He Ni also sent over the detailed product page for the Fish Oil Lantern.
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Fish Oil Lantern has 2000 durability—enough to last several months.
There will definitely be better lighting tools in the future, but this crit from her talent makes this lantern perfectly trade-worthy.
Zhou Jingxi replied almost instantly:【Ahhhhhh!!!】
【How come you’re selling this lantern too? Politely asking for the price!!! I really need it, I want it so badly!】
That word “too” made He Ni frown.
Has Duo Yue Liang also approached Zhou Jingxi? Or did Zhou Jingxi contact Duo Yue Liang herself?
Come to think of it, Duo Yue Liang has Fish Oil Lanterns, Zhou Jingxi has Fish Oil—it’s only natural they’d connect.
Luckily, Zhou Jingxi’s reaction didn’t seem like she’d already struck a deal with Duo Yue Liang.
This realization sent He Ni’s sense of urgency skyrocketing.
She reached out to Zhou Jingxi not to make a huge profit from the Fish Oil Lantern.
The Fish Oil Lantern is windproof, rainproof, and highly energy-efficient—it would accompany her for quite some time, so a steady supply of Fish Oil is very important.
Zhou Jingxi happened to have a “stable source of Fish Oil,” making her a rare strategic partner.
Besides, the uses of Fish Oil were likely still untapped; today it fuels lanterns, tomorrow maybe some new device or machine would emerge.
With that in mind, He Ni took the initiative to make an offer:【Since you know about the Fish Oil Lantern, I won’t bother introducing it further. You can check the pictures for details. How about I trade you a batch of Fish Oil for the lantern? The Fish Oil doesn’t have to be paid all at once—we can sign a Stable Supply Agreement.】
Zhou Jingxi quickly replied:【Sure!! How much Fish Oil do you want in exchange? Name your price?】
He Ni had initially wanted to offer Zhou Jingxi a friendly price of twenty or thirty Fish Oil units, but now that Zhou Jingxi had been in contact with Duo Yue Liang, it wouldn’t be wise to make the first offer without knowing Duo Yue Liang’s price.
What if Duo Yue Liang was offering 10 or 15 Fish Oil units and was also hoping to maintain good relations with Zhou Jingxi?
If she set her price higher now, she might not only fail to build that relationship but possibly push Zhou Jingxi further away.
So He Ni passed the question back:【That’s negotiable. It mainly depends on how much Fish Oil you can produce. If your daily output isn’t much, it’s okay to be a bit less—what matters is that we both have reliable lighting equipment.】
【We’re good teammates now; a little more or less won’t matter. Just tell me a number you can accept.】
Though she had her own ulterior motives, He Ni genuinely thought this way.
In a survival game where death lurked at any moment, having a cheerful person to chat with and share intel felt like a breath of fresh air. You’d want her to last long too.
After all, the information and emotional support Zhou Jingxi provided were both rare and precious.
After sending these messages, Zhou Jingxi took a while to reply, clearly giving it serious thought:【How about 300 units of Fish Oil? I’ll send you 7 now, then 10 every day afterward—is that okay?】
【It’s a bit too little, but once I unlock new stuff, I can compensate you more!】
He Ni blinked.
Hmm, this wasn’t quite what she expected.
Could it be that Duo Yue Liang didn’t want to build good relations with Zhou Jingxi either, and had made a ridiculously high offer like he did to her?
That’s why their deal fell through?
She hadn’t expected Zhou Jingxi to propose 300 units.
But judging by the intrinsic value of Fish Oil and the Fish Oil Lantern, the lantern was indeed worth about that much.
Put simply, if it weren’t for her coconuts having the “prevents scurvy” label, she wouldn’t have swapped so easily for the Fish Oil Lantern.
From this price alone, it was clear Zhou Jingxi could produce a stable daily output of Fish Oil.
He Ni thought for a moment:【No need for that much, a friendly price—88 units of Fish Oil. You decide how long you want to pay it off, just do what you can. I have some stock anyway.】
Her intention wasn’t to squeeze Zhou Jingxi dry.
Zhou Jingxi was shocked by He Ni’s reply.
She quickly checked her chat with Duo Yue Liang and confirmed his exchange rate before responding rapidly:【Just 88 units? Nothing else? And I get to decide the payment schedule?】
【He Ni: Yes, 88. Don’t worry—the lantern is good, you’ve seen the durability. It’s for long-term use.】
【Zhou Jingxi: No no, I don’t think you’re trying to scam me with a broken lantern—I’m buying!!】
【Zhou Jingxi: I just feel like you’re selling it way too cheaply, sob sob.】
【Zhou Jingxi: You’re so good to me, I feel like I’m being favored by a big shot!】
He Ni couldn’t help but smile at Zhou Jingxi’s reply.
Though they hadn’t known each other long, right from their first transaction, He Ni found Zhou Jingxi’s personality quite likable.
Besides trading, Zhou Jingxi often sent her screenshots of intel from the World Channel and occasionally chatted about gossip they both saw.
Their interactions were genuinely pleasant.
Just because Zhou Jingxi took the initiative to share information, He Ni felt the deal was worthwhile.
【He Ni: Deal? You’re great too. Trading and chatting with you has been a pleasure.】
He Ni initiated the trade agreement, and soon a confirmation popped up.
The Fish Oil Lantern disappeared from her inventory, and a few units of Fish Oil appeared next to the agreement window.
The Installment Settlement Agreement showed 【1】
—Zhou Jingxi had to settle the 88 units of Fish Oil within the agreed timeframe for the deal to finalize; otherwise, the system would forcibly convert her items to compensate He Ni at the unsettled Fish Oil price.
After pressing her handprint, Zhou Jingxi looked at the lantern that had appeared out of thin air and felt like crying.
Duo Yue Liang had approached her the day before.
He showed Zhou Jingxi the Fish Oil Lantern description and proposed exchanging it for 1000 units of Fish Oil, arguing the lantern was durable while Fish Oil was consumable, and 1000 units was already discounted.
If Zhou Jingxi had that many Fish Oil units, she might have been trapped by that deal.
They haggled for a whole day, and Duo Yue Liang finally lowered his price to 668 units, saying if she agreed, the trade could happen before nightfall.
Zhou Jingxi had been worn down and was already contacting other players who sold Fish Oil, about to accept Duo Yue Liang’s offer.
Unexpectedly, He Ni showed up at that moment.
Zhou Jingxi wrestled with her thoughts for a long time before boldly naming 300 units, since she also had to spend stamina and time making Fish Oil daily; owing too much would seriously affect her progress.
She hoped that after leveling up and unlocking new refining techniques, she could compensate He Ni further.
She never imagined He Ni would not only agree but drop the price to 88 units.
For the same lantern, the difference from Duo Yue Liang’s price was more than tenfold!
In that moment, Zhou Jingxi felt He Ni’s avatar was radiating golden holy light—almost wanted to tag her as “Kind-hearted Bodhisattva.”
Unable to contain her excitement, she looked at the lantern in her hands and clenched her fist.
No matter what new refining techniques she unlocked, she would prioritize working with He Ni!
Meanwhile, Duo Yue Liang, who had taken antibiotics and was watching the swelling on his wound gradually subside, stared confusedly at the unresponded private messages.
Did Zhou Jingxi no longer want the Fish Oil Lantern?
Impossible.
He quickly dismissed that thought.
Anyone with half a brain knew torchlight wasn’t a sustainable lighting solution.
He had scoured the Trading Hall and found only himself selling Fish Oil Lanterns.
Out of 500,000 players, he should be the only one who unlocked the Fish Oil Lantern crafting method.
He held 100% of the market share; no one could bypass him.
Just as Zhou Jingxi happily added a unit of Fish Oil to the lantern in advance and prepared to book a piece of Burning Wood with He Ni, Duo Yue Liang sent her another message, full of determination:【Sis, 668 is already a loss for me—I can’t go any lower. If I’m not mistaken, you can produce dozens of Fish Oil units daily, right? One unit only takes 100 grams; don’t be too greedy!】
【I’m offering you this cost price because I want to do long-term business with you. If you don’t decide soon, in 5 minutes I’m selling it to someone else. You know the lantern’s value—I only have this last one, many people are asking. Don’t cry when you miss out.】
He even thought to himself, if Zhou Jingxi didn’t agree, she’d be forced to buy it at the original 1000 Fish Oil price after nightfall.
He wasn’t going to indulge these ungrateful players.
Making a Fish Oil Lantern was no easy task!
He Ni was unaware of the dealings between Zhou Jingxi and Duo Yue Liang.
She injected a unit of Fish Oil into the lantern in advance and placed it near the stone fire basin under the Simple Sunshade.
Then, while there was still time, she used her Hook Claw to retrieve a piece of wood, a torn fishing net, and two Coconut Leaves.
Decisively, she opened her umbrella and leaned against the sunshade’s pillar, closing her eyes to rest.
She had been doing this all day: whenever her Spirit Value dropped more than 30, she’d quickly nap.
Not only to restore stamina but also to prepare for the night ahead.
Monsters would almost certainly appear tonight; she couldn’t sleep as soundly as in the past three days and had to keep watch.
Therefore, before nightfall, she had to ensure her Spirit Value was full.
The night would last ten hours, and without resting well, it would be hard to make it to dawn.
Without the scorching sting of direct sunlight, even with warm wind swirling around, He Ni quickly drifted into light sleep.
She slept until 6:44 p.m., her Spirit Value fully restored, and she awoke feeling clear-headed.
He Ni glanced around and saw that night was nearly upon her, muttering quietly, “Good timing.”
Luckily, she had timed it well and hadn’t overslept until dark.
Her eyes swept over the plastic bucket on the raft, remembering there was a broken Alarm Clock soaked in water inside.
She needed to find a way to fix it since the Virtual Screen lacked an alarm function and could cause missed timing.
But energy points were limited—no rush.
With a few minutes left before nightfall, she stood to survey her surroundings, a smile creeping to her lips.
She’d just found another Coconut and a piece of wood.
Without the newbie bonuses, drifting supplies on the sea had become much scarcer.
Including this, she had only collected four coconuts today—half of what she found yesterday.
Wood and other resources were similarly scarce.
After gathering the coconuts and wood, He Ni sorted through the debris and also retrieved a foam box and some Coconut Leaves.
Seeing her stamina was still ample, she collected two bird nests and some dry grass.
Bird nests and dry seaweed could be dried and used for kindling.
The Tar Torches were too large to serve as fire starters.
There was still plenty of useless trash floating on the sea, but He Ni unusually refrained from using up all her stamina before nightfall.
Her status showed 79 Stamina Value remaining.
Unlike “No Name,” she hadn’t fought any monsters since entering the game.
She didn’t know if fighting consumed stamina, so she kept some in reserve just in case.
The setting sun cast golden light, and the Virtual Screen’s clock jumped to 19:00, plunging the world into pitch-black darkness.
At the same time, a “ding” sounded, and a notification popped up on the Virtual Screen:【Warning! You are now affected by Unknown Fear】
This was an unavoidable negative status: [Unknown Fear: Endless darkness surrounds you. You constantly feel as if something is watching you from afar. (While sleeping, -1 Spirit Value per minute)]
It was the only negative status that had actively triggered a warning in four days.