Oysters filtering seawater… that actually sounded pretty good.“Sure,” Yun Luohe replied. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll trade you something for it.”She first selected [Clay] from the Honor Reward Pack’s material options. After all, [Glass] and [Lime] could be produced, but currently there was no other way to obtain [Clay].The seaweed she had just cut was piled to one side.[Seaweed: A basic material with wide applications.]Wide applications…Why don’t you elaborate, then?Yun Luohe was speechless.If it’s useful, but the game didn’t specify exactly what for, she was half tempted to toss it in the trash can to see what she might get. Anyway, she had gathered 13 seaweed just by cutting for an hour—it wasn’t a small amount.Suddenly,Yun Luohe’s gaze sharpened as she looked at the seaweed along the reef’s edge.The color had changed slightly.There seemed to be something in it!And the area she had just cleared was slowly growing new seaweed again.If this continued, left alone, the seaweed might overrun the entire reef.Yun Luohe picked up her sickle and scraped through the seaweed—sure enough, she found a black, worm-like thing. Its color was nearly identical to the seaweed’s. If she hadn’t looked closely, she wouldn’t have noticed it.She had only sensed something strange just now, which had tipped her off.With swift reflexes, Yun Luohe struck it cleanly with the sickle, slicing it in half—but even then, the worm was surprisingly resilient and still wriggled faintly.She grabbed her chopsticks and picked up the bug’s flesh, only to see greenish, foul-smelling fluid oozing from the severed body. Definitely looked poisonous.If you got bitten or even touched by one of these things while cutting seaweed, that could not end well.She quickly scoured the rest of the seaweed for more bugs but didn’t find any others.However, a portion of seaweed still remained on the reef—and it kept growing. But she had a ton of other things to handle and couldn’t spend the whole day hacking seaweed.She glanced at the sleeping Ròubāo.Maybe she could have it use its claws—that should work, right?Yun Luohe headed back inside and called for Ròubāo, pulling out her secret weapon: food.Sure enough, Ròubāo took the bait.“Meow meow!”“Got it, I’ll make you something tasty later,” she coaxed. “By the way, the cashew fruit jam is done—we can use it to marinate fish. It’ll be delicious!”Yun Luohe fetched a bit of jam from the jam barrel and brought it over for Ròubāo to sniff.Ròubāo meowed repeatedly, clearly delighted.“Be careful when you’re cutting—there might be bugs hiding inside!”Ròubāo bared its teeth without hesitation and then trotted out to start cutting seaweed.—Today, another cabbage was ready to harvest.Just last night, she’d gotten another seed. After harvesting the cabbage, Yun Luohe planted the new seed right away.Then she immediately rushed back to the wooden cabin to keep crafting plastic umbrellas.Yesterday, 25 Association members had each traded 10 materials for plastic umbrellas—Yun Luohe still had ten more to make.If she kept working nonstop, she could finish by 3 p.m.Looked like there wouldn’t be time to cook—but luckily, there were still a few pieces of pan-seared fish left from the night before. Yun Luohe ate two herself and gave two more to Ròubāo, who was still diligently cutting seaweed.Its paws clearly weren’t ideal for the task—they were filthy and covered in muck.When it saw Yun Luohe, it let out a cranky meow, like it was complaining about the seaweed constantly growing back.There were over ten piles of seaweed on the ground—all of Ròubāo’s work from just now.Yun Luohe said, “Thanks for the hard work. If it’s really too annoying, you can stop. Go eat first.”Ròubāo meowed again and again, though Yun Luohe wasn’t sure what exactly it was trying to say.But she had too much to do and couldn’t stand around chatting with it.The gold-quality fish she had posted on the Trade Center last night had already sold more than half. Besides [Wood] and [Glass], she’d traded for several other materials she needed.She used one-click collection to retrieve the items from the Trade Center:[Wood ×350, Glass ×25, Deep Sea Flint ×20, Shell ×18, Lime ×8, Cotton ×5, Burlap ×10, Rubber ×4, Leather ×5, Iron Ore ×30]Yun Luohe recalled the remaining fish instead of selling them—she had other plans for them.She opened her chat with Du Ruan-tian.“I have a question. Did your reef score end up so high because you built a lot of advanced furniture?”Du Ruan-tian replied shortly after, “Not entirely. Everyone in the Lucky Club has a decent reef score. Wu Jing and I have the highest. We did a lot of greening, made a bunch of furniture and decorations. After I got the sewing machine, I also added curtains and soft furnishings. Oh—did you build a bathroom yet? That adds 8 to 10 points.”Suddenly it clicked for Yun Luohe—she hadn’t built a bathroom because she was saving space for a [Biogas Tank]!She’d lost a bunch of points right there.If she’d added just 8 more points, she could’ve climbed at least three ranks.But there’s no such thing as a redo.She’d made her choice—and now, she just needed to get that biogas-powered bathroom built.After a quiet sigh, Yun Luohe handed over a piece of gold-quality fish as thanks.“This is for you. Thanks.”Du Ruan-tian hadn’t helped because she expected compensation.Aside from the fact that the two had previously worked well together, Yun Luohe’s high [Personal Rating] made her a worthwhile ally.And they were both girls.Du Ruan-tian was strong and naturally preferred to befriend strong people.“Mm, thanks—I’ve accepted it. Anything else you want to ask?”Yun Luohe: “You got the Island Entry Token too, right?”Du Ruan-tian: “Yeah, the top ten should all have one. I checked with the others in the group.”Hearing this, Yun Luohe couldn’t help but reflect—a group of Lucky Club players bound together definitely had its perks. For example, if one person got a sewing machine, others could just pitch in some benefits and have that player craft clothes for them.Maybe she should start her own small group too.Not the same as the Mutual Aid Association—this would be a team of well-developed players growing together.She had always preferred working solo. Even Association affairs were handled by Mu Zitang. Now starting a small team of her own would really be outside her comfort zone.But she didn’t regret not joining the Lucky Club. From what she understood, their members were basically required to share tools.If she did form a group, she wanted it simple—without players being overly tied to each other.That thought sparked another question.“Among the top ten this time, which ones are from your group?”Du Ruan-tian replied, “Besides you, there’s Xu Ya, Qin Sisi, and Yang Mian. We tried recruiting Xu Ya and Qin Sisi, but they didn’t want to join, so we let it go. As for the last spot, someone’s already reaching out to them.”So it seemed… the top five ranks had all been taken by the Lucky Club.Qin Sisi and Yang Mian happened to be her friends.And both of them didn’t live alone on their reefs. That might’ve been exactly why they didn’t want to join the Lucky Club.Of course, it was also possible that, like her, they had low [Luck] stats and developed well through other advantages.Du Ruan-tian said, “I wanted to ask you again—are you really not considering joining our club? You placed sixth this time. Even with a low Luck stat, our club would still welcome you.”Yun Luohe hesitated for a few seconds before rejecting her.At this point, it wasn’t just about Luck anymore.She already had her own Mutual Aid Association. Sooner or later, she wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret. And joining the Lucky Club would mean sending daily screenshots of her gains—that was something Yun Luohe really couldn’t accept.“I’ll pass.”Du Ruan-tian replied, “Alright. If you ever need help, just reach out anytime.”In fact, having received both the [Island Entry Token] and [Team-Up Card] this time, Du Ruan-tian had considered inviting Yun Luohe. It would’ve been great if she had agreed to join the club.Too bad. She’d just team up with Wu Jing instead.A single [Team-Up Card] could bring two people, but the number of island entries per week was limited—players could only go twice per week. Someone in the club had already tested that.This meant she and Wu Jing could go to the island at least twice.Club members who had [Island Entry Tokens] and [Team-Up Cards] were now auctioning off extra spots. As long as someone offered enough resources, they could earn a chance to go along.—Yun Luohe was busy nonstop until noon.She worked on crafting plastic umbrellas while studying the contents of her Honor Reward Pack.The [Island Entry Token] was the same as the one she’d gotten before.What really caught her attention was the [Team-Up Card].[Team-Up Card: Allows the user to invite two players to join as companions. Recommended to use alongside an Island Entry Token. Single-use only.]So with this, she could take two players with her on an island expedition.Yun Luohe didn’t yet know about the two-times-per-week island entry limit. At the moment, she figured that if she found two other players who also had both a [Team-Up Card] and [Island Entry Token], they could go three times.She immediately thought of Qin Sisi and Yang Mian.This matter couldn’t wait—she quickly contacted both of them.She kept it short and got right to the point, sharing her plan.But Yang Mian replied that he had only placed tenth, so he only got an [Island Entry Token], not a [Team-Up Card].Well, that was awkward.Qin Sisi, on the other hand, readily agreed.That meant they still needed one more player to form a complete group.The best candidate would obviously be the seventh-place player who hadn’t joined the Lucky Club—Xu Ya.But when Yun Luohe tried to add her as a friend, she didn’t accept the request.Yun Luohe messaged Qin Sisi: “When do you want to go to the island?”“As soon as possible, of course. But here’s the thing—I don’t feel safe leaving my child alone on the reef at night. So I need to be back before dark. If you’re okay with that, we can go together. We have to leave and return at the same time.”Yun Luohe gave it some thought. “Sure.”The kid was only four years old. With night rain and fish beasts around, it really wasn’t safe.Since she was teaming up with Qin Sisi, she had to accept that condition.“The problem now is, we can’t get in touch with Xu Ya. And all the other players with [Team-Up Cards] are in the Lucky Club. They’ve probably already made their own arrangements. Who do you think we should approach?”Since they were going together, it was better to make decisions jointly—Yun Luohe couldn’t just decide everything herself.“Actually, two trips to the island should be enough. Honestly, I can’t be away from the reef for long. I get worried. Plus, there’s a lot of stuff to do on my reef. And come nightfall, we’ll have to deal with fish beasts again… Why don’t we auction off our remaining two island slots to players without Entry Tokens, in exchange for some much-needed materials?”Yun Luohe thought for a moment. That plan wasn’t bad—but what would they trade for?Each of them had one extra slot. They could look for partners on their own, and any resources earned would be theirs to keep—no need to split. That did make things simpler.If she went that route, Yun Luohe planned to bring Mu Zitang.First, because Mu Zitang was developing well and would be a valuable asset down the line. Second, looking for another player to team up with would take time and effort, and she wasn’t even sure what she could get in exchange for that slot.She already had the [Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine Blueprint].Right now, what she needed most were upgrade materials.But of course, she wasn’t going to give the island slot to Mu Zitang for free. This would be a good chance to test him a little.[@Jinjiang Literature City – all good stories here]Yun Luohe said, “Alright, let’s go with your plan. We’ll go on our first island trip tomorrow. For the second one, do you want to go the day after, or rest a day in between?”Qin Sisi replied, “If we’re going, we might as well go two days in a row. Who knows, maybe we can gather enough upgrade materials faster that way.”They both knew how valuable upgrading quickly could be.“Great. Then let’s decide later today who we’ll each bring with us.”With that, the two of them went back to their respective tasks.Yun Luohe switched to the chat channel.A lot of players were discussing the [Rainwater Collector].Apparently, someone had installed one from the Trade Center.[Rainwater Collector: Can collect a large quantity of rainwater. Capacity: 40L. When connected to a Kettle, the collected rainwater can be boiled and turned into Purified Water.]Actually, with all the recent rain, players had started using basins and buckets to collect rainwater themselves. After so many rainy days, water scarcity was no longer an issue.That’s why demand for [Purified Water] had dropped significantly—and more people were starting to sell off their surplus.Yun Luohe had only sold about fifty [Water Purifiers] before. But at the time, she’d priced them high. Players who had plenty of resources naturally preferred [Water Purifiers]—since collecting rain, boiling, and then storing water was, frankly, a hassle.But one [Water Purifier] only yielded 5L of [Purified Water]—enough for personal drinking needs, with a little left over for cooking and washing. Not much more.Some players used [Purified Water] from [Water Purifiers] for drinking, and used collected rainwater as utility water. That way, it was just enough to get by.Yun Luohe was able to sell [Purified Water] because she had several [Water Purifiers] running simultaneously.This setup was much more convenient than collecting rainwater with containers and then boiling it.But now that there was a [Rainwater Collector]—capable of gathering 40 liters of rain in one night—and boiling the collected water directly could convert it into [Purified Water], the process became far more efficient.Boiling only lost a few liters. Each day, at least 35 liters of [Purified Water] could be stored.That was a huge improvement in efficiency.Only problem was, the price of the [Rainwater Collector] was staggering.Yun Luohe went to check it out, and it really was expensive.It was being sold for either 100 [Iron Ore], 150 [Glass], or 1000 [Wood].At those prices, no wonder no one had bought one all morning.Yun Luohe couldn’t afford it anyway.And at the moment, she didn’t need to.The small seawater [Purifier] she currently owned was enough for daily use.Though having one more [Rainwater Collector] would indeed increase her freshwater reserves by a lot.It was currently Day 10…One season only lasted one month.She couldn’t help but think—after spring, summer would follow.There was a high chance that summer would bring problems like extreme heat and drought.After some consideration, Yun Luohe decided that once she upgraded again, and had a sufficient supply of [Iron Ore], she would buy a [Rainwater Collector]. For now, she would focus on crafting more [Water Purifiers], stop selling [Purified Water], and stockpile it instead.Besides, who knew—maybe the price of [Rainwater Collectors] would drop later on.The seller was anonymous. Aside from the [Rainwater Collector], they had only listed [Purified Water]. No one knew who they were.They had two [Rainwater Collectors] up for sale—no buyers yet.The chat channel was filled with people saying the seller would definitely have to lower the price.Yun Luohe shook her head, planning to shut off her screen and go make the [Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine].[Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine: High-grade apparatus. Can be used to craft clothing, armor, and textiles.][Materials Required: Iron Ore ×10, Black Metal Shard ×5, Glass ×5, Refined Steel ×1]It required a lot of materials.Yun Luohe was still short a few [Black Metal Shards].At that moment, Du Ruan-tian sent her several messages, asking if she still planned to keep selling [Water Purifiers].“I think it’s still a viable business. If you make the price a little lower, I’m sure a lot of people would want one.”“That [Rainwater Collector] is way too expensive. No one’s buying it. No idea who even made the thing.”Yun Luohe replied: “Maybe it needs really rare materials to craft.”Du Ruan-tian: “I doubt it. Just using a few plastic basins, you can collect plenty. It’s just a bit more work.”Yun Luohe: “That’s true. I’m not making any more [Purifiers]. Got my hands full.”“Okay. Actually, I had another question. Your personal score is really high. Why do you think that is? I’d like to improve my own score, too. The system’s evaluations probably won’t just happen once.”It was clear Du Ruan-tian had brought up [Purifiers] as a segue—the real reason was that she wanted to know how Yun Luohe got such a high personal score.When Yun Luohe had asked her questions earlier, she hadn’t turned it back around. Now she was finally bringing it up. Most likely, the Lucky Club players were currently discussing this.Otherwise, why ask out of the blue?And Yun Luohe wasn’t wrong at all.At that moment, the Lucky Club was holding an internal discussion centered around the players who had made the leaderboard.After all, they had five members in the top ten. By analyzing those players’ scores, they could potentially figure out how the system calculated its ratings.Once they understood the scoring mechanism, they could tailor their upgrades and development strategies accordingly—and ensure high scores moving forward.This time, only five members had ranked. Next time, their goal was to secure at least eight—ideally five in the top ranks.Yun Luohe had the highest personal score, but the Club didn’t know much about her. Knowing that Du Ruan-tian had a good relationship with her, they sent her to ask. Of course, getting the answer would benefit Du Ruan-tian herself, too.In truth, Yun Luohe wasn’t entirely sure why her personal score was the highest.She didn’t know the personal attributes or skill sets of the other leaderboard players.That kind of info was deeply private. For instance, the fact that her [Cooking] skill was now Level 2—she wasn’t about to share that. Nor would she mention her higher-than-average [Strength] stat or her Traits.So there wasn’t much she could say.Still, considering Du Ruan-tian had shared some useful info earlier, Yun Luohe decided to reveal just a bit.“Maybe it’s because I killed a lot of Mutated Fish Beasts. Around thirty or so.”Du Ruan-tian was stunned. “That many?”To be honest, she had only killed fewer than five.Mainly because she had smeared something foul-smelling around her reef, which kept the fish beasts away. But that also meant she had no opportunities to kill them. [N O V E L I G H T] With her low combat power, it wasn’t worth the risk anyway.“Alright, thank you!”Du Ruan-tian sent Yun Luohe a flowerpot with a blooming rose inside.“This is for you. We planted a lot of roses on our reef. That’s one reason our reef scores are high.”This rose really did look much better than the wildflowers and random grasses Yun Luohe had planted.Come to think of it, she did have a [Rose Seed] tucked away. She’d thought it was just decorative.Turns out, you never know what might end up being useful.—[Black Metal Shard] wasn’t a common material. There weren’t many available at the Trade Center, and most could only be exchanged for tool blueprints or rare items.One player had listed three [Black Metal Shards], asking for an essential apparatus in exchange.Yun Luohe browsed her backpack and saw that she had a [Jam Barrel], [Furnace], and [Coal Collector].Of the three, the [Jam Barrel] was the least valuable. She’d use that to trade.She tapped on the seller—turns out, it was Bai Yuemian.“Hi, would you be willing to trade your [Black Metal Shards] for a [Jam Barrel]?”“Jam Barrel!? Let me take a look!”Yun Luohe sent her the item description.Bai Yuemian replied, “Yes! That’s a great item!”“Oh—you’re Yun Luohe! The leaderboard boss!”Yun Luohe: “Let’s make the trade now, then.”She was eager to get the materials and finish the [Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine].“Sure! I’ll add you as a friend—is it okay if we keep in touch?”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.