Departure

Simon was both exhilarated and somewhat regretful. With his strength enhanced, he had gained a measure of confidence. Even if he encountered the Cyclopean Toad again without leveraging the terrain, he believed he could hold his own. Continuing to stay here held little significance anymore. He finally decided that early the next morning, he would depart this place to seek other survivors and a way out.

Having made up his mind, Simon found himself unable to continue sleeping. Lying on the sofa, he kept his eyes open in the dark night. It was already past three in the morning, with two or three hours left until dawn. He resolved to leave as soon as it got light.

During the following hours, although several corpses piled up in the living room, no corpse beasts appeared. Simon, restless, got up and began cutting various clothes and sheets from the cabinet into long strips, using them to weave ropes. Despite having woven several ropes earlier, he felt they were insufficient. Taking advantage of the remaining time, he prepared to weave more ropes for backup.

As daylight gradually broke, Simon had accumulated a large pile of ropes on the sofa. Holding his hammer, he moved to the living room and began smashing the window frames of the balcony.

He decided to maneuver the raft directly out of the balcony window into the water. The raft was quite wide, obstructed by these window frames, which had to be smashed. With Simon's current strength, he effortlessly smashed these obstructive window frames one by one. Only after ensuring the raft could pass through did he stop and return to the bedroom, where he moved the raft made from two wooden doors into the living room.

Next, he removed the last wooden door in the house, which was the bedroom door. There were too many things he needed to take with him, and just two doors were too small. Simon decided to enlarge the raft, believing that a larger area would provide more stability on the water, making it safer. Combining three doors together, Simon still wasn't satisfied and opened the security door. He entered the end of the corridor, where a couple used to live, and took two more wooden doors.

With five wooden doors combined, Simon was finally satisfied. He used a large number of wooden planks horizontally nailed onto these five wooden doors and then used the ropes he had woven the night before to wrap and bind them, ensuring the raft was as stable as possible.

Busy for a full hour, Simon wiped the sweat from his forehead and showed a satisfied expression. Although the raft couldn't compare with a real boat, it looked sturdy enough for now. If he could find more iron nails or wires, he could continue to reinforce it.

He had already used up all the iron nails he had collected before. Afterwards, Simon boiled a kettle of water, tore open the last bucket of instant noodles, added a sausage, and let it soak in the water. He decided to enjoy a hearty breakfast before setting off to leave this place.

After leaving some unused tap water in the basin, Simon brushed his teeth, washed his face and hands, wiped himself down, and changed into a fresh set of clothes, making himself look much refreshed.

As he embarked on this journey, no one knew what lay ahead, and Simon could not predict it either. Looking at the house where he had lived for over a year, he felt a vague sense of indescribable nostalgia.

After finishing the noodles, Simon let out a long sigh and moved the raft from the ground. This raft, pieced together from five wooden doors and a large number of planks, was not light. Thanks to Simon's current strength, which was far beyond that of an ordinary person, he could lift it easily.

Moving it towards the balcony direction, he slowly pushed it outside. With one final shove, the raft slid out along the balcony and splashed into the water outside.

Standing at the edge of the balcony, Simon watched the raft float steadily on the water's surface, appearing quite stable.

Simon was pleased with himself. There was a thick rope tied to the raft, which he had intentionally reinforced. At the end of the rope were three bricks that Simon had found on the rooftop, serving as a makeshift anchor for the raft.

At this moment, Simon tightened the rope, pulling the raft close to the edge of the balcony. He secured the rope to the handle of the nearby security door, ensuring it was firmly fastened.

Next, Simon began to transport his belongings. First, he carefully moved the storage box filled with bottled water to the edge of the balcony and placed it securely on the raft. The heavy box caused one end of the raft to sink slightly, tilting it upwards at the other end, though not excessively.

"This water-filled storage box is quite heavy. It's fortunate I used five wooden doors, or it could have been troublesome," Simon remarked with satisfaction. He boarded the raft himself. It was spacious and floated evenly, demonstrating stability that pleased Simon greatly. He then shifted the storage box to the center of the raft and tightly secured it with ropes already binding the raft, ensuring its stability.

Following this, Simon proceeded methodically, retrieving travel backpacks filled with items from the bedroom and living room. Oil, salt, spices, rice, clothing, extra ropes, and finally a canister of liquefied gas, a stove, and a kettle were added to the raft, each securely fastened in place.

Simon secured a properly sized wooden plank to a clothesline pole, serving as an oar.

As for the corpse of the one-eyed toad, ravaged by the undead, Simon dared not consume it and had no choice but to abandon it.

He untied the rope from the security door handle, casting a deep glance at the living room. Simon boarded the raft and with a push against the balcony, the laden raft splashed into the water, slowly departing.

Standing on the raft, Simon noted it was laden unlike a typical boat, causing it to sit deeper in the water. The surface of the raft was barely visible above the waterline, quickly soaking Simon's shoes and socks.

However, Simon accepted this reality, knowing he lacked the means to construct a proper boat. Creating this makeshift raft was already his best effort.

"Fortunately, I don't get seasick," Simon thought to himself. Standing on the raft, using his makeshift oar, he navigated through the water. Initially, the raft pivoted slowly in place rather than drifting toward his intended destination.

Simon remained patient and observed the patterns. After several attempts, he gained some insight, and finally, the raft began to move slowly towards the front.

His first destination was another building closest to his current location. Similar to the building he lived in, it also had thirty floors, with only its topmost floor visible above the water, about forty to fifty meters away.

Simon paddled with both hands, carrying a knife and hammer with him at all times, remaining highly vigilant of his surroundings.