The kayaks gradually moved away from the shore, heading toward the middle of the lake.
Every so often, one of them retrieved a tube of water, capped it, and placed it in the sample box.
The reservoir was enormous, and with both its source and outlet blocked, it had become almost a stagnant pool. The water barely moved, and its quality varied from one area to another, so they had to collect samples at different depths and from different sections.
The sampling work was tedious and dull.
One of the workers suddenly brought up a topic.
"Do you know how many people died yesterday?"
"How many?"
"I glanced at the station's numbers this morning. More than 3,600!"
"Shit! That many?"
They saw so many bodies every day that they had nearly grown numb to them, but hearing that number still sent a chill down their spines.
"Actually, the toll was even higher the day before. I heard it topped four thousand. But that was the peak; it should drop quickly in a few days. After the nearby soil was treated with lime, they hardly found any parasites in it," the team leader added.
"That's true. The ones dying now were already infected."
As they chatted, none of them noticed the enormous whirlpool forming on the water nearby, or the huge, indistinct shadow that flashed past beneath the surface.
Early the next morning, Chen Shouyi woke up and checked his Status Panel.
At last, his stats had changed. His Strength had increased by 0.1, reaching 16.1.
After nearly nine days on Earth, he had gained just 0.1.
Too slow!
His Will, on the other hand, remained unaffected and had risen by another 0.2.
He clenched his fist. The air gave a faint pop, and his hair fluttered in the breeze.
Suddenly,