Chapter 60: Indifference to Death

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Indifference to Death

Due to the low temperature, a thick layer of ice had already formed beneath the raft. However, for the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, this ice layer actually became a tool they could leverage.

Sure enough, the next moment, the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp controlled countless ice spikes from beneath the raft, piercing densely toward it.

The raft’s Durability began to drop.

Even though Rowan Rhodes’s raft was a Metal Raft—which naturally countered the ice spikes and thus lost Durability at a slow Speed—this was merely the beginning. If the raft remained stationary, she would face an endless swarm of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp. No matter how high a raft’s Durability was, it would eventually be worn down, just as constant dripping wears away stone. No matter how abundant one’s resources were, they would eventually be exhausted.

This was the greatest crisis under the extreme cold disaster.

Rowan understood this principle, but she wasn’t in a hurry. After all, modifying the raft would take time. Similarly, she needed time to catch enough Frost Phosphorus Shrimp.

Right now, the Seagull Family was already excitedly surrounding the freshly chiseled hole in the ice. Once the hole was opened, countless Frost Phosphorus Shrimp would instinctively leap out of it. The moment they jumped out, they launched frost attacks at the Seagulls.

Unfortunately for the shrimp, no matter how fast they were, they couldn’t outpace the Seagulls. The Seagulls effortlessly dodged the attacks, gleefully swooped down on the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, and swallowed them whole with a single GULP.

Watching the Seagulls enjoying themselves, Rowan thought for a moment and directly built a few Storage Boxes. As soon as she moved, Seabird One tilted its head to look at her, its eyes full of confusion.

"These are for you to store the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp," Rowan said directly. "You can save them and eat them slowly later."

Since the Seagull Family was so capable, she might as well put them to work.

"SQUAWK!" Seabird One replied cheerfully.

As expected, once the Seagull Family had eaten and drunk their fill, they began to hoard like crazy, with each bird guarding a hole.

In the past, they had lived meal to meal. After following Rowan, they watched her stockpile so much food, water, and supplies, and only then did they realize how much they had missed out on in the past. Usually, they helped Ruby Rhodes salvage resources. Now that they had a chance to hoard lots of delicious food, they were going to stockpile as much as they could.

Seeing that her raft’s Durability could completely withstand the assault, and noticing that some of the shrimp traps were shaking violently, Rowan hurriedly pulled them in.

When the traps were pulled up, a blast of frosty air traveled up the rope from the traps straight toward Rowan. However, she was already wearing wool gloves and was bundled up tightly from head to toe, so the freezing air had little effect on her.

Why use shrimp traps? It was because once the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp entered the traps and left the ocean, their abilities would be somewhat restricted. Underwater, a swarm of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp was invincible, but once above water, they were at the mercy of others.

Just like this, Rowan hauled up cage after cage of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp. After just two rounds, however, the traps couldn’t catch any more of them.

After confirming that there were truly none left, Rowan began carrying the Storage Boxes back onto the raft. Her previous raft wouldn’t have been big enough, but now, with three stories and an area of nearly three hundred square meters, there was more than enough room for a few Storage Boxes. After placing these Storage Boxes on the second floor, Rowan went to the work area to prepare for the raft’s modification.

In her past life, when facing the extreme cold disaster, she had adhered to one single strategy.

Endure!

The number of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp was linked to the raft’s Level. The higher the Level, the more Frost Phosphorus Shrimp there were. So, although she had also been attacked back then, the numbers had been relatively small. She had ended up resorting to the brute-force method of chiseling holes in the ice.

Although marine creatures were used to being in the water, they all shared a common habit: they preferred fresh air and would find ways to breach the surface. The Frost Phosphorus Shrimp were no exception. After discovering this, she had chiseled holes all over the ice to scatter the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp. To chisel those holes, her skin had become red and swollen, and her hands had cracked and bled.

In that state, she had essentially been waiting for death. To her surprise, when she was driven into a corner and resorted to eating a Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, she discovered that this marine creature provided a tremendous Fullness Value! Furthermore, it also replenished her Thirst Value. Aside from shivering uncontrollably after eating it, there were no other side effects.

It was only after surviving the extreme cold disaster that she learned some players had modified their rafts to travel across the ice. While moving, the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp still attacked, but the intensity was much lower.

As for her, she wanted to keep the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp coming, but she also wanted to continue moving forward. She didn’t know how other players had modified their rafts in her past life, so now she could only rely on her own experience.

As Rowan formulated a plan for the modifications, she also turned her gaze to the screen in front of her.

[District 122: (97,791 / 100,000)]

They had just passed a single safe day with zero casualties, but upon entering the extreme cold disaster, players began dying one after another. And the numbers were not small.

It was like the old saying went. In the Sea Survival Game, no matter how much you prepared, accidents would always happen.

"Fuck, it’s getting colder and colder."

"I feel like if we step away from our Equipment, we’ll seriously die in an instant."

"I don’t even dare leave my raft right now. I’m hiding in my Wooden House, wearing a temperature-regulating suit, and burning a Charcoal Stove."

"I really encountered marine creatures—Frost Phosphorus Shrimp."

"Me too. Ice spikes shot straight up from under my raft. My ass even got stabbed and is bleeding."

"It’s a world of ice and snow outside, and there are Frost Phosphorus Shrimp under the raft. This is really tough!"

"I feel like freezing is even more unbearable than the extreme heat!"

"More people have died. The count is still dropping."

"The raft’s Durability is dropping too fast. These three days are going to be hard to survive!"

"Celia Lynch: These Frost Phosphorus Shrimp only attack the raft, not the players. You can chisel through the ice layer, and they’ll jump out of the water, or you can use shrimp traps to catch them. Their numbers should be limited."

"But in our current condition, leaving the raft means death! It’s too cold outside, and having just a little bit of Equipment is nowhere near enough."

"The Insect Skin Suit is somewhat useful, but it only protects the body. My head, face, hands, and feet... are freezing. I have a killer headache right now."

"The Effect of heat-retaining food seems a bit better. It provides genuine warmth."

"@Faye Sinclair, can you modify the Insect Skin Suit a bit?"

"Faye Sinclair: I’m in the process of modifying it now."

"Zelda Parrish: The Frost Phosphorus Shrimp are edible! They secure both your Fullness Value and Thirst Value, and come with a natural cooling Effect. You can try to catch more of them."

"Owen Caldwell: I’m currently researching Equipment that will allow the rafts to travel across the ice."

"If we can replenish our stats, then this extreme cold disaster will be much easier to survive."

"I knew it, the game wouldn’t just leave us with no way out."

"..."

Rowan scrolled through rapidly. She noticed that while there were still many players complaining, very few were whining in despair anymore. In fact, they had even started to become numb to the concept of death.