Chapter 158: Number 5 on the Ranking List, Sun Ci

Chapter 158: Chapter 158: Number 5 on the Ranking List, Sun Ci

Inside the three-story Stone Castle, a few people stood off to the side.

Through the downpour, about a dozen stumbling figures could be faintly seen heading toward the shelter.

They had just come ashore, their clothes soaked by the rain, making them look particularly miserable.

Shi Zhile quickly pulled on a raincoat and a pair of swimming goggles. "Sis, you and Elder Wen stay here. Wen Bai, you guard the shelter’s main gate. I’ll go meet them."

The three of them objected in unison, "No! It’s too dangerous."

Wen Bai said, "I’ll go with you. With one more person, they might be more wary."

Shi Zhile replied, "They’ve probably landed on the island to escape the storm. Traveling in this kind of downpour means they could only be heading for Huaxia Base.

Look at them—a dozen or so people, all helping each other. They’re either a single team or a large family that has grouped up. Either way, they pose a significant threat to us.

If I go alone, it’s the perfect chance to test them. I can see whether they can be allowed to stay, or if they have any ulterior motives."

In these turbulent times, there were no purely good or evil people, but villains were everywhere.

’I want to see if they’ll get any funny ideas just because I’m a girl on my own.’

’The fact that they’re helping each other shows they have a strong sense of group unity. If even one person in that group has bad intentions, none of them can be allowed to stay.’

Shi Zhiyi said, "But there are so many of them. If they attack you, we won’t be able to get there in time."

Shi Zhile responded, "It’s fine. I have my space to hide in. As long as I don’t want them to get in, no one from the outside can enter the shelter unless they break down the main gate.

Wen Bai, hide by the gate and don’t reveal yourself. I’ll lead them closer. If things go south, I’ll immediately hide in my space and send you a message. If they try to storm the shelter, we’ll attack them from both inside and out and wipe them all out."

With that, she quickly went downstairs, and Wen Bai followed her.

Stepping out of the shelter, dense raindrops hammered against her raincoat, filling the air with a constant PITTER-PATTER.

Axe in one hand, Shi Zhile headed south to meet them.

A few minutes later, she met the group.

There were thirteen of them in total, three of whom were women.

The moment the man in the lead saw someone approaching, he immediately shouted, "We don’t have any hostile intentions! We just want to take shelter from the rain on this island. Are you the great Contentment Brings Happiness?"

Shi Zhile didn’t break her stride, walking closer until she stopped about three meters away.

"I’m Shi Zhile, also known as Contentment Brings Happiness. Who are you?"

When the leader, Sun Ci, saw the dripping axe in Shi Zhile’s hand, he quietly swallowed. "My name is Sun Ci. I’ve traded for supplies with you before.

These are my teammates. You can rest assured, we’re definitely all good people."

The rain beat down so hard it was difficult to keep one’s eyes open, and they periodically wiped the water from their faces.

Shi Zhile adjusted her swimming goggles and carefully sized up the thirteen of them.

The three women were protected in the center. Their clothes were clean, and although they looked miserable from the soaking rain, they stood tall with determined eyes. There were no signs of abuse.

Among the other ten men, two or three were injured, clutching plastic film tightly over their wounds to keep the water out.

They varied in height, but without exception, all of them were sturdily built.

The difference in physical build was immense; Shi Zhile had to be on her guard.

"I remember you. Before the storm hit, you said in the chat that you were on your way to Huaxia Base. You’ve been drifting at sea for half a month—you didn’t come across any other islands?"

Another man next to Sun Ci spoke up, "We really didn’t. The rain was too heavy, we had no navigation, and we got lost at sea.

Later, we saw you shared your location. We clicked on it, saw it wasn’t far, and followed it here."

He slicked back his drenched hair, wiped his face, and shielded his eyes from the rain with his hand, revealing an honest smile.

"Boss Shi, please let us stay! We don’t need you to support us. Just let us stay on the island to wait out the rain."

Recalling the bold proclamation she had made that morning, Shi Zhile pointed west with a deadpan expression.

"Head west from here. There are stone houses there, which should be enough for you to stay in temporarily. You can take shelter from the rain, but you are forbidden from approaching the shelter.

Also, once the rain stops, you must leave immediately."

Sun Ci nodded hurriedly. "Don’t worry, we absolutely won’t disturb you."

The other ten or so people also began thanking her one after another.

Shi Zhile pointed them in the right direction and only turned back toward the shelter after watching them leave.

After closing the shelter’s main gate, Shi Zhiyi and Wen Bai came up to her.

"How did it go?"

Shi Zhile climbed up to the watchtower, explaining as she went, "There are thirteen people in total, a team that was heading to Huaxia Base together. Ten men, three women.

The women show no signs of abuse, and their eyes are clear. I can’t see anything unusual for now. There are stone houses on the west side, so I told them to go there to take shelter."

Mr. Wen had also hurried over, following behind Shi Zhiyi, and eventually squeezed onto the watchtower as well.

"Bad people don’t write ’bad’ on their faces. Let’s observe them first. We need to be extra vigilant on watch tonight, especially to see if they try to scout the area under the cover of darkness."

The watchtower wasn’t large and could only fit three people. Shi Zhile, Shi Zhiyi, and Mr. Wen all raised their binoculars to look toward the stone houses.

This left Wen Bai standing on the stairs, his view completely blocked by the stone wall.

So, he decided to open the chat channel to check for messages.

As usual, it was filled with messages about trading supplies.

He then opened the resource leaderboard. The name ’Contentment Brings Happiness’ was shining brightly at the top spot, followed by Jiang Yuxing and the third-ranked Zhou Ningning, whose gender was unknown.

"What was the name of the leader of that group from just now?"

Shi Zhile answered, "Sun Ci."

Wen Bai’s gaze fixed on the 5th rank. He clicked on the profile. Only a name and age were visible; all other information was hidden.

"He’s number five on the resource leaderboard."

Shi Zhile had no reaction. "There were thirteen people on their boat before the storm. After half a month of torrential rain, there are still thirteen people. No casualties. It would be strange if someone like that *wasn’t* on the leaderboard."

Through the binoculars, past the blurry curtain of rain, she could only see Sun Ci’s group enter a larger stone house and not come back out.

"It gets dark early on rainy days. They won’t be coming out of their room anytime soon, so don’t worry about them for now. I have something for you all."

She took out several pears and gave three to each person. "These can increase your stats. As of now, you can increase each stat by one point per day.

You guys go back to your rooms and raise your stats. I’ll keep watch here for a while."

Having spent some time together, Wen Bai knew that Shi Zhile was a person of her word, so he obediently returned to the third floor of the Stone Castle.

After they left, Shi Zhile opened her private messages. The top message was from Sun Ci, sent just two minutes ago.

She opened it. It wasn’t anything particularly important—just some words of thanks, along with thirteen sea fish he’d sent over.

Shi Zhile clicked ’Accept’, and a message immediately came from the other side: "Boss, can I add you as a friend? I sent you a request. Please, please accept it."

Shi Zhile didn’t reply and directly accepted the friend request.

’I can add him as a friend, but I absolutely cannot let down my guard.’