Although the specific use wasn’t written down, since it was “oil,” the properties of fish oil and tar oil should be similar, right?
One portion of fish oil was 100 milliliters, and trading two portions of coconut meat for it was a price He Ni could accept.
There probably weren’t many people who knew about fish oil yet.
After all, with half a million players on the entire server, she wasn’t guaranteed to get a good deal.
Still, out of habit, she bargained first, immediately replying:【How many portions of fish oil do you have? I’ll trade you 2 portions of coconut meat for 2 portions of fish oil. Coconut meat is quite valuable in this environment, you can try it first, and if you like it, we can trade again next time.】
No choice—being poor was a hard habit to break.
He Ni often went shopping with the aunts when she was young.
By the time she started middle school and went alone to the night market to buy clothes, she had already learned to haggle down to one-fifth of the seller’s initial price.
She thought she had already restrained her bargaining this time, worried about scaring off holders of rare supplies.
Zhou Jingxi looked at the picture of coconut meat He Ni sent and felt her mouth watering.
She had exchanged fish oil and fish meat today for enough water, and had eaten nothing but salty, fishy roasted fish meat all day.
Her stomach was full, no doubt, but her mouth and throat felt parched and dry.
In such hot weather, eating nothing but dry roasted fish meat and compressed biscuits every meal was definitely unsustainable.
She was already showing the Negative Status: Mild Heatstroke.
If she kept eating roasted fish meat, the next day or two would be even worse.
He Ni’s coconut meat was like timely rain to her.
But the price…
【Zhou Jingxi: My fish oil is rare too, and can be used for cooking!】
【Zhou Jingxi: But it’s not an absolute necessity right now. Fine, 2 portions of coconut meat for 2 portions of fish oil, I’ll trade with you.】
He Ni had chatted so much but had never seen anyone so straightforward before.
She pressed her lips together and didn’t bargain further, agreeing outright.
Zhou Jingxi was equally straightforward; moments later, the trade agreement popped up.
He Ni reached out and pressed her fingerprint; the virtual screen immediately showed a notification:【Acquired Fish Oil x2】
【Hmm…let me check again, additionally acquired Fish Oil x1】
A critical hit yielded an extra portion of fish oil!
Alongside the pop-up was the sight of three portions of golden liquid wrapped in transparent film.
After several trials, He Ni guessed her Passive Talent wasn’t triggered based on the number of times but rather the number of units obtained.
In other words, every time she received one unit of an item, there was a chance to trigger a critical hit.
If she traded 100 portions of fish oil, theoretically, she could end up with 135 portions.
This Passive Talent was more useful than she had imagined.
Zhou Jingxi’s avatar flashed, and she sent another message:【Pleasure doing business! Can you consistently get coconuts? Let’s add each other as friends. If you need more fish oil later, you can come to me.】
He Ni’s gaze paused at “consistently get coconuts.”
What did that mean?
Could it be that Zhou Jingxi could consistently get fish oil?
Checking Zhou Jingxi’s player profile, He Ni saw her Talent was Extractor.
Could it be that Zhou Jingxi’s skill allowed her to extract fish oil from fish meat?
Or perhaps the sea area she was in had special resources that yielded fish oil?
He Ni carefully examined her surroundings; apart from an Abandoned Stone Island dozens of nautical miles away, there seemed to be nothing unusual.
Wait…
Could the coconuts have drifted in from Abandoned Stone Island?
He Ni had a faint feeling she was onto something.
While her mind raced, her fingers didn’t stop typing:【Sure, let’s add each other as friends. I have coconuts now, and if you want coconut meat, coconut juice, or coconut shells, you can come to me. If I have them, I’ll trade.】
She sent the friend request; Zhou Jingxi accepted immediately, showing 2/2 friends.
He Ni had also sent a friend request to Xiao Luo Hao, but he hadn’t accepted.
No surprise—many players wanted to add him, and whether he saw her request was another matter.
Zhou Jingxi’s Talent probably really was connected to obtaining fish oil.
She left a good impression on He Ni.
If her character was solid after further observation, they could have long-term cooperation.
The two didn’t continue chatting.
He Ni stood to stretch, took a look around the surrounding sea, and discovered two more coconuts!
After enduring seven failed attempts and spending 27 stamina, she finally got two fresh, large coconuts.
Seeing more coconut leaves floating on the sea, He Ni spent another 12 stamina to retrieve three leaves.
Only after her stamina, restored by resting, was nearly depleted again did she sit down on the wood raft, staring thoughtfully at the coconut leaves floating in the bucket.
She hadn’t seen a single coconut all day yesterday, only a few scattered coconut leaves.
But today, not only were there more coconut leaves, coconuts appeared frequently.
Combined with Zhou Jingxi’s words, could it be that her area was abundant in coconuts? But why not yesterday?
Wait…
He Ni quickly opened My Map and blinked at the distance between her and Abandoned Stone Island.
When she first entered the game, she was 33 nautical miles from Abandoned Stone Island.
After drifting for a day and night, she was now only 29.1 nautical miles away.
The current was pushing the wood raft toward Abandoned Stone Island’s area.
Had she accidentally drifted into a coconut spawning zone?
She had played games before with such mechanics—specific regions spawning specific resources.
For example, entering the desert edge granted cactus seeds before seeing any cacti; entering forest edges had a chance to spawn ore fragments on the surface without mining.
Abandoned Stone Island probably had coconuts, and the area within 30 nautical miles of the island might be the coconut refresh zone.
Her heart pounded wildly.
If so, as long as the ocean current didn’t change, she could accumulate the starting capital from coconuts in the next few days.
Leveling up was in sight!
She even checked Nearby People; comparing it with My Map, the five nearby players were all still more than 35 nautical miles away from Abandoned Stone Island.
She had the first-mover advantage.
The only unknown was whether other players were approaching Abandoned Stone Island from other directions.
The number of players selling coconuts in the Trading Hall hadn’t increased.
He Ni wasn’t the type to worry about things that hadn’t happened.
She opened the virtual screen, ready to check unread private messages.
Unexpectedly, in just a short time, her private message list exploded as if possessed.
Countless unread messages all displayed “Just now” as the delivery time.
The bottom right corner showed a glaring 999+ unread notification.
New private messages kept flooding in, refreshing the list every second.
What was happening? Why were so many players suddenly contacting her?
He Ni was momentarily stunned but cautiously opened a few unread messages:
【Wawa Ti: Do you still have coconut juice? Coconut meat is fine too. I have supplies, you can pick whatever you want. Here’s a screenshot.】
【Ming Xin: I’ll trade 2 liters of fresh water for coconut juice. As much as you have, is that okay? Sincere request.】
Even “No Cilantro,” who had just made an outrageous offer, sent several more messages:【Are you there? Any coconuts left? If you don’t like the price, we can negotiate. How about one coconut for one tar torch? What do you think?】
【My tar torch is very useful. It can be stored in the backpack anytime without consuming the burning progress bar. Don’t underestimate it. Last night, no fire wasn’t a big deal, but after the newbie period ends, if you have no fire at night, you’re dead meat. People trade me 10 liters of water for one torch, and I’m still reluctant.】
【Are you there? Are you going to trade or not?】
Then “Jie Yu Hai” also raised the price politely:【Hello, are you still willing to trade 1 portion of coconut meat for 300 ml of fresh water as before? I agree, please confirm the trade.】
As He Ni opened the chat, the corresponding trade agreement appeared.
Even if she were confused or slow, He Ni realized something was wrong—something she didn’t know had happened.
She declined the trade from Jie Yu Hai and didn’t immediately reply to No Cilantro’s messages.
After checking the World Channel, she finally understood the situation.
About three minutes ago, Xiao Luo Hao had posted a glowing review of coconut juice in the World Channel.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t just a review; it included a bombshell piece of information:【Xiao Luo Hao: Just drank @He Ni’s coconut juice—sweet, refreshing, perfect for cooling down, and nutritious. It can effectively prevent the upcoming [Bad Blood Disease]. Players who can should drink a little every day. Of course, fresh seaweed and kelp help too. This [Bad Blood Disease] is tricky; it’s not easy to cure and causes continuous loss of HP, mental power, and stamina daily. Everyone, watch your diet!】
Bad Blood Disease!
He Ni’s eyes widened.
She had heard of this disease.
It was one of the most notorious killers during sea voyages—not instant death but a torment for all infected.
She hadn’t expected this sea survival game to include this “sea curse.”
No wonder Xiao Luo Hao was eager to buy coconut juice from her—he must have known about Bad Blood Disease in advance.
He Ni grew curious about Xiao Luo Hao’s Talent.
He had said his Talent was Hawkeye, but by the name, it should only mean broader and clearer vision.
Why did she feel Xiao Luo Hao seemed almost like he could “foresee the future”?
Or maybe his Talent was indeed Hawkeye, but with a hidden “future sight” passive?
She shook her head to clear the thought.
Other people’s privacy was better left alone.
In any case, Xiao Luo Hao’s praise had really helped her out a lot.
Seeing more and more strangers messaging her, He Ni refocused and started checking messages carefully.
She quickly confirmed her first order:【Sen Sen: Need wood? I have a lot. We can negotiate the rate—I can trade 10 pieces of wood for 100 ml of coconut juice.】
Even knowing coconut juice was precious, He Ni was stunned by this offer.
To start by offering 10 pieces of wood—how much wood must Sen Sen have?
Wood was the main material for upgrading the wood raft.
She bargained immediately, replying with 15 for 100.
Sen Sen only haggled briefly before settling on 13 pieces of wood.
This trade also yielded a critical hit of 2 extra wood pieces.
Gaining 15 pieces of wood at once meant she could probably upgrade her wood raft to level 2 tomorrow.
She eagerly continued scanning messages.
Minutes later came another irresistible offer:【Little Mushroom: Want a sun umbrella? It’s dual-purpose for sun and rain, lightweight and portable, with special functions. Check the description.】
【Sun Umbrella: Made of high-density light-blocking fibers woven into the canopy, combined with sea fish bones to form a portable sunshade.】
【Protection Effect: Reduces negative effects caused by strong sun by 70%, heatstroke probability by 50%.】
【Durability: 1500/1500 (consumes 1 durability per hour of use)】
This was a sun umbrella with special protective effects!
God knew what she looked like after two days baking under the sun.
Yesterday’s high was 36°C, today hit 37°C, and it was reasonable to guess tomorrow might be even hotter with stronger sunlight.
If the sun kept getting fiercer and the temperature higher every day…
This sun umbrella was a must-have!