The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the headlights casting a faint beam of light in the dimness, illuminating this ravaged world.

Xi Xi tied the to her wrist, and in an instant, the light suddenly expanded.

The vehicle wreckage was scattered haphazardly, the body severely deformed and twisted beyond recognition, resembling a kneaded lump of iron.

Many vehicles had their doors open or their windows shattered, showing clear signs of struggle for survival.

The reinforced concrete fragments of the cross-sea bridge are piled up like mountains, with broken steel bars still remaining on the huge concrete blocks.

Xi Xi and Xi Zhongcang decided to go out and take a look.

To ensure everything went smoothly, the two drank the blue mushroom soup in addition to the glowing bamboo tube. Then, each of them picked up a diving talisman and a whale-transforming talisman, opened the cellar door, and stepped down.

Opening the car door directly would cause seawater to flood in, which was obviously not a wise move. Fortunately, Xi Xi had already considered this when designing the diving enhancement device, so he created an underwater free exit in the corner of the parking cabin on the first basement floor.

The effects of the talisman quickly became apparent. Contrary to Xi Xi's expectations, the Whale Transformation Talisman did not transform her into a fish.

Her body remained unchanged, but her breathing rate decreased, and the oxygen storage in her lungs seemed to have reached its limit, making the experience of breathing underwater incredibly strange.

With the blessing of the two talismans, they didn't even need to change into professional diving suits for pressure resistance and warmth, as the warm clothes they were wearing were perfectly adequate.

The father and daughter slowly swam out of the submarine. The icy seawater instantly enveloped their entire bodies, but only their exposed facial skin could feel the stinging sensation of countless tiny needles under the extreme cold.

To keep swimming light, they didn't wear any headgear. Xi Xi wasn't quite sure how she was breathing; she only felt a pungent smell in the seawater, a mixture of rottenness and metallic rust, which made her nauseous.

However, as they cautiously swam forward, they soon adapted.

Xi Xi's gaze swept around, and suddenly, she caught sight of an object emitting a faint light under a huge bridge wreck not far away.

She was overjoyed and quickly swam over.

The chest was covered with thick seaweed and barnacles, and looked quite old, but it was still recognizable as a golden treasure chest.

Xi Xi used her sickle to cut the tangled seaweed and pulled the treasure chest out. The chest then swam slowly toward her RV under the pull of the water, and was eventually drawn in by the Treasure Magnet.

Sure, the treasure magnet works perfectly fine underwater! Although retrieving treasure chests underwater is a bit more troublesome, at least we now have a normal supply route.

Xi Xi secretly pondered to herself that she must collect more diving talismans and whale-transforming talismans. Xi Zhongcang, who was not far away, waved to her.

Beneath the frame of a completely wrecked vehicle, thick stone slabs are being pressed down firmly.

Xi Zhongcang stared at the rune stone tablets, feeling a sense of déjà vu, as if they were identical to the rune fragments he had seen while ice fishing.

Xi Xi struggled against the current and swam forward. The stone slab was covered with mysterious symbols and patterns. Although she could not decipher them, her intuition told her that her father's prediction might not be wrong.

When her fingers lightly touched the stone slab, it indeed began to heat up and cool down, eventually bursting out with a dazzling light that merged into the tattoo on Xi Xi's left arm.

This is truly a valuable upgrade material for the "Auspicious Pen Brings Fortune" system!

However, the instant the stone slab disappeared, a huge mutated crab crawled out from the bottom of the original stone slab.

The crab's shell is dark red and covered with sharp spines and raised patterns.

Its pincers are thick and large, and when the jaws open, they reveal sharp teeth that send chills down your spine.

The father and daughter involuntarily shrank back.

However, this mutated crab seemed to have poor eyesight. Instead of attacking Xi Xi and Xi Zhongcang, it slowly crawled out sideways and then suddenly rushed towards the RV with its lights flashing in the distance.

Could it be that the Whale Transformation Talisman has a deterrent effect on sea creatures? Would sea creatures mistake her for one of their own kind?

Xi Xi frowned as she looked at the mutated shrimp swimming around her.

These shrimp have slender bodies and shells that appear as hard as iron. Their tails shimmer with blue light, forming strange lines in the darkness, but the shrimp swim past her as if they don't notice.

The next second, the mutated crab in the distance was hitting the RV's exterior with its sharp pincers, the "bang bang bang" sound deafening.

However, Xi Xi and Xi Zhongcang did not approach, but only gazed at it from afar.

A moment later, as expected, an electric current surged up. It turned out that Chu Zhiqin's upgraded Thunder Fang Mace was conducting electricity from inside the vehicle to the exterior surface of the RV through a fixed medium, forming a ring of electric current.

This was specially planned by Xi Xi for her mother. Xi's parents also participated in the design, just to better defend against external attacks when she stayed behind. They didn't expect it to come in handy so soon.

The mutated crab trembled violently upon being struck by the electric shock, and instantly spewed out black mist.

The thick, dense black fog spread along the seawater, and Xi Xi and Xi Zhongcang quickly swam further away.

The father and daughter were not seriously injured, but Chu Zhiqin, who was inside the RV, was the one who suffered.

Xi's mother's light screen connection immediately went live: "Oh no, I can't see! Everything is black!! Where's the crab? Keep an eye on it!"

It seems that while the oxygen supply device can extract oxygen from seawater, it cannot filter toxic gases, which is a fatal flaw.

Xi Zhongcang, who was in charge of the vehicle modification, was filled with remorse and kept beating his chest in frustration. Fortunately, the mutated crab's spray only caused temporary blindness; if it had been highly toxic gas, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!