Chapter 155 - 144: Life-Saving Medicine

Chapter 155: Chapter 144: Life-Saving Medicine

Rowan Rhodes listened to the Big Turtle’s tone, a hint of a smile in her eyes.

"Can’t be helped, who asked me to be so strong!"

This sounded like bragging, but it was practically the truth.

The Big Turtle listened and nodded in agreement. "[So that’s why! Master is amazing!]"

Rowan Rhodes’s smile deepened. "Keep up the good work! After today, you can get a good rest."

"[No need to rest, we can’t waste the land,]" the Big Turtle said without a second thought. "[I like Farming, and I’m already Level 3 now.]"

The Big Turtle’s tone carried an involuntary hint of pride. How many days had it been following Rowan Rhodes? It had already gone from an F-level hatchling to a D-level beast. Especially over the past two days of planting Eira Grass, its experience points had skyrocketed. Naturally, it wouldn’t give up this opportunity to grow stronger. After all, according to its inherited instincts, leveling up was more important than anything else. As for sleep, it really didn’t matter much to its species.

"Alright! As long as you know what you’re doing," Rowan Rhodes said helplessly. "When pet items become available later, I’ll buy plenty for you."

Under normal circumstances, pets only appeared after Level 10. Because of the Pet Egg she was rewarded with, her pet had hatched early, but the corresponding support items hadn’t been released yet. Rowan Rhodes figured it would still be a while. Perhaps they would become available after the fourth batch of islands appeared.

"[Mhm, thank you, Master!]" The Big Turtle’s tone grew even more cheerful; it had happily swallowed the big, round pancake of a promise Rowan Rhodes had just painted for it.

The following hours slipped away amidst planting, Collection, and repairing the raft. Holding a massive amount of resources, Rowan Rhodes could easily afford the wear and tear.

In stark contrast to Rowan Rhodes’s relaxed state, other players clearly felt the brutal difficulty of the day.

The mutated marine creatures surrounding their rafts had multiplied, and attacks had become far more frequent, putting everyone under immense, tangible pressure. Players across all major districts couldn’t help but wail in the world channel.

"The air outside is so toxic I don’t even want to leave my raft. But if I don’t go out, I’ll lose too many resources to the damage."

"Yeah! My raft is on the verge of breaking."

"We have to fight! At least we have Anti-toxic Equipment and Antidotes."

"We have to fight no matter how dangerous it is, otherwise we’re just sitting ducks."

"I was looking at the number of online players in our district. The Speed at which people are dying is accelerating."

"Because besides the Antidote, the amount of resources a player has is also a deciding factor."

"Given the intensity and frequency of the mutated marine creature attacks, you need some serious capital if you only defend passively instead of taking the initiative. Ordinary players simply can’t hold on."

"It feels like the difficulty of this third natural disaster just spiked."

"Maybe it’s because the death toll from the first two disasters didn’t meet the game’s expectations, so it raised the bar for this one. Just my personal guess, though!"

"What if the death toll doesn’t meet the target this time either?"

"Then the difficulty will probably keep going up!"

"If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean that the more players die, the easier the game gets?"

"In principle, yes. But in reality, the more players survive, the harder it gets, yet the more resources are available! So it’s still beneficial for mid-to-high-tier players. The process is just tougher and the risks are higher."

"Just look at Rowan Rhodes. She’s so strong, and what did she do?"

"When we don’t know what lies ahead, following the number one player on the server is the right move."

"..."

As the saying went, there was no shortage of smart players. People across various districts immediately began to deduce the hidden rules behind the extreme difficulty of this viral disaster. In truth, such theories had surfaced before. It was just that with each passing disaster, the players’ understanding deepened.

While quite a few players were just stirring the pot, the majority saw things clearly. After all, they could tangibly see the benefits of keeping others alive. Putting everything else aside, Rowan Rhodes—the top player on the server—had clearly been working to improve the survival rate of ordinary players. She definitely had a reason for doing so. Unknowingly, Rowan Rhodes had already become the role model and benchmark that other players strived to emulate.

Similar discussions were taking place in the District 122 world channel.

However, after seeing their district’s survival rate, no one argued that eliminating other players would bring benefits; instead, they were doing their best to help one another. No one understood better than the players of District 122 that a high survival rate yielded far more rewards. In fact, they owed their ability to survive this long precisely to their high survival rate. After all, they had received massive amounts of resources during the first two disasters for ranking first in survival.

Right now, there were still players willing to chip in some resources.

"I’ve put Wooden Boards in the trading area. Anyone who needs them can initiate a trade!"

"This round is definitely harder. The virus has become more toxic, and there’s a massive increase in mutated marine creatures. It’s a double whammy."

"The Sea Survival Game is dead set on killing us."

"Then let’s look out for the ordinary players a bit more!"

"The Speed at which people are dying is just too fast. Over a hundred people in our district died right after the mutated marine creatures attacked. It’ll only be worse in other districts."

"If you don’t go out, the creatures consume your resources and damage the raft; without enough resources, you die. If you do go out, you can only handle some of the creatures, risk getting poisoned, and might die later anyway. It’s a true dilemma!"

"Yeah! Only players with plenty of resources and strong combat power have a chance of surviving."

"The Antidote is essential, but it doesn’t guarantee victory."

"To be honest, no matter the situation, resources are king."

"So we have to fight! Go deal with the mutated marine creatures to get more resources."

"Bosses, please help us out!"

"We are helping! Just look at the trading area, it’s full of all kinds of resources."

"What else do you guys need? Just say it! Those of us with spares are willing to share."

"..."

With everyone wanting to secure the survival rewards, activity in the trading hall surged.

As for Rowan Rhodes, after seeing this, she also placed a substantial amount of resources in the trading hall. And not just in District 122’s trading hall—operating under the name of the Sea Survival Shop, she initiated basic resource trades with numerous regular players.

Players would sell seafood to the Sea Survival Shop, and then buy various resources from the Sea Survival Shop to trade away. In the process, Rowan Rhodes was able to earn a hefty profit from the price difference. For the sake of this profit margin, for the sake of establishing the authority of the Sea Survival Shop, and for the sake of breaking through the Sea Survival Game’s lethal siege, Rowan Rhodes was more than willing to do this hard work.

With this in mind, she directly listed several batches of basic resources in the Sea Survival Shop.

Almost the moment they were listed, they were snapped up by players from various districts. At a time like this, resources like Wooden Boards and Metal Ingots were life-saving remedies for many players. Many ordinary players who couldn’t otherwise acquire resources scrambled to buy the massive influx of basic goods appearing in the Sea Survival Shop.

Over the following period, they discovered that as long as they camped the shop, they could manage to buy what they needed. Clinging to this tiny shred of hope, many ordinary players stubbornly persevered.