Faced with the girl's invitation, Chu Xiu naturally had no reason to refuse.
The group went all the way up, the thirty-first floor was filled with barricades, and every so often, some warning traps could be seen.
"Follow me closely, don't step on the traps on the ground, it took me forever to make them." The girl wiped the sweat from her forehead, "By the way, my name is Guan Ke."
"Chu Xiu."
While chatting, they had arrived at the thirty-second floor.
In other floors, scattered stones and planks could be seen everywhere, but here everything was cleaned up and piled near the stairway entrance, combined with wooden tables, wardrobes, door panels, and other miscellaneous items, forming a makeshift defensive barrier nearly two meters high.
Looking through the gaps, two boys could be seen sitting on small stools at the end of the corridor, one surrounded by a pile of clothing, the other fiddling with a dead mutated rat.
"That's Xu Hang and Song Zhiping, their professions are Tailor (D) and Perfumer (C) respectively, the latter also handles food when he's free."
"Because of the Perfumer, even if these rats are gutted, the smell won't attract those monsters, and the perfume he concocts can conceal our scent at night."
"That's a pretty good profession," Chu Xiu nodded, "What about you, what's your profession?"
"Puppet Master (D)," Guan Ke said, continuing to lead the four upward.
"Puppet Master?" Chu Xiu was surprised, "There is such a profession in the Abyss? Is it about making dolls?"
"It's about making puppets," Guan Ke corrected, "My puppets can be used as monitors, professions in the Abyss are varied, what's so strange about that? What about you, what's your profession?"
"Bone Assembler (D)."
Guan Ke paused for a moment: "That sounds made up."
"Professions in the Abyss are just that varied," Chu Xiu said with a smile.
"Tsk," Guan Ke pouted, "What about your talent?"
"Bone Polishing (D)."
Guan Ke: "... It really sounds like you're making it up."
Chu Xiu laughed heartily, changing the topic: "What about your talent?"
Guan Ke rolled her eyes: "I'm not telling you."
Then continued: "So what can you do?"
"I can make equipment from corpses."
Upon hearing this, Guan Ke looked at the Bone Armor on Chu Xiu with surprise: "You're not a rich second generation?"
"I'm not," Chu Xiu shook his head, "My dad is a factory worker, and my mom is an accountant in a small company."
Whether it was an illusion or not, after saying this, Chu Xiu felt Guan Ke's gaze seemed a bit friendlier.
Casual chatting led the group onto the rooftop, the water tank was not far from the door, the path between was covered by a large patchwork cloth, forming an almost sealed space.
"That's our tailor's handiwork, so we don't have to worry about being discovered by nearby flying mutated creatures when fetching water," Guan Ke said.
"Not bad."
Chu Xiu was a bit surprised, their small group seemed quite decent.
The group arrived at the water tank, the water inside was covered with a layer of green algae, but thanks to the purification device, it was barely drinkable.
And there was plenty, enough to last at least seven days without a doubt.
Chu Xiu was completely relieved, he took out a water bottle and drank heartily, the other three's eyes were also shining brightly, after Guan Ke's nod, they eagerly picked up the nearby filtered water bottles and gulped down the water.
The cool water flowed down the throat, Chu Xiu felt his cells throughout his body were being nourished.
"Refreshing!"
He drank heartily, at least consuming a liter of water in one go.
The other three did about the same, making Guan Ke chuckle: "You guys, why wait until you're this thirsty to find water?"
"We have mushrooms to eat," Yun Lu said in high spirits after drinking water, her eyes curved, taking out a handful of mushrooms from the Storage Space, "Sister, these are for you."
Guan Ke accepted with a smile, but then furrowed her eyebrows: "Though water isn't scarce, food is really a big problem, I wonder if others have found any."
Yun Lu took a bite of a mushroom: "Don't worry sister, my talent is Food Perception (B), I can help find food."
As these words fell, Guan Ke looked at Yun Lu with a surprised expression. Before she could say anything, suddenly a hearty laughter echoed from the stairwell: "Food Perception? Haha, then our team won't lack anything."
Everyone looked towards the source of the voice, seeing four people, three men and one woman, walk up. Leading them was a handsome young man about 1.8 meters tall, wearing a finely crafted Leather Armor and carrying a Great Sword on his back.
He walked up to the group, smiling and extending his hand: "I'm Shen Zhuo, I heard from Zhiping downstairs that newcomers arrived, so I came to check."
Chu Xiu silently evaluated Shen Zhuo, noting that both his Leather Armor and Great Sword were inscribed with complex and mysterious glyphs, indicating equipment with Extraordinary Power.
Clearly, he must be the rich second generation Guan Ke mentioned.
The group greeted each other.
Except for Chu Xiu, the other three seemed a bit formal in his presence, especially Li Shan, whose tone carried a subtle hint of respect and flattery.
Coincidentally, his stomach growled at that moment, causing his face to turn red with embarrassment and anger, seemingly feeling he had lost face in front of an important person.
However, Shen Zhuo was not bothered at all, instead he waved his hand and a few pieces of mutated rat meat appeared in his hand: "I bet you guys are hungry, eat some to fill your stomachs, don't worry, though this rat meat has a strong smell, it's edible."
Li Shan received it with surprised delight, his eyes full of gratitude towards Shen Zhuo, while the others each took a piece.
But Guan Ke frowned: "Shen Zhuo, these are the team's shared food resources, you should discuss it with others first before sharing."
Upon hearing this, the four paused from eating, while Shen Zhuo waved dismissively: "It's alright, eat up, the meat goes on my tab."
Guan Ke opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing, just clicked her tongue in displeasure.
Yun Lu felt a bit embarrassed, wanting to return the rat meat, but Guan Ke stopped her: "Eat up, I'm not targeting you guys."
As for Chu Xiu, he polished off the rat meat within ten seconds, aiming to get it into his stomach early.
While the four were eating, Shen Zhuo kept sizing them up, and after they finished, he smiled and asked: "I still don't know your names, what are your professions and talents?"
The four introduced themselves, Shen Zhuo's eyes shone brightly, and he praised each person lavishly after they spoke.
"Power Burst? Great! We need a combat profession in our team!"
"Poacher! That's a great profession, stealth, skinning, scouting, can greatly enhance team safety!"
"What? You can make weapons from corpses? Superb! We won't lack weapons in the future, definitely will enhance our team's overall strength!"
His barrage of compliments won them over, especially Li Shan, who looked inspired with an expression of "dying for a known cause."
Thus, when Shen Zhuo invited them to join the team to pass the trial, almost nobody hesitated to join.
Except...
"Sorry, I refuse."
Chu Xiu looked at the handsome young man in front of him and said calmly.