Just moments ago, the placid player chat erupted into chaos.
“Damn, we can play like this? I’ve been busting my ass gathering materials and upgrading my tools, and now they tell me I could just steal and annex another player’s boat?”
“Hahaha... Finally, some excitement! I was just worrying about finding wood and other materials.”
“What! This is practically suicide! This game wants us to turn on each other—don’t fall for it! As long as you gather treasure chest supplies, you can survive. There’s no need to kill anyone.”
“Exactly! If we stick together, what can this game do to us?”
“A bunch of fools—did you forget this isn’t the noob protection period anymore? This time they’re shrinking the safe zone and cutting back on supply chests. Who knows what’ll come next? The faster you upgrade, the safer you are. Taking over other people’s boats is the quickest path. Better you than me.”
“Valid point... but somehow I feel like I’m the one about to get robbed!”
“Tsk, tsk. Luck’s on my side! My bronze chest gave me anti-inflammatories... and a gun. Anyone tries anything and they'll get a taste of lead—my gun’s not just for show!”
“Jealous! All I got in mine was some kid’s milk, a big bag of Wangwang Snow Cakes, and a medkit.”
The safe zone’s getting smaller and the announcement says boats can now be taken by force. What the hell is this game planning?
The rules are brutal: touch the black fog, you die; your boat’s durability drops to zero when you die. That little starter boat is your life. Have it stolen and disassembled? Might as well be dead yourself.
Ye Shu noticed many commenters mentioning bronze chests. Every single one contained not just food and water, but also supplies like medicine, clothes—or weapons. Pistols, machetes, even grenades.
Her steam boat steamed through the night, the black fog barely a smudge on the horizon.
Spotting a box floating far on the right, Ye Shu quickly stopped her boat and set about fishing for the chest.
An unspoken rule in this survival game: you can’t fish up anything while the boat is moving. You have to choose—sail, or go after treasure.
The hook snagged the box, and Ye Shu reeled it in. After ten minutes of slow effort, she hauled it onto the deck.
[Ding... You obtained Black Iron Chest *1. Open it?]
[Description: A plain ol’ black iron chest, might contain something you need. Low level, so no risk.]
Ye Shu stared, speechless.
Wasn’t it obvious the game kept picking on her? Everyone else started with bronze, while she got the lowest-grade black iron. It couldn’t be more blatant.
[Black Iron Chest opened: you’ve got Pretty Butterfly Hairclip *2, Wasabi Chips *1, Canned Dog Food *5.]
[Description: The butterfly clips are pretty—wear one and you’ll be the most dazzling girl on the sea.]
[The wasabi chips are near their expiration—five days left.]
[Premium canned dog food, perfectly balanced nutrition. Dogs love it, and humans can eat it too.]
Ye Shu tore open the chip bag right on the spot. Only 120g, barely lasting two minutes before she and Da Piaoliang had devoured them.
"Master, you humans have such... strange food!"
Da Piaoliang wasn’t a snack newbie—she especially liked dried fish, strawberries, and watermelon.
Ye Shu shrugged, offering no explanation.
She posted all the dog food cans she wouldn’t need onto the trading platform. As for the butterfly hairclips, the merman adored shiny trinkets, so she gifted them to him.
[Ding! Your merman companion’s affection has increased by +10. Current affection: 80.]
The butterfly clips, nestled in his seaweed-like smooth hair, lent a peculiar and delicate grace, and the merman’s eyes lost some of their old frost. He stood with hands folded uncertainly in front of him, as if wanting to speak but hesitating.
Ye Shu noticed his shyness and said, “Merman? What’s on your mind?”
He fidgeted, a faint blush coloring his blue-green face. “Master... I don’t have a name yet.”
Ye Shu blinked in surprise, then joked, “You’re all blue-green and still technically a merman—how about I call you Xiao Bai?”
The merman Xiao Bai smiled, lips pressed together in quiet delight. “Thank you. I like it very much.”
Among merfolk, there are no names or genders before maturity.
She remembered her first warning to him, asking not to bare his teeth—she must have found them off-putting. Yet, among mer-women, the most prized trait in males is their dense, sharp teeth: the more, the stronger, and the better for ripping prey.
On the railing, Mother Hen Da Piaoliang bristled: she’d thought her own name was wild enough, but Ye Xiaoshu really sucked at naming things. Compared to the clownfish’s shoddy name, at least hers sounded pleasant!
At least ‘Da Piaoliang’ rolled nicely off the tongue.
Ye Shu fished from the deck. The merman caught ordinary fish just beneath the surface.
[You caught a Human Face Starfish *1.]
[You caught a Rocketman Tentacle Squid *1.]
[You caught a Human Head Hermit Crab *1.]
...
Refusing to give up, Ye Shu swapped fishing rods with Da Piaoliang, and then...
[You caught Plastic *1.]
[You caught Scrap Metal *1.]
[You caught Seaweed *1.]
[You caught a single, battered old shoe.]
Compared to Ye Shu’s parade of junk, Da Piaoliang somehow hauled up several bronze chests. The stark difference nearly made Ye Shu throw her rod overboard.
The trash was recycled—converted into plastic bottles and refined steel through the game’s waste system.
They stayed anchored all morning, black fog gradually creeping up from the horizon.
Ye Shu hauled in the anchor and let her Compass of Calm Seas automatically guide them to the nearest safe zone—no need to worry herself.
Da Piaoliang’s morning haul: three bronze chests and a pail of queer fish.
She didn’t care for the weird ones, so she simply handed the whole bucket to merman Xiao Bai and listed the rest for trade.
Time to open the treasure chests.
[Bronze Chest opened: you obtained Jelly *1 pack, Wangwang Snack Pack *1, NutraSlows *3, Medkit *1, Squirrel Meat *200g, Lighter *2, Winter Coat *1, Military Boots *1, Apple *1.]
The squirrel meat was raw—Da Piaoliang, ever the carnivore, got it all.
Ye Shu donned the winter coat. The boots were a bit large, but with some extra cloth padding, she made do. The rest of the loot went into her storage.
Thankfully, the steam boat’s speed got them to the safe zone in just a day.
Ye Shu eyed several large fishing vessels idling nearby, bristling with cannons. An uneasy premonition gnawed at her.
Upgrading to a higher-tier vessel required refined steel, hardly a trivial feat. Worse, the upgraded ships had to be acquired by force—that batch of fishing boats probably came from other players’ losses.
Better to steer clear, she decided, and stayed on the safe zone’s outer edge.
That evening, a shroud of white mist rolled across the water, conveniently obscuring her from the fishermen’s view.
Unfortunately, Ye Shu forgot that large trawlers might be equipped with radar.
A nautical mile away, several radars homed in on the small steamship lurking at the edge of the safe zone—right where Ye Shu was hiding.