Chapter 101: Extreme Heat

Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Extreme Heat

Shi Zhile wrapped herself in a military greatcoat and stepped out of the wooden cabin. Trudging through the snow, she went first to Luo Jiuyin’s cabin.

She opened the door. Luo Jiuyin’s corpse lay on the floor.

Her body was covered in cuts, two of which were especially severe. One was to her eye, which had been gouged out.

The other wound was on her abdomen, a gash torn so deep it nearly bisected her. The injury was filled with charred, unidentifiable debris—clearly not the work of a human.

The locations of her wounds were identical to the ones that had killed Guo Funing and Hu Yaqin. It was most likely the work of those two after they had turned into monsters.

Shi Zhile collected the stones for the courtyard into her inventory, then dismantled all the wooden cabins into wood to take out of the instance with her.

The scene shifted instantly, and Shi Zhile found herself back in her shelter.

Inside her inventory was a new item resembling a glass dome.

’This must be the Sea God’s Energy Shield.’

She took it out, and a description box immediately appeared.

[Sea God’s Protective Energy Shield: Can be deployed over an island. The covered area will become invisible and gain immunity to all minor natural disasters.

Current Shield Power: 90%. The shield loses power when attacked. If capacity drops below 50%, the natural disaster immunity is lost. If capacity drops below 10%, the Energy Shield will be permanently destroyed.]

Shi Zhile’s eyes lit up. With this Energy Shield, she’d never have to worry about anyone discovering her island.

Shi Zhile deployed it over the island at once. When she looked up at the sky, she could faintly make out a pale blue dome that reached down to the surface of the sea.

After a quick breakfast, she immediately took her boat out to sea.

As her sailboat moved away from the island’s perimeter, she looked back and saw it had completely vanished from the sea’s surface.

’The invisibility effect is amazing. But... if I can’t see the island, how am I supposed to get back?’

The moment she had the thought, the island concealed by the Energy Shield reappeared.

Shi Zhile was thoroughly impressed. "Whoa, it’s even voice-activated! Go invisible!"

The island disappeared once more, and Shi Zhile steered her sailboat out toward the open sea.

Seven days had passed. Outside the instance, the weather had already changed from early spring to high summer.

The sun baked the surface of the ocean, causing the water to evaporate. For anyone sailing, it felt like being trapped in an oven—stuffy, hot, and humid.

Within minutes, Shi Zhile was drenched in sweat. She pulled out a bottle of water and downed it in one go.

She had left in a hurry, and most of her non-perishable food was still in the shelter’s basement.

She didn’t have her fishing rod, but luckily, she had a fishing net in her inventory. Shi Zhile took it out and cast it. Her luck was good—she cast the net twice, and it came back full both times.

The heat was oppressive. After standing in the sun for less than thirty minutes, she felt a faint stinging on her face.

She glanced at her reflection. Her face was bright red from the sun, and the skin on her cheeks had begun to crack slightly, making for a frightening sight.

She immediately retreated into the cabin and pulled up her system panel to check the weather.

’Weather: Sunny. Temperature: 38 degrees Celsius. It’s hot, but it shouldn’t be hot enough to actually cause injury.’

She dragged the fish from the deck into the cabin. They had only been in the sun for a short time, but all the fish and shrimp from her first catch had already been cooked to death.

Shi Zhile threw the dead fish and shrimp back into the sea and placed the survivors into her Breeding Space.

[Breeding Space Notification: Multiple species of fish and shrimp detected. Would you like to build a fishpond immediately?]

"Yes!"

’I never thought the Breeding Space could build a fishpond, but since it can, it saves me the trouble of doing it by hand.’

The fishpond was successfully built, and the Breeding Space expanded.

Shi Zhile piloted the sailboat back to her island.

The moment she stepped onto the island, the scorching heat vanished completely. It felt like taking a single step out of a vast desert and into the temperate lands of Jiangnan.

Shi Zhile looked up. It was the same sun, but its rays felt much gentler.

’The Energy Shield blocks minor natural disasters. It looks like the disaster has changed from extreme cold to extreme heat.’

Coconuts littered the ground in her courtyard. Shi Zhile gathered them into her inventory, then casually cracked one open, sat down, and started checking the chat channel.

The once-lively chat channel was now quiet, with very few people speaking. A handful of them were sharing their experiences from the instance.

The number of players in the region had dropped from 220,000 to 120,000, and it was still slowly ticking down.

Watching the numbers drop, she figured that by the time the instance officially ended at midnight, they’d be lucky if 100,000 players were left alive.

If the player count fell below 150,000, there would be another server merge. She needed to prepare before that happened.

She hadn’t checked on her spaces in seven days. After finishing the coconut water, Shi Zhile went into the Breeding Space first.

Inside the coop, two roosters led a flock of hens as they pecked at the grass. The stone feeding trough was empty, and a large pile of eggs sat in the corner.

Shi Zhile refilled the stone trough with corn, then gathered the eggs into her inventory.

The small calf had grown. When it saw Shi Zhile emerge from the coop, it came bounding over to her.

Shi Zhile gave it a few pats before adding more corn to the cattle trough.

The grass had been grazed clean, leaving nothing extra for the rabbits. Shi Zhile’s attention shifted to her Planting Space.

’The crops in the Planting Space should be about mature. It’s time to plant something new.’

She entered the Planting Space. Her eyes were greeted by a sea of vibrant green, and the air was filled with a fresh, crisp aroma.

Perhaps because the space had been upgraded, a maturity progress bar now floated above every crop.

The leafy greens in the vegetable patch were labeled ’Mature - Edible,’ while the millet planted behind it was marked ’Fully Mature.’

The peach tree was at 60% maturity, and the cotton was at 90%.

Shi Zhile checked each crop. Not much was fully mature yet. She grabbed a sickle and started harvesting the millet.

The nearby pear tree still had some fruit hanging from its branches. When she grew tired of harvesting, she’d pick one and eat it. After eating three pears, each of her three stats increased by another point.

After she finished harvesting all the millet and laid it out on an empty plot of ground, Shi Zhile turned to look at the sweet potato patch. The vines were sprawling everywhere, creating a lush and particularly beautiful carpet of green.

But they were only at eighty percent maturity.

She cut off some of the vines and tossed them into the Breeding Space for the rabbits. Then she picked some of the leafy greens that had bug holes in them and threw them in for the chickens to peck at.

Two large words, ’NEEDS WATER,’ appeared floating above the space. Shi Zhile knew it was the Planting Space prompting her to water the crops.

She exited the space and headed to the lake to collect fresh water in her inventory, then re-entered the Planting Space to water the crops.

After taking care of her chores in both spaces, she finally had time to sit down and rest.

In her private messages, she saw that Wang Peng had asked her ten minutes ago if she was out of the instance.

She replied: [I’m out.]

He replied right away: [Do you have any eggs? I got a small electric fan in the instance. I’m used to the heat, plus I don’t have a battery for it, so I figured I’d trade it to you for some eggs.]

A bead of sweat trickled from her forehead, making the cuts on her face sting. Shi Zhile quickly wiped it away and rinsed her face with some cool water.

The stinging subsided, but a moment later, fresh beads of sweat were already forming on her nose.

’This fan is a must-have,’ Shi Zhile thought.

She filled the bathtub with lukewarm fresh water and submerged herself in it.

[This isn’t another one of those ’mini’ fans, is it?]

Wang Peng replied: [Don’t worry, I only rip off a friend once. It’s a floor fan, connects directly to a battery or solar panel. I’ll trade you for a hundred eggs.]