Chapter 15: A Player’s Provocation

Chapter 15: Chapter 15: A Player’s Provocation

After finishing her instant noodles, she carried the stove back to the cave. The 1.5-meter wooden bed took up almost all the space.

She moved the wooden bed onto the raft and placed the inconvenient-to-carry firewood and the white bucket inside the cave.

For convenience, the white bucket had been filled with seawater.

Now, it was perfect for misleading other players.

Although she had many supplies, they were all scattered about. She sorted the miscellaneous items into treasure chests and then stored the chests in her backpack, saving a lot of inventory space at once.

The coconut trees and wolfberry bushes couldn’t be dug up. She knocked down three coconuts and collected them, then lay down on her wooden bed and sent a private message to Jiang Yu:

["Do you have any more blueprints?"]

[Jiang Yu: "I have blueprints for an iron lock and a key."]

Shi Zhile sat up instantly. ["How about ten iron ingots or five bags of instant noodles for both blueprints?"]

She still hadn’t opened the iron chest. If she could craft a key using the workbench, it might be worth a try.

She really didn’t want to waste her triple-yield bonus. She had tried forcing the lock with a chisel and hammer, but it had proven to be completely useless.

’I won’t give up until the very last moment.’

[Jiang Yu: "I want ten bags of instant noodles."]

Shi Zhile haggled. ["I only have five bags. Are you short on stone? I can throw in two extra pieces of stone."]

She had checked the leaderboards. Jiang Yu was ranked ninth on the resource board. Out of hundreds of thousands of players, making it onto the board meant she wasn’t lacking supplies.

She wasn’t sure what the rankings were based on, but the fact that she, ranked eighth, had no shortage of food or drink was proof enough that others in the top ranks were the same.

Jiang Yu didn’t reply, instead sending a trade agreement directly. After confirming there were no issues, Shi Zhile signed it and sent over the instant noodles and stone.

After accepting the two blueprints, they were tripled. She didn’t rush to craft them, contacting God of Wealth first.

["Boss, interested in blueprints for an iron lock and key? Fifteen iron ingots for the set."]

[Jiang Yuxing: "I’ll trade you plastic for them."]

’Plastic?’

She hadn’t found any plastic yet and didn’t know what it was used for.

Immediately after, Jiang Yuxing sent a description.

[Plastic: The primary resource for crafting all plastic items, such as seawater filters, buckets, slippers, etc.]

Shi Zhile glanced at her mini seawater filter. ’If I want a plentiful water supply, I’ll definitely need a lot of this stuff.’

["Deal. 20 plastic for the two blueprints."]

Again, there was no formal trade agreement.

[Player Jiang Yuxing has sent you Plastic x20. Accept?"]

"Accept."

At the same time, Shi Zhile sent the two blueprints to him.

The triple-yield bonus triggered, granting her Plastic x60.

At that exact moment, a new update popped up on the workbench.

[Seawater Filter (Upgradeable): Requires Plastic x10, Iron Ingots x5. Produces one drop of fresh water per second. Upgrade?"]

"Yes!"

Her three seawater filters flew to the workbench, growing several times larger in an instant.

Unlike the mini version, the small bucket for holding seawater was replaced by a connecting pipe, and the water outlet was moved from the bottom to the side.

It no longer needed to be refilled frequently; as long as it was on the sea, it would filter continuously.

Shi Zhile used half of her remaining 30 plastic to make buckets, yielding three 15-liter transparent buckets.

"One seawater filter produces four liters of fresh water a day. Three of them make 12 liters, which is enough for daily use."

She opened the blueprint and used the workbench to craft a key.

[Materials required for Key: Iron Ingot x1. Craft?"]

"Yes!"

As her supplies increased, the system’s material costs were also rising.

An iron ingot of the same size could produce 10 iron nails, but only a single key.

Once the key was crafted, Shi Zhile immediately tried to open the iron chest. To her surprise, it still wouldn’t open.

She washed her wound clean with spring water, then lay down on the wooden bed, fully clothed.

The raft was surrounded by a brazier, a stove, and a campfire. Although it was hot, it felt exceptionally safe.

After a dreamless night, Shi Zhile awoke to the rising sun.

The first thing she did was check the wound on her hand. The scab showed no signs of falling off, but it no longer hurt at all.

Beside the bed, the three seawater filters were still dripping. The buckets only had a shallow layer of water in them. Since she wasn’t short on water, she paid them no mind.

The stove had gone out, but the campfire was still burning, and the lava in the stone basin was sparking.

The coconut tree in the corner had respawned three coconuts. She got out of bed, collected them, rinsed her mouth, and ate two sandwiches.

She locked the door, launched the raft, and began her first attempt to land on Rainforest Island.

The plan was perfect, but reality was a cruel mistress. After traveling for an hour and covering 60 kilometers, the raft came to a complete stop.

She was still about halfway from Rainforest Island. To reach it, she either had to upgrade the raft or use the oars.

Paddling would consume stamina. Once her stamina was depleted, it would be a suicide run.

The raft needed to be upgraded sooner or later. She opened the quest hall.

[Raft Upgrade - Sailboat with Cabin (100 km/1 hour): Wood x100, Iron Nails x100, Tung Oil x300, Cloth x1.]

The upgraded sailboat could travel 100 kilometers away from the deserted island.

That was far enough to reach Rainforest Island.

But she was missing the cloth.

She sat down on the floor and posted in the public chat.

["Two bottles of water or two bags of instant noodles for one piece of cloth."]

The price was low. Wealthy players wouldn’t deign to make the trade, but those who were short on food and happened to have cloth were the most likely to take the bait.

A net floated by in the distance. She cast her hook, reeled it in, and pulled it onto the raft with some effort.

[Intact Fishing Net x1, Salmon x1.]

The triple-yield bonus was gone. Shi Zhile felt a pang of regret but continued fishing in anticipation.

"I haven’t made a wish today. Come on, Wish Drifting Bottle."

A glass bottle bobbed on the water’s surface, was eventually pushed onto the raft by a small wave, and rolled to Shi Zhile’s feet.

"What a good little thing!"

She picked up the Wish Drifting Bottle, but before she could make a wish, a coarse male voice shouted from afar.

"A player? Is that Contentment Brings Happiness?"

Shi Zhile got up, walked to the stern of the raft, and squinted. It took her a moment to spot a small raft in the distance.

The sun reflecting off the sparkling sea made her vision blur and feel dizzy.

The distant raft bobbed with the waves, sometimes seeming closer, sometimes farther away. To Shi Zhile’s eyes, it was nothing more than a small black dot.

She didn’t answer, instead sitting down at the stern to fish.

A message flashed on her panel. She opened it.

[Big Plane: "@Contentment Brings Happiness, I know that’s you on the raft. You’ve even built a house on it. Don’t tell me you can’t spare a few supplies."]

["Ignoring me, are you? Don’t you dare run."]

The messages were quickly buried by others.

[Player: "Boss, I have cloth! I want to trade for instant noodles. I sent you the agreement."]

Opening her private messages, Shi Zhile found the player. After confirming there were no issues, she exchanged the items with him.

[Cloth x1]

There was a potential threat nearby. After a moment of thought, she decided to hold onto the Wish Drifting Bottle for now.

[Raft Upgrade - Sailboat with Cabin (100 km/1 hour): Wood x100, Iron Nails x100, Tung Oil x300, Cloth x1. Upgrade?"]

"Upgrade!"

A white fog enveloped the raft, which began to vibrate. Shi Zhile steadied herself and reached out to touch the fog.

Her fingertips made contact; it felt as cold as icy water, but she couldn’t push any further through it.

A moment later, the white fog dissipated, revealing a completely transformed vessel beneath her feet.

The deep red hull now sat sixty or seventy centimeters above the water. The tall, erect mast and the unfurled pink sail both looked incredibly sturdy.

In the middle of the boat was an open-air pavilion that extended downwards. Inside the pavilion were her wooden bed, the workbench, and neatly stacked treasure chests.

The most surprising part was the stern. The three seawater filters were installed neatly along the edge, and the oars were gone, replaced by a small helm station.