Ye Shu gazed in shock at the two entry tokens in her hand. She had assumed Chen Jianjun would always favor Ye Tianxiang, the one with abilities.
Pang Pangzi didn’t think so much, bursting into cheers the moment he realized they could enter the shelter. “Ye Nüxia, we’re in!”
“Wait, something’s not right... Aren’t entry slots to the shelter supposed to be insanely expensive? Why did Captain Chen just hand us two? Is this some kind of scheme?”
Caught up in his excitement, the usually simple Pang Pangzi finally registered that something was off.
“No need to worry. Let’s wait and see.”
Ye Shu calmly wiped her hands clean with a napkin, meticulously scrubbing away the lingering bad luck from Ye Tianxiang.
With Ye Tianxiang effectively cocooned in his own mess, even though everyone knew this new big ship only had a handful of people onboard, it became clear to everyone nearby: they were not to be trifled with.
Lunchtime arrived.
Ye Shu took out a pot from her space and cooked up a sticky-sweet eggplant noodle dish. Pang Pangzi, understanding better than to freeload, busied himself washing dishes, refueling the boat, organizing supplies, and even patrolling around for news—keeping everything running seamlessly.
Survivors crammed into the smaller boats caught wind of the aroma drifting their way, envy coloring their voices: “I'm not jealous at all, those noodles must reek, probably sour—they’ve got to be disgusting…”
One muttered to himself, trying to hypnotize his own hunger while nibbling on his scallion-flavored compressed biscuit: “This is hotpot… mala tang… crayfish…”
“Making all that noise and showing off as if they’re the only ones with supplies. Seriously, haven’t they heard of the duck who gets shot for sticking its head out? So ignorant…”
Jiang Chao’s stomach issued a loud “gurgle,” the scent of eggplant noodles winding mercilessly around his nose, refusing to disperse.
…………
“Ye Dalao, aren’t we drawing way too much attention to ourselves?”
If you get too bold, you become a target. Wouldn’t it be smarter to keep a low profile? Ye Nüxia was putting everything on display, not knowing how many hungry eyes were watching from the shadows.
Pang Pangzi was uneasy now; even the noodles tasted bland in his mouth.
“What’s there to fear? We should live openly and boldly.”
Ye Shu declared with easy nonchalance. With Lin Qingyue out of the picture, nothing else much worried her—so long as no freakish hidden scenarios cropped up. She felt entirely at ease.
Truthfully, she barely felt the responsibility. Calmly, she picked a clove of garlic from the bamboo basket and crunched it between her teeth, then offered a few to Pang Pangzi as well.
Dinner time was even more extravagant.
The fiery red hotpot broth danced with chili oil, bubbling vegetables and meat creating a rich medley of scents. Ye Shu fished out beef tripe and duck intestines, dipped them in seasoning, and ate with relish.
Pang Pangzi had to content himself with vegetable leaves and radish—by his own choosing, not because Ye Shu was stingy. Determined to lose weight and become Ye Shu’s right-hand man, he insisted, “No way can I cut it if I’m this chubby.”
Besides, survival games weren’t exactly kind to the overweight.
Pang Tong’s agility stat was only five; last time, he’d nearly been bitten to death on the cruise ship by an infected, and it was only his layer of fat that saved him. Somehow, he’d survived as an infected all the way until the game’s last second—talk about a twist of fate.
Around the fishing boat, muttered curses filled the air.
All aimed squarely at Ye Shu.
It was one thing to sneak around and eat your stored rations—but to brazenly throw a hotpot party in full view of desperate survivors? It was enough to provoke a riot.
The cabin was cramped and stifling. Ye Shu simply opened the door and ate out in the open, letting the aroma travel even farther.
Suddenly, a screen popped up.
Ye Shu scrolled the player forum as she dug into her hotpot.
[Scalper Reselling: Holy crap! Who’s the genius eating hotpot out here? Don’t you know you’ll start a riot? Coordinates, Tanchuan District, Central Qixia Mountain Shelter.]
[Bear Grandma: Big-shot player, living large! I can’t even get a soggy biscuit, thought everyone else was struggling like me—turns out some are eating like kings.]
[It’s Cuihua: Reporting in from Southeast Shelter, my house is right beside the shelter. State moved us in immediately—no hotpot, but regular meals at least. (pic attached)]
[Zhou Family’s Old Bai: Reporting from the world’s highest peak, feasting on roast lamb and admiring the snowy mountains—did I even say anything?!]
Old Bai even posted a photo: a strikingly handsome girl in a black parka with a stylish wolf-tail haircut, sharp-featured, gloved in grey-black, holding a rack of grilled lamb ribs in gloved hands, tiger-canine teeth gleaming beneath a mischievous grin.
[Eat a Peach: That’s one cool lady! Love it—let me team up with you!]
[I Rely on My Looks: Big-shot, let’s take a selfie together, I want to eat ribs atop the world’s highest mountain too.]
[Park Gukchang: Aish! The mountains in our Little Cold Kingdom are the best under heaven. A woman like you should never show your face in public—you disgrace the Longguo’s customs. You have three seconds—send those ribs over now.]
[Missing You in Longguo: Hah… Shameless Aish, those beads on your abacus are flying at my face—get lost, or I’ll slap you silly.]
[Uesugi Hanako: Yamete, China’s big sister, could I have a piece of lamb? Hanako hasn’t eaten in two days.]
[End of the World, Sakura Falls First: Get out, shameless freeloader. If you’re so hungry, I’ve got two big piles here—wanna trade?!]
Ye Shu blinked, only now realizing that the survival game had quietly added a trading platform—she was the last to know. Now, as long as both parties agreed to the exchange, food and items would be delivered instantly even if continents apart.
Food, tools—whatever you wanted, as long as it fit within a ten-square-meter limit. Exceed that and the game charged a premium: 10 points for every extra ten squares, 100 for a hundred, and so on.
The comment hall teemed with offers, players all looking to trade.
Most wanted to swap food for inflatable rafts, but after ten tries Ye Shu still hadn’t managed to find one offering the right tool.
…………
The forum was in uproar.
Players from Little Cold Kingdom who tried to freeload got flamed into oblivion by Longguo’s, one even reported straight into the virtual timeout box.
In this round, even sudden storms hadn’t cut the survival rate as sharply as past games—on the twenty-third day, over a hundred thousand remained alive. Unheard of.
After more searching, Ye Shu finally singled out a satisfactory deal.
She DMed the player.
[ImYourDad: Trade? I’ll swap my inflatable raft for your teleport talisman.]
[Xiao Huangtu Baiyou Bai: Deal. Right now.]
The reply came quickly.
Trade secured, Ye Shu examined the yellow talisman in hand—it was no common item from the store. The trader must’ve run into real trouble to part with a treasure like this.
Her inflatable raft had been salvaged trash—cleaned, restored to working shape.
She still had plenty more rafts in the cargo hold, too.
[Low-Grade Teleport Talisman: One-use item. Randomly teleports you up to ten kilometers away (A must-have for travel—or murder!)]
The player forum really was full of talent—many were thriving.
After circling back, Pang Tong no longer thought they were living too lavishly.
Day Twenty-Four of the game.
Ye Shu remained cautious, not daring to use the entries Chen Jianjun gave her lightly.
On the fishing boat, she unfolded a deck chair on the deck, leaned back, and watched the rain.