An actor had to be able to get into character in a second, anytime

"Although this building was designed for the Tail Race and is mostly filled with water, the fact that it's currently dry seems to have been taken into account during the initial construction," Li Nian casually pointed to a closed Metal Door, "So there are stairs over there that normal Human Race can use."

Following the direction Li Nian pointed, Lin Yu and Chen Le pushed open the door and indeed saw a spiral staircase leading upwards.

The three of them stood below, gazing up at the spiraling staircase that seemed to go on forever. It felt as if the end of the staircase wasn't the top of the building, but rather a direct path to Heaven.

There were at least ten thousand steps waiting for the three of them to climb.

Chen Le let out a breath, then rolled up his sleeves and smoothed his hair back.

"Okay, let's just treat it as hiking... at least it's a little lower than a mountain."

With that, Chen Le resolutely began to climb the stairs step by step.

But just as he had taken less than ten steps...

Chen Le suddenly felt a "whoosh" sound beside his ear, and a figure flashed past.

Finally, about a hundred steps ahead of him, Chen Le saw Li Nian and Zhu Ming's heads peeking out.

"How did you two move so fast?!"

Chen Le said in shock.

Li Nian said with a grin, "It's Sister Zhu Ming's [Item]... Brother Le, don't you have any [Item] for traveling?"

Lin Yu shook the [Shady Corner] in his hand. The staircase spiraled upwards, resulting in many shadows in the gaps between the stairs, which gave Lin Yu room to use the [Shady Corner].

"Would you like a ride?"

As Lin Yu spoke, Chen Le paused for a moment, then spoke up in surprise.

"Your movement-type [Item]... doesn't it have any cost, cooldown, or side effects?"

As a top expert about to enter the "Tier 4", "Fishing Man" Chen Le naturally has all kinds of movement-type [Item] - long distance, short distance... and even a few with very powerful functions.

The level and values of activation speed, movement speed, and movement distance are all fully in line with the intensity of combat that Chen Le, as a top-tier "Tier 3" fighter, needs to face.

However, while those [Item] are useful... they also all have very fair high consumption and long cooldowns.

There was absolutely no way Chen Le would carry them for traveling.

Rather, most "Player" don't actually use the [Item] that help them move to travel quickly.

People like Lin Yu, who travel long and short distances with different types of [Item], are actually the odd ones and the minority.

This made Chen Le quite envious.

Especially since it seems the other party can bring people with them.

However, Chen Le only felt envious and didn't have any other extraneous emotions.

"You two don't need to worry about me, just go up and wait—don't go all the way to the top, wait for me halfway up, just in case there's an ambush or something," Chen Le instructed. "Although I climb stairs on foot, I'm not too slow when I'm focused."

Li Nian laughed lightly and said cheerfully, "Then we'll be going now, Brother Le."

Lin Yu also waved goodbye to Chen Le for the time being.

Then, he activated [Shady Corner] again, leaping repeatedly through the shadows of the stairs.

The ceiling height of this floor was indeed exaggerated. Even with the help of [the Shady Corner], it took Lin Yu nearly ten seconds to reach the first door of the staircase.

That is to say...

Second floor.

Although a transparent glass door is used here, it is also a double-layered, sealed door with a drainage compartment design.

Through the double-glazed doors, Lin Yu could vaguely see that although the second floor was not as tall as the first floor, it seemed to be about fifty or sixty meters high, and it was filled with various staggered platforms distributed vertically.

However, it is not being filled with water now either.

"When you came last time, was there no water on any of these floors either?"

Lin Yu asked Li Nian a question.

Although he had a rough idea of the answer, he still took a cautious approach and confirmed it by asking about Li Nian's information.

Li Nian nodded, giving Lin Yu the answer.

"Yes, the last time I came... it wasn't filled with water either."

"When this Ruins City sank, it's very possible that the building's water supply system malfunctioned—although it's now underwater, it was originally filled with water, possibly by drawing seawater or groundwater. Now that the entire city's location has shifted, it's quite possible that the system failed."

"It's even possible that someone deliberately shut off the water injection system before it sank—after all, the core components and facilities of [Azure Sea Sky Dome] are on the top floor of this building."

Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu nodded.

"That makes sense... Let's continue upwards."

Although Chen Le was still climbing the stairs, Lin Yu felt there was no need to stop and wait on the second floor.

He continued to leap upwards, carrying Li Nian at Li Nian speed, jumping continuously between the shadows, their height constantly increasing.

Soon...

Lin Yu bypassed the third and fourth floors and arrived at the fifth floor.

Afterwards, Lin Yu passed through the glass door in front of the fifth floor...

But then it suddenly braked and came to a stop.

Because behind the double-glazed doors on the fifth floor... Lin Yu saw a corridor.

A corridor with a ceiling height of only three meters, like those found in normal human buildings...

On both sides of the corridor walls, there are rows of wooden doors with house numbers written on them, quietly arranged.

Seeing this, Lin Yu looked at Li Nian.

What's going on?

Li Nian saw what the fifth floor looked like and said, "Oh, well—it's like this building is rather special in this city, specifically designed for the Tail Race... This fifth floor seems to be another floor within this building specifically built for the Tail Race, reserved for humans."

Li Nian explained.

"It sounds like another restaurant catering specifically to foreigners has opened in a Chinatown overseas."

Lin Yu complained.

"That's really true," Li Nian said with a smile. "However, it's not very interesting inside—I went in last time, and there wasn't anything valuable. It's just a very ordinary warehouse and office layout, with a few small shops selling things occasionally."

As Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu pondered for a moment and then said, "Hmm... I'd also like to go in and take a look around, after all, it does look a bit different."

"Since you're not interested, why don't you wait for Brother Le here at the entrance? It's the fifth floor anyway, so waiting for him is just right," Lin Yu said, adding, "Besides, if you stay here, you can avoid the situation where Brother Le happens to have climbed past here while we're going in, and we both miss each other."

Upon hearing Lin Yu's words, Li Nian spoke up.

"Hey--but if I go with you, Sister Zhu Ming, even though it's boring inside and there's nothing valuable there, I'd still like to go with you."

But before Lin Yu could refuse with some difficulty, Li Nian continued talking on her own.

"But what you said makes sense, Sister Zhu Ming... I should stay here and wait for Brother Le —so, I won't go with you this time, Sister Zhu Ming."

Hearing Li Nian's words, Lin Yu said softly, "Then I'll trouble you."

"Waiting in the same spot isn't hard, it's just a little boring," Li Nian said with a smile. "But boredom is indeed troublesome... Sister Zhu Ming, you'd better hurry back!"

Li Nian spoke, Lin Yu nodded again. "Okay, I'll do my best."

As he spoke, he walked to the glass door.

The door wasn't locked and could be opened easily. After closing the door behind him, Lin Yu opened the second glass door.

He officially entered this special fifth floor, which had a normal ceiling height.

Then...

Lin Yu began to walk slowly down the corridor.

He looked at the metal nameplates hanging on the doors of the rooms on both sides, the largest of which started with "578".

Lin Yu stroked the Metal Door and slowly walked forward; the numbers became smaller and smaller as he went further in.

At last...

Lin Yu stopped in front of several rooms at almost the far end of the other side.

The reason he stopped and asked Li Nian to stay where she was and wait for Chen Le to come in alone was not just because the fifth floor looked unusually tall and Lin Yu wanted to come in and take a look.

Furthermore, because...

He saw some familiar traces through the glass door.

For example...

Lin Yu is now standing in front of apartment number 505, his fingers lightly touching the metal doorplate.

All the house numbers here are written in a somewhat modified, ornate script, with very flowing strokes, making them look almost messy.

When Lin Yu saw "578" outside the door, he realized that the elegant way the number "5" was written on the metal plate looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere not long ago.

Now, standing before room "505," Lin Yu could finally be certain.

The "505" in front of me... is exactly what I saw on the note earlier.

That wasn't "SOS," nor was it an abbreviation for a distress signal; it was a house number—the person behind it wasn't calling for help, but rather telling Lin Yu...

Come see me in Room 505.

Lin Yu sighed and scratched his head.

"As expected, the heading on that scrap paper really messed up my thoughts and ideas. I made far too many misjudgments and mistakes regarding that note."

Fortunately, although there have been many mistakes, none of them have been truly fatal so far.

Standing at the door of Room 505, Lin Yu gently knocked on the wooden door.

Thump, thump.

And shortly after Lin Yu knocked on the door...

A series of hurried footsteps came from behind the door.

By taking advantage of...

Click.

The wooden door unlocked, and a young girl dressed in beige loungewear appeared behind it.

Lin Yu's face showed a shocked expression when he saw the other person, his pupils contracting.

"... It's you!"

Lin Yu cried out in shock.

But...

Lin Yu didn't recognize the other person at all—he was even somewhat certain that he had never seen this guy before.

Lin Yu did this because...

He deduced from the girl's Microexpressions that she recognized him as well.

That's why Lin Yu took the initiative and pretended to recognize the other person as well.

Behind the door, the girl who opened it gave Lin Yu a sweet smile when she saw his shocked expression.

"Long time no see, my dear Xia Bao."