"It's here again! A broken piece of key wants to trade for water and food? Dream on."

"Key fragment, trade for water and food or a fishing rod."

"Laughing my ass off, you want to trade for a fishing rod? Everyone only has one fishing rod, who's gonna trade with you?"

"I don't know what this key fragment is for, how about this: I'll give you a bottle of water for it?"

"You must trade with both water and food, or no deal."

"Pay her no mind, let her starve and thirst to death while clutching her key fragment."

None of the current players had ever seen a key fragment and had no idea what it was useful for. Furthermore, the chests they had seen so far all had keys, so they didn't even know how to open a chest without one. Food and water were already in short supply, so even if they wanted to trade, there was no way.

Only Yun Mianmian wanted to put together the key to open the chest.

She opened this player's profile.

[Player: Luo Luo

Age: 25]

Then she clicked on chat and sent a message.

Yun Mianmian: "Hello, I can trade with you. Can you show me your key fragment?"

Luo Luo replied after a while.

Luo Luo: "Mm."

She sent over a 3D image, allowing Yun Mianmian to clearly see the key fragment. It looked identical to hers.

After confirming, Yun Mianmian continued, "You only have one key fragment, so it won't be a good trade for me if I give you food and water. Do you have anything else?"

"No, that's all I have," Luo Luo replied.

Yun Mianmian was surprised. "You don't have any resources at all?"

"None," she confirmed.

She sent Yun Mianmian a screenshot of her inventory.

Players could take screenshots of everything they saw, including their own in-game screens, such as the scenery before them, their inventory, and more. Yun Mianmian saw the contents of Luo Luo's backpack—only one key fragment, and no fishing rod. How terrifying.

How could she survive at sea without a fishing rod?

Yun Mianmian didn't feel sorry for her; she was merely shocked. "How do you only have this one thing?"

"My fishing rod fell into the sea," Luo Luo replied.

Yun Mianmian was once again shocked—this was beyond unlucky.

"Then...how did you make your log raft?"

"The beginner's package came with materials to make a log raft, along with this key fragment, but there's no food or water, and I can't catch treasure chests."

Yun Mianmian understood.

"So, what are your plans for the future?" Yun Mianmian asked.

"I'll take things one step at a time," Luo Luo replied.

"Do you want to trade? Never mind, I don't have the energy for small talk."

Yun Mianmian could tell from Luo Luo's tone that she wasn't in a good mood, but she didn't know how much longer Luo Luo could endure without food or water. She hadn't eaten or drunk anything since yesterday, and it was difficult to persevere under the blazing sun.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Yun Mianmian didn't want to engage in a losing trade. This person had nothing, and even if she exchanged some food and water for a key fragment, it would still be hard for her to survive.

However, the key fragment was useful to Yun Mianmian.

She suddenly remembered that her workbench could craft fishing rods. The materials required weren't many either.

"What if I could give you a fishing rod?"

The instant Luo Luo read this message, her eyes widened.

She'd already resigned herself to death. Lost at sea, without food or supplies, with nothing at all, even the fishing rod she'd used to catch treasure chests had been lost.

What use was her high martial prowess in this case? She could only wait for death.

But Yun Mianmian's words gave her hope.

"If you can give me a fishing rod, I'll give you this key fragment. Whatever I catch in the future, you can take whatever you want, just leave me enough food to survive."

"Deal, I believe you."

Yun Mianmian stood to gain nothing from this exchange, so it was worth pursuing.

A fishing rod required very few materials to craft, and it couldn't even be exchanged for a bottle of water. However, to Luo Luo, it was a very precious thing.

As the other players in the chat said, everyone could only have one fishing rod. If hers was lost, she could only wait to die. Who would trade with her?

But Yun Mianmian was willing to give her one.

Regardless of where Yun Mianmian's fishing rod had come from, it was essentially a lifeline to Luo Luo, giving her hope to survive on the sea.

Yun Mianmian walked over to the workbench, placed down the appropriate materials, and swiftly crafted a brand-new beginner-level fishing rod. She handed it over, and soon received the key fragment.

"Thank you," said Luo Luo. "I will definitely keep my word."

"Okay, go catch that treasure chest," Yun Mianmian replied.

As soon as Yun Mianmian received the key fragment, she attempted to synthesize the key. To her surprise, she failed. The system informed her that three key fragments were needed to craft a complete key!

Looks like I can't open the chest right away after all.

Seeing that the task would be difficult, she decided to go search for another key fragment.

The sky had darkened completely by now, and the temperature had dropped significantly.

Yun Mianmian decided not to wait and immediately exchanged her wood for an upgraded boat.

So, she sent a message in the chat box:

"Trading one piece of watermelon for twenty pieces of wood."

Then, she attached a photo of a watermelon.

"Oh my god, I can't believe there's watermelon too."

"Yun Mianmian's luck is incredible!"

"Damn, I'm so jealous! That watermelon looks so juicy!"

"Twenty pieces of wood? Yun Mianmian, aren't you selling it a bit too expensively?"

"That's right, you might as well just rob people!"

"I'll trade with you!"

Wen Yushi loved eating fruit, but ever since coming into the game, she'd been chewing on steamed buns, bored out of her mind. Upon seeing some fruit, her eyes were immediately unable to look away. Twenty pieces of wood was nothing; she had plenty!

Her luck was quite good, for the first chest she opened today yielded a blueprint for upgrading her fishing rod, so she'd already made that upgrade.

Afterward, she'd caught a bronze treasure chest and a wooden chest, both of which contained a good amount of wood. In addition, when she broke down the treasure chests, she received even more wood. Altogether, she still had over a hundred pieces of wood in her inventory.

She immediately sent Yun Mianmian a private message.

"I'll trade with you. Forty pieces of wood for two pieces of watermelon."

She knew that wood was an essential material for upgrades, so she didn't dare trade it all away and only offered up a portion of her stock. She needed to save the rest to upgrade her log raft. Wood could be easily farmed, but watermelons weren't something she saw every day.

At least, she hadn't seen anyone mention eating fruit in the chat for the past two days.

Seeing a potential customer, Yun Mianmian happily accepted the order and completed the transaction without a hitch.

With her first sale complete, more people approached Yun Mianmian.

The chat channel erupted with complaints about the high price, with many calling Yun Mianmian a profiteer, but she didn't mind. There were plenty of people in the game; if some didn't want to buy, others would. After all, she only had ten slices of watermelon to sell.

In less than half an hour, Yun Mianmian sold all ten slices of watermelon.

She announced in the chat channel, "The watermelon is sold out. Please don't ask about buying anymore."

Otherwise, there would still be people sending her private messages.

Hu Yuan sent her a message. "Not bad, selling out so quickly."

Someone in the chat channel posted a video of themselves eating a slice of watermelon, saying it was sweet and delicious with audible crunches. Seeing this, Hu Yuan almost wanted to buy a slice himself—but he remembered that he was short on resources, and twenty logs for a single slice of watermelon seemed a bit too extravagant for him.

It seemed like quite a few wealthy people played in their district.

"Okay, I guess," Yun Mianmian responded.

Since she'd gathered enough upgrade materials, what was there to wait for? She promptly upgraded her ship.

Yun Mianmian opened The Auspicious Clouds and clicked to upgrade.

Just as before, white light enveloped the small ship, and the clanging of metal rang out. After a minute, The Auspicious Clouds underwent a metamorphosis.

It now had a house.

The hull of the ship was five times larger than before, transforming from a simple fishing boat into a fifteen-meter-long vessel with a small house on top.

The ship's hull was crafted from resilient, smooth wood without visible seams. Both the bow and stern were fitted with railings, and the house sat comfortably in the middle of the deck. The interior was spacious enough to fit a large bed measuring 1.5 by 2 meters.

There was also a chimney on the roof, along with an outdoor space that could be used for storage.

A ship this size could accommodate over a dozen people standing upright, so it was more than spacious enough for Yun Mianmian to live in alone.

【 Congratulations! You are the first player to upgrade their log raft to level 3. Reward: Wood x300, nails x50, towels x1, blankets x1, pillows x1, and an island access card. 】

She was the first person to upgrade her log raft to level 3.

There had been no such notification when she upgraded to level 2 before.

Fortunately, she had traded enough watermelons to acquire the necessary upgrades, allowing her to beat everyone else to the punch.

Moreover, the rewards were quite generous.

She had initially thought that after upgrading, she would be left with no wood and nails, but the game rewarded her with such a large stockpile, replenishing her inventory.

Everything else was also something she needed. She had been fretting over not having a pillow and blanket to sleep with, and now those had arrived as well.

A bucket of five liters of clean water should be enough for ten days.

As for the island landing card...

Yun Mianmian picked it up to examine it, only to see it written upon: 【 Using this card allows you to land on any island. One-time use. Restrictions: log raft must be upgraded to level 4 or higher. 】

What a treasure! It had been two days since she'd set sail, and she had yet to see an island, other than the deserted one she'd encountered when she first entered the game.

If she needed to use an island landing card, it likely meant that it wasn't some desolate island with nothing on it; at the very least, there would be some resources there.

However, upgrading the log raft to level 4 didn't seem like an easy task.

Yun Mianmian clicked open The Auspicious Clouds' information.

【 Name: The Auspicious Clouds 】

【 Level: 3rd Level Wood Boat (Upgradeable) 】

【 Rating: 20 Points 】

【 Upgrade Requirements: Wood x 1000, Iron Nails x 200, Glass x 10 】

As expected, the requirements for expansion were much more demanding than before, and included glass, which she'd never seen before.

She wondered what the ship would look like after reaching level 4.

Those thoughts would have to wait for another day. For now, she had other priorities.