Chapter 207 - 180: Upgrading to Level 9 Raft

Chapter 207: Chapter 180: Upgrading to Level 9 Raft

While the crowd was still reeling in shock, Rowan Rhodes had already stepped out of the door, looking at the fleet of rafts gathered not far away.

"Whoever runs gets my Vortex Torpedo!"

With a single sentence, Harold Thompson and his group instantly brought their rafts to a screeching halt.

The state of Harold’s raft had already terrified the other players. After all, his raft level was the highest among them, having reached Level 7. Its defense and Durability were much higher than theirs. Yet, his raft had been brought to the brink of collapse by Rowan’s single strike, reduced to its primitive raft form. If that had hit them... just thinking about the possibility sent chills down their spines.

Ever since entering the Sea Survival Game, they understood that they already had one foot in the grave. However, having struggled to survive this long and finally seeing their days improve a bit, there was no way they would willingly face death right now. Under these circumstances, they only had one choice.

Listen to Rowan!

Seeing that all the rafts had stopped, Rowan spoke again.

"Come here."

These two simple words left the other players looking at each other in dismay from their respective positions. Ultimately, Simon Quinn was the quickest to act, steering toward Rowan’s raft. Snapping back to reality at the sight of Simon’s movement, Harold quickly followed suit. With those two moving, Elias Ziegler, Sean, and the others had no choice but to tag along.

Their hearts were still pounding wildly—THUMP THUMP THUMP. They wondered what they would face when confronting Rowan. Since she hadn’t attacked them directly, she probably wasn’t going to kill them, right?

Just like that, the multitude of rafts swarmed toward Rowan’s raft as if on a pilgrimage.

Meanwhile, Wendy Thorne couldn’t wait to passionately take the mic in the District 122 world chat!

"Wendy Thorne: Do you guys know what just happened?"

"Stop keeping us in suspense! How did it go? How many escaped? How many did Rowan deal with? Did Harold and Simon get caught?"

"Yeah, let the other players run if they can! I just want to watch the drama with Harold and Simon."

"Those two have been stirring up trouble in District 122 for a long time. It’s about time they’re put in their place."

"My mind has been totally focused on this; I don’t even have the mood to explore the islands anymore!"

"To think such juicy gossip is happening on a safe day."

"If it wasn’t a safe day, we wouldn’t even have the chance to witness it!"

"@Wendy Thorne, hurry up and tell us, dear!"

"Wendy Thorne: It’s not just a few players getting caught; all of them got caught! None of them escaped! They are currently lining up in front of Boss Rowan’s raft!"

"??? What kind of absurd claim is that? Why?"

"Wendy Thorne: Naturally, it’s because of weapon deterrence. Boss Rowan just threw something at one of the rafts, and it exploded instantly. It went from a two-and-a-half-story raft to its primitive state. By the looks of it, it should be Harold’s raft. If those players dared to keep running, they would end up just like Harold."

"What weapon is that powerful?"

"Maybe it’s a weapon that can be unlocked with a Level 8 Raft. The Level 7 weapon is a burning bottle, which Rowan uses often. If it’s something others don’t recognize, it can only belong to a Level 8 Raft."

"So Boss Rowan really got good stuff from the sunken ship on the seabed, and now she’s going to upgrade to a Level 9 Raft?"

"Oh my god! This is so thrilling!"

"Boss Rowan must have planned this all along!"

"I’ve confirmed it; the news should be true. The name that originally occupied Harold’s ranking spot is nowhere to be found."

"Ahhh! So exciting! Harold is finally getting his retribution; I was robbed by him before."

"Wow! Now we can finally exact our revenge."

"Boss Rowan is so badass!"

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t dare to run either. Who knows if that weapon would land on my head?"

"Compared to losing your life, bowing your head is definitely the better option."

"The dust has settled."

"Honestly, I wonder what Boss Rowan will do to them. Kill them all?"

"Killing them all is impossible. Is Boss Rowan really that ruthless?"

"Wendy Thorne: Everyone, wait for my updates."

"..."

With this phase coming to an end, the discussions in the world chat temporarily ceased. The outcome was basically set in stone, so they could peacefully go back to minding their own business. However, a portion of the players had their sights set entirely on Rowan’s new weapon.

What exactly was the unlockable weapon for a Level 8 Raft? How could it nearly destroy a Level 7 Raft?

Speculations aside, they were more concerned about one thing: if Rowan possessed a higher-level weapon, would she loosen her grip on the burning bottles a bit? Or better yet, sharing the recipe for gunpowder with them would work too! They didn’t know if other players had discovered the recipe but kept it hidden. What they did know was that among all the players they knew of, Rowan was the only one who had it. Who else could they rely on if not her?

Meanwhile, on Rowan’s side, as the other players approached her raft, she didn’t waste any time and continued tinkering with her own. After all, besides the Vortex Torpedo, she had just obtained the Generator Blueprint. As long as she unlocked the generator Equipment, her raft could be upgraded from Level 8 to Level 9. Taking advantage of the fact that the safe day wasn’t over yet, once she upgraded to Level 9, she would be able to acquire the corresponding Level 9 resources. For her, this was far more important than dealing with Harold and the other players.

[Item: Generator Blueprint (Fuel Edition)]

[Introduction: Generates electricity by burning biological resources (Wooden Boards, leaves, seaweed, etc.).]

[Note: Can be used directly if ready-made fuel is available.]

After reading the Introduction, Rowan was extremely satisfied. The fuel generator was arguably the most stable type. Solar and wind power both relied heavily on weather conditions. In contrast, the combustion generator could be used in any situation as long as there were enough resources. However, having all three types of generators was the best approach for the raft’s long-term development, considering that solar and wind power didn’t consume too many resources.

Filled with joy, Rowan prepared enough resources and directly unlocked the combustion generator.

units of Wooden Boards, 10 units of Metal Ingots, 2 units of circuit boards, and 4 units of rope.

The resources required to unlock this combustion generator were simple. The difficult part was acquiring the blueprint and maintaining the subsequent supply of oil and biofuel. Coincidentally, she had oil, and she also had biofuel.

As soon as the unlocking process was complete, a system notification popped up.

[Requirements to upgrade to Level 9:]

[Condition 1: Raft area of 81 square meters (Met)]

[Condition 2: All raft Equipment Level must be at least B-level (Unmet)]

[Condition 3: The outer ring of the raft must be entirely made of Metal Plates (Met)]

[Condition 4: The raft must simultaneously operate both a combustion generator and a solar generator (Met)]

Looking at these notifications, the corners of Rowan’s lips curled up slightly. Her gaze landed on the Equipment Level. B-level Equipment merely had an extra power reserve compared to the level below. She had also met this requirement upon acquiring the fuel generator.

Rowan began upgrading the Equipment one by one. Once the upgrades were complete, a new window popped up.

[The conditions for upgrading the raft to Level 9 have been met. Do you wish to upgrade?]

She directly selected "Yes."

In the next moment, Rowan’s control panel instantly transformed. However, she didn’t check it right away, as she needed to deal with Harold and the others first.

What Rowan didn’t know was that her upgrading to a Level 9 Raft had already sparked intense attention across the various districts, including District 122. This was especially true for the players in District 122, who had just managed to pull their attention away from Rowan to busy themselves with their own affairs. After all, everyone could predict what would happen next—Harold and his crew were bound to suffer a massive loss at Rowan’s hands.

But they never expected that, under such circumstances, Rowan would actually have the presence of mind to upgrade her raft!

Or rather, had upgrading been her primary goal all along, and dealing with Harold and the others was merely secondary?