Chapter 16: Landing on Rainforest Island, First Kill

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Landing on Rainforest Island, First Kill

[Sailboat upgrade successful (100 km/1 hour). Reward: Treasure Chest x1.]

Shi Zhile didn’t open it.

She stood up, looked at the distant raft, and steered the sailboat toward it.

She finally stopped about a hundred meters away from the raft.

Compared to the sailboat, the raft was small and narrow.

"A boat? You upgraded your raft again? How much wood did that take?! Contentment Brings Happiness, I know it’s you! Let me on board, I’ll give you wood."

He estimated the distance between them, the thought of jumping off his raft and forcibly climbing aboard forming in his mind.

Shi Zhile walked from the stern to the bow, a rusty axe in her hand.

"Let you on board, and then what?"

When the middle-aged man on the raft saw Shi Zhile, his eyes lit up, then quickly filled with greedy calculation.

’He never imagined "Contentment Brings Happiness" would be a young girl.’

The girl before him was very thin, with dull, yellowed hair—a clear sign of malnourishment.

She wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, but she looked particularly well-behaved and sensible.

Her expression was placid, her eyes revealing a composure that didn’t match her age. Yet, the more she acted this way, the more it gave off the dissonant feeling that she was just forcing herself to be calm.

’If he’d known from the start that Contentment Brings Happiness was a young girl, he never would have revealed his true nature. At least, not before he’d tricked her and gotten what he wanted.’

But lust made him bold, and he figured it wasn’t too late now.

’After all, everyone was lonely on the vast ocean, especially a kid without a backbone.’

"And then, of course, I’d... give you my supplies.

Little girl, we must be the first players to meet in this game. Let’s team up. You have supplies, I have strength. Together, we can definitely beat the others and take first place."

From an angle Shi Zhile couldn’t see, the man’s fingers rubbed together restlessly.

It was a common habit among gamblers.

Shi Zhile pretended not to see the greed in his eyes.

’While others coveted her supplies, wasn’t she also coveting theirs?’

She knew her appearance was deceptive. For the sake of supplies, she could be pretentious, act cute...

’I can’t do it!’

Looking at the man’s yellow teeth, she just couldn’t bring herself to say the word "uncle."

She said coolly, "I’m not as strong as you. What if you kill me and steal my boat after you get on?"

"No, no, I wouldn’t..."

"If you want to come aboard, fine. Hand over your supplies first. I can only relax once I have some insurance."

The man lowered his eyes, which darted around as he was clearly trying to come up with a way to board the boat.

’The sailboat wasn’t too high, but the distance wasn’t short. Swimming over was unlikely to work. Plus, she had an axe. He was betting she wouldn’t dare hurt him, but what if there were sharks in the water?’

Getting injured in this godforsaken place was basically a death sentence.

"It’s my first time out on the sea today, I don’t have any supplies in my backpack. How about this: bring the boat over here, and I’ll take you to my island. I have wood and water on my island."

Shi Zhile gave him a speechless look.

"Do I look stupid to you? Since you’re not sincere about cooperating, goodbye."

"Hey, I am sincere about cooperating! Let me on the boat..."

She returned to the stern, took the helm, and steered around him toward Rainforest Island.

As the boat passed his raft, the man leaped into the water, gripping the edge of the bow with one hand.

The raft was carried away by the waves, drifting into the distance.

"Stop! Let me up, I’ll give you wood."

Shi Zhile took her hands off the helm, but the sailboat didn’t stop.

She walked to the front and looked down at the struggling man in the water. "Didn’t you say you didn’t have any supplies?"

"I do, I do! Quick, pull me up! I have a treasure chest! I’m about to drown!"

He was gambling.

Gambling that a young, naive girl would have a bleeding heart and wouldn’t be able to stand seeing someone suffer.

Unfortunately for him, nine out of ten gambles are losses.

"Throw all your supplies up here. I’ll pull you up after I see them."

The man thrashed desperately in the water, trying to haul himself aboard, but the boat was moving too fast. If he relaxed his grip even slightly, the current would sweep him away.

"I can’t! I’m out of strength. Let me on the boat first, and I’ll give you all my supplies afterward."

Shi Zhile raised her axe, aiming it at his head. "Then there’s nothing to discuss. Goodbye!"

The man gritted his teeth. "Fine!"

A treasure chest materialized in front of him. Just as Shi Zhile was about to hook it with her axe, he jerked his head forward, knocking the chest into the sea.

The chest sank the moment it hit the water, giving her no time to react.

"Why didn’t you catch it? Stop the boat and go back to get it!"

’As soon as the boat stopped, he could climb aboard immediately.’

’He’d lost a treasure chest, but getting a boat and a pile of supplies in return was a good trade.’

Shi Zhile’s face fell as she watched the treasure chest disappear.

’That son of a bitch. He’d rather throw it away than give it to me.’

Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, the man heaved with both arms and nearly climbed onto the deck.

"You little bitch! Meddling in my business! See how I... AARGH!"

The man slid off the side of the boat and was swept away by the current.

Shi Zhile crouched down and washed the blood from her axe with seawater. Once it was clean, she put it in her backpack and walked along the side of the boat back to the stern.

’If you don’t pull out the weed by its roots, it’ll grow back in the spring. A blow to the head with an axe like that... it’d be a miracle if he survived. You’d better drown in the sea for good.’

The sun beat down, and the temperature soared, climbing toward thirty-nine degrees Celsius.

On the ocean, the sailboat was like a giant steamer—hot and humid.

Shi Zhile had no shortage of drinking water. She drank when she was thirsty and drank when she was hot, never giving her throat a chance to become dry and sore.

Half an hour later, the sailboat reached Rainforest Island. Shi Zhile could finally see the island in its entirety.

Lush green plants, towering trees that pierced the clouds, a peak wreathed in mist. In the distance, she could faintly hear the chirping of insects and birds.

Compared to Stone Island, Rainforest Island clearly had more resources, but also more dangers.

Shi Zhile didn’t rush to disembark. She first used the workbench to sharpen her axe, then checked the public chat.

[Aunt Flo Is Here: Hahaha, I tested it. Rafts can only go about a thousand meters from your island. Those bastards who want to go plunder other people’s resources can’t even leave their own islands.]

[Everyone Get Out of the Way: As you upgrade your raft, the distance you can travel from your island will gradually increase. But building windows, doors, and a roof for your shelter all require wood. If you reinforce your shelter, you can’t upgrade your raft. You have to choose one or the other: either hunker down on your island and develop quietly, or focus on upgrading your raft to go plunder other islands.]

[Qiu Sheng: Do the game designers want players to be trapped on their islands until they die? The ocean is too dangerous. There’s less and less seafood at low tide. I know there are supplies in the sea, but I’m too scared to go out. What should I do?]

[Sharpened Axe: Godly Tree-Felling Axe (I’m more perfect than you can imagine. No matter the tree, as long as you swing, it’s guaranteed to fall in a few chops.)]

Shi Zhile closed the panel, took the axe from the workbench, stretched her body a bit, and then jumped off the boat.

’Actually, there weren’t just two choices. There was a third: hunker down and plunder at the same time.’

The farther your raft could travel, the more resources you could seize. The more resources you had, the faster you could upgrade your shelter.

By the same token, the more resources you plundered, the fewer resources others had.

But to survive, you had no choice. After all, the law of nature was natural selection, survival of the fittest.