Chapter 57: World Four [3]

The survivor who dared to venture onto the island was naturally Li Jianwei. When she set out, she had stuffed nearly all the important supplies from the wooden raft into her pockets, filling seven out of her fifteen inventory slots.

They were: metal spear x1, basic bow x1, stone bow and arrows x50, water bottle x1, a cup of clean water x1, grilled shark meat x5, stone axe x1.

She treated the cup of clean water as a consumable. Once her backpack was full of gathered materials, she drank the water and discarded the empty cup.

Synthesizing an empty water cup only required four pieces of plastic, a negligible loss for Li Jianwei at this point.

Li Jianwei got lucky this time. When she landed on the big island, neither the wild boars nor the vultures spotted her. She smoothly chopped down palm trees and mango trees, gathered watermelons and pineapples, and obtained seeds.

After discovering the cave, she even found cave mushrooms inside—key ingredients for crafting beneficial dishes in the later stages.

But just as Li Jianwei finished harvesting the five mushrooms, chaotic footsteps echoed from the cave entrance, drawing her gaze.

Right after, a survivor wielding a metal spear came sprinting in, chased by a ferocious wild boar. A vulture perched on its head clutched a stone, seeking an opening to attack.

Had she entered a co-op area right away? The wild boar and vulture must have been drawn away by this unknown survivor, which explained her smooth journey.

In that split second, Li Jianwei’s mind raced through possibilities. Then she heard the unknown survivor shout about the wild boar.

The familiar voice stunned Li Jianwei. Confirming it was Shu Heng charging toward her, she unhesitatingly drew her metal spear and rushed at the wild boar without a second thought.

Fighting a wild boar and vulture alone was dangerous, but Li Jianwei wasn’t alone anymore. She had Shu Heng, someone she could trust at her back.

In her previous life, Li Jianwei hadn’t teamed up with Shu Heng often, but every time had been pleasant—even enough to make her consider forming an alliance.

Alliances in the survival game weren’t casual. Once confirmed, both parties shared all resources. If one died, the survivor inherited everything except the deceased’s backpack.

It was even more intimate than a wife-wife relationship, no less than blood kin.

The wild boar’s attack pattern was simple: it chased survivors and, upon reaching a set distance, charged forward at high speed to ram them.

Constant running could slightly widen the gap, but shaking it off completely was tough. Usually, there were only two options: kill the wild boar or jump into the sea.

If a survivor killed sharks before landing and cleared the pufferfish lurking on the seabed around the big island, jumping into the water was viable.

–

Shu Heng quickly shoved food from her backpack into her mouth, restoring the hunger and thirst depleted by her frantic sprint.

Once both were above eighty, Shu Heng gripped her metal spear, looking for an opening to join the fray.

…

She had no chance to intervene. This agile survivor handled the wild boar and vulture’s attacks near-perfectly without taking a single hit so far.

Shu Heng didn’t dare make a sound, fearing it might distract her and cause injury.

After nearly half an hour, the wild boar let out a final screech and crashed heavily to the ground.

Li Jianwei didn’t rush to loot the spoils. Instead, she dashed into the cave and leaned against the wall to wolf down food and drink.

Handling a joint assault wasn’t hard, but hunger and thirst drained five times faster than usual.

“Thanks. May I have your name?” Shu Heng stowed her weapon and approached.

“Li Jianwei. Just call me by name.” Li Jianwei pulled out a coconut and crunched away at it.

For some reason, Shu Heng found Li Jianwei’s actions oddly cute. “I’m Shu Heng. I have a bottle of purified water. Do you need it?”

Li Jianwei nodded without hesitation. “Just drop it. I’ll pick it up.”

“Got it.” Shu Heng did so, tossing her only bottle of water onto the ground.

Any item dropped on the ground turned into a small paper packet and vanished after an hour if unclaimed.

Adding friends unlocked a trade request when nearby, handled via the game system.

Li Jianwei didn’t lack water, but that didn’t stop her from taking it. She swapped it into her water bottle, replacing the empty one.

Shu Heng glanced at the paper packet on the ground. “Don’t want this anymore?”

“Nah, outside stuff is more important to me.” Li Jianwei reached the cave edge, baiting the vulture to drop its stone from its claws. Then, like a nimble monkey, she darted to the wild boar corpse and began looting.

Luck was on Li Jianwei’s side. The wild boar dropped three pieces of meat, one leather hide, and a wild boar head.

With no space left, she promptly plopped the wild boar head onto her own.

The wild boar head functioned like the shark head: wearing it gave a chance to be mistaken for one of their own, while unequipped it served as a trophy.

Seeing two gleaming wild boar tusks and ears sprout from Li Jianwei’s head left Shu Heng blanking out, staring at her.

“Got any empty inventory slots?” Li Jianwei asked.

Shu Heng nodded. She’d been chased by the wild boar almost immediately upon landing, gathering little. And after gorging earlier, she had plenty of space.

“These are yours. Just don’t fight me for the intermediate treasure chest in the cave.” Without waiting for agreement, Li Jianwei dropped the relatively precious pineapple seeds and watermelon seeds.

“You found the treasure chest in the cave? Can you tell me what’s inside?” Shu Heng picked them up, also grabbing the empty bottle Li Jianwei had discarded earlier and stashing it away.

“Not yet, but since we met, we’re close to it.” Li Jianwei explained the game’s co-op mechanic to Shu Heng.

Shu Heng nodded thoughtfully and subconsciously followed Li Jianwei’s steps. “If we tie ourselves together with something fixed, like rope, would we disconnect from co-op as we move away from the treasure chest?”

Li Jianwei paused. “Haven’t tried, but my gut says don’t.”

In her previous life, Li Jianwei had heard Shu Heng ask the exact same question during their first collaboration. Thinking “we’re here anyway,” they’d divided the chest loot and tried holding hands.

Direct body contact kept co-op active, but no matter the direction, they looped back to the start. Prolonged attempts even triggered bleeding.

Shu Heng didn’t press, just memorized the info.

Cave treasure chests usually spawned deep inside—this time was no exception.

“Last time I tried, opening the chest didn’t end co-op immediately. It lasted about five minutes,” Li Jianwei said. “If you need something specific, tell me. We could trade.”

With that, Li Jianwei opened the intermediate treasure chest.

【Congratulations, survivor! You obtained: wooden plank x4, bolts x2, grapevine adhesive x3, stone x5, fragments x10, recipe x Vegetable Soup.】

The intermediate treasure chest yielded six items, including a unique recipe—decent luck.

Wooden planks stacked into existing slots, but the rest required choices.

Li Jianwei didn’t hesitate, taking the bolts x2 and Vegetable Soup recipe.

“The ground loot’s yours. Trade me wooden planks, rope, stone bow and arrows, or grilled tilapia if you have them,” Li Jianwei said in one go. “We’ve got four minutes left to trade.”

Shu Heng moved fast, looting the drops before tossing out her grilled tilapia and wooden planks. “No stone bow and arrows or rope. If we meet again, I’ll make up the rest with what you need.”

“Deal.” Li Jianwei accepted, adding a friendly warning. “Monsters defeated in co-op won’t respawn after disconnect, but the big island has more than one wild boar. Stay cautious—don’t get surrounded again.”

“If cornered, hide in the water. It dodges boar charges, but vultures will still smash you with stones when surfacing.”

“Sharks track you by scent shortly after. If you spot seabed treasure chests or glowing silver seaweed, watch surroundings—good stuff spawns pufferfish nearby.”

“Pufferfish self-destruct and spread toxin on approach. Poison debuff takes about 80% health—use bow and arrows for ranged attacks.”

Shu Heng absorbed the info rapidly, committing it to memory.

“Thanks. Berries on the big island restore some health, but they come with wild boars,” Shu Heng shared her recent find.

Before she could say more, Li Jianwei’s figure began to fade.

“See you!” Li Jianwei left those two words, then vanished completely from Shu Heng’s sight.

Strange. They’d only just met, yet why did she feel reluctant to see this survivor go?

Shu Heng pondered as she sorted her inventory.

Meanwhile, after disconnecting from co-op, Li Jianwei sprinted straight back to her wooden raft.

Her backpack was stuffed, but she hadn’t finished chopping the island’s trees. Now, she needed to clear space and return.

The big island had more than one treasure chest—guaranteed ones on the island and seabed. She was here; she wouldn’t miss them.

Oh, right—she hadn’t dug the cave soil yet. Later, she’d study the bolts to unlock new blueprints and see if she could craft a shovel for it.

She reached the wooden raft smoothly and glanced up at the sun hanging in the sky. It had shifted from east to west; sunset was about two hours away.

Night impaired vision. With moonlight, island runs were feasible; without, better to fish.

No sight meant no dodging wild boar or vulture attacks—either could end her.

Before sundown, Li Jianwei hit the big island again. With her newly crafted shovel, she dug out the cave soil, then raced back before dark.

Studying the soil unlocked planting blueprints. After weighing options, she crafted two central soil basins and planted the watermelon seeds she’d gathered on the small island.

She then filled her water bottle from the simple water purifier and watered the seeds.

If only it rained—she sighed. Survivors couldn’t get wet, but crops could. A seven-day downpour would ripen two watermelon harvests!

Hearing the shark’s chomping on the wooden raft, Li Jianwei’s first instinct was to check the sky.

No moon. Seagulls circled silently, no cries.

She rushed to poke the shark, but slower than usual. After driving it off, she spotted damage on the raft’s edge and fetched the building hammer from storage to repair it.

The island offered limited wooden planks and palm leaves—no plastic. Plastic came from driftwood via hook or collection nets.

She’d have to leave before tomorrow’s sunset, or plastic stocks would run dry.

Plastic was as vital as wooden planks—not fuel, but essential for water bottles, bow and arrows, etc.

Bow and arrows weren’t recoverable. Most survivors made stone bow and arrows from stone, wooden planks, and plastic over extravagant metal bow and arrows from metal ingots.

Of course, excess metal ingots made metal bow and arrows—with longer range and higher damage—the top choice.

Feeling a bite, Li Jianwei cleared her mind and reeled in the rod by instinct.

Alternating tight-loose reeling boosted success, but Li Jianwei preferred yanking straight—worst case, bottom-tier catch.

【Obtained: old shoes x1】

Huh? Shoes? How did that hook on? The wooden raft was stationary!

Li Jianwei grumbled inwardly but placed the shoes on the raft without pause.

The old shoes could not be worn, as they were already filled with dirt. Apart from decoration, they could also be used to plant flowers. Although only one flower could be planted, little by little it would add up!

After fishing up a small threadfin to secure her minimum haul, Li Jianwei tidied up and lay down on the bed, waiting to dive into the sea after waking up the next day.

【Name: Li Jianwei】

【Status: Health (100/100), Hunger (22/100), Thirst (19/100)】

【Survival Days: 11】

From the data, it was clear that Li Jianwei had been woken by thirst. She pulled out a pre-prepared water bottle and gulped it down, then casually opened the World Chat Channel.

【Tun Mo: Don’t eat seafish raw. It increases hunger, but decreases thirst!】

【Lily Sis: There are colorful wild chickens on the big island that don’t attack me. Is there any way to catch them?】

【Ai Kou Liu: I encountered sheep that jump really high. I couldn’t catch up no matter how I chased.】

【Yan’er: Uh, I tried killing one with bow and arrow, but nothing dropped. There must be a special capture method.】

【Tail Ring: Does anyone know what the monster headgear is for?】

【Li Jianwei: Wearing it has a chance to confuse the same type of monster, but the probability is low.】

Li Jianwei casually sent a message, using up her speaking quota for the day, and prepared to close the chat channel to get to work.

A familiar nickname made Li Jianwei pause. After seeing the message in the World Channel, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve upward.

【Shu Heng: Pufferfish drop sticky explosives. Need bow and arrow to kill from range.】

【Caicai: Wow, Big Sis already killed a pufferfish. I’m still only daring to wander around my small island.】

It seemed Shu Heng had successfully taken down the pufferfish. She wondered if she had gotten the pufferfish head.

Unlike other monster trophies, the pufferfish head could not only be worn or used for decoration but also for cooking. It seemed to be for a head soup? Drinking it provided some buffs.

Li Jianwei pushed open the door, first checked her status, then glanced at her fully packed inventory.

Metal spear, plastic bow, stone bow and arrow, scrap hook, oxygen tank.

The oxygen tank could be worn on the body. When worn, it didn’t take up storage space, but it started depleting as soon as one entered the water. Before Li Jianwei killed the shark, she had no intention of wasting the hard-earned oxygen tank.

Killing sharks with the metal spear was more efficient now. An hour later, Li Jianwei burst out of the water, stuffed the loot into the chest, then equipped the oxygen tank and dove into the deep sea.

The deep sea had richer mineral resources. Perhaps she could even encounter silver seaweed and an intermediate treasure chest.

That said, what had Shu Heng gotten after killing the pufferfish? Silver seaweed or a treasure chest? If it was the former, would the two of them meet at the seabed again…

Hm? Who was that person?

–

Shu Heng had only spoken after seeing Li Jianwei’s message. Thanks to the other’s gift, she quickly filled her backpack and returned to the wooden raft.

Having been chased by wild boars and vultures yesterday left Shu Heng with lingering fear, so her choice was to go to sea and kill sharks, while also checking the seabed for treasure chests.

Shu Heng remembered Li Jianwei’s reminder and used her last resources to craft a plastic bow and stone bow and arrow. With ranged attacks, she smoothly killed the pufferfish with five arrows.

Pufferfish didn’t drop meat, only pufferfish head and sticky explosives. After dealing with the pufferfish, the sky darkened, forcing Shu Heng to turn back regretfully.

Pufferfish didn’t respawn, but sharks did. After finally killing a shark, Shu Heng headed toward the spot where she had killed the pufferfish yesterday. Before she could find anything good, she spotted a familiar face first.

Even though part of Li Jianwei’s face was obscured by the oxygen tank, Shu Heng recognized her at a glance.

–

Bubbles gurgled from Li Jianwei’s mouth. Realizing she couldn’t speak, she gestured with her hands instead. Soon, the two floated smoothly to the surface.

“Shu Heng, long time no see,” Li Jianwei said with a smile.

“Long time no see.” Shu Heng smiled too. “I dug up some materials with the scrap hook. Do you need any?”

“Give me some clay and sand. Smelting in a single furnace is too slow,” Li Jianwei said. She immediately picked up the items as Shu Heng tossed them over.

“Want to dig together? I’ve cleared the sharks and nearby pufferfish,” Shu Heng took the initiative to invite.

Li Jianwei didn’t refuse. “I’ll go a bit deeper for ores. You dig the shallower areas. Later, I can trade ores for materials with you.”

“Okay, but do you need another oxygen tank?” Shu Heng explained, “I used the empty water bottle you discarded yesterday to make one.”

“Sure. If I find a treasure chest, I’ll wait for you to open it together.” Li Jianwei stuffed the oxygen tank into her backpack and dove sharply into the seabed.

Swallowing the unspoken “be safe,” Shu Heng centered her digging around the pufferfish spawn point and diligently collected various items.

Scrap could be used to make nails, and nails were important components—must get them.

Sand and clay were what Li Jianwei needed, and she needed them to build more furnaces too—must get them.

Stones were materials for throwable anchors and stone bow and arrows—must dig.

Seaweed could make grapevine slime and was also material for flippers—take it!

Giant clam—no known use for now, but since she was here, toss it in the backpack.

Shu Heng worked in the shallow waters, but she could occasionally see Li Jianwei surfacing to catch her breath.

The oxygen tank made from an empty water bottle only extended breath-holding time and couldn’t allow survivors to dive for long periods like a real one.

Two hours later, Li Jianwei, having consumed one oxygen tank, brought good news. She had found an intermediate treasure chest on the seabed.

However, the chest’s location was quite deep. Without an oxygen tank, she might lose some health to suffocation.

“Is your inventory space enough? If not, you can store stuff with me first,” Shu Heng said, then quickly added, “I can give you stackable materials. You open the chest. If smooth, we’ll have a minute or two to distribute the loot.”

Li Jianwei opened her inventory: metal spear1, plastic bow1, stone bow and arrow50, metal ore24, giant clam1, copper ore16, water bottle1, scrap2, roasted tilapia2, watermelon1, clay5, sand6.

“Do you have giant clams?” Li Jianwei asked.

Shu Heng nodded. “I picked up two. Need them?”

“Give me the giant clams. I’ll give you clay, sand, scrap, and water bottle. I need enough space,” Li Jianwei said. She directly pulled out the watermelon and chomped it down, bringing her thirst to 100.

After the trade, Li Jianwei cleared eight slots and swam fiercely toward the chest.

Still too slow. If she had space, she should’ve asked Shu Heng for some seaweed to make flippers and boost her swimming speed.

【Obtained: Glass4, Sand6, Hinges3, Grapevine Slime5, Nails12, Stones6, RecipeSimple Stewed Fish.】

A duplicate recipe—no useful blueprints, but still a decent haul. Just smelting these finished products would take more than a day.

“Recipe’s for you; I already have it. Give me some clay and sand. I’ll share some metal ore and copper ore. If there’s surplus, give me stones and seaweed too.” Li Jianwei surfaced, tossing items out as she spoke.

The prepared Shu Heng was quick too. Soon she tossed out stones, sand, clay, and seaweed, filling her remaining slots with the recipe and ores.

Before Shu Heng could speak, Li Jianwei’s voice faded again—but at the same time, the system prompt arrived.

【Detected nearby survivor who can be added as friend. Add Survivor·Li Jianwei·Hundred Hooks Hundred Hits?】

Hm? Why did Li Jianwei’s name have the Hundred Hooks Hundred Hits title? How did she get that?

Such a thought flashed through Shu Heng’s mind, but she instinctively selected “Yes.”

【Added successfully. Friend Chat System unlocked. First ten chats per day free; subsequent require points. Invest materials to gain points.】