Chapter 67: Only Interests Are Eternal

Chapter 67: Chapter 67: Only Interests Are Eternal

At this point, Rowan Rhodes was certain of one thing. The natural disasters no longer seemed like a threat to her; instead, they had become a lucrative business opportunity. She found herself subconsciously looking forward to it.

She had already secured her own "territory" early on in the Sea Survival Game. Her next step was to let this territory develop steadily in peace until it grew into a colossal powerhouse. Looking at the Sea Survival Shop, Rowan consolidated information about various zones and resident players based on the trading data. After memorizing it all, she leisurely closed the control panel.

Time ticked by until the second day of the Extreme Cold.

[Sea Survival Calendar: January 8, 0:00. Weather: Cold. Today’s Temperature: -26°C. Extreme weather. Beware of hypothermia.]

Seeing the word "hypothermia," Rowan paused. This weather forecast warning was genuine. In her previous life, many players had indeed died of hypothermia. The daytime during the Extreme Cold wasn’t particularly dangerous. It was the night that acted as the grim reaper, harvesting human lives. The reason she had stayed awake until now was to prepare. The pattern of the Extreme Cold disaster was entirely different from the Extreme Heat. Players who used the Extreme Heat as a reference point were going to suffer.

In the trading hall, Rowan began purchasing coal briquettes and charcoal in bulk, even listing several trades of her own. The moment she made her move, the World Channel of District 122 immediately lit up.

"A mysterious big shot is buying up coal briquettes and charcoal. Can someone explain what’s going on?"

"Every move this mysterious big shot makes can be taken as a warning."

"Harold Thompson: Coal briquettes and charcoal are definitely necessities right now. What kind of warning is this? They’re just putting on airs and acting mysterious. I just bought a lot too!"

"Simon Quinn: If they’re really a big shot, they should step up openly and show themselves like big shot Zelda Parrish. That’s the only way we’ll respect them."

"Celia Lynch: @Simon Quinn, you respect Zelda Parrish?"

"Simon Quinn: Of course I do. She’s a top-five big shot."

"Celia Lynch: I think the big shot’s intention might be that the temperature on the second day of the Extreme Cold could be different from the first day, or the rate of the temperature drop might vary. We can’t prepare our coal briquettes and charcoal based on the first day’s situation, otherwise, many players will die. The weather forecast has already warned us about this: beware of hypothermia."

"Big shot Celia, I agree with what you said."

"I just realized it!"

"Right! The first day was already different from the Extreme Heat, so it’s normal for the second day to be different too."

"We can’t use common sense to deal with the Sea Survival Game."

"Harold Thompson: @Celia Lynch, can you guarantee your guess is right? If we hoard too much, it’ll be a massive waste!"

"Celia Lynch: Whether I’m right or not, it won’t take long to find out. We just need to stay awake for another hour!"

"Agreed."

"..."

Celia’s words forcibly kept many players awake just as they were preparing to go to sleep. After all, this concerned their very lives. It was only an hour. Just like that, the majority of the players in District 122 waited with bated breath.

Rowan also observed the players’ attitudes. Her actions had indeed been meant as a warning. How much everyone could comprehend depended entirely on their own intuition. Anyone who wanted to live longer would naturally overthink things a bit. Those who refused to use their brains wouldn’t survive much longer anyway. Rowan was specifically targeting the former group.

However, the sudden emergence of a bleeding heart like Celia Lynch, who logically and thoroughly analyzed the entire situation for all the players, was a surprise. This wasn’t just a one-time occurrence; she had done it many times before. After these repeated incidents, Rowan was starting to appreciate Celia. Who wouldn’t want a friend like her?

Time ticked by minute by minute. Countless players didn’t dare to sleep, no matter how drowsy they felt. Whenever they felt themselves nodding off, they would forcefully pinch their own flesh to stay awake.

Finally, the clock struck 1:00 AM.

The very second it did, the -26°C on the weather forecast instantly dropped to -28°C. Staring at that number, the players fell silent.

"God! It really is different from the Extreme Heat disaster."

"A drop of 2 degrees per hour... that means it’ll reach -74°C by tomorrow."

"Will it stay at -74°C throughout the third day?"

"I don’t think so. The Extreme Cold disaster is bound to be more difficult than the Extreme Heat disaster, and the upcoming natural disasters will only get more and more severe."

"Sigh! I figured as much, but it’s still a bit hard to accept!"

"The difficulty is increasing, but our strength is growing too!"

"It’s been mentioned before. This game is inherently an elimination system."

"If it’s dropping 2 degrees an hour, we definitely need to prepare more coal briquettes and charcoal before going to sleep. Otherwise, it’ll be too easy to wake up freezing in the morning."

"So this is what the weather forecast meant when it warned us about hypothermia."

"This weather forecast is supposed to be a warning, yet it makes us guess every single time."

"Sigh, let’s just get more coal briquettes and charcoal!"

"Besides using it for ourselves, we can also sell it!"

"Oh, right! This natural disaster affects the entire server. Heating products like these will definitely be in high demand tomorrow."

"@Zelda Parrish @Owen Caldwell @Faye Sinclair @Skye Schuyler, you’re all resident players. Are you buying?"

"Zelda Parrish: Buying."

"Owen Caldwell: Buying."

"Faye Sinclair: Buying."

"Skye Schuyler: Buying."

"Then let’s do our best, everyone! Let’s use this information to earn a wave of Trading Coins."

"Thanks, big shots."

"The mysterious big shot is awesome!"

"..."

The players in District 122 instantly shifted from worry and depression to pure excitement. In every crisis, there was both danger and opportunity. With the Sea Survival Shop as a channel, they could use this bit of Prophet-level foresight to earn some benefits for themselves. Previously, they had been incredibly jealous watching Zelda Parrish, Owen Caldwell, and the others reap huge rewards, wishing they could take their places. But not everyone had their special Skills. Only a small fraction of players with somewhat related Skills had been able to get a piece of the pie.

But now? Anyone could craft coal briquettes and charcoal without needing a special Skill. The rest of the players were finally able to get a taste of the profits. At this moment, they were actually rejoicing that their zone had so many resident players. Due to its liquidity in the Sea Survival Shop, the Trading Coin had finally secured its rightful place at the table.

Zelda Parrish, Owen Caldwell, and the others also noticed the shift in the mindset of the players in District 122. Before, the crowd had been jealous of their hauls. Now, however, everyone wanted to latch onto them and share in the benefits. Sure enough, shared interests were the most direct way to bind players together. Zelda, Owen, and the rest instantly understood one thing: if they didn’t want to become targets of public resentment, they needed to tie as many people to their ship as possible.

Meanwhile, within District 122, Harold Thompson and Simon Quinn had always been deeply envious of Zelda’s group and their status as special players. Earlier, they had been thrilled when they successfully stoked the crowd’s jealousy! Even though Celia Lynch had interrupted their scheme, they knew the seed of resentment had already been planted. But now, the tide had turned again. The players needed to rely on Zelda’s group to secure more benefits. When their interests aligned, would those people still target Zelda and the others? At least not in the short term. All their previous efforts had gone to waste!

Realizing this, Harold and Simon were powerless to do anything because, right now, they also wanted to cash in on this opportunity. What if they provoked them on the World Channel and Zelda’s group refused to buy from them? For the sake of profit, both Harold and Simon fell silent. Also falling silent were other players who shared their sentiments.

Noticing this subtle change, a famous quote surfaced in Rowan’s mind: all the bustling in the world is for profit; all the clamoring in the world is for gain. Profit was the only eternal truth.