Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

This was a fairly thick piece of parchment, densely packed with writing.
—Planting Guide, Volume I
How to improve soil fertility?

The parchment listed four specific methods:
Use nutrient solution or organic fertilizer to convert ordinary soil into high-grade soil.
Add various organic materials, such as: animal manure, pine needle soil, decayed leaves and microorganisms, kitchen waste, fish and shrimp innards… This achieves a composting effect.

Plant green manure crops.
Add soil conditioners, such as lime or gypsum, to regulate soil pH.
Yun Luohe read through it carefully.

Besides the improvement methods, it also explained the benefits of enhancing soil fertility, such as increasing crop grade and yield.
Current soil quality rating: 3/10
(If soil quality is successfully improved, planting rewards will be granted.)
That kind of bonus?
Clearly, this Planting Guide wasn’t just any ordinary item.

Yun Luohe had always known that soil quality was important, but until now, she had no idea how to actually improve it.
Among the listed methods, the only one she could realistically carry out was the second one.
But things like rotten vegetable leaves were always used for recycling to get materials—burying them directly in the soil felt like a waste.

Still, you couldn’t catch a wolf without sacrificing some bait.
Once the soil was improved, the benefits would definitely be worth it in the long run.
Since this was just Volume I, that probably meant there was a Volume II or III as well.

She’d have to keep an eye out for parchment fragments in the Trading Center from now on and collect them all.
Yun Luohe tossed the fishing net back into the sea, then went to deal with the octopus. With the strong daylight today, drying it in the sun for an afternoon should do the trick—then she could use the meat as bait tonight.
Just then, Mu Zitang messaged her, saying that the Mutual Aid Association had already recruited five members.

“They’ve agreed to join, but what exactly do I do next? Do I collect trash from them every day and then trade them for upgrade materials?”
Yun Luohe:
"Let’s do this—players who join within the first three days only need to hand in 3 materials each, any kind of item, even junk. Once they turn that in, they’ll get half a bottle of purified water."
"Three random materials for half a bottle of water? That generous? They’ll all definitely agree."
Yun Luohe:
"Mm. Go ahead and collect the materials. I’ll give you the water now. You said five people joined, right? I’m sending you four bottles. The extra’s for you."

"Yun-jie, you’re giving me one and a half bottles? That’s too much! I haven’t even sent you the stuff I collected today!"
Yun Luohe:
"You need to turn in three materials too. Keep anything like crafting supplies, but show me the rest."
"Got it! Sending it now—I just pulled a bunch of random junk this morning, take whatever you want."

[Received: Fish Intestines ×1, Moldy Sweet Potato ×1, Broken Kerosene Lamp ×1, Plastic Pipe ×1, Single Sneaker ×1, Gravel ×1, Seaweed ×1]
Yun Luohe:
"Not bad. I’ll take all of it. What do you want in return?"
"That’s not bad, hahaha. Just give me some upgrade materials—I still need a lot."

Yun Luohe checked her inventory and sent him 10 Ocean Stones.
"Whoa, that much?"
Yun Luohe:
"Take it. Recruit more people for the association."

"Will do! I’ll collect their stuff, then go advertise for more members!"
Seeing the seaweed that Mu Zitang sent, Yun Luohe remembered she had a few more in her inventory.
Maybe she could bury them in the soil to improve fertility too?
Worth a try.

She planned to use a torn burlap sack to wrap the seaweed, rotten vegetable leaves, and soil together, seal it up, and see if it could ferment faster and become usable.
As for the fish intestines—they could either be used as fishing bait or buried in the soil.
After thinking it through, Yun Luohe decided to use them for fishing.
If she managed to catch a fish, the guts and scales could be composted later.

She tossed some of the other items into the Trash Can one by one.
[Moldy Sweet Potato recycled — Obtained: Sweet Potato Seed ×1]
[Single Sneaker recycled — Obtained: Fiber ×5, Plastic ×1]
As for the broken kerosene lamp, she decided to wait until the Trash Can was upgraded before tossing it in.
If it turned into a functioning lamp, it would be incredibly useful.

The plastic pipe, she kept for now.
Maybe it could be used to make a seawater extractor, so she wouldn’t have to manually collect water every day.
A short while later, Mu Zitang sent her 15 more items, saying they came from the new association members.
Each had turned in 3 items.
Now that they knew they could trade trash for purified water, everyone was enthusiastic.
Players like them, with terrible Luck stats, had junk piling up.
Yun Luohe did have listings in the Trading Center that traded Purified Water for materials, but it was always first-come, first-served. She’d only post about a dozen bottles at a time, and they’d sell out in minutes—not everyone could grab one in time.

So, having a reliable way to get water every day through the association was a huge deal for them.
[Received: Rotten Belt ×1, Sea Urchin Shell ×1, Rotten Egg ×1, Expired Spicy Strips ×1, Rotten Leather Shoe ×1, Baby Pacifier ×1, Broken Diving Goggles ×1, Clam Shell ×1, Shell ×2, Rotten Sweater ×1, Mineral Water Bottle ×3, Beer Bottle ×1]
She got more trash than she expected!

Yun Luohe picked out the sea urchin shell and rotten egg—both of which could probably be used for compost—
Then eagerly grabbed the Trash Can and dumped the rest in one by one.
Obtained: Leather ×2, Plastic ×5, Fiber ×15, Ocean Stones ×10, Glass ×1
The spicy strips were definitely expired, so not safe to eat—
But maybe she could try them as bait? Who knows, maybe fish liked spicy food.

Du Ruan-tian:
"The Water Purifier is sold. I got the materials. Ready to trade?"
Yun Luohe:
"Sure."
[Received: Glass ×3, Fiber ×10]

That was fast—and just in time! She now had enough to upgrade!
One thought filled Yun Luohe’s head:
Upgrade, now!!!
The moment she clicked Confirm, the entire reef began to glow. A countdown appeared in the sky above:

[Upgrade in Progress — Time Remaining: 5 hours]
She glanced at the clock. That meant it would finish around 9 p.m.
She wondered how high she’d rank this time.
Now that the reef was upgrading, she could finally take a breather—
Then focus on leveling up the Trash Can.

She opened the chat channel just in time to see Mu Zitang promoting the association.
"Join us! Surviving is no longer just a dream! Low Luck? Don’t worry—we’re all brothers and sisters here, united in mutual support! Daily drinking water and upgrade materials for every member!"
He’d already posted several recruitment messages by then.

The spam was working—tons of players were asking how to join.
"We warmly welcome all players with a Luck stat under 30, and who pull lots of junk every day."
"Wait, do you have to be that unlucky to join?"

"Yes. If your Luck is over 30, don’t bother applying."
Some were confused or mocking:
"I’ve heard of the Lucky Club before, but this Unlucky Club is something else. Gathering all the unluckiest players together? Why?"

"LMAO, under 30 Luck? I’m just curious what kind of trash you guys fish up. Can I join just to watch?"
"I’m already a member. Everyone here is really nice. We might be unlucky, but we work hard and stick together. With the president’s help, we will survive!"
"Talk about fired up. That’s some serious motivational energy. But I doubt this kind of group will last. Honestly, sounds like a bunch of losers thrown together."

Mu Zitang:
"Maybe you think it’s useless, but I believe our association will grow strong."
Yun Luohe felt comforted reading these.
She was confident too—
As long as she had the Trash Can, the association would never fall!
Right then, she got a message from Mu Zitang.

"Hehehe, Yun-jie, I just did a whole speech in the chat channel and now a ton of people want to join. Over 50 players added me!!"
"I’m going to carefully screen them. If they’re not unlucky enough, they don’t get in!"
Yun Luohe:
"Main thing is to check what kind of stuff they pull up each day. If it’s all junk, then you’ll know. They need to match your level of misfortune."

Mu Zitang:
"Roger that!"
Yun Luohe:
"Alright. Keep up the good work."
[You received: Sesame Crisp from Yun Luohe]

"Here, have a snack."
"Yun-jie, you’re being too nice! I promise I’ll run this association well!"
Mu Zitang was energized. He tossed his fishing net into the sea and went off to vet new applicants.

—
Yun Luohe took down the sun-dried octopus tentacle, sliced it into small pieces with a sickle, and hooked one onto the fishing rod to try fishing again.
This time, she didn’t even have to wait two minutes before the rod twitched.

Seeing the rod move twice, she quickly pulled it up—
But the fish got away right at the surface, slipping off the hook.
Yun Luohe felt a little frustrated. When she reeled the line in, the bait was still there—just bitten once. She’d probably been too hasty.
She should’ve waited. Let the fish latch on fully before pulling.

She cast the line again.
This time, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) after waiting ten minutes, a fish took the bait.
She felt the rod dip—It’s here!

She immediately started reeling it in.
Her timing was just right. The fish came up smoothly, landing with a thud on the reef.
But before she could enjoy the success, she saw a black shape surface. Just as she bent down to pick up the fish, she froze and stared at it.

A second later, the shadow lunged, leaping onto the reef.
It was a monster fish, about the size of a basketball. Its mouth was a perfect circle, eyes bulging as it stared at her. Its body was covered in spikes. As it jumped, it tried to bite her—fast and agile, inflating itself like a balloon with every breath, giving it bounce and surprising impact.
Yun Luohe used the fishing rod to block the attack. The monster’s spikes glowed a greenish-blue hue—clearly poisonous.

She had two usable weapons: the hoe and the sickle.
Between the stone hoe and the iron sickle, the iron was obviously more lethal. She grabbed the sickle, then smacked the jumping creature hard to the ground with the fishing rod. Taking two quick steps forward, she crouched down and drove the sickle into the monster's body. Its skin was tough, so she didn’t dare ease up. She shoved the blade in and kept twisting.
The creature had a stubborn life force, but eventually it stopped moving.

[Mutant Spiked Pufferfish defeated. Decompose?]
She chose to decompose immediately.
[Obtained: Pufferfish Meat ×5, Pufferfish Innards ×2]
[Pufferfish Meat: Delicious and highly nutritious. Restores health and boosts immunity. Improves digestion and appetite. Mutant pufferfish meat has even greater nutritional value. Cooking provides extra bonuses.]
[Pufferfish Innards: Extremely toxic. Do not consume.]

She couldn’t tell if this was good luck or bad—being ambushed by a monster fish.
At least it ended without injury, and she got some fish meat out of it.
The auto-decomposition only yielded those few items. Maybe manual processing could’ve yielded more, but the puffer was covered in spikes and clearly dangerous to handle. Even if there was a loss, Yun Luohe wasn’t interested in doing it herself.
If it had been a different kind of fish, she might’ve tried—like the one she’d just caught. That one could have scales or a head she could repurpose.

She picked up the caught fish.
[Grouper: Extremely tender, rich in nutrients.]
[Decompose?]
This time, Yun Luohe decided to do it herself.

She used the sickle to scrape off the scales, then slit open the belly. The guts—stomach, air bladder, intestines—spilled out immediately.
The fishy smell hit her at once, and she regretted it.
She should’ve done this over the garden bed—then she could’ve buried the guts directly into the soil.

Now the blood was all over the reef. The scent might attract more fish—mutant ones included.
But… that also meant more chances to kill them and collect meat.
Not a bad outcome, really.

With that in mind, Yun Luohe felt more at ease.
Let them come. I’ll take them all. The more, the better.
She chopped off the fish’s head. She could make fish head soup later. The bones left after eating could go straight into compost.
After breaking it down, she didn’t get much extra meat, but she did gain scales, head, and tail.

[Obtained: Grouper Meat ×5, Fish Head ×1, Fish Tail ×1, Fish Innards ×2]
Looking at all the fresh fish meat, Yun Luohe started feeling hungry.
Grilled fish sounded perfect tonight.
It was nearly dinner time.

She decided to eat the pufferfish meat first. It looked especially tasty.
Yun Luohe used the Toolbench to make five long wooden skewers, then pierced a piece of pufferfish meat onto one.
If only she had a grill.
For now, she’d have to hold it by hand and roast it over the stove.

Just as she was about to begin, a message came in from Du Ruan-tian.
She had delivered all the promised materials right on time.
Du Ruan-tian:
"When do you plan to start crafting? Once they’re done, I’ll list them in the Trading Center. I’m thinking of auctioning the first 10 Water Purifiers—highest bid wins. No one else in the zone has made one yet, so we should profit before others get the blueprint. What do you think?"

Yun Luohe:
"Sounds good. I can start right now. One every 30 minutes, so 10 will take at least 5 hours."
Du Ruan-tian:
"Perfect. Thanks for the work. Send them to me as you finish. Every 10 we’ll split profits again—same as before, 60 for you, 40 for me."
Yun Luohe:
"No problem."

Looks like grilled fish would have to wait.
Time to get back to work. She grabbed a ready-to-eat meal from her backpack instead.
There was still some Crab Roe Noodles—those would do nicely.
 
Night fell, and a light rain began to drizzle from the sky.

Cold air stirred across the sea, bringing strong winds. Waves crashed hard against the reef, sending uneasy chills down the spine.
The number of mutant sea monsters spiked. The chat channel was flooded with reports of fish monster attacks.
Earlier that afternoon, Yun Luohe had processed fish right on the reef, leaving behind a strong scent of blood—
which acted like a magnet for these creatures.

Fish monsters leapt out of the water nonstop around her reef.
Yun Luohe had to step out of her thatch hut every so often to deal with them.
Even so, it didn’t slow down her purifier production—she just needed to swap materials every thirty minutes.
Over the course of a few hours, she killed four fish monsters and gathered plenty of mutant fish meat.
But her stamina was nearly gone—she couldn’t even use the fishing net anymore.

Just then, a system notification rang out:
[Congratulations! You are among the Top 20 Players in Zone 2 to upgrade their Reef to Level 4! (Rank: #20)]
[Reward: Ocean Stone ×50, Iron Ore ×10, Glass ×5, Island Entry Token ×1, Dagger Blueprint ×1, Space Stone ×1, Anti-Slip Hiking Boots Blueprint ×1]