Pang Pangzi, feeling the weight of Ye Shu’s death glare at last, belatedly raised his hand and waved. “Heroine Ye, we’ve fished up a mountain of treasure chests! Too bad luck’s bad today—we couldn’t get a single diamond one!”
Ye Shu suffered another blow.
She’d spent half the day unable to reel in even a single bronze chest, yet Pangzi and his friends seemed to have them in bulk? This damned game was clearly playing favorites.
She tuned them out. Even the smallest mosquito is still protein. She flipped the lid of a newly hauled-in treasure chest.
[Bronze Chest opened: You’ve obtained one case of Forget-Me-Not Milk, one box of frozen dumplings, and a fine windbreaker.]
Ye Shu quietly stored the loot in her warehouse, then resumed fishing in silence.
[You’ve caught: One piece of plastic trash.]
[You’ve caught: One old tire.]
[You’ve caught: One tattered fishing net, one human-headed green-haired sea turtle.]
Ye Shu released the green-haired sea turtle trapped in the net.
The turtle’s body was typical enough, but its head resembled that of an elderly human, and it was nearly half the size of a person. It could even speak in human tongue. Noticing the merfolk beside Ye Shu—a creature far above its own level—the turtle quickly concealed its malice and greeted politely: “Beautiful young lady, would you spare this old turtle’s life? Good deeds beget good luck. Save a turtle, and you’ll live a hundred years!”
Ye Shu ignored its flattery. “Nope,” she replied, then promptly put the turtle up on the trading platform.
The pile of refuse on the deck was optimally repurposed: plastic bottles were used to carry purified water, and premium drinking water was always a hot seller on the trading market. It remained Ye Shu’s top-grossing product to this day.
As expected, the green-haired sea turtle was snapped up by Fu Shiyi.
While Ye Shu enjoyed peaceful fishing in the safety zone, players outside, lacking any cold-resistance gear, were driven half-mad. After Ye Shu stopped selling braziers, other opportunists soon took over the market.
[Have you all lost it? Ten iron pieces and three lumps of coal for a basic brazier? Why not just rob us?]
[That’s robbery—who can afford that?]
[You’re heartless! Even ‘ImYourDad’ only sold them for three iron and one coal! I’m filing a complaint, you blood-sucking profiteers. Your trading guild’s bound to get what’s coming! I curse you all!]
[What to do? Without a brazier, piranha are already nibbling my hull—durability’s down to sixty-six percent, and the system just flashed a danger warning... Fine, I’ll buy it, even if it’s ten iron pieces!]
[Sorry, ten iron’s the price for a standard brazier. Low-tier braziers are thirty iron and coal’s on you. Don’t like it? Don’t buy!]
[Damn it! If only I knew the brazier recipe, I wouldn’t have to put up with this extortion!]
[Let’s look for ‘ImYourDad’ instead. Didn’t he use to sell them? He must have some stashed!]
At that very moment, fishing aboard her steel ship, Ye Shu suddenly sneezed—loudly.
“Did I catch a cold? No way.”
With a physique stat nearing fifty points, she figured catching a cold was practically impossible. Rubbing her nose, she ducked inside the cabin, took out a brazier, and dug a few chestnuts, peanuts, and sweet potatoes out of her spatial pouch. She made herself hot water in a thermos and settled in to warm some tea by the fire.
Peanuts and chestnuts cracked open with a pop over the brazier, filling the air with a rich, sweet aroma.
Ye Shu put aside her fishing rod to eat. The chestnuts were soft and sweet, dissolving in her mouth; the peanuts, charred till crisp, crackled temptingly. Alternating sips of tea and bites of chestnut, she wiled away half the day in quiet contentment.
Aboard the fishing boat nearby, the three companions caught the scent of something all too familiar.
“Chestnuts... And roasted sweet potatoes too...”
Fu Shiyi licked his lips. After days of living on nothing but fish at sea, things like sweet potatoes and peanuts were luxury fare. Occasionally, pre-cooked food would appear in treasure chests, but most of that was stashed away by his third brother, locked in the warehouse and strictly rationed.
Two pairs of eyes burned into Ye Shu’s back like needles.
Not long after, all three found themselves standing waterlogged on Ye Shu’s steel vessel.
Of course, Fu Jingchuan had paid for the privilege—three treasure chests, Ye Shu’s choice of the lot.
Thus, three visitors found themselves before a basic brazier, a heap of chestnuts and peanuts, with roasted sweet potatoes and tea leaves to boot. Ye Shu gestured to the chairs, smiling warmly: “Make yourselves at home—the seats are free, but you’re welcome to take the brazier with you.”
Fu Jingchuan eyed the cheap green tea in Ye Shu’s hand with suspicion, his face momentarily stiffening. He’d never seen such dubious-looking tea before; could it be... the kind the supermarket sells for 9.9 yuan a pound?
Fu Shiyi, having finished peeling his chestnuts, asked Ye Shu for more in exchange for another treasure chest. Ye Shu sweetened the deal with a handful of wild strawberries.
“Delicious! Sister Yezi, I’ve never tasted strawberries this sweet before!”
Tangy and sweet, the strawberries were a revelation—each berry, he quickly discovered, also granted an experience boost of 0.2%. Far better fare than those grotesque sea-creatures he’d been choking down.
“I’ve got more chests—can I trade for a few more?”
Dapiao Liang, perched clucking on the railing, grew anxious. Ye Shu always fed it strawberries; if she sold the berries to this glutton, what would it eat? Would it be forced back into that harsh cycle of three days hunger, nine meals missed?
“Awooo... No! Absolutely not! The strawberries are mine!”
Fu Shiyi didn’t understand a word of Dapiao Liang’s squawking; to his ears, it was just a kitten begging Ye Shu for affection. Eager, he’d nearly reached out to pet Dapiao Liang, but—
“Awooo! Awooo!!”
The little black cat let out a piercing wail, and Fu Shiyi’s hand froze midair.
“Er... Brother Cat, your fur just looked messy, I only meant to tidy it up. That’s all.”
He’d almost forgotten: the little black cat was no ordinary pet, but a high-grade anomalous—one legendary for having devoured the entire Si Family’s crew.
“Of course!” Ye Shu smiled. “Five strawberries for every chest you bring.”
There were about six pounds left in the warehouse—five berries was maybe half a pound. For a chest, she was hardly losing out!
Pang Pangzi, tired of vomiting up sea-fish and dry bread, also offered a chest in trade. For his trouble, he received two scallions, two strawberries, and a handful of grayleaf greens.
Just like that, she’d traded up to five treasure chests.
Ye Shu’s mood had never been better.
[Silver Chest opened: You’ve obtained two banana-flavored Swiss rolls, three bottles of spring water, one pair of Grandma’s woolen long johns, and seven rotten tomato seeds.]
[Description: Ordinary banana Swiss rolls; potable mineral water; Grandma’s discarded woolen pants—ugly and barely warm, which is why she threw them out; moldy tomato seeds—slightly toxic, inedible.]
Not an auspicious start.
Ye Shu had not expected the silver chest to yield such dross—she’d thought that, even with poor luck, something cool like a firearm might drop. Instead, it was no better than a bronze chest.
She tried another chest.
[Silver Chest opened: You’ve obtained one bag of 200g red dates, ten megaphones, five ugly oranges, and one of Grandpa’s tattered scarves.]
[Description: Red dates—edible, nutritious, and good for beauty and blood; megaphones—can broadcast to all players in Sea Survival; ugly oranges—they look bad, taste great; tattered scarf—a cheap polyester rag, almost no warmth.]
Two silver chests, and nothing useful—she couldn’t even find a military knife.
Pang Pangzi was flabbergasted; he hadn’t expected Ye Xiaoshu to have such astoundingly bad luck.