Chapter 85: Obtaining the Fire Source

Chapter 85: Chapter 85: Obtaining the Fire Source

"Sister Zhile, you go work on something else. Let me try."

Li Ran happily took the piece of wood, which had been sharpened to a point with an axe, from her hand and continued drilling.

Luo Jiuyin glanced at the two newly-formed groups, then back at her own simple shelter. Gritting her teeth, she decided to stay behind as well.

Guo Funing tried to persuade her. "Luo Jiuyin, weren’t you the one who wanted to go to the beach? Why don’t you come with us? That way, each team will have exactly five people."

Luo Jiuyin kept tinkering with her shelter. "No thanks. I’ll take my chances here."

Hu Yaqin knew Luo Jiuyin and Lan Lan disliked her, so she sidled up to Shi Zhile. "Sister Zhile, I have a torch. Why don’t you come with us?"

Shi Zhile replied, "I’m not going!"

"But the rules said..."

Zhile turned and walked away.

In the darkness, a glint flickered in Hu Yaqin’s eyes before quickly vanishing.

She then sidled up to Li Ran. "I remember you. You’re Li Ran, right? I have a torch. If you come with us, you won’t have to waste your energy trying to make fire with sticks. Besides, that stuff never works anyway."

Li Ran didn’t stop working, but he looked up at her. "You have a torch? Can I use it?"

"Of course."

The sky had completely darkened. A lone moon hung in the east, its faint light casting blurry shapes on the ground.

Li Ran smiled. "Then take out your torch and let me have a look."

At his words, Hu Yaqin smugly took out her torch. "See? I told you I had a fire source, but you didn’t believe me."

The sole flame appeared, brightening the surroundings.

Li Ran casually took it from her and immediately lit the pile of dry tinder on the ground.

Hu Yaqin froze. In the firelight, Li Ran’s face looked strikingly handsome. He thanked her, "Hey, thanks. You’re too kind."

Hu Yaqin stammered, "Y-You’re... welc—"

"Sister Zhile, look! I made fire!"

Hu Yaqin: "..."

Wang Gang and his group: "..."

Zhile pressed her lips together to hide a smile. "Yes, you’re amazing. You made fire just like that."

Li Ran shoved the torch back into Hu Yaqin’s hand. Worried the fire on the ground might go out, he quickly added more kindling.

"But of course. See, Sister? Taking me in is a great deal for you."

Xiao Yi and Lan Lan couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

Hu Yaqin finally snapped out of it, grinding her teeth in fury. "You... you people..."

Li Ran got the campfire burning steadily. He took a log from his backpack and placed it in the flames. Once the end was lit, he put it right back in his backpack.

"Hu Yaqin, if your torch goes out, I’ll let you relight it from my fire once, for free. Consider it a thank-you gift for providing the light just now."

He conveniently failed to mention that the campfire was lit with her torch in the first place.

Hu Yaqin was about to explode with rage.

’How could she have never realized how shameless Li Ran was?’

It would have been one thing if only he were using the fire. But Shi Zhile, Luo Jiuyin, and the others were going to use it too, and that’s what she couldn’t stand.

Fearing a scene, Wang Gang cleared his throat. "It’s getting late. It’s over a ten-minute walk to the beach. If you’re going, you’d better get a move on."

Guo Funing shot the others a dissatisfied glare, then called out to Hu Yaqin, "You have the torch. Lead the way."

Hu Yaqin immediately extinguished her torch. "It’s not even eight o’clock. What’s the rush? And with the moonlight, we don’t need to waste the torch."

Despite her words, she still joined her group and they left.

With Li Ran’s permission, the rest of the group lit their own torches from the campfire and returned to their respective areas to work.

While Lan Lan and Luo Jiuyin went back to work on their shelters, Li Ran sidled up to Zhile again.

"Sister Zhile, uhm... can I also build my shelter in the courtyard?"

Zhile paused. "Lan Lan and Luo Jiuyin built the courtyard. We each contributed fifty logs for the exterior walls, doors, and windows. If you want to join, you’ll need their approval."

Lan Lan raised her hand. "If Sister Zhile agrees, I agree."

Luo Jiuyin didn’t hesitate. "I have no objection."

’She had also taken a fire source from the campfire, so she already owed him a favor. Naturally, she wasn’t going to object. Besides, the fact that Li Ran could trick Hu Yaqin out of her fire with just a few words proved he wasn’t stupid. There was no reason to push him away.’

Zhile said, "Alright. Just pick a spot and start building. You can provide the fifty logs tomorrow. We’ll settle any surplus or deficit later—it’s the same for everyone."

After thanking them, Li Ran took his torch and scouted the area. He ultimately chose a spot on the west side, near the window in the south wall.

Zhile’s shelter was quite large, situated in the northeast corner. Its main door directly faced the window on the south wall. Even with the distance between them, it was obviously a carefully planned layout.

At seven o’clock, all the iron nails were used up, and Zhile stopped her work.

She had eaten too little at noon, and now she was getting hungry.

She built a circular fire pit from rubble in the center of her shelter, placed some kindling inside, and lit it with a brand from the fire outside. She, too, saved a fire source in her backpack.

She ducked into her shelter, took out some water and beef, and began to eat.

The regional chat was muted. The only people one could truly chat with were players on their friends list and players on the same island.

There were only ten people on Stone Island, so the island’s chat channel only listed ten names.

Zhile opened her friends list and found that Jiang Yuxing had sent her a message ten minutes ago.

[Jiang Yuxing: Do you have a fire source? If not, I’ll send you one.]

Zhile took a photo of the fire and sent it back: [Got one. I’m short on iron nails right now.]

Jiang Yuxing immediately started a video call. Zhile answered while chewing on her beef.

"I need iron nails. I’m desperate for them."

Jiang Yuxing laughed. "I know you need iron nails, but hold that thought. I’ve already tried—players on different islands can’t trade items."

He had been worried that Zhile wouldn’t have a fire source after dark, so he’d tried to send her a torch, only to find it was impossible.

He had tested trading items with a player on his own island, and as expected, it worked.

The air grew chilly at night when one wasn’t moving. The temperature had already dropped to seven or eight degrees Celsius. Zhile wrapped her army greatcoat tighter around herself.

"Alright, then. Looks like there are no loopholes this time. How many players are on your island?"

Jiang Yuxing leaned against a tree trunk. "Ten players. One of them knows you—he said he was one of your sales reps."

"Wang Dacheng?"

"That’s him. Your island will have its own rules and restrictions, so keep your eyes peeled. Don’t let yourself get tricked by fake ones.

"If you need iron nails, hunt for more chests. You get 10 nails from dismantling a treasure chest, and 24 from a wooden chest.

"But for the time being, your main food source will be the ocean, so you have to build a raft and get out on the water as soon as possible."

’Zhile had a tendency to get lazy in the cold, and she was already malnourished. He worried that too much peace and quiet would make her lower her guard. He knew she was always level-headed, but he still couldn’t help but worry.’

Having eaten and drunk her fill, Zhile put the remaining water and beef into her backpack.

"Got it. First thing tomorrow, I’ll look for wooden chests to dismantle and focus on finishing the shelter. Monsters come out between 8 PM and 6 AM. What I want to know is, do they ever appear during the day?"

Jiang Yuxing shook his head.

Zhile asked, "They don’t?"

"No, I mean I don’t know. You’ll have to watch and find out for yourself."