Chapter 88: Making a Raft to Go Out to Sea

Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Making a Raft to Go Out to Sea

After Lan Lan left, Shi Zhile began to dig for kudzu roots.

Once she had stripped a large patch of vines clean, she didn’t head deeper into the forest. Instead, she turned and walked toward the sea.

It was almost eight o’clock, when the tide would be completely out. Although going beachcombing this late meant she could only find small things, it was at least very safe.

Wang Gang and Xiao Yi had headed south, which meant they were likely beachcombing on that shore. If she went there now, she probably wouldn’t find anything.

She stored the kudzu vines in her backpack and headed west.

The nine limited slots in her backpack weren’t full yet, but only two remained. The ten unlimited slots were reserved for whatever she could find in the sea.

Her current supplies consisted of three unopened bottles of water and one half-full bottle, 3 axes, 2.5 portions of beef, 79 wood, 99 stone, 20 dry firewood, and 56 kudzu vines.

The food and water could last her three days at most. Once she ran low on food, hunger and dehydration would cause her survival value to drop rapidly.

Getting injured also deducted survival value, but she couldn’t avoid every little scratch. To survive better, she had to do everything she could to keep her body hydrated and fed.

On the western shore, the air was thick with the dampness of the sea, and a cool sea breeze blew against her skin. Compared to yesterday, today’s sun was much warmer.

She checked the panel. The high for today was 23 degrees, with a low of 19.

’The weather is getting warmer. That’s a good thing.’

Storing her military coat in her backpack, she walked along the pebble beach, her eyes constantly scanning for any movement among the stones.

An octopus was wiggling between the pebbles. With swift reflexes, Shi Zhile took out her axe and decapitated it.

After placing the octopus in her backpack, she noticed a school of small fish. She caught and killed them in quick succession.

Her stomach was completely empty, and a wave of hunger washed over her. She took out the beef and began to eat.

The remaining half-portion of beef was about two pounds. She tore it open and ate half right away.

She made another round on the beach, picking up some sea snails and plastic bottles.

The sun was high in the sky, and the remaining seafood was pitifully scarce. She took out her stones and prepared to make rope.

She stripped all the leaves from the kudzu vines, gathered the vines, and used a stone to evenly pound the moisture out. Then, she spread them out, tidied them, and began twisting them together.

Back at her old home in the countryside, she had once watched her grandfather twist hemp rope. Though she couldn’t remember the exact process, she could still figure it out from memory.

She experimented for a moment and finally twisted two vines in opposite directions. When she let go, the two strands twisted together into one.

Having figured out the method, Shi Zhile picked up the pace.

With the rope finished, the next step was to build a raft.

Thanks to her previous experience dismantling a raft, building one was much faster.

By the time the raft was complete, it was ten-thirty.

’If I want to catch fish, I need a fishing rod or a net. A hook for a rod would be hard to make, and the cord for a net would be even harder to get.’

Shi Zhile frowned slightly. ’Should I use my wish for today?’

She had originally planned to save her wish for supplies needed to go out to sea, but now that she lacked any fishing tools, it seemed she had no choice but to use it.

"Today’s wish: to obtain one intact fishing net."

The moment she spoke, a large wave crashed ashore, tossing a fishing net onto the beach.

The good news was, she got a fishing net.

The bad news was that the system was being cheeky; the net it gave her was a mini cast net.

The net was a bit tangled from the seawater. Shi Zhile straightened it out, then placed the raft in the water.

Only after confirming the raft could float on the sea’s surface did Shi Zhile step onto it.

Without a paddle, she habitually used her spirit to control the raft.

The raft gradually drifted out toward the deep sea, and the system panel popped up once again.

[Spirit Value usage detected. Spirit Value -2/5 minutes. After use, Spirit Value +1/30 minutes. Current Spirit Value: 21.]

Shi Zhile did a quick calculation. Not counting any temporary gains, she could use the raft for fifty minutes at a time.

To be safe, she had to reserve enough Spirit Value for the return trip, which meant she couldn’t use it for more than half an hour in one direction.

With the math sorted out, Shi Zhile focused on piloting the raft.

She spent fifteen minutes traveling, not straying too far from the island.

Looking down from the raft, the seawater was a deep blue.

The raft was too small; even a small wave could send a jolt through it. Shi Zhile steadied herself, stood up, and pulled out the net to cast it into the sea.

She underestimated how difficult a cast net was to throw. She spun and cast, but the net just plopped straight into the water.

Shi Zhile covered her face as she reeled the line back in. It was a bust. The net hadn’t even opened, so of course there wouldn’t be any fish.

On her second attempt, she successfully cast the net. She didn’t rush to pull the line in, letting the net sink for a moment.

When she pulled the messy net back onto the raft, two palm-sized sea fish were flopping around inside.

’The amount of supplies I can get this way is too little. If only I had more Spirit Value, I could go into the deep sea.’

She was thankful that casting the net didn’t consume any of her stats.

The more she practiced, the rounder her casts became. Gradually, she would sometimes catch two or three small fish and shrimp, and other times she’d haul up junk sea turtles. But by one in the afternoon, she hadn’t managed to pull up a single treasure chest or wooden crate.

Her Spirit Value had recovered to 19. Subtracting what she’d need for the return trip, she could still venture a little deeper into the sea. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

But she had promised Lan Lan earlier that she would take her out to sea, and it was time to head back and get her.

Just as she was preparing to turn back, a message arrived from Lan Lan.

[Sister Zhile, I’m still in the forest. I’m planning to build a wooden house this afternoon. Is it okay if we go to sea tomorrow instead?]

Shi Zhile replied: [Sure, you do your thing.]

Based on today’s results, it seemed that going out to sea yielded fewer supplies than searching on the island.

But since she was already out here, it would be a shame not to venture a little deeper and do justice to the raft she had painstakingly built.

The raft stopped in a deep-sea area. She cast her net. It sank quickly, and Shi Zhile strained as she pulled it in.

She had a feeling this was going to be a huge haul.

As the net rose, the raft began to slowly sink.

She stopped herself from pulling the net onto the raft.

’I can’t pull it up any further, or I’ll really end up as shark food.’

The net was halfway out of the water. She leaned in for a closer look and was stunned. This haul was filled to the brim with chests—both treasure chests and wooden crates.

Water seeped from the wooden crates, discoloring the outer wood.

She quickly stored the entire net in her backpack.

Different items were automatically sorted in the backpack. In total, she had collected 9 treasure chests and 5 wooden crates.

’This is what they mean by "one big score can feed you for three years."’

She took the net out and cast it again. This time, it was just as heavy. Peeking over the edge, she could see it was full of small fish and shrimp.

A corner of a glittering gold treasure chest was visible among the teeming fish and shrimp, which meant there was likely a chest at the bottom.

The backpack couldn’t hold living things, which meant this entire haul couldn’t be stashed away.

’Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Quit while you’re ahead. Time to head back.’

She began the return trip, towing the net behind her, but this time her Spirit Value was draining much faster.

[Towing items with the raft. Spirit Value -1/1 minute.]