was about four meters from the ground. If the water level outside continued to rise, these low treehouses would inevitably take on water and eventually be submerged.
These people can’t even add windows to their treehouses. The glass windows and other treehouse facilities he created came from the abilities granted by the [Treehouse Renovation Contract] in the Silver Treasure Chest, which other than the [Explorers], wasn’t available to them yet.
If wooden windows could help, Xu Xin had an abundance of wood, enough to produce a pile of windows to assist everyone and profit a little on the side, but wooden windows had gaps and couldn’t block the flood outside. Perhaps sealed glass windows might.
But he was powerless with glass windows, lacking enough materials.
"Thankfully, I have a second floor. I can go to the second floor to avoid it if the first floor gets flooded."
"Everyone with a second floor, quickly move everything to the second floor; the first floor is about to be flooded!"
"I’ve already moved everything; I do whatever the boss says, now I can only pray that the water doesn’t reach the second floor."
"If we get flooded, everyone might lose connection..."
Xu Xin wasn’t worried at all as his treehouse’s bottom floor was ten meters, and the top floor was over twenty meters. If even he got flooded, then no one would survive.
"Damn, the water’s coming in! It’s flooding in! It’s really going to flood!"
"I’ve piled up cabinets but they can’t block the windows!"
The torrential rain outside continued to pour like a waterfall, with the water level rising rapidly.
"Everyone, we can only go to the rooftop, grab the roots, the treehouse can take us to the roof, we can only hide there for now!"
"But the rain outside is too heavy, staying out in the rain for a day and night could cause colds, fevers, and hypothermia..."
"What else can we do? I’m going out first, take care everyone!"
"Damn it, when I was seven or eight, I loved running in the rain. It’s not a big deal!"
"It’s better than drowning!"
As time passed, the water level outside had reached five to six meters deep, the first floor of the low treehouses should be completely submerged.
Fortunately, once it reached this height, the water level stopped rising.
Although the heavy rain continued, Xu Xin could clearly feel that the rain outside had lessened, at least it wasn’t pouring in such a way that made it impossible to stand in the rain.
"Is this... the surroundings stabilizing?" Xu Xin looked at the tornado outside, still terrifying, with no changes.
Looking around, the original jungle seemed like an ocean, and his treehouse was the only isolated island in this sea.
Hmm? Something feels off...
Xu Xin frowned in thought, suddenly realizing something, and his eyelids twitched.
Where did those hills to the northwest go?
Those hills were at least dozens of meters tall; they can’t possibly be submerged!
Gone? They... ran away?
Xu Xin took a deep breath, not daring to think further.
Thinking further wouldn’t help; if those hills were indeed a group of camouflaged monsters, as he had previously speculated, then he was completely powerless.
Fortunately, the tornado was in the southwest, so if he really wanted to go treasure hunting there, he wouldn’t have to approach the original Hilly Resource Zone.
The regional channel has become very quiet, the quietest it has been since it was opened, with no one speaking for half a day.
It makes sense; currently, most survivors only have low-height little treehouses, and the screens of these treehouses are on the first level.
The screens are directly embedded into the walls and cannot be moved, so even those who received the treehouse level +1 reward and are now on the second level can’t communicate through the screens anymore.
Now, the only ones who can communicate are probably just the few in their Explorer organization with watches, and some others who have initially planted two-level little treehouses.
At this moment, someone suddenly sent a message on the regional channel: "Is anyone still here?"
This message appeared in the long dormant regional channel, directly attracting Xu Xin’s attention.
He directly revealed his real name: Qi Zixuan.
Xu Xin’s eyelid twitched; this name seemed familiar, perhaps... Qi Xuefei’s brother? The one actually leading the Hanging Pot Helping the World organization now?
Qi Xuefei had mentioned in the group before that since every survivor can only join one chat group now, she quit Hanging Pot Helping the World to join Explorers, and now her brother Qi Zixuan is in charge of Hanging Pot Helping the World.
A few scattered people chimed in. None chose to remain anonymous, as anonymity was meaningless now.
Their names all looked familiar to Xu Xin, regulars in the top ranks.
"I’m one of the organizers of Hanging Pot Helping the World. I just want to tell everyone not to worry about getting fevers or hypothermia from the rain or being in the water too long. Our organization has configured medicine for this issue, and if you need it, you can purchase it from me."
Before the event, Xu Xin had asked Qi Xuefei about it. She said the medicine was already made, but it needed to be enhanced with yesterday’s new materials, requiring another day. It seems the medicine Qi Zixuan is selling is the unenhanced version.
At this moment, Qi Xuefei also spoke up in the Explorers group: "If anyone needs it, you can come directly to me. But this batch of medicine has not yet been optimized, and while it will take effect, it will cause a period of weakness, so everyone should carefully consider before purchasing."
Causes weakness after use?
This effect wasn’t new to Xu Xin; in the Points Mall, the Weight Loss Pill (Blue) had a similar negative impact, causing weakness for a whole day.
Since there was a clear negative effect, it seems Qi Xuefei indeed produced a Pill acknowledged by the Treehouse System with attributes.
Xu Xin sent a private message to Qi Xuefei: "How long does your medicine cause weakness after use?"
Qi Xuefei: "I’m not sure; the description only mentioned it causes weakness for a period."
Xu Xin pondered for a moment and said, "Give me a starting batch of the unoptimized medicine."
Qi Xuefei: "Alright, consider this a trial. Its effect isn’t great, but once this event ends, the final product will be ready."
The other party initiated a trade, gifting him a pill.
Ordinary Pill (Green): Instantly cure common illnesses contracted in three days, but will weaken the body for two hours post-cure.
His identification ability could see the weakness period was two hours.
Healing sicknesses contracted within three days is undeniably strong. Although it causes two hours of weakness, it’s still a highly valuable medicine, unlike the Weight Loss Pill (Blue) which causes a day-long weakness. Two hours can easily be slept through at night.
"What counts as a common illness?" Xu Xin asked.
"Honestly, I’m not entirely sure since it hasn’t been clinically tested yet, but things like colds, fevers, and hypothermia should be fine. Originally, I wanted to clarify these before selling, but Zixuan went ahead on his whim, so you guys can try it out first."
So he’s actually a guinea pig?
But it’s not a big deal since his identification ability already told him the pros and cons of this pill.
This Qi Xuefei truly crafted useful medicine! Creating such medicine must be her special ability, and he must remain on good terms with her.
Having obtained a pill to cure illnesses, Xu Xin was less worried.
Looking out at the continuously swirling tornado, he took a deep breath.
Perhaps it’s time to go out and see.