Chapter 20: Time to Plant Trees!

Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Time to Plant Trees!

As soon as the thought emerged, Rowan Rhodes put the matter on her agenda.

For her, doing business was a virtuous cycle; it also provided another avenue to grow stronger. The reason this idea crossed her mind was not just because of her recent harvest. There was also a missed opportunity from her past life that other players had overlooked, and she was determined to seize it this time.

On a small island in the Shallow Sea, there was an abandoned shop. Inside this shop, players could trade and sell resources. At the time, everyone only focused on exchanging resources. It wasn’t until much later, after entering the Coastal Waters, that they realized the shop itself was a massive opportunity.

An opportunity to open their own shop.

This was also tied to the buildings she had thought of earlier. Once a raft evolved into a Sea Base, players could acquire various Building Plans from Medium Islands. Depending on the structures built, the Sea Base would possess different functions.

A Sea Shop was a specialized development path. A Sea Base equipped with a Sea Shop could travel freely between different districts, providing supplies to other Sea Bases.

In her previous life, someone had stumbled upon the Building Plan for the Sea Shop. However, one of the required materials to build it was an Operating Qualification Certificate. Since no one had ever obtained the certificate, that Sea Shop Building Plan kept bouncing around the trading hall. It was highly valued but ultimately unmarketable.

Later, a player recalled on the world channel that he had once seen an Operating Qualification Certificate hanging on the wall of that very shop on the small island in the Shallow Sea. But precisely because it was merely hanging on the wall, no one thought it was a piece of Equipment.

She had already been keeping that Operating Qualification Certificate in mind! Now, she had to try even harder to get it. Whether it could be used in the Shallow Sea or not, it would definitely be of use in the Coastal Waters.

To her, this was an entirely new venture and a wildcard variable. Was the Sea Survival Game doing this on purpose? Placing the shop’s operating qualification in the early stages when players weren’t perceptive enough meant that if they missed it, no player’s raft would ever have the chance to be equipped with such a shop.

If that were true, what secret lay behind it?

As it happened, the shop was located on the very next island.

Having made her decision, Rowan shifted her gaze back to the world channel. Various messages were rapidly scrolling across the screen.

"A great item just popped up in the trading hall! A homemade long shovel. It’s perfectly suited for scraping off the Abyssal Poison Conchs under the raft!"

"I’ll go take a look."

"Which big shot made this? This is hand-crafted Equipment!"

"Also, it seems the quantity of Waterproof Armor Sets has increased."

"The more, the better! Did another Level 5 boss make a move? Our District 122 is truly full of big shots!"

"I just tested the Waterproof Armor Set. It really does block the venom from the Abyssal Poison Conch. I killed it directly and got a Nerve Toxin."

"Abyssal Poison Conch?"

"That’s the notification that pops up after killing it. At a glance, the Nerve Toxin looks incredibly valuable."

"What about the homemade long shovel?"

"Reporting back. The homemade long shovel can only scrape away the Abyssal Poison Conchs."

"Your Speed is too damn fast!"

"Then it’s up to our own abilities to buy the Equipment that suits us."

"..."

Rowan’s attention was drawn to the newly surfaced news. The homemade long shovel had appeared!

This person had also been in District 122 in her past life. They had sold homemade long shovels back then too, helping many players survive this crisis. Later on, she recalled they also sold sun hats. Unfortunately, the quantity had been limited. With her own limited resources at the time, she hadn’t been able to snatch one either.

However, there was one slight difference now. In her previous life, no one had produced the Waterproof Armor Set. The person who crafted it had likely been influenced by her.

Watching everything unfold at this moment, Rowan actually felt a sense of historical participation. A new history was being forged because of her. In fact, she was occasionally creating history herself. The feeling was rather subtle and profound.

Even as she pondered, Rowan’s hands didn’t stop moving. After all, for every piece of Equipment she crafted, she could earn an extra two units of Shark Skin, two pieces of broken cloth, and six units of basic resources. Right now was the time when everyone was fiercely fighting off the Abyssal Poison Conchs. With such massive demand, she didn’t have to worry about finding trades.

Of course, whenever an Abyssal Poison Conch popped up during this time, Rowan would still dive into the water to deal with it and harvest the Nerve Toxin.

Just like that, as she continuously crafted and upgraded, the time unknowingly ticked to noon.

Rowan glanced at the temperature. It had already soared to forty degrees. This was the scorching heat of midsummer. If exposed directly to the sun, one would only feel a searing, fiery pain.

"It’s rising one degree per hour. It’s already forty degrees; will it keep going up?"

"I can’t take it! My stamina drains so quickly under this high heat."

"I’ve already gotten a heatstroke debuff."

"Everyone, be careful not to go into the water. The Abyssal Conchs don’t seem to be coming anymore."

"So we’ve survived the wave? That’s awesome!"

"Perfect time to take a break."

"So hot, so hot!"

"Good time to drink water and eat to recover our status. I always feel like this damn game has more tricks up its sleeve."

"Ever since the novice period ended, my heart has been constantly on edge."

"It really is a high-temperature natural disaster!"

"I feel like it’s not just high temperature; it might be extreme heat."

"..."

The world channel was flooded with all sorts of complaints about the heat. The only thing that brought players some comfort was that the Abyssal Poison Conchs were no longer showing up. They had finally been beaten back, meaning everyone could take a breather.

Now that they could rest, their suspicions turned toward the natural disaster they were currently enduring. After all, it had only been a dozen hours since the novice period ended, and the temperature had already hit forty degrees. There was no telling how long it would keep rising or when it would end.

The unknown was often the most terrifying thing of all. Many players felt a heavy burden weighing on their hearts.

Compared to the other players, Rowan was much more at ease. Thanks to the shade of the awning, Rowan’s raft maintained a comfortable temperature. The only things looking slightly wilted were the potatoes in the planting area, as there was no cover above them. But as long as their growth wasn’t impacted, Rowan didn’t plan to intervene.

She was currently enjoying some delicious food with the Seagull while unlocking the pending Equipment for her Level 5 Raft.

[wooden ladder: 6 Wooden Boards + 3 iron nails + 2 ropes.]

[Seawater Desalinator: 5 Stones + 6 Palm Leaves + 2 ropes, 1 Coconut shell.]

[Basic Bow: 6 Wooden Boards + 4 ropes + 2 pieces of broken cloth.]

[Basic Arrow: 1 Wooden Board + 1 Stone + 1 leaf (per arrow).]

Rowan had most of these resources on hand. The only exception was leaves. She really hadn’t paid attention to them when chopping trees back then, but it wasn’t a big deal! After all, she was planning to plant trees on her raft! When the time came, she would have as many leaves as she wanted.

Rowan unlocked and placed everything she could.

After placing the wooden ladder next to the Wooden House, it seamlessly integrated into the structure. Building upon this, a small second-story loft was added. The Metal Plate was placed on the ceiling of this second-floor loft, and she moved the wooden bed up to the second floor as well.

She placed the Seawater Desalinator next to the Freshwater Collector. Unlike the Freshwater Collector, which automatically gathered moisture from the air, the Seawater Desalinator required drawing seawater for distillation. Both of these tools required empty mineral water bottles, so Rowan took the opportunity to list a trade request for mineral water bottles in the trading hall.

After crafting the Basic Bow, Rowan built Storage Box No. 9, specifically dedicating it to storing weapons.

Having finished all this, Rowan walked over to the planting area.

Without the shade of the awning, Rowan instantly felt the scorching heat of the sun bearing down on her skin. The Seagull had originally followed Rowan out, but the moment it hit the sunlight, it shrank back under the awning, staring unblinkingly at her.

Rowan smiled and began her work.

Using wooden boxes and soil—two basic resources—she crafted five large soil planters. In each of the large planters, Rowan sowed the various seeds she had harvested from Pyralia: palm seeds, coconut seeds, Mango seeds, Watermelon Seeds, and the sapling. She then took out some mineral water and watered them.

[Palm tree successfully planted. Matures in 12 minutes.]

[Coconut tree successfully planted. Matures in 12 minutes.]

[Mango tree successfully planted. Matures in 10 minutes.]

[Watermelon successfully planted. Ready for harvest in 8 hours.]

Trees only required a very short time to mature, yet a crop like the Watermelon took several hours before it could be harvested. Rowan sighed at how incredibly cunning the game was. However, thinking about how her boat would soon be covered in various trees and lush greenery in just a matter of moments, her mood improved significantly. If it weren’t for the lack of space, she would have planned to plant a few more!

And so, time ticked by minute by minute. While the others suffered in torment, Rowan waited in anticipation.

Ten minutes later, the Mango tree matured.

Twelve minutes later, the palm tree and coconut tree matured.

Even the Watermelon vines slowly extended out of the large soil planters, claiming a patch of territory for themselves.

In an instant, the corner of the planting area became brimming with vibrant greenery. It was a deeply comforting sight to behold.

It was also at this moment that a notification suddenly popped up on Rowan’s system panel.