Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

However, Yun Luohe hadn't expected that the Forge would require shells. She had just thrown all her shells into the Trash Can.
Awkward.

Yun Luohe had no choice but to ask others. She started by messaging a few of her recent contacts.
The first person she asked was Mu Zitang.
"Do you still have any shells?"

Then, she messaged Yang Mian, Du Ruan-tian, and Qin Sisi.
"Are you willing to trade shells?"
Mu Zitang responded quickly and directly sent over some shells.

"I only have 3 shells left."
After receiving them, Yun Luohe sent him a piece of pan-seared fish meat.
"Have you had dinner? If you did, then just treat it as a midnight snack."

Mu Zitang was someone she trusted relatively well in the game.
Their cooperation would only deepen in the future, so letting him know that her cooking skill had some buffs wouldn't do any harm.
"Sis Yun! This fish meat smells so good, and it even restores stamina points. Giving me something this good as a snack is a waste, isn't it? I'll save it for tomorrow instead. Anyway, I'm about to sleep soon."

Yun Luohe: "Haha, do as you like."
"Sis Yun, do you need shells? How about I try to collect some more in the association?"
"And there's one more thing. Everyone wants to trade more stuff to get more water. Half a bottle of water isn't enough for anyone. Or maybe they can exchange for other materials."
Yun Luohe thought for a moment.
"I mentioned this before. For the first three days after joining the association, you can only trade for half a bottle of water per day. It's a probation period. After three days, they'll be allowed to trade for more. Just tell them that. As for the shells, collect some if you can."

"Got it. And after the three days? What do we trade then?"
"After three days, they can exchange 6 units of any material for 1 bottle of water or for iron ore."
"Okay!"

The association had just been established not long ago, and the number of members wasn't that high yet. Yun Luohe hadn't thought too far ahead, but she figured that in a few days, Mu Zitang might not be able to manage everything alone.
She needed to come up with a plan.
Soon, the others replied to her messages.
Du Ruan-tian: "I don't have any shells left. I used them for something else."
Yang Mian: "I'll give you 5 shells in exchange for the other half basket of strawberries."
Qin Sisi: "Do you still have any bait? If you do, we can trade. I have some shells."

From what Yun Luohe knew, the only use for shells right now was for the Forge. If Du Ruan-tian was also using them, then it was likely that she had also obtained the Forge Blueprint.
As for Yang Mian, he really seemed to like strawberries.
However, Yun Luohe wasn't keeping that half basket of strawberries for eating. She was saving them to extract seeds. She didn't have the time to get the seeds yet, but she couldn't just trade them away.

So, she chose to trade with Qin Sisi instead.
After all, she still had plenty of bait.
But it was strange. Qin Sisi could fish, so why didn't she just use the fish guts to make bait?
Yun Luohe directly asked Qin Sisi, "Do you still need bait? Why not just use the fish guts to make some?"

Qin Sisi: "I've been keeping the fish I caught alive. Also, the octopus bait you gave me last time has a high catch rate. It can catch some rare fish."
I see.
Yun Luohe took out a dried octopus tentacle and sent it to Qin Sisi.
"Take this and give me 4 shells in exchange."

Qin Sisi: "Okay."
"Do you have anything suitable for a child to eat?"
A child?
Yun Luohe was a bit surprised. "Your child entered the game too?"

Qin Sisi: "Yeah, my daughter came in with me."
Now that was unexpected.
But being with her mother was certainly better than a child trying to survive alone on a reef.

"How old is she?"
"Five."
A five-year-old was at the age of rapid growth and would need proper nutrition.
No wonder Qin Sisi was anxious.
Fish meat was nutritious, but just eating fish wasn't enough.

She was probably keeping the fish alive because her backpack space was limited, and the storage box didn't have a refrigeration function.
What would be suitable for a five-year-old? Yun Luohe opened her backpack and checked.
"Here, I'll give you two strawberries. Kids should like them."

"Alright, thank you so much."
Qin Sisi was delighted to see the strawberries.
"Do you need anything else?"
Yun Luohe: "Do you have any linen cloth? Or lime, sand, or clay?"

Qin Sisi: "I have one linen cloth and two clay."
"Alright, give me one linen cloth. If I come across more food suitable for children, I'll let you know."
Now that she knew Qin Sisi was raising a child alone on a reef, Yun Luohe couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for her.

Now, the amount of linen cloth was enough to make five pieces of canvas.
Now, it all depended on how Wu Jing would respond.
Yun Luohe now had enough shells and wanted to immediately make the Forge.
But the Water Purifier was still being made on the workbench, so there was no space for it yet.
So, she continued grilling fish meat.

When midnight passed.
Yun Luohe checked the workbench. The timer showed that there was half an hour left.
Canvas production.
One clock of cloth.

She initially thought that Wu Jing wouldn't respond tonight, but just as she finished making five pieces of canvas, Wu Jing finally sent a message.
"Otherwise, I won't help you make the sailboat."
Earlier, he had already asked in the association, but no one admitted to selling cooked fish meat in the Trading Center.
He had privately messaged a few players he suspected, but none of them admitted to it, so it was quite possible that the person wasn't in the association.

Wu Jing didn't want to help anyone in the association make a sailboat, especially since the players there didn't have much lower Luck than he did.
But if the person wasn't in the association and had average Luck, then trading wouldn't be out of the question.
After all, he desperately needed stamina-restoring food.
Yun Luohe wasn't going to let him easily figure out who she was.

Since Wu Jing was the one who reached out first, it meant he genuinely needed the fish meat.
Yun Luohe: "It's just a trade. Why do you need to know who I am?"
Wu Jing: "Fine, we don't have to talk about it. But let's use something else for the trade. I can guarantee that once I'm done using the sailboat, I'll either lend it to you or make you one. At that point, I'll need even more of this fish meat."

Wu Jing's goal was to secure a first-mover advantage. He had no intention of monopolizing the chance to land on the island, and he couldn't even if he wanted to.
Yun Luohe thought it over. "Alright, then let's stick with what we discussed earlier: trading refined steel, space stones, and blueprints."
After all, Yun Luohe still had some preparations to make before heading to the island.
It wouldn't hurt to delay by a day. She preferred to fight prepared battles. Rather than rushing over tomorrow, it would be better to make weapons and gear first.

And it was already quite late. It wasn't worth pulling an all-nighter for stamina points.
Now that the Forge was made, she still lacked refined steel.
"Space stones? Those get used up as soon as they're obtained. No one's going to keep them just for trading."

That was true. Everyone's backpack space was severely limited, and space stones were a necessity. Nobody could afford to keep them.
"Two pieces of refined steel and one blueprint for 5 pieces of gold-grade fish meat."
Wu Jing was now even more curious. Just who was this person?

He happened to have three pieces of refined steel, one of which was reserved for forging weapons.
Did this person really know exactly what he had?
As for blueprints, he only had two.
[Basic Bow Blueprint]
[Heavy-Duty Sewing Machine Blueprint]
There was no way Wu Jing would use the Sewing Machine Blueprint for the trade; he could only use the Bow Blueprint.

Although he knew the blueprint was valuable, he didn't use bows, so it wasn't of much use to him for the time being.
He planned to set off at first light tomorrow, and he didn't want to delay any longer.
If he didn't go tomorrow, he might not be the first player to reach the island.

"Alright, let's trade," Wu Jing gritted his teeth and agreed.
When Yun Luohe received the refined steel and blueprint from Wu Jing, she was overjoyed.
What a coincidence!

She had just learned Basic Archery and now she had obtained the Bow Blueprint.
It was like someone handed her a pillow just when she felt sleepy!
[Basic Bow (Upgradeable): A long-range weapon with high power and range. The initial crafting materials are simple, but it can be upgraded with more advanced materials later.]
[Required Materials:
Bow Body (Basic): Bamboo × 3
Bowstring (Basic): Hemp Rope × 2
Arrowheads (Basic): Iron Ore × 5
Arrow Shafts (Basic): Bamboo × 5
Quiver: Leather × 3]
[Advanced Materials for Bow Body: Various hardwoods.
Advanced Materials for Bowstring: Common elastic materials, including natural fibers such as horn or sinew.
Advanced Materials for Arrowheads: Copper Ore, Refined ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) Steel.
Advanced Materials for Arrow Shafts: Various hardwoods, plus animal feathers for fletching.]

Resources were still limited at the moment, but crafting a set of basic bow and arrows was feasible.
As for the advanced materials, she'd have to wait until she gathered them in the future to upgrade.
However, she had to admit, making a bow and arrows was far more complicated than making a dagger.

The number of required materials was also significantly higher.
For now, the immediate problem was bamboo and hemp rope.
She only had four pieces of bamboo in her backpack.

She'd have to head to the Trading Center to collect more.
It was already past midnight, which meant the Trash Can could now switch skills. Yun Luohe had been waiting eagerly for this moment.
She quickly picked up the Trash Can and switched its skill to Item Upgrade.

She had set aside some items specifically to use at this time.
Two damaged blueprints, one broken kerosene lamp, and a torn burlap sack.
If the effect was promising, she even considered throwing in some other ordinary items that she didn't know how to use yet.
[Damaged Blueprint upgraded through recycling. Obtained: Half a Weapon Blueprint.]

[Half a Weapon Blueprint: This is half of a weapon blueprint. If you can find the other half, you can combine them into a complete blueprint.]
Yun Luohe had actually expected the Trash Can to directly repair the blueprint.
However, being able to combine two damaged blueprints into one complete blueprint was still a decent deal.
[Damaged Blueprint upgraded through recycling. Obtained: Half a Furniture Blueprint.]

It seemed the two damaged blueprints weren't of the same type.
[Damaged Kerosene Lamp upgraded through recycling. Obtained: Empty Kerosene Lamp × 1]
[Kerosene Lamp: This is a perfectly usable kerosene lamp, except it has no oil. Add some oil, and it can be used normally.]

Not bad. She stored it away; it might come in handy later.
[Torn Burlap Sack upgraded through recycling. Obtained: Hemp Rope × 2]
Perfect! If she had just recycled it, it would have turned into fiber.
Now, getting hemp rope was much more valuable.

And since the bow and arrows required hemp rope, this was exactly what she needed.
This skill was definitely a winner.
Yun Luohe set her sights on some other items as well.

Keep throwing them in!
[Coconut Shell upgraded through recycling. Obtained: Coconut Shell Bowl × 1]
[Coconut Shell Bowl: A bowl made from natural coconut shells. It has beautiful natural patterns and colors, is lightweight and easy to use, but relatively fragile and prone to breaking.]

Not bad. She didn't have a bowl to eat from.
Now, when she made fish soup, she could pour it into a bowl and drink it.
[Old Clothes upgraded through recycling. Obtained: Cotton Cloth × 2]
Cotton cloth was a valuable resource; it could be used to make quilts.

 
****
The rain continued to pour. Yun Luohe observed the sea level. Every time it rained through the night, the seawater rose a little higher.

In another day or two, Level 3 reefs would likely be submerged.
She planned to reel in her fishing net, check its contents, and then go to sleep.
The net had been soaking in the sea for several hours now.
The pitch-black surface of the ocean looked quite terrifying. Yun Luohe held a torch in one hand and an umbrella in the other.
She walked down the steps, put away the torch, and grabbed the net to pull it up.

But the fishing net was unusually heavy this time—heavier than ever before.
"Ugh!" Yun Luohe exclaimed. What was in it that was so heavy?
She didn't have much strength to begin with, and she couldn't pull it up with just one hand.

After thinking it over, she decided to put away the plastic umbrella and use both hands to pull with all her might.
Even though she'd get soaked in the rain, she couldn't worry about that right now.
After pulling and dragging, and getting drenched for ten minutes, Yun Luohe finally managed to lift the fishing net to the surface.
It took even more effort to drag the contents onto the reef.

"What is it?" Yun Luohe opened the fishing net and found a barrel inside.
It was a black, round barrel, heavy and cumbersome, with a tightly sealed lid.
Since it was too dark outside to see clearly, Yun Luohe quickly brought the barrel into her shelter.
Under the glow of the stove, she could finally make out the words on the barrel.

"Green Miracle: Fermented Sheep Manure Organic Fertilizer."
What the hell—it was a barrel of fertilizer!
And it was premium-grade!