Chapter 66: A Fulcrum to Move the Players

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: A Fulcrum to Move the Players

Meanwhile, in District 122, the player death toll had begun to stabilize.

Whether staying put or pressing forward, players were inside their rafts or Wooden Houses, preparing for the coming two days. Having been in the Sea Survival Game for a few days, they felt that as long as no marine creatures bothered them, it was considered a good time. Even with the freezing weather outside and plummeting temperatures, they only had to monitor the duration of their warming Equipment and food.

Zelda Parrish was also making preparations, not for herself, but for her business.

Previously busy catching Frost Phosphorus Shrimp, she hadn’t focused on crafting at all. Even though she knew she could obtain massive amounts of resources by crafting Equipment, she had no intention of giving up the combat experience gained from fighting marine creatures. This was especially true since Rowan Rhodes had explicitly told everyone during the second wave of Frost Phosphorus Shrimp that they were highly useful.

Yes, Zelda agreed on one thing: the person who listed Frost Phosphorus Shrimp in bulk today was Rowan.

So, during this rare moment of leisure, she considered what kind of business could earn her resources and Trading Coins. Scanning the world channel, particularly after seeing Celia Lynch’s message, she decided to craft Sleds.

Not Iron-made Sleds, however, but wooden ones. Very few players could afford Iron-made Sleds. In terms of price, wooden ones had a much larger market. With that in mind, Zelda began tinkering.

***

"@Owen Caldwell, do you have any more Charcoal Stoves? I need one urgently!"

"@Owen Caldwell, do you have any warming Equipment with a slightly weaker Effect that’s cheaper?"

"@Owen Caldwell, Mr. Caldwell, save me!"

"..."

Looking at the messages on the world channel that individually tagged him, Owen Caldwell felt a bit helpless. Charcoal Stoves had a high price and a larger profit margin, so by Nature, he preferred crafting them. Furthermore, he had stayed up late last night making those Charcoal Stoves. During the day, he could only make a few in his spare time.

He had originally planned to continue crafting Charcoal Stoves tonight. After all, the extreme cold weather clearly had two more days to go! However, looking at the players pleading for his help, Owen couldn’t harden his heart.

He actually thought of one piece of Equipment that was cheaper than the Charcoal Stove. A small hand stove. One meant only for warming hands. It was a common household item in rural areas. To a certain extent, it could also conduct heat from the hands to the rest of the body.

He decided to give it a try.

The next moment, visualizing the structure of a small hand stove, Owen activated his Skill and began crafting. Moments later, a fresh piece of Equipment was produced.

[small hand stove: Warming Equipment, high Durability, not easily broken.]

It worked! He had made a small hand stove using only one Wooden Board and one piece of scrap iron. This was far too simple.

Owen’s thoughts began to expand. Soon, he spoke in the world channel.

"Owen Caldwell: I will mass-produce small hand stoves. Those in need can wait a bit. Additionally, if you don’t have warming Equipment like Charcoal Stoves or small hand stoves, you can consider conventional warming methods, like lighting a fire in an ordinary iron basin."

After sending the message, Owen silently began crafting small hand stoves. His words instantly piqued the interest of many players, who eagerly began experimenting.

***

Faye Sinclair was also on her raft, intensely crafting various pieces of warming Equipment. She collected raw materials from the trading hall and used her craftsmanship to earn the price difference. From morning until night, she hadn’t stopped once.

Of course, when the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp attacked midway, she had relied purely on resources to repair her raft and endure it. After all, she truly wasn’t lacking resources now. Later, once she had enough Trading Coins, she bought a Sled. With the Sled, the Speed at which her raft sustained damage slowed down significantly, leaving her even less worried.

As the saying goes, with her old arms and legs, it was best to avoid dangerous tasks. Frost Phosphorus Shrimp—she knew they were good, but lacking the ability, by Nature, she wouldn’t try to catch them.

At this moment, she was eating the Frost Phosphorus Shrimp she had traded her Equipment for. After eating, her condition fully restored, Faye continued working. Once she finished a batch, she listed half in the trading hall and half in the Sea Survival Shop.

***

Skye Schuyler, meanwhile, was striving to build a connection with the Sea Survival Shop. She had realized that if she didn’t cling to the coattails of the experts and the Sea Survival Shop, her business simply wouldn’t survive, all because she lacked raw materials!

The potatoes and sweet potatoes she exchanged from the Sea Survival Shop that morning had multiplied—one into two, two into four—and she was continuously reinvesting them. She had already determined her future path: the Farming and culinary route. She would produce raw materials through Farming herself while making and selling various delicacies.

In the future, she needed to get more seeds!

***

Just like that, the idle players began crafting all sorts of goods, instantly bringing the entire district to life. The transactions in the trading hall refreshed constantly. Everyone was using their existing resources in exchange for ones that would help them survive the next two days, or resources that could upgrade their rafts.

Naturally, various kinds of warming Equipment also began to emerge in endless streams. Aside from the Charcoal Stoves, Hot Water Bags, and glass bottles filled with boiling water that appeared in the morning, small hand stoves, small braziers, honeycomb coal briquettes, and Fireboxes popped up one after another.

One could only say that the Wisdom of the masses was infinite.

After Owen Caldwell provided the inspiration for small hand stoves and small braziers, some other players in District 122 came up with honeycomb coal briquettes and Fireboxes.

Originally, the most popular item in the trading hall today was charcoal. After all, the main component of charcoal was Wooden Boards, and almost all players had plenty of Wooden Boards on hand. Wooden Boards could be turned into charcoal using a campfire and a Furnace; they could be crafted even without a Skill. Therefore, after freeing up some time, many players silently crafted charcoal.

This made charcoal the fuel of choice for most players. Charcoal was better than Wooden Boards because it burned longer. Building upon the foundation of charcoal, some players invented honeycomb coal briquettes. As for the Firebox, it was purely a display of real-life experience.

In short, on this night, the players’ creativity was maxed out for the sake of staying warm. Players didn’t need to own all this warming Equipment; having just one or two pieces was enough to make life a bit more comfortable during the extreme cold disaster.

This was also the advantage of the extreme cold disaster. It wasn’t easy to bring the temperature down, but raising it was far simpler.

The new items that appeared in District 122 also showed up in the Sea Survival Shop shortly after. Their appearance served as a reminder to players in other districts. The night, which should have been dead and silent, became lively.

The one who benefited most from the bustling trading hall and Sea Survival Shop was the behind-the-scenes boss, Rowan Rhodes. After all, she was earning the price difference and raking in profits from the middle, making a massive fortune.

At this very moment, Rowan was nestled in her room. With the Charcoal Stove burning, she wore her warming Equipment, and some desserts rested on the table beside her. As for the Seagull family, they kept her company nearby. Since her room was spacious enough, the Seagulls felt it was best not to waste resources. But the most important reason was that they simply liked staying with Rowan.

Feeling the warmth enveloping her body and watching her Trading Coins and resources continuously grow, the corners of Rowan’s mouth curled up involuntarily.

It could be said that ever since her raft started moving, she had been producing Equipment non-stop while monitoring the messages in the world channel. She had paid close attention to the remarks made by Celia Lynch and Owen Caldwell. As for the new goods like small hand stoves, honeycomb coal briquettes, and Fireboxes, she was the one who had stocked them in the Sea Survival Shop.

She was well aware of the true value of this Equipment. It wasn’t that this Equipment hadn’t appeared in her past life; rather, they had been scattered across various districts and were never mass-produced. She recalled how a player had once mentioned them in the world channel, leading many others to regret not thinking of the idea and suffering needlessly as a result.

Now, with the Sea Survival Shop, more Equipment was exposed to players across the entire server. This meant more players would try crafting them just to survive.

Rowan was absolutely certain that under these circumstances, the number of players who survived the extreme cold disaster would definitely exceed those who survived the extreme heat disaster.

She was already invisibly influencing the entire game’s progress. This feeling was actually quite subtle and intriguing.