Starting With a Reef [Global Survival]

Yun Luohe suspected there were wild animals on this island—something that preyed on pheasants. Her own catch had already become someone else's meal.
If it was a large predator, then her best option was to leave immediately.
But judging from the tracks, it did not look like something left by a large animal.

She packed up the trap and picked up the pheasant feathers scattered on the ground.
Pheasant feathers were useful. She remembered that upgrading bows and arrows required animal feathers for fletching.
After scanning her surroundings once more, she left.

Ten minutes later, a sudden rustling came from a dense tree by the stream.
A lithe leopard cat leapt down, holding half a pheasant in its mouth. Its sharp, clever eyes darted around alertly.
Golden spots adorned its fur in clear, elegant patterns. The lean body showed smooth muscle lines, its coat glossy and clean. It was larger than usual—clearly well-fed.

It dropped the half-eaten pheasant on the ground, then swaggered over to the stream to drink.
Before drinking, it even washed its face with its paw.
Its paw swiped twice in the water, stirring the dirty current aside, and only then did it prepare to drink.

But just as it lowered its head, its nose twitched twice. The moment the water touched the fur near its mouth, its expression sharpened with wariness, and it leapt backward.
A cold arrow flew past with a whoosh, striking exactly where it had been crouching a moment ago.
The leopard cat’s fur bristled immediately—it was furious.

Yun Luohe slowly stepped out from behind a distant tree.
As she’d guessed, the chicken thief had not gone far. Otherwise, how could there have been no trace? It must have been hiding up in the tree all along.
She had pretended to leave, and the cat had come out on its own.

It looked like a wild cat, somewhat resembling a leopard—but leopards were felines too, so the resemblance was not strange.
The tip of its tail was ringed with black and now stood upright.
She could tell the cat was truly angry, already prepared to charge at her.
Yun Luohe smirked.

Quite fierce.
She raised her bow and aimed at it, preparing to shoot again.
Her archery was newly learned and still unskilled. This was pure target practice, using the cat as a live dummy.

However, the cat’s speed was truly astonishing—it dodged effortlessly, then bared its teeth at Yun Luohe in provocation, feinting as if about to pounce.
Yun Luohe didn’t get angry. She stowed the bow and suddenly drew a dagger from her hand.
The sharp blade gleamed coldly.

The leopard cat’s expression changed, though its gaze still carried disdain.
It pounced straight at her, leaping high. Its forelimbs were extended, claws bared—the sharp claws were its weapons.
But just before its claws reached Yun Luohe, she dodged. The cat hadn’t even reacted yet when, in the moment it landed, Yun Luohe kicked it squarely, launching it into a tree trunk.

A sharp, painful screech rang out. Its wide, round eyes stared at her, now filled with fear.
The next second, Yun Luohe stepped on its body and held the dagger to its throat.
Only then did the leopard cat finally panic. It let out a soft, pitiful meow, pleading for mercy.

Yun Luohe frowned. This cat seemed… oddly humanlike.
Forget it. It had only eaten half a pheasant—no reason to kill it. Besides, she’d heard cat meat tasted terrible.
She lifted her foot. “Go on. Next time, don’t steal my chicken.”

Yun Luohe held up the trap to show it. This was hers.
The leopard cat seemed to understand, letting out two more meows.
Yun Luohe stopped paying it attention and went to pick up the half-eaten pheasant. Though the cat had chewed on half of it, the remaining portion could still be used as fish bait or compost—no reason to waste it.

It was getting late. Yun Luohe had to keep gathering supplies.
She still needed to check the other trap. If there were pheasants here, there might be a nest nearby.
Pheasants usually didn’t wander far from their nests.

She slashed through the underbrush with her sickle, collecting some fiber in the process, while keeping an eye out for the nest.
Strangely enough, she did find the pheasant nest. There were feathers inside—but no eggs.
Could it be this pheasant hadn’t laid any?

After a while cutting grass, she had a decent amount of fiber, but her stamina had been slowly draining.
Only ten points of stamina remained.
She sat down on a large stone, pulled out food from her backpack, and started eating.

She needed to eat a bit more this time.
Yun Luohe drank two bowls of fish head soup and ate two pieces of pan-seared fish. Her belly was full, and her strength returned.
The fatigue she’d been feeling earlier vanished, and she was once again full of energy.

Just as she was about to stand and continue, she suddenly heard a cat’s cry.
Turning her head, she saw the leopard cat from earlier. She had no idea when it started following her, but it kept its distance, pushing something along the ground with its paw while meowing.
A green-shelled pheasant egg rolled across the ground.

It was clearly for her.
“Outside.”
“Meow…”

The leopard cat decisively pushed the egg forward again, delivering it to Yun Luohe’s feet. Then it boldly rubbed against her leg.
This guy… was trying to please her?
But why?

She had already let it go.
Yun Luohe looked at the cat in confusion.
The leopard cat raised its paw, opened its mouth, pointed at itself, then at Yun Luohe’s hand.

“You want food?”
The cat meowed in response.
Realization dawned on Yun Luohe—she had just eaten fish head soup and pan-seared fish. The cat must have seen it. Cats loved fish—it must be craving some.

“One egg’s not enough to trade for my fish,” Yun Luohe said, picking up the egg and weighing it in her hand.
The leopard cat grabbed at her sleeve with its paw.
“You can take me to find more eggs?”

Yun Luohe narrowed her eyes.
The leopard cat: “Meow meow!”
Well, that worked for her.

“Alright. If you can lead me to more pheasant eggs or other pheasants, I’ll give you a piece of fish.”
She pulled out a piece of pan-seared fish and waved it in front of the cat.
The leopard cat eagerly leapt to snatch it, but Yun Luohe suddenly tucked it into her backpack.

Seeing the fish vanish, the cat became visibly anxious.
“Do a good job, and I’ll give it to you. Let’s go.”
The cat’s eyes sparkled. It took a few steps forward, then turned and looked at her, raising its chin and calling out as if to say, “Follow me.”

Yun Luohe followed.
The cat moved with lithe grace and steady steps, sometimes leaping up into trees.
Yun Luohe had to stay focused to keep up.

They passed through the forest, quickly arriving at a grassy clearing. So this was where the pheasant nest was.
The leopard cat darted ahead and waited for Yun Luohe at a spot.
She quickened her pace, knowing this must be the place.

Soon, she saw eleven green-shelled pheasant eggs lying in the grass.
“So many!”
She had thought there would be at most three or five.

With that many, a whole brood of chicks could hatch by night. That would be a huge gain.
But without a hen—or an incubator—hatching them seemed unlikely.
Still, that could be dealt with later. First, she needed to collect the eggs.

Her backpack was full, so Yun Luohe listed her sickle on the Trade Center to free up space. She could retrieve it later.
After collecting the eggs, she pulled out the pan-seared fish and offered it to the leopard cat.
The cat joyfully bit into it, devouring it in a few bites while letting out delighted meows.

“Meow meow meow~~”
Yun Luohe almost felt like she understood—it was saying, “So good!”
Hahaha, what a crowd-pleasing cat.

It quickly finished the fish, then stared at Yun Luohe, eyes full of anticipation.
“Still want more?”
“Meow!”

Yun Luohe raised a brow. “Then you’ll have to trade something for it.”
The cat seemed to think hard, as if unsure what else it could offer her.
Yun Luohe checked the time—it was getting late, and she’d already gathered a lot today.

She headed out and found the trap she had set earlier—it was just as she left it, untouched.
Disappointed, she packed it up.
With a bit of stamina left, Yun Luohe decided to chop one more tree.

She wanted to bring back as much wood as possible.
She’d used up 90 pieces making boxes today, and her forge and furnace consumed wood daily. The stockpile was dwindling fast.
But she couldn’t just chop randomly—big trees were best, since they yielded more wood.

The forest was full of trees. Yun Luohe raised her axe and chopped fiercely. Wood fell to the ground, and she loaded all of it into her backpack.
The leopard cat trailed behind, watching her movements, clearly unsure what she was doing.
After a round of intense chopping, the sun began to dip below the horizon.

Yun Luohe paused to stretch her wrists—they were starting to ache.
Her stamina was almost completely drained again.
She now had 274 pieces of wood in her backpack.

Still not enough.
At this pace, she would have to make multiple island trips just to gather enough for an upgrade.
With her current luck, relying solely on reef salvage each day would not cut it.

She had to multitask more aggressively.
A dark cloud drifted across the sky—it looked like rain was coming.
Part of her hated to leave early. She wanted to chop just a bit more.

Yun Luohe sighed.
Maybe just a little longer. She still had food left in her bag, after all.
After all, opportunities to land on the island were rare.
It seemed Wu Jing also had not returned early.

Having made her decision, Yun Luohe downed another bowl of fish head soup.
Time to keep chopping!
She aimed to gather 500 pieces of wood before heading back.
The leopard cat stared at Yun Luohe’s soup, its eyes gleaming.
It licked its lips.
"Meow!" So fragrant!
"Meow meow!"

Yun Luohe heard the meowing but didn’t even look back. “You’d better leave. There’s none for you.”
The leopard cat lay nearby, staring longingly at her.
Yun Luohe ignored it, focusing entirely on chopping trees.
When her stamina ran low, she ate something.

Eating too much at once would make her bloated, so she could only eat in small intervals.
But this ended up tormenting the leopard cat.
Its clever eyes spun round and round, then it climbed up a tree and left.

Half an hour passed.
Rain started to fall.
Fine droplets sprinkled over Yun Luohe’s body.
She listed the hoe from her backpack on the Trade Center, intending to retrieve her plastic umbrella.
Unexpectedly, one of the two umbrellas she had priced high actually sold.

She didn’t have time to check which unfortunate soul bought it. She took out the remaining umbrella, opened it, and continued chopping.
There was still some light left. She decided to keep chopping for another twenty minutes before leaving.
Luckily, the island wasn’t very big, and the path back was easy to follow. Otherwise, she wouldn’t dare linger until dark.

Her backpack filled steadily with wood. When the time was nearly up, Yun Luohe put away her axe and prepared to leave.
Under the dim moonlight, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the path was difficult to see, but Yun Luohe remembered the way.
After walking for a while, a cat’s meow suddenly came from behind.
Why was it back again?
The meowing was urgent, as if it were searching for her.
Yun Luohe stopped and turned back. In the darkness, a pair of glowing cat eyes gleamed—slightly eerie.

Soon, the cat darted to her side.
“Meow meow!”
Yun Luohe couldn’t tell what it was doing, nor understand what it was saying.

“Something wrong?”
Talking to it felt pointless. She sighed helplessly.
Her backpack was full, so she went to the Trade Center and bought a torch.
The moment she suddenly pulled out the torch, she startled the leopard cat!
It sprang backward in alarm.

In the torchlight, Yun Luohe saw it was holding a bunch of red, round fruits in its mouth—glistening like rubies, incredibly beautiful.
Despite its fear of the fire, the leopard cat slowly walked over, raised its head, and presented the fruit to Yun Luohe.
This was...

[Pepper: A spice with a strong aroma and pungent heat. Can be used for seasoning or medicine. Warm in nature, it dispels cold, induces sweating, and treats wind-cold illness.]
It was Yun Luohe’s first time seeing fresh pepper.
Usually in daily life, she’d only seen dried black pepper or powdered white pepper for stews.
Pepper had many uses. She had no idea where the cat had found it.

“You’re giving this to me?”
“Meow!”
“Meow meow meow meow~”
Yun Luohe felt like she understood.

“You want food again?”
“Meow.”
Figures.
A gluttonous cat.

There weren’t many of these peppers, but they were good stuff. Trading them for her fish wasn’t a bad deal.
Yun Luohe took out a piece of fish to offer it.
But the leopard cat waved its paw.
“You don’t want it?”

“Meow meow meow.”
Yun Luohe thought for a moment and pulled out a bowl of fish head soup.
“Meow~”
Yun Luohe: “……”
So picky now, huh?

She placed the bowl of soup on the ground.
The leopard cat lapped at the soup with blissful abandon, letting out soft, satisfied purrs.
Yun Luohe looked at the pepper in her hand, thinking whether to have the cat lead her to the pepper trees… or just go home.

It was quite late, the sky completely dark. Holding both an umbrella and a torch meant that if danger appeared, she would have to drop one to draw a weapon.
It wasn’t worth the risk. Besides, the pepper trees might grow in steep areas. The cat could get them—but she might not.
Too risky. Better to forget it.
She’d bring this pepper back and see if it could be planted.

Yun Luohe continued forward and soon reached the beach.
She looked at the sand covering the ground and sighed at the missed opportunity, but headed straight for the shore. She took out the sailboat and prepared to return using her Island Entry Token.
But just as she brought out the boat and got ready to board, the leopard cat jumped out from behind her—leaping directly onto the sailboat.

“?” Yun Luohe stared at the cat, now sitting upright on the boat, soaked to the bone from the rain.
Despite its bedraggled state, it still held its head high and sat there with dignity.
“You want to come with me?”
“Meow!”
“Meow meow.”

Yun Luohe said, “I can’t afford to keep you. You won’t be getting any fish from me.”
The leopard cat widened its eyes and looked at her with disbelief, making Yun Luohe laugh.
“If you want fish, you’ve got to trade something for it. If you follow me, you won’t be able to trade anymore.”
Everything on the reef was her property.
If it lived on the reef, she couldn’t very well let it pluck her crops to trade for meat.

The cat meowed anxiously.
Now Yun Luohe truly couldn’t understand it.
The leopard cat sat stubbornly on the boat, refusing to budge.
Yun Luohe considered—could the cat catch fish by itself? If so, maybe it wasn’t a bad idea.

Or she could have it guard the reef. If a fish monster showed up, maybe it could help fight it off?
“Fine, you can come. But you have to obey me. If you don’t listen, I’ll throw you into the sea.”
The cat meowed in response, though she had no idea what it meant.

A few minutes later, the sailboat docked beneath the reef.
“Finally back!”
Seeing the familiar reef, Yun Luohe felt a sense of relief.

She walked up the steps to the reef. The leopard cat followed, leaping up and glancing around—clearly curious about its new surroundings.
Yun Luohe packed up the sailboat. “Don’t run around. Stay close. And don’t touch anything I’ve planted outside!”
With that, she strode into the wooden hut.

There was plenty to do now that she was back. First, she needed to store all her supplies.
She had brought back quite a haul this time and needed to sort it all.
Boxes of sand, boxes of high-quality soil, a large bag of flowers and plants, dozens of units of clay, hundreds of wood pieces, half a pheasant, cashews and cashew wood, a crystal stone, a small amount of pheasant feathers, the eggs found thanks to the leopard cat, and the pepper it had given her.

It was already late and raining—definitely not a good time for farming.
Better to contact Mu Zitang first and ask him to bring over the junk for recycling.
She couldn’t miss today’s lottery draw.
Then she could recover a bit of stamina and see if she could fish up any resources.

While messaging Mu Zitang, she headed to the workstation to retrieve a finished water purifier and loaded new materials.
The leopard cat kept following her. Once inside, it began inspecting everything.
When it spotted the furnace, it was wary at first—but soon curled up beside it to dry its wet fur.
Yun Luohe glanced at it.
What a chill creature.

“Big Sis Yun, you’re finally back! I stored everything the Association members turned in inside the boxes.”
“I fished up something strange today. Take a look and see if you need it.”
Mu Zitang had gotten quite a few good things from Yun Luohe recently and kept thinking of ways to repay her.
But the good items he could salvage were few and far between. He could only hope this weird junk might be useful.
[Parchment Fragment ×1, Broken Key Half ×1, Black Metal Scrap ×1]

Aside from the parchment, Yun Luohe had never seen the other items before.
“Send them all to me.”
She took out a piece of pan-seared eel and offered it in exchange.

Soon, Mu Zitang sent over more than a hundred materials.
“The five newest members each traded six items for one bottle of water.”
“I told them they could trade for other stuff later. They seemed really happy.”
Yun Luohe checked her backpack. “Did they say what else they wanted? Ask around in the group.”
Once purified water wasn’t so scarce, they’d definitely need a new trading commodity.

“I’ll ask, but my guess is iron ore.”
Not surprising—iron ore was a high-tier material. Players with bad luck rarely got it, and it was needed for lots of things, especially upgrades.
But Yun Luohe didn’t have much iron ore herself.

“Ask what else they might want. Let’s get a consensus. Iron ore is off the table for now.”
“Are we recruiting new members?”
More members meant more junk for her—but the purified water she had barely covered the current members. Adding more would be a stretch.

Can’t eat the fat pig in one bite. Better to take it slow.
Yun Luohe accepted the junk and counted it: 165 items total.
Time to get busy again!

After tossing a few items into the trash can, she looked back to see the leopard cat watching her curiously. Suddenly, she had an idea.
Maybe the cat could help throw trash…
All it needed to do was bite the junk and toss it into the trash can—not too hard.
Yun Luohe chuckled, took out a piece of fish, and called out, “Big cat, come here.”
She knew it could understand her.

Sure enough, the leopard cat lazily lifted its head, but when it saw the fish in her hand, it ran over immediately.
Its tail stood straight up, flicking with excitement.
“You toss these into the bin like I do. Finish all of it, and you get fish. Deal?”

“Meow meow!”
“Agreed?”
“Meow……”

“I’ll give you soup tomorrow.”
“Meow~”
“Alright, get started.”

The leopard cat picked up a plastic water bottle in its mouth and tossed it into the trash can.
[Plastic Water Bottle successfully recycled. Obtained: Plastic ×2]
It worked!

Yun Luohe patted the leopard cat’s head, quite satisfied.
The cat didn’t love being touched, but it didn’t resist either.