Chapter 25: Upgrading to a Level 6 Raft

Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Upgrading to a Level 6 Raft

When checking, Rowan Rhodes realized that her Current Equipment was so abundant she couldn’t count it all at a glance.

The system had even organized and categorized it for her.

[Raft: Wooden House, wooden fence, wooden ladder, wooden railing, weather vane, sail]

[Production: fishing net, Freshwater Collector, Workbench, Crafting Table, Seawater Desalinator, iron pot, iron anchor]

[Survival: campfire, cooking platform, Storage Box, simple wooden box, simple wooden bed, basic table and chairs, small dirt basin, large dirt basin]

[Weapons: Hook Claw, long spear, Iron Axe, spike, machete, iron shovel, Iron Hammer, Basic Bow and Arrow]

[Special Equipment: S-level Life Heart, Basic Waterproof Armor Set, shark headgear, sunshade]

Except for the S-level Life Heart, all this Equipment was at the most basic F-level. As casually as she had crafted them before, that was how strenuous it would be to upgrade them all to E-level now.

However, for her, it was still a breeze. After all, she was practically swimming in resources! At the very least, all of this Equipment had come in handy exactly when she needed it. And for a long time to come, they would continue to grow and upgrade alongside her.

With this in mind, Rowan began upgrading her Equipment in order.

First was the Equipment on the raft: the Wooden House, wooden fence, wooden ladder, weather vane, and sail. Upgrading these primarily increased the hardness of the wood; the harder it was, the higher the Durability. Therefore, their main upgrade material was Wooden Boards. Modifying them one by one, she ultimately spent 500 units, with the Wooden House and wooden fences costing 150 and 200 units, respectively.

Next was the production Equipment. After the raft reached Level 5, her fishing nets increased from twelve to fifteen; upgrading each one cost one Wooden Board and one rope. The Freshwater Collector’s upgrade cost eight pieces of scrap iron and two ropes, reducing its collection time from five hours per bottle of water to four hours.

Then came the survival Equipment, and finally, the weapons.

Throughout the process, she added Wooden Boards, scrap iron, or rope wherever necessary. By the time she finished, every single piece of Equipment had been upgraded from F-level to E-level.

At the same time.

[Condition 1 and Condition 2 have been met. Upgrade raft?]

"Yes."

Following Rowan’s response, eleven new one-square-meter raft foundations appeared on the control panel, forming an additional ring around her current raft. They were displayed as movable, awaiting Rowan’s final confirmation.

Rowan simply selected the default layout.

Once confirmed, the overall area of the raft expanded by a full ring. After adjusting the existing wooden fences, she built a few new ones, fully enclosing the edges of the newly expanded raft. As for the newly built wooden fences, they consumed a bit more Wooden Boards since they defaulted directly to E-level wooden fences.

This was the benefit of unlocking Equipment at every stage.

With the larger area, Rowan continued tinkering. She paid special attention to the planting area; it had previously been fully utilized, but now she had fresh space to work with, and she wasn’t about to let good space go to waste. In the vacant spots, Rowan built a few more large and small dirt basins. She planted Coconut trees in the large dirt basins and Watermelons in the small ones.

At this point, the planting area took up nine square meters, making it the most important section on the raft.

As for the other areas, the Wooden House remained untouched. In the living and working zones, she simply adjusted the placement of her Equipment to occupy only the outermost ring. Additionally, Rowan installed new spikes and fishing nets along the edges of the raft, and laid down Grassland over the newly expanded area.

After this series of operations, Rowan’s raft looked brand new. After all, the Durability of the entire raft and all its Equipment had returned to peak condition. Even the wood seemed to carry a faint, polished gleam.

Finishing the raft’s renovations significantly improved Rowan’s mood. The feeling of building up her Territory bit by bit was truly satisfying!

[Detected that conditions for establishing a pasture on the raft have been met. Build pasture?]

Just as Rowan was rejoicing over her raft’s upgrades, another system notification popped up. When she read it clearly, she couldn’t help but freeze in surprise.

She remembered that establishing a pasture required a 4x4 space, Grassland, and a water storage tank. Although she had met all three conditions, she definitely hadn’t scraped together a 4x4 area of empty space.

So was this... Schr?dinger’s met conditions?

As long as she could build it without needing to raise animals right away, Rowan figured she might as well go ahead. Upon her confirmation, the panel directly designated the planting area as the location for the pasture. Since "planting area" was just a name Rowan had come up with herself, and "pasture" was what the game system officially recognized, she simply let it be.

The next moment, Rowan retrieved the Pet Egg from Storage Box No. 2.

The second she took it out, the Seagull flew over. It looked at the Pet Egg, then at Rowan, its beady little eyes brimming with accusation. It was as if it were asking why she was getting a new pet when she already had it.

After reading the Seagull’s emotional state, Rowan coughed lightly. "It was actually on the raft before you were."

Hearing this, the Seagull stared at her in shock.

Rowan nodded again.

Immediately, the Seagull turned its head and strutted away, pretending nothing had happened.

Watching this play out, Rowan couldn’t hold back a chuckle. What a little comedian! The Seagull’s presence had certainly made her life much more entertaining.

Her gaze then shifted back to the Pet Egg. She hoped the creature inside would be a good companion, too. With that, Rowan fashioned a nest for it and placed the Pet Egg inside the planting area.

As soon as she set it down, the Pet Egg’s current status appeared.

[Unknown Pet Egg: Incubation has begun. Please provide food and water daily.]

Rowan looked at it in bewilderment. It needed to eat and drink while still in the egg phase?

Fortunately, she had no shortage of supplies to feed the Pet Egg. Without hesitation, she tossed in a piece of bread and poured out a bottle of water. The moment both items touched the Pet Egg, they were directly absorbed by the shell.

Instinctively, Rowan used her F-level Natural Superpower. Surprisingly, she actually sensed a single word.

[Eat~]

Was it a little glutton?

After watching it for a while and feeling the temperature rise, Rowan retreated back under the sunshade.

By now, the temperature on the raft had reached 42 degrees Celsius. Thanks to the cooling effects of the trees and Grassland in the planting area, it was five degrees lower than the normal ambient temperature. Even under the sunshade, Rowan could feel the blistering heat in the air. Especially over the ocean—after being baked by the sun for so long, waves of heat seemed to rise from the surface.

Rowan let out a long breath.

The resources floating in the sea weren’t affected by the heat, but whenever a Hook Claw touched the ocean water, its Durability would drop rapidly. This meant the number of times a Hook Claw could be used was severely reduced.

Her Hook Claw was currently E-level, and with its Durability increased from 100 to 200, its usable lifespan could barely hold steady. For other players, however, their usage would likely plummet.

Subconsciously, Rowan glanced at the world channel. Sure enough, everyone on there was already discussing this exact issue.