Pure Water

The sight was truly terrifying, so Cheng Shuili decisively used Insight.

【Insight complete!】

【Insight effective】

【Name: Mourning Coagulant】

【Origin: A malformed fusion born from acid rain, discarded biochemical reagents, and radiation. It is the manifestation of the research institute's catastrophe, an aggregate of countless leaked substances wailing in corrosion, carrying the despair of this land being thoroughly polluted. When intruders arrive, this hissing slime awakens from the depths of the ruins, greedily devouring everything in an attempt to drag all things into homogenous decay.】

【Weakness: Fears pure substances, especially uncontaminated water sources, as its very existence is a negation of "pollution."】

Mourning Coagulant? It fears pure water?

If it were anyone else, they might be at a loss, but Cheng Shuili had enough stock in her Abyss Ring to purify it right where it stood!

Without a word of nonsense, Cheng Shuili pulled several large barrels of mineral water she had previously hoarded from the Abyss Ring, and each of them was given one.

Although a formidable enemy was right in front of them, it felt truly strange to distribute such things at a time like this, but Qi Wanyi and the others chose to trust her unconditionally.

Ginger Candy, however, couldn't help but quip: "Boss, you don't mean for us to feed it water together and drown it to death, do you?"

"Less talk," Cheng Shuili's voice was calm, but her movements were lightning fast, "Not feeding it, splashing it! Aim at its body and splash the water!"

Before her words had even faded, the massive Mourning Coagulant let out a teeth-grinding hiss, and several thick, foul-smelling purple tentacles detached from its main body, lashing out like whips toward Ailin and Ginger Candy, who were closest!

"Don't just stand there! Splash the water!"

Cheng Shuili shouted sharply and was the first to heave her entire bucket of water at it!

The moment the clear water made contact with the dark purple slime, it erupted with a violent reaction, as if a red-hot iron had been plunged into ice water!

"Sshh!"

A harsh sound rang out instantly, and vast amounts of white steam billowed up!

In the areas splashed by the pure water, the slime seemed to burn, rapidly shrinking and fading from an unsettling deep purple to a sickly, ashen pale, before finally shattering into rigid, ash-like fragments that fell with a rustle!

The Mourning Coagulant emitted a non-human, shrill shriek mixed with hissing and wailing, its entire massive body writhing in agony as it instinctively recoiled!

"It actually works!" Xinxue's eyes lit up, and without hesitation, she splashed her own bucket of water as well!

Well... so she hadn't trusted it either, just hadn't said anything.

Qi Wanyi and Ailin followed right after!

Although Ginger Candy kept complaining, her movements were not slow at all; she even accurately splashed water onto a tentacle that was trying to sneak up on her, causing it to instantly stiffen, turn to ash, and snap off!

Several large buckets of pure water were splashed out, looking like glaring patches of white being forcibly opened up in the thick, inky darkness.

Several massive, steaming holes appeared on the Mourning Coagulant's body, its writhing became sluggish and painful, and its shrieks took on a distinct tone of fear.

The corrosive atmosphere within the corridor seemed to be diluted somewhat.

Monsters that consumed resources like this were just too easy to deal with!

Cheng Shuili said nothing, simply pulling out a few more barrels of mineral water. This time, the others didn't say a word, each scrambling to grab one and splashing it right at the monster!

Once the buckets of clear water were spent, the nauseating purple monster had been reduced to piles of gray, stiff, lifeless mud on the floor, hissing with the last of its weak bubbles before falling silent.

A strange smell permeated the corridor, like the fishy scent of earth after a heavy rain mixed with some kind of disinfectant, forcibly suppressing the previous suffocating, rotting sweetness, though it had only become more unpleasant.

Silence returned, but it was heavier than before, leaving only the sound of the few of them breathing somewhat rapidly.

Ginger Candy stared at her empty bucket, then at the pile of thoroughly lifeless residue on the ground, and muttered: "That's it...? It's gone? It really could be killed?"

Her tone carried a hint of disbelief, even a touch of absurdity. Such a terrifying thing, solved by a few buckets of common mineral water?

Xinxue raised her hand to pat Ginger Candy's back. She was still panting from exhaustion, but wanting to tease Ginger Candy, she simply pointed at Cheng Shuili, the meaning clear: "Could the Boss ever be wrong?"

Cheng Shuili ignored them, silently collecting the empty buckets.

Might as well stuff them back into the Abyss Ring; such large plastic barrels were quite rare, and what if they came in handy later? Better to keep them.

As she thought this, her gaze moved past the remains and toward the deeper, darker corridor behind them.

No telling what kind of things would be next.

She had two uses of Insight left, so if she were to use them, she would have to weigh the options carefully.

Qi Wanyi squatted down and used the tip of her dagger to gently poke at a piece of gray-white hard block, which shattered easily.

"It's like... it was burned," she said softly, her brow furrowed: "It's amazing, it's just water, yet it had the effect of fire."

That was a rather artistic way of putting it, Cheng Shuili thought thoughtfully.

Ailin took a bottle of mineral water from her pack, unscrewed the cap, and took a small sip. The cold liquid slid down her throat, slightly suppressing the pounding in her heart. "Using something like this to guard the door..."

She looked around at the twisted, dark environment, her voice tight, "What could be locked inside, or left behind?"

Qi Wanyi added: "The Boss is here, what's there to be afraid of?"

Exactly, what was there to fear?

It was just a small, broken area of a small, broken dungeon; Cheng Shuili had never once been intimidated!

Her gaze fell on the doors on either side that had been sealed shut by slime. She noticed that with the death of the Mourning Coagulant, the dark purple blockages in the door cracks seemed to lose some of their luster, becoming somewhat shriveled and even slightly cracked.

In other words, the doors should be openable now.

Cheng Shuili walked up to the nearest door, pulled out Night Hunt, and pried it hard into a crack.

"Snap..."

With a crisp sound, a small piece of gray-purple, dried-mud-like substance was pried off, revealing the rusted metal door panel underneath.

Cheng Shuili's voice was exceptionally clear in the silence, "The monster is dead, and these things have lost their hold."

She withdrew her blade and looked at the others, "Come on, let's see if we can push this door open."

No one questioned her.

The group stepped forward in tacit agreement, inserting their weapons into the gaps and bracing their shoulders against the cold, deformed metal door panel.

"One, two, three... push!"

The hinges let out a teeth-grinding groan, resisting stubbornly.

The shriveled slime seals rustled as they fell away. Finally, after a harsh sound of metal scraping, the door was forcibly pushed open, creating a narrow gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

A more intense, more putrid, fishy smell, mixed with the scent of dust and rust, instantly surged out from behind the door, rushing to meet them.