Compared to the warmth inside the sailboat's cozy cabin, Ye Shu preferred the solitude of night fishing. She sat like an old monk on her folding chair, casting her line, sitting in stillness, eyes fixed on the rippling water until the bobber jerked beneath the surface, wrenched by some powerful force. Ye Shu frowned; the rod was heavier than usual—so heavy she couldn't budge it with even a single finger. There must be something big below the waves.

'Come here, you!' she muttered, yanking hard. With a satisfying arc, a shadowy mass landed square on the deck.

Slap. Slap. The thing inched across the planks, crawling in the yellow glow of the hanging bulb. She saw, with a mixture of fascination and revulsion, an octopus with more than a dozen human legs. Its head was slick with viscous, inky black mucus.

'My lovely lady,' the creature intoned, its voice strangely polite. 'May I interest you in a dance? I am a duke from Great Britain, and I would be sincerely honored if you’d visit my palace beneath the sea.'

Ye Shu shivered with disgust. Without hesitation, she drew her pistol and fired a toxic round, severing the octopus's talking tentacle.

Just what kind of bizarre nonsense was she fishing up with this rod?

'Pffft—pffft!'

The octopus convulsed, its milky skin turning deep violet, and collapsed on the deck, motionless.

[Rocketman Squid with Human Legs Description: Slightly toxic, edible. Grants temporary resistance to underwater pressure after consumption, though you risk losing your sanity. Inhabitants of the deep sea, they love inviting young, beautiful women to dance beneath the waves. They mean no harm—at least, not before the final dance. How peculiar is an octopus with tentacles and the power of speech?]

Unfazed, Ye Shu upheld the fine art of not wasting anything. She dismantled the human-legged squid into parts and posted them to the trade platform. Of course, she kept a portion for herself. When facing the unknown expanse of the ocean, it never hurt to plan ahead.

The player feed was ablaze with activity.

[Whoa, Father’s posted a new kind of seafood again! Human-legged squid, the picture looks wild.]

[You can move freely underwater with this? Such bizarre seafood with a bonus effect—should I try some?]

[Come on, those are feet! You’ve got to be starving if you’re even considering eating that.]

[That glutton’s back at it again, grabbed several portions of human-legged squid. Honestly, are they a shill?]

[Logo, ugly as these mutant fish are, they’re genuinely useful. I tried the human-faced starfish—ate a single tentacle and felt totally full, plus it’s cheap. Just costs a stick of wood. Shame it’s sold out.]

Ye Shu ignored the clamor and mindless scrolling of the players. Ever since people started posting about the benefits of these strange fish, her listings had been flooded with eager buyers. With no other choice, she simply spent more time fishing deep into the night.

[You fished up a human-faced starfish~!]

[You fished up a human-faced starfish!]

[Starfish *n]

[You fished up a short-legged bread crab.]

[Bread crab *n]

Half a night’s hard work brought a bounty. Her warehouse now listed: Wood*156, Fabric*3, Nails*190, Glass*4, Fine Steel*13. Even her aching back straightened with pride.

Not far away, Zhang Yingying watched with envy glinting in her eyes. She never imagined the famous ‘Father’ from the trading forum was right before her. She wanted to trade, but every time, that user named ‘Taotie’ always beat her to it. Whether or not ‘Father’ had any leftover goods, she had to try; her fishing line had snapped, leaving her without supplies, and she was light-headed from hunger.

Zhang Yingying rowed her way to Ye Shu’s sailboat.

'Meow, meow, mrow…'

Barely three meters away, she spotted a little black cat sitting on the deck, clutching a fishing rod, tail fur bristling, meowing defensively at her approach.

'My name’s Zhang Yingying—I mean no harm, I just want to trade for food…'

She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to explain herself to a cat, but when she came to her senses, she stood awkwardly in place.

Ye Shu, sensing business, wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by. 'What do you have to trade?'

She just tossed a whole bucket of human-faced starfish onto the deck.

'I only have nails and wood. Could you possibly give me just one starfish first?'

To her surprise, the famous ‘Father’ was actually a pretty girl. Zhang Yingying’s eyes drifted to the strange starfish scuttling across the deck. She didn’t have much: one bottle of purified water, some wood, and a handful of nails. She longed for real food, but the wood she managed to scavenge would only buy her two days’ worth of rations. Trading for starfish meant she could last a week.

'Fine.'

Ye Shu handed a plump starfish to Zhang Yingying.

Should she eat it raw? She didn’t have any fire…

The moment she got a good look, Zhang Yingying almost gagged. Thousands of hair-fine tentacles writhed in her palm, and the beautiful, grotesque human face on its back leered up at her with a smile. Her lips trembled, unwilling to eat.

'Here, borrow some fire! And take this pot,' Ye Shu called, tossing over the cookware left behind by Pang Pangzi.

Zhang Yingying was moved to tears. 'Thank you! I’ll repay your kindness—nobody but my parents has ever treated me so well…'

'No need to thank me,' Ye Shu replied crisply. 'Just two nails for the goods. Keep the pot.'

Zhang Yingying stared in disbelief at Ye Shu’s innocent face—how could someone look so gentle but speak with such cold bluntness? Still, she handed over the nails.

Cooked starfish reeked faintly of the sea, but Zhang Yingying’s hunger made it tolerable. She carefully bundled the leftovers. With luck, she could eke out another two days. But her broken fishing rod filled her with renewed despair. Even with all the starfish in the world, she needed tools to get more. She couldn’t last much longer. Already, the game’s population had dropped by millions—from over eight billion. Without food, she’d die just the same.

Danger lurked on the ocean floor; the moment she left her canoe, a school of piranha chased her off. Now, under cover of darkness, she eyed the two rods leaning obviously on Ye Shu’s deck.

'Hey, why do you have two fishing rods?'

Ye Shu didn’t answer immediately, scanning her surroundings until she spotted the broken rod in Zhang Yingying’s canoe.

Zhang Yingying’s cheeks flushed. 'Forget I said anything…'

She scolded herself—such a question was taboo. All players had only one rod. Such secrets were closely guarded, even from loved ones. To Ye Shu, Zhang Yingying was just a stranger.

'Ye Xiaoshu.'

'You can upgrade to get one.'

'Also, three pieces of cloth and the most valuable thing you have. I’ll have your rod fixed by morning.'

Rod optimization was no big deal. But for a stranger, a debt was a debt—and some payment was required.

'Really?! You can fix my rod, Ye? I’ll give you all the tools I have—and this map I found on a dive…'

It took Zhang Yingying a moment to process Ye Shu’s offer; then her gray eyes lit up with hope. She fished out all her supplies: fifteen nails, eleven sticks of wood, and a worn sheepskin map.

Ye Shu looked at her, surprised. 'You’re just giving these to me? You’re not worried I’ll cheat you?'

How could this girl trust her so much?

Zhang Yingying shook her head. 'I don’t know why, but the moment I saw you, I felt at ease. You don’t lack resources—what would you want with my scraps? I can’t contact my parents. Alone, I don’t see much point…if I’m cheated, so be it.'

Ye Shu didn’t refuse. She took the tools and used her optimization skill to restore the map. The features came into focus: there was an island nearby.